Whitman Pioneer Spring 2013 Issue 10

PIONEER Board sets lowest tuition increase in past decade News Editor

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hitman recently sent out letters to parents, announcing that tuition is set for $43,150 for the 2013-2014 academic year. This marks an increase of 3.25 percent, the lowest increase in the past decade, down from last year’s increase of 4 percent.

This increase is consistent with tuition increases at similar institutions, if not slightly smaller. Carleton College, for example, increased its tuition 3.8 percent in the past year, and Oberlin saw an increase of 3.9 percent. On the high-

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er end of the scale, Reed College increased tuition by 7.5 percent.

Current trends also show that tuition increases have been gradually less drastic in recent years for institutions of higher education. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the median tuition increase for other Washington nonprofit private four-year institutions was 4.4 percent in 2011. Whitman’s 2011 increase was 4.5 percent.

Within a struggling economy, small increases can have a large impact on families with less income. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate for March was 7.6 percent, bet-

ter than the low point of 10 percent in October 2009, but still struggling to recover to the average annual rate of 5.1 percent between 2003 and 2007.

Whitman’s Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Peter Harvey said that the Board of Trustees hoped to take the state of the economy into account when proposing the increase.

“Whitman was intentionally trying to keep the increase lower, given the difficult economic times and the inability of many families to pay,” said Harvey.

Such limited tuition growth was partially possible because of fundraising revenue from the Now is the Time campaign. Addition-

Issue 10 | April 11, 2013 | Whitman news since 1896

ally, the College’s endowment is generating more income than it has in previous years as it recovers from the 2008 economic downturn. In 2013, it should generate 5 percent more than it did in 2012.

According to The College Board, the national average cost of tuition and fees increased by 2.4 percent for private nonprofit four-year colleges and 5.2 percent for public four-year colleges in 2012. After the economic downturn in 2008, the national average increases in the cost of tuition and fees were 5.9 percent for private nonprofit four-year institutions and 9.2 percent for public four-year institutions.

Though glad that tuition growth wasn’t extreme, some parents would have liked to see more information in the letter sent out by the college to inform those financially responsible for tuition.

“We’re pretty pleased, but surprised that they didn’t include the percentage [increase] in the letter.

That’s kind of a benchmark people use when looking at tuition ... It’s not that they were trying to be covert, but it would have been more transparent if they had included that information,” said Julie Lombardo, mother of a Whitman junior.

Karah Kemmerly contributed reporting to this article.

‘Chernobyl’ blends wit with disaster

by EMMA DAHL Staff Reporter

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arper Joy Theatre’s latest production will be Aaron Bushkowsky’s “My Chernobyl,” a play that Whitman’s website describes as “a quirky romance, both touching and hilarious.” The plot follows “a naïve Canadian [who] travels to Belarus to give an inheritance to his father’s last remaining relative.

While there he meets his long-lost cousin, a Russian woman who sees him as her ticket out of the radiation-blasted country.” The play has been touted by critics as a “fiercely funny satire” and as a play that “radiates toxic wit.”

Jessica Cerullo, the director of “My Chernobyl,” answered

some questions via email regarding bringing the play to life: Why did you choose to produce “My Chernobyl”? What drew you to this play?

In NYC there is a wonderful store called the Drama Bookshop and it is filled with aisles and aisles of plays. It happened to be the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster the day that I went there in search of something for the Harper Joy season, and so the title “My Chernobyl” caught my attention. I had never heard of the play or the playwright before, but the writing stood out as both smart and funny. The play deals with the coexistence of comedy and tragedy.

Photos by Bernstein

It contains wonderful, colorful characters and a plot that takes surprising and theatrical twists.

What are some artistic decisions specific to this play?

I am working with [junior] Will Ekstrom, a music composition student at Whitman. He has created original music for the play, and I have cast four students from the music department to play band members from Belarus.

The contaminated land around Chernobyl will not be safe for another 24,000 years. The set designer, [senior] Ryan Campeau, and I decided to take this as our point of departure. Our set is conceived as a moveable dirt floor. see MY CHERNOBYL, page 8

Inmates collaborate with students on publication

by DYLAN TULL Staff Reporter

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Pullout section inside!

ow would your perspective on the inmates in the penitentiary change if you could read the creative writing and poetry that they produced?

Undeniably, a passionate poem or creative story would give new depth and humanness to prisoners that are often regarded as violent and cold. A group of Whitman students spearheaded by junior Cameron Young are hoping to instigate this opportunity by offering a creative voice through which inmates at the penitentiary can express themselves to the surrounding community.

Despite its close proximity to Whitman, the Washington State Penitentiary remains something of an enigma to most students. In order to evolve the community’s relationship with the prison, Young has worked with the penitentiary staff to design a course where a group of Whitman students will go teach inmates about creative writing with a focus on poetry and creative fiction. They hope that eventually they will be able to work with the inmates to create a literary publication similar to quarterlife.

“We’re looking to do a kind of community outreach to prison inmates. For our first programming, we’re going to do a fine arts focus and teach prisoners basics such as symbolism, metaphor, simile and ask them to create work where it would display their prison experience,” said Young.

There are currently about 15 Whitman students involved in the project, many of whom are in Sociology 269: Prisons and Punishment, taught by Peterson Endowed

Chair of Social Sciences Keith Farrington. Young and sophomore Alisha Agard were inspired to develop the program when they visited the penitentiary on a field trip for the class. The class was introduced to a panel of three inmates who were excited to share their prison experiences openly.

“I feel like some of these guys deserve a second chance, because it’s really easy to slip up in life. I think that was evident in one of the inmates who was there for only a year and was going to be a student at UW the following fall, who got convicted of a drunken assault,” said Young.

First-year Noel O’Shea, another student involved with the project, also spoke to the rehabilitative aspects of the creative writing course, and how others might gain a new perspective on inmates after they have been given a chance to express themselves.

“I think the big thing for me is giving people a chance who didn’t have a first chance. A lot of people think of prison as a place to rehabilitate and get a second chance, but what we forget is a lot of these people haven’t been given a first one,” said O’Shea.

Agard said that she hopes the creative expression will help to break down the barriers and stigmas surrounding the inmates.

“I guess that I hope to gain an understanding of the inmates, because society has a picture of them as these criminal, horrible, hard people and I’m pretty sure that’s not what they are,” Agard said. “So giving them an outlet to kind of share their story is important because I feel like so many people misconstrue who they are based on what they’ve done in the past.”

Once the class begins, a group of the students will go to the penitentiary to teach sessions lasting between one-and-a-half and three hours, where they will work with a classroom of minimum security and close custody prisoners. Young expects to start teaching there within the next couple of weeks. Since students are still finalizing communication with the staff at the penitentiary, however, final dates for the classes haven’t been set.

Young stressed that opening up dialogue with the surrounding community through creative works could seriously reduce the stigma surrounding the prison and possibly encourage prison reform.

“I don’t know if anyone would read it, but I think the idea is what we need, because as much as you want to talk about prison reform, a large step needs to be taken by the greater society [to] ask ourselves why we put felons in a caste system. It’s not necessarily fair, and from my perspective, it only perpetuates crime. These guys get out of the walls and really there’s no life for them,” he said.

In addition, the group wants to stress that the classroom experience will be a collaborative one, where the nine Whitman students will be learning as much from the prisoners as the prisoners are from them.

“It won’t be like the students are coming and teaching the inmates. It’ll be a collaborative [experience]: Everyone’s learning and everyone’s working together. So it’s not like a hierarchy of ‘we are the educated people coming to school you on how to do this.’ It’s more of ‘let’s experience this together and let’s learn together,’” said Agard. see PRISON, page 2

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Town Hall takes on yearbook debate

by DYLAN TULL Staff Reporter

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he final Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) Town Hall of the year focused on three major subjects: the lifting of the international travel ban, addressing concerns regarding the ASWC budget and tackling the question of whether or not the yearbook should continue to be funded.

In addition to these central topics, students raised two new questions that may gain more attention in upcoming ASWC actions.

Widespread concerns with offcampus housing were raised and the possibility of a Whitman-organized shuttle to the Walla Walla and Pasco airports was suggested.

ASWC President junior Kayvon Behroozian opened the Town Hall with the announcement that the ban on international travel had been lifted. Previously, the ban in place prevented any Whitman students from receiving ASWC funding for international travel or activities.

“So international trips, ASWC can fund those now too.

That’s really, really big, especially for clubs, especially for club sports and especially for individuals who want to go to conferences,” said Behroozian.

Now that the ban is lifted, Whitman students can pursue their studies internationally with Whitman funding. Students can receive grants for international internships, Canadian programs are treated the same as domestic programs and funding for international student research may be possible.

It was clear, however, that the most contentious topic of discussion was the fate of the Waiilatpu yearbook. ASWC senators anticipated this by splitting the Town Hall into small groups so senators could better hear students’ feelings about the yearbook.

The general sentiment around the tables was that there are currently two paths that ASWC could take. Either ASWC invests a significant amount of money in the yearbook, resulting in a larger staff and a more appealing final product, or it cuts funding completely. Many students expressed that there simply wasn’t a lot of interest in the product and that the publication as it is now simply isn’t representative of Whitman as a whole.

Sophomore Grant Rom-

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Gender-neutral housing possible for class of 2018

by EMILY LIN-JONES News Editor

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fter pushing a resolution through the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) Senate calling for gender-neutral housing for first-years, sophomore GLBTQ intern Evan Griffis is continuing to push the Office of Residence Life and Housing to improve transparency around its current housing policies, and to try to create an institutionalized gender-neutral housing option for incoming students in the next two years.

Following the passage of the resolution and through discussions with Griffis, Residence Life has taken steps to clarify and make more public its current policy of providing gender-neutral options to returning students and incoming students who contact the office to request different housing arrangements.

“We have worked to be

more transparent about gender-neutral housing in our online and written materials,” said Assistant Director of Residence Life and Housing Anastasia Zamkinos.

Residence Life recently updated its web page with a special section detailing gender-neutral housing policy, which allows returning students to select a roommate of any gender. Previously, financially dependent returning students required parental acknowledgment in order to live with a roommate of the opposite gender in on-campus housing, but Residence Life has removed this requirement in light of the new resolution.

“This initiative is progressing quicker than I had hoped for,” said Griffis in an email. “I did not expect ResLife to make these changes immediately, so I was very pleased to hear that they were taking this issue seriously and implementing some of the things that the ASWC resolution called for.”

As for the possibility of a fixed gender-neutral housing section or a standard option offered to incoming students, Residence Life representatives stated that implementing such a policy would require more work and input from other parts of the college.

“Having a standing policy advertised to first-years would be a complicated project that we would need to think about carefully both in the office and as a college,” said Zamkinos in an email.

Griffis, however, remains optimistic. He is currently working on arranging a meeting with the Governing Board’s Diversity Committee in May to report on the initiative’s progress and future possibilities.

“The administration has been supportive thus far, and I am still very optimistic for the possibility of making a gender-neutral housing section available for first-year students in the class of 2018,” said Griffis.

mel, current editor-in-chief of Waiilatpu, took the microphone to give an impassioned speech in response to these opinions.

“I really don’t think that the yearbook has been given enough of an opportunity to build a strong foundation for itself in just the three short years that it’s been reinstated,” said Rommel.

Sophomore Zac Parker, ASWC’s Nominations Chair, spoke afterwards about the response to Rommel’s speech.

“It was fairly positive. Most people seem to come to the heart of it very quickly, that the yearbook needs to either be completely decommissioned or just be given the chance to grow and become something that would be really productive and useful,” Parker said. “Personally, I think that a yearbook does have a lot of value on campus, and it is something that we should be trying to keep around, especially [when] there are students who are as passionate about it as the two that came and talked.”

The ASWC Committee on Student Affairs will vote on whether or not to decommission at a meeting on Thursday, April 10.

After yearbook concerns were addressed, students were able to bring to the table new concerns or ideas that they wanted to present to ASWC. One of the concerns that was brought up was the issue of off-campus housing for upperclassmen. One student suggested that the Whitman housing lottery could be reworked, to possibly give preference to seniors and to take place earlier in the semester, when all other housing decisions in Walla Walla are generally made. The lack of information regarding off-campus houses was another concern.

“I was surprised about the number of people that were really concerned about off-campus housing and trying to learn more about that. There was a pretty apt observation made that there was not any concrete way to get information about off-campus housing, or at least there’s not one that’s very well publicized if there is one,” said Parker.

The final suggestion that was raised was that of a Whitman-organized shuttle or bus to the Walla Walla and Pasco airports. This generated a lot of student support at the Town Hall, and may be something ASWC looks into further in the future.

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Young and the other group members are eager to have the opportunity to explore and learn from both the penitentiary and the inmates themselves.

Professor Farrington, who led the students on the class trip to the penitentiary, spoke to the unique experience that has been presented to the students and the inmates they will be working with.

“I think it’s an opportunity that most students really welcome,” Farrington said. “It appeared that students really enjoyed having the opportunity to be talking to [the inmate panel]. Remember, rightly or wrongly, the people in the penitentiary are judged to be the worst in the state, and here is the opportunity to find out what makes them tick, to talk to them in a nonconfrontational way and to hopefully let them see another side of life that they don’t normally see.”

Junior ASWC President Kayvon Behroozian listens to students’ concerns about the ASWC budget at the Town Hall meeting on Wednesday, April 10. Photo by Johnson

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Editor-in-Chief Rachel Alexander

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Business Manager Vincent Peterson

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Production Associates Callan Carow, Maddison Coons, Molly Johansen, Madison Munn, Annie Robison

PIONEER

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News Editors Emily Lin-Jones Karah Kemmerly A&E Editor Aleida Fernandez Sports Editor Tristan Gavin Feature Editor Adam Brayton Opinion Editor Alex Brott Humor Editor Kyle Seasly Photography Editor Marie von Hafften Illustration Editor Julie Peterson

Chief Copy Editor Marisa Ikert Copy Editors Katie Steen Matthew Nelson Chloe Kaplan

ILLUSTRATION Toby Alden, Katie Emory, Luke Hampton, Emily Jones, Kelsey Lund, Asa Mease, Marlee Raible, Tyler Schuh, Eduardo Vazquez

PHOTOGRAPHY cade beck, Catie Bergman, Devika Doowa, Brennan Johnson, Susie Krikava Halley McCormick, Becca Mellema, Marlena Sloss, Skye Vander Laan

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Advertising Associates Helen Brooks,Evie Vermeer For information about advertising in The Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact business@ whitmanpioneer.com.

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.

SUBMISSION POLICY

Letters to Editor may be submitted to The Pioneer via email at editors@ whtimanpioneer.com or sent to The Pioneer, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA, 99362. All submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Saturday prior to the week that they are intended to appear. All submissions must be attributed and may be edited for concision and fluency.

CODE OF ETHICS

The code of ethics serves as The Pioneer’s established guidelines for the practice of responsible journalism on campus, within reasonable interpretation of the editorial board. These guidelines are subject to constant review and amendment; responsibility for amending the code of ethics is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief in conjunction with the editorial board.

The code of ethics is reviewed at least once per semester.

To access the complete code of ethics for The Pioneer, visit whitmanpioneer.com/about.

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Small Business Development Center Director Joe Jacobs and senior David McGaughey present their plans for a test kitchen and showcase the cookware that will be available to the community. Photos by beck

Student intern helps to develop public community kitchen

by Daniel Kim Staff Reporter

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alla Wallans are about to get cooking.

Since the start of the school year, the Walla Walla Small Business Development Center and its intern senior David McGaughey have worked with the Walla Walla Veteran Affairs Medical Center to build a test kitchen for community members.

The kitchen is meant to be an asset for locals who want to cook without spending money on expensive kitchen equipment. After the kitchen opens, all community members will have access

to the cookware and utensils.

The Small Business Development Center does not yet have a date set for the kitchen’s opening.

McGaughey interned with the Small Business Development Center as a participant in the 2012 Whitman Community Fellows Program. Throughout his year-long internship, he researched the policies, procedures and regulations implemented by other test kitchens to find the right model for the local project.

Walla Walla Small Business Development Center Director Joe Jacobs feels that McGaughey’s work has been invaluable to the process.

“If it wasn’t for David, I would still be working on the research part of the project. With all the hours he has put into the project, he brought everything together, and we’re now at the final stages of the project,” he said.

McGaughey is pleased to have been part of an experience that helps community members in such a practical way.

“The hope is that the kitchen will be up and running so that the people of Walla Walla will continue to use it. As a student, the experience cannot get much better than that, to be working on something tangible and collaborative,” he said.

Assistant Dean for Student Engagement Noah Leavitt, who helped to organize the program through the Student Engagement Center, feels that participants in the Community Fellows Program gain valuable experience by participating in longer internships.

“We believe that it’s better for the student to have a two-semester internship than a one-semester internship because the student will learn more and then be able to contribute more to their organizations, whatever their mission is,” he said.

McGaughey certainly feels that such an experience has helped him to make an impact.

“The experience has been incredible. I have [had] internship[s] elsewhere [where I] didn’t feel like I was making as much of an impact. Here, the harder I work, I know that it would be better off. I really appreciated the freedom to take what we had to do and run with it,” said McGaughey.

Jacobs also feels the program is beneficial for students and community members alike.

“The Fellow has made a great contribution to the community by participating in this project. This is going to have a lasting and positive effect on the community,” said Jacobs.

Elected ASWC officers discuss next year’s goals by emily lin-jones News Editor

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he ballots are in, votes are counted and next year’s Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) Executive Council has been announced. The Pioneer sat down with sophomore President-elect Tim Reed, junior Vice President-elect Brian Choe, sophomore Finance Chairelect Tatiana Kaehler and junior Nominations Chair-elect Rania Mussa to talk about their goals for next year.

What projects are you most excited to work on in the fall?

Tim Reed: [I want to create] a visual explanation of how everything in ASWC works. I really hope to have that going pretty quickly next year.

The second big thing is definitely working with the Student Engagement Center. I’ve already been talking with Noah Leavitt about the new [SEC] position and how that’s going to link in with ASWC, and how we want to communicate what that position’s going to be doing with students to give them specialized opportunities. I also want to create a specialized way on iEngage to pair students with alumni who will actually be interested in what they’re saying. The final thing I’m really excited about is how we’re going to create spaces on campus to have opposing perspectives heard and engaged with.

What are your plans for getting incoming and returning students more engaged with ASWC? Brian Choe: I think every year we run into the same issue of how we deal with Town Hall. The idea is great:

It’s a venue we can hear student input in. What it’s turned into, we invite the club captains to come and that’s about it. Every year we try to think of different ways to get people involved. As student affairs [chair] I think that’s what my project is, to get people more amped up about it. I think students appreciate if people on the administrative side come in and talk to students about pressing issues or questions students might have.

ticularly want to keep going next year?

How do you plan to handle, or avoid, some of the budget issues that ASWC encountered this year in your budgeting for next year?

Is there anything you’d like to do differently from people who have held your position in the past, or something new you want to add to your position?

Tatiana Kaehler: We’ll have legislation that will ensure a certain amount of the budget will go into Lifecycle each year to avoid the problem that we had this year. I think it’s going to become more and more difficult each year to give all of the clubs and organizations the money that they’d like. Unfortunately, we’re growing at a pace we can’t exactly sustain unless we raise the student fee. It’s always going to be a question of should we raise the student fee, or should we be tighter in our budgeting process?

My philosophy this year through the budgeting process has been [to] cut down unnecessary expenses as much as possible within clubs, or cut out expenses for events they have yet to do.

Hopefully we will not have as much of a problem next year [with Lifecycle], but I think all clubs and ASWC organizations are really going to have to prioritize what events they want to put on, because there’s only so much we can do on a small campus.

What’s one thing ASWC started working on this year that you parADVERTISEMENT

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Reed: Continuing the trajectory we’ve set with international travel, thinking about not just opening those doors [but] about how we actually get students there in terms of funding and having access to those opportunities ... [and] making it something that will benefit the student community rather than just an open door.

Mussa: [As nominations chair,] I think my main goal is to increase transparency. I want to have more exposure and make sure the student body knows about [nominations], and also extend the application time. I think if we extended the time, we would have more applicants.

Kaehler: I think a lot of what the [Finance Committee] passes is dependent on the training process at the beginning of the year. Something I really think should be pursued is determining that we have approximately 50 percent of our funds left for second semester. One thing I want the committee to keep in mind as we go throughout the year is how much of our money we’ve spent so far, because it was really unfortunate [this year] when we got to mid-spring semester this year and didn’t have enough funds for everything. I don’t want projects that students want to pursue second semester to be punished [because] the Finance Committee [is] not being stringent enough with their funds fall semester.

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Professors, library team up for lectures

by Maegan nelson Staff Reporter

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or the past few weeks, several “Big Idea Talks” posters have been covering the campus grounds, advertising a first-time collaboration between the Walla Walla Public Library and Whitman faculty to give a series of locally-themed lectures open to the public. The talks, given by faculty members such as Senior Lecturer of Environmental Humanities/General Studies Don Snow and Grace Farnsworth Phillips Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies Bob Carson, focus on the theme of what needs to be done in the future to keep Walla Walla a wonderful place to live.

Put together in collaboration between Assistant Professor of Philosophy Julia Ireland and Walla Walla Public Library Director Beth Hudson, these talks are funded by a grant from the Washington Humanities Council, based in Olympia.

Although Walla Walla is unique for a town of its size in that it has three colleges, Ireland noted that there are few places for the public as a whole to comfortably get information.

“Sometimes, it’s really difficult to get certain constituencies to walk on campus because campus is intimidating, and so the thought was to bring these professors who are in some way engaged in the community [to] the Walla Walla Public Library, a place where people who are under-resourced are comfortable going,” said Ireland.

Hudson has been working with Ireland to make some of the educational resources on the Whitman campus more available to the public.

“I wanted to promote and expand the role of the public library in our community as the place to develop, discover, refine and question ideas. The library is a natural gathering place with its resources, central location and its openness to new ideas.

Big Idea Talks uncover questions and possibly answers through discussions led by experts in the fields of art, sociology, literature, philosophy and

the natural sciences,” said Hudson.

Because these talks are for the community, Whitman professors have been asked to think locally when giving their presentations.

Professor Don Snow gave the first talk of the Big Idea series on March 28. Although it was never specified by the organizers what his “Big Idea Talk” should entail, the focus was always intended to be on Walla Walla. “[The Big Idea Talks were designed to show what] Whitman scholars and thinkers and artists think about the community; what do we think are some big ideas that Walla Walla maybe need[s] to think about to maintain a high quality of life,” he said.

In his speech two weeks ago, Snow talked about the resources that Walla Walla has to offer and the natural “commons” that the citizens share, such as land and water.

Professor Bob Carson is excited about his upcoming talk on Thursday, April 11, themed around sustainability in Walla Walla.

“When I was asked to give a Big Idea Talk, I thought long and hard, and I wanted to talk about Walla Walla and sustainability,” said Carson.

In his talk, Carson will focus specifically on how to minimize the potential environmental damage from everyday activities.

For example, “leaf blowers ... put out more pollutants ... than the average car.” said Carson. While he acknowledges in his talk that eliminating these items completely is not feasible, he emphasizes that reducing their use is a goal for the community.

Hudson believes that these Big Idea Talks could be a huge asset to the community.

“Whitman has the experts and they live among us, so it seemed natural to ask them to join us in the development of this program. My hope is that through these discussions, awareness builds and perhaps the ideas we discuss will serve as solutions for some of the challenges in the community we love,” she said.

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Malesovas joins winning tradition

by Peter clark Staff Reporter

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hile most first-year athletes take a while adjusting to the speed and intensity of college athletics, Colton Malesovas showed

his ability to play collegiate-level tennis right away. The only problem for Malesovas was that he entered a team that had won four consecutive Northwest Conference Championships, and a roster full of returners that could provide a fifth.

“I was challenging guys that were above and below me, but there was no reason to change a lineup we were winning with. In hindsight it makes sense, but during it, it sucked,” explained Malesovas, who is now a sophomore.

This year, however, Malesovas hasn’t just cracked his way into the lineup; he has burst in and earned the number one singles spot.

“This summer, I went home back to my academy. I didn’t have an internship or anything, so I was really lucky to spend the whole summer playing. I would do seven to 10 in the morning for three hours, and one to four in the afternoon, five days a week.

[Last season] I felt I was knocking on the door, and it put me over the edge,” said Malesovas.

Coach Jeff Northam echoed the same train of thought, explaining that the reason Malesovas didn’t play last year wasn’t that he wasn’t good enough, but rather it was because the team was playing at such a high level.

“He was a victim of our success last year. We had such a great year, going undefeated all year in Division III, so he never really got a chance to play,” said Northam.

Now, Malesovas spearheads another lethal Whitman team that is a perfect 9-0 in the conference and also boasts a number 15 national ranking.

Part of the reason that Whitman has become the gold standard for men’s tennis in the Northwest Conference is due to how much better players get throughout their Whitman careers.

Malesovas is the perfect example of an already good tennis player who got better over the summer and took it upon himself to continue the winning tradition.

Senior Matt Tesmond explained that while other Division III schools may be recruiting players who are highly ranked coming out of high school, Whitman has prided itself on targeting players who fit the mold of the program

and developing them throughout their Whitman career.

“A lot of the top teams we compete with are getting threeand four-star recruits, but our thing is that we work harder than everyone else,” said Tesmond. “We do more conditioning than anyone else. If we didn’t love being with each other, it would be awful. But we enjoy being together so much and playing for each other that it makes the work worth it.”

As storied as the Whitman men’s tennis program has become, Malesovas made it clear that his primary goal is not to go down as one of Whitman’s best; instead, he simply wants to continue on the great team tradition.

“We are all so close and so intertwined that I don’t consider myself an individual player on the team. If I had the choice of playing one and winning an individual national championship, or playing six and winning with my team, I would take playing six 100 times out of 100,” said Malesovas.

Poor conditions lead to shortened tournaments for golf teams by kyle howe Staff Reporter

O Colton Malesovas ‘15 has emerged as Whitman’s top singles player and also plays doubles with partner James Rivers ‘15 (pictured above, left). Photos by McCormick

ver the weekend, both Whitman men’s and women’s golf teams fought against the elements in the Spring Classic in Bremerton, Wash. The persistent rain led to unplayable conditions on the course, leading to the sec-

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ond day of both men’s and women’s tournaments to be canceled.

The men finished sixth overall in the shortened tournament, with Whitworth University taking the team title. The cancellation of the second day only further frustrated the men’s team.

“Everyone on our team wanted to play to improve our standing, but ultimately we weren’t given the chance. It was a bummer especially because we pride ourselves as a ‘second-round team.’

Traditionally we have played much better on the last days of tournaments. Overall, it was a frustrating weekend due to poor playing conditions and a lack of an opportunity to rebound after one tough day,” said first-year Daniel Hoffman.

On the course, the weather proved to be the team’s greatest adversary.

“The tournament was played in the worst conditions we have seen all year. The greens were totally flooded and we were even forced to putt through puddles of standing water on the first day.

Temperatures were extremely cold and that takes a toll on you after five hours of play. The second day of the tournament was canceled due to such poor course conditions. The course superintendent deemed the course unplayable and we were forced to face a long rain delay before the cancellation of day two,” said Hoffman.

The men head to Moses Lake this upcoming Saturday to compete in the Washington Cup, before heading to the conference championships on April 20 and 21 in Woodburn, Ore. The women faced a similar problem with continuous rain while facing off against

George Fox University, the number-four team in the country.

“Last weekend was a difficult challenge for our team emotionally.

We were five shots behind George Fox after day one and 17 shots in front of the third-place team, Willamette,” said Coach Skip Molitor.

The cancellation of the second day due to weather was maddening for the team.

“Our ladies felt they had a great chance of catching [George] Fox. It was very disappointing to have the second round canceled ... which resulted in Fox winning the Spring Classic with Whitman in second. We played well day one, with Kelly Sweeney in third place with a 78 and Catelyn Webber tied for fourth at 79.

Katie Zajicek shot 82 and Caitlin Holland rounded out the scoring with an 88,” said Molitor.

Now with the mentally challenging circumstances of the Spring Classic behind them, the women look ahead to their next challenge as they hope to make another return to the NCAA Championships. On April 20 and 21 the team will travel to Woodburn, Ore. for the NWC Championships, where they will face their rival George Fox again.

“If we beat [George] Fox in that tournament, both teams will head to the first tee and have a sudden-death playoff for the Automatic Qualifier berth for the conference to the NCAA Women’s DIII Championship in Destin, Fla., May 14-17. We will be in the discussion for an at-large berth if we don’t get the AQ ... but our best chance is to take care of business and defend our NWC Championship title and return to the NCAAs,” said Molitor.

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SPORTS 5 Tennis court expansion project slated for summer

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11 2013

by cole anderson Staff Reporter

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or the Whitman tennis teams, the changing weather means the approach of the national tournament and the indoor tennis courts becoming more and more obsolete. As days get sunnier, the availability of the outdoor courts becomes much more attractive, but as the NCAA tournament nears, the inability to use the courts to host early rounds remains a problem—although only for a few more months.

In February, the Whitman Board of Trustees met to discuss the possibility of expanding the outdoor courts. The plans have been approved, the funding is in place and the location has been decided on, so the only thing preventing the addition of two outdoor courts is time. The logistics of undergoing construction during the tennis season and with students at school have the project scheduled for the summer.

As the men’s and women’s teams, ranking 15th and 16th in the nation respectively, prepare for the postseason, a common theme for both head coaches is the difference that two more courts would make.

As it stands, Whitman is unable to host any NCAA tournament play because the NCAA requires at least six courts for such competition. The ability to host postseason play was a large factor in what turned out to be a successful campaign for a remodel of the current courts, as well as the construction of two new courts.

“We’ve traveled to St. Louis and Atlanta in recent years

and having the ability to not travel, at least early on, would be big. Home court advantage is great for fans and better for the players. It would be huge to be able to host early rounds,” said Men’s Coach Jeff Northam about NCAA tournament play.

Besides the obvious postseason advantages, this project means great directions for Whitman sports in general. In a school with numerous student athletes, the emphasis is obviously on academics, with athletics as a secondary priority. However, the sports programs have consistently been competitive, or improving to that point throughout the years.

“When I was a student here, the Sherwood roof leaked so bad they used indoor gutters to drain the water into the urinals. That caused some big problems. Since then, the remodeling of athletic facilities has really shown throughout the years.

The college has been extremely positive in improving the athletic programs here at Whitman and it has definitely made a difference,” said Northam.

John Hein, the coach of the women’s team, was also very positive about the changes.

“I think it shows how the school agrees that academics and athletics can coexist.

A lot of people really stepped up to show that,” said Hein.

Originally, there was lingering debate about where the new courts would go. To stay in the current location, some of the land between Lakum Duckum and the current courts would have to be leveled and rebuilt to accommodate two more courts. Though

there was some opposition to this, the debates went rather smoothly.

“I didn’t know what to expect going in, but there weren’t any negative comments voiced,” said Northam.

“Everyone involved handled it very smoothly. It seemed to me like it went well because a lot of people worked really hard throughout the entire process,” said Hein.

Even for the non-athletic community, the current location will be best for involving the student body.

“The new configuration will lend itself to more spectators and easier access to games being played, as well as more action at any one time with more courts,” said Hein.

It is clear through this process how much everyone cares about Whitman athletics and is willing to see through big changes to allow them to exist.

John Bogley, vice president for development and college relations, is an example of someone who has been with this project from the very start.

From the earliest building plan meetings about two years ago through the coordination of every involved party until this point, Bogley has been instrumental.

“As vice president for development and college relations, my work entails raising funds to support institutional priorities and assisting President [George] Bridges as a member of his senior leadership team. The idea of additional tennis courts came to my attention a number of years ago because it seemed unfortunate and detrimental to our high-

ly accomplished tennis teams that we were unable to host the singles matches of any competition efficiently because we do not have enough courts to have all six singles matches start at once,” noted Bogley.

“More recently, Jeff Northam mentioned to me that Whitman could not host a nationals play-in round due to the number of outdoor courts we have available on campus. When this was discussed among President Bridges, Provost [Timothy] Kaufman-Osborn, Athletic Director Dean Snider and both Coach Northam and Coach Hein, a decision was reached that if leadership donors stepped forward we would be supportive of adding two more courts.

Last summer, our first leadership donor emerged. Three weeks ago, another couple stepped forward to offer support,” he added.

“John Bogley has been amazing in this whole process,” said Northam. “He was the visionary of this project from the start and was extremely helpful putting together funding. Without John, this wouldn’t have gone forward.”

“The staff, faculty, administration and student body have been great. I’ve never been involved with something with this much input. Given the central part of campus, we were concerned about doing what was best for everyone on campus, but hearing everyone’s positive input was reassuring and really exciting to see how much everyone is supporting us and this project,” said Hein.

Since the tennis courts see quite a bit of use outside of

the varsity teams, this addition and remodel will benefit everyone from the club and intramural level players to the local tennis players using the courts in the summer. The remodeling of the courts will hopefully even prompt those new to the sport to play more and those who don’t play to come out and support the team every so often.

“The support from the students has been great. We have the best fans in the nation, and this will only make viewing better,” said Northam.

SCOREBOARD Baseball

v. Pacific University April 6: W 6-5 v. Pacific University April 6: W 10-0 v. Pacific University April 6: L 11-1

tennis

Men’s v. Pacific University April 6: W 9-0 Women’s v. Pacific University April 6: W 9-0

upcoming Baseball

v. Willamette University April 13, 12 p.m.: AWAY v. Willamette University April 13, 4 p.m.: AWAY v. Willamette University April 14, 12 p.m.: AWAY

tennis

Men’s v. PLU April 13, 10 a.m.: AWAY v. UPS April 14, 10 a.m.: AWAY Women’s v. PLU April 13, 4 p.m.: AWAY v. UPS April 14, 11 a.m.: AWAY

Whitman’s tennis courts have a desirable central location that makes them a focal point of the campus. The courts will be expanded from the existing four to six courts in the same location. Photo by McCormick

FEATURE

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A D M I T T E D

2,697 students applied of those that applied

1,466 were accepted = 150 applicants

tables have turned and the choice

54%

acceptance rate

60%

40% male

female

Countries in white indicate countries international students were admitted from

1 3

16

9

5

6

14

11 7

10

4

The applicant pool has been 2017 has been chosen. Now the

11 2013

Admitted students by numbers

2

vetted, and the Whitman class of

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13 12

is up to the prospective students.

IN

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States ranked by number of admitted students

College prepares for influx of visitors

by Serena Runyan Staff Reporter

A

s May approaches and high school seniors everywhere begin to concretely ponder the next four years of their lives, it’s become nearly impossible to avoid the epidemiclike surge of manila folders dotting Whitman’s campus amongst sunbathers and Frisbee games.

Spring Visitors Day and Admitted Students Day, taking place April 12 and 20 respectively, are both days packed with chances for admitted students to get a taste of Whitman life in all its glory. They get serenaded by a capella groups, overwhelmed with Whitman’s multitude of activities and resources and indoctrinated into the school’s thriving Frisbee culture, if only for a fleeting hour. Though all of this takes place on a single day, the preparation has taken months. Planning for the event started in February, long before the decision about the class of 2017 had been solidified, but the Office of Admission chooses the date a year in advance.

“We want to be conscious of when other schools are holding their Admitted Students Day[s],” explained Admission Officer Sadie Nott.

As the year starts, applications file in and admission officers get hard at work reviewing applications.

“January, Febru-

ary and March are incredibly reading-based,” said Nott.

Despite the piles of applications to plow through, Nott and her interns, seniors Laetitiah Magara and Jenna Fritz, were also planning the Admitted Students Day for students they had yet to admit.

“It’s hard to plan this while you’re reading applications and while you’re meeting with admitted students,” said Nott. “It’s a lot of changing the way that you’re approaching work very quickly.”

Interns Fritz and Magara have played a big role in organizing the events for the day, and were charged with communicating with admitted students and their families.

“It’s a lot of emailing—emailing professors to get them on board with the programs we have,” said Magara. “Jenna [Fritz] was working on the ‘Whittie’ experience ... everything that makes Whitties ‘Whitties’ besides academics.”

They’ve spent the last two months reaching out to professors, individuals in charge of cocurricular opportunities and students interested in participating on panels or in various activities to put together a presentation of what Whitman has to offer.

Amidst all the planning, both Nott and Magara praised the support they received from their own team and from the larger Whitman community.

“For me personally, it’s been absolutely wonderful to have senior interns to work alongside me,” said Nott, who isn’t a Whitman graduate, and isn’t as familiar with the college.

“These guys have been great, really stepping up to the plate and being able to help in that way. And faculty and staff here have an unending support for our events in the office and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

Magara echoed this sentiment, finding rhythm and comfort to the work.

“Everyone is so willing to support you, you don’t really have to struggle ... You don’t have to ask people many times until you feel like you’re starting to be a bother; it just comes so naturally, which is awesome,” she said.

Once decisions are finalized, thick folders are mailed to accepted students around the country. “And then it’s super busy and all the different students come to visit,” said Nott.

The Office of Admission this time of year is especially lively, as prospective students file in and out for interviews, information and tours.

“It’s just crazy right now, in a good way,” said senior Ryan Campeau, co-manager of the Admission A-Team. “We have about 40 or 50 visitors a day.”

Campeau, along with senior Kevin Dyer, organizes all of Whitman’s tours. During the dark lull of winter, tour guides often find nothing

to do when they come in to work, but the large influx of prospective students keeps the guides on their toes.

“On Admitted Students Day we have so many tours going out—it’s funny being a tour guide on that day because there’s a hundred groups and you are going to bump into every single group and have to take a route you’ve never taken before ...

It’s a free-for-all,” said Campeau.

Tours might be muscle-memory routine for the tour guides, but tours are also designed to cater to the needs of individual students.

“We always try to take in the interest of the group. If most of the group is really interested in art, even though we don’t normally go there, you might take a different path and go to the art building and come back. There’s not much that can go wrong,” said Campeau.

When the day finally arrives, all of this hard work will come into place. But, of course, there are some problems the Office of Admission can’t control.

“We will occasionally get requests from families we’re not able to fulfill,” said Nott. “But I honestly haven’t encountered more than one or two of those problems.”

The team members cross their fingers for good weather, but there is an air of optimism fueled by a little bit of superstition for sunny skies. “[President] George Bridges has a weather machine, and al-

ways manages to turn out gorgeous weather for it,” said Campeau.

Beyond the issue of the weather, Nott doesn’t seem to be worried about the big day.

“At this point I’m so excited for the day to happen,” she said.

“If you had asked me about it two weeks ago, I would have been very stressed. But we’re at a really good point with planning now.”

Ultimately, Nott and Magara hope that students walk away with a better understanding of what it means to be a student at Whitman.

“I feel so strongly and so excited about the class we just admitted, and I’d love to see as many of them here on campus and in this community as possible,” said Nott.

“But in the end, this is decisionmaking time for them and I want to inform them and give them the best experience and truest understanding of Whitman as possible.”

Though Magara is enthusiastic about bringing students to our school, she holds a realistic approach to the process.

“I would have said earlier that I just want everyone to say ‘yes,’” said Magara. “[But I want them to] go where they need to go, so we don’t have people who are sad here.

I hope that they’ll know whether or not it’s good for them, but have had such a good experience that the message they send to people [about Whitman] is positive.”

A&E

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A movie reviewer’s ‘hairy’ adventure

by NATHAN FISHER Staff Reporter

F

or almost two years I’ve had the awesome job of writing movie reviews for The Pio— Friday night: the theater with a tub of popcorn; Saturday morning: Zip off a short review. Easy! Never thinking that I would have to work and write a real article, I was shocked to see an email from my editor asking me to look into a movie called “HairBrained” that supposedly had something to do with Whitman. Sounded interesting.

So armed with a Web page for the movie, I naively set out on my first attempt at investigative journalism.

The website link I was given only gave the plot synopsis and the cast (most notable of whom is Brendan Fraser). Supposedly, “HairBrained” follows a kid named Eli Pettifog (Alex Wolff of Nickelodeon fame) who gets rejected from Harvard and, in the words of the synopsis, “ends up at Ivy League wannabe Whitman College. It’s hate at first sight.” At Whitman, Eli becomes friends with a fellow first-year and 41-year-old gambler, Leo Searly (Brendan Fraser).

My first thought after reading the synopsis was, simply put ... WOW! Apparently I’m going to an “Ivy League wannabe”? Yeah, right. My interest was piqued, and I started my quest to find out more about this supposed movie.

Having never done investigative work (except in the physics lab), I had no idea where to start, so I requested help from the professor of my Hollywood Stardom and Post-Katrina Media classes, Professor Anne Petersen. On a quick email chat conversation, I asked Professor Petersen if she had heard of “HairBrained,” and if she could point me in the right direction to find out more. Her response was simply that she had “never

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: How to Love Wine Learn the intricacies of wine with Eric Asimov, the chief wine critic of The New York Times. A professional foodie, Asimov will help you appreciate all there is to appreciate about great food and greater wine.

Thursday, April 11, 7 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium

Disco Night at the Ice Chalet Join the YWCA’s Ice Chalet for a night of great ‘70s music, a disco ball, fun lighting and glow necklaces, as well as several drawings for Ice Chalet freebies. ‘70s-inspired clothing is highly encouraged. Prices are the normal rate for a public session (Adult [16+]: $5.00; Skate rental: $2.00)

Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m. at the Ice Chalet

Chick Flick Screening Feeling especially AmandaBynes-deprived since she “retired” from acting? Fill the Amanda-Bynes-shaped hole in your heart with viewings of the chick flick classics “What a Girl Wants” and “She’s the Man.” Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. in Kimball Theatre

“The Invisible War” From Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (“This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” “Twist of Faith”) comes “The Invisible War,” a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America’s most shameful and best-kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film will be followed by a discussion.

Monday, April 15, 7 p.m. in Olin Hall 130

heard of that movie—sounds crazy.” When I asked if she had any advice about how to find more out the movie, she responded frankly and matter-of-factly: “Google.”

Armed with succinct words of advice, I set off down the Internet path and searched for more information and ... found nothing. No clips of the movie, no trailer, not even a release date! I did find a Facebook page for the movie, but the only information given was the same as what was on the original IMDb site my editor gave me. I had nada.

So who next do I turn to? President George Bridges, of course!

Having never met President Bridges before, I figured it might be a good idea to send him a very nice email with the information I had about “HairBrained” and then ask

ILLUSTRATION BY HAMPTON

if he had heard of it and what his thoughts were on the movie’s premise. Once again, I received a short and to-the-point response: “We are aware of the movie but don’t know much about it. Let us know what you can find out.” When I tried to ask about his thoughts and opinions on just the premise, he declined to respond ... twice. I feared my journey would end up fruitless.

Still with nothing to show for my work, I went back and scoured the only website of information I had. Finally I stumbled across something promising, the name of the production company, Love Lane Pictures. After a quick search, I finally made my first step towards progress and found a longer description of the movie on their website.

I found out that Eli tries to

lead the Whitman College academic bowl team to the finals to beat/get back at Harvard. How cliché this movie was turning out to be! I also discovered that Billy Kent was the director, Sarah Bird was the producer and writer, Adam Wierzbianski was a writer and David Wieder was a producer. I tried contacting them via their emails and contact information on the company’s website, but they declined to respond to all my messages. It seemed as if no one wanted me to find out about this movie.

Finally, my research became more interesting when I became an Internet creeper. I started out with Bird and found her Facebook, Twitter, Publisher, Wikipedia page, job history, everything!

I felt like a stalker, but I was near the end of my rope. I tried contacting her every possible way I could—still no luck. Regarding Kent, the director, I found a few minor things and tried contacting him through his LinkedIn account, but still ended up with no response.

At about this point I was grasping for straws, and was about ready to throw in the towel when I thought of one more thing I could do—tweet. I have never been a Twitter fan and have refused to use or even go on the website. But in the name of journalism, I swallowed my pride, left my integrity at the door and opened a Twitter account. I latched onto (read: began following) Kent and Wieder and sent them both a tweet. I felt my IQ dropping as I tried to fit my message into 140 characters or less! Yet days later, I still did not get a response!

Weeks after I began my search, I was nowhere closer to seeing any results, but I’m still trying. Even now as I write this article, I periodically keep checking my Twitter feed for any responses. However, the only activity I’ve gotten so far has been from

two women who began following me about 10 minutes after I opened my account. Apparently they are very good at giving blow jobs...

Needless to say, I blocked them.

Leaving Twitter behind, I had several more conversations with real people. I had a brief conversation with ASWC President Kayvon Behroozian and showed him the original IMDb website and asked him if he had ever heard of the film.

His response was pretty similar to everyone else’s: “I’ve never heard of this film. It sounds interesting.”

In one of my follow-up questions he said he “would definitely be interested to see it.” Unfortunately, I was once again nowhere closer in knowing anything more about the movie.

In one of my final conversations about “HairBrained,” I talked with Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland. More just for my own curiosity, I asked him about his thoughts on the movie with the information I had. He, too, gave a simple response: “I have never heard about the movie or seen it. So I really can’t give you an impression about it. I would be surprised if it was filmed at Whitman, but who knows.”

When I followed up on his opinion on the movie’s synopsis, he pretty much summed up my entire experience on this whole ordeal: “There is not much to react to. It could be indteresting, especially if some of the exterior shots are really from Whitman.”

So true.

So true.

In the end, after countless hours of research and staring blankly at my computer screen, I am no closer to finding out any more information about the infamous “HairBrained” movie that is scheduled to supposedly come out sometime this year. It seems that I will just have to wait for the movie to come out, and when it does, I look forward to being a sloth with a tub of popcorn at the movie theater.

Allen Stone bares his soul to other cool opportunities, but I haven’t broken out and become a worldwide household name.

by QUIN NELSON Staff Reporter

U

p-and-coming soul singer Allen Stone, who has earned praise from the likes of USA Today and The New York Times, is busy on a worldwide tour but will soon find his way to Whitman for a show in the Reid Ballroom. The Pioneer caught up with him on the phone to get to know him before his performance on April 11 at 8 p.m.

The Pioneer: How did you get started with music?

Allen Stone: I started singing in my dad’s church and picked up a guitar soon after that.

Pio: How did singing in church influence you as an artist?

Allen: It taught me to feel music. It showed me the passion of live music and the energy it can create.

Pio: What music did you listen to growing up?

Allen: I started with Christian music when I was young, then Cake and Dave Matthews Band when I was 10 or 11. Then I got into Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and soul music, and it’s been soul music ever since.

Pio: The R&B/soul genre has gotten pretty diverse today; how do you see yourself fitting into it?

Allen: I don’t really care about genres.

There’s a lot about my music that doesn’t fit into genres, but I’m used to not fitting

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*

Pio: Is that your goal, to become a worldwide household name?

Allen: Yeah, I wouldn’t be talking to you about genres if I didn’t want to be a household name. I feel that I have a good perspective on life and I want to share that. R&B right now is all about sex and partying, and I want to make it mean something like Marvin Gaye did with “What’s Going On.” I don’t do it to have people throw flowers at my feet, but when I’m dead I want to have left a legacy. I want to bring music to the place it belongs.

There’s so much terrible music these days. Your voice is a gift, and I think PHOTO COURTESY OF ATO RECEORDS if you aren’t using it to uplift culture, then it should in. I’m a white kid from the wilderness of be ripped from your throat. eastern Washington who makes music that black people usually make.

Pio: Do you ever get tired of people who talk about how your appearance doesn’t Pio: So without the crutch of using genres, match up with your voice? how would you describe your music?

Allen: I think it’s a little bit racist, to be Allen: I would say to just go listen to it, de- honest. Racism towards Caucasians in this fine it yourself. Music is made by individu- country seems to be okay for some reason. als, not corporations, so it can’t be defined A lot of people have described my music by genre. as “blue-eyed soul,” which I don’t get. I’m making music, and my eye color and skin Pio: You’ve been on a few late night shows color shouldn’t have anything to do with it. and have played at some big festivals. What do you think has been your breakout mo- Pio: What do you have planned next? ment?

Allen: A bunch of touring for the rest Allen: I haven’t had that moment yet. I’ve of this year, and after that I’ll hop in had some cool opportunities that have led the studio and work on my next album.

See how local coffee roasters find their beans.

Watch the videos online at www.whitmanpioneer.com /category/ae/

Check out the Pioneer website’s A&E page this week to see videographer Skye Vander Laan’s two-part series on the Walla Walla Roastery!

The videos take the viewer into the Walla Walla Roastery, located in Walla Walla near the airport, capturing perspectives from the owner as well as a Whitman student. The first video includes interviews with Thomas Reese and Mary Senter, roaster and owner at the Walla Walla Roastery. They outline the roasting process, differences between micro roasters and large corporate roasters, as well as how they source their beans from around the world.

Emphasizing issues of fair

trade, direct trade and fair prices, Reese and Senter describe how coffee beans get from the coffee plant into your cup.

“Some of them we buy through brokers, others we buy directly from the farm in a direct relationship referred to as direct trade,” said Reese.

The second video addresses the Walla Walla Roastery from

the perspective of senior Ryan Campeau. Campeau grew up in Walla Walla and appreciates that the Walla Walla Roastery uses the local Colville Street Patisserie’s chocolate syrups. First introduced to the roastery by her dance teacher, Ryan talks about what she knows about the roastery from the perspective of a customer and Walla Walla resident.

A&E

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APR

11 2013

Captivity under New Kids On The Block Can three straight hours of this ‘90s boy band’s new album make 10 a perfect 10?

by QUIN NELSON Staff Reporter

I

was given the assignment to review the New Kids on the Block’s new album, 10, released April 2 (yes, this year). Seeing as I have no prior experience listening to their music or any interest in gaining said experience, I needed to set up something other than a conventional review. I decided to listen to 10 for three consecutive hours, and document my captivity under the NKOTB regime. These are my notes:

1:55:00 I talked to my sister on the phone and told her what I was doing.

Her response: “Oh. That sucks.”

2:00:00 On the subject of boy bands, my sister said, “When I hear those types of songs, I always think, ‘Haven’t they made that before?’” This pretty much sums up how I feel at this point.

All of these songs sound like watereddown mixtures of pop songs that have

been made for many years by many artists.

2:00:01-2:30:00 I spaced out. Fatigue setting in.

2:44:40 I now realize I should have kept a tally of the clichés and corny similes in this album. NKOTB just delivered the gem, “You’re the oxygen I breathe.”

2:49:00 They just compared lovers to planets and stars, and love to fighting gravity. This lyricism is what’s getting me to the finish line.

3:00:00 Overall, 10 is not a good album, but it’s not impossible to listen to.

And the music quality isn’t really the point, anyway; people will buy this out of nostalgia and nothing more. “Nothing more” is exactly what 10 provides.

0:00:30 The first song, “We Own Tonight,” is all right. It seems like average adult pop-rock that will not distract me from my homework. I guess I was expecting a more abrasive sound, so this is tolerable.

0:05:00 The second song is bad. The chorus is just the line “I like the remix, baby” repeated several times, and sometimes a guy will jump in and yell things like, “Guitar!” and “Break it down!”

0:09:15 “Take My Breath Away” is also bad, and it is easy to see why. It is sort of in the electro-pop-R&B style of many pop songs today, but it is clearly made by a group of middle-aged men.

0:17:00 This Spotify ad brings welcome respite.

0:20:50 “Miss You More” is a decent song until one of the New Kids (is that what they call each other?) provides one of the worst whisper raps ever recorded.

He starts with “I hate the way I miss you / I just wanna kiss you,” and it doesn’t get better after that.

0:01:00 I have completed slightly over one listen of the album, and 10 is tolerable background music. The only trouble that arises is when NKOTB veers out of the adult pop-rock lane and tries to sound like a modern pop group. Especially the whisper rapping; that was the worst.

1:14:27 In “Whisper,” love is compared to a whisper and a symphony, among other things. These guys have probably recycled these same clichés for the last 30 years.

1:18:28 “Jealous (Blues)” is probably my favorite song on the album. The lyrics are not any better than on the other songs, but it has a quicker tempo than most and some nice bluesy background singing from a woman not credited on the song (mystery New Kid?).

ILLUSTRATION BY JONES

ADVERTISEMENT

Photo by Bernstein

from MY CHERNOBYL, page 1

What do you hope Whitman students take away from “My Chernobyl”?

In rehearsal we refer to “My Chernobyl” as a play that is a celebration of suffering. I hope the audience can join in that celebration.

Junior Emily Davis is playing the part of Katrina, the aforementioned Russian woman. In an email interview, she had these words to say on her part in the production: Have you acted before? If so, what plays have you done at Whitman?

I have acted in high school, playing Reno Sweeney in Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” and Flaemmchen in Luther Davis’s “Grand Hotel: The Musical.” I have never been in a major Whitman production, however, so this is my first show!

Why did you audition for “My Chernobyl”?

I had my eye on “My Chernobyl”

for a while after reading the script.

I immediately connected with the characters and their dismal situation in irradiated Belarus, and I enjoyed the play’s well-maintained balance between heaviness and humor. Seeing the play come to life has been an incredible experience.

Tell me about your character.

Katrina is a fierce Belarusian mechanic and a true force of nature.

She is strong-willed and sometimes depressed, but she always gets what she wants.

What is your inspiration for your interpretation of the role?

I’m pretty familiar with the life of a mechanic as I have one for a father! Through this exposure, I’ve been able to pick up on behavior quirks, physicality and mentality that have really informed my interpretation of Katrina.

Performances will continue through Sunday, April 13 at 8 p.m.

Weekend performances include a 2 p.m. matinee performance.

WINE MAP

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11 2013

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The Pioneer guide to

Walla Walla

wineries

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(509) 525-0940 Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

This weekend Whitman parents enjoy complimentary wine tasting­—with this ad.

St.

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L’Ecole

41 Lowden School Rd. Lowden, WA

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5 Gifford Hirlinger 1450 Stateline Rd (509) 301-9229

Open Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

6 Dusted Valley Vintners Woodward Canyon Winery 11920 W Hwy 12 Lowden, WA Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (last tasting of the day starts at 4:30 p.m.)

Lunch in the Reserve House Fri-Sun 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

2Wine will be featured

at the Feast Walla Walla Chef’s Table dinner on the 12th and tasting downtown on the 13th. On the 10th of May, their Reserve House Restaurant reopens for the season, serving lunches Friday through Sunday each week through October. On all of the weekends mentioned, they will do a two for the price of one tasting for Whitman students and family.

3

April 14, 2013 3:00 p.m.

Cooking with Chef Penny - Let’s Light it up Flambé Three Rivers Winery Learn the exciting art of 5641 Old Hwy 12 flambéing! $50/person and includes hands on (509) 526-9463 cooking, wine tasting, enjoying what you helped Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. make and recipes to take home. RSVP required only 10 people per class.

4 Amavi Cellars

3796 Peppers Bridge Rd. (509) 525-3541 Open daily 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

1248 Old Milton Highway (509) 525-1337

Friends of Whitman ColOpen Sat 11 a.m.-4 p.m. lege may present map in or by appointment tasting room to waive $10 tasting fee for you and one guest.

7 Robison Ranch Cellars

2672 Robison Ranch Rd. (509) 301-3480 Open Sat 11 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appointment

10% discount on wine purchases to Whitman associates who come out to the ranch this weekend to visit.

8 Mackey Vineyards

Open Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-4 4122 Powerline Rd. p.m. or by appointment (509) 526-5160

WINE MAP

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13 Lodmell 6 W. Rose St. Suite 104

Adamant Cellars

9No tasting fees for

525 E. Cessna Ave Whitman Parents, 15% off case purchases for (509) 529-4161 Whitman Parents, and 20% off when you join Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. the wine club. Just let us know you’re a Whitman Parent!

(509) 525-1285 Open Sun-Thurs 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

10 College Cellars 500 Tausick Way (509) 524-5170 Open Fri 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Sat 12 p.m.-4 p.m.

No tasting fee. Tours of teaching winery available upon request.

11 Ensemble Cellars

145 East Curtis Ave. (509) 525-0231 Open Sat 11 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appointment Tasting fee waived.

12 Corvus Cellars 596 Piper Avenue (509) 525-1285 Open Sat-Sun 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

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Open Thurs-Fri 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., SatMon 11 a.m.-4:40 Spring Valley Vineyard p.m.

Tasting fee will be 18 N. 2nd Ave comp’d for those (509) 525-1506 who bring in the map.

15 Charles Smith Wines and K-Vintners

35 S. Spokane St. (509) 526-5230

Open daily 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

April 11 Blues & BBQ with Truck Mills, April 12 Ciudades Flamenco tour.

16 Cadaretta

315 E. Main St. (509) 525-1352 Open Thurs-Sat 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

OPINION

APR

11 2013

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‘Bang With Friends’ altering sex Maggie mae Lemaris Columnist

the big euphemism

B

ang With Friends, a Facebooklinked website that took only two hours to code, has the potential to change sex forever. I would even go so far as to argue that Bang With Friends is the most innovative sexual outlet since the Internet itself.

The genius behind Bang With Friends lies in its form. You enter the site with a single click of a “connect using Facebook” button that is imposed over an image of a woman pulling her dress over her head. Next, you are brought to your preferences page in which you get to choose (almost inevitably) the “only I can view my activity” button, because God forbid your friends find out on Facebook that you couldn’t go out and get laid on your own accord. That’s it. You’re in. Ready to bang, so to speak.

Bang With Friends is formatted randomly, displaying all of the individuals you are friends with on Facebook who have preferenced your gender in no particular order.

There is no discrimination beyond that, essentially guaranteeing that as you scroll down the list of potential “bangs,” you will run into, say, your parents. The site lists everyone, and

ILLUSTRATION BY VAZQUEZ

your part in this whole “exchange,” if you can even call it that, is as simple as a click of a button: Below every picture is a button that says “Down to Bang.”

So, go ahead, click it, because Bang With Friends is a way of pursuing sex without the consequences that come with actually having to take the chances. It is sex without the most difficult part: the

pursuit.

Whether o r not you decide to use it, now there is the possibility of every Facebook member to have inconsequential sex, an opportunity that has never been afforded in this capacity before.

No Internet site has ever provided the kind of sexual outlet that Bang With Friends has. To begin

Blackness exists on a spectrum Gladys GITAU First-year

I

WHINY BLACK GIRL

fit in well on this campus.

Like most Whitties, I consider myself intelligent, hardworking, socially conscious and fun to be around. More so, among my friends back home, I was that nerdy, outdoorsy, thrifty, liberal girl who was most likely to survive in an environment like Whitman.

But there are days when I have to reconcile my Whittie identity with my black identity. These are times when someone says something in class and I yell out “amen” in agreement, or I start swag cooking in the dining hall out of excitement. It’s when I get blank stares that I realize that I have to categorize these actions as “black things.”

Such predicaments are the symptoms of being a black nerd, or a “Blerd.” Blerds are those kids who are labeled “white” by their black friends for speaking eloquently, accepted by their white peers because they don’t act “too black,” and consequently spend their time with either group nav-

igating what is enough of what.

I grew up as a Blerd, but back then I was called an Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside).

None of my friends in the hood watched “30 Rock” or “Parks and Rec,” they didn’t read “The Awesome Column” in TIME as religiously as I did, and none of them followed the Republican presidential primaries enough to understand my Newt Gingrich jokes. Part of the reason my nerdiness was characterized as “white” is because there weren’t any cool nerdy black people for me to compare myself to.

Instead, I had to adopt Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope as my heroes.

Later I found out these Blerds existed. There was Issa Rae, creator and star of the web series “The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl,” a show about an equally awkward and ratchet black girl who doesn’t fit the stereotype that black women have to be confident and sassy all the time. I fell in love with Donald Glover, America’s token nerdy black guy whose alter ego Childish Gambino writes angry raps about being rejected by both the black kids for not being hood enough and the white kids for not being wealthy. They, among others, inspired me to resist the binary of what it meant to be black. I could be both nerdy and ratchet; I could watch “Doctor Who” and rap about it as well.

I’ve made a career here complaining about things that are “too white” for me to engage in and acting ratchet to make up for the trag-

ic disparity in black things. Truth is, black is a spectrum. It’s okay to be black, make Newt Gingrich jokes, be a debater and watch “Girls” on HBO. (Okay, maybe it’s not okay to be black and watch “Girls” on HBO.) Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explains it well in “Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness”: “There are 40 million black people in this country, and there are 40 million ways to be black.” However, there is a collective identity we share as members of this community—this identity is not monolithic.

The problem arises when we don’t have examples of people like us doing things we like. Then we believe we must adopt a different identity to partake in these things. Oftentimes we engage in these activities as individuals, and fail to see them as part of the black community, or part of our community as people of color. Instead we characterize these things as abnormal and foreign, and attribute them to “acting white,” when we have the right to enjoy them and still retain these identities as people of color.

So despite my many rants, going sea kayaking shouldn’t make me a white black girl. In fact, we need more black people to go sea kayaking, so that black people who are curious about it won’t be called “Oreos.” And if they live through the experience, and maybe even enjoy it, they can engage in some celebratory swag cooking afterwards, and make it acceptable for the rest of us black kids to go, thus slowly breaking down this black and white binary.

Political Cartoon by Asa Mease

Voices from the Community

with, it is the first time that sex has explicitly been linked to a website that doesn’t have an implicitly sexual undertone. Facebook as a platform is about creating a digital representation of yourself, one that connects you to a network of people. Facebook functions differently from dating websites, sexual hook-up forums or any site that matches people based on preferences. Bang With Friends is

brilliantly simple. It is a place where you can bang your friends, click a button that stores this information somewhere and then alerts you if that person was “down to bang” you.

Bang With Friends changes the game of sex, and I would argue that it has missed our age group, because we all know how to function in a social setting where sex is rooted in the physical world. Yes, 20to 34-year-olds clearly do and will continue using it, but it has the potential to completely shape sex for young adults now. If you were 13 years old, it would be nearly impossible to not be attracted to the inconsequential nature of sex that is provided by Bang With Friends. I truly believe that sex in this capacity has the potential to define the sexual lives of young adults today.

Bang With Friends removes the need for sex to be about the pursuit and just bypasses any sort of physical chemistry before intimate contact. But, it provides a unique opportunity for individuals to casually go about expressing sexual interest without any type of social repercussions. Bang With Friends is brilliant because it is merely a connector; coded in less than two hours, the application brings sex to the Internet profile of yourself, bypassing the consequences that are ingrained in physical sexuality. It has the potential to morph sexuality into something completely different.

Divestment should be more than symbolic

by Martha Sebald ‘14 Guest Columnist

T

his past weekend, a few dozen students and student representatives crowded into Reid Campus Center for an informational hearing to help ASWC determine whether or not it will support divestment: an important conversation indeed.

Here I would like to bring up an issue that was not fully addressed at the hearing.

Divestment needs to be more than making a motion and putting up a fight. Campaign leaders see physical divestment as not directly affecting fossil fuel companies, but rather as getting the issue out there and arguing that the first step towards a fossil-fuel-free campus is a divested endowment. Unfortunately, while divestment tends to focus on advocating for a movement to curb tendencies and affect our consumption of oil, we often see activism as an alternative to individual adjustment. It’s wrong to eschew our responsibilities to consumption and the environment by demanding that they change, without being willing to change ourselves.

Oil companies only supply oil because we demand it.

Even as divestment campaigns demonstrate that we don’t support their practices, we do support their products. Transportation to and from Whitman was brought up at the hearing. Costs and consequences of transportation are huge, and the airplanes, cars and trains we take to fun and informative cultural seminars, conferences and study abroad trips don’t run on solar power. It’s important to recognize that our actions directly affect oil companies via demand. Our continued consumption and economic support only reinforces their

influence and our hypocrisy.

We should focus on adjusting our own consumption rather than asking more of the Earth or for fossil fuel companies to adjust it for us. Proving to companies and communities that we can run a college without fossil fuels would be incredible and important.

The divestment campaign has made it clear that divesting does not directly affect oil companies; surely there are more effective ways to both make a political statement and reduce fossil fuel demand.

Instead of making a purely political motion, the divestment campaign should focus on divesting locally. There are many important ways we could affect the demand for oil and gas within our own community, and energies currently going towards the divestment campaign could be redirected into pre-existing projects the CCC has, and new projects specifically divesting from campus.

Whitman already does its students and faculty a good service by not selling bottled water on campus, composting and supporting organic gardens and research.

But to say we are maximizing our sustainable and green potential would be a mistake. Some students have suggested that the school invest in aquaponics in the future. Energies should be used for projects like this and other initiatives that reduce fossil fuel consumption on a local level, a statement in itself.

Divestment is an important campaign to pay attention to, of course, but eventually energies and resources should shift to efforts on a more tangible level. We can’t politely ask that everyone around us change, oil companies included, if we can’t take the first step and change ourselves.

What are your thoughts on gender-neutral housing on campus? Poll by devika doowa

Anya Tudisco

Rick Tesmond

Alex McFadden

Brian Choe

First-year

Sophomore

First-year

Junior

“Incoming first year students should have the option for gender-neutral roommate pairing.

Although many students may feel uncomfortable having a roommate of the opposite sex, some people may also feel uncomfortable having a roommate of the same sex.”

“In some instances like an entire residence hall, it could be great. However, I do feel like there are logistical issues when rooming with someone of the opposite sex, as there could be some awkward tension between the two people.”

“The options given on campus are pretty flexible depending on where you live. With various choices we can choose if we want to live in a mixed-gender section or just a single-gendered section, but having the option of rooming with the opposite sex should be explored further.”

*

“I was the RA of one of the only co-ed section, and I feel like it brings good balance to the section. With the section being gender nuetral, there is just no petty little drama.”

For more community responses visit www.whitmanpioneer.com/category/opinion

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11 2013

Kappas have Sixth Mother Nature loves to

‘Bikini’ Sense

torture Whitman students in

S

I

ILLUSTRATION BY EMORY

t’s the first sunny day of spring, about 75 degrees, a little after four in the afternoon, and Ankney is populated. There is soccer, ultimate, slack-lining, an abundance of guitars and lines of Kappas in bikinis on towels. The Prentiss lawn is crowded, too. They were the first ones out. There are already pictures on Instagram.

Kappas are more dependable than Punxsutawney Phil at predicting spring and favorable weather.

While Phil sports a measly 39 percent accuracy rate, Kappas hold an accuracy rate upwards of 85 percent.

Does it all come with that special key? I had to know. I worried I might uncover a sorority secret, or simply offend Kappas with my kooky theory comparing them to rodents.

But, the correlation was too strong to ignore, and I proceeded to interview Kappas about their ability. “I get up in the morning and just know to grab my bikini so I can wear it later,” said Kappa sophomore Lorraine Plotlady. Is weather prediction an innate ability where Kappas “just” know? Did they learn it, is it a requirement, or is it all a hoax or a coincidence? Besides Plotlady, many other Kappas say they just get “the tingling to tan.” I inquired about what happens with waking up before sunrise, and some Kappas say they are still capable of feeling “it” before sunrise.

First-year Camille Tabasko believes she developed the sense: “Everything clicked when I initiated; my sensitivity towards weather increased dramatically,” said

Tabasko. Other Kappas want to be sure they aren’t seen in the wrong light. “I don’t wake up, look for my shadow and decide how the weather will be like that. You can’t compare us to groundhogs. I’m a student, not a weather-predicting marmot,” said junior Mia Dove.

I explored science to discover if it was something the Kappas ate. Preliminary research has proven that cottage cheese and quinoa do not improve meteorological skills.

Another theory was that time spent in Prentiss Hall, with the adjustable thermostats, increases temperature awareness because of ability to control the room temperature. But then, everyone in Prentiss should have the gift. Perhaps it is all the key, that just like Benjamin Franklin’s key on a kite in a thunderstorm, the keys all around Kappa section help Kappas get the best weather readings. A true conspiracy theory.

Rumors circulate that some Alpha Phi also have this sixth “bikini” sense. DGs say they go outside or check a weekly weather report online if they want to know the weather. Thetas say that if they just all keep their swimsuits on, eventually they will be ready, maybe even first out on a good day.

But most likely, I discovered that the Kappas’ “sense” comes from their aptitude with communication: “Well, if it seems like a really nice day, we just send an email out on the Kappa listserv with where and when we are sunbathing,” said Sophomore Sierra Funklelady. Case closed, for now.

April Wordsearch

pring has sprung! The grass has rizz! I wonder where all them Whitties is? Oh, that’s right, they’re all inside and going crazy because Walla Walla springtime weather is so goddamn fickle! The consequence of the constantly unpredictable spring weather is that it slowly drives students to a state of insanity. Springtime at many other colleges means sun’s-out-gunsout and sundresses, but at Whitman it means confused, befuddled students walking around wearing raincoats and flip-flops, or bro tanks with boots. The puzzled Whitman students are only a reflection of the erratic, capricious weather that seems to always plague the campus at this time of year. For the love of God, make up your mind, Mother Nature! The unsettling part is that even when weather is nice and warm and sunny at this time of the semester, it still spells disaster. Either you feel shitty because you’re outside enjoying the weather and constantly worrying about homework you put off, or you feel shitty because you lied to classmates/your boss about being “sick” and unable to go to a group project or go to work as you tan in the sun, or you feel shitty because you are stuck in-

doors working all day as your friends lounge about in the sunshine.

These pent-up effects can be devastating to students’ concentration, and, in worst-case scenarios, can lead to dangerous and spontaneous forms of “fuck it” moments that happen in times such as being in an adviser’s meeting, where you abruptly interrupt him by tipping back in your chair and somersaulting out of his office. Other “fuck it” moments include cannonballing from the third floor of the library into the hanging canoe, and dropping chem textbooks from the top staircase of the Science Building onto unsuspecting professors. Needless to say, the weather is to blame, and until Mother Nature mans up and grows a pair of balls, one can continue to expect to see Whitman students to act in perverse and inexplicable ways during springtime.

ILLUSTRATION BY RAIBLE

White male grateful

for Power and Privilege Symposium by ben harris Guest Columnist

T

wo weeks after the Power and Privilege Symposium, Michael Anderson is still talking about race. A firstyear upper-middle-class white student from Portland, Michael is thrilled to have had the two-day lecture series confronting the issues of power and privilege. “I wasn’t sure at first if I’d have enough time to even attend a workshop, but then I realized I could probably watch the finale of ‘Girls’ on HBO Go anytime,” he said.

“I think the greater point of the symposium was evident: Talking about race only makes the problem more visible.” Michael mentioned a few instances in which he either left conversations about race or tried to change the subject. His primary struggle regarding the topic of race? White guilt.

“A lot of people don’t really get how hard it is to be white.”

Since his race became salient to him—at about age 10— Michael has struggled dai-

ly with what it means to be white.

“I get so sad realizing many of the things I take for granted as rights are actually privileges. Because not everybody who should have those rights actually has them ... I try not to think about it that much.”

At this point in the interview, Michael began to weep white tears.

“I struggle every day with the fact that I, as a white person, benefit from that discrimination; I, for no reason other than the color of my skin, have a lifelong advantage at the expense of others.”

When asked what helps to ease the pain of white guilt, Michael said, “I try not to think about it. The more I can ignore the problem, the more I feel like it will go away.”

The Whitman community has really helped Michael to ignore the difficult aspects of racial diversity.

“It’s just so white here,” he said. “Everyone goes skiing and rock climbing, people are either vegetarian or vegan and everyone listens to artists like Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver. All my friends are from Boulder, Palo Alto or Bellevue. Whitman is even on

the white side of town. I don’t feel like I have to hide who I am here— I can just be myself.” He added that the main factor in choosing Whitman over BYU was the added middle-class whiteness of a liberal arts philosophy and general antagonism towards organized religion.

But despite all this, sometimes racial salience is still an issue for Michael. “In my psychology class, I always feel like the one Asian girl from Seattle is looking at me since almost all psychology studies have been done on young white people. I just wish she’d realize that it’s not me they’re talking about. I don’t like feeling like I represent my race. It’s not a comfortable feeling.”

After checking his iPhone 5, Michael suddenly left, saying he had to go play beer pong instead of going to do his gender studies homework. “I’m only taking it because I had a terrible registration time and my adviser said I needed distribution credit,” he clarified. “Trust me, I’m doing my best to ignore diversity, power and privilege so that problems like white guilt go away.”

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