Whitman Pioneer Fall 2012 Issue 10

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For the class of 2015 . . .

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by EMILY LIN-JONES

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Victory for Obama, Ref. 74, I-502

heers (and groans) resounded across campus Tuesday night as general election results poured in from across the nation, confirming Barack Obama’s reelection as president of the United States.

President Obama won the electoral college handily, clinching crucial battleground states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia early in the night. He took the popular vote more narrowly, squeaking by at roughly 50 percent to Romney’s 48 percent—a slim margin compared to his seven percentage point lead in the 2008 election.

Congress emerged largely unchanged, with Democrats retaining control of the Senate and the GOP continuing to hold the House of Representatives but losing some seats.

“As leading Republicans assess their party’s losses yesterday, some are bound to argue that the party needs to do some concrete things to increase its appeal to Latinos, especially in the area of immigration reform,” said Professor of Politics and Chair of Political Science Paul Apostolidis in an email.

Though the party composition of Congress hasn’t changed much, newly elected female senators have brought the total number of women in Senate to a record high of 20.

“I was pleased that candidates who made ridiculous statements about women’s bodies and sexual assault lost. Voting down these candidates and electing more women is a hopeful sign,” said Assistant Professor of Politics Susanne Beechey in an email.

For many, the real excitement of the night came when historic ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana use and same-sex marriage were passed in Washington and other states.

Though ballots were still being counted Wednesday night, supporters of Washington’s Referendum 74 announced victory with a four percentage point lead over the opposition.

“I’m so excited that [Referendum 74] passed!” said senior Rebecca Helgeson, a student campaign worker, in an email. “It was hard to tell solely from the phone banks that we had been doing what the result was going to be.”

Maine and Maryland voters approved same-sex marriage referenda as well, marking the first time in U.S. history that same-sex marriage has been legalized by voters and not the courts. Wisconsin congresswoman Tammy Baldwin also became the first openly gay individual to be elected to Senate.

“I definitely think it shows a shift in attitude; however, these [measures] are not the end-all. There are so many other challenges that GLBTQ individuals face,” said Helgeson.

In another historic move, Washington’s Initiative 502, which will allow individuals over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana for personal use, passed with a solid 55.4% “Yes” vote.

Colorado voters passed Amendment 64 to accomplish the same objective, making these two states the first in the nation to legalize nonmedical use of the drug.

Some are skeptical of the law’s longevity since it is in conflict with federal law.

“My sense is that moving beyond medicinal marijuana will force the issue of federalism,” said Beechey. “The differences between federal and state drug laws will need to be worked out and generally this means federal law rules.”

Overall, even supporters of President Obama agreed that the general mood paled in comparison to the previous presidential election.

“I was happy, but I think that the excitement of this campaign compared to 2008 just wasn’t there,” said Helgeson. “It seems to me as a ‘return to normal’ rather than the excitement and ‘hope’ that I saw in 2008.”

Others voiced open disappointment with the possible continuation of some of Obama’s more controversial policies.

“I’m curious to see how second-term Obama compares to first-term Obama, if he will break first-term Obama’s record number of deportations, continue to bomb Yemen and Pakistan, and continue to increase funding for the War on Drugs in the U.S. and abroad,” said senior Henry Gales in an email.

“In 2008 I had hope, but [because of these] policies which I don’t expect Obama to alter, I’m not looking to Washington for social and political change.”

Issue 10 | November 9, 2012 | Whitman news since 1896

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and 14 ultimately enrolled

of that number, 35 were admitted

by LACHLAN JOHNSON Staff Reporter

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oming to college means leaving one’s family and friends, but for some students it means leaving one’s culture, language and country behind as well. International students come to Whitman knowing they will be in a place where very few people share their background and experiences. Though nearly all international students end up staying at the college for their whole

undergraduate career, there’s no escaping the fact that Whitman is a small college with a small international community in a remote, rural town.

“I came from an international school; I wanted to have a different experience that was not as international,” said senior Marcial Díaz Mejía. “It was kind of strange not having that solidarity, a group that shares similar values that I did. In my [previous] school I had friends from all over the world, and I had really good friends from Latin Ameri-

ca ... when I came [here], in my first year there were maybe two other students from Latin America [who] shared the same values or at least the same language.”

Many international students wish there were a larger community of their peers at Whitman. While the college recently built the Glover Alston Center to encourage multiculturalism on campus, international students attend a special orientation before the start of the academic year, and Intercultural Center Director Kris Barry works to

help students navigate Whitman, the number of international students at Whitman limits the connections which can be made.

“I wish Whitman was more diverse in terms of international students. There are only 17 international students this year. I wish we had more; in other colleges, it’s like 10 percent international students. It would be really nice to have people from other countries around the world,” said first-year Nattapol “Arty” Kraisitudomsook. see INTERNATIONAL, page 3

Mr. Whitman turns fun into funding

by DANIEL KIM Staff Reporter

I

t’s that time again: Eight senior men are ready to hit the Cordiner stage at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9 for this year’s Mr. Whitman pageant, to raise money and awareness for Whitman-alumfounded nonprofit Semilla Nueva.

Kappa Kappa Gamma has been organizing the Mr. Whitman fundraiser for the past eight years.

The fundraiser is a male beauty pageant in which participants compete for the title of Mr. Whitman by trying to raise the most money for a selected charity, as well as by performing in a talent portion.

The nonprofit organization that receives the funds raised by Mr. Whitman changes from year to year.

This year, Mr. Whitman will be funding Semilla Nueva, a nonprofit organization that was founded by Whitman alumnus Curt Bowen ‘09.

“Semilla Nueva has a really strong connection with [Whitman Direct Action] on campus.

Semilla Nueva and WDA have a partnership and many members have traveled down to Guatemala and worked with Semilla Nueva. Many of the members of WDA at Whitman filled out an application, and so we decided on Semilla Nueva,” said junior Sara Graham, Kappa’s philanthropy chair.

Semilla Nueva helps farmers in Guatemala by introducing environmentally sustainable farming practices into their communities.

This allows the farmers to practice efficient farming practices on their own, giving them the tools to learn how to adapt to a higher yield.

In order for an organization to be considered for fundraising through this event, students must submit application forms nominating the organization.

“The recipient of the funds changes every year and we choose the recipient by contacting the students ... People can submit an application form if they have a particular nonprofit that is close to them or [to which they] have

a

connection,” said Graham.

Of the eight senior men running for Mr. Whitman, one is chosen from each of the four fraternities on campus, and four are independent men. Each of the men go about fundraising as much money as they can on their own, coming up with their own distinctive ways.

“It’s up to the fraternities to choose their candidates.

In Beta, [the] people who volunteered ... [and] had great stage recognition were nominated for the Beta representative,” said senior Jonas Myers, Beta Theta Pi’s candidate for Mr. Whitman.

In addition to the candidates’ individual fundraising before the date of the show, they participate in a swimwear, formalwear and talent component. On the day of the show, a winner is announced and the money raised through this event is presented to the organization.

“They work to raise money before the actual show, so they’re holding concerts, writing letters, putting on events.

They do a lot of things during Parents’ Weekend,” said Graham.

Fundraising accounts for 60 percent of the candidate’s score, the rest being determined by

This year’s selection of senior men competing for the title of Mr. Whitman poses together before Friday’s show, which will benefit charity. Photos contributed by Browne

their performance in the pageant.

Two years ago, Mr. Whitman was able to gather $50,000 in funds. It’s since grown significantly, and this year contestants hope to earn as much money as they can to help out the community.

“I am nervous about the show and I’m trying keep what I’m doing on the down low. But I do know what

I’m doing, and I’m pretty excited. I have been practicing and the whole process of figuring out what I’m going to do has been fun. It’s also nice that the winner of the competition is not determined by who does the best at the show, so that takes a little stress off,” said senior Jack Lazar, an independent candidate. see MR. WHITMAN, page 2

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Outreach expands classroom experience

by EVAN TAYLOR Staff Reporter

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rising topic within the world of Whitman academia is the development of a stronger community-based learning culture in classes. Both Associated Students of Whitman College and the Student Engagement Center are interested in expanding students’ involvement with the Walla Walla community and beyond through community-based learning projects, which are aimed at integrating real-life experiences and projects into the curricula of classes to simultaneously solidify students’ learning and reach out to the community.

“Community-based learning is one way to help students who are learning about a discipline or a subject area or a theory,” said Assistant Dean for Student Engagement Noah Leavitt. “To have the chance to see, perhaps, how that idea or theory may play out, out in the world outside of the classroom, it’s a way of learning that opens up the ability to reflect upon and critique something that we read about or hear in a lecture or talk about in a discussion group.”

On Thursday, Nov. 8, Leavitt will be presenting the concept of community-based learning (CBL) to the Board of Trustees as an area of potential development for Whitman. Compared to other similarly sized liberal arts schools, Whitman lacks in utilizing the community for CBL projects.

“I came to Whitman expecting a stronger presence in classrooms of service learning or communitybased learning,” said sophomore ASWC senator Nate Higby. “I expected more outside-of-the-classroom learning experiences, and I was kind of disappointed to see that that was kind of exclusive to science programs [like] geology.”

Higby, along with WEB director senior Hannah Holloran, wrote a resolution recently passed by ASWC that encourages the creation of a service learning coordinator position in the Student Engagement Center.

“I worked with Noah Leavitt and Hannah Holloran and we created a resolution that would encourage the creation of a position within the Student Engagement Center that would work solely to connect faculty members and community partners, help with the execution of the project and also help faculty members to find a way to integrate such a project into their curriculum,” said Higby.

This is not to say that community-based learning does not exist at Whitman. Physics Professor Kurt Hoffman and Assistant Professor of Psychology Pavel Blagov are two professors who have utilized CBL projects in the Walla Walla community. There also appears to be a clear correlation between newer teachers and an interest in CBL. “As new faculty come to Whitman and join the academic program here, they bring with them a wider exposure to community-based learning through their academic programs than perhaps people who came to the college 15 to 20 years ago,” said Leavitt. “Community-based learning is something that, as people are moving through graduate programs now, is a more common part of their graduate experience.”

Although there is rising interest in significantly developing community-based learning, it is still very early in its development process.

“Last spring [Noah and I] had conversations with over fifteen faculty about experiential learning more broadly, and many of those faculty were interested specifi-

cally in enhancing opportunities for community-based learning,” said Associate Dean of Faculty Lisa Perfetti in an email.

“However, we are still in earlier stages of our investigation into what specific opportunities would best suit the needs both of our faculty/curricula and of our community partners.”

The ASWC resolution concerning the creation of a CBL coordinator position points to different reasons that CBL would benefit both Whitman students and the community, and why this is an essential in which Whitman may currently be subpar. In an ASWC survey of 262 students, 66.8 percent believed that expanded research opportunities with professors and community organization internships would improve their academic quality of life at Whitman. Out of 42 faculty members surveyed, over half believed that Walla Walla benefits from student engagement in the community.

The resolution requests that the Office of the Provost prioritize the hiring of such a coordinator within the next two years. The resolution falls in line with Leavitt’s work and presentation to the Board of Trustees last spring concerning CBL and also the “Now is the Time” campaign, which has

t h e goal of enhancing and enriching students’ academic experiences and providing faculty with support to provide a quality education.

ILLUSTRATION BY JONES

“Men in Tights” compete to be next Mr. Whitman, give Semilla Nueva leg up from MR. WHITMAN, page 1

Kappa receives 5 percent of the funds raised through the Mr. Whitman fundraiser and donates the money to the Kappa foundation, which provides emergency assistance to Kappa-related causes. This year some of the fund will go toward emergency assistance for Kappas whose homes have been damaged or

lost in the Colorado wildfires. Some of that money will also go towards the Girls Academy Program, one of Kappa’s sponsored organizations.

“We really wanted to make sure that the 5 percent donation within the Kappa Foundation was going to something that we wanted [it] to go to,” said Graham. “We feel really strongly about this Girls Acad-

emy Program and we really want to bring it to Walla Walla to pick one of the local schools here and have it for them. It’s a weekendlong event and [they] do workshops on confidence and practical skills.”

Mr. Whitman is growing every year, encouraging students to be a part of a big fundraising event on campus that makes

differences around the world.

“It has made me begin to think [of] Mr. Whitman as a collaborative fundraiser, and we tried to downplay the competitive aspect. We focused on aiding each other and raising as much [money] as we could.

I was worried at the beginning that this would be a big competition, but it has not been that way,” said Lazar.

NUMBERS

IN THE NEWS

by Emily lin-Jones News Editor

2

States won by Mitt Romney that had gone to Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

SOURCE: new york times

47,016

Number of votes Obama leads Romney by in Florida as of Wednesday night’s count.

SOURCE: ny times

55

Percentage of female voters who voted for Obama.

SOURCE: ny times

20

Senate seats held by women following the election.

SOURCE: new york times

1

Senate seat won by an independent candidate.

SOURCE: new york times

3

States that approved a ballot measure legalizing same-sex marriage.

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

53

Percentage of “yes” votes for Colorado’s Amendment 64, which legalizes recreational possession and use of marijuana.

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

61 Sara Graham [center] organized this year’s Mr. Whitman pageant to raise money for Guatemala-based nonprofit Semilla Nueva. Contestants this year are seniors [top row, left to right] Al-Rahim Merali, Jonas Myers, Nik Hagen, Matthew Raymond, [bottom row] Justin Weeks, Jack Lazar, Adam Brayton and Hari Raghavan. Photo by Browne

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Percentage of Puerto Rican voters voting to change Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States who voted for Puerto Rico’s statehood.

SOURCE: associated press

EDITORIAL POLICY

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

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The

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TED talks coming to campus

by SARAH CORNETT Staff Reporter

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ollowing the example of other colleges, Whitman has recently begun planning to join the famous TED talk network, hoping to host talks on campus and screen others for members of the community.

The TED talk network, standing for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is known worldwide for its website featuring thousands of lectures on topics ranging from religion to science to computers and everything in between. These lectures are always under 20 minutes, and can feature just about anyone and anything.

Juli Dunn, director of academic resources, and Noah Leavitt, associate dean for student engagement, were inspired by an alum to bring TED talks to campus.

“Noah Leavitt and I were looking for a joint project to work on this year that would marry the missions of our offices (the Student Engagement Center and the Academic Resource Center). I’d seen alumna Aisha Fukushima [‘09] do a TEDx Sitka talk and felt that this was something Whitman should be doing to showcase our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community at large,” she said in an email.

Dunn and Leavitt recent-

ly held a meeting with students interested in being involved in the talks, whether being featured as a speaker or helping with publicity or technology. Students are excited about what the talks could mean to raise awareness and feature student voices on the network.

“It’s a really incredible way to get student voices heard,” said first-year Shireen Nori, who attended the meeting. “The way you present the material and yourself is an opportunity for creativity.”

At the meeting, Dunn and Leavitt split the large group of interested students into specialized committees focusing on areas like publicity, social media, speaker selection and technology. The talks are projected to take place sometime in the late spring, and planning is beginning early.

Many attendees indicated their interest in being a speaker, though some wished to keep their potential topics confidential. Other Walla Walla community members also attended the interest meeting, forming a significant portion of the group tentatively delegated to choosing future speakers.

While the process for becoming a speaker has yet to be finalized, it is likely that it will be somewhat selective. Though Dunn and Leavitt are eagerly anticipating the event,

there are worries about the highly specific requirements of the talks.

“The TED brand has some very specific regulations and conditions under which an institution or community can use the TED name,” said Dunn.

Complying with TED’s regulations will require hard work from interested participants, but both Dunn and Leavitt have faith

that participating in TED will showcase community members’ unique experiences and ideas.

The innovative program will bring Whitman publicity and provide a vehicle for students and community members looking to creatively relay interesting and potentially offbeat topics.

“This is great because we all know we’ve got a lot of fan-

tastic ideas coming out of this campus that should be shared widely,” said Leavitt.

Though other universities have hosted TED talks, Whitman will be among the first liberal arts colleges to do so.

“I think we will continue to put ourselves on the map as a leader among the liberal arts institutions,” said Dunn.

Juli Dunn [left] and Noah Leavitt organize committees to help implement TED talks as a community feature. Photo by Bernstein

International students face obstacles to travel, aid from INTERNATIONAL, page 1

The number of international students at Whitman is not due to a lack of applicants. While Whitman may lack the international prestige of Pomona College and the urban surroundings of Lewis & Clark College, the Office of Admission still receives hundreds of applications from international students every year. However, very few of the students are admitted.

“Our admission percentage is far lower [for international students],” said Associate Director of Admission Joshua Smith. “It’s partly because of financial aid. Whitman has also institutionally set a priority to serve domestic students of color.”

A Matter of Money Whitman meets all needbased aid demonstrated by international students. While in recent years a few international students have been able to pay full tuition, many students require scholarships upwards of $40,000 each year. Nearly all of this aid is given as grants which do not have to be paid back. International students only need to contribute $750 in work-study during their first year and $2,000 each subsequent year.

“Other than our undocumented students, our international students are the students who Whitman does the most to support financially,” said Smith. “Historically our students at Whitman who are international students have always been very high need, and that’s okay. Because we value their contributions, we didn’t care. That has limited the number we could bring in, but it

meant that we were really interested in fully supporting the students to make it as easy for them as possible to study in the United States.”

Despite Whitman’s commitment to meeting international students’ needs, students still struggle to meet financial obligations beyond tuition.

“One of my friends from Guatemala applied to Whitman, he got in, he got full financial aid from Whitman ... but he ended up not coming here because he did not even have the money for airplane tickets,” said Díaz Mejía. “Visa costs are not included either, and that’s around another $500 right there.”

International students are also limited in the means available to them to finance these expenses.

As they are not U.S. citizens, they are only able to work jobs on campus provided by the college. Many grants and awards, such as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, are only available to U.S. citizens.

Equal Internship Opportunity Another barrier to international students is that the Student Engagement Center does not fund internships for students overseas.

In 2010 Whitman enacted a ban on college-sponsored international travel for students. Recently Díaz Mejía worked with ASWC President Kayvon Behroozian and Senior ASWC Senator Caroline Carr to prepare an ASWC resolution requesting the college look into ways to reopen unaccompanied student travel abroad.

“This is beneficial to all students, from an international student

who cannot go home and do an internship because it’s outside of the United States and they’re traveling by themselves and unaccompanied, to a student who’s traveling abroad and wants to have an internship in the country they’re in and wants to continue working, to someone who has research with a third party somewhere else in the world and wants to do that over the summer, or just opportunities to go to a conference,” said Díaz Mejía.

Many students take advantage of the SEC’s internship funding program to work summer internships in their hometowns, earning money towards tuition while living at home. But the SEC’s funding doesn’t cover living expenses during internships, making it extremely difficult for international students to take advantage of the program.

The SEC is supportive of the resolution which will soon come before ASWC, as international internships could play an important role in preparing students for careers beyond Whitman and the United States.

“We’re excited about the college rethinking this whole prohibition because we hear from so many students, whether they’re international students or United States citizens ... who want to have access to the international sphere for whatever their academic area is, whatever their professional goals are, whatever kind of networks they want to enter,” said Assistant Dean of Student Engagement Noah Leavitt. “[International internships] make a lot of sense for a lot of students at a college that’s looking to prepare people to go out into a

complicated globalized world.”

In order for the college to reinstate independent travel abroad, a number of boundaries will need to be overcome. Travel was discontinued two years ago because there were not sufficient staff to evaluate travel proposals to ensure students would be going into safe, academically valuable situations.

Professor Jonathan Walters, who heads the Global Studies Initiative at Whitman, is in favor of the college funding student travel abroad, but believes the program should be pursued with caution.

“It’s something that needs to go through various kinds of vetting.

The lawyers have to figure out how to do it, the Registrar’s Office has to figure out how to do it. How do we vet these programs? Are all internships credit-worthy? Should all internships be paid for? But if not, who decides that? How do we decide that?” said Walters. “Instead of just opening up the floodgates, we want to do it in a thoughtful way.”

A Long Way from Home While the debate on opening up internships abroad continues, international students remain a long way from home in more ways than one. It can be extremely lonely arriving on a campus where very few people speak your native tongue.

“I think people here are really nice and friendly and lovely, and I think that’s the thing that appeals to international students like me. I’m from a very far away country and it would be really sad if I had to live here alone and nobody talked to me because I’m an inter-

ASWC petitions for college sponsorship of sustainability coordinator position

by MAEGAN NELSON Staff Reporter

U

p until now, efforts to make Whitman’s campus green have largely been fueled by student enthusiasm, with groups like Green Leaders and Campus Climate Challenge leading the way. But according to a recent resolution from ASWC asking the college to create a full-time sustainability coordinator position, it may be time for the college to pick up some of the slack.

On Sunday, Oct. 21, ASWC approved a resolution asking the college to create a full-time staff position for sustainability coordinator.

Along with listing reasons why this position is so important, the resolution lists names of faculty to whom the resolution will be distributed in an attempt to gain faculty support.

The resolution will soon be passed along to the budget advisory committee.

“ASWC’s involvement in this whole thing is that we’ve written a resolution that is advocating for a new sustainability coordinator—a full-time position,” said senior Sally Boggan, ASWC’s communications director.

In the past, two interns have worked together to keep the college sustainable. Senior Natalie Jamerson is one of them, currently employed by the school as one of its student sustainability coordinators.

“We have a lot of small tasks that are starting to chip away at bigger sustainability goals, for instance

running green orientation, or the internship program, or the sustainability involving the Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund. So there are a lot of goals that sustainability coordinators work on,” said Jamerson.

Two years ago, the student sustainability coordinator position was expanded to include two students instead of one. The coordinators work approximately ten hours total a week and have a budget of $5000.

“The two interns came to Senate two weeks ago and they were also advocating for [the full-time position] because they don’t have a lot of institutional knowledge and historical context for the position and they don’t get very much training because there is no faculty position. There are no longterm projects because its not a long-term position,” said Boggan.

Due to the fact that there is no one person keeping track of information from year to year, re-

cord keeping becomes really difficult, said Jamerson. Ongoing efforts of recycling and sustainability are difficult to compare year to year to determine how effectively the college is “going green.”

To encourage this process, the college is attempting to have their sustainability efforts more accurately reflect the students’ interests. In the past few years, there has been a lot of student input regarding sustainability.

“At the moment, there is no centralized information, and there is a lot of student input. We already have a compost facility behind Jewett [Hall] and a bike share—[both] student initiatives. Our environmental studies department is one of the fastest growing departments on campus and we want that energy to continue in the long term,” said senior Marcial Díaz Mejía, ASWC vice president.

According to Jamerson, however, trying to manage this fast-

ASWC MINUTES 11/4 Approved revised request for $714 by Model U.N. to travel to Seattle conference Nov. 16-18, 17-0-2 Moved to sustain Finance Committee’s rejection of Mock Trial’s request for $3530.62 to travel to the Thunderbird Invitational in Colorado Springs, 17-1-1 Confirmed Helen Brown as member of Council on Student Affairs, 18-0-1 Approved resolutions challenging current ban on unaccompanied international travel for students (18-0-1) and advocating the introduction of an Arabic language program (17-1-1) President explained veto of act mandating yearly race symposiums, on basis of lack of specificity

growing department as an intern can be quite difficult.

“Because we are full-time students, we think that this position would be really beneficial to the school because having a fulltime—or even part-time—position would help the sustainability of the position so that they could continue record-keeping,” said Jamerson.

Some of Whitman’s peer schools have already made efforts to concentrate sustainability in the hands of staff as well as of students. Middlebury College in Vermont already has a Dean of Sustainability, and has made the goal to be a carbon-neutral college by 2016.

“For ASWC, it is a priority to see a match to the student interest in environmental sustainability [with faculty and fulltime staff],” said Díaz Mejía.

national student,” said Kraisitudomsook. “When I came to visit here many people talked to me even though I’m not an American, and they [made] me like one of them.”

Most international students have to adapt to a change in scenery when they arrive at Whitman. Some find that the reality is quite different from their expectations: First-year Chi Hang ‘“Jeff” Liu went through his application process assuming that Whitman was in Washington, D.C. “[When I heard Whitman] was in Washington, this led me to misunderstand that it was in Washington, D.C.; I didn’t know that it meant Washington state ... The moment I checked the website I was like, ‘Walla Walla! Oh, I’m screwed!’” said Liu. “I went to the Canadian International School in Hong Kong. Big city, big lights, this was different. But I like it here a lot.”

Though there are significant obstacles to international students attending or trying to attend Whitman, there are still many students from all over the world who want to make it work. They just need more ways to navigate the cultural, financial and logistical difficulties of getting here.

ELECTION RESULTS

As of Nov. 7 at 9:53 p.m., the following Washington ballot item tallies were current: WA state governor Jay Inslee (D) 1,084,310 Rob McKenna (R) 1,035,783

51.14% 48.86%

Referendum 74: Concerns marriage for same-sex couples Approved: 1,104,025 51.96% Rejected: 1,020,812 48.04% Initiative 502: Concerns marijuana Approved: 1,117,706 Rejected: 950,081

55.35% 44.65%

Initiative 1240: Concerns creation of a public charter school system Yes: 1,060,666 No: 1,014,416

51.11% 48.89%

There are 744,382 ballots left to be counted.

The Seattle Times has called the race for I-502 and I-1240.

Source: vote.wa.gov, The Seattle Times

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Nov

9

2012

‘Shooting Simone’ breathes life into history

by SAM ADLER Staff Reporter

T

hings were aflutter in Harper Joy Theatre last Sunday as thespians and crew members prepared for a dress rehearsal of the second non-instant play of the term.

The play in question— ”Shooting Simone” by Lynne Kauffman—runs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 10, and is to be the first big production of the year to make use of the Freimann Studio Theatre, a space more commonly known as the Black Box. The play features a considerable historical bent and focuses on the relationship of intellectual super-couple Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, played by sophomore Caroline Rensel and first-year Alec Foote, respectively. Senior theatre and French double major Ryan Campeau, who is directing the play for her senior project, spoke about the work involved in heading the production.

“Since about May I’ve been working with all my designers for the set, lighting, costumes, props and doing research to better my knowledge since the play is based on historical figures,” she said.

In Harper Joy’s Freimann Studio Theatre, the cast and crew of “Shooting Simone” have spent months rehearsing and perfecting their parts. Directed by senior Ryan Campeau, the production takes a witty and romantic look at history. Photos by Mellema

“I’ve read literature from these two figures, read biographies, cast the play and worked with all the ac-

BIG ART shines a light on student artists

by EMMA DAHL Staff Reporter

B

IG ART is an upcoming event that will feature art, music and more from last year’s issue of Whitman’s art and literature magazine blue moon. While the event will feature the art, poetry and music of Whitman students, it’s also a chance for the Walla Walla and Whitman communities to come together and soak in some art while enjoying the fine food that the Colville Street Patisserie has to offer.

The event will be held at the Patisserie on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Performers include members of the Slam Poetry Club; student musicians, including firstyear Sam Gelband and juniors Josh Melander and Ethan Maier; and several students who will be reading their original poems and pieces from last year’s blue moon volume.

Besides the performances, there will be new postcards of art from last year’s issue available for purchase, and a raffle will be held as well. Prizes include five pieces of

student art and the poster sponsoring the event hanging in the Reid Campus Center. blue moon staffers have sold raffle tickets in Reid in the days leading up to the event. blue moon’s editors-inchief, seniors Bo Erickson and Chelsea Kern, described the nature of the event via email.

“It’s an opportunity for us to really bring art to the foreground and bring together this year’s artistic communities,” they said. “We also get to celebrate the success of last year’s magazine and everyone who contributed to it, while getting people excited about the next installment, which will be coming out in April.”

They added that submissions for blue moon volume 26 are due on Feb. 1. All Whitman students are encouraged to submit their original prose, poetry, art, movies, photography and music.

If you’re looking for an artsy way to spend your Thursday night, drop by the Patisserie for BIG ART, an evening of snacks, drinks, art and culture with roots in the Whitman community.

Style spotlight Every week, The Pioneer searches out Whitties who bring an extra splash of fashion consciousness and sartorial daring to campus.

This week’s Style Spotlight: Students show off their shoes.

Style Soundbites: Sophomore Annie Szeliski: I love my Birkenstocks. I wear them all the time; they’re so comfy ... You can tell who is a true Birkenstock wearer by how black the insides are ... I’m not to full black yet, but I’m working on it. I got them the middle of my freshman year [of college] because everyone else had them, and now I love them!

Sophomore Suzy Xu: I got them

tors, giving them what I can to help them better portray the characters.”

Despite the mountain of work,

Campeau remains chipper and passionate about the whole affair.

“The entire process has

FGWC promotes awareness with “In My Shoes”

been very exciting,” she said.

“I’m so excited to have audience feedback. After tech weekend, it looks so beautiful.”

Rensel, who plays the title character, spoke on her experience inhabiting the famous feminist thinker.

“If you go into Penrose there are shelves and shelves of stuff [de Beauvoir] has written and stuff people have written about her,” she said. “Discovering all the work on her was pretty frightening, because she is pretty iconic.”

Rensel also commented on the space where the show is to be performed.

“It’s so much more intimate.

On the Alexander Stage small motions don’t read, but the Black Box allows you to have a lot more subtlety. And from an audience perspective, it’s much more interactive in a way and a lot more fun—it’s like being in someone’s living room,” she said.

The play’s small cast also prominently features juniors Susannah Ellis and Nicky Khor, who play different characters in each act.

Tickets for the show can be collected at the Harper Joy Box Office, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.

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

Here are this week’s picks:

The First Generation and Working Class club’s exhibition “In My Shoes” presents a first-person look at the experiences of first-generation students and faculty. Located in Reid’s Stevens Gallery, the show runs until Sunday, Nov. 11. Photos by Felt

Maquette to Monument: Curator Talk by Mark Anderson Anderson, owner of the Walla Walla Foundry, will give a presentation about the Sheehan Gallery’s “From Maquette to Monument” exhibit, a collection of models of large-scale sculptural projects by a multitude of renowned artists.

Friday, Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Olin 130

Café Night: Dinner by the Sea Saturday evening, stop by the French House for an evening of French and Breton delicacies, along with music from campus band Grandma’s Bail.

Saturday, Nov. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at La Maison Française (418 Boyer Ave.)

Eli Sanders Lecture Sanders, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from the Seattle Stranger, will discuss the role of media in the election and in Washington state politics.

Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Olin 130

“Holy Rollers” As part of the Film and Media Studies program’s Cinema Arts Series, director Bryan Storkel will visit to show his film, a 2011 documentary about a team of churchgoing Christians who form a blackjack team.

in Shanghai, where I’m from ... I was just walking through a store and I saw them. I liked that they were colorful. I have another pair like them ... It depends on the weather whether I wear [high- or low-top sneakers]. It’s about being comfy.

Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Theatre

Theatre Uncut Harper Joy Theatre faculty and students present an evening of staged readings as part of Theatre Uncut, an international project designed to bring political and social issues to light.

First-year Meredith Ruff: I actually got these shoes ... last week for $35 at JCPenney. I’ve been wearing them pretty much every day ... they’re pretty comfortable. Although when I wore them to the haunted house, they got super wet because they’re not waterproof. I like the stripes on them and the fold down, and I wanted some ... moccasin boots.

First-year Hannah Aguirre-Clayshulte: I’m a swimmer ... these are my swimming Uggs. I bought them as a present for myself when I was in boarding school and they became my swim shoes. Actually, they’re really stained and faded from the pool and the chlorine.

Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 10:15 p.m. on the Freimann Studio Stage

Visit whitmanpioneer.com/category/arts for the complete Style Spotlight shoe slideshow and more stories. Photos by beck

I wear them everywhere. I wear them every day to and from the pool ... they’re my lazy shoes.

Sophomore Nic Win: The reason why I got [these shoes] is they’re lightweight, they’re comfortable and I’m all for the whole natural ... part of walking and running. I am an enthusiast of parkour; I like to pretend that I know how to do it ... they’re martial arts shoes, pretty much Chinese ripoffs. They were just $15 off the Internet ... I wear them maybe four or five days out of the week.

I have a black pair just like them.

SPORTS

Nov

9

2012

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5

Missionaries sweep dual meets to open 2012-13 conference seasons

by ELENA ARAGON Staff Reporter

T

he Whitman swim teams opened the 2012-13 Northwest Conference season at the Louise and Paul Harvey Pool with dominant victories in dual meets over Linfield College and Willamette University.

Both the men’s and women’s teams defeated Linfield in the Friday meet, with a men’s score of 140-62 and women’s 127-78. Whitman went on to sweep the weekend, winning against Willamette with a score of 160-40 in the men’s meet and 146-55 in the women’s.

The strength of the teams this year have made it possible for them to aim for some major wins against top-level competition.

“This year, we have a large senior class, but other than that, the team is composed of mostly freshmen and sophomores. We picked up a huge class of very talented freshmen and are poised to become a nationally competitive team. This is the fastest team that Whitman College has ever had,” said senior Paul Chang in an email.

Both the men’s and women’s teams’ long-term goal for the season is to climb to the top of the NWC. Individually, a number of Missionaries want to qualify for postseason competition.

“I would really like to qualify for NCAA DIII Nationals

The Whitman swim teams opened their conference seasons with dominant performances over Linfield College and Willamette University. Photos by McCormick

and go with some of my teammates. I missed the qualifying times last year by a small margin and I’d really like to make it this year,” said Chang.

“My goals are to help the team win conference. We have a really strong team and everyone is pretty excited at the opportunity to take Whitworth down,” said first-year Nick Wechter.

A key for both Whitman teams this year will be their depth.

“The guys’ team is looking to win conference this year, and we’re gonna use our depth to our advantage,” said sophomore Kevin O’Leary.

The men’s team is led by senior captains Kevin Dyer and Andrew Roehrig and supplements its core of returners with strong first-years. Seniors Genay Pilarowski and Libby Arnosti lead the women’s team.

“We have some really awesome freshmen, including Sam Starr,” said O’ Leary, who competed on Saturday for the first time in six months due to surgery after a series of knee dislocations.

“Our biggest meet will be against Whitworth, who have held the conference title for about a decade,” said Chang.

*

For more on the swim openers Read online at whitmanpioneer.com/sports

SCOREBOARD soccer

Men’s v. Whitworth University Nov. 3: W 2-1 Women’s v. Linfield College Nov. 2: L 2-1

volleyball

v. Linfield College Nov. 2: L 3-0 v. Pacific University Nov. 3: W 3-0

swimming

v. Linfield College Nov. 2 Men’s: W 140-62 Women’s: W 127-78 v. Willamette University Nov. 3 Men’s: W 160-40 Women’s: W 146-55

upcoming swimming

v. Lewis & Clark College Nov. 9: AWAY v. Pacific University Nov. 10: AWAY

cross country

NCAA DIII West Regionals Nov. 10: AWAY

Sports weekly factoid Junior Jillian Davis’ selection to the 2012 NWC All Conference First Team highlighted a trio of Missionaries who earned conference honors. Senior Olivia Nielsen was named to the Second Team and senior Courtney Brewer earned Honorable Mention.

Men’s soccer closes season, juniors look to 2013

by TRISTAN GAVIN Staff Reporter

T

wo months ago, Whitman’s men’s soccer team traveled to California and beat a nationally ranked Redlands University team on their home field. In the next two days they lost in overtime to a solid Claremont-MuddScripps College team and scraped out a win against highly competitive Pomona-Pitzer College.

“It was probably the most successful road trip we have had as a team in years. We were playing at a high level for how early in the season it was,” said junior Chris Perkins, who did not join the team on the trip because of a herniated disc.

After that successful first road trip, the season has been a roller coaster for the team. Whitman entered Saturday’s season finale with a 5-5-3 record in the Northwest Conference. With the talent of their squad, however, they had expected to be at the top of the conference, not in the middle.

“We have a strong core of returners and a team with enough experience and talent to have competed with the best teams in our conference, but we just haven’t put it together,” said junior Junpei Tsuji.

The team has had a tumultuous time in conference play, failing to put together a consistent level of play throughout the season.

“We have beat some re-

ally good teams, but lost to some that we really should not have,” said junior Reid Shaw.

The team entered its final game Saturday against rival Whitworth University with more momentum than they have achieved since the start of the season. In the previous two weekends the team had won three games and tied the fourth. Entering Saturday’s game, Whitworth had already clinched the NWC regular season title and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

*

Juniors discuss the 2013 season

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Junpei Tsuji (above), Reid Shaw and Chris Perkins ‘14 are poised to lead a deep class into their senior seasons in search of a conference title. Photo by Bergman

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6

FEATURE

nov

9

2012

Wine

Country Wine sparks academic pursuit

by Adam brayton and kaili Masamoto Feature Editor and Staff Reporter

W

alla Walla’s wine industry is certainly a nice addition to the town for parents and seniors, but its emergence and growth also hold academic promise.

Professor Kevin Pogue of the geology department has a sign hanging from his office door emblazoned with the pun, “Terroirist Headquarters.” Though he has been teaching geology at Whitman since 1990, he has been involved in the study of terroir for the past sixteen years. Terroir as a science refers to the soil composition or compositions of a given region, which are affected by a number of factors, and how that soil composition affects the growth of crops such as wine grapes.

“Around ‘96 or ‘97, people really started showing up here and the industry started expanding,” said Pogue. “People just started knocking on my door and calling me up asking me to provide insight into where certain soils might be found or what the climate was like just because I was a local geologist.”

Pogue offers a special topics class to interested seniors in alternate years, and goes into overload to make it happen out of a passion for the subject that goes beyond geology. Over the years, he has managed to bring his love of terroir to the classroom in a two-credit class.

“We basically deconstruct the whole idea of terroir and talk about what the philosophy of terroir is, the origin of the word, what it means to the French,” said Pogue. “Once we sort of define it ... we take it apart and talk about physical versus cultural terroir.”

In this class, students do more than just taste some wine—they learn about the entire wine experience.

“A lot of people think it’s a wine tasting class, but it’s [actually] anything but,” said Pogue.

Though he disagrees that Whitman is incredibly involved in working with the wine industry, Pogue notes that his course is just one of a bundle of Whitman College academic pursuits that have tapped into Walla Walla’s wine culture over the years. Another pursuit looked at wine economics a few years ago.

“We had a wine economist here for a while named Karl Storchmann ... he was [the managing editor] of the journal Wine Economics, so that was based out of Whitman for a while,” said Pogue. “I think I am the only person doing sort of direct wine-related research at Whitman right now.”

The class itself is an interdisciplinary endeavor by design, only providing limited spaces in the class for geology majors.

“Every year there are a couple [of] students who are interested in the wine industry that take it [because] they just want more exposure to wine and want to learn about terroir, students who are working in tasting rooms now or have a parent or a relative who’s in the wine business or thinking about maybe pursuing that,” said Pogue. “I only let half of the students be geology majors.”

Pogue hopes to expand the program to take advantage of the resources around us and to provide a more handson experience for his students.

“I think this year I am going to propose to upgrade the class to a real class, give it a number and teach it on a regular basis, probably as a three-credit class,” said Pogue. “We could go on field trips and see the terroir, the different soils ... it would be during crush, wine making time, so we could actually go to the wineries while they’re making wine, talk to wine

makers about how terroir they are.”

Walla Walla Community College has also taken advantage of the educational possibilities of the burgeoning industry by establishing a two-year viticulture and enology program.

Myles Anderson, director of the community college’s viticulture and enology program, came to Walla Walla from Denver in 1997 to continue teaching at the Walla Walla Community College. He was an avid wine enthusiast, and helped operate Walla Walla Vintners on the side of his teaching career.

When he was set to retire, he was charged by the community college’s president to take on founding the viticulture and enology school. “[He wanted to see if] the college [could create] a two-year program that would have a hands-on and practical curriculum,” said Anderson in an email. “The decision was an easy one for me to make.

This was a dream come true: My vocation had married my passion.”

After the program’s launch in 2000, the hands-on portion of the program took place at Anderson’s vineyard as Anderson attempted to grow the program.

“We began the search for instructors and a local winery to host us until our facility was completed,” said Anderson in an email. “The students made wine at Walla Walla Vintners until the Wine Center was completed.”

In 2003, the community college opened one of the first nonprofit commercial teaching wineries, College Cellars, which can be seen on Isaacs Street on the way out to the airport.

“Students are crafting wonderful and affordable wines and sell them at the Wine Center to help finance the teaching winery,” said Anderson in an email.

By pairing teaching with a hands-on experience with wine-

There is much to be studied in the creation of wine: from the geology of the soil, the chemistry of fermentation, and the culture and history of its consumption. The local wine industry presents a host of academic possibilities. Photos by Bergman

making and running a winery, the program is successful in unleashing its graduates in the community.

“We are proud to have 145 degreed graduates who are 98 percent employed in the wine industry throughout the Northwest and beyond,” said Anderson in an email.

Pogue sees the value of this kind of work, but recognizes that it would not fit in at Whitman College.

“We don’t have a viticulture program [because] that’s not a very liberal arts sort of thing, learning how to make grapes,” said Pogue.

These are but a few of the educational prospects derived from Walla Walla’s wine industry. From practical education to interdisciplinary work, wine isn’t just something to enjoy with dinner or to taste in town. It’s a subject ripe for study.

Alumni, students run Walla Walla wineries

by Hannah bartman Staff Reporter

W

alla Walla boasts being home to over 100 wineries alone, and tourists flock during all parts of the year to partake in this unique

product of the land. It is no surprise that to come here for college can inspire some students to join the wave of winemaking that is sweeping the region.

Out of the host of wineries in town there are many that are operated by Whitman graduates. One

L’Ecole No. 41 is another winery closely tied to Whitman, founded by former trustee Baker Ferguson and operated by his daughter, Megan Clubb ‘91. Photo by Bergman

such winery is Revelry Vintners, a winery four miles from campus that is run by alumnus Jared Burns ‘03, a Whitman graduate who has hired Whitman senior Joe Volpert to work in the tasting room.

The tasting room, which is described by Revelry’s enologist and cellar master Anthony Thomas as both “classy” but “unpretentious,” is where Volpert does his work for the winery. Currently a politics major, Volpert expresses the fascination that he has found with the local wine industry and the enthusiasm which he has acquired for wine while working at Revelry.

“Through working at Revelry, I’ve become more interested in the winemaking process,” said Volpert in an email.

“I’ve talked with the enologist at Revelry a lot about the process and how it works, and winemaking is something that I could see myself doing in the future.”

Working in the tasting room gives Volpert the job of welcoming and serving any costumers that enter the tasting room, as well as answering any questions that they might have about the wine. Other than the knowledge he has gained about the specific wine that is offered by Revelry, Volpert has been given the chance to partake in the process of creating the wine.

“I’ve helped with bottling the wine twice, and I got to help with a ‘punch-down,’ which is pressing down the grapes into a vat of fermenting wine. The punchdowns are really hard physical work, which I wasn’t expecting!” said Volpert in an email.

The wine-making process is one that is deceivingly com-

plicated and works on an intense second-by-second basis. In order to work with the wines, a person must be aware of the multiple chemical processes that are taking place at one time, requiring an ability to adapt and the knowledge to make informed decisions.

“You’re dealing with a product that is chemically speaking very complex. Because of that, you have to be very careful to monitor [the wine] at every step, so that if something happens that makes it go in the direction that you don’t want it to go in then you have to be able to change it. You have to understand the chemistry and the biology involved so that you can make the instant decisions that are informed decisions,” said Thomas.

The unique opportunity that Walla Walla holds for Whitman students to be involved in the wine industry is one that opens a whole new area of exploration. It is a profession that draws on the multifaceted ideals that Whitman holds as a liberal arts institution.

“I think the people who study wine and are successful are people who are actually passionate about wine. They are interested in not only the product itself but the process—the chemistry, the biology and the historical aspects of it,” said Volpert.

Likewise, despite Burns’ interest in the sporting industry after his graduation from Whitman, he found his true passion was in wine.

Revelry Vinters opened in 2006 and Burns added his unique vision for his wine to the mix of Walla Walla’s growing wine community.

Ever since the first few com-

mercial vineyards started popping up here in the 1980s, Walla Walla has been greatly transformed by wine. However, its development has not reached the critical levels that other wine industries such as Napa or Sonoma Valley have reached in California.

“Walla Walla has not grown exponentially as a wine industry because it is not near a metropolitan area. Napa Valley is right above San Francisco, which made their industry grow at a faster rate. We have a different environment that is conducive to making a different but also a good wine,” said Thomas.

The unique environment of Walla Walla creates this ideal space for winemaking, and also adds to the cultural assumptions about the industry. Despite the cultural stigma that wine tasting and enology is targeted at the upper class, Thomas believes that wine should be viewed as an indulgence for everyone.

“A lot of people assume that wine is reserved for people of a certain class, but that’s totally wrong,” said Thomas. “It’s not geared towards a certain class; it can be enjoyed by everyone. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy the cultural, social and historical richness of wine, and find the kind that they like.”

With this social and cultural permeability that can accompany wine, this industry opens up many opportunities for Whitman students. Whether opening a winery is an aspiration or tasting it is a hobby, winemaking has created a culture that will continue to define and expand Walla Walla.

OPINION

Nov

9

2012

PAGE

7

Multiplayer not worth sacrifices Blair Hanley Frank Senior

TECH TALK

pen most often in the shooter genre is that shooters lend themselves well to a multiplayer environment. It’s not hard for players to take the step from shooting through wave after wave of enemies to repeatedly picking off their constantly respawning friends.

Multiplayer makes money (as the theory goes) and it fits well with the shooter aesthetic. That should lead to successful products.

After all, Activision makes millions off of

ly capture a sliver of their success.

“Halo: Combat Evolved” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” were huge smashes for a reason: They both took leaps forward in the shooter genre that had never been perfected or mainstreamed before. “Halo”

G

aming markets are oversaturated with a glut of military shooters packing lousy multiplayer modes. Every time, the story is the same: new shooter, new multiplayer, mediocre reviews. But it keeps happening over and over again.

The fiscal incentives for multiplayer are obvious: Developers can charge for new weapons and map packs, and a multiplayer mode gives players an incentive to hold onto a game after they completed the single-player campaign, which reduces the number of copies entering the used games market, increasing profits.

The reason this seems to hap-

the “Call of Duty” franchise. “Halo” has been a huge IL cash cow for LUSTR A TIO Microsoft. EveryNB YH WA one else wants a piece NG of that pie, and the industry’s best answer seems to be to try to imitate the two of them and hopeful-

reworked the entire way shooters handle encounters with enemies, and “Modern Warfare” essentially

created the photorealistic modern military FPS as we know it.

Because they were so innovative, both games drew players to the franchise and built a healthy ecosystem for their re-

spect ive mu lt ipl ayer modes to flourish. That audience has stuck with those franchises, and everyone else has been trying to get a piece of it ever since.

We’ve seen how excellent shooters can be at storytelling, and in the case of games like Valve’s “Half-Life” series and Square Enix’s “Deus Ex: Human Revolution,” their successes with a singleplayer-only model have driven both commercial and critical success.

But even with those games

serving as counterexamples, conversations about shooters and other games have changed: Putting a multiplayer mode into a game (especially a shooter) is no longer an affirmative choice. Developers interested in pitching a shooter that is only a single-player experience have to answer why they are choosing not to include a multiplayer mode.

That sort of attitude is counterproductive to actually crafting a quality experience in an industry where budgets are often tight and getting something out on schedule is frequently more important than getting it done well.

Profits are important, but a game full of half-baked ideas with a multiplayer mode that feels tacked on won’t be nearly as successful as a game that manages to provide a rich experience to its players in whatever way it can best accomplish that.

Developers and publishers would do well to pay attention to games like “Team Fortress 2” and “Blacklight: Retribution.”

These multiplayer-only, free-toplay titles are managing to bring in tons of money for their developers by a fun multiplayer experience without compromising on a lukewarm single-player campaign.

MEN: GET DOWN THERE Proportional fix best Spencer Wharton Senior

SEXCETERA “So, I’ve been hooking up with this guy for a couple weeks and we recently had sex. The night starts off with me pleasing him orally but he doesn’t return the favor and things just lead straight to intercourse. I want him to go down on me but I don’t know how to suggest it. Should I just come right out and ask?”

-Looking for Oral Lovin’

I

t’s a sad fact that in our society, penises and vaginas are hardly seen equally. Blowjobs are practically expected in heterosexual sex, but cunnilingus is seen as an extra, an option to be enjoyed only if the

guy is into it. This ain’t right.

In the last few weeks, I’ve taken a very liberal stance, claiming that everyone’s got a right to their own individual sexuality. This week, however, I need to complicate that.

While everyone experiences sexuality differently, we also have a responsibility to ask ourselves why we feel the way we do.

Because our sex-negative, sexist culture pervades our daily lives, sometimes “I don’t like this” can’t stand by itself.

Sometimes you’ve got to challenge the things you think you don’t like. Straight guys, this means you have to stop being afraid of giving oral sex.

We’re all social beings. Our concepts of what is beautiful, sexy, perverted or gross don’t just spring up in a vacuum, but reflect the values of our society at large. Researchers Kenneth and Mamie Clark found in a 1940 experiment (recently replicated in 2006 with similar results) that when asked to pick the doll that “looked nice” between a white, blonde doll and a brown-skinned, black-haired doll, young African-American children clearly favored the white doll. We internalize our society’s val-

Political Cartoon by Asa Mease

ues—and unfortunately, those values are biased as all hell.

Since we’re socialized to think primarily in terms of male pleasure, more often than not, it’s the guy in a heterosexual pairing who needs to pick up the slack. And given our sexist society’s disdain for vaginas, the guys who refuse to go down on women typically object because they find vaginas gross.

Straight dudes: I don’t give a damn if you think vaginas are gross. If your partner has already taken your genitals into her mouth and you aren’t willing to even give back to her, let alone volunteer to go down on her without any expectation of reciprocity, then you aren’t ready to be sexual. Taking an active interest in your partner’s pleasure is one of the fundamental responsibilities of being a sexual person.

Good partnered sex involves making sure that everyone is satisfied. That doesn’t always mean strict equality—“you nibbled on my left nipple so I’ll nibble on yours”—but it does entail checking in and thinking about more than just your own personal satisfaction. And sometimes, this means trying something you think is gross.

Of course, nothing about this gives anyone the right to ignore a partner’s “no.” No means no. But if your partner refuses to do something that you want, that’s where good communication and negotiation comes in, as well as a good-hearted willingness to give new things a try.

LOL, I’d definitely recommend voicing your desires. Get the message out there. You can phrase it however you want— personally, I’m a fan of good verbs, and in this case, you’ve got a ton available to you: feel, lick, taste, suck, eat, kiss, nibble, just to name a few. It’s possible he’s only skipping going down on you because he’s not used to thinking about it—after all, society doesn’t make a big deal out of cunnilingus— and a reminder is all he’ll need.

If it’s not getting through, he might be more entrenched in male sexual culture, in which case you need to be straight with him about your desires: “I want you to go down on me.”

If, after all that, he still refuses, you don’t owe him anything. Maybe you should call it off with him until he’s ready to be a sexual grown-up.

Voices from the Community

for electoral college Sam Chapman Sophomore

A MOVING FOREST

I

f you claim you haven’t had the following conversation in the past month, you’re lying: You’re with your friends, and the subject turns to politics. Somebody is almost certainly from California, Montana or some other solidly red or blue state. They’ll mention who they plan to vote for, then write off that vote because “it won’t count anyway.” It will be treated as a joke. I can only speak for myself, but when I laugh at that joke, it’s to keep from crying.

There’s no way to soften this: The electoral college robs 80 percent of the country of a chunk of what it means to be American. In 1787, the system was implemented largely to placate southern states whose populations consisted of a majority of slaves; as a popular vote would force the southerners to choose between enfranchising their slaves and losing their political influence, they pushed instead for representation by electors. You read that right: We have electors for the least humanitarian of reasons, and even then, they haven’t been relevant since the Civil War. You may have known this already, and it won’t surprise you that I’m in favor of drastic reform. To me, the history isn’t the most interesting part of the issue. What’s fascinating is that everybody agrees the system needs to change, but nobody can seem to agree on how.

Five people will put forth five different solutions, and each has its own logic, merits and flaws.

The simplest: Abolish the college and elect the president by a national popular vote. Proponents of this solution say it would be a better representation of the national will, and in a sense they’re right. As things stand right now, the math shows that a candidate could win the White House with 22 percent of the popular vote

by coming in one elector ahead in all but the ten largest states.

A sign of this solution’s popularity is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which nine states have signed. Once the Compact is signed by a majority in the College, every member state will grant their electors to the winner of the popular vote instead of the winner of that state’s majority. At press time, they’ve got 49 percent of that majority.

I’m not a fan of this solution— it’s too drastic, and it only shifts the problem. Right now, the system is broken because it only requires candidates to campaign in a dozen swing states; a national popular vote would only result in a different dozen—this time, the most populous. Your vote would count, but the president could still be elected without even having pretended to care about the issues that concern you.

In the end, the problem is not the entire institution of the Electoral College: It’s the winner-take-all system that 48 states have adopted for no apparent reason. I can see no justification for this beyond an unwillingness to do math. This law allows the winner of Texas, California, New York or any other large state to gain a massive block of electors that does not even begin to represent his support in that state. The ideal fix needs to address this multistate law without going overboard.

Thus, among all the options, I endorse direct proportional awards: If Barack Obama wins 60 percent of a five-vote state, give him three votes and give Mitt Romney two.

It’s simple, it puts an end to disenfranchisement and it gives candidates an incentive to care about their poll numbers all across the country. Every state is valuable; under this system, we’d no longer have both sides of an issue ignored because the candidates all assume the state is a lock. Even if a Republican has a minute percentage in a large blue state, it’s still worth his time and money to campaign for those three votes— as it would be in a small swing state under the current system.

It’s heartening to see that the debate gets revived every four years, but it would be even more heartening to see some action. This issue has strong bipartisan support, and the necessary amendment could do what constitutional amendments were invented to do: fix a gaping hole in our democracy.

How do you feel about The Pio’s sex column? Poll by cade beck

Kyle Bloomster

Mattie HOgg

Zach Santos

Rachel Rice

Junior

Junior

Walla Walla University Senior

Junior

“It provides a refreshing perspective and outlook for people to ask questions that they might be afraid to ask. I think we value our open culture at Whitman and that it’s a good outlet for us to discuss this kind of issue that is important to a lot of people.”

“I think that people should be able to talk about sex in public because it’s something that everybody knows about. It will help people understand that sex doesn’t have to be something that we’re ashamed of as long as it’s dealt with in a careful and understood way.”

“I feel like the topic should be more personal and kept on the down-low. If people want to personally interact with the author ... that’s fine, but to be published in [The Pioneer] might push boundaries too much.”

“I think it’s fine to have a sex column in The Pio, [but] people have to remember that this is only one person’s opinion, and you sort of have to take it with a grain of salt because each person is different and their relationships are different.”

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M ILLUSTRATION BY MEASE

French transfer student mimes his way into racism

J

ust when you think your school is aptly sensitive to cultural issues, someone goes and paints their face.

Pierre Thomas, a French transfer student, is a mime and has been wearing the traditional makeup and clothing of his people for months now. The issue has just surfaced after attendees of a Tau Kappa Epsilon Halloween party saw Thomas and found his outfit to be “more offensive than the Z-word.”

“You can’t just go around in whiteface and expect nobody to make a big deal about it. The worst part is that our Euro-normative classmates hardly took notice,” said Culturally Aware on Whitman Encounters.

“That is why I hate frats,” said GDI Joe in response to the thread started by Culturally Aware. Neither Pierre nor his offended counterparts are Greek-affiliated, but still went to hang out at TKE to complain about TKE. After a fruitless phone interview with Pierre, The Pioneer was finally able to sit down with him to discuss the repercussions of what has been deemed “maybe a hate crime.” “[Gesticulates feverishly],” Thomas said. Thomas looked surprised about the backlash of his outfit, although his highly drawn eyebrows give him the perpetual look of astonishment.

“Pierre seems to be trapped in a glass case of emotion,” said translator Andrew Christensen, interpreting some of Thomas’ more animated gestures. “[Either scratching head with confusion or addressing a lice problem likely caused by the ugly French hat he wears every day],” Thomas added.

The administration has yet to set a precedent for whiteface incidents but is likely to side with

Whitman Encounters on this one.

“The website just seems to be a voice of reason on campus,” said George Bridges, who went on to admit that he really only looks at the site to see posts about himself.

“This site exists as a sort of social safety net around campus, catching all of the issues the rest of the school overlooked and raising them anonymously to other anonymous people anonymously,” said Anderson C-Section Resident Assistant Nathan Sany, who admits to posting under the name “Anonymous.” “I think some of the great debates of our time have gone on behind the veil of passive aggression that the site so artfully builds.”

Thomas joined in on the online discussion but was appalled by students’ inability to verbally communicate their problems, relying upon means other than talking to voice otherwise stifled opinions. At least that is how he appeared to feel, but in the interview all he revealed was “[miming eating his own vomit].”

By the end of the ordeal, Thomas has two teardrops added to his makeup. It seems to be an emotional cry for help, but Walla Walla Police Department gang specialist Maxwell Barbosa feared other possibilities.

“Those tears could represent people he has killed or time served in prison. Or perhaps the number of people he has mimed killing, or time mimed to be spent in jail.”

Whether or not Thomas has killed anyone over the ordeal is beyond the point. The more important issue is that students on a website anonymously came forward and expressed that they were offended. Thomas’ lack of awareness for the other students’ culture of hypersensitivity was, frankly, hyperinsensitive.

ore sensually invasive than TKE’s blaring of Top Guns soundtrack every year, the smell of food cooking from the Inter-fraternal Iron Chef competition wafts over every corner of campus.

Held annually on the roof of TKE, the four fraternity’s chefs as well as one representative from Bon Appétit face off in a cook-tothe-death competition. Each chef is allowed one student aide. This year, TKE chef Gary “Jack” Daniel and his kitchen aide Joey Cathcart say that they are preparing homestyle cooking for the contest.

“It would really help if we could have real ovens up here, and not these solar ovens! Whit-

man’s greenness is really not helping us live up to our full cooking potential,” said Cathcart.

Ironically, last year’s competition left dozens of students green in the face, due to the solar oven’s inability to properly cook meat.

Phi Delta Theta’s Chef Robert and his aide Alex Hello busily prepare for their meal, scrambled eggs with a secret red sauce that they call Siree-acha, which is apparently Chinese for pepper and MSG. Two years ago, before last year’s food poisoning fiasco, Bon Appétit’s chef swept the competition with a delicious onion omelet.

“The eggs weren’t even eggs, they were from a carton,

Nov

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2012

and I think that onion had mold on it,” said Chef Robert, enraged with the judge’s decision.

Bon Appétit’s chef this year is on his guard, buying only the freshest ingredients to ensure that no slights can be made against him.

“We will be making Mashed F-ing Potatoes this year,” said Chef Gary, “and maybe some herbed f—ing rice while we’re at it.”

With the competition underway, this reporter need only sit and wait while the solar ovens heat up all the necessary ingredients and the campus anxiously looks to see which chef will win and make their fraternity the top frat on campus.

The Debater Y

ou know what sucks more than the Prentiss Dining Hall hours, Whitman’s new website or Tim Tebow? The scrawny but remarkably obnoxious infestation of high-school debaters that plague our campus every fall.

You know they are coming when all the leaves begin to die, along with any hope of eating at Reid Campus Center for a few days, or finding any unclaimed cozy location within a two-mile radius. Reid is the Mothership for the debaters who transform the building into something that resembles a temporary refugee center for Sandy or Katrina victims.

But these four-eyed, pimple-faced encyclopedias have also been reported to commandeer dorm halls, the library and even George Bridges’ bed-

Debacle room for a night. If the oversized suits with baggy slacks and neon-colored dress shirts weren’t enough, then the cart o’ facts that they proudly wield behind them might make a Whitman student inclined to conveniently push them in front of their Greyhound bus as it pulls up to drop off more mismatching nerds.

They only perpetuate their geeky reputation by each claiming to have come up with the holy grail of debate jokes: “I’m a master ‘bater ... get it??” (Here’s a better one, losers, “I’m a cunning linguist ... get it?” My guess is they wouldn’t.) The entire situation is compounded by the fact that Whitman seems to be perfectly okay with allowing Reid to fester with these roaches while they eat away at students’ resources and nerves. So what’s the solution to all this? Histo-

ry (and annoying debaters) tells us that the easiest way to eradicate a group of people is through creating internal conflicts. I suggest that the unfortunate losers of each debate be forced to partake in a Battle Royale. This two-birds-with-one-stone approach allows for less Whitman resources to be used, and it gives the debates (which will be open to Whitman students) an added flavor to spice things up.

Not only will there be more motivation for the debaters to do well, but Whitman students will also benefit from the Battle Royales (which will be fought using only binders and fountain tip pens) throughout the tournament.

Finally, the lone tournament victor will be given a suit that is actually tailored and then promptly sent back home to gather the next year’s unsuspecting contestants.

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Dubblebaby by Toby & Sam Alden

Read more Dubblebaby online at http://dubblebaby.blogspot.com/