DRILL, ‘BAMA, DRILL? Columnist Lisa Curtis tackles Obama’s proposal for offshore drilling
WINTERTIME
TWITTIES?
Harper Joy’s most recent play puts an interesting spin on sexuality
page 7
At college, Whitman students from Walla Walla see their town in a new light
page 4
pages 8-9
WHITMAN COLLEGE Walla Walla, WA Volume CXXVI Issue 10 whitmanpioneer.com A ,
Sherman Alexie to speak on campus
Students abroad ineligible to vote in ASWC elections
by CAITLIN HARDEE Staff Reporter
Tonight, Thursday, April 15, at 7 p.m., Whitman will see award-winning poet, writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie visit campus for the latest event in the Visiting Writers Series and National Poetry Month. The prominent poet’s appearance has been booked in place of the series’s usual Walt Whitman Lecture, a change that has sparked excitement among students and faculty. “I have always admired Sherman Alexie for his prolific and genre-crossing work, and I had planned to use his new collection of poems (as well as several of his earlier volumes) in poetry classes this year,” said English Department Chair Katrina Roberts, who organizes the Visting Writers Series. “The English Department is lucky to have on campus this year Jennifer McGovern, the Visiting Johnston Professor in Native American Literature, and this seemed a good year to invite Sherman. As well, several members of the English Department have incorporated his work into departmental offerings this term.” “I’m very excited about having him come; it’s going to be terrific,” said McGovern. “I’m personally teaching two classes in Native Literature. This year they hired me to teach four classes in Native Literature over the course of the year, so we’ve had a lot of students get exposed.” With Alexie’s strong personality, the lecture promises to be full of surprises. “I’ve heard that he made a scene with the English Department when he was here like, six or seven years ago,” said first-year Aaron Baumann. “I hear that he offended the English professors because he like, hated on academia and said that it was stupid and pointless. He’s a really strong, wild guy, so I’ll be interested to hear what he has to say.” Alexie, who was born on the Spokane Reservation and lives in Seattle, is particularly known for his work’s grounding in his Native American heritage—a focus that is sometimes stressed to the point of overshadowing the man himself. Baumann recounted one such incident. “I’m in a class with Katrina Roberts, who booked him, and she said that when the schedule was announced, someone came up to her and [said], ‘Now you can feel good, because you’re bringing a minority poet to campus.’ I don’t think that’s the right way to look at it,” said Baumann. “Even though he writes about his heritage, I would imagine that he looks at himself as a poet, not a Native American poet. Just like women writers—they’re writers, not women writers.” While stressing the universal value of his work, professors did discuss the particularly positive nature of the lecture as a strengthening interaction with the Native American community. “I think Whitman students have struggled because there’s such a small native community here, and I think it’s a pretty underrepresented minority,” said ALEXIE , page 3
by JOSH GOODMAN Associate News Editor
FENNELL Members of the Whitman cycling team dominated the Missionary Omnium last weekend, winning multiple individual titles as well as the team road race and time trial. The Missionaries’ victory brought them within striking distance of conference leading University of Washington.
There’s no place like home by MELISSA NAVARRO Staff Reporter
This past weekend, the Whitman cycling team hosted the Missionary Omnium, a Pacific Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference race here in Walla Walla. With plenty of great individual performances, the Missionaries won the overall points-race and edged closer to the conference-leading University of Washington in the standings. The well-traveled cycling team will remain in Walla Walla this weekend to compete in the annual Tour of
Walla Walla. The Missionaries’ victory keeps their hopes of Nationals alive, but before they could even hit the course, they had to deal with some logistical issues—thousands of bees. “I found that a beekeeper had moved several thousand bees into a field adjacent to the course, rendering it too dangerous to race,” said senior cyclist Colin Gibson, who visited the circuit race course last Friday, April 9, only to find that a quick action needed to take place for the upcoming week-
Registration process undergoes changes Students pre-registering for classes starting this Friday, April 16, will be unable to add more than 16 credits to their tentative schedules or use electronic waitlists. by NATE LESSLER Staff Reporter
The registration process for fall 2010 will be significantly different from past years due in part to the upcoming switch to a 3-2 teaching schedule. Changes have also been made to address concerns that the current registration system is disadvantageous to incoming students. Unlike past years, there will be no electronic waitlist and returning students are not allowed to pre-register for more than 16 credits until first-years have pre-registered in September with the help of their pre-major advisers. Some of the changes to registration process were made to address the decrease in classes offered and increase in class size. According to Registrar Ron Urban, the switch to a 3-2 teaching schedule will result in a 17 percent decrease in the amount of classes offered. “We are going to be down about 17 percent in terms of the number of classes available,” said Urban. “To make up the difference, class sizes are going to increase somewhat but we don’t know how or where that increase is going to occur.” When pre-registration for current stu-
dents starts this Friday, April 16, students will not be able to add more than 16 credits to their tentative schedules. Urban stated that this change is due to students historically registering for more classes than they actually end up taking. “In the past, some students have loaded up on 20-23 credits and then dropped something once they had gone and ‘done their shopping,’ so to speak,” said Urban. “Well that’s fine for them, but what that does is remove a slot for others who are trying to register for a class. So with the difficulties [the class of 2013] experienced trying to get courses this past year, we are limiting pre-registration for continuing students to 16 credits.” Returning students will have a chance to add and change classes once all incoming students have registered, a change that has led many students to make adjustments to their plans for next year. “I was planning on registering for 20 [credits] so that I’d get into the classes I’d want to for sure, but I won’t be able to now” said sophomore Adam Bronstein. “But I would say [the 16 credit limit] is probably a necessary evil. If we are losing REGISTR ATION, page 2
Healthcare out of reach for some by RACHEL ALEXANDER Staff Reporter
Whitman senior Sophie Allen* does not have health insurance. Although Whitman requires students to be insured or purchase the school’s policy, she is one of several students who have managed to slip through the cracks. “[The health center] doesn’t know I’m not insured because I was under my parents’ insurance,” she said. Allen lost coverage under her parents’ plan when she got married last July, but kept the card on file at the health center. Although her job offers insurance coverage to employees, it requires that they work an average of 20 hours per week over the course of a month to remain eligible for coverage. Whenever Allen fails to meet this average, she goes without insurance. Allen’s situation may be uncom-
end race that weekend. “With the county permit office closing in an hour, I rushed back to Walla Walla, revised the permit and found a new course,” he said. After providing a safer environment for competitors and spectators, the new course boasted a 3.1-mile loop and a 300-meter-long hill with a steep gradient of 20 percent. “We showed our potential, despite all racers having equal responsibilities helping put on the race,” said Gibson. C YCLING, page 11
In the midst of last week’s Executive Council elections and yesterday’s Senate races, several Whitman students studying abroad were surprised to find that they are ineligible to vote. Their exclusion resulted from their not paying ASWC dues this semester; students studying abroad and in domestic offcampus study programs generally pay tuition and fees to their respective programs rather than to Whitman. ASWC Vice President and Chair of the Student Affairs Committee, senior Jordan Clark, said that poor communication lead to juniors being unaware of their inability to vote. “The issue of who is allowed to vote has always been somewhat vague, which means that it is not always effectively communicated to the student body,” he said in an e-mail. There are currently 108 students studying abroad according to the Off-Campus Studies Office. Laura Cummings, senior assistant for offcampus studies, said that students are not told that they will not be able to vote in ASWC elections. Fifty percent of A SWC, page 2
mon, but she is not the only Whitman student with health insurance problems. Even for students who are insured, coverage is often expensive, incomplete or difficult to maintain. In an online Pioneer survey of 67 Whitman students, 14 percent (nine students) said that they have encountered some kind of problem maintaining insurance coverage. Some were briefly uninsured while parents were between jobs. Others said they had trouble affording insurance, or were removed from their parents’ plan. One student said that he or she was technically insured, but the plan only covered treatment at a clinic near their home, making him or her effectively uninsured while at Whitman. Students who don’t receive coverage from their parents have the option of purchasing the Whitman insurance
policy. Many students choose to pursue this option—22 percent of survey respondents (15 students) indicated that they were insured under the Whitman policy. However, the plan costs $906 per year, which can be unaffordable for students already struggling to pay for college. Junior Nicole James, who currently purchases the Whitman plan, said that she was effectively uninsured for her entire life before coming to Whitman. “There were times when we simply didn’t have the money for a doctor, and so we tried not to go to the doctor or the hospital unless it was absolutely necessary,” she said. Since coming to Whitman, she has had to pay for her insurance plan and any medical expenses not part of its coverage. She said that when Whitman INSUR ANCE , page 2
FENNELL A chef prepares food at Aloha Sushi in downtown Walla Walla. Plans to expand the restaurant have been put on hold because of the poor economy.
Aloha faces business slump, delays plans for new lounge by CAITLIN HARDEE Staff Reporter
Last October, The Pioneer spoke to the owner of Aloha Sushi, Paul Mobley about his plans to expand the sushi restaurant with the addition of a lounge and bar. Half a year later, his dreams of Japanese game shows, karaoke nights and a hip nightlife vibe have yet to materialize. “In light of the economy, we’re being extremely cautious on our spending on this point, just to make sure we don’t overextend ourselves,” said Mobley. “Right now the business is down a bit, so we’ve just put a little delay on things. We’ve done some initial demolition and we’ve received all the bids from all the contractors— they’re standing by for our go-ahead. Initially we were looking at mid-July
as an opening time. But even that may push, as things go.” Meanwhile, operations continue as usual with the restaurant itself. Whitman students spoke over their perception of the current atmosphere and dining experience. “I’ve been a couple times,” said sophomore Eri Imahori. “I’m from Japan—it’s very different from what a Japanese sushi place would be like. The food, first of all, is very different. Even though they’re both called sushi, they’re different kinds of sushi, and it’s very Americanized. Even visually, you can just tell, looking at it, it’s not Japanese sushi. And when you eat it, it doesn’t taste like Japanese sushi. And then the atmosphere . . .” “It seems more like a karaoke SUSHI, page 4