Academic sUMMER trips
CentrEvOL CONCERT
cycling to victory
pg 22
men’s Lacrosse takes second
back cover
pg 4
back cover
WhitmanCollegePioneer
May 7, 2009 Volume CXXIV / Issue 12 Walla Walla, WAshington whitmanpioneer.com
Board of Trustees expected to ASWC reviews pass Maxey Hall renovations senior voting Final decision on summer expansion pending approval by Josh Goodman Reporter
An entrance to Maxey on Ankeny? That could be a reality in less than two years if the Board of Trustees approves
an overhaul of Maxey Hall to begin this summer. The Board of Trustees will meet this weekend for it’s last meeting of the ‘08-’09 academic year. The project, which would renovate Whitman’s social sciences building over the next 18 months, is expected to be approved during the Board of Trustees meeting. If approved, it would be funded by a bond taken out a yearand-a-half ago, the same bond used to
finance the renovation of Sherwood Athletic Center. “The bond was issued before the current economic crisis,” said Associate to the President Jed Schwendiman. “It’s a special tax-exempt bond that we’re able to use as a nonprofit.” The planned renovations come at the same time as across-the-board cutbacks throughout the rest of Whitman, RENOVATIONS, see page 2
by Alex Jeffers Reporter
Graduating seniors may soon have the right to vote in Executive Council elections. In their meeting oN Sunday, May 3, ASWC senate paved the way for an increase in future seniors’ voting rights, passing an amendment to the ASWC con-
stitution to allow all members of Whitman’s student body to elect members of the Executive Council. Now the measure must pass a vote of the overall student body by a sixty percent majority to become an official ASWC law, and many senators speculate that this will be achieved. The issue of senior voting SENATE, see page 6
Cinco de Mayo reaches community by Molly Smith News Editor
Despite bad weather and a lastminute relocation to Reid Ballroom, Tuesday’s Cinco de Mayo celebration went off without a hitch. “Cinco de Mayo was amazingly successful,” said Club Latino President sophomore Diana Madriz. Cinco de Mayo, is not, as many Americans mistakenly believe, a celebration of Mexico’s independence from Spain. Rather, it honors Mexico’s surprise victory over France in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. “Cinco de Mayo has become a cultural celebration for all Latin
Americans living in the United States,” said Madriz. In fact, the holiday is more widely celebrated in the United States than it is in Mexico. Tuesday’s event featured traditional Mexican dishes and performances by two local folk dancing troupes, Mariachi Sol de Michoacan from Pasco and Walla Walla’s own Rolando Gaytan. The event not only catered to Whitman students, but to members of the Walla Walla community as well. “One of Club Latino’s major goals is involving the surrounding Walla Walla community in our events,” said Madriz. “We want local Latinos to be able to CELEBRATION, see page 5
kim
Mariachi Sol de Michoacan performs in Reid Ballroom at Club Latino’s annual Cinco de Mayo celebration. Along with musical performances and folk dances, the event featured authentic Mexican food and children’s activities.
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may 7, 2009
Pre-approval urged for summer transfer credits by Maggie Allen Reporter
The arrival of summer usually means no classes, no homework, and a break from academic pressure. For some, however, summer is the best time to catch up on credits. While some students take classes over the summer to compensate for a lack of credits earned during the semester, others do so in order to focus more exclusively on their senior theses and senior projects by taking a lighter load their senior year. “It can be someone in the sciences trying to leave all their time in their junior and senior years open for only science courses, so they take courses for their distribution requirements somewhere else over the summer,” said Assistant Registrar Janet Mallen. To transfer credits, students need a Request for Approval of Transfer Credit (RATC). The student’s adviser then checks the course to see whether the credits earned can be transferred or applied toward a particular major. “That process is perhaps the most crucial in the entire transferring series of events over the summer,” registrar Ron Urban said, “When the student gets that processed, gets the adviser signature, and we sign off on it, I would say that is a 99.99 percent guarantee that the credit will transfer as advertised.” The process is not quite that simple, though. Many students fail to check with a faculty member or administrator before registering for summer
classes, and find out too late that certain courses do not count toward Whitman credit. “Courses such as business administration and accounting we don’t take because we only take liberal-arts appropriate classes,” Urban said. Despite the fact that summer classes are often useful for reducing distribution requirements, students’ cumulative GPAs do reflect transfer credits.
“If someone thinks they can get a couple of As over the summer and it will help their GPA, it won’t transfer in,” Mallen said, “We try to set them straight before they do that.” Another problem the registrar encounters is students’ coursework in institutions outside the United States, where information is often more difficult to confirm. In that case, the Study Abroad Office is responsible for verifying if an institution
falltrick
Walla Walla Community College is one institution that Whitman will not accept academic credits from.
is accredited. Urban also advises students to be aware of the difference between the quarter and semester systems. Many Washington state schools, such as the University of Washington, are on the quarter system, meaning that if a Whitman student takes a five-quarter credit class at the University of Washington, the registrar converts these credits by taking 2/3 of the quarter credits, so the student will receive about three transfer credits. “I would also watch out for credit limits within the major,” Urban advised. “Only 1/3 of credits can be ‘alien’ within the major.” The registrar recommends that students speak with their adviser or the department chair if unsure about transfer credits in their major. Restrictions aside, students can receive up to 70 credits from another four-year college and 62 from a two-year college. Although students should apply for transfer credit as soon as they can, it is possible to wait until the start of summer classes. Still, the registrar strongly recommends clearing the classes before putting any money down to enroll. “Get it pre-approved and there will be no worries,” Mallen said. “All they have to do is get the minimum grade [a C-] for transfer.” Students can also take classes at other colleges or universities in cases when credit is not transferred. Many opt to enroll in summer classes simply to further their own academic interests, or to better prepare for graduate school.
Maxey renovations planned despite economy MAXEY, from cover
including deferring $500,000 worth of lifecycle maintenance work in buildings this year. However, the money set aside to renovate Maxey cannot be used elsewhere due to the nature of the bond. “If we could use the money for something else, we might,” Schwendiman said. “But if the col-
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lege returned this money now, the college would pay a substantial penalty, so I anticipate the Board of Trustees is likely to approve it.” In addition to an entrance facing Ankeny, the Maxey renovations would include additional classrooms and lab space. To complete the overhaul, some faculty offices will be temporarily relocated. That includes Associate Professor of Psychology Matthew Prull’s office. “I have to move 10 years of accumulated junk from my office,” Prull said. “One benefit is that I’m looking forward to being in Olin next year and having interactions with a crowd I don’t normally have interactions with. It’ll be nice to interact with colleagues in philosophy, from which psychology originated.” Prull thought the renovations would be a great way to make Maxey a better learning environ-
ment, from better-sized classrooms to improved lighting. “The building that we occupy as part of our work, and the building that you occupy as part of your learning, could use some improvements,” he said. “Some large classrooms are running out of space here in Maxey. It’s time to build the building that you hope would still be useful 20 years from now or longer.” Students, like staff, also stand to benefit. “I have almost all my classes here,” said sophomore Ariel Ruiz. “I don’t think there’s enough rooms. I wouldn’t mind the better entrance.” Although he’s skeptical of anything taking away from other projects right now, he supports the renovations overall. “I think it’s a good idea if it doesn’t take away from other programs,” he said. “I know the college right now is trying to find funds to build the
Intercultural House. As long as it’s not going to take funds away from that, then sure.” Indeed, the Maxey Hall renovations will not detract from the planned Intercultural Center house, nor should they affect plans to put solar panels on the roof of the Bratton Tennis Center, panels which were originally slated for Jewett Hall. Those projects are being funded by gifts and grants. In the end, these projects should make Whitman an even nicer place. “These are nice things for the college to be doing, and given that there’s not a lot of money available to do the other things we would like to do, it’s fortunate that we have the resources to do these projects this summer,” Schwendiman said.
News
may 7, 2009
Whitman College Pio neer
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Incoming first-years offered Scrambles alternative Elana Congress Reporter
We all remember The May Mailing. Chock full of papers to be examined and obsessed over. That stack of paper was our connection to our future, to the unknown world of college and the potential experiences that lay ahead of us. Some incoming first-years study the Scramble packet intently, choosing the trip they want to participate in. There are others of course, who look at the booklet with hesitation, nervous about their lack of “outdoorsiness” but still eager to meet students prior to opening week. This year, incoming first-years will be offered an alternative pre-orientation trip, focused not on outdoor adventure but instead on community service. The Summer Community OutReach Excursions (SCOREs) programs will pilot this summer. There are two separate trips, allowing only 16 first-years to participate. In comparison, 16 Scrambles will run this summer, with space for almost 140 incoming first-years. Lina Menard, the coordinator of the Center for Community Service (CCS), hopes that the program will grow in size in the future. “I look forward to expanding the program if there is interest and demand for it” said Menard. Due to the limited capacity of the program, interested incoming students will need to submit applications by July 1. After sending in their application, students will
be selected by a random lottery. Applications for current Whitman students interested in leading summer SCOREs were due on May 1. Four applicants will be chosen in total, with two leaders per trip. Selected leaders will be notified by Reading Day, May 13. It’s difficult to gauge interest for the SCOREs among incoming students because applications are not yet available, but interest has been high among current Whitman students hoping to run a SCORE this summer. Menard was su r prised
at the large number of students that applied to lead SCOREs. “We hope that if we have the same level of interest among incoming students as we do among leaders the program will be able to grow in the future,” said Menard. This year, CCS will offer two SCOREs, both running from August 21-26. Both trips will have a local emphasis, since one purpose of SCORE is to introduce first-years to the greater Walla Walla community. There are differences between the two trips, though: one group will focus on issues related to food and the other will examine issues related to housing. “Both food and shelter are basic needs that we all have before we can do other things. So we want to look at those two issues in the Walla Walla valley and look at the way that they’re being addressed,” said Menard.
Participants on the Food SCORE will examine issues related to food and hunger. Trip members will spend three mornings working at nearby Welcome Table Farm and then two mornings at West End Farm. In the afternoons, participants will visit local organizations such as the soup kitchen, the Farmers’ Market, the food bank and the food co-op. Participants in the Housing SCORE will explore topics of housing and homelessness. Trip members will spend the first three mornings working with Habitat for Humanity and the next two mornings working at Helpline, a women’s shelter in Walla Walla. In the afternoons, participants will meet with local organizations that provide housing and housing information for people in need. Whitman isn’t the first school to integrate community service into a pre-orientation trip. Colleges and universities such as Yale, Duke, Middlebury, Reed, Skidmore and Amherst also offer pre-orientation community service experiences for incoming students. The benefits of SCOREs and other similar programs are abundant. Menard describes such programs as “a way to promote a service ethic and to help incoming students learn about some of the community agencies, get involved with volunteering and community service in their communities.” Additionally, “students are able to get engaged in the community and build some relationships with other students before they get to campus,” she said. For more information on this summer’s SCOREs, visit whitman.edu/content/community_service/score.
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Under the guidance of Bob Carson, professor of Geology & Environmental Studies, 23 students will travel to Yellowstone National Park this summer as the culmination of their semester-long class.
by Derek Thurber Contributing Reporter
Many Whitman students will use the upcoming summer to relax, make some extra money or travel. But some students will take the summer to learn more in an academic program and to bring something back to Whitman. “This academic trip often transforms people’s curriculums of study. It has inspired many theses and has also inspired many career paths,” said Assistant Professor of Politics Aaron Bobrow-Strain and leader of the U.S./Mexico border trip. “Students often come back from a program like this more serious about their classroom work.” Trips that are going this summer include the U.S./Mexico border trip, the Yellowstone geology trip and many self-inspired trips by students through study abroad. The trip to Yellowstone National Park will be led by Bob Carson, professor of Geology & Environmental Studies. On Tuesday May 26, 23 Whitman students of all years and majors will depart from Whitman on a bus bound for Northern Wyoming.
“We are going to stop at everything that looks interesting, everything geological and at every mammal and bird we see along the way,” Carson said. Though the trip is geared towards Geology and Environmental Studies majors, it is open to all students. The students register for a two-credit class which runs during the spring semester before they go on the trip. The class is designed to prepare the students for the different things they will be seeing while in Yellowstone. This class has been running for many years and always changes a bit each summer according to Carson. Alumni used to be allowed to go on the trip as well but in recent years the trip has more than filled up every time with current students. Another trip that is scheduled to take place this summer is to the U.S./Mexico border. This trip spans from May 31 to June 8 and will take 12 students to both the U.S. and Mexican sides of the border where students will spend their days talking with locals, border patrol agents, immigration officers and others about issues they have researched the semester leading up to the trip. ACADEMIC TRIPS, see page 7
News
may 7, 2009
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Finals frenzy? Experts advise best study habits, strategies to succeed
Club Latino celebration draws families
by Chelsea Bissell
CELEBRATION, from cover
VOICES of WHITMAN
Reporter
In the days and weeks counting down to finals, study rooms in the library are impossible to get. Conversations center around a countdown of remaining pages and tests until the semester ends. Students frantically read books, articles and chapters they flippantly neglected during past few months. With this hectic and apparently studious environment creeping upon campus, it would seem that most students would spend finals week confident and wellslept. But this is a luxury available only to those mysterious and elect super-students. For the rest of us, tips on effective study habits are in order.
Save everything until the terror kicks in. You’ll be more efficient.” -Nicole Likarish ‘09
I start studying three days before my exam. On the last day I review everything I studied the two days before to make sure that I’ve memorized it all.” -Tyler Calkin, ‘09
Juli Dunn from the Academic Resource Center recommended the following: • To deal with a heavy work load, time management is essential. For the next week before finals, study 30-60 minutes per assignment per class per day. • Make small, achievable goals for your work load and reward yourself for achieving those goals. After reading or studying for a while, take a break and be social or active. • Feed your brain: Suduko, crosswords, word searches, mazes. Choose one and do it for 15-20 minutes before an exam. “Games are like power fuel for the brain,” said Dunn. • Sleep. It’s redundant and timeconsuming, but it works. According to Dunn, without sleep, “it will take twice as long for your brain to capture the information in any usable form and as for memory, it is one of the first functions to deteriorate.” Not sleeping may seem convenient in the moment, but it actually makes us less smart. Some other study tips: Friends or a loud environment are often more distracting than we
would like to believe. Sequester yourself if you find your eyes wandering off the page every minute or two. Do the work that’s the hardest earlier in the
My history teacher sophomore year of high school told me to eat salmon the day before a big test. It lubricates the mind.” -Rosa Brey ‘09
Don’t study on the second floor of the library. In fact, don’t come to library at all. Clean your room and stay there.” -Ben Hayes ‘11
day or earlier in the study session when cognitive abilities are still fresh and functioning. Ask professors if there is a problem or difficulty. They understand the material well.
vanderbilt
feel like Whitman is a place they can come to.” Latinos account for over 17 percent of Walla Walla’s population Cinco de Mayo festivities also included a special emphasis on local youths and their families, with activities like a beanbag toss, mini golf, face painting and pin the tail on the donkey to appeal to younger participants. According to Madriz, local Latinos are often deterred from attending Whitman events due to a lack of family-oriented activities. “Even if parents want to attend, they can’t leave their kids behind at home,” she said. Cinco de Mayo followed in the footsteps of Shadow Day, another major Club Latino event of the spring semester. In its eighth year, Shadow Day brought 57 Latino high school sophomores from Walla Walla and MiltonFreewater who would be the first in their family to attend college to campus on April 16. The students attended classes, toured campus, ate lunch with Whitman students and attended scholarship and financial aid presentations. “Our goal is to get these students interested in college as early as possible and to show them that attending college is not impossible even though many have that mentality,” said Madriz. Madriz also emphasized the importance of these events to changing local students’ and families’ perceptions of Whitman. “Events like Cinco de Mayo and Shadow Day are another way of getting our name out, not only as a club but as a school,” she said.
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may 7, 2009
ASWC makes preparations to wrap up year Constitutional amendment Officers-elect welcome outgoing members’ advice to move to student vote by Alex Jeffers
SENATE, from cover
fer an informed vote in this process. It seems like my opinion is echoed in the senate.” Sophomore Andrew Matschiner sided with opposing Senator Goerss on the issue. “If [seniors] are not going to be around [the following year], it doesn’t seem to me that they should necessarily have a right to vote,” he said. “I don’t say this because I don’t like seniors, but if they’re not going to be on campus next year it doesn’t make sense that they should have a stake in what’s going on here at that time. But then that begs the question: ‘Should incoming first-years be able to vote?’ Ideally, incoming first-years would be able to vote too, because the ASWC officials being elected will affect their college experience, but unfortunately that’s impractical and difficult.”
rights has remained ambiguous and someReporter what unresolved as of late, with junior and senior senators providing varying recollecWinning the election is only the first step tions of how the issue was dealt with in prefor soon-to-be members of ASWC Execuvious years. tive Council. Before the start of the ’09 -’10 “Institutional memory is not as strong in school year, EC officers-elect must prepare ASWC as it should be,” said Senior ASWC themselves for their future positions. Senator Aisha Fukushima. Two such officers are Sophomore Matt The passing of the proposed amendment Dittrich and Junior Jordan Clark. overturns the senate’s decision of April 5, Much of the elected officers preparation when a unanimous vote was needed to allow takes the form of meeting with and shadowseniors to vote in this year’s EC elections. ing the students who currently hold the posiIn April only one senator voted against the tions they will soon inherit. Finance Chairmeasure, causing it to fail. The same senaelect Dittrich has spent his time meeting with tor, senior Roman Goerss, voted against the various groups on campus and also with the measure this time. The measure still passed departing Finance Chair, senior David Chansince only a majority was needed in this ga-Moon. case, not unanimity, because time allows for “I’ve spent numerous hours in Club Sports a student body vote before next year’s EC meetings, EC meetings [and] private meetelections. Fukushima voted in favor of the amendment. “The seniors have a vested interest in the upkeep of the school and all of the different ASWC institutions [after they leave],” said Fukushima. “There are a lot of arguments to take into consideration, especially given the fact that first-years who are coming in next year won’t be able to vote. I think it’s important to have a plurality of voices.” Fukushima also acknowledged the rationale of the opposition, admitting that seniors will indeed be voting for ASWC officials who they will not see in office. “There are people that say ‘Well, the seniors won’t be here next year,’ which is totally true,” she said. “[However], I think that seniors who feel Jacobson invested [in ASWC] will vote, ASWC Executive Council Officers and Senators convened on Sunday, Apr. 3 for the second to last Senate meeting of the year. and I think that they can of-
ings with the current Finance Chair David Changa-Moon, all in addition to my numerous meetings and end-of-the-year tasks as a current Finance Senator,” Dittrich said. “The ASWC accounting structure is a little fuzzy, and there is a lot left to be defined with regards to how ASWC functions financially.” Though his position entails a lot of work, Dittrich is still enthusiastic about the upcoming fall. He believes that his early preparations, along with the support of ChangaMoon, will lay a solid foundation for his first days on the job. “I am extremely excited for next year, and am confident that David’s invaluable help and mentoring will allow for a very smooth transition,” said Dittrich. “Already, I’m working on several big endeavors regarding our new Service Learning legislation, ASWC’s relationship with Club Sports, and the general structure of ASWC for next year.” For Jordan Clark, ASWC Student Affairs Chair-elect, the majority of preparations have been structural. “We recently created a new Program Board Committee to replace the Programming Committee,” said Clark. “There are no senators on the new Program Board, which meant we had to find a place for six senators. I [also] just passed a by-law this last Sunday that put eight senators on Student Affairs, six on Finance, and two who sit on the Nominations Committee and work for the Communications Director. Now that I have eight senators on my committee, I’m working on assigning my senators very specific roles so they have a good sense of direction.” Clark’s plans would not be complete, however, without collaborating with current EC members and senior Roman Goerss, Clark’s predecessor as Student Affairs Chair. “I’ve been speaking with the current Executive Council regularly for words of wisdom,” Clark said. “I’ll be meeting with Roman Goerss shortly to discuss issues we need to address for next year.”
News
may 7, 2009
Whitman College Pio neer
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Programming Board Directors recently announced by Cindy Chen Senior Reporter
This fall, previous independent programming bodies such as Campus Activities Board (CAB) and Coffeehouse will be consolidated into one Programming Board, headed by recently elected Programming Board Chair first-year Stephen Stradley. Earlier this week, the Student Activities Office named the Programming Board Committee Directors. Ranging from Cinema Arts to Musical Entertainment, these committees will play a crucial role in the formulation of
next year’s student events. In conjunction with Stradley, these committees will be in charge of planning campus-wide activities and programs. “The new Programming Board is a combination of all the current programming bodies that exist into one,” said Assistant Director of Student Activities Leann White. The Programming Board will be similar to campus media organizations such as KWCW radio station. It will be connected to ASWC, but the logistics of how it is run will be independent. General Board Volunteers will help out
New Programming Board structure
Cinema Arts
Chris d’Autremont ‘11 Speakers
Chris Kaiser-Nyman ‘11
with events, and unlike other Board members, interested students will not have to apply to be selected for this. “We want to recruit a lot of students to bring ideas to the Programming Board and to help in the planning and production of events,” said White. The change in programming will attempt to solve the problems that previous programming bodies had, like conflicts in scheduling between ASWC events and CAB events. “There was too much of a break in communication between the groups, and programming works best with a lot of communication
and cooperation,” said Stradley. Though the changes in organization were in part spurred by Student Activities budget cuts, it was an opportunity to restructure Whitman programming. “I feel like this change would be warranted and important whether or not the budget has been cut,” said White. “It’s a very positive change for programming and it’s going to make it better and easier for students to make things happen that they want to see happen.” “I really want people to start thinking outside of the box,” said Stradley.
Programming Board Chair
Stephen Stradley ‘12
Co-Sponsorship Manager
Marketing Manager
Ashma Basnyat ‘10
Kristine Berg ‘11
Special Events
Creative Arts
Musical Entertainment
Lani Rosenthal ‘10
Joanne Yang ‘11
Mat t Coleman ‘11
Cultural Event s
Vo l u n t e e r C o o r d i n a t o r
Spirit Director
Van Trinh ‘11
Mimi Cook ‘11
Ryan Lum ‘11
Swine flu poses potential threat to summer border trip ACADEMIC TRIPS, from page 4
“In just the intense period of those few days it is the equivalent of about two semester-long courses in length in terms of face time,” said Bobrow-Strain. These students meet several times over the course of the spring semester to prepare for the trip and then register for a two-credit class next fall after their tip in order to reflect on the experience. This trip will be the fourth iteration of the U.S./Mexico border trip but it may be canceled by the college because of the recent out-
breaks of swine flu. “Between flu and other immigration concerns I can’t think of a time when our vision of the border is more warped,” said BobrowStrain. “It is important for students to go there and talk with people on the ground.” The students and professor will be waiting to hear from the Emergency Management Committee which is currently deciding on whether or not to let them go. Besides these two Whitman-led academic trips, many other students choose to travel
and study abroad during their free summers. Junior Amy Soderquist will be taking the summer to do two separate programs. One will be studying Vikings in Denmark and Sweden through Harvard University and the other will be studying political economics, philosophy and management in Greece. “It is a challenge to continue to provide education during the summer but doing a program with Harvard will get me the same kind of education as at Whitman,” said Soderquist.
Many students take this opportunity to continue learning during their free time or to get experiences that will help them after they graduate from Whitman. “The chance to participate in such a diverse program is geared more towards what I want to do after I graduate,” said Soderquist. These academic programs can be found at Whitman or through other schools and provide the opportunity for many Whitman students to continue their education even when school is not in session.
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Whitman College Pio neer
Pioneer priorities for ‘09-‘10 PIONEER BOARD EDITORIAL In our first board editorial this semester, we were hopeful about the prospect of transparency at Whitman. But the semester has not been quite as transparent as we had hoped. Budget cuts in particular have escalated tensions between the administration and the student body. Yet the majority of these changes will take effect next year, which means it’s crucial to look ahead. As a campus watchdog, The Pioneer has reported on changes as they occurred or were announced by the administration. Here is a list of some of the developments that The Pioneer will continue to monitor throughout the coming semesters. Academics: The cutting of five full-time equivalent faculty positions will doubtlessly impact students. But will this reduction significantly hinder students’ academic experiences at Whitman or their post-graduate success? And with more students being admitted in next year’s first-year class, it seems inevitable that classes will be harder to get in to. Programming: How will the new ASWC programming director step up to the job? With drastic cuts in funding and personnel, it is hard to believe that programming on campus will continue to operate at the same level it is now. Bye-bye, Coffeehouse and CAB! Bon Appétit: Bon Appétit has reduced their hours at Café 66 in Reid Campus Center this year and made cutbacks to dining hall selection, such as the muchbemoaned lack of tropical fruit. The economy affects this company as much as any other. They may have to make more reductions next year to cope with the recession. How will this change the lifestyle and health of Whitman students?
Athletic changes: Next year the ski team will be converted to a club sport and the SSRA department will no longer be offered as a minor. Also, the new gym will have a work-out facility for varsity athletes only, which students have reacted to in varying ways, some of whom are worried it may cause a greater divide on campus between athletes and non-athletes. Financial Aid: With the current economy, it is difficult for many students to keep paying the tuition needed to go to an expensive liberal arts school like Whitman. Although the financial aid office has pledged to support any current students with heightened needs by increasing the aid they offer to 19.5 million dollars from 18-18.5 million offered this year, there still seems to be a number of students leaving Whitman at the end of this year for financial reasons. We sincerely hope the financial aid office will be able to help students as the economy makes it more difficult to pay the mounting tuition costs. The Pioneer takes its role as a watchdog very seriously. Although many students may not see the Pioneer as a powerful tool, we have created debates, caused changes and announced important decisions that affect the whole student body. If anything, we hope to step up this aspect of the paper next year in reporting all the facts and dealing with all the changes that might occur. Knowing this, the Pioneer will be watching and reporting on all of the concerns listed here and will remain the concerned watchdog of the campus. We hope that you will join us at the Pioneer in watching out for these issues.
may 7, 2009
WhitmanCollegePioneer S P R ING 2 0 0 9 Editors-in-Chief: Kim Sommers, Jamie Soukup Director of Writing: Gillian Frew Business Director: Megan McIntire
e d i t o r s News Editor: Molly Smith A&E Editor: Mike Sado Feature Editor: Autumn McCartan Op-Ed Editor: Derek Thurber Sports Editor: Andy Jobanek Humor Editors: Photography Editor: Illustration Editor:
Associate News: Hanna Ory Associate A&E: Mariko Helm Associate Feature: Lyndsey Wilson Associate Op-Ed: Gabriela Salvidea Associate Sports: Mallory Peterson Sarah Hatheway, Evan Cartwright Peter Zipparo Tyler Calkin
r e p o rt e r s Iris Alden, Maggie Allen, Chelsea Bissell, Alethea Buchal, Shannon Buckham, Cindy Chen, Elana Congress, Alyssa Fairbanks, Josh Goodman, Rachel Hoar, J. Staten Hudson, Alex Jeffers, Sara Levy, Billy Low, Rebecca MacFife, Lauren McCullough, Noah Moskat, CJ Wisler, Libby Watkins
c o l u m n i s t s Russ Caditz-Peck, Lisa Curtis, Bryant Fong, Spencer Janyk, Alex Kerr, William Lawrence, Miles Pengilly, Caitlin Tortorici, Jesús Vásquez, Gary Wang Contributing Columnists: Connor Guy, Margaux Cameron Reviewers: Corey Feinstein, Andrew Hall, Becquer Medak-Seguin
p ro d u c t i o n Production Manager: Sara Rasmussen Senior Production Associate: Rebecca Fish Production Associates: Brianna Jaro, Tessa Matson, Quinn Taylor Copy Editors: Matt Manley, Sarah McVicar, Aakanksha Veenapani Web Manager: Andrew Spittle
p h o t o g r a p h y Senior Photographer: Ellie Klein Seb Elstrott, Will Falltrick, Isabel Hong, David Jacobson, Sunn Kim, Krystin Norman, Leah Wheeler
i l l u s t r at i o n Sam Alden, Kelly Douglas, Emily Johnson, Olivia Johnson, Colleen Mitchell, Tricia Vanderbilt, Jillian Varonin
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Editorial Policy The Whitman College Pioneer is published under the auspices of the Associated Students of Whitman College. The purpose of The Pioneer is to provide pertinent, timely information and entertainment for Whitman students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents, as well as the Walla Walla community. In addition, The Pioneer strives to act as a catalyst and forum for communication within the Whitman community. To do so, The Pioneer publishes weekly Board Editorials. These opinion pieces reflect the views of The Pioneer, and not necessarily the views of each individual associated with the newspaper. The Pioneer welcomes letters to the Editor or any contradicting opinion pieces.
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Op-ed
may 7, 2009
Whitman College Pio neer
9
letter from the editors READERS, As the beginning of summer is fast upon us, we look back over the past year in which Jamie SOUKUP and we have served Kim SOMMERS Editors-in-Chief as Editors-inChief with fond memories. We instituted some major changes. You may have noticed the increase of our pages from 24 to 32, or the evolving back page—from Humor, to the Perspectives photo spread, to the “back front page” of sports. But our changes are much deeper than that. Here is what we have accomplished in this past year, which might have gone unnoticed to those not immediately involved: We attended our first-ever journalism conference, the 2009 National College Journalism Convention coordinated by the Associated Collegiate Press and held in San Diego, at which we showcased our newspaper. The Pioneer’s representatives Gillian Frew, ’11, Molly Smith, ’11, and Kim Sommers, ’11, were among 900 journalists and 130 college newspapers in attendance. Our biggest accomplishment that we left the conference with was a trophy for “Best in Show” Web site and a certificate for taking second place “Best in Show” weekly podcast. Making this achievement even more notable was our competition of schools many times Whitman’s size with established journalism programs, including the University of Miami, University of California Berkley and University of California Los Angeles. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the generous support from alumnus Megan Medica, ’81, and her husband John. The Medicas’ support allowed The Pioneer to create a
development fund that we have used to improve the newspaper in several different ways. Most notably, the funds allowed us to contract Whitman’s Web content specialist Phil Silouan Thompson to redesign our Web site. Phil’s efforts, combined with the tireless innovation of our Web Manager Andrew Spittle, ’10, are what gained The Pioneer’s Web site its honors. The redesigned site now features blogging, video, and polling capabilities among other features, and has steadily been gaining visitors throughout the Whitman and broader communities. We have been setting new visitor records nearly every week, most recently reaching a new record with 1,700 unique visitors on a single day, in part due to our coverage of breaking swine flu news. Additionally, the Medica funds allowed us to establish the Medica Visiting Journalist series with which we were able to bring two journalists to campus this year. The first journalist we brought in the fall semester was noted ethicist Jerry Roberts, whose advice and feedback has been invaluable to us, and with whom we still communicate and turn to for consultation. Jerry’s visit prompted The Pioneer to initiate a committee to create a Code of Ethics for the newspaper to help us govern the ethical dilemmas and considerations of the newspaper. The code is in its final stages of revision and will be posted on our Web site in time for our first issue next year. Last month, Gillian spearheaded efforts between The Pioneer and ASWC Speakers to bring Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Thomas Ricks to campus. Ricks visit nearly filled Cordiner Hall with audience members from the Whitman, Walla Walla and greater Washington communities. The Pioneer also participated in workshops with visiting journalists Tim Egan and Hosokawa lecturer Bill Murray. All of these visitors provided extremely beneficial training for The Pioneer
I was surprised to see the title of the article “Campus women to gather tonight to ‘take back the night’ with town march.” The article was relatively well-written and informative, but I had a huge problem with the title. Campus women? Really? Sexual assault is a problem for everyone on Whitman’s campus. In no way did the advertisements for the event, or your article, imply that the march and open mic were a women-only event. In attaching this gendered title to the article, you have
this position is to bring a renewed emphasis to all business aspects of the newspaper. The Publisher will oversee all business aspects of the paper including budgeting, advertising, payroll and circulation. Christina is a very talented individual, who has held a variety of positions within The Pioneer in the past, including: reporter, Local News Editor, Opinions Editor and Production Manager. In addition, Christina has worked as a reporter for the Union-Bulletin and was an editor of her high school newspaper. Christina has many ideas on how to improve the newspaper’s image and business side and we know she will prove an asset to the paper. As Christina comes on board, we will be saying good bye to Jamie Soukup, ‘10, who has decided to step-down from the Editor-in-Chief position for personal reasons. After three years of service to The Pioneer, which included holding positions as Reporter, News Editor and Editor-in-Chief Jamie has improved The Pioneer innumerably. Her service and presence in the office will be sorely missed; however we are glad that we will retain her counsel as an Editor-in-Chief Emeritus adviser. Overall, it has been a wonderful year for The Pioneer and an exceptional learning experience for us. Thank you so much to people who helped us in our goals, including the entirety of ASWC, George Bridges, Ruth Wardwell, Julie Charlip, The Medicas, Jerry Roberts, every person who agreed to be interviewed, who wrote a letter to the editor, or who even leafed through an edition of the Pioneer. There are countless people who have contributed in such an important way to our publication, including staff members, that it is impossible to name you all here, but know that we could not have printed the 24 issues that we have without your help. Please pick up a Pioneer next year to see what else we have in store for you.
Parting words from Jamie Soukup
letter to the editor EDITOR,
staff. We are in the process of organizing a visit from journalist Susan Paterno for October of next semester. This semester, we have been paying particular attention to expanding The Pioneer’s multimedia content. Our first effort was the creation of a weekly radio news segment with KWCW News Directors Sam Alden, ’12, and Finn Straley, ’11. Pioneer/KWCW News is produced weekly and airs bi-weekly on 90.5 FM as well as being posted on The Pioneer’s Web site. Most recently, we have started posting video content produced by Sports Editor Andy Jobanek, ’10, in conjunction with Andrew. Check out our Web site this week for a tour inside Sherwood. Mike Sado, ’09, the Arts & Entertainment Editor, has initiated a mixed media Tumblr blog called This is Your Face. Visit it at thisisyourface.tumblr.com. We have also put out several special editions and spreads that were a first for the newspaper, including Parents’ Weekend and an ASWC Election guide; we covered important breaking news such as the Obama election on-campus reactions, the bomb threat, campus crime including thefts and assaults, the cutting of the Ski Team and swine flu, to name a few. Next week, on May 18, we will put out a 64-page special Graduation Edition. None of these special issues could have been achieved without the work of our production staff, led by Production Manager Sara Rasmussen, ‘12, and Senior Production Assistant, Rebecca Fish, ‘11. That is what we have accomplished this year. We know that we have made mistakes, as all new editors do, but we are proud looking back over this list. Now, here is what we see for the future: The most obvious change for next year will be the addition of a publisher role which will work alongside of the Editor-in-Chief as the figurehead of The Pioneer. The publisher role will be filled by Christina Russell, ’10. The aim of creating
Dear readers,
effectively silenced male victims of sexual assault and harassment, and also normalized the construction of women as victims of assault and men as perpetrators, which in turn disempowers women and alienates men. In order to combat sexual assault and harassment, we need to change our whole culture. We can’t do that with only half the population.
- Arianna Cortesi ‘11
It has been such a pleasure and privilege to help serve the campus community this past year. However, I have decided not to return to The Pioneer next semester in the same capacity that I have been involved. A number of personal aspects factored into this decision, and it was a hard one to make; The Pioneer has played such an important and wonderful role in my life over the past three years and it is hard to say goodbye. Readers, you don’t even know what a stellar team of newspaper staff you have working to serve you. Kim Sommers is one of the most driven, capable people I have ever met, and her devotion to The Pioneer, which often keeps us in the newsroom until 4 or 5 in the morning on print days, is what has helped shape the paper to its great quality. She is only one facet of a great team, however, and I have no idea how the paper EVER would have been produced this year without the hard work and dedication of all of them. It will be a new and probably strange feeling to just be on the reading end of things from now on. However, I will still be around the office now and again, and look for me to be writing Letters to the Editor. I can guarantee you that great things are on the way from the Pio. Jamie Soukup, ‘10, and soon to be Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
10
Op-ED
Whitman College Pio neer
It’s Ridiculous Poster campaign fails The whole campus is littered with posters about alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. These posters are horribly ineffective. I wish they weren’t so bad, but they are. The message and the Derek point behind these postTHURBER Op-Ed Editor ers is a truly good one. I cannot emphasize enough how much I support what the posters are trying to do. That is, I am glad the school takes an active interest in its students’ well-being by trying to counter problems of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. I just don’t think the posters do that noble goal the justice it deserves. It is a shame, but I have to say it: these posters are ridiculous. This is not to say that the posters could not be improved. But as it stands there are three posters that really stand out as the most sorry, especially given how prominent they are across campus. Imagine my surprise when I got back from winter break and found a new poster hanging in my bathroom. This poster had to do with sexual assault but it looked more like an ad for Keystone Light. I am sure people are familiar with this poster. It was divided into six sections, five of which were a really bad picture of a Keystone can with the last one telling me that an inebriated person can not give consent. That is true, but so poorly delivered. I couldn’t believe they would post such a crappy poster all around campus—a poster that instead of combating sexual assault only made me wonder how much the Keystone company paid Whitman College for making the poster. I was very relieved when I stopped seeing that poster all over the place. Please don’t bring it back. Worse than this and other sexual misconduct posters are the alcohol awareness posters. There is one that has recently become very popular around campus stating that “91% of Whitman students look out for their friends when they are drunk.” Great! What do the other 9 percent do? It is terrible to look at it that way because I
know it was probably only people thinking it would be funny to put on a survey that they don’t look out for their friends. But that is all I can think of when I see that poster. I don’t look at it and think what a great place to go to school: so many people look out for their friends. I look at it and think: 9 percent of people don’t look out for their friends! Holy crap! So just know that although 91 percent is a large number it is not a 100 percent. But the poster that really takes the crown for most ill-conceived design is the one with the infamous percentage break downs of the number of drinks students consume on the average Friday or Saturday night. When I was a first-year I remember, clearly, my RA telling us all about the point of those posters. He told us how it didn’t matter that there was a missing 26 percent of students who drank more than eight to nine drinks. He explained patiently that they were not trying to hide anything and that it was simply there to show that there is an alternative to drinking on weekend nights. It didn’t work. I get the idea; I understand the point; I don’t believe Whitman is trying to conceal anything from us. But that doesn’t matter. I look at that poster and can’t help but think there is something missing. It is a terrible, nagging feeling that detracts from the poster’s point. And the worst part about it is how easy it would be to change. All they would have to do is add one more category that said 26 percent of students have ten or more drinks. Simple and respectable. This easy change would not affect the point of the poster but it would gain the respect of us students who look at it and can’t help but do the math to find out the missing percentage. The posters are not wrong and they are not even poorly made, but they do fail to reach their audience for stupid little reasons. A few simple fixes and the entire poster campaign on campus could become so much better. Really all that needs to be done is to ask the students what they think of current and future posters before plastering bad ones all over campus. It is so easy that it amazes me nobody has taken the initiative to make a difference.
may 7, 2009
Perverse politics found in the Supreme Court Whether you’re a Dem- the Court’s makeup a political affair. If our political system was allowed to ocrat or a Republican, a conformist greek or prepare for scheduled vacancies, this ina lonely indie, a Pio fusion of politics into Court would cease purist or a Seccession to exist. Elderly justices would no longer insurgent, one issue wait to retire during a presidency they should unite us all— liked. Instead, the Court would experiRuss a Supreme Court term ence a stable influx of highly qualified CADITZ-PECK voices from across the political spectrum. limit. Columnist In Hamilton’s time, shorter life expectanLast week Justice David Souter unex- cy naturally caused more frequent turnover. pectedly announced plans to retire at the A 20-year term limit would maintain, not ripe young age of 69. What’s the buzz about alter, the institution Hamilton imagined. Age matters. Older justices with poor his replacement? A morbid discussion of health and energy rely heavily on clerks to life expectancy and actuarial tables. The Supreme Court is too important to research and write opinions. Furthermore, I believe it is harmful to be shaped by such perverse and arbitrary democracy that cerfactors. Congress tain presidents apshould pass an President Obama’s point many justices, amendment to crecriteria to select a while some appoint ate a term limit of 20 none. Every presiyears, followed by new justice should be merit dent should have an retirement. and experience alone. WithPresident Obama’s out a term limit, his decision equal affect on the Court. The health criteria to select a of each justice, and new justice should will be largely based upon their choice of when be merit and experi- the candidate’s ability to... to retire, is too arence alone. Without survive.” bitrary to shape our a term limit, his deSupreme Court. cision will be largeBoth John Paul ly based upon the Stevens, 89-years-old, and Ruth Bader candidate’s ability to … survive. Justices are now living—and serving— Ginsberg, 76, are anticipated to retire belonger average terms than ever before. Be- fore Obama’s re-election. If President tween 1995 and 2005 there were no new Obama wins a second term, he may select justices appointed—the longest period in five new Supreme Court justices during his presidency—over half the Court. American history. Supreme Court term limits are by no The politics of justice retirement is similarly perverse and harmful to democracy. means a new idea—term limits have been Justice Souter undoubtedly hoped to retire discussed for decades by those across the earlier—he called Washington the “world’s political spectrum. They have been acworst city” and referred to his service as an cepted internationally—Canada’s Supreme Court now has a mandatory age of retire“annual intellectual lobotomy.” However, Souter did not want to be re- ment set at 75. While it’s unreasonable to expect Presiplaced by a conservative Bush appointee. Our political system forced him to be stra- dent Obama to surrender his current privitegic in his retirement—to make a political leges, a Supreme Court term limit is viable. I urge you to support an amendment passed choice: to wait out President Bush. Alexander Hamilton wrote in “The Fed- as soon as possible to take effect in 2017, by eralist Papers” that lifelong appointments which point it is anyone’s guess who will would insulate the courts from political hold the presidency. pressure. Yet as Souter’s case makes clear, justices’ self-selection of retirement makes
may 7, 2009
Op-Ed
Whitman College Pio neer
11
Real world is a scary place when you get down to it Summer time is fast approaching and soon we will all burst forth from the Whitman bubble. With papers to write and final exams to take, it’s easy for us to comLisa CURTIS plain about how hard and our lives at Whitman Alex KERR are. The truth is that for Columnists every problem we have here there is a bigger, crazier problem in the real world.
1. Swine Flu
While you might think that your professors have sentenced you to eternity in the library with all the papers they’ve assigned, Hong Kong is holding 300 people in a hotel as prisoners for a week simply because the originator of the disease, a 25-year-old traveler from Mexico, had stayed there for fewer than seven hours. That’s kind of like if George Bridges had locked in everyone in the Reid Ballroom on Thursday night because he was worried that Francis was real.
2. Ski Team
While you might be tired of hearing the skiiers complain about their team being cut, or even worried about what a bunch of angry, hulked-up people with sharp poles will do to you with their spare time, MIT has worse problems to deal with. Not only was
their ski team cut for budgetary reasons, they lost their pistol team too. Yes, a pistol team, that’s a thing. In fact, it’s a thing that MIT was very, very good at. They were NRA Intercollegiate Champions twice in the last four years, maybe because they are so good at channeling their pent-up rage. When the MIT varsity teams were cut, those athletes successfully kidnapped the school mascot, held him hostage for hours and finally ripped off the beaver-head and placed it on a statue in Harvard Yard. All our athletic department had to deal with was a auditorium filled with frustrated and well-spoken students. At least none of them were holding glocks while they made their points.
3. Freedom of License Plates
Although the Whitman Art Department is small, Whitman seems to have a plethora of interesting art. Whether it’s making Facebook pictures of unknowing Whitties into advertisements, sticking themselves in airtight boxes for two hours on Ankeny or using license plates to write poetry about salmon, Whitman tends to let people express themselves pretty much however they want. In the real world, the Supreme Court spends decades deciding what can or cannot be put on your license plate. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that New Hampshire could not force George Maynard to drive
around with plates bearing the state’s motto, “Live Free or Die” because Mr. Maynard said he was not satisfied with those options. He would, he said, choose life, “even if it meant living in bondage.” Thirty years later the Supreme Court is debating whether or not to allow license plates that say “Choose Life” on them. In states like Florida, Illinois and Hawaii, groups on both sides of the pro-life issue are spending huge amounts of energy and money trying to prevent the other side from being able to order license plates that support their message, even though vanity plates of both varieties raise tens of thousands of dollars at a time when state budgets are at their weakest. What we print on license plates may not be DMV certified or make any sense at all, but at least we can do it.
4. Rubber ducks vs. Wooly mammoths
On one of her tours last week Lisa was asked why Whitman seemed to have such a fetish for ducks if our mascot is the missionary. Choosing not to explain that watching duck rape is an entertaining Whittie pastime, much more exciting than plain old missionary, Lisa instead tried to explain the thought process of the Campus Activities Board (CAB). CAB had likely decided that since so many Whitties are vegetarian, they’ll take duck hunting in whatever fashion they can
get it. Imagine that if instead of finding little yellow rubber ducks, we were finding 40,000 year old woolly mammoths. A one-monthold female woolly mammoth nicknamed Lyuba was recently discovered in Siberia. Her skin and organs are said to be in perfect condition, and scientists have been able to extract from her stomach mother’s milk that Lyuba consumed prior to her untimely demise. Imagine what kind of raffle prizes CAB would have to give if Whitties started finding 40,000-year-old ducks at the bottom of Lakum Dukum.
5. Twitter vs. listserv debates
Okay yes, so every time that you say anything on the listserv, 18 people want to let you know what they think. Looking to sell your 1997 Frigidaire from your apartment? That sophomore who wears new age scarves in all weather will let you know that you’re a manatee-strangling son of a bitch with a carbon footprint ALMOST as big as his dick for having ever used such an outdated appliance. We may be the happiest students in the country but nobody said we were nice about it. Still, imagine if you were Ashton Kutcher posting on Twitter and had a MILLION people respond to you and tell you how dumb you are. At least listserv debates aren’t as crazy as Twitter.
Next 100 days for Obama: Reinstate the draft Now that the first 100 days of the Obama presidency have passed, what should we as a nation pressure the president to concentrate on for the rest of the presiBryant dency? What issues are FONG most pressing to the Columnist nation? What long term goals need to be addressed early on in the presidency to allow those goals to ultimately be fulfilled? The most important measure he must address first is to, in regards to the economy, not continue bailouts, but instead have them in strategically placed spots in order to bring the most of the taxpayers’ dollars into the economy to bring about the best benefits.
Second is the two wars that we are fighting, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The question behind this is whether to increase fund-
The most important measure he must address first is to, in regards to the economy, not continue bailouts.”
ing but not necessarily decrease troops. These two wars do not call for less troops, but more and in order for that to happen we might even need to legislate a draft.
A draft would help alleviate some of the unemployed, and take the burden off of the economy. However, the legislation would need to be revised in order to allow students currently in college to finish their degrees rather than just seniors being allowed to do so. Obama needs to reinstate the deferment, or perhaps have the drafting age at 22 when students will have at least finished their undergraduate degree. However, the eligible age should still be at 18 for those students who once they finish high school would like to serve their country. It is a fact that the volunteer army is stretched and reinstating the draft would also take strain off of the current all-volunteer army. I am not advocating that the draftees be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan,
but be used to fill up the positions of those volunteers who are sent overseas. The National Guard, which is supposed to be protecting our borders, is dispatched overseas, and some manpower must take over in its absence. This is where the draft would come in. It would also make the young generation learn to respect their elders, a value that seems to be lost in the current American culture. Further, the draft would help alleviate the obesity issue. People who are drafted would be forced to become fit and that habit learned over a period of two years will last a lifetime. Instituting the draft, despite the public’s negativity, can bring about unexpected contributions to help improve the two issues that plague the nation today: economic reform and health care.
12
Whitman College Pio neer
Op-Ed
may 7, 2009
Grading system fails to give adequate feedback The cliché that liberal arts schools teach their students how to think has never made sense to me in the context of Whitman. Although official rhetoric about the school Spencer promotes “diversity,” diJANYK versity of thought among Columnist students seems strongly discouraged. The process of grading is an integral component of this agenda. Since the boom in the assessment movement, public schools across the country have become obsessed with presenting students with a certain kind of knowledge that they can apply to the SAT and other standardized tests. stitutions that use a 0-10 scale, but this doesn’t Despite the heroic and thankless work of a address my fundamental concern, which is small number of primary and secondary school that grades are a reductive way to measure educators who attempt to teach their students progress and evaluate knowledge. Learning is a lifelong to think critically, process. We do not begin the vast majority Learning is a lifelearning when we enter of the curricula long process. We do school and stop learning across the counonce we leave it. The way try is concerned not begin learning when we that we learn in school is with imparting enter school and stop learna certain “staning once we leave it. The way not the same for everyone. Different people have difdardized” form that we learn in school is not ferent styles of learning, of knowledge. and learn different things. The way that the same for everyone.” Professors too are not all the geniuses that alike. Some prefer leccame before us tures to discussion, others decided to track understanding was through a numeric scale don’t see either of these formats as desirable. running 0.0-4.0. Certainly, there are some in- Some emphasize reading, others work on writ-
douglas
ing. Getting a C in calculus class means different things to different people. It can be a slap in the face or a cause for celebration. Similarly, who’s to say that any professor alive has an objective knowledge about their discipline? There’s no right way to conduct a literary analysis and there are no mathematical principles or scientific laws that are written in stone. What is important is not only a students’ ability to parrot back information but their willingness to engage with the material, to challenge their own preconceptions and to push their discipline forward. And while violently challenging the received wisdom of the academy is my pedagogical project, I recognize it’s not for everyone. I’m not suggesting that there is no subversive potential in “classic” literature, for instance,
but rather that our subjectivity makes them subversive, rather than their objective status. Grades are not useful. To the extent that they predict “future success” (whatever that is) they certainly can’t screen out douchebags, and I think that should be an important academic priority inside and outside of Whitman College. There are dozens of colleges across the country who have transitioned to “evaluation” grading and don’t record numerical grades. This kind of system is fairer to students, more informative to interested graduate programs and doesn’t lend itself as easily to ideological uniformity. As things stand now, Whitman’s promotion of ideological, racial, sexual and cultural diversity gets a big, fat red F.
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may 7, 2009
op-ed
QUESTIONS ABOUT US:
Here is a surprise for all!
Time does fly. Doesn’t September seem so far away? Yet paradoxically, the weather in Walla Walla seems to come full circle. At the beginning Gary of the year, it’s shirtless WANG and sunshine on Ankeny Columnist and at the end of the year it’s shirtless, sunshine (hopefully) and nostalgia. Now, just in conversations with friends, it seems like everyone’s reflecting upon the past year. What have I done? What did I miss out on? What can I do to make up for lost time? I never expected the end of my sophomore year to be an art project, two tests and a paper away. The thing with time is that you never get it back; it slips through your fingers the harder you try to hold on to it. It ticks and tocks when you want it to go by faster and it disappears in a haze of laughter until you realize it’s three a.m. Adults, not just people 18-and-up but the people with real jobs, always told me that time passes faster and faster when you get older and I never really knew why until now. It’s because they don’t get surprised as often as we do. At the end of last year, I was excited to be done with freshman year because sophomore year loomed on the horizon. Being a first year meant always being surprised and amazed by the parties, the workload, and just being away from home, by yourself. Sometimes, your surprise reflects your naiveté but we’re all pretty quick on the uptake. Now, being a sophomore means knowing where
the off-campus houses are, which parties are fun and which aren’t or what classes are good which aren’t. It’s about actually making decisions that matter, like declaring a major or study/party abroad. I can’t even imagine how seniors must feel after three and a half or even four years in Walla Walla. I guess nothing fazes them anymore except an impending diploma. But, maybe a way to slow time down, or at least our perception of it, is to be surprised more often. It’s in that very moment of surprise that you forget what time it is. But by nature, being surprised isn’t something you intend, it just happens to you. It’s like meeting people for the first time because at that moment, they are full of surprises. If you’ve already seen their facebook, then some measure of that capacity to be surprised is irretrievably lost. Now, when was the last time you were really surprised? I think sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine. After all, since middle school, teachers have been giving us study planners to write down homework in. But now, we fill our planner not with homework, but our life. Meeting at noon? Check. Coffee with a friend at 3:30? Check. Work at 5? Check. Well, all these checks reduce life to a series of actions. It’s a series of motions we go through each day until we sleep at night. What we’re faced with is the challenge of how to make the last few weeks meaningful and memorable. It’s to live without expectation or prediction. It’s in those moments of spontaneity that you grow. So surprise someone.
douglas
Whitman College Pio neer
13
s say ? ú s e J d l u W h a t wo
‘Revenge of the Swine’
in conjunction with the WHO and CDC, have striven for. However, I feel that the media is to blame for much of the fear mongering that has transpired. It seems as if each day an official from the WHO or CDC has urged measured caution and vigilance, and each day another stoJesús ry from the AP comes trumpeting boldly the VÁSQUEZ numbers of swine flu cases in the US. Columnist Indeed, there seems to be a general lack of education and much misinformation that raising fears of dominates conversation. In conversations world. Of course, this isn’t the first time it’s hap- I’ve had, hearsay and speculation triumph over fact and official reports. Not to menpened. tion the ghastly name Most of us read‘swine flu,’ which ing weren’t alive to I feel that the media is rolls off the tongue remember the failed so devilishly, the predictions of U.S. to blame for much of term could have been health experts back the fear mongering that has birthed by Satan him/ in the 70s. That was transpired.” herself. Add to that when officials presuch popular pandicted a pandemic of, demic movies as “28 you guessed it, swine Days Later” (which is flu, which, according certainly still fresh in my imagination), and to my elders, freaked out many. It was this exact scare that has prompted it all builds to a terrifying crescendo of fear some in my family back home in Texas to and helplessness. Indeed, there is cause for concern. A rich question health authorities. To them, it’s the boy crying flu, crying about the massive healthy concern that’s blessed with logic and rational thinking, rather than an anemic fear plague which is about to consume them all. Of course, in 1976, the flu failed to mani- that perpetually blights one’s mind. Wash fest itself, and many are eager to point out your hands, try to cough/sneeze into a tissue, that hundreds of people died and suffered or into your elbow if no tissue is available. In neurological disorders as a result of the fed- other words, act as hygienic as possible, and eral inoculation program that resulted from treat your body right. Also, remember – in the 1919 ‘Spanish’ flu the premature panic (indeed, the vaccine had that killed millions, the mortality rate was not been thoroughly tested). To be fair, government officials were mere- 2.5 percent. Usually, during flu season, on avly responding to an unknown virus that led erage the morality rate is 0.1 percent. Furthermore, remember, life is not somemany people to fear a reprisal of 1919-like conditions (during which a deadly ‘Spanish’ thing to be taken in baby steps. Any day could flu killed 500,000 Americans and 20 million be our last, flu or no flu. Be cautious, but enjoy yourself. worldwide). Surely, the Obama administration would not like a repeat of 1976, nor would they like to remain complacent. There’s a healthy, balanced position that the American government, Pigs will kill you and your family! Or, at least, that’s what the mainstream media seems to be portraying. After a slew of infections and deaths in Mexico, it seemed as if this novel virus was prepared to take the world by storm, a pandemic throughout the
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Op-ed
Whitman College Pio neer
Musings from
Abroad
by Jasper Lipton Guest Columnist
I know that people talk about how good French “cuisine” is all the time, but let me tell you—the cuisine is pretty decent, but the whole approach to food is what’s really bangin’. No matter what you’re eating, you can rest assured that love, tenderness, and at least half a stick of butter have gone into it. The result, for the most part, is street food and po’-boy cuisine that is almost tragically delicious. Imagine your favorite taco truck, and then extend that concept to almost every food—be it sandwiches, poultries, bizarre Belgian sauerkrauts, crepes or the humblest of fondues. Everything, that is, except, strangely, Chinese food, which has let me down, hard, on several occasions. There is an attitude about food here that just doesn’t exist in the States, and never could. Allow me to give an example: There is a place in the Saint-Michel district that makes
the best Greek sandwiches I have ever tasted. For those of you who don’t know, a Greek sandwich is a pita bread stuffed with about a pound of mystery meat that has been roasted on a spit and, as far as I can tell, never been refrigerated. This is shaved off of the spit, as it is cooking, with a small, hand-held power saw. Talk about savage. Lettuce, tomato, delicious tzatziki sauce are added to this, along with—and this is the coup de grace—French (freedom) fries. Let me say that again: French fries and meat inside the same pita. Now, you might say, “But Jasper, there are French fries in the burritos here!” No. No, there are not. Burritos have their place, certainly and especially those with French fries and avocado chunks hidden within, but the Greek sandwich is the King of street foods. These babies are fantastically, gut-wrenchingly, grease-drippingly good, and one Greek sandwich is basically all you can eat in the course of a day. To boot, they’re quite cheap,
may 7, 2009
Great Greek sandwiches about €4.50, which is only like half a million dollars these days. Not bad, considering they weigh about half as much as I do. As I was saying before I got distracted, the best Greek sandwich I’ve had is in SaintMichel, at a place called the “Maison de Gyros.” Their meat is only rarely too salty, and always perfectly spiced. The lettuce is fresh and crisp, the tomatoes are juicy, and the tza-
Imagine your favorite taco truck, and then extend that concept to almost every food—be it sandwiches, poultries, bizarre Belgian sauerkrauts, crepes or the humblest of fondues.”
tziki is as refreshing as one could ever hope. Plus—and this is how you know you’re at a good joint—they rub your pita on the meatspit and warm it up before they fill it with the strange Mediterranean delicacies. But it’s the ambience of the place that real-
ly makes the experience. Downstairs, there is a small, semi-open-to-the-air sit-down area; this is excellent, as the sandwiches are big, messy and enjoyed more easily when seated. The proprietors constantly dump salt all over the floor to soak up the grease and neither the downstairs or upstairs dining areas (I suggest avoiding the upstairs) appear as though they have ever been cleaned. The last time I visited, a pigeon joined us for dinner. It flew in, and proceeded to wander unchallenged amongst the diners, picking here and there at kebab tidbits, its single swollen, oversized, disgusting foot in prominent display, until finally it decided it had had enough and vanished in a swirl of feathers. As my lady-friend and I rose to leave, she pointed out the stray cat that was lounging as nonchalant as Baudelaire’s dandy in the corner. We wandered into the beautiful Paris twilight, the bells of Notre Dame ringing clearly in the crisp air, as the toothless sandwich men waved us goodbye, grunting unintelligibly and wiping their unwashed fingers on their grease-coated aprons. Au revoir, my friends. And next time, cook the pigeon.
Violence against students not completely unwarranted Several weeks ago, The Pioneer listed “towngown tension” as the seventh-worst thing about attending Whitman. “Townies,” as citizens of Walla Walla are William LAWRENCE called, are viewed with Columnist amusement, fear and ignorance by Whitman students. Any male between the ages of 18 and 30 is considered a threat if he ventures anywhere near our little enclave. Indeed, several targeted attacks against students this year have given us justified reason for alarm. But our response to these attacks has been largely misguided and fails to understand the problem. Until students realize that these assaults are our own creation, they will continue. Last month, The Pioneer Editorial Board accused the administration of taking insufficient steps to protect students and suggested hiring more security guards and im-
proving lighting around campus. Would the Board have the beauty of the amphitheatre at dusk destroyed by floodlights? This approach to student safety
Considering our status as privileged tourists in this middle-class town, we might as well make ourselves likeable. This begins with not assuming every strange face is a mugger, and continues with actually making friends from the community.”
misses the point entirely. The first step to actually resolving this problem, especially for students living on-campus, is to realize that a permanent community with permanent residents exists
outside our bubble. We, on the other hand, cycle out every four years, never really getting to know the nature of Walla Walla proper. Our presence here has real effects, many of them negative. Aside from the wine industry, Whitman is probably the greatest factor raising tax rates and property values in Walla Walla. This is not lost on residents. Not only are we separate from the greater Walla Walla community, we love it that way. I personally find a perverse glee in knowing that, as a Whitman student, I am largely exempt from several laws that would otherwise be an annoyance. A cancerous otherizing of Walla Walla residents has taken place among the student body. The perceived “townie threat” is inflated to the point of being self-fulfilling. I was once walking by Prentiss in a group of about eight people, when an unfamiliar man fell into step behind us. A nervous fear infected the group, and whispers started: “Is that a townie? Why is he following us?
What should we do?” From all the glances and hushed voices, it must have been quite obvious that we were talking about him. Of course, a lone man is never going to bother a group of eight. But if I were in his shoes, I may have gone off and scared another student on purpose—if I’m being demonized, it might as well be justified. This is the sort of self-reflection that violent encounters with community members should create, not an argument over how many security guards is enough. Considering our status as privileged tourists in this middle-class town, we might as well make ourselves likable. This begins with not assuming every strange face is a mugger, and continues with actually making friends from the community. Perhaps an era of peace and mutual respect between Walla Wallans and students awaits. A little humility from students will go a long way toward meeting this goal. Until then, a few unlucky students will pay the price for our collective aloofness.
FEATURES
MAY 7, 2009
WHITMAN COLLEGE PIO NEER
44% 55.6% 2.2% 0%
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OR s: EVERYO NE KN OWS that it’s easier to every compla about it. one k The Wh in about a prob nows le it m m an camp than to d you hear u s o is no e people somet aid, or th whining about xception; how o hing ften do studen e dinin str uctive g hall, and failin t ser vices, financ g to me ial ideas the Feat for positive cha ntion any conures team nge has com ? This week, for how p iled you to brin r on cam g about positive ideas pus. We ch hope to ange ate a bu g enerzz and g iv e a to thos e of yo voice u com mitted t o creativ ely improvin g the campu s.
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FEATURES
MAY 7, 2009
Meal Plans & Dining Hall
“G etting loc al a s ma n r es t au r a nt s t y ot h e o a c ce p r colleg “ Sopho es do w t s wipes m ould b lea s t b or es should e fant a e the o s tic.” n ot h a v p e to b tion of “ T he m e t o hem h e aving fe n a meal pla ing me al plans shou n, w e r mea als r ath ld r ein ls per s or ther e sho s e t a r t e t h uld at e m es te t an gue “ I appr s t s wip he abili t y to r.” ec s wipe es .” jus t wis iate that B on ot h e r p h ther A ppéti eople in e wa s hou r s t a lways h us mor e fl for din a s local n e r wo exibili t h e “ T he k y uld be i tch e ns appr ec in pr epar ing al thy food av ia ail in my o w t e d too d o r ms “G ues t n mea able , I .” would s wipe ls . L ate need t polic y r use t he o be im is r idic meals p r o u v lo ed a li t t hat t h tle .” ey pay us a s is- - peo fo r h ow ple sho u e ve r t h ey cho ld be allowe d to ose .”
Health center “It’s well known that the health center’s great for drunk people or those who need a bed to lie in because of the flu but they really can’t help with anything beyond that.” “Better mental health services.” “I also think that the health center needs to be more sensitive about women’s health; I was guilt tripped about birth control, avoided when I wanted to get a pap smear, and am now generally very discouraged from using their services at all.” “Health Center should provide more services, more often.”
WHITMAN COLLEGE PIO NEER
q UoTa t io Ns C Ly n d s e y W i l s o n & A o L L e c let h T e ea d B Bu y ch al
“I think some sort of drug and alcohol free living option should be available to students living on campus.” “Residential Life after freshman year has few activities, and if you are not greek you may still want some that are more than study breaks.” “I think the RAs could be better chosen... There have been a lot of potentially great RAs and a share of not such great RA people who have become RAs.”
Residential Life “There should be more ‘non-major’ humanities classes and more alternative voices classes offered—there’s a wide selection, but most of them aren’t offered every semester. Also, more should be offered during morning lecture times.” “The school should attempt to release a two-year academic catalogue to help students plan ahead.” “Registration needs to be changed to allow for longterm planning.” “Trimesters would be great at a liberal arts school to give us more opportunity to take various classes.” “I think there should be a few more specific distribution requirements; for example, a student can currently complete their requirements without ever taking a history or philosophy
K_\
XiiXp f] jkl[\ek j\im`Z\j kXi^\k [`]]\i\ek ]XZ\kj f] X N_`kk`\Ëj \og\i`\eZ\ fe ZXdglj% 8jb\[ kf Z_ffj\ n_`Z_ gif^iXdj Zflc[ lj\ `dgifm\d\ek# jlim\p i\jgfe[\ekj iXeb\[ k_\ ]fccfn`e^ j\im`Z\j `e fi[\i f] c\Xjk `[\Xc kf dfjk `[\Xc1 Meal Plans and Dining Hall Extracurricular art options Registration and Academic Advising Financial Aid Services Health Services Programming (ASWC, Coffeehouse, CAB) Residential Life Extracurricular music options Career and Job Center Study Abroad Office KWCW Facilities Community Service Opportunities
course.” “Perhaps there should be a bit more guidance in planning classes that give a truly broad and inclusive liberal arts experience.” “Also, I think there should be a way to balance out registration times each semester—I’ve consistently gotten late ones, and it has affected the classes I was able to take here in a potentially negative way.” “Whitman is assuredly a liberal arts college, but there should be more classes on at least a few essential life skills, such as how to invest and balance your finances, etc.”
Registration
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A cad emi cs 17
“Take classes in your major that are recommended to you and that you’re interested in, but also ask your academic advisors about classes in other disciplines that you can enjoy.” “The fact we need six credits in fine arts has been absolutely devastating…for instance, people that aren’t good in quantitative analysis are only required to take one class and they can take something that doesn’t have involve too many numbers… Even though a lot of people have Math-phobia, the beginning classes in the math department are very simple. They take the easiest math concepts from the part of math and make it even easier. So people should challenge themselves, before giving up and jumping ship.” “I feel like from my perspective the biggest problem is even though we’re a liberal arts institution we still don’t facilitate enough inter-disciplinary studies—like in the end you end up majoring in one thing. You learn the principals of that department and everything you learn is based on that department. The departments themselves don’t interact and sometimes they are antagonists.” “They should have cool bio classes like ‘animal behavior’ be open to bio majors. They have all these ‘non-major’ classes so non-science people can get distribution that are way cool and I’m stuck studying the protein coat on vesicles in the Golgi body when the only reason I’m a bio major is that I’m interested in animal behavior! I mean come on!” “I’d also rather be on a quarter system rather than a semester system with three classes at a time so that there aren’t so many conflicting deadlines/tests all at once. This would help reduce stress and allow students to really focus on each project at hand. And students could also take more classes since you’d have 12 per year instead of 8, which would be exciting for Whitman students who have so many different interests.” “It would be great if we could get the math and physics departments to collaborate. For example for differential equations, you’re learning the concrete examples of how to do the differentials in respect to some concrete physics problem and the physics goes into the derivations of what the math is. I think if the two departments collaborated it would be a great way to improve both, but mostly physics.”
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WHITMAN COLLEGE PIO NEER
FEATURES
OrientAtion oOpS Es No college can make every one of its students happy, but 87 percent of survey respondents felt that Whitman tries to come as close as possible. According to Simi Singh, who responded to the “Freshman Year” survey, the negative parts of the first year are important aspects of the college experience. “Going to college is supposed to be a difficult and experiential transition and a lot of the valuable experiences you gain from freshman year should come from the difficulties that you encounter socially, academically, or extra-curricularly,” Singh wrote. “The bumps in the road make for exciting and worthy learning opportunities.” These “bumps in the road” consisted of discomfort during orientation, difficulties finding the right classes and different opinions on what dorm living should be like. When surveyed about what specifically, if anything, they would change about orientation, 10 out of the 53 respondents listed “Playfair” as something that should be taken out, or at least changed to a different date. Playfair was a mixer on Ankeny that involved getting-toknow you games and was a required event for incoming first years. “Playfair should be a week or two later once people have started classes and gotten a bit settled in,” wrote Katie Lei. “The way it was done this year, it was just an overload of faces and names that didn’t seem very effective.” Stephanie Herbst wrote that it was “weird being treated like a 12-year-old on one of the first days of college.” The “Can I kiss you?” lecture about consent in intimate situations was commented on by various students. Many either disagreed with the way the speaker delivered his message in “Can I kiss you?” or felt that it was redundant when
MAY 7, 2009
BY
Sara Levy
there had been other discussions about first-years. felt we could come to them for advice consent already. Class selection was also cause for dis- or support. Requiring freshman to live In regard to the presentation about comfort for many first years, as they get together in small dorms in even smaller alcohol consumption that took place to choose classes only after the upper- sections ensures that everybody makes during the first week, Timothy Wilder classmen have. Many respondents felt friends,” wrote Hayley Hemphill. felt that it was “fundamentally flawed” dissatisfied with the fact that they could Some suggestions for how to make because it lacked important facts. not get into many classes that interested dorm living more comfortable were to “We are told that drinking is a choice them. arrange more section-to-section bondthat some will make—but that we Nathan Ord wrote “I wasn’t entrirely ing as well as mixers with people of the should be wary of—and are then pre- happy about my classes because for the opposite gender, and to lower the temsented with anecdotes and statistics re- most part, I felt that they were simply perature in the dorms. garding alcohol’s use. But never are the things that I needed to do, and didn’t In general, though, the survey reactual effects of heavy binge drinking want to do. This was primarily due to sponses were all specific suggestions on illustrated or explained, and it would the closure of all the classes I wanted to small changes that could be made, not seem that these talks have very little take.” condemnations of Whitman in general. positive effect on the student body, if Dorm life, however, was something Most students commented that they feel any,” Wilder wrote. that got few complaints. well taken care of. Some of the respon“All the ResLife staff were super Peter Olson summed it up when he dents who started approachable and made wrote: “I’ve talked to friends at other school in January felt sure that we colleges, and no one has it as cushy as that they missed out we do.” on important orientation events. Aurora Bowers gr ea t said she wished w h e t o h av e a “It w r Jan-starts had a e al l s tu n ‘ar t clu ould be and b u scramble, and d cann p l i e s s e t h e a e n t s co ’ o f s o r t s ot a Oliver Wood r t bu , n ot uld ff c ar t c f i e l o s d o e m i n l s e e g an said he felt la sse o n to o r d to p ly th d su s .” os e p of a plike he enr o tui tio y the fi “ I fe e “ Mo l l ne a e n r d l e co .” in was just r ts f u n d l i ke t h e n ce r s r t s .” “ Wh “thrown d e n t av a i l a b l e e n e e d s it to b e s r eso ma n lack in” with d e r t t h a t a r e fo r g r o m u s or e u h n g e t a r c e s b e y o co m m i t the rest M u d e u m b r e ’ t fo r m a p s of s t l t n o ud ha l l a of l cl u of the of th ng.’ T he d ‘ever y ed spir i t sa bs A
Progr ammi ng & C lubs
n aw ua b e r ea r “ I fin esom S WC . H un l d e p e i s l i t t l e o d y of f a i l a d e s ys r th e t h in “ We it a cce t e m . vey t r adi x plor a t io s s to f r u s t r a t i n ” e t e n i o ns . one’s d ng t the ” o be bed B ed R a ar t w ce s h e e ls fr am de ni build ed e an (s tr a i ng and camp p d simp r m a u ci ng a t t r e p i ng s) an ly beca W s o s d a te r b th use alloo Tye - D y er s ar o to I e W und n F ig ht s ! ” a te r g un/
may 7, 2009
A&E
Whitman College Pio neer
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Students, community gather to ‘take back the night’ by Sara Levy Reporter
Just as the clock tower tolled at 9:30 p.m., a group of Whitman students and community members assembled in front of Memorial Hall and stood silently. Then junior Laura Deering read the statistics: One in six women and one in 33 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. College age women are four times more likely to be assaulted. 60 percent of women don’t report the assault to the police. “Take Back the Night” started at 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 30. Holding candles, participants walked across campus and through part of downtown Walla Walla to show their support for those who have experienced sexual assault. But more than that, “Take Back the Night” was about empowerment. “Survivors of sexual assault are the most important part of ‘Take Back the Night,’” said junior Jacqueline Kamm. “The rally offers survivors of violence an opportunity to voice their experiences and publicly affirm their transition from ‘victim’ to ‘survivor.’” This event has been held at Whitman for the past 19 years, according to Associate Dean of Students Barbara Maxwell. This year it was organized by Deering, Kamm and junior Nickie Schulz. According to Maxwell, events such as this one are important because even if a person is not a perpetrator of sexual assault, he or she could still be condoning it. “One person in a community might engage
in an unacceptable behavior, but how many people stood by and ignored, justified, tolerated or perpetuated that behavior in some way? We have to be vigilant against all forms of sexual violence as well as any type of behavior that allows it to continue,” said Maxwell. “I believe that each member of our community can make a difference in ending sexual violence” Paco Leos, a student at Walla Walla Community College, found out about the event through a club at his school and came because he wanted to show support for some friends of his. He wished the community could have been more involved. “We all want to ‘take back the night,’ not just Whitman students,” he said. Kamm said that connecting with non-Whitman affiliates is something she would like to see improved about the march in the future. “If somebody from the community were to see us, would they know what was happening? Maybe not. That’s probably something we need to work on,” she said. “But my hope is that when people see us marching and ask why, maybe that will start a conversation. This event has the potential to get observers to talk about sexual assault.” Open-mic performances were held in Reid after the march to urge people to talk about sexual assault. The Sirens of Swank sang “Arms of an Angel” and junior Karina Kidd read the poem “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou. Then the tone became more serious when Deering told a story about a guy at a party
who grabbed her inappropriately. She said that while this may seem like a small action, ignoring it is what allows it to turn into something serious. “I thought, what if he was alone with a girl, what would he do then? I’ve heard so many stories like this and it always shocks me how often these things happen. But no one talks about them. That’s what I want, for us as a group to be able to talk about these things with our friends. If we refuse to talk about small inappropriate touches, how can we expect to be comfortable talking about the much more invasive and personally damaging ones?” she said. klein After Deering’s story, more people felt Whitman students and local community members march carrying candleklein sticks. The march was part of an invent intended to spread awareness and courage to speak, break the silence and stigma attached with sexual assault. “I was really struck by the women who got up with their friends because they obviously see people talk about these things when they had a really difficult time and needed support. are still so fresh,” she said. “It was really movIt’s such a new experience, they’re still feeling ing.” the beginning of the pain, and it’s amazing to
Drive-In movie draws ‘huge turnout,’ to continue in coming years by CJ Wisler Reporter
Despite the pressure of end-of-the-year papers, theses, tests and the looming gloom of finals, many Whitman students took a welldeserved break to attend Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) final Drive-In Movie Night on Friday, May 1. “There was a huge turnout,” said sophmore and CAB representative Ryan Lum. “I would estimate there were probably around 150 for each movie at least.”
The event played the Oscar-winning and heartfelt movie “Slumdog Millionaire” as well as the original version of “The Italian Job.” The movies, while seemingly an odd match-up, attracted a large demographic of the Whitman student body. “CAB put forth about 10 movies for the student body to vote on [via listserv e-mail link],” said Lum. “We took the student votes and chose the top choice [‘Slumdog Millionaire’] as well as [another movie] we thought would compliment the top choice [which was ‘The Italian Job’]. Both are excellent movies and hit a wide range of appeal.” “The Italian Job,” the first showing, is a
whacky, slapstick 1960’s British robbery movie starring Michael Caine in one of his first major leading roles. The movie, while less plot-driven than “Slumdog Millionaire,” still offered the audience some hilarious and simple entertainment. “I enjoyed ‘Slumdog Millionare’ more than ‘The Italian Job’ because I think the plot is much darker and more complex, which I enjoyed,” said Lum. “This isn’t to say that ‘The Italian Job’ isn’t wonderful, but I hadn’t seen ‘Slumdog [Millionaire]’ before, and I was very impressed by it.” While the CAB program will become part of the new Programming Board (due in part to lack
of funds because of the recession), Lum has high hopes that the Drive-In Movie Nights will continue. “[Drive-In Movie Night] is continually one of the biggest events that CAB (and ASWC) has for turn-outs,” said Lum. “I personally will try my hardest to keep it alive [and] I don’t believe I’m alone in that opinion.”
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Whitman College Pio neer
may 7, 2009
WANTED: Craigslist stories, safety tips for campus users A by Alyssa Fairbanks
who use it to search for housing. Additionally students use the site Reporter to buy and sell merchandise, to look for amusement, to advertise for rides After the recent rash of “Craigslist Murders,” and to look for relationships/sex. is it still safe or practical for Whitman students Opinions of Craigslist are to use Craigslist? mixed on campus; On April 23, 2009, The New some people have York Daily News reported that pobeen moderately to lice had arrested Philip Markoff, very successful and the suspected “Craigslist Killer” others have had no sucof model Julissa Brisman who adcess whatsoever. vertised her services online. The Craigslist provides a Boston University med-student large database with a vashot Brisman and is suspected in riety of offerings and very a kidnapping and robbery attack a region-specific entries. The few days earlier of another womsite is easy to navigate and an advertising online. Markoff kept up to date. It is also will be charged with first-degree anonymous, offers quick murder by the Boston Municipal responses and allows for Court. easy connections to be These attacks call into quesmade between people. tion the safety of using a service Whitman students also relike Craigslist, but also fail to recport dangers of using ognize the benefits of online advertisCraigslist such as ing sites. VARONIN the prominence According to their Web of scammers site, Craigslist consists because the of “Local classifieds and site is anonyforums for 570 cities in mous. Gener50 countries worldwide [it i s ] ally, according to the survey, stuo f community moderated, and largely free.” On the page for Craigslist Tri-Cities (the those page views are from Whitman students dents felt the dangers usually involved “scams nearest to Walla Walla), there are headings who use the online classified forum for various and creepers” or sex-related advertisements. for community, personals, discussion forums, means. In a recent survey of 35 respondents, Some offered advice to “meet up to purchase/ 65.2 percent of students reported using the site sell goods in a public place” and to not “give housing, jobs, gigs and services. There are also links to FAQ pages, informa- to search for jobs, followed by 39.1 percent out all your personal information.” When asked to report successes or failures, several students had interesting stories. One student found a studio apartment, but that Taken from an online poll of 35 responses. was the student’s “only success.” Another student got a job two summers ago through Craigslist and it ended up being a “better job than ... hoped for.” Other students mysteriously report “phenomenal successes” and one said, “Oh, yeah. Let’s just say I’ve been able to meet a whole new side of Walla Walla using Craigslist.” However, another student reports a near disaster when using Craigslist. The student was lookBuying Selling Housing Search for Dating or Sex ing at a rental house found on the Jobs Relationships Merchandise Merchandise site and recounts this story. 61.8% 38.2% 39.1% 65.2% 8.7% 13% She was told to come any time tion about avoiding scams and personal safety tips. Craigslist gets more than 20 billion page views per month, according to the Web site. Some
What do you use Craigslist for?
Craigslist-using Whitties Question: “Do you use Craiglist?”
Yes!
It’s not for me..
61.8%
38.2%
to see the rental, so the student brought friends with her. “It was totally freaky,” she said. “No one was there, but the house was strewn with children’s toys, and there was a drawing of a girl in crayon on a wall. It was like something out of a Japanese horror film.” She didn’t go into the dark basement, although her friends did. The whole experience was pretty scary, she said: “I’m pretty sure if I had gone alone I would have been the victim of a serial killer or something.” While there are dangers, of the students that participated in the survey 91.7 percent said they would recommend Craigslist to other students. Reasons included the fact that it works, that it is easier than looking at classified ads in a newspaper and that it is a great option for searching for jobs. One student said that “many employers use it to advertise for open positions.” Other students said to use it as long as one has common sense or that they would recommend the site but not necessarily as a first choice. Recent bad press may be giving sites like Craigslist a bad reputation; however, for Whitman users of Craigslist the benefits seem to outweigh the dangers. Using common sense and careful precautions Craigslist can be an extremely useful tool when searching for jobs, housing or buying/selling merchandise.
may 7, 2009
A&E
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Art majors unveil first ever Fouts-created theses by Jamie Soukup Editor-in-Chief
In addition to paintings and sculptures on display in the Sheehan Gallery in Olin Hall, visitors are treated to what initially appears as broken bottles on the ground, bags of confetti, and a bubble-like contraption that hangs from a ceiling, in which visitors must kneel and insert their head. These pieces are parts of larger-scale senior art theses that have been on display since the opening reception Friday, April 24, at 5 p.m. Thirteen art majors had their works on display at the exhibition. The 13 students represent the first class of graduating seniors whose final projects have been created in the Fouts Center for the Visual Arts (FCVA). Art majors echo a general appreciation for the new art building, as well as a recognition that their final products would have been different were they created in different spaces. “The building is wonderful,” said senior art major Rachel Stein. “Having so many resources makes creating art a much smoother process. In all the years I have been doing art I have never had access to such a beautiful space.” Art majors said that they appreciated having their own personal studio spaces, which they chose at the beginning of the academic year. They also see a wide open future available for the building. “The new art complex houses an infinite amount of possibilities,” said fellow art major Kevin Booth. He added: “Thank you to all the people that made the building the way it is.” Assistant Art Professor Michelle Acuff believes that the FCVA will shape future generations of art students and theses. “The FCVA is a huge and crucial resource for the students. It has the potential to generate community, inspire more risk-taking and take students into deeper places with their work. I’m seeing this start to happen with this first senior class,” Acuff said. Acuff, in conjunction with Art Professor Alex Herzog, instructed the art majors in their senior year class requirement of Senior Seminar in the Fall and Senior Thesis in the Spring, respectively. As Acuff puts it, the class focuses on establishing an intellectual, historical and contemporary foundation for students to consider their own artwork. Seniors began considering their theses and experimenting in the fall, but were not expected to begin work on their final theses until this
semester. Seniors were allowed to install their theses in Sheehan Gallery the Sunday before the Saturday opening, which proved problematic for some art majors. Vanessa Johnson, who did not paint on canvas but on a panel surface, worried about the fragility of her thesis when transporting from FCVA to Olin. Brett Muckler ran into a problem when he realized he would not be able to write in graphite on the gallery walls, so he had to use a different method: “the obsolete type-writer on one-side-used paper stuck to the walls with chewing gum from my mouth.” All in all, seniors describe the event itself as running smoothly, and as a great final product. “I am impressed, and incredibly proud of everyone. I consider it a privilege to have been able to work alongside everyone over the course of the year. I think we as a group really came together and produced some great pieces of work,” said Johnson. “It is fascinating, what people are interested in, and what they love. The work of the other seniors is beautiful to me, and very professional-looking. It could stand in galleries I have visited around the country,” said Muckler, echoing Johnson’s sentiments. The reception was preceded with a Perry Award Lecture by artist Cristin Millett, who is widely known for her work in sculpture. Millett, who is currently an art professor at Penn State School of Visual Arts, spoke about her own artwork and methods of installation. Her lecture, according to attendees, was light and humorous. “The Perry Lecture and Awards give a professional and external perspective on the work,” said Acuff. “The students have the opportunity to discuss their work with an active and established artist. For those seeking to go on into a graduate program, this is especially useful.”
hong
hong
Thesis displays at the Senior Art Thesis Exhibition such as Kate Stull’s (top) and Stephen Phillips (bottom) adorn the walls and floors of the Sheehan Gallery. The exhibit will run until May 24.
VOICES of WHITMAN: art majors on their theses KEVIN BOOTH: “My thesis makes use of the overwhelming energy that surrounds my personal space when inspired by connections to specific environments and people. My aim is to create a space for reflection upon the places people inhabit and how individuals in these shared spaces interact materially and spiritually.”
VANESSA JOHNSON: “I explore our image-based consumer culture through the juxtaposition and re-appropriation of images. Essentially my paintings pose questions, or attempt to reveal, some of the processes or realities I find get overlooked, distorted or completely disregarded in our culture. I want to look at what’s behind the constructed images, the advertisements, and the media stories we are bombarded with on a daily basis.”
RACHEL STEIN: “Creating a body of work is really hard! hong My piece is definitely a product of my own experiences; there are themes from many aspects of my life, including my other focus of study which is psychology.”
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A&E
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may 7, 2009
Paging Dr. McDreamy: What is SEXY about Doctors? c o m m e n ta r y by Mariko Helm A&E Associate Editor
Remember the time way back in the prehistoric ages, when people thought that firefighters were sexy? Well their fire is out: make way for the scalpel-wielding, scrubs-wearing doctors of primetime television shows. Maybe the hype around sexy doctors comes hand in hand with the fact that they’re capable of saving lives. In a way, they are like firefighters: they just go about saving people in different ways. They put out the internal ailments, not the external hazards. Whatever the reason may be, the screenwriters for these shows based in and around the OR (which stands for operating room, for those of you less-interested viewers) are making a killing (no pun intended). “General Hospital,” which sparked the beginning of this somewhat ingenious phenomenon has had
such positive feedback that it has run 11,798 episodes and counting. It has been on the air since 1963. “ER,” which has won 22 Emmy Awards, is another example of a medical drama. It features intrigue and scandal with George Clooney (Ocean’s 11, Syriana, Michael Clayton) who plays Dr. Doug Ross, the ringleader and man-candy extraordinaire. Then come the more GenX-oriented shows of today. “Grey’s Anatomy” is infamous for the nicknames “McDreamy” and “McSteamy,” names appropriately referring to Patrick Dempsey (“Made of Honor,” “Sweet Home Alabama”) who plays Dr. Derek Shepherd and Eric Danes (“Divine Unrest”) who plays Dr. Mark Sloane. They both have the medical license, the dreamy/steamy looks, oh and Dr. Shepherd has the thick, wavy black hair. And did I mention that one of them is the best neurosurgeon in the country and the other is the best plastic surgeon in the country? I may be pulling theories out of the air here, but it ap-
pears to me that Hollywood is trying to idolize doctors. But don’t worry, boys. There is a lot of female eye-candy in this genre of television. Kate Walsh (“Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Bewitched”) is a stunning redhead who plays Addison Montgomery on the spin-off from “Grey’s Anatomy” called “Private Practice.” Not surprisingly, she is one of the best neonatal surgeons in the country. Who would’ve guessed it? Her best friend and confidante is played by Audra McDonald (TV shows “The Bedford Diaries,” “Kidnapped”), another pretty lady who, again, is the best at what she does. However, “Private Practice” isn’t the only show that’s harboring attractive females. “House,” a Fox TV series in its fifth season has both Dr. “Thirteen” Hadley played by a foxy Olivia Wilde (“Meeting Magdalene”) and charming Dr. Cameron played by Jennifer Morrison (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Mall Cop”).
These shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice” and “House” are three of the most popular shows on television and the fact that they are all based on medical drama means that they are doing something right. The shows also add in their own dose of surrealism. When in the world are there going to be patients who are brought into the ER, midcoital, because they are literally stuck together due to the man’s piercing down there? When are there going to be cases in which a deranged, grief-stricken woman claims that another woman is carrying her baby even though her own infant died during pregnancy? Probably never. But hey, as long as Dr. Shepherd continues to dramatically cut brains open like a pro and as long as Taye Diggs (Rent, Chicago) who plays Dr. Sam Bennett on Private Practice keeps on shining that 1,000-watt smile, I am completely entertained.
Coffeehouse concert: Centrevol does Whitman
Kim
Long Beach-based band Centrevol performed at a special mid-week Coffeehouse on Wednesday, Apr. 29. Centrevol is currently on a Pacific Northwest tour, promoting their first full-length album Beggars and Thieves, which was released in spring 2008.
Kim
may 7, 2009
REVIEWS
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A failed eulogy to print media in ‘State of Play’ by Becquer Medak-Seguin Movie Reviewer
Everyone knows it. Print journalism will (lamentably) soon encounter its bereavement in old compost piles, recycle bins and prepubescent pyromaniac’s basement laboratories all across the country. Many newspapers are now transitioning (the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the latest victim) to exclusive web content because their business model is no longer profitable. This transition has produced a strong friction between old and new, traditional and avant-garde, print and web that a screenwriting team led by Tony Gilroy (“Duplicity, “Michael Clayton”) has keenly identified for Kevin Macdonald’s (“The Last King of Scotland”) new film “State of Play.” Keenly identifying it, however, is not enough. You have to do something meaningful with it. Instead, “State of Play” presents an unbelievable and clichéd film that miserably fails to do any justice to the print media establishment I am lucky to have been a part of for the past few years. It has everything for those of you who want a little mindless entertainment: adul-
tery, conspiracy, politics, corporation bashing, murder, romance, journalists-turneddetectives, and, of course, that bitter rivalry between print journalists and blogger-journalists. Oh, and get this: they file it under the sexy genre of “suspense-thriller”—whatever that means. I think I’d go for the even more passé categorization: “it’s a film about everything and nothing,” emphasis on the latter. All of that gushy stuff enumerated above crumbles at the click of a “send” button, leaving behind a strong sense of futility. Why the introduction of these superficially captivating characters in the first place? The first one we meet is Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), a traditionally schooled, weathered investigative journalist for the Washington Globe—or the Boston Post, who knows?—who has several murky political/personal ties, but, nonetheless, gets the job done. The next one is congressman Steven Collins (Ben Affleck), a dirty-handed, adulterous yet attractive and sly businessman whose military ties to a Blackwater-like corporation get the better of him. Finally, we meet Della Frye (Rachel McAdams), the blogger-turned-investigator upcoming hotshot at the Globe who has no
idea what she has just gotten herself into. Cal’s best friend—in the longing, Ihaven’t-seen-you-forever style—is Collins, who arrives at his house in the middle of the night wanting to have some guy talk. As any terrible reporter would do, Cal channels the conversation towards what he wants to hear rather than what Collins wants to tell him. For this reason alone (and maybe several others), over an hour-and-a-half is wasted undoing what a good reporter wouldn’t have done. The plot thereafter sticks faithfully to a detective narrative the produces an unbelievable twist every few scenes. What’s more interesting than the plot, an extremely contrived, bleak onion whose layers are peeled back with each piece of new evidence (evocative of “Duplicity” and “The International”), is the film’s nostalgic take on print journalism and embracing glance toward blogger journalism. Cal and Della only really get along when the latter’s perspicacity submits to the former’s uncompromising ego. Though Cal mostly gets it right, Della somehow keeps up while trudging
Courtesy OF Twentieth Century Fox
Russell Crowe dons his investigative reporting shoes in Kevin Macdonald’s remake of the British TV series “State of Play.”
through the trite symbolism—also an exercise in self-importance—of print journalism alive: the murky waters of “imbedded-ness,” the fact-checking as a tool for probing deeper into the story, and the calculated “see you tomorrow everyone” that reminds the newsroom how close knit they are. Maybe that’s not terribly interesting to the 99 percent of non-journalists out there, but, honestly, that’s all this movie has. The tension between print journalists and bloggers is aptly captured by that Stephen King quote that goes something like ‘one generation’s nightmare is the next generation’s sociology.’ Perhaps he should’ve written the screenplay instead.
To see more movie reviews and to comment what you think about them, visit the Whitman Pioneer Web site at www.whitmanpioneer.com.
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Whitman College Pio neer
REVIEWS
may 7, 2009
Claws for applause? Not for this muddled mess of a film M o v i e REVIE W by Mike Sado A&E Editor
Perhaps the roadblock facing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is that, aside from the shoddy plotting and even shoddier special effects, there’s nothing to actually explore about the origins of its titular character outside of what any of the three “X-Men” movies covered. Origin stories are something of a necessity—and also dull—for most superhero movies, but Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine always worked best shrouded in mystery. But “X-Men” has become a license to print money in the house that Tom Rothman wrought, and so we get this wholly unnecessary spin-off promising to reveal all about this snappy, broody anti-hero. A rather old anti-hero for that matter: “Wolverine” opens in 1845 in Canada, where we meet Logan and his brother, Victor, as young boys. After a family spat, both brothers run off into the woods and proceed to spend the next 145 years fighting through the Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War in a cleverly edited opening credit montage. Later, the brothers join a secret mutant task force headed by Maj. William Stryker (Danny Huston), but Logan deserts after said
for Best Foreign Lantask force decides to massacre guage Film in 2005) an entire village in Nigeria was creating a parody while Victor (Liev Schrieber) of a bad 80s action film stays. All of this in the first to deliberately piss fifteen minutes of the film. off 20th Century Fox There’s a movie in the head honcho Rothman conflict between Victor and for mucking with the Logan, with Victor embracfilm during producing his wild side while Logan tion. Jackman still shoulders the burden of his looks the part, with mutation, but the script by Dabroad shoulders and vid Benioff and Skip Woods vein-y biceps, but the decides to skip over these quips and machismo character contrasts in favor are missing as “Wolof a calvacade of secondverine” devolves into string mutant cameos and inyour generic revengecomprehensible fight scenes. chase film in the style You have to wonder why the Courtesy OF Twentieth Century Fox of the “Bourne” films. filmmakers decided to hire a Hugh Jackman strikes a pose as the titular mutant in Gavin Hood’s “X-Men Origins: WolverThat’s what plagues capable actor like Schrieber if ine” “Wolverine” in the he only gets to show up with end: It never seems to Nolan injected his own brand of “realism” a severe case of mutton chops and snarl at Jackman. Victor is integral to into the “Batman” film franchise, every other justify its existence outside of creating a new Logan’s growth, but the relationship between filmmaker has decided that gloom and angst franchise to fill Fox’s coffers. Where it sidethe two is shoehorned in favor of explosions are needed for normally cheerful superheroes. lines character, it replaces with a climax of that would give Michael Bay an orgasm and Unfortunately, they also forget that darkness mutant-on-mutant fights (on top of a nuclear doesn’t automatically equal complexity, and reactor), stunts and a ridiculous anti-climax breezy PG-13 violence. For that matter, we never get a sense of who when the normally charismatic Jackman involving a memory bullet. For a film that Wolverine is either. Jackman’s character is, shrieks up into the sky and yells, “Nooooo!”, claims to tell us all about everyone’s favorite for lack of a better word, declawed through- you have to wonder if director Gavin Hood mutant, there isn’t much there to care about. out most of the film. Ever since Christopher (“Tsotsi,” which won the Academy Award
It’s love at first listen with reunited My Bloody Valentine L i v e M U S I C REVIE W by Andrew Hall Reviewer
Soulless nostalgia for the early 90s is everywhere this year. A cursory look at summer festival lineups will confirm this, with bands like Pearl Jam, Jane’s Addiction, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, The Flaming Lips and others who came to prominence by 1993 at the absolute latest dominating headlining slots almost everywhere. For the most part, people won’t be there to hear new music as much as they will be to hear songs they’ve had the better part of two decades to come to love, and the cheers that will follow one guitar chord or one drumbeat will confirm this. I’m guilty of this, too. My Bloody Valentine’s reunion tour featured absolutely no new
music, no commentary from the band beyond frontman Kevin Shields’ seemingly biannual statements about finishing his nearly fifteenyears delayed followup to 1991’s Loveless, and not even a new photograph of the band to replace their old press materials, when they were likely all much thinner. But I saw My Bloody Valentine, who I’m willing to call the defining guitar band of the last twenty years, knowing all of this, and I don’t regret it. At first I was wary. Their Seattle show, billed as their first in the city in 17 years, was woefully undersold, with the cavernous WaMu Theater looking at most half-full, and opening act Brightblack Morning Light’s stoned jams were lost in a sea of echo and an inability to project in a space much larger than their usual venues. Lilys frontman K. Heasley appeared unannounced and bored us all for a solid 40 minutes with acoustic
singer-songwriter stuff as far removed from what we’d come to see as humanly possible. We weren’t happy. All was forgiven as soon as My Bloody Valentine arrived. Signs around the theater advertised the fact that the show was going to be “extremely loud” and staffers handed out earplugs so as to discourage lawsuits, and I can comfortably say that there is no listening experience like MBV’s live performance; the band creates a wall of high-frequency noise that consumes everything around it, and its power is undeniable. Drummer Colm O’Ciosoig and bassist Deb Googe hammered at their instruments, proving themselves to be one of the most intense rhythm sections I’ve ever heard, but Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher, who were almost inanimate, were stunning; I was left utterly transfixed as soon as “I Only Said” blared
through the band’s two-PA setup, and things simply got louder from there. The set, as it did 17 years ago, ended with “You Made Me Realize,” which erupted into a twenty-minute solo in which every band member played one note or chord at upwards of 130 decibels. I felt it in my throat and in my chest, I felt my clothes blow backwards, and my eyes rolled back in my head, leaving me nearly hypnotized; it was emotionally exhausting, horrifying and the single most memorable experience I’ve ever had watching live music. Most striking was the fact that the band returned exactly in the song to where they left off, then finished it and quietly left. No one even thought about the possibility of an encore; I was too busy trying to figure out why it was that everything around me, like running water, cars and footsteps all resembled guitar feedback.
may 7, 2009
HUMOR
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HUMOR
Whitman College Pio neer
may 7, 2009
In 1883, Whitman College changed from a seminary to a four-year, degree-granting university. Yesterday, while on an OP group trip delving into the annals of Penrose Library, students unearthed several crumbling pieces of paper. Experts believe these to be the historical precedent of Whitman’s modern listserv debates. The papers, believed to have been pinned one after the other upon the Whitman seminary door one cold November, are printed below. Fel low bro the rs and sisters, a coll ege. Su ch a distaste ful wor d! If ry ina sem our ke ma ld wou y the , 83 18 th, s On this day, No vem ber 28 we if not a uni fied fro nt ma kin g our disp leas ure are t wha For ity. vers uni a be uld sho we , ues any thin g, coll eag r sch oolm aste rs wou ld hav e us pla cidl y Ou ”? lege “col new this in ce pla a e hav n eve kno wn? Ind eed, wou ld La tin I say! gra zin g in the whe atf ield s like she ep! Ris e up, With all due re sp
Re spe ctf ully, Ph inea s Re gnu m
ect, dear Phin
eas:
What does it matter to you whether our b not the defin eloved Whitm ition of a plac an be deemed e contained in t squabble ove college, semin he meaning w r words, my fr ary, universit e assign to it iends! Instea come, looking y, or brothel? , in d our love for th , let us prepa to the bright Is re to move fo e lo future ahead c a t io n it self? Let us n rward, secure . ot in the knowledg Yours, e of whence w e have Nigellus Henfo rd e confines her daily upon th rt fu g in ch oa cr bauchery our once de that seem to be en ” ne ts ti ar er al lib er of ib “l rt d at the so so-calle and his umbrage at these personally reviled Richard Wagner e am I in t, sw en at ud th st n I personally take w ng eari t to strike do devout and God-f l, our Lord saw fi al sign? er ft A of morality. As a g. in rs e not see this as a be endo w t to s us m em – se o y lt ag cu esteemed fa twelvemonth pack of lies not a ” k er w st un tk “Gesam to Anonymous (due
humility)
Everyone, everyone ! Do not these ar guments seem petty when compared to Hall Disaster of the Victoria last June? Those poor, poor smothere d children! Pleas where are your hear e, gentlemen, ts? Pardon my la nguage, please, bu t this has touched of your oh-so-acad me as none emic phrasings have . Do think of th e children.
In tears,
Evelyn Windsor
! Madame, please s! es el st ta st o ag ed y! M bring up that tr How da re you An Angry Citizen
All of you hav e buttoc ks for fac es and excrem ent for bra ins Reg gie
may 7, 2009
SPORTS
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Men’s tennis prepares for national championship by CJ Wisler Reporter
After a successful season and conference championship wrap-up, Whitman College’s men’s tennis team now faces their next challenge: NCAA tennis nationals. “I feel really good about how we did in conference and about going to nationals,” said sophomore Etienne Moshevich. “I think we could really do some damage there.”
Schedule for NCAA Division III National Tournament: Friday, May 8, Whitman vs. No. 3 UC Santa Cruz at Santa Cruz, Cali., 2 p.m. If Whitman wins their first round match, then they advance to the second round against the winner of the match between University of Redlands and ClaremontMudd-Scripps on Friday. The quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds of the tournament take place on the CMS campus from May 19-24.
The NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Committee selected the seeding for the 41 national championship teams on Monday, May 4. Whitman will face off against six-time national champion and 2007 winner UC Santa Cruz at their California home courts on Friday, May 8 at 2 p.m. UC Santa Cruz is ranked no. 3 in the nation
and has not lost a match since indoor nationals, according to Moshevich. However, he is confident about playing them and has high hopes about their ranking. “The team is mostly made up of seniors, but I still think we have a good shot at taking them,” said Moshevich. “I know we can take them in singles if we play our best, and our #1 doubles team has already beaten theirs. We are all very excited to get a chance to play them.” The National Championship, unlike the Northwest Conference Championship, is a single-elimination tournament rather than double-elimination. In other words, Whitman and the other participating team have one chance to “sink or swim” each round they play. The first through third rounds of competition will take place May 8-10, and the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds will be played at Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges, May 19-24. The team’s main goal in training for the championships is on the fitness level, according to Moshevich. “In California, the courts are slow, and it will be hot, so we will have to outplay the other teams,” said Moshevich. “We’ve got to be in better shape than they are, and be used to the courts and the heat.” Moshevich plans on playing both singles and doubles at Nationals, and has been training hard to compete in
both areas. “I’m trying to be more aggressive on the court because at Nationals you need to take your game to them,” said Moshevich. Coach Jeff Northam, aside from leading practices, has been instilling a “championship
spirit” within his players through encouragement. Moshevich hopes that Northam’s encouragement and the team’s own self-encouragement will help the team carry their talent to nationals. “Northam has really encouraged us to believe that we deserve to win, that we are national players. I feel that if we play well and step up we have a good shot at making it far,” said Moshevich. At the national championships last year, the team lost to regional host ClaremontMudd-Scripps in the first round. The team also played their first round opponent, UC Santa Cruz, last year at home, losing to them 8-1. Moshevich thinks that this year Whitman has a good chance at progressing further, even to some of the final rounds. “I’m really excited to play and see what we can do,” said Moschevich. “It will be a really good test for us.”
jacobson
Christoph Fuchs, ‘09, and the rest of the men’s tennis team are preparing for NCAA tennis nationals. Whitman will play against six time national champion UC Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz on Friday, May 8. The team has high hopes for the upcoming matches.
Men’s lacrosse receives league honors, MVP LACROSSE, from back cover
and with 30 seconds left in the period a Western Oregon midfielder slipped one past Whitman’s defense. “I slid up to him, hit his arm, the ball came out of his stick about four inches, fell back in and he shot it. It went in and the game was over,” said Anderson. “Some of us were really disappointed, but most of us came off the field with big smiles on our faces. Nobody expected what we did, even some of us secretly never thought it would’ve happened. To think that we were mere inches from going to nationals in Denver this weekend is disappointing, but inspiring at the same time.”
“It was a disappointing loss,” said junior Bidnam Lee in an e-mail. “But at the same time, we found consolation in the fact that there wasn’t a guy on the team who hadn’t played his heart out.” Whitman goalie Kevin Wilson was named game MVP and sophomore attacker Sunn Kim was named the PNCLL Division II MVP after leading the league in goals (4.13), assists (3.25) and points (7.38) per game. According to Coach Schmitz, a history professor at Whitman, the team played extremely well in spite of several key injuries. “The team’s performance was outstanding,”
said Schmitz. “We were shorthanded due to injuries and the team overcame that […] That shows strength of character and belief in each other to come back in that manner. They played hard and gave it everything. I am very proud of their effort and performance.” Schmitz credits the team’s success this season and in the matches last weekend to the men’s outstanding team dynamics and ability to cooperate as a league – united by a common goal: optimal performance and, with that, the promise of success. “The strengths of this team are its unity, will-
ingness to work for team goals and not individual goals, and effort,” said Schmitz. In addition to the team’s success this past weekend, several team members received all-league honors for their work over the entire season. Whitman midfielder Chris Duncan was an honorable mention selection, while attacker Bidnam Lee made the 2nd team. Attacker Kim, Midfielder David Ogle and Defenseman Anderson were all selected to the PNCLL first team. The team’s weekend success also rocketed them to No. 16 in the nation in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association’s top 23 poll.
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Altered schedule well-received as IMs come to close by Andy Jobanek Sports Editor
From outdoor basketball and volleyball to ultimate frisbee in the cold winter months, the intramural schedule drastically changed from previous years. For the most part, though, Whitties met those changes with the same enthusiasm for intramurals that has distinguished the college in the past. The overall positive reception to all the changes surprised even the IM Committee chair Michael Warren Anderson. “I was expecting a lot of resistance from people just having to rearrange the sports,” said Anderson. “We were expecting a lot of people being unhappy.” Change to the normal intramural schedule began last year when volleyball was dropped in favor of tennis after spring break due to the start of the Sherwood renovations. Before last year, the schedule for intramurals during spring semester had consistently been indoor, with five-on-five basketball before spring break and then softball, ultimate, bowling and volleyball. This year, the committee moved ultimate to January and February while adding IM Frolf to the list of sports already available. However, due to poor weather a number of the games were rescheduled after spring break. Due to those
conditions, bowling and both frisbee sports finished two weeks after the end of spring break. The second portion of the schedule brought basketball outside due to the renovations to Sherwood and reduced the team sizes to three-on-three while adopting pick-up style rules. Some Whitties really responded to the move outdoors. “IM basketball worked really well, it was fun and you got a lot of action t il with the smaller rb e nd teams, the rules va worked well,” said first-year John Henry Heckendorn in an e-mail. “My team had no complaints and enjoyed the less formal setting.” Other students missed the full court style of play with scoreboards and referees. Anderson was sympathetic to these students, but also viewed the new rules as a success. While his term
as committee chair is over once he graduates later this month, Anderson sees no reason why the outdoor pick-up style of IM basketball couldn’t exist alongside football in the fall, while returning to the indoor style of game right after winter break. Volleyball also found its way into the spring schedule after initially being left out for what would have been the second year in a row. “It seemed that threatening to not do volleyball made volleyball a success,” said Anderson. “The last couple of years there had been very few teams and people weren’t very interested in it so this year we said we weren’t going to have it as part of this rearranging. We then got some nasty e-mails and decided ‘okay, why not?’” After the initial doubts, Anderson and a number of other players enjoyed having volleyball outside.
Campus varsity athletic awards Contributed by Dean Snider and announced at the Athletic Department’s annual banquet on Wednesday, May 7 in the Reid Ballroom. Top Five GPA’s (not in order) 1. Christoph Fuchs, Tennis 2. Simon Quay, Soccer 3. Jason Shon, Soccer 4. Alex Robinson, Tennis 5. Brian Wakefield, Swimming George Ball Sportsmanship Award: Volleyball Most outstanding performer (MOP) first-year female winner: Amy Hasson, Soccer MOP first-year male winner: Brandon Shaw, Basketball MOP sophomore female winner: Elise Otto, Tennis MOP sophomore male winner: Brian Barton, Golf Jayne McCarthy Award MOP junior female: Corina Gabbert, Soccer Bob Burgess Award MOP junior male: Dan Wilson, Tennis Lee Coleman Award MOP senior female: Alisa Larson-
“We had great weather for all of our games,” said Andrew Matthewson in an e-mail. “Soaking up the sun while playing with friends was a wonderful way to start off the spring.” The renovations had no affect on the other two sports this spring, softball and tennis, both of which ran smoothly. Overall, Anderson was happy with how the altered scheduled worked out. The committee even balanced their budget in spite of a drop in roster spots for basketball, a major source of money typically for the committee. The committee was forced to raise costs for some sports to make up the difference, but those costs will return to their normal levels again next year. Anderson hopes that some of the lessons from this spring’s altered schedule get carried over into next year’s intramurals. “My recommendation for next year’s chairs is to do more sports with fewer teams. When you do sports like football and you do tons and tons of teams, you run into issues of field availability or court availability,” said Anderson. “If you have multiple sports going on you’re able to reach more people with fewer problems arising.” Another change Anderson listed as imminent was a move away from Bowlaway lanes for bowling and into Stardust lanes.
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Exclusive look at Sherwood construction! Video now available on the Pioneer Web site.
KIM
Coaches, athletes and trainers gather at the Athletic Department’s Annual Awards banquet to recap the athletic year.
Xu, Soccer Max Seachris Award MOP senior male: Chris Faidley, Basketball Mignon Borleske Award: Lindsay Records, Nordic Skiing Borleske Award: Brett Axelrod, Soccer
Views of rock wall, new courts, and athletic offices, along with comments from Athletic Director Dean Snider. www.whitmanpioneer.com
SPORTS
may 7, 2009
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Team hopes Roster size shapes baseball season to return to prominence by Andy Jobanek Sports Editor
CYCLING, from back cover
points to second place Western Washington’s 4561 points. There are 17 teams in the conference. “Each weekend the A riders rode stronger and stronger as a group,” said junior Chaddock. “This familiarity is key to making decisions and communicating at the big races.” At nationals, the team will compete in field sizes of more than 130 other cyclists, which is much different than the 30 to 40 riders in the collegiate races the team competes in for conference. Chaddock explained that the recent Tour of Walla Walla competition was so important for their nationals preparation because of its similar structure. Aside from preparation for nationals, the team has had great involvement this year, with 19 male and 17 female participants. Littman noted that there has been a large influx of new riders this year, who round out the mix of experience and make for a fun dynamic. “We’ve recruited a whole new crop of cyclists who are really enthusiastic and committed to cycling,” said Littman. “It [the influx of new cyclists] led to a fun and enthusiastic atmosphere at all the races, even when it was raining and cold,” said Pierson. Chaddock encourages those who are looking to follow the team’s results to stay updated on the live video feed that can be found at fccyclingfest.com/303.
Other links: • Event info: fccyclingfest.com/usacycling-nationals • Event schedule: fccyclingfest.com/ may-schedule-of-events
With only three regular starting pitchers, two of which were newcomers, and only one true relief pitcher returning to a team of only 17 players— eight players below the minimum for Major League teams—the Whitman baseball team started their season with two strikes against them. At the surface, the season appeared similar to last year’s (4-36, 2-30 in NWC) campaign, but while the records were similar (3-34, 2-29 in NWC), Whitman made significant strides and set the base for future growth. “It was night and day going to practice,” said head coach Casey Powell. “If you took the two teams on paper before the season started, you would have taken last year’s team, but with the personality and attitude at practice this year, I would’ve taken this team every day.” “It was a great group, they worked hard and everyday of practice was fun. I enjoyed going to practice this year as much as I’ve ever had.” Several team members echoed their coach’s sentiment. “We were a little bit more competitive than we were last year in terms of our mind-set as well,” said sophomore Erik Korsmo. “If you look at our hitting we were leagues ahead of last year.” As a team, Whitman hit .269 compared to last year’s .226 average. In addition, this year’s on-base plus slugging (OPS) rose a full hundred points from .603 last season to .706. Powell again attributed the team’s improvement to their willingness to buy into the system. “Right after the first series of games our emphasis was hitting ground balls and line drives and trying to keep the ball out of the air as much as possible,” said Powell. “This team just knew who they were and didn’t try to do more than that.” Hindering the team’s progress in hitting though, was the lack of depth in the pitching staff as well as the entire team. With four conference games scheduled each weekend, Whitman had to stretch to get a fourth starter and didn’t have the
.269
Whitman’s team batting by average this season, up from .226 a year ago the numbers
luxury of a deep bullpen when a starter would get into trouble. “A lot of guys had to step up this year and put in some time on the mound even though it wasn’t their primary position. Also we had to demand more out of our starters to go deep into games because we couldn’t afford to throw a few arms in one game,” said senior no. 1 starting pitcher Pete Stadmeyer. “There were probably some guys with inflated ERAs that shouldn’t have been,” said Powell. On April 5 against Willamette University, Whitman showed their lack of depth when the team relinquished nine runs in the top of the sixth, bringing a 9-0 lead to a 9-9 tie. Stadmeyer started the game throwing a no-hitter through courtesy of les kitamura four and one-third innings, but it all unrav- Calvin Davis, ‘09, was one of six seniors honored before the first game Suneled in the sixth. How- day, May 3 at Whitman’s home series against the University of Puget Sound. ever, having used five dle school—was brought in to pitch the final four pitchers the day before, Powell had nowhere else to turn and kept Stad- and one-third innings of the game For next year, six players depart from the team, meyer on the mound. Eventually, Powell brought in first-year starter Peter Olson, the scheduled but Powell anticipates at least six new recruits starter for the day’s second game, to relieve Stad- coming in to replace them with the possibility meyer. By the time Olson retired the final Wil- of two or three more joining the incoming class lamette batter in the sixth, the game was tied. later. Of the six guaranteed, four have pitched in Willamette finished their comeback with two high school, helping to fill the vacancy of threeyear ace Stadmeyer. The conference will also runs in the top of the eighth to win 11-9. For the second game, Olson was forced to pitch transition back to three games over a weekend again, but only lasted two and two-thirds innings from four games the last two years, benefiting before Korsmo—who hadn’t pitched since mid- shorter pitching staffs like Whitman.
11.86
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34
Whitman’s team ERA this season
Strikeouts for Stadmeyer this year, good for fourth in the NWC
More runs scored this year than last year
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SPORTS
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Whitman Athlete
of the Week Justin Hayashi Each week, the sports staff will pick one Whitman athlete who performed exceptionally during the previous weekend. The distinction will be judged both on the individual’s performance and his or her impact on the team.
Senior Justin Hayashi has spent four years on the most successful team on the Whitman campus, accumulating a 68-3 record in conference games. Over that time, Hayashi was part of two conference championship teams and two runner-up finishes. However, Hayashi has not had a more successful individual season than this past one. Hayashi and doubles partner, junior Dan Wilson, improved their season doubles record to 21-2, including a perfect 11-0 record in conference.
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Most recently, Hayashi and Wilson upset the top seed 8-2 from UC Santa Cruz in the quarterfinals of the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament over April 24-25. The Whitman men’s tennis team will face the six time national champion UCSC Banana Slugs in the Division III national championships this coming weekend. Hayashi and Wilson’s success in doubles will be key to the team’s chances at advancing in the national tournament. by Andy Jobanek
may 7, 2009
Top five hikes for an outdoors summer by Noah Moskat Reporter
Looking to get out and explore this summer? Here’s a list of great summer hiking destinations in the Pacific Northwest, as recommended by Whitman Outdoor Program Director Brien Sheedy. Sheedy encourages any and all potential hikers to stop into the OP office and take advantage of its extensive trip planning resources, including maps, logs from past trips, permit information and much more. 1. Olympic Coast Boasting the longest stretch of natural coastline in the 48 contiguous states, this extensive beach area stretches 73 miles along the scenic shores of the Pacific Ocean. The coastline features trails of varying lengths, the most popular of which is the Ozette Loop, a nine-mile trek consisting of three separate three-mile legs. Certain segments of this loop have been enhanced by boardwalks, which have in turn increased the trail’s popularity. Hikers on most other portions of the coastal route, however, should take heed of the often slippery, sandy or overgrown terrain. Sources actually recommend doubling one’s standard hiking times for the allotted distances. These coastal trails are part of Olympic National Park, which provides a vast array of other hiking and camping excursions. The park includes dozens of inland trails through the protected Olympic Wilderness, ranging in estimated time from under an hour to multiple days. When to go: Anytime during the summer. 2. Wonderland Trail The name effectively describes the grandeur of this environment and what its travelers will experience along their way. Traversing the full length of the Wonderland Trail entails a 93-mile circumnaviga-
tion of Mt. Rainier, a journey for which most hikers should budget ten to fourteen days. The trail remains entirely within Mt. Rainier National Park, and passes through a variety of the park’s different life zones, from dense forests to sprawling wildflower meadows. And for those not quite so ambitious as to pursue the two-week-long adventure, Mt.
company of vegetation and, though perhaps mostly unseen, an established animal population as well. When to go: Earlier part of the summer. 4. Wallowa-Whitman National Forest This vibrant natural expanse sits closest out of the group to Whitman College. Home to the Wallowa Mountains, Hells Canyon and the Eagle Cap Wilderness, it offers plenty of diverse recreational options. Hikers may access 66 different trails, with several loops that wind at least 35 miles or a variety of shorter day hikes. From the Main Eagle Trailhead one can set out in several directions, including a path along the wild Eagle Creek and up into Eagle Cap Wilderness. When to go: Middle to late summer.
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Rainier National Park features five day-hike areas, with trails as short as .3 miles and as long as twelve. When to go: If hiking it in its entirety, the Wonderland Trail should be undertaken during the late summer, in August or September. 3. Pasayten Wilderness Choices abound for visitors to this locale. With over 600 miles of trails, hikers may select from a plethora of pathways through this protected area of Okanogan National Forest. The Boundary Trail serves as the Wilderness’s longest single route, meandering near the Canadian border for more than 73 miles. This track also links up briefly with the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs between the northern and southern borders of the United States. Trekkers can expect to find a diverse
5. Timberline Trail Another picturesque mountain hike, this trail encircles Mt. Hood, also a popular location for climbers. Although significantly shorter than the Wonderland at 40.7 miles (meaning a three to five-day excursion), the route brings some additional challenges and hazards: multiple sections of the trail, particularly at Sandy River and Eliot Creek, have been prone to washouts or landslides. As with any trails with a record of potential danger, always make sure to contact the ranger station for updated information before setting out. When to go: Middle to late summer.
10 essentials for any overnight hiking trip • First aid kit • Flashlight • Pocketknife • Map and compass • Stove and matches • Food and water (allow for 2 extra days) • Extra clothing • Rain gear • Sun protection • Tent
SPORTS
may 7, 2009
The
FullCourt Press Rooney rule
commentary
Billy: I would like to ask Athletic Director Dean Snider and President Bridges why in fact Whitman has no minority head coaches. This
in
Andy: Out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches in college football, only four of them are coaches of color. That’s a statistic that’s come under fire since the end of the 2008 college football season and most recently, the Oregon House passed a bill that would address this concern. The Oregon bill—modeled after the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” which has jumped the percentage of minority head coaches in the league to around 25 percent, while two of the last three super bowl winning head coaches have been African-American—requires teams to interview at least one qualified minority candidates for any coaching or athletic director positions. The bill applies to all state universities in Oregon and would be the first of its kind if implemented. Both the senate and the governor still have to review it. Ideally, these types of bills wouldn’t have to be passed, but clearly, NCAA football programs are not equal opportunity employers. While there’s a shortage of minority head coaches, there is also a serious shortage of minority offensive or defensive coordinators, which are the positions from which colleges often look for future head coaches. This stifles any chance for a minority candidate to take the next step up to head coach. Recently, there’s been a trend for some teams to name a “coach-in-waiting,” which is often one of the team’s current coordinators. Florida State University and the University of Oregon are two examples of schools that have employed this process in the last few years. On the surface, this appears logical in that universities want to be sure to hold onto quality coordinators so other universities don’t hire them away. However, considering the serious lack of minority offensive and defensive coordinators in college football, this trend reproduces the status quo, which is horribly unequal. A system that requires universities to interview minority candidates might not prevent a college from hiring a white coach that they really like, nor
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Sports Editor & Reporter
ca
by Andy Jobanek and Billy Low
should it necessarily, but it can help the minority coach find a job somewhere else. During the hiring process, a lot of universities will pass on the names of candidates that they really liked to other schools looking for head coaches. Therefore if schools are forced to search for qualified minority candidates that they might have not bothered to look at before, then that could bring that coach on the radar screen for another college. If still unconvinced that a bill like Oregon’s is not necessary, look no further than the 100-percent white coaching staff at Whitman.
question is not rhetorical. Rather, it brings up the other side of the argument. Schools and professional teams may be open to coaches of any race but have trouble attracting a minority candidate for a certain position at the time they are conducting interviews. Also, schools located in more racially diverse geographic regions will likely have an easier time finding minority candidates. Lastly, what if a school or franchise already knows it really wants to hire a certain candidate, but he or she happens to be white? Are they supposed to interview minority coaches just to tell them they did not get the job? In 2003, the Detroit Lions filled their head coaching vacancy by hiring Steve Marriucci, who is white, without interviewing any other candidates. The NFL fined then-general manager Matt Millen $200,000 for violating the Rooney Rule. Millen claimed he offered interviews to several minorities, all of whom declined the opportunity. As you can see, a team can try to follow the rule,
but it doesn’t always have control over the availability of minority candidates. Still, I would argue that the NFL should continue to enforce the Rooney Rule and that college sports should adopt a similar one. If a league is serious about enacting a certain change, it cannot always be fair to all the parties involved. After all, to be fair (to all candidates) may require the league to be unfair (to employers). If the NCAA or state legislatures take their time to make the perfect rule that appeases everyone, the four minority coaches in the FBS may remain the only four for a while. But if we define racism as a feeling that one’s race has inherent qualities that are superior to another race’s, then schools that tend to hire only white coaches do not necessarily do so because they are blatantly racist. Employers may not realize they have preconceived notions about race ingrained in their minds. In other words, a white general manager might be inclined to think that black coaches are less qualified even though he still treats them with respect. Because the competitive nature of sports lends itself to discrimination, it is especially important for sports leagues and governing associations to enforce rules that encourage equal opportunities. Sports are competition. The whole point of a game or match is for teams or individuals to show they are superior to their opponent. There is even competition within teams when players try to win playing time. The competitive nature of sports is related to the race issue because it encourages athletes and coaches to want to believe they are the best. Assuring yourself that you are better than your competitor because of race is a convenient way to confirm this belief. This competitive mentality brings me to my final point. The NFL cannot assume that the Rooney Rule alone will create racial diversity. A team will not hire a minority coach because it stumbled upon a token minority candidate that it actually likes. Rather, the coaching ranks will only see more diversity once individual GMs and athletic directors personally push aside the notion that one side or color must be better than the other.
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SCOREBOARD of the Week
Friday may 1, 2009 Baseball: University of Puget Sound vs Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Game 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Puget Sound (13-23, 10-18 NWC) 7 3 1 1 3 1 7 23 19 0 Whitman (3-31, 2-26 NWC) 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 5 2 Pitchers W—Tim Fogarty L—Peter Olson
IP H R ER 7.0 5 2 2 5.0 13 15 9
SO 10 1
Game 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Puget Sound (14-23, 11-18 NWC) 0 0 1 0 2 2 6 7 18 18 0 Whitman (3-32, 2-27 NWC) 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 Pitchers W—James Lane L—Calvin Davis
IP H R 7.0 4 2 5.0 5 4
ER SO 2 4 4 2
saturday may 2, 2009 Baseball University of Puget Sound vs Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Game 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Puget Sound (15-23, 12-18 NWC) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 7 1 Whitman (3-33, 2-28 NWC) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 10 2 Pitchers IP H R W—Cameron Duvall 9.0 10 2 L—Pete Stadmeyer 8.1 5 4
ER 2 3
SO 4 8
Game 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Puget Sound (16-23, 13-18 NWC) 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 5 7 1 Whitman (3-34, 2-29 NWC) 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 7 3 Pitchers IP H W—Jarvis Nohara 2.0 2 L—Trygve Madsen 7.0 7
R 1 5
ER 1 4
SO 2 1
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Cycling team cruises to nationals in Colorado by Libby Watkins Reporter
The Whitman cycling team cruised through their conference this year and will compete at nationals this weekend—Friday, May 8 to Sunday, May 10—in Fort Collins, Colo. The team’s road race is on Friday, their criterium on Saturday and the team time trial on Sunday. This will be the sixth year in a row the team has gone to nationals since their first appearance in 2004. Whitman first sent a full team in 2005, when they won the team championship. The team also won the team championship in 2006, placed third in 2007 and sixth in 2008. “We are sending a strong team this year and our goal is to win the national championships in the DII team omnium,” said senior Nick Littman. Littman will be joined at nationals by senior Colin Gibson and juniors Ben Chaddock and Duncan McGovern. The women are send-
ing senior Mia Huth, juniors Kendi Thomas and Emily Rodriguez and sophomore Roxy Pierson. “As far as individual results go, on the women’s side expect Kendi Thomas to place very high in both the road race and criterium,” said Littman. “On the men’s side, Ben Chaddock looks to place highly in the criterium.” However, each team has their sights set on a successful team showing overall. “I’m just excited to be going,” said sophomore Pierson, who is making her first trip to nationals but has been cycling competitively for five years. “I think we have a great chance to do well and I think we’re all excited to work together to achieve our goals for the season.” The team has had a successful season, recently capping it off by winning the Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference by a large margin. Whitman finished with 5976 CYCLING, see page 29
COURTESY OF YSBRAND nusse
Nicholas Littman, ‘09, and the Whitman cycling team finished the season first in conference. The team travels to Fort Collins, Colo. for nationals with high expectations, hoping to finish first in the Division II. The team’s road race is on Friday, May 8 while the criterium is on Saturday, May 9, and the team time trial is on Sunday, May 10. This will be the sixth showing for Whitman since their first appearance in 2004. The team secured the championship title in 2005 and 2006, placed third in 2007 and sixth in 2008.
Lacrosse takes second in PNCLL by Mallory Peterson Associate Sports Editor
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Sunn Kim, ‘11, and the rest of the men’s lacrosse team played against Western Washington University on Saturday, April 18, losing 15-9. Whitman traveled to Tacoma, Wash. for the Final Four last weekend and advanced to the championships where they were defeated by Western Oregon in double overtime.
On Friday, May 1, the Whitman men’s lacrosse team travelled to Tacoma, Wash. for a chance to take home their tenth Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League Division II Championship in the past sixteen years. Whitman opened the weekend with a semifinal match-up against No. 1 seeded Southern Oregon University on Saturday, May 2. Southern Oregon entered with a 13-1 season record and had risen to as high as No. 8 in the national rankings. As the Whitman team took their warm up lap, Southern Oregon’s confidence was evident. “One of their players was standing on the field talking trash as our entire team passed by, saying ‘I’m going to remember you,’ ‘I’m going to remember this,’
‘it’s over,’” said senior defenseman Michael Warren Anderson. However, Whitman was the first to score and went up 2-0 early. The SOU Raiders didn’t get closer than 5-4 for the rest of the game, at which point Whitman surged ahead and maintained their lead for an 11-8 win to advance to the finals against Western Oregon University. Western Oregon had defeated Whitman 20-13 in Walla Walla, Wash. in the two team’s earlier meeting this season and Western Oregon again jumped out to a lead in the final. With five minutes left in regulation WOU held a commanding 8-4 lead. But with 1:30 left in the game and only down 9-7, Anderson pushed a Western Oregon player holding the ball outside of the box where a team leading by two or more goals must keep it. The play resulted in a penalty against West-
ern Oregon and set off a tirade from the player pushed out that ended with his dismissal from the game, giving Whitman a one man advantage for the final portion of the game. The Missionaries took advantage and tied the game at nine with 30 seconds left in the game. The game was extended into sudden death overtime—the first goal scored would win the championship for their team and earn them a spot in nationals. “Throughout the first overtime we had some offensive opportunities, but their goalie stopped it or a turnover would happen,” said Anderson. “The most impressive part was Kevin’s [Whitman goalie Kevin Wilson] performance in those two overtime periods. He made I don’t know how many saves, a dozen or so great saves.” The game went into a second overtime, LACROSSE, see page 27