Issue 1 spring 2015 by Whitman College Wire

The

PIONEER

Issue 1 | January 29, 2015 | Whitman news since 1896 | Vol. CXXXII

Justice Mary Yu talks race, inequality, law

Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu came to campus to discuss the relationship between race and law. Photo by Bashevkin

by ANDY MONSERUD Staff Reporter

tate Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu visited campus for a speech and a conversation with President George Bridges and the student body on Tuesday, Jan. 29. As this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speaker, Justice Yu spoke on race, poverty and the criminal justice system to a crowd of students, faculty members and community members. Justice Yu opened the session with a speech and then took a few questions from President Bridges before handing the microphone to the audience. She emphasized a perspective on race and the legal system garnered from her experience as a trial judge rather than from her more publicized position as the state’s first LGBTQ or AsianAmerican Supreme Court Justice. “I don’t decide cases based on race but I understand race when it’s on the table,” said Yu

in her speech. “I can ask a different question because of my life experience. But I do want to assure you that all of the individuals sitting at that table do the same thing: They bring a perspective.” Despite this disclaimer, Yu vocally discussed racial divides in income, sentencing and policing. The police shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent protests in Ferguson, Mo. loomed particularly large in Yu’s speech. “In Ferguson the explosion over the incident has been bubbling for the last 20 to 25 years in that town,” said Yu. “It has a lot to do with economics and poverty, it has a lot to do with disenfranchisement, and people losing the right to participate, and I’ll acknowledge that the court systems have contributed to the problem in Ferguson.” Whitman hosts a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speaker annually to discuss race and other social justice issues with the community. Yu’s decision to come to

Whitman was spurred by alum Sydney Conway ’13, a University of Washington law student who worked as a judicial extern in Yu’s office this summer. The topic came up in a conversation Conway had with Yu’s assistant, and soon Conway and Yu got into contact with Student Engagement Center Director Noah Leavitt. Leavitt and the SEC had initially planned to bring Yu in on their own and not as the MLK speaker. But growing discussions of race and justice following the Ferguson shooting and the police killing of Eric Garner in New York brought MLK organizers to approach the SEC about sponsoring the event and making Yu the MLK speaker. “I had just happened to reserve that date,” said Leavitt. “It was a great coincidence.” “[The arrangement] was perfect — perfect for Whitman and for Justice Yu,” said Conway. “And I’m very excited that this happened.” see MLK DAY, page 2

Baseball looks to improve on last season’s success by Riley Foreman Staff Reporter

With conference play looming on the near horizon, the baseball team is well underway in their spring season preparation. Pictured above, Jack Coppinger ‘15 pitches to a teammate. Below, Anthony Lim ‘18 rounds third base. Photos by Tywen Kelly

he temperatures outside may not reflect it, but the Whitman baseball team has spring fever. The clubhouse impatiently waits for the opportunity to post a consecutive winning record and build on their seventhplace conference finish last season. To repeat such a feat would be difficult enough, but to do so without the dozen players who graduated last May is an even bigger challenge for which the young squad is trying its best to prepare. Just one week into the spring semester, the prep work is already underway. The older generation of players wasted no time immersing the 14 newcomers in the team’s philosophy. Senior Jonny Chow reflected on the first-years’ progress during the first week of spring practices. “They have done a phenomenal job bringing a positive attitude and energy to the yard every day, which has definitely helped spark a quick, collective growth for this almost entirely new Whitman Baseball team,” he said. Junior infielder and captain Paul Heywood is also impressed with his younger teammates’ rapid acceleration though the learning curve. “The freshmen had a lot to learn, both about college baseball and about college itself. So far it has been exciting to see how they stick together as a group and look after each other,” said Heywood. With conference matchups fast approaching, the team hopes that the preseason will further acclimate the newcomers to college ball. On Feb. 8 Whitman will host Corban University for a doubleheader before heading to Texas, where they will play four additional preseason games. Their Northwest Conference opener will be played at Willamette University towards the end of February. In the meantime, the program will focus its energy on practices. Players have juggled two-a-days since returning to Whitman, which typically consist of a morning gym session followed by an afternoon practice on the field. On weekends the team participates in live scrimmages, which have been helpful, to an extent.

see BASEBALL, page 5

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jan

29 2015 NUMBERS

IN THE NEWS by Lachlan Johnson News Editor

Washington’s rank on a recent list of state’s with the most regressive tax structure. Washington’s poorest residents pay nearly 17 percent of their income in taxes, while the 1 percent pay 2.4 percent. SOURCE: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

14.7

million Children in the United States live below the poverty line. SOURCE: Children’s Defense Fund

1 in 3

Families headed by a single mother are in poverty.

SOURCE: U.S. Census Data

78%

The amount women are paid to do the same job as men. SOURCE: American Association of University Women

Marchers commemorate the legacy and mission of Martin Luther King, Jr. in a march coordinated by the Black Student Union and the Intercultural Center. Photo by Marcovici

Vick speaks to WWU community by MORGAN SANKER

Northwest News Correspondant

This story was originally published in The Collegian of Walla Walla University shortly before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

r. Brooke Vick, social psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Whitman College, spoke at Walla Walla University’s MLK Jr. Day CommUnity on Monday, Jan. 19 in the University Church. [Note from The Pio: According to the Walla Walla University website, “The CommUnity program facilitates weekly opportunities for the entire campus to gather together for worship, academic reflection and discussion, celebrations of school spirit, social outreach, and civic enlightenment.”] The Collegian writer Morgan Sanker interviewed Vick before her talk at the university. Morgan Sanker: Why did you choose your specific field and what influenced your decision? Dr. Brooke Vick: I chose to study psychology because I observed so many puzzling, problematic human behaviors in my environment and I wanted to un-

derstand their causes. I specifically chose to study prejudice and social stigma within psychology because I became aware of prejudice at a very young age and always felt at a loss to comprehend how and why prejudice develops and how to reduce it. MS: During your time at UC Santa Barbara, did any racial problems present themselves? BV: While I was at UCSB, I had my head buried in my studies (working toward a Ph.D. tends to give people tunnel vision) so I was rarely outside of my lab. I have no doubt that there were issues with race in that area, I just was not plugged into them at the time. MS: Have you experienced racial injustice first hand? BV: Yes. My guess is that one would be hard-pressed to find a person of color in this country who has not been touched by, or privy to prejudice and racism in some form, either personally, via association with others, or institutionally. MS: What racial tensions have you come across in the Walla Walla valley? BV: The race-related incidents that I am aware of in our communities come primarily in

the form of harassment, profiling, and threats of physical violence and intimidation against younger people (often students) of color in the area. I have also observed negative attitudes directed toward members of immigrant populations in the valley. MS: How has your research affected your view of racial injustice? BV: My research has helped me to understand some of the multiple reasons why racial bias develops and is maintained despite broad explicit rejection of the idea by individuals. I also have a better sense of how prejudice affects people from harming their mental and physical health to reducing motivation, life chances, and outcomes. The research can be both depressing and encouraging as it indicates negative consequences of prejudice, but also highlights the good that can be done when bias is reduced. MS: Can racial injustice and marginalized social identities be stopped? BV: Because our brains naturally organize people into categories and strong psychological processes motivate the maintenance of social hierarchies, it is

difficult to conclude that we can achieve a society in which social stigma in all of its forms is completely eradicated. We can, however, absolutely work toward a more just society that upholds the civil rights of all of its citizens, provides equal opportunity and access to members of all social groups, and affords safety and respect to everyone regardless of race, religion, class, gender, sexuality, or disability. MS: What strategies can students, faculty, and people alike implement to negate racial injustice? BV: Racial injustice, broadly speaking, is a huge beast to defeat. We can, however, begin by working on ourselves and working to improve justice, respect, and equality in our own social circles. We can work to be more sensitive and aware of our own potential to apply stereotypic expectations to others and consciously combat those judgments in ourselves. We can speak up when we see others engaging in stereotypic judgments, expressing prejudicial attitudes, or behaving in discriminatory ways and let them know that we do not agree, that it is not okay. Ra-

$22,200

The difference between the median income of white people and the median income of people of color in 2013. SOURCE: Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances

Billionaires have as much wealth as the bottom half of the world’s entire population. SOURCE: Oxfam

2016

The year in which the wealthiest 1 percent of the world’s population will have accumulated as much wealth as the other 99 percent. SOURCE: Oxfam

cial bias is at its most powerful when we are silent — silence allows these biases to go unchecked, uncorrected, and those who are the perpetrators (whether deliberately or not) can maintain their sense that their ideas represent a broad consensus (social norms are powerful motivators of behavior). If students, faculty, staff, and community members bear witness to prejudice or discrimination, and find themselves in a situation in which they have some privilege (due to their race, age, gender, job title, economic position, etc.), act to call out the behavior and work to reduce its effects. We can all do something. We can all do better.

Supreme Court Justice had a Whitman connection from MLK DAY, page 1

The decision to put Yu in conversation with Bridges was motivated by Bridges’ experience in criminology. “[Bridges] has 30 years of experience in criminology — research and working with the attorney general of the United States,” said Matthew Ozuna, interim director of the Intercultural Center. Yu was also impressed with Bridges’s experience in the field. “Dr. Bridges is a nationally known individual for knowing what he speaks about in this area,” she said. Once hosted entirely by the Intercultural Center, for the past several years the MLK speaker has been chosen and accommodated by an advisory group comprised of delegates from relevant student groups and administrative offices. These include the Intercultural Center, Black Student Union (BSU), the Student Engagement Center, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, ASWC, Whitman Events Board and Whitman Teaches the Movement. Organizations closely affili-

ated with the topic, such as BSU, were given larger amounts of influence on the choice of speaker. “[The group] is the first of its kind,” said Ozuna. “It was comprised of students, staff and faculty, which is key. That’s hard to do on this campus.” Apart from deciding the speaker, the coalition served largely to ensure that the various groups could put on MLK programs without interfering with each other. “Everyone represented a separate entity, with their own programming,” said Ozuna. “So this group just helped [them] to counsel each other, more for logistical and communication purposes.” Speaking before the event, Yu said she had high hopes for the conversation. “I’m hoping that we’re going to have the opportunity to talk about race and poverty, because I think they’re so intertwined,” she said. “I would like the energy to be positive, I would like people to feel energized by the conversation where they’re feeling, at the end of the night, compelled to do something.”

President George Bridges talks with State Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu. Photo by Bashevkin

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3 Sherlock system to enhance library searches 29 2015

by Lane Barton Staff Reporter

s members of the Whitman community return from winter break, the Penrose Library staff is eager to share the new library search system that has been online since Jan. 8. Named Sherlock, the new system is the product of a threeyear project for schools in the Orbis Cascade Alliance which aims to integrate the library systems of all 37 institutions. “We’re really excited to introduce it and to hear from students, faculty and staff who are using it about what they find most useful,” said Instructional and Data Services Librarian Amy Blau, who served as project manager for

Sherlock’s implementation. The groundwork for Sherlock started three years ago when the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium of 37 Northwest colleges and universities, decided to integrate their 37 separate library systems into one cohesive setup. Whitman was scheduled as one of the last members to change their system. Work began in June 2014 and went live on Jan. 8, 2015. Unlike Watson, its predecessor, Sherlock’s search system automatically has access to Summit, the system for accessing resources from other institutions in the Alliance that previously required a separate account. The change is intended to reduce hassle for members of the Whitman community. “The biggest change, I be-

lieve, is that now we have integrated Summit within Sherlock. You no longer have to go outside to search for a Summit book and the whole process of requesting a Summit item very simple. To top it off, you no longer need a Summit account — just your Whitman username and password,” said College Librarian Dalia Corkrum. Along those lines, Sherlock also displays useful information about resources in the Summit system such as location and accessibility of items. This is a result of the project’s goal to share infrastructure among the Orbis Cascade Alliance libraries. “What’s unique about the system ... Summit has is that we’re sharing a lot of information with the other institutions

so that now ... you can actually see ... which of these other institutions have [a resource] and is it checked out. In order to do that we have to share a lot of infrastructure. So that’s really the big difference is that a lot of that infrastructure is being shared across the Alliance,” said Blau. With any large system, especially one that is trying to pinpoint resources in an expansive catalog like that of Summit, there will inevitably be changes from the previous system that Whitman students and staff will have to adjust to. The interface for users and library staff is different, as are some intricacies for how the search system functions. “It still works primarily like Watson did in that searches tend to be very broad and then once

search results are returned the user has the option of narrowing it down ... and so you keep drilling down until you find the information that’s more pertinent to you,” said Corkrum. “There are some ways the drilling down process is more specific and some ways it’s more vague, so it’s going to take some time for us all to learn how to use it well,” said Corkrum. Although there will be an adjustment for Whitman members to learn to use Sherlock to its fullest potential, initial responses from students are positive especially in regards to the new interface. “The interface seems much simpler. I haven’t used it beyond searching for a book in the library but the layout seems much cleaner,” said junior Morrow Toomey.

Sexual assault resolution approaches ASWC Senate by Lachlan Johnson News Editor

proposed resolution calling for changes to Whitman’s Title IX and sexual assault policy will be discussed by the ASWC Senate on Sunday, Feb. 1. The resolution was written collaboratively by leaders from the college student body who formed the It’s On Whitties committee this fall to discuss sexual violence on campus. The proposed resolution on sexual assault is the direct result of discussions and compromises between representatives from student groups, including members of ASWC, Feminist Advocating Change and Empowerment (FACE), men’s and women’s fraternities, athletic teams and All Students for Consent (ASC). The decision to draft a resolution was made after student leaders participated in a conference call with Washington, D.C. in the fall about the It’s On Us campaign organized by the federal government. “After the conference call [with It’s On Us], we realized there was a lot of momentum that came from it and that we were interested in pursuing the issue further, and because we represented different facets of the campus community we thought that all of us together could come up with a comprehensive way of addressing the issue of sexual violence on campus,” said ASWC vicepresident senior Sayda Morales, who co-chaired the committee alongside senior ASWC senator Corinne Vandagriff. Though an initial draft of the resolution was presented to the senate in December, it was tabled due to a perceived lack of clarity. Structural revisions are nearly complete, and a new draft containing similar content in a clearer format is expected to come before the senate this Sunday. “[The resolution] hasn’t been approved by the student affairs committee, which means anything could change, but I think [ASWC representatives] are fairly happy with the version as it is right now,” said Vandagriff. “We just need to make sure that it’s as clear as it needs to be and organized as well as it could be, and then think of any possible omissions or additions we may approve.” The resolution presented on Sunday will likely include many of the proposals from the draft submitted in December. Of those proposals, certain changes were easily agreed upon by the It’s On Whitties committee, such as changing the language of the Sexual Assault Policy to be inclusive of different genders and sexual orientations. Others, particularly those concerning Title IX and sexual assault investigations, were

more difficult to decide. The committee eventually agreed on a number of proposals for changes to the policy, including the addition of a second investigator in investigations of sexual assault, expanded appeals process and an expansion of the current definition of “incapacitated” used by the college. “People have different ideas of how the [investigative] process can best work, but ultimately we did come to a consensus towards the end [of last semester]. That isn’t to say that the resolution isn’t going to be controversial. There are still components where not everyone 100 percent agrees, but it’s the best compromise we could come up with,” said Morales. The draft of the resolution presented to the ASWC Senate in December also calls for the faculty to vote to remove the sexual misconduct policy from the Faculty Code so that jurisdiction may be transferred to the administration and the recommendations made in the rest of the resolution may be implemented more easily. “This is definitely a change I would welcome. Such a change would allow us to be more responsible, accountable and nimble in response to not only changes to the legal and regulatory environment, but more importantly to concerns voiced by the population the policy is designed to protect and support: the students,” said Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Administrator Juli Dunn in an email to The Pioneer. Should the faculty transfer jurisdiction of the policy to her office, Dunn plans to form a group of people to decide on future revisions to the Title IX/Sexual Assault Policy, including members of the Title IX team, which is responsible for investigating Title IX violations under the current policy, and members of the Council on Student Affairs, which is responsible “I don’t think any policy writing or revision should ever fall to a single person or occur in a vacuum. Changes to this particular policy are going to require a team approach,” said Dunn in an email to The Pioneer. While ASWC does not have the power to formally carry out the suggestions laid out in the proposed resolution, its influence with the administration and governing boards may lead to at least some of its suggestions being implemented in the next year. “In the last couple of years, ASWC legislation has had a good level of success in implementing changes,” said junior Jack Percival, who serves as ASWC’s faculty liaison. “I don’t think I can say for sure what level of success this [resolution] will have, but we have had success in the past.”

George Felton ‘15 and Sayda Morales ‘15 were involved in drafting a proposed ASWC resolution on sexual assault. Photo by Elliot

ASWC hires new executive director of communications by Christy Carly Staff Reporter

oncluding a month-long search for a new executive director of communications, Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) has officially hired senior Annie Sirski for the position. Since the time the position was vacated at the end of last semester, ASWC President senior Tatiana Kaehler has led the search for a new director to coordinate communication between ASWC and the student body. “ASWC is thrilled to welcome Annie Sirski ‘15 as the new Executive Director of Communications. Annie’s enthusiasm for both communications and student issues make her more than qualified for the position. We are excited for all that she will bring to ASWC,” said Kaehler in an email to The Pioneer. Sirski’s previous work with communications includes a volunteer position with the Walla Walla Helpline, an organization dedicated to combating homelessness in the Walla Walla community, where she assisted with grant applications and working on the donor database for the organization. This experience, along with a summer spent working at a law firm, gave Sirski a skill set she plans to use to give back to the Whitman Community. Sirski is particularly excited about the opportunity to have a considerable amount of freedom while working with communications. “[The committee] is a very new part of ASWC. As long as you’re getting the baseline work done ... you can kind of do your own projects to create the ASWC brand,” said Sirski. The 2014-2015 academic year marks the third year since the Communications Committee for ASWC was created by former ASWC President Kayvon Behroozian ‘14. “[The committee] is a pretty new entity,” said Kaehler. “We used to have senators who spent half their time on Nominations Committee and half their time on Communications Committee, which meant that they weren’t really specialized in communications.” While the committee has continued to evolve since its establishment, its main function has always been to provide a crucial link between ASWC and the student body. “I wanted the ASWC communications to be like the tip of the spear for any communications outreach,” said former ASWC President and current Senator senior Tim Reed.

“Groups [in ASWC] are doing a lot of really cool stuff, but sometimes that stuff doesn’t get out to everyone.” One of the most difficult tasks for the executive director of communications is gaining and maintaining the interest of students in regards to what ASWC has achieved or is working on. “One of the challenges you may have as an [executive director] is taking a four to five page resolution ... and convey[ing] it in paragraph form,” said Reed. “How do you get people to take time out of their day and read a really great resolution?” Sirski says she will address this issue by trying to make background information on new resolutions available to students. She mentioned the amount of research that goes into creating a resolution, such as looking at studies done at other schools, and hopes that making these available to Whitman students will deepen their understanding of ASWC’s work. Sirski also mentioned plans to focus on increasing the use of exist-

ing resources within ASWC. “There’s some stuff that’s been under-utilized,” said Sirski. “There’s this really cool thing they were looking into where students could submit petitions online ... I’m excited to play Nancy Drew, dust off the old files and see what connections we have existing and make sure we’re using those as much as possible.” Sirski also mentioned plans to improve outreach to upperclassmen. Living off campus, she has noticed that the absence of Resident Life makes staying informed and connected with the community more difficult and hopes to explore ways in which this could be ameliorated. Sirski anticipates that it will be difficult to start in the position halfway through the academic year. However, she added that members of ASWC are working hard to get her up to speed. “People are working as hard as they can to get me equipped to the resources I need to do my job right,” she said. “I really want to make sure I’m investing the time to do the best job I can.”

The Investigation Starts Here

Sherlock Open House!

Feb. 2 @ noon; Feb. 5 @ 7 p.m. RSVP to Amy Blau, blauar@whitman.edu Sherlock has now come to Penrose Library! While this new library search tool has replaced the current Watson service and the on-line catalog, the functionality is similar. With Sherlock you can: • Search for books, articles and more in a single search and filter the results • Restrict your search to works only held in Penrose Library • Streamline the process of requesting Summit books with a single log-in For more information on the change from Watson to Sherlock, visit the Penrose Library homepage or stop by to talk with a librarian.

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Belle and Sebastian’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance tries something new by EMMA DAHL Staff Reporter

elle and Sebastian is a modern embodiment of the chamber pop genre; characterized by simplistic melodies, creative and orchestral instrumentation and extensive balladry, the style gives songs time to breathe and build momentum. Belle and Sebastian’s sound is very recognizable: It’s chamber pop through and through, complete with creative instrumentation, clean melodies and upbeat messages In their newest release, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance, Belle and Sebastian tentatively try something new; it’s a slight departure from their normal cleancut style, with Europop elements thoroughly integrated into the fabric of the album. The instrumentation is noticeably different from previous records; while synthesizers were previously used as background accents (most notably on 2010’s Write About Love), they’re now featured front and center. For example, the intro to “The Party Line” sounds more like a Madonna song than something from Belle and Sebastian. However, the band definitely doesn’t lose itself in this new musical territory; every track is still quintessential Belle and Sebastian, without a doubt.

While the band does a good job of staying true to themselves, I think their style is much better suited to something more along the lines of indie rock than pop. This style of music doesn’t really allow them to explore the same dynamic of emotion that they’ve encompassed on past albums; there isn’t much deviation from the high-strung sugarysweet mood that they initiate right off the bat. I know that Belle and Sebastian can effectively emulate a wide range of emotions, so I’m a little disappointed that Girls doesn’t fluctuate much from peppy happiness. For example, “Enter Sylvia Plath” is essentially over-saturated with techno elements, and that’s the only song where Belle & Sebastian get close to losing their identity, drowned in the quick tempo and dramatic synthesizers. What I mentioned earlier about giving the song time to breathe, by the end of this song you’re completely out of breath and not in a good way. Kudos to Belle and Sebastian, though. It’s often difficult to find bands that are unafraid to experiment with their sound and still manage to retain their originality. Overall, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a solid effort from a very good band that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries of what they’re used to creating.

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29 2015

Winter Art Salon exhibits new media and technology

Various students observe some of the artworks that Whitman students have created in the numerous art studio classes in the previous year, especially with the increased use of technology and new media. Photos by Volpert

by HANNAH BARTMAN Staff Reporter

he eighth annual Student Winter Art Salon opened at the Sheehan Gallery last Saturday, Jan. 24 and will remain open until Feb. 13. The art pieces featured are all completed in studio art classes at Whitman and the pieces displayed were chosen by three studio art faculty members. This year’s salon holds an unprecedented amount of new media and technology, representing a medium of art that perhaps has not gained a significant amount of attention in previous salon years. “We always have a handful [of digital pieces] but this is a really bright year for new media,” said Exhibitions and Collections Manager Kynde Kiefel. “I feel like in the past, new media has had an uphill battle in certain museums and galleries in the sense that [new media] is not always viewed the same way as say painting or sculpture, methods that have been around for centuries. I feel like putting digital pieces on a wall next to a painting or a drawing says this is an equal part of the conversation too.” Two rooms in the exhibit were given exclusively to new media projects. One piece invited guests to type on a key-

board and listen to the accompanying sound that responded to each letter. Another project let the viewer type on the keyboard and watch the accompanying visual image respond to the letter on the keyboard. “I like that there’s not just painting and photos but more interactional pieces,” said Sheehan gallery employee senior Molly Streeter. “I have not seen as many new media pieces in previous years.” The curation of the works is also a vital component of any museum, as it creates new forms of communication between mediums and pieces. “The way that you set the exhibit, such as the order of the pieces and the way [the pieces] connect together or contrast all makes you feel a different way when you see it,” said student curator and firstyear Ludmila de Brito. “It gives it all a different atmosphere.” Additionally students who had pieces featured in the exhibit were impressed by additional context that was added to some of their work through the curation. “It’s really exciting in certain pieces, such as juxtaposing the photographs with the ceramic. The curation brings new life to certain works,”

The survival guide for upcoming Springtime movies by NATHAN FISHER Staff Reporter

s I start my last semester at Whitman, the terror of the fast approaching real world is looming. I’m starting to be expected to have answers for questions such as, “What do you want to do?” or “What are you going to do for the rest of your life?” Luckily, I can ignore the dread of my impending “jobs” and/or “decisions” by going to the movies. Here is my list of spring movies to assist with denial and proc rast i nat ion. For the Kids: Unfortunately there is not that much coming out for the youngsters/ young at heart. Disney is continuing their liveaction remakes with “Cinderella” (Mar. 13) starring Lily James as Cinderella and Cate Blanchett as the evil stepmother. Disappointingly, “Cinderella” looks to be a cutesy remake with not much new to offer. I am looking forward to seeing “Home” (Mar. 27) starring Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Rihanna. “Home” promises to be a cute animated

adventure about an alien making friends with a human and a cat in order to save the world. For the Love of God NOOOOOO!: I have a fairly high tolerance for bad movies, but this spring I am boycotting two “major” movies. No matter how convincing my SpongeBob loving

housemates are, I will not pay ten bucks to see “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” (Feb. 6) starring Antonio Banderas. (Come on Zorro, you used to be a stud, now you’re a vil-

lain tormenting a sponge named Bob?). I also refuse to see “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” (Apr. 17) starring Kevin James. James is back as the portly Segway-riding Mall security guard but this time all hell breaks loose in ... Vegas. Show Me the Money: Spring 2015 is filled to the brim with

sequels and reboots, and surprisingly, three of these films show promise. Although not a big budget flick, “Pitch Perfect 2” (May 15) reunites the eclectic group of girls who com-

pete against a cappella groups from around the world. Even if the film is more of the same, The Bellas on stage are a hoot. Moving to bigger budgets and fast cars, “Furious 7” (Apr. 3) is Paul Walker’s final movie before his untimely death last year. “Fast Five” featured a plane chase and “Fast and Furious 6” had a tank chase. What can Walker, Vin Diesel and The Rock absurdly chase this time?! I am excited to find out. The last and biggest budget sequel I am looking forward to is “Avengers 2” (May 1) starring... well everyone. The trailers look AWESOME and suggest a battle between our favorite superheroes that could divide the group. Mindless destructing will surely ensue but maybe Joss Whedon will throw in some h e a r t /s e n t i m e n t with the battles. Bold First Date Movie: How fitting, the day before Valentine’s Day opens “Fifty Shades of Grey.” This erotic sex romp has had lots of hype, probably will be bad but still is a worthy candidate to see this spring. So, come join me at the movies for procrastination and denial.

said sophomore Fiona Bennitt. Kiefel also relates that the student salon is always very highly attended by Whitman students but also by community and Walla Walla Community College members. “I feel like part of why we showcase student art to campus via the Salon is to highlight the need for visual conversation with and among our students and to offer additional layers of what art and art-making can mean in an academic setting,” said Kiefel. “Also, exhibiting [art from] people who are biology majors and religion majors is a way of giving volume to a variety of voices and showing that non-studio art majors are also very capable of this kind of visual expression.” Eight merit awards are chosen by the three art faculty members out of the selection of pieces in the art show. Additionally, one people’s choice award is chosen and will be announced on the last day of the show, Feb. 13. The salon is free, open to public and represents a tradition of student art that supports and encourages student creative expression. “I am very proud of the students and the work that they produced,” said senior adjunct assistant professor of art Charly Bloomquist.

PIO PICKS Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights several events happening on campus or around the community for the following week. Here are this week’s picks: Backcountry Film Festival Join Whitman’s Outdoor Program for the 2014 Backcountry Film Festival. Doors open at 6:45 and tickets are $5 each for community members and free for Whitman ID holders. Raffle for prizes with proceeds donated to the Wallowa Avalanche Center. 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29 at Kimball Auditorium in Hunter Observatory

The Three Little Toymakers The Walla Walla Dance Company presents: The Three Little Toymakers is a charming, heartwarming tale of three girls who, though poor, lives with a loving, happy family. One Christmas, after all the other children have opened all their gifts, the girls find some old discarded toys the other children threw out. The little girls dream of fixing them and bringing them to life! Tickets on sale at Earthlight Books. 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 at Cordiner Hall

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) The Walla Walla University Drama program welcomes onto their stage a play that has become an international sensation and has been adapted in dozens of languages. In 90 minutes full of wit, improvisation, pop culture references and audience interaction, this act features all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets.

7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29, Saturday Jan. 31, and Sunday, Feb. 1 at Vintage Hall

SPORTS

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Men’s basketball sets sights on playoffs by JULIAN REED Staff Reporter

he Whitman Men’s basketball team is finally back in Walla Walla for a fivegame home stand after playing five of their first six games on the road over winter break. While most Whitties were catching up on sleep, the team returned on Dec. 27 to prepare for their first conference game of the season against Lewis & Clark College. Since then, they have gone 6-2, with their only conference losses coming on the road to NWC-leading Whitworth and in a close game at Pacific University. “I think it’s gone really well. I think we’ve fought through a bunch of injuries and a bunch of poor shooting on the road. To be where we’re at right now with five of our first six games in conference on the road ... is good. Not great, but good,” said Head Men’s Basketball Coach Eric Bridgeland. The team has weathered multiple injuries which caused the absence of usual starters junior Tochi Oti and senior Dominic Lippi, as well as nagging issues that have forced multiple players to sit out of practice each week so that they can play on weekends. “Practice, without all the bodies, it’s hard to do everything that we want to do. But we’re still able to get things done, we still get better. Not having that core out there all the time is definitely tough, but we’re pretty close,” said senior guard Matt Mounier. The team’s up-and-down, aggressive style of play, including a full-court press on every defensive possession, amplifies the effect of the injuries. “We play a certain way, but we need eight or nine healthy bodies, not six or seven ... It’s a matter of having enough bodies to pressure. We play pressure defense, and you can’t do that with five guys, it takes nine or ten,” said Bridgeland. The group is glad to be home, where they have shot miles better from three (46% vs. 20%) and from the line (76% vs. 62%) than on the road. In their two games this weekend, easy wins over Pa-

cific Lutheran and Puget Sound, they shot 39% from three and 73% from the line. Leading scorer and rebounder junior Evan Martin says the hectic travel schedule has contributed to the road struggles. “Switching gyms can sometimes mess up your shot ... We all have to step up and make the ones that we need to make and be confident in our shots. I think having five home games in a row coming up will be good for us,” he said. The team holds the number two spot behind undefeated Whitworth in the conference standings. However, they downplayed any goals of catching Whitworth for the top seed, emphasizing what they can control. “We always hope to get the one-seed, but we definitely think more about ourselves and what we can do to get better than watching what they do,” said Mounier. Martin, who is shooting 65% from the field and went 6-for-7 this weekend, agreed. “Everything is just one game at a time,” he said. Last season ended in disappointment, with a loss to the third-seeded UPS in the conference semifinals. Despite the losses of Josh Duckworth ‘14 and Ben Eisenhardt ‘14 (now a professional player in Israel) the team is optimistic that their depth and cohesion can compensate. “I think this is the tightest core group of guys that we’ve had. It’s probably one of the deepest teams we’ve had. I don’t know if we have a DMike [David Michaels, now a pro in South Korea] or a Ben Eisenhardt, but we have a bunch of really good players who can help in their own way and take over games,” said Mounier. Bridgeland confirmed that the depth of this year’s team is a strength. “This year we’re a lot better across the board, not just one or two guys. So if we can just get a set rotation that we’re comfortable with, that’s the key to everything,” said Bridgeland. With eight games remaining in conference play, the team will need to push through the injuries for now and hope for the best as playoffs loom ahead.

Baseball team draws motivation from 2014 success, new talent from BASEBALL, page 1

“We do our best to simulate live situations in practice, but nothing beats real-game experience,” said Heywood. Sophomore Jackson Destefano agrees that the preseason games will help the team come together. “We are going to need to develop experience as we go throughout the season. The more game experience these [firstyear] guys get, the better they are going to be in the future. Down the rope they are going to have the same power class that we had in the seniors last year,” he said. However, team chemistry and a solid work ethic might not be enough to place in the upper half of such a competitive conference. Whitman will need to start strong and continue to perform at a high level, especially during spring break, when they will face George Fox and Pacific Lutheran — both of whom finished in the

top three of the NWC last spring. “I think the biggest focus for us has been learning to play with consistency throughout the season. Baseball is a game built on adversity, and learning how to handle that is key to success,” said Head Men’s Baseball Coach Sean Kinney. “Learning to trust the process and not the result in the short term will create better consistency in the long term.” Despite the anticipation for the coming weeks, the veteran players are not afraid to look back at the early years of their Whitman careers and reflect on the path the program took to finally breach a .500 record. “It is important that we continue to acknowledge the fact that our performance last season was the product of many years of hard work and sacrifice from the guys before us,” said Chow. With this in mind and a new crop of talent, these guys are ready to play ball.

Stepping into leadership roles, Tochi Oti ‘16 (below left) and Evan Martin ‘16 (below right) have provided a spark for this year’s team. Photo by Halley McCormick

Cardale Jones puts post-football life first by DYLAN SNYDER Staff Reporter

n Dec. 5, 2014, Cardale Jones was a nobody. Thirdstring quarterbacks in top football programs rarely make the national news. However, there was

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something different about Jones. On Jan. 12, 2015, he was the biggest name in college football, after leading Ohio State in one of the most incredible post seasons in football history. Jones’s story doesn’t start so recently, however, and may encourage college athletes to reconsider the way in which they evaluate themselves. But before Jones made history, he needed time to become the man he is. Despite being a redshirt sophomore, Cardale is 22 years old. He took an extra semester of high school to get his grades up so he could go to Ohio State. He then became an “early enrollee” staring in the spring of 2012. He promptly made national headlines by tweeting the following: “Why should we have to go class when we came here to play FOOTBALL. We ain’t come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS.” Fast forward two seasons and Jones is sitting third string behind twotime reigning Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year Braxton Miller, and unknown-but-talented J.T. Barrett. In preseason workouts, Miller suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, shoving Barrett into the spotlight. Barrett proceeded to lead Ohio State to a one-loss regular season, only dropping one early season affair to Virginia Tech. Barrett preformed so well in his first season of work that he finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy voting. Ohio State’s season was threatened once again in the final game of the regular season, when Barrett gruesomely broke his ankle, finally putting Jones in his starting role. Jones had one game to show the College Football Playoff Selection Committee that he could ensure no drop off for the fourth-best team in the country. Jones’s real story started on Dec. 6 when he obliterated a strong Wisconsin defense to the tune of 59-0. Many people were skeptical of Ohio State despite the team’s win in the Big 10 Championship Game. They thought that Ohio State would clearly fall to the football titan that was Alabama. On New Year’s Day, an incredible play by sophomore running back Ezekiel Elliot and the dominating Cardale Jones shocked the sporting world. Jones repeatedly shrugged off soon-to-be NFL defenders only to lower his shoulder for extra yard-

age. Jones’s 6’4” 240-pound frame supports not only a kind of physical dominance, but also a cannon of an arm which allowed him to easily make a deep throw that other quarterbacks wouldn’t even attempt. The scene was repeated in the National Championship against the Oregon Ducks where, despite four turnovers, the Buckeyes dominated the game and cruised to victory. Cardale’s pandemonium was in full force and the biggest question of all came to the forefront: Could Cardale jump from college to the NFL after only three collegiate starts? And if he did where would he go? The question debated at length was if Jones could make the leap so many others couldn’t. Then Jones took to Twitter, the social media outlet that got him in trouble just three years earlier, to announce that big decisions were ahead. Jones would hold a press conference at his old high school to announce his career choice. Jones stood at the podium in front of the press conference to announce that he was returning to Ohio State–a surprising decision, but one that makes Jones a legend. Jones looked at the camera after he said he was returning and stated his case for his decision. He didn’t mention having unfinished business or going for another title, or even getting better as a player. He said that he honored his education more than football and that his academics would take him 10 times farther than his athletic career. He said he wanted to be a financial planner and that he needed a degree. Cardale Jones is not the typical athlete-student that football has created recently; he believes in the head on his shoulders. Record numbers of underclassmen have been leaving school for the NFL as of late, but many of those players will not last very long. The average NFL career is only about three years. Jones went from joke to folk hero, and now his draft stock may never be higher. There is no guarantee that he will even play for the Buckeyes next year. But Jones embodied the message that every parent should tell their child: Your brain is more important than your body. You will lose your physical gifts, but the stuff between your ears will be with you forever. And for that reason Cardale Jones is the future of athletics. He knows that football is way to get the education his grades cannot give him, and yet the value of his scholarship is not being exploited by the NCAA. It is worth every dollar he earns in the future as a financial planner. Other athletes should look to Cardale’s example because it is the only way to show the NCAA that the athletes are still in charge.

FEATURE

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29 2015

Who studies abroad? Sam Curtis: ‘That guy’ who went to Seoul Of those who went abroad from 2010-2013

by ALLIE DONAHUE Staff Reporter

29 6% 70 3% male

“I

female

broken down by year that looks like this: = 10 males

= 10 females

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013

Sciences

32%

Interdisciplinary

75% Humanities

75% of Interdisciplinary majors go abroad whereas only 32% of science majors go abroad.

39% Social Sciences

41% Two categories of study abroad destination: 1) Canada, Europe and Oceana and 2) Africa, Asia, Latin America and Middle East

% % of students going to a particular study abroad destination by year There is an increasingly upward trend towards studying abroad in European countries and a decline in students travelling to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Canada, Europe and Oceana 50% Africa, Asia,Latin America and the Middle East

School year

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

don’t want to be that guy,” said Sam Curtis, junior BBMB major, and recent graduate of the Seoul, South Korea program with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). “I don’t want to be that guy who starts every sentence with ‘When I was abroad...’ It’s so hard! Sometimes it’s easier to pretend it didn’t happen.” But that’s not really an option. “It’s hard to say without sounding cliché ... but I loved it. It was transformative,” said Curtis when I asked him the fated “How was your time abroad?” question. Curtis was one of two Whitman students to travel to Seoul through a program offered by the Off Campus Studies (OCS) office, and the first Whitman student to study abroad in South Korea in almost 10 years. The most popular study abroad destinations for students are in Europe and Oceania. In the 2014-2015 academic year, 73% of students going abroad went to European countries, Australia or New Zealand, while only 27% studied in Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East. The biggest challenge, and also the biggest reward for Curtis, was establishing connections with people. Most Whitman students study abroad with other Whitman students, but he was the only one in Seoul. “I had to make friends from scratch,” he said. In Seoul, Curtis made friends with people he never would have expected feeling close to. Most important to him is Jonghwa, a Korean student in the “Seoulmates” program for Korean students who want to work on their English and learn about American culture. At first, the language barrier was really rough, but he and Jonghwa kept talking and ultimately achieved a real closeness. “You finally understand someone when you understand their sense of humor,” he said. “I feel close to a lot of friends at Whitman, but Jonghwa holds a special place in my heart because I know there are so many barriers to our friendship.” Overcoming them, Curtis said, is rewarding. Sam also became close with a group of boys

from the United States Naval Academy. Some of them were a departure from the typical profile of the Whitman student, and getting to know them provided an opportunity to experience different kinds of attitudes and thoughts: away to experience different American identities in addition to living abroad and adjusting to Seoul. “I think we disagree on a lot of fundamental beliefs,” he said. The things these guys believe, he said, are things that any Whitman student would second-guess. Just like he worked through the language barrier with Jonghwa, Curtis worked through these value differences with the naval academy boys. “My long-held, deeply rooted, liberal beliefs were called into question,” he said. But when I asked him what, exactly, those now-questioned beliefs are, he wouldn’t say. In addition to his new friendships, Curtis also faced a whole new world of academia. In South Korea, it is usually considered disrespectful for students to question the professor. Consequently, lectures lacked classroom involvement and relied heavily on long slide shows. Exams were also different, requiring a lot of memorization rather than skill application. It wasn’t easier, Curtis said, just very different. Beyond the new social life and academics, South Korea was generally a strange new frontier for Curtis. It was the first time he was the only white guy in the room, and at 6’2” he stood out. It was the first time he felt unable to communicate with people around him. Why weren’t there any drinking fountains? Where were the public trash cans? What about the personal space bubble to which he’s accustomed? One of the most overwhelming experiences for Curtis was a giant, five-sport competition between Seoul’s two big universities, both of which have about 30,000 students. The Korean students cheered and danced a lot ... and cheered and danced and cheered and danced. In fact, they were so involved in the cheering that they didn’t seem to be watching the game at all. “I didn’t understand it,” said Curtis. Finally, though, South Korea started to seem manageable. But just when that happened, it was time to leave. “The sudden finish makes it hard to re-adjust,” he said.

Women hold significant majority in abroad programs by SARAH CORNETT Feature Editor

nyone who’s studied abroad knows that the pool typically doesn’t represent the average American college student population. Many programs abroad attract students with a fairly consistent background — most typically white, female and middle/upper-middle class. Statistically speaking, not unlike Whitman itself. The decision to study abroad is a personal one, and each student whether at Whitman or another school has to consider a significant number of factors. Finances, major completion and interests are just a few of the questions students hoping to spend a semester off-campus must consider when beginning to plan. These factors and the decisions students make because of them result in a pool of participants that is often fairly homogenous. One of the most obvious and striking disparities in studying abroad, at Whitman and in United States colleges and universities in general, is gender distribution. Nationwide, the college and university population runs about 44 percent male and 56 percent female, an uneven balance that is familiar and even more pronounced at Whitman. For studying abroad, however, this gender disparity is far more striking. According to a Duke University study of this trend, a solid two-thirds of all students studying abroad in 2010 were female. Whitman tracks gender, major and location of study abroad participants. An examination of that data reveals that the ratio of female to male study abroad participants at Whitman has hovered around two-to-one for the past five years, mirroring national trends. For the most recently tracked year, 2012-2013, 62 men went abroad, versus 120 women. While

Whitman is known to be majority female — 57 percent versus 43 percent in the most recently available information — the disparity in study abroad is much higher. Why is it that males are so underrepresented in studying abroad at Whitman and nationwide? Studies like the one commissioned by Duke cite language requirements, the necessity of significant planning, academic and career planning obstacles as potential motives for men to make the decision to stay on campus. “This is a question that is discussed frequently by those of us in the field of study abroad and we would love to change the trend so that more men did not miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Susan Holme, director of Off-Campus Studies (OCS). “The Whitman study abroad participation in which 70 percent are women and 30 percent are men is nearly identical to the national average,” she said. “So Whitman is not unique in this phenomenon.” The most frequently cited answer used for explaining the large rift in the study abroad population is major requirements. Statistically, more men than women major in departments like engineering, math, computer science or hard sciences that rely on hefty requirements. Going abroad thus requires significant planning and is often impossible. At Whitman, many students choose to double major, which leads to similarly large amounts of required courses that must be taken on campus. “I wanted to go abroad, I certainly considered it,” said junior art and philosophy double major Jack Swain. “But my double major certainly influenced my decision. I thought I would get the most of my education by staying here and traveling on my own.” But the reasons as to why Whitman males stick on campus were unclear to Swain.

“I have no idea what to contribute to it. Clearly there’s this trend, but I genuinely don’t know why the split is so great,” he said. Students on Whitman-approved abroad programs noticed significant gender disparities in their pool of participants. Junior Spanish major Jenna Stanley studied abroad in Granada, Spain through the Institute for International Education of Students (IES). “There were about 80 of us, and close to 60 were women and 20 were men. It felt a lot like Whitman,” she said. The OCS office began ef-

forts last year to lessen the gender gap by creating “For Men Only” lunches in which male students learned details of study abroad programs. Seven new OCS interns have done outreach in residents halls, a program new to this year. These outreach efforts appear to be paying off, according to Holme. “The OCS staff has noticed that we have been advising many more men than usual this year about study abroad for 2015-16 and hope that translates into higher participation rates among this year’s second-year class,” she said.

OPINION

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Tuberculosis scare sheds light on disparities in treatment ANU LINGAPPA Senior

THE QUIBBLER

W Demonizing radical Islam diminishes our own humanity SAM CHAPMAN Senior

A MOVING FOREST

’m stealing a bit from my thesis-in-progress to begin making this point. Beloved “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien has often been accused of racism, due to his unfortunate tendency to characterize his players based on their ancestry: elves like forests, dwarves like beer, orcs like human flesh. It’s the “human flesh” part that concerns me today, as I have lately discovered I am very uncomfortable with the depiction of any segment of human society as, for lack of a better phrase, a bunch of orcs. This belief, deeply rooted, has put me in the awkward position of defending ISIS, convicted child murderers and the Charlie Hebdo shooters. So I wanted to use this column space to explain myself. Radical Islam is the news story that has put this debate in my mind, so it’s the place to begin. I’ve observed enough events seemingly fueled by Islam to know there is a certain progression of responses they tend to evoke. Most will stand in solidarity with the victims, interested in recovery and not in blame. But some, driven by a natural desire to understand, will condemn Islam itself for allegedly inspiring violence and hatred due to its very nature. Here is where it becomes more predictable: There will be a defence, partly along the lines that none of the pillars of Islam reward violence, partly that a large and diverse group of people has no obli-

gation to defend itself against its worst associates, and partly that other religions have inspired just as many evil deeds, from the Crusades and Inquisition to the Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate suicides. All of these are natural and understandable, but the last one is the most interesting to me because it’s what finally takes this out of the realm of religion, which, as it goes, takes with it the dynamic of orcs and elves. To make evil universal makes it at the same time personal: Instead of thinking that anybody who would join ISIS or commit rape is so evil they do not deserve the usual human dues of mercy and pity, I am forced to deal with the presence of darkness in my own soul. To do the opposite — to declare any subset of man to be a cancer on the species — is comforting, but wrong. It is easy to declare what I will never do. It is harder to face the potential that I could murder or rape or abuse power, but that confrontation is the only reliable way to keep evil at bay. I hold this belief deeply, and it sounds very broad, but it has policy implications as well. For a long time I have opposed the death penalty because “we must not sink to the murderer’s level” is in fact another way of phrasing what I stated above. But this goes further. It is the right of a state to fight actions, and actions alone; we must never go to war against people. Unity, like that which has flourished in the wake of the Paris killings, is the other equally powerful side of this coin. But we have to remember that it is not the unity of a side in a clash. To steal again from my thesis, Smeagol is present in “The Lord of the Rings” for a reason: He cautions us against imputing susceptibility to corruption only to subhuman groups of which we could never be members. Being good requires a stronger basis than the hatred of miserable slinking things.

hile working in a hospital over winter break I came into contact with a patient who had active tuberculosis. Three weeks later I got a cold and began coughing up bloody phlegm. Naturally I assumed the worst — that I had tuberculosis — and would have to be subjected to a forceful regimen of unpleasant drugs, or else be committed to a sanatorium and never be heard from again. Thankfully I’m fine, no tuberculosis, but it got me thinking about what would happen if I did contract the disease and how my experience as a privileged American woman would differ from the reality of most TB cases today. In the United States, a standard TB treatment would involve taking a combination of four drugs: isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol for two to eight months. Isoniazid has the highest risk of side effects, which include hepatitis and its symptoms like jaundice, vomiting, fever, pain and diarrhea. Ethambutol can cause retinal damage or other visual field problems. These drugs sound scary, but they’re effective and

most people are able to continue their normal routine throughout the course of their treatment. The big public health concern is getting people on antibiotics before the disease can spread. Thankfully, in the United States cost of drugs rarely hinders anyone’s treatment. Tuberculosis is a sufficiently important public health issue that if a TB positive patient is uninsured or otherwise cannot cover the cost, local health departments are likely to pay for the regimen of drug therapy. However, it’s incredibly important for people to finish their course of treatment. If they don’t make sure every last bacteria is killed, drug resistance will develop in the remaining ones. Under a directly observed treatment (DOTs) policy, patients are monitored during their treatment to ensure completion of the therapy. Spread of tuberculosis and development of drug resistance are much bigger problems in other countries that don’t have DOTs programs in place. Russian prisons have been unfortunate case studies for the development of drug resistant TB. Inmates with TB are administered antibiotics but do not finish their course of treatment if they get out before it is completed. This leads to resistant bacteria that can spread through the population. The resistant bacteria will likely find its way back to the prisons and to inmates receiving incomplete drug therapies, expediting the evolution of drug resistance. In other parts of the world people with active tuberculosis will not be given any drugs unless they can prove they will be able to completely afford and finish

the treatment. Though the spread of TB is a slightly better alternative than the spread of drug-resistant TB, it is nevertheless sad that a sick individual’s well-being does not factor into the decision of whether or not they’ll be treated. Health can be a great equalizer. However, disparities in population health tend to mirror other inequalities faced by the communities. Tuberculosis cases in the United States are largely associated with recent immigrants and poor people. When I was considering the possibility that I might have TB, it seemed so weird to me because it isn’t a disease that tends to affect people from my socioeconomic background. There are almost 10,000 TB cases in the United States every year, but I never hear about them or feel particularly threatened knowing that there are people in my city who have it. TB has been a present threat in our society for hundreds of years and it continues to be now. Since it has an unpleasant but reliable treatment and rarely affects wealthy and middle class citizens, people in the United States don’t tend to take action against it. Individuals suffering from TB deserve more attention than we give them. Though it’s not currently a big threat to most Americans, it is responsible for a great deal of suffering. I’m ashamed because I feel like I’ve subconsciously othered the type of people who get TB, and I think that’s one of the worst ways to characterize a disease that causes human pain. Demographics shouldn’t matter when it comes to action against a pathogen like TB. Human health and wellbeing are too important for that.

Whitman’s higher ed snobbery can broaden horizons DENALI ELLIOT Web Master Guest Columnist

eturning home this winter break, it appeared as though the people of my town had been transformed in my absence — or more accurately, my view of them had been transformed during my time at Whitman College. And I wasn’t sure it was for the better. I caught myself feeling superior to the drug addicts in the streets, the middle-to-old aged cashiers at chain supermarkets and even my friends from high school who were either college dropouts or community college students indefinitely. I began to wonder: Had going to a liberal arts college made me a snob? Reflecting further on this abrupt shift in my perspective, I questioned if these feelings were good or bad, right or wrong. However, since these polarized questions have a tendency to devolve into relativism, I found that I was more interested in why I felt this way and how I and others hold feelings of superiority while simultaneously believing in basic human equality. As these feelings developed here at Whitman, I considered the values that this environment promotes. Of course, an academic institution presents edu-

cation as a necessity to our lives. Our choosing to attend this institution reveals that the same belief has already shaped us, our families assured that higher education is valuable and worthy of great sacrifice. Most of us have always been taught that intellectual development and pursuit of our aspirations are essential to our success and happiness. This assumes that someone who does not follow an academic path lacks that essential key to success and happiness, even though our more conscientious judgment reminds us of the relativism present in considering what “success” and “happiness” might look like on an individual level. But despite a great amount of relativism in our lives, it would be foolish to deny the existence of dominant, normative values. At this point in time, education is one such normative standard. It is a social signifier of favorable q u a l i t ie s: intelligence, motivation a n d eco-

nomic potential. The more education an individual has received, the more these qualities are enhanced. Less education and these qualities are either presumed to be lacking or must be proven by different, less common means. Again, this seems to assume that those who received less education are less

ILLUSTRATION BY GAUGLITZ

valuable or inferior to those who have. Along the moral standards that we claim to embrace, we know that this is not true: All human beings are created equal and should be treated accordingly. Yet we simultaneously cooperate with and embody a social hierarchy, denying its reality when it becomes uncomfortable to acknowledge. Awareness of this apparent contradiction is essential. If a form of social hierarchy exists in any given society, and there must be normative values along which the levels of that hierarchy are signified, doesn’t education have the potential to be the most humane way to do so? Absolutely. Education is an essence of the American dream that I otherwise wouldn’t believe to be possible. When made available to all, education allows class mobility and a tangible opportunity to change the nature of the hierarchy itself. In this sense, education as a normative social measurement has the potential to complement and enhance rather than contradict our belief in basic human equality. As all things, however, this is easier believed than embodied. When I look at the people from my hometown, I still get the snobbish feeling that I have moved forward and up while they have remained stagnant. Nor can I deny that my opinion of higher education is a product and affirmation of my own life. But educa-

tion also has the powerful ability to both reinforce and deconstruct the values and hierarchy of our society. By ensuring access to education as a basic human right, as a realization of our equality rather than reproducing socioeconomic structures, we can begin to embody the beliefs we claim to hold.

Letters to the Editor If you would like to write to the editors about an issue, send an email to chapmasp@whitman.edu by Saturday containing your letter in the body. Please keep under 400 words. Publication decisions are up to the editors.

BACKPAGE

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29 2015

Library gives away nitrous Leaves of gas by balloons to start semester Rendrick Heeson Life Moments

The Being

Running through the forest A little birdy I saw Sitting on top of a florist Just waiting to be called

In the evenings I start to think about you It makes me feel funny Like an apple tree on acid You know who you are

Deep in the meadow A brown bee fought Until one night Where a spider made his kill

Understanding

When looking down from the bridge I could see the newts Hoping not to touch them For their poison not very funny I want to sit on porches And see the sun go on its run From the minute it starts to the minute it ends That guy over there got the bends When pearls make you happy Learn to look away Because in the end It only matters what you say Imagination I forgot a friend’s birthday once In my confusion and haze But I really am a dunce And my day went ablaze I threw in my pot and hoped to make a lot Yet I looked down and saw what I thought For in the world of imagination Everything is real Death Grips

Photo by Barton

ophomore environmental studies major Billy Fernandez could barely believe his eyes when he walked into the library for the first time this semester. A self-declared “total dead-head, bro,” he immediately knew that the balloons hovering over the library walkway

were no mere publicity stunt. “Sherlock was my drug dealer’s name in Seattle! He had all the hook-ups, from Special K to Ibogaine! He never mentioned any nitrous, though!” said Fernandez. Indeed, inside sources from inside the very insides of the insidious administration (we’re

talkin’ insides, people) confirm that the balloons are not filled with helium, but with the dissociate nitrous oxide. Only a few people have tried getting high off the balloons so far, but hopefully this article will encourage the collective body not to wait until Camp Whitman to kill some brain cells.

Black The color of the future When I dream I see the darkness coming in How much longer do we have? When will the end come? Can’t you see how crazy the world is Before you have any worries Just know that death can’t be postponed

You know how they say Two bees in a plastic Yeah, I don’t get it either That Girl Next Door Darkness Light As I awake, I escape from my paradise for only a moment Till the next time I always say You understand what I mean It’s just like: See you in another life I am safe and you are too But we need to work together Before it is time to enter the paradise again Poop The special feeling When 10 pounds are dropped in one sitting Better than any workout Best weight loss technique The doctors don’t realize How special shit really is Time “Time, Goes by, It goes on, It don’t stop” -Riff Raff

Stunning poll shows winter vacation was ‘fine, thanks’

eaders, I know that many of you have searched far and wide to learn about the quality of your acquaintances’ winter breaks. Well, look no further! A new study funded by the national organization AAST (Americans Against Small Talk) has found conclusively that winter break was “fine.” As a dedicated member of the press, I felt obligated to investigate further. That is why I met with Chet Barker, world renowned iguana breeder and the brains behind the recent poll. As I made my way to Chet’s office, I was met with the sweet, sweet smell of success (or possibly iguana semen, I’ve always

thought the two had a similar odor). Backpage: So Chet, I’ve heard you’ve finally unlocked the mysteries behind the quality of everyone’s winter breaks. Chet: Indeed I have, but it was by no means easy. Why, I had teams of dedicated iguanas working around the clock to accumulate the amount of data that I wanted.

Mease not Mooses by Asa Mease

BP: Sounds painstaking. Chet: Yes, it was. However, in the end my team pulled through to bring the Whitman community this groundbreaking conclusion. BP: And that would be? Chet: Almost 70 percent of those who responded claimed their winter breaks were “fine.” This response dominated our other usual top contenders: “good,” “OK” and “it’s two o’clock in the morning, why the hell are you in my room?” BP: Remarkable! So what do you see in the future for Chet Barker? Chet: I’ve got three words for you my good man: illegal iguana racing. As the stench of what I am now fairly certain was not success left my nostrils, I pondered my interaction with Chet. While I do dislike the inherent disingenuousness in much of small talk, I also believe that, like many things, there is a time and place for it. So though your winter break may have been “fine,” don’t be afraid to elaborate.