Spring 2014 Issue 11

The

PIONEER

Issue 11 | April 24, 2014 | Whitman news since 1896 | Vol. CXXXI

ASWC budget passes with ease

Board of Trustees seeks stronger relationship with campus

by Andy Monserud Staff Reporter

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by HELEN ANGELL Staff Reporter

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ith the search for President Bridges’s successor in full swing, Whitman College students, staff and faculty have been turning their eyes toward the college’s future development. But for the Board of Trustees, the group that will ultimately hire the new college president, looking toward Whitman’s longterm future is a daily practice.

The Board of Trustees is the governing body that makes many of the most important decisions regarding Whitman’s future. From how to invest the $450 million endowment to choosing Whitman’s presidential leadership, the Board of Trustees is the highest authority at the college. While the Board of Trustees seeks to elect diverse board members who will effectively engage with and represent students, faculty and staff at Whitman, the board is constantly finding ways to improve its relationship with the Whitman community.

There are currently 17 members of the Board of Trustees, some who live as far away as Maryland, Utah and Hawaii.

“That diversity in location is an illustration of the increased national scope of the college and the roles its graduates play,” said Peter van Oppen ‘74, the former chair of the Board of Trustees.

Most, but not all, of the board members are Whitman alumni.

“The trustee group represents a diverse set of ties to the college,” said van Oppen. “The one thing they have in common is an affection for the college. We ask each

prospective trustee if they are comfortable considering Whitman one of their major priorities for time and philanthropy. We want that level of commitment.”

“I feel like it’s yet another way that I can try to do whatever I can to help Whitman to be the best educational institution it can be and provide students with the best experience they can have,” said Sarah Wang ‘89, who was elected to the board last year.

New trustees are chosen by the board and serve four-year terms. It is customary for a trustee to serve at least two, and no more than three terms on the board. Trustees are chosen largely for their demonstrated commitment to Whitman College and its mission, which can manifest as involvement in alumni associations, financial commitment to the college or other kinds of service to Whitman.

But when selecting trustees, the board also looks for specific skills and unique perspectives that an individual can contribute to the board, such as investment management skills or diversity in professional and personal experience. This can include the capacity to provide financial support for the college.

“To ensure the longevity of the institution and to provide meaningful financial support to the institution, it’s quite common at Whitman and other institutions that governing board members provide significant financial support in terms of financial contributions to the college,” explained Brad McMurchie ‘84, the newly elected chair of the Board of Trustees.

he Associated Students of Whitman College finalized its 2014-2015 budget with unusual ease on Sunday after just under 20 minutes on the floor with no senators voting against it.

The budget, which allocates funds to all ASWC-supported clubs and events, had the advantage of an increased student fee of $360. This helped to create a $5,000 budget surplus, which went toward the ASWC endowment fund for future use.

Junior Finance Chair and President-elect Tatiana Kaehler led the committee that created the budget over the course of about a month. Clubs turned in budget requests shortly after spring break, and the finance committee set to work on reviewing them.

“We spent a lot of time on the budget,” said Kaehler. “We had a five or six hour meeting during which we decided how much money to allocate to every budget line item on our list.”

The finance committee filled about half of all requests in full, and only 11 clubs received less than half the money requested. Most of those deficiencies stem from an unwillingness to jump the gun on funding.

“If a club asks for a few thousand dollars to put on some new event that they would like to do next year ... we will rarely fund that during the budgeting process, because we like to see those requests come through travel and student development or the contingency fund,” said Kaehler. “When we’re closer to that event, it’s easier to look at the budget needed for that event and pare things down where necessary. It also ensures that we don’t give clubs money for an event ... that next year’s leadership decides they don’t want to use.”

The budget also added $500 to the ASWC president’s executive fund in order to keep it out of the red next year. The increase returns the fund to $2,500, the

Wang explained how board members are willing to work together even when there is a difference of opinion, and that these differences of opinion strengthen the board’s decision-making process.

“You’re going to come up with a better solution once you’ve gone through disagreement,” said Wang.

According to Wang, McMurchie, and van Oppen, the board’s two most important roles at Whitman are to select the next president of the college and to ensure Whitman’s institutional longevity by growing its endowment.

The Now Is The Time Campaign is part of the board’s efforts to ensure resources are available to the college for years to come.

“Our goal is to raise $150 million by June 2015,” said McMurchie. “Successfully completing that campaign is a huge priority.”

While the next president will ultimately be selected by the board, its decision will be based on the recommendation of the presidential search committee, which includes students, faculty and staff.

“We’re ... trying to work in a spirit of shared governance, that means work with faculty and staff and students ... to make Whitman the best place it can be, given the resources we have ... our job is also to figure out how to sustain the college,” said McMurchie.

While the Board of Trustees has the duty to think about the college from a long-term perspective, it also has a commitment to represent the interests of current students, faculty and staff

see ASWC, page 3

Psychology major undergoes changes

by Daniel Kim Staff Reporter

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see TRUSTEES, page 3

Men’s tennis rides hot streak into postseason

by MITCHELL SMITH Staff Reporter

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ne of Whitman’s most successful teams continued its domination of the Northwest Conference this past weekend as the men’s tennis team won all nine games in matches against both Linfield College and Willamette University on its way to an undefeated record in conference play.

The Missionaries pride themselves on their quality from top to bottom of the lineup, but the

team rode several strong performances this year to their seventh straight NWC title. In their last year at Whitman, seniors Steven Roston and Andrew La Cava have stood out.

Roston got a break for much of the weekend to rest for next weekend’s conference tournament. With a singles record of 11-0, the team has looked to him all year as a reliable winner in the middle of the singles lineup. Roston’s success stems, according to him, from a surprising source: his voice lessons.

“We were warming up for class and [my teacher] just said, ‘breathe and relax,’ and that night I carried that onto the tennis court and saw an improvement in my game, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Roston.

“I’ve just been loving the way that I’ve been playing tennis.”

First-year Jake Dewitt-Hoeger pointed to Roston as someone who has really anchored the team so far. While Roston played No. 4 singles for much of the year, he has played a few matches at the No. 3 position, matching him up

against much stiffer competition.

“We’ve moved him around, and that’s a lot easier said than done to win those matches, and he’s done as well as you could with an undefeated season,” said Dewitt-Hoeger. “He’s been unreal.”

La Cava won both his singles and doubles matches on Saturday against Willamette after not playing Friday against Linfield, continuing to add to his alltime record for wins by a Whitman men’s tennis player. The previous record of 157 wins see TENNIS, page 5

he psychology department at Whitman College will be implementing new changes to the requirements for a major in psychology. The changes, which will take place in the upcoming academic year, were a response to recommendations from an external review by psychology faculty from other institutions.

“The external review team examined our department and curriculum to see how we compare with other contemporary psychology departments. Their goal was to make recommendations for how we might improve our offerings to students while also retaining our existing strengths,” said Associate Professor of Psychology & Ladley Endowed Chair Walter Herbranson.

These recommendations, particularly two of them, questioned the requirements for a psychology major. The current changes in the psychology major derived from these recommendations.

“One of those recommendations was to consider our senior assessment and whether all the aspects of it were really necessary. The other thing they recommended was that we consider putting a little more structure into the major to make sure everybody saw the entire field of psychology,” said Herbranson.

The purpose of these changes is to broaden the requirements that students need to complete. The aim is to require psychology majors to understand fully the psychology sphere and not focus on one area of psychology.

“We figured if we reallocated some of those departmental resources that were going exclusively to the senior class to other levels of the curriculum that we would have a better rounded balanced major,” said Herbranson. see PSYCH, page 2

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ASWC referendum process offers democratic potential, needs refinement

by Dylan Tull News Editor

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eep within Associated Students of Whitman College legislation, there is a bylaw that describes the process of “unique direct democracy power,” or a process by which students can pass official legislation without ASWC’s direct involvement. The referendum process offers the possibility of legislation created and passed by non-ASWC students, but because there is no precedent for the process, ASWC is working to clarify and refine the bylaws.

Junior Harrison Wills recently drafted two legislative actions through this referendum process, causing ASWC to examine the rules of the referendum. The first referendum calls for a studentelected position in the ASWC executive council who would serve as a student representative to the Board of Trustees. The second referendum would create a student director of sustainability, who would

also be elected by the student body.

The referendum process allows for any student to write and pass ASWC legislation with the support of a large number of the student community in the form of signatures. Referendums allow for direct participatory democracy among the student body.

“I think it gives everyday citizens, and in this case, everyday students outside of the ASWC structure a channel to advocate and ask broader questions and open up the discussion to the broader community, rather than just having the elected officials make decisions,” said Wills.

Wills is the first person in at least six years, and likely longer, to draft a referendum at Whitman. The bylaw detailing referendums was discovered by senior Senators Kayvon Behroozian and Sean Mulloy and brought up during the senate meeting on Feb. 23.

“Knowing that there’s this referendum process is really important, because even if you go

through the resolution and nothing changes, and the student senate maybe is kind of sitting on it or waiting, or maybe they pass it and still nothing changes, it creates a broader discourse,” said Wills.

Wills collected the required number of signatures to pass the referendums, but when he met with ASWC leaders, including ASWC Oversight Chair Audrey Vaughan, it became clear that the referendum process wasn’t completely fleshed out. “[Sean, senior Senator Jane Carmody and I] drafted legislation to make the referendum process a thing. It was in there, but there was no threshold for signatures, or how to turn it in or deadlines,” said Behroozian.

“It really wasn’t clear as to what percentage of the students needed to vote for the referendum, the difference between a bylaw change or an amendment or an act. So there wasn’t a lot of language there,” said Wills.

Even while the details are

being ironed out, Wills’s early drafts of legislation have forced ASWC to examine the referendum process and make sure that it is operational and fair.

“What [Harrison] did, was in using our process showed that our process still had flaws in it.

Because it was the first time ever that ASWC has ever done something like this,” said Behroozian.

Currently, the student-elected director of sustainability referendum outlines a sustainability position that would interact with Director of Sustainability Tristan Sewell and possibly with the City of Walla Walla Sustainability Committee. The student representative to the Board of Trustees would present the student perspective to the board.

“For the student trustee position, [it] is sort of like a democracy health check up. We’re figuring out what the students want, as a broad democratic opportunity to make political statements and advo-

cacy statements,” said Wills.

The student representative on the Board of Trustees is a position that ASWC has been pushing for nearly a decade now.

“I think if that resolution passes, the one that Harrison writes, it will give a lot more legitimacy to the argument that ASWC’s been giving for the past ten years. I’m really excited, and hope that turn out is a lot,” said Behroozian.

With the changes that are being made, the referendum process provides an exciting prospect of student involvement in the creation of ASWC legislation.

“I think it has the potential to be pretty symbolically powerful. There was some debate as to what sort of threshold we wanted in terms of voter turnout. It was set pretty low in the original, and we upped it more to increase the legitimacy of the referendum if it were to pass. So I think it is pretty powerful, if you can organize that many students to sign up and vote for something,” said Mulloy.

Psych major no longer requires thesis from PSYCH, page 1

The first of two changes is the option to complete a thesis.

Psychology majors will no longer have to write a thesis, but will still have that option if they desire.

“Previously we had a required thesis, so every senior would complete his or her thesis. That’s still an option but no longer required.

So anyone that wants to do a thesis can, but you can complete the major now without doing the senior thesis,” said Herbranson.

The other change affects the structure of the department. Rather than allowing students to load up on courses in one area of psychology, the three foundation areas will now require students to explore the different fields of psychology.

These foundation areas are in social or developmental psychology, personali-

ty or abnormal psychology and cognitive, physiology behaviors or psychology of learning.

“The idea there is that it ensures that everybody gets a fairly complete picture of the landscape in psychology,” said Herbranson.

Students will be able to continue on with their majors without much change. Next year seniors will by default be under the old requirements because that was when they declared their major, but if they want to, they can switch to the new requirements.

“So if they’re not keen on doing a thesis, or maybe it conflicts with classes that they need for a double major, they can switch to the new requirements where they wouldn’t have to do a thesis but they would need to make sure that they got in those foundation courses,” said Herbranson.

Sophomore Josh Deback-

er feels that the alterations to the psychology major will not change his perspective about the field.

He still plans on writing a thesis, though he will now likely have to take more classes than before.

“I would enjoy taking more psychology courses. I do not see any detriment from the changes that are being made, and it seems very beneficial that they are requiring more courses,” said Debacker. “I’m going to continue on the thesis way as well because, for me, the notion of the thesis is excellent research experience and not doing the thesis would be the real detriment.”

It seems that the new changes to the requirements for a psychology major are strengthening the experience for the students.

“I think having this option is great for psychology majors. First off, by making the the-

sis optional it makes students’ decision to do it that much more impressive. Another pro is that the optional thesis makes double majoring with psychology much more feasible,” said sophomore psychology major Ben Woletz.

Corrections to Issue 10 On page 1 the photo for “Tatiana Kaehler elected as next ASWC president” should have been credited to Anna von Clemm.

On page 4 in “‘Eurydice’ set to create other-worldly atmosphere” it should have been reported that the Harper Joy Theater staff are an independent entity, not the staff of Assistant Professor of Theater Greg Mitchell.

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Senate Minutes 4/20 Recognized GlobeMed as an SLO by a vote of 14-0-4.

Approved Annie Boyenneh to the diversity committee by a vote of 15-0-3.

Approved Faith Nyakundi to the student affairs committee by a vote of 15-0-3.

Approved Georgia Dadson for the enrollment committee position by a vote of 15-0-3.

Passed Act SAS 14.3 for the Power and Privilege Symposium by a vote of 16-0-2.

Passed Act SAS 14.4 regarding the bylaws by a vote of 13-0-4.

Passed the ASWC budget for 2014-15 by a vote of 16-0-2.

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

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24 2014

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ASWC creates $5,000 surplus from ASWC, page 1

same value it had before suffering a cut in 2012.

“We have consistently seen the executive fund go into the red, and if we are telling our clubs that they should not be going into the red, then we should not go into the red,” said Kaehler. “And there’s been a need for more money in the executive fund for a while.”

The budget also cut out the green fund entirely. The green fund, intended for eco-friendly initiatives on campus, fell victim to cuts because of under-utilization.

“It was there, but ... it wasn’t really used for multiple years,” said sophomore Student Affairs Committee Member Jon Miranda. “It’s what happens when people just don’t know what can be done

with ASWC, and so some things go underutilized.”

Other notable changes to ASWC funds included an $800 increase in service learning funds in response to an increased number of service learning groups on campus and a $5,000 increase to club sports funds.

The budget garnered so much support in the senate that it passed 16-02, with many “aye” votes compounded by cheers of “good job, finance!” The two abstentions were sophomore Senator Katy Wills and senior Nominations Chair Rania Mussa, both absent from the meeting.

“This is a particularly strong budget,” said junior ASWC President Tim Reid.

“The ability to put $5,000 towards our endowment is ... not a thing that happens every year ... and shows a keen sense of budgeting.”

Contributed photo by Catherine Bayer

Students For Education Reform engages local schools

by Josephine Adamski Staff Reporter

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tudents For Education Reform is a national studentlead organization dedicated to spreading awareness about educational reform and education injustice. Whitman College’s chapter was established with ASWC in the spring of 2013 by seniors Claire Collins and Sara Sonnenblick in order to create an outlet for those who are interested in education. Throughout the years, SFER has held events that promote, discuss and educate about K-12 education reform.

The club has had success bringing awareness to local education reform issues and educational reform as a whole on campus. This has been done through events such as “A Conversation about Teach for America,” which was an evening dedicated to talking about the pros and cons of the Teach For America program. Among their most recent projects was their first annual book drive, where they collected 438 books to donate to families and children in Walla Walla.

“I think [SFER] has just given individuals a strong place to get involved with things they are really passionate about.

It’s a good opportunity for students to expand their interests while simultaneously helping the community around us.

It’s bringing a new topic to

Whitman campus. It’s different than the classes you can take here, but it’s also really relevant,” said sophomore President of SFER Michael Augustine.

Not only does the club bring awareness to topics of education and educational reform on Whitman campus and Walla Walla, but the club allows those who have an interest in education and educational reform to engage in the topic on a national level.

“What I think makes SFER special is that it is a national organization. So while our goals here at Whitman may be different than other SFER chapters, we all have the same goal, to address inequality in education nationally. It is a real community,” said Director of Events for SFER Catherine Bayer.

Among their most recent projects was their first annual book drive. From March 31-April 11 SFER collected books to distribute to families and children in Walla Walla. This included placing bins in residence halls and around campus to encourage book donations. On Tuesday, April 22 they donated 483 books to the community. The book drive was organized by Bayer, who was inspired during her time in February at the SFER National Summit in Los Angeles.

“The summit hosted chapters from all over the country and showed me what an im-

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pact college chapters can make.

I immediately decided I wanted to tackle the issue of literacy in Walla Walla and came up with the book drive idea,” said Bayer.

SFER has been campaigning for the passing of the Wa-Hi Bond. The bond failed yesterday, April 22, with a 52 percent voting approval where a 60 percent supermajority was required to pass. The bond was a $10.2 million proposal that would have funded a new science building at Walla Walla High School.

The current science building is the oldest academic building in Washington that hasn’t been remodeled. With this bond, the school would have been able to update the building to today’s standards and put it in a better condition for the students.

To help pass this bond and spread awareness, SFER went door-to-door and asked to put signs up in people’s lawns in order to create awareness about the topic. SFER wants to make the issue relevant to everyone in the community, not just those who have children in the school system.

In the future, the club looks forward to continue to establish its presence on campus.

“It’s been productive in a sense that it’s very new, and we started off with a small but dedicated group of members and a strong executive team.

We have done a good job running some really cool events.

With small resources, we have done a lot, and I’m looking forward to expanding that base and getting more people involved,” said Augustine.

Trustees bring national scope to Whitman College from TRUSTEES, page 1

at the college. The board honors this commitment through student representation on seven of the 15 governing board committees, such as the diversity committee or the academic affairs committee.

Sophomore Brenna Feeney, a student representative on the student life committee, explained how her experience on the committee has changed her understanding of the Board of Trustees.

“It’s nice to meet all these people that are behind these decisions ... and to know the intentions behind it, rather than [seeing it as] some lofty measure from above,” said Feeney.

But Feeney also stressed that the board could improve its relationship with students, staff and faculty by better seeking their opinions and feedback before they

make important decisions.

McMurchie agrees that the board should improve its strategy for engaging with campus, especially students.

“It’s really critical that the board play a role in creating the best climate possible for people to speak with and engage with others on campus.

We need to be a role model for that,” said McMurchie. van Oppen also spoke about the shortcomings of the Board of Trustees system.

“I think one of the obvious downsides is that the average age of the board is probably somewhere in the 50s, so you can get insular perspectives,” said van Oppen. “The trustees don’t necessarily represent a parallel cross-section of all of our constituencies, so I think the need to listen to the faculty and to students is paramount.”

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A&E

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APR

24 2014 PIO PICKS Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights events happening on campus or in Walla Walla.

Here are this week’s picks:

Henry Friedman: Holocaust survivor Henry Friedman lived through incredible suffering and will share some of his stories of tragedy, survival and hope.

Sunday, April 27, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Cordiner Hall

Gumboot dances its way to Walla Walla by hannah bartman A&E Editor

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anguage, tradition, rhythm and Walla Walla all meet in the southern African dance of gumboot. Led by senior international student from southern Africa, Thabo Liphoto, approximately 10 Whitman students have gathered to perform this unique dance at events on and off campus.

“I wanted to share my culture, where I come from and the kind of stuff we do [in southern Africa] that’s different from here,” said Liphoto. “Now a lot of people are beginning to recognize it.”

Gumboot originated as a form of communication among miners in southern Africa. The miners would hit their boots and stomp their feet to communicate, since formal communication was prohibited during working hours. This communication was common among all of the countries in southern Africa, and competitions were held, forming gumboot into the competitive dance that it is today.

“It doesn’t require grace.

It requires concentration and rhythm and everybody’s got a little of that,” said sophomore gumboot dancer Natalie Lyons-Cohen.

Sophomores Kristin Nesbit and Jenna Stanley were the first to join the gumboot group when they saw Liphoto’s email to the student body in fall 2012.

“I’ve never been inclined to dance, and I never thought I would join a dance group, but there’s something about gumboot not being a very well-known and not be-

ing a mainstream dance [that made me want to join],” said Nesbit. “No one expects me to do it, but you’re just slapping your boots, ya know?”

Liphoto began dancing in a performance setting at his international school in Canada in 2008.

He has since organized the club here at Whitman as a first-year and has kept the club alive throughout his junior and senior years, and he believes that gumboot has garnered a greater following this year.

“The amazing feeling is when you’re done and the audience starts clapping,” he said.

“We have support, and it has definitely grown this year.”

Due to the repetitive nature of the steps, members have begun to improvise and combine steps that they already know or see on YouTube to make their own dance.

“I taught [the new members] the basic steps, and I told them to be creative with the step,” he said.

“It has now taken a different form.

It’s true to its original purpose but the steps themselves have evolved.”

Gumboot has performed at Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Mr. Whitman pageant, the past two InterNation Celebrations and two local elementary schools. Recently they won the judge’s choice award for Kappa Alpha Theta’s philanthropy event, Walla Walla’s Best Dance Crew.

Despite Liphoto’s departure after graduation, the club intends to continue recruiting members and performing their unique dance for the years to come.

“We really want more people to join next year, because the dance looks so much more impressive with a bigger group,” said Lyons-Cohen.

Friday, April 25, 2 p.m.-5 p.m., Fine Arts House

Choral Contest: The 88th choral contest will feature the melodious musings of a whopping 15 of your favorite sorority, fraternity and independent groups. What’s more, each group will be performing for their charity of choice, such as United Blind of Walla Walla, No More Deaths Foundation, Walla Walla Community Hospice and STEP Women’s Shelter.

Friday, April 25, 7:30 p.m.-10 p.m.

Green Carnival: Celebrate the end of Earth Week with the Outhouse and participate in recycled ring toss, cardboard maze, magnetic fishing and milk jug bowling.

Friday, April 25, 4 p.m., Outhouse

‘The Relatives’ Dance Performance: Whitman alumni, professors and other community members will perform in this dance theatre production. Including a team of five dancers, three actors and a compact musical ensemble led

by Ethan Maier, this production will pull you out of Whitman bubble into the Walla Walla artistic scene.

Gumboot is a dance originitating in Southern Africa, and has reached Whitman campus through international student senior Thabo Liphoto (above). Photos by Clay

Nathan fisher

by Emma dahl Staff Reporter

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Visiting Assistant Professor of Astronomy Cassie Fallscheer

This year’s queen, Visiting Assistant Professor of Astronomy Cassie Fallscheer, is very excited to take part in the faire. While Fallscheer suspects that she may have been chosen because of her lack of prior knowledge of the responsibilities that came along with being the queen, she admitted that she will doubtless have a great time doing it anyway.

HOOK, LINE & CINEMA

U “I think I was selected because there is a strong contingent of astronomy majors who are in the faire, and they thought ‘Oh, we have a willing and unknowing person we can ask to be the queen.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I don’t know, I’m pretty much up for anything,” said Fallscheer.

Fallscheer also expressed her excitement at experiencing the Renaissance Faire for the first time.

“Having never experienced it before, I am really excited to attend and see what it’s all about. It sounds like it’s going to be an absolute hoot,” she said.

The two skits will take place at noon and 2:30 p.m. on the main stage.

Junior Jessica Sutter, one of the organizers of the faire, also listed the other various fun events and activities that will be available for faire-goers.

“We have performances throughout the day, we have a new magician this year, ... dancers, T-tones, all that kind of stuff.

[There will be] merchants—there’s a lot of people selling jewelry. We have a new woman coming this year ... who sells vintage clothes out of her trailer .... It’ll be a fun place to stop by. A lot of fun all day long,” she said.

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Saturday, April 26, 7:30 p.m., The Gesa Power House Theatreroom

‘Bears’ captures natural habitats Junior

“Having never experienced it before, I am really excited to attend and see what it’s all about. It sounds like it’s going to be an absolute hoot.”

Thursday, April 24, 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Chism Recital Hall

Art Gallery at the FAH: Venture over the Interest House Community and enjoy some fine cheeses with the Fine Arts House while looking at student art submissions. Come and vote for your favorite art piece and help your fellow artistic colleagues win eternal glory.

Renaissance Faire skits to entertain with royal style hitman College’s 44th Annual Renaissance Faire will take place this Saturday, April 26 and will last from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the lawn in front of Memorial Hall.

A highlight of the events the faire offers are the comedy sketches. Since 2000 the skits have satirized politics, poking fun at pop culture and entertaining the faire-goers. According to junior Lydia Loopesko, one of the main organizers of the faire, there will be two plays this year.

“The first is about a crusade to Crimea to save it from the Russian occupation. The second is about burning witches to solve the problem of global cooling ... The conflicts brought up in both these skits are then resolved by the king and queen at the Noon Court,” Loopesko stated in an email interview. “We also have performances of ‘Reduced Hamlet’ and ‘Verily a New Hope,’ a Shakespearean adaptation of ‘Star Wars.’”

The plays are 100 percent student produced. The Renaissance Faire group sits down and decides what the theme should be, and then the script chairs write up a skit. All the characters are played by students, except for the roles of queen and king, which are always given to faculty.

Spring Jazz Ensemble Concert: The Jazz Ensemble will do their concert of the semester and will feature jazz trombonist Bill Watrous.

nbeknownst to me, as I am a movie-watching cave dweller, this is Earth Week.

Hopefully you’ve kept the car parked and biked to the store and around campus. To celebrate Mother Earth, Disneynature released “Bears,” the newest installment of their animal documentary series.

To be frank, the pickings were slim in the theater this week, and none of my buddies wanted to see a documentary about bears (Me: Hey do you guys want to see a movie?

Friends: Yeah, sure, which one?

Me: “Bears.” Friends: What? Me: There is this new nature documentary on bears! Friends: No). I, on the other hand, decided to be openminded and was pleasantly surprised and amazed at the glimpse into the life of the bear clan.

“Bears” (not exactly a snappy title, but short and to the point) follows a mama bear and her two cubs for an entire year. The bear family climbs mountains, fights the elements, catches fish and faces hungry predators as they try to survive. John C. Reilly (“Stepbrothers” and “Gangs of New York”) narrates the mov-

ie and offers the viewer occasional bear facts, but mainly interprets and explains which cub is doing what and why the bears are acting certain ways. Reilly, thankfully, also provides the occasional one-liner, which made me chuckle as we traipsed through the wilderness with the bear family through the cubs’ first year.

Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve hiked a lot and have seen bears in the Olympic Mountains, but “Bears” showcased how beautiful Mother Nature is. The movie is gorgeously shot with panoramic views as we fly over the mountaintops, as well as up-close and personal shots when we seem to be part of the clan. I would’ve been terrified to be the camera crew who were trying to get close-up shots of bear cubs next to their 800-pound protective behemoth mama bear.

Or the scenes of two bears, each weighing over a ton, fighting each other over a single fish! Or how about the scenes of gigantic bears that are so hungry, they are willing to eat cute little cubs. (What is the word for bears eating bears? Bear cannibalism.) Pretty sure eating three measly humans that are filming next to you would be an easier meal than going through an angry mama bear to try to eat her cubs.

The “Bears” movie was fun to watch! The cubs were adorable, and I loved watching them grow and was scared for them in their (attempt) to survive. So, if you are feeling nature conscious this Earth Week, go check out the new “Bears” documentary. You’ll be amazed at the scenery, fall in love with a bear family and maybe even learn a thing or two along the way.

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SPORTS

APR

PAGE

5 Revere takes talents to national stage

24 2014

way the sport is played in general and something Revere enjoys.

“I like ultimate because you have to hold yourself and everyone else on either team accountable for playing fairly with the self-refereeing,” said Revere.

To her teammates, Revere’s love for the game is contagious.

“When I first saw Claire play, I could tell that she knew a lot about frisbee, and I could tell that she had played a lot before. She also just seemed like she’d be a great teammate to have generally because of how much she loves the sport,” said sophomore teammate Marlena Sloss.

Revere’s passion is evident to players on the men’s team as well, as they often practice and play alongside their female counterparts.

“She understands the game and can play it at a remarkably high level. But she also loves the game and is always smiling and having a good time. Her enthusiasm was a great addition to the team from day one,” said O’Rourke.

Off the field, Revere is just another fun-loving college kid, but also possesses leadership qualities that most first-years don’t have.

“She’s generally just a really happy person and values being friends with her teammates more than just playing on the field with them. She’s been the one to organize a few of the firstyear bonding events,” said Sloss.

Those leadership qualities also shine through on the field both

by Cole Anderson Staff Reporter

T

he Whitman College women’s ultimate team is typically never short of at least a couple standouts every year, but with this year’s firstyear class came a player with an especially rare level of talent.

First-year Claire Revere came into Whitman already boasting one junior national team appearance, and this year she made the team once again. Following a written application process, Revere was selected to go to the physical tryouts at the west coast location and was selected from the 80 girls chosen to attend the physical tryouts for a spot on the team.

Given that the Whitman ultimate program is relatively small nationally, Revere making this team helps the notoriety of the program significantly.

“It is a great thing for the Whitman ultimate program because not only does she bring a great amount of knowledge and experience from an ultimate standpoint, she also helps put our small college on the map for young ultimate players as a destination to play high level Frisbee,” said junior men’s team captain Peter O’Rourke.

Revere started playing in fourth grade, where she was on the school ultimate team for two years, and has played ever since then. Unlike most sports, ultimate is unique in that there are no referees, which is something that influences the

in practice and in games. If she’s not directly telling her teammates what they could be doing better, Revere’s abilities inspire her teammates and truly make a difference for the team, even as a first-year.

“Bringing people with that much experience into the team is great for older players who are experienced but haven’t necessarily been exposed to other players with her level of experience,” said Sloss.

“She also has been coached by people in the ultimate community who are very knowledgeable, and so she brings things to the team that most people haven’t known before.”

O’Rourke shared similar thoughts, noting that Revere’s knowledge is complemented by her impressive physical talent.

“She is a great player because of her speed, hands, athleticism and willingness to sacrifice her body. She has played the game a long time and is willing to share her knowledge with her teammates. She is also extremely competitive and pushes herself hard every game,” said O’Rourke.

Being on the junior national team means a great amount of travel and more memorable moments for Revere.

“My favorite memory was when we beat Colombia at Junior Worlds two years ago, and it was disgusting out with horrible weather. It was a super close game, and at the end everyone was covered in mud. It was so fun,” said Revere.

Though she has played at a

The Lady Sweets’ Claire Revere ‘17 was recently selected for the Junior National team for the second time. She started playing ultimate in fourth grade. Photo by Volpert

high level for a while now, playing in college for the Sweets is a new experience for Revere.

“Being on the Sweets is great. It’s such a fun-loving group of people, and we do a lot out-

side of frisbee together. Playing in college is cool because on a lot of the teams we play, there are players and friends I’ve played with before and it’s always great to see them,” said Revere.

NBA playoffs look to get wild in Western Conference Dylan Snyder Junior

Overtime Thoughts

A

fter a grueling 82-game schedule, the NBA is finally prepared for the playoffs. Now, making the playoffs in the NBA isn’t particularly difficult, as more than half the teams make it any given season. Several teams had truly terrible seasons in order to secure top draft picks this year, but there are several intriguing matchups regardless.

One of the main storylines heading into the playoffs is how the top teams in the Eastern Conference have limped into the playoffs, with no one seeming to want home court advantage. It has been all but guaranteed that the Miami Heat or the Indiana Pacers will be representing the Eastern Conference in this year’s finals, but that could very easily change if both teams don’t enter playoff mode quickly enough.

However, as stated previously, making the playoffs isn’t all that hard, and some substandard teams squeaked in this year, so

the top level Eastern Conference teams have a few games to get back on track before facing each other in later rounds. That isn’t a luxury for everyone, though, as the 3-6 and 4-5 matchups provide intriguing tests for the favored teams.

The third-seeded Toronto Raptors secured the most wins in franchise history this season, but face a very experienced and talented team in the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets could be a sleeper to contend for the Eastern Conference Title if they continue to play at the top level that they closed the season with.

The Wizards face a similar issue trying to knock off the fourth-seeded Bulls, but having X-factor John Wall makes seemingly anything possible in a battle of teams trying to prove themselves as contenders.

In the West, there seems to be less drama, as the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Year after year Greg Popovich and his Spurs manage to secure the top seed and home court advantage.

The Spurs have to be the favorite out of the West due to consistency, but the overall depth of the West far surpasses the East, and the winner of the eight-team tournament will come out far more battle tested than their championship opponent.

This is not to say the Spurs are the only team conceivable of making a title run, as the top five teams all have a reasonable shot a title run.

There are several teams in the West looking to make the move

from young and promising to title contenders. The Oklahoma City Thunder have the best player this season in Kevin Durant, an elite shot blocker in Serge Ibaka, and a player capable of completely taking over a game in Russell Westbrook. It seems the only thing standing in the Thunder’s way of success is their own health, something that has been an issue down the stretch for them in the past.

There are several other teams capable of making deep runs into the playoffs, and pretty much everyone seeded six or above could make a lot of noise. The Warriors hold the best shooting back court in the league not only this year but arguably of all time. The Rockets 1-2 punch of James Harden and Dwight Howard should frustrate just about any team in the league, the Clippers are hungry to take advantage of being the top team in Los Angeles for the first time in what seems like an eternity, and the Trail Blazers core of young stars want to show that they can hang with the big boys.

This year’s NBA playoffs should be a fun one to watch as we await a battle of titans in the East to decide who takes on the tried and true winner of the Western Conference. All season, the West has been the far superior conference, but it only takes one team for the East to bring home its third consecutive title.

My Prediction: Thunder over Miami in 7.

Roston, La Cava prove crucial to men’s tennis success from TENNIS, page 1

(both doubles and singles wins combined) was set by alumnus Phalkun Mam ’07. After his wins this weekend, La Cava has 161 career wins and the rest of

the year to increase his record.

With the regular season over, the Missionaries are looking forward to the postseason and the promise that such a dominating regular season brings. Any ADVERTISEMENTS

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of the next few matches could be the last for a large group of seniors that include Roston, La Cava, Colton Malesovas, Andy Riggs, Atanas Atanasov and Will Huskey. According to Roston, there

are high hopes for the postseason.

“We just want to go out there and play our best. We honestly believe that we can beat any team on any given day. We want to get out of the region, get to the Elite Eight and work from there,” said Roston.

Hoeger shared the same optimistic expectations.

“We’re expecting to win it all this year. Why not?” said Hoeger. “And if you can’t do that, then it’s a goal to reach the Elite Eight, reach the Final Four— I think that would be a success.”

The Elite Eight this year will be held in Claremont, Calif., which adds some extra motivation for Los Angeles native Hoeger. In the team’s trip to California earlier this year, he lost a close match in front of his family while playing the No. 6 singles against Pomona-Pitzer.

“I know I’m going to give it my all,” said Hoeger. “That loss has put a chip on my shoulder, so if I get back to that moment, I’m not going to make the same mistakes.”

While Head Coach Jeff Northam shares the same confidence that his players have, he expresses it in much more subtle ways. Northam refused to even speculate about a potential trip back to Southern California.

“That would be a long time down the road ... not even thinking that far ahead, not at all,” said Northam.

Regardless of what the future holds for the Missionaries, this year will be remembered as another strong chapter in the history of Whitman tennis.

SCOREBOARD TEnnis

Men’s v. Linfield April 18: W 9-0 v. Willamette April 19: W 9-0 Women’s v. Linfield April 18: W 8-1 v. Willamette April 19: W 6-3 v. Pacific April 19: W 8-1

GoLF

Men’s Whitman Invite April 19-20: 7th Women’s Whitman Invite April 19-20: 1st

upcoming Baseball

v. Whitworth April 26: AWAY (DH) v. Whitworth April 27: AWAY

TEnnis

Men’s v. NWC Tournament April 25-26: HOME Women’s v. NWC Tournament April 26-27: HOME

Golf

Men’s v. NWC Championship April 26-27: AWAY Women’s v. NWC Championship April 26-27: AWAY

FEATURE

PAGE

6

APR

24 2014

Connecting with kids Photo contributed by Marika Lou

Students pass on love of reading through Story Time

by Ben caldwell Staff Reporter

T

he Story Time Project gives Whitman students a chance to pass on their love for books by reading to children who might not otherwise have much literature in their lives.

Story Time is one of five ongoing weekly service programs managed by the Student Engagement Center. It was started by Adjunct Instructor of Sport Studies Rebecca Thorpe and several others about 10 years ago and was officially recognized and funded by ASWC three years ago.

Senior Marika Lou, the student intern in charge of the project, sends pairs of Whitman student volunteers to local elementary schools and daycares to read to children. According to their preferences, students are assigned to school programs either by choice or at random. Lou sends them either to one of six elementary schools, three daycares, the YWCA or

the Walla Walla Pediatric Clinic. The readers go in their pair once a week and read to the kids there for half an hour. The children range from ages five to nine.

“In addition to reading, they engage the kids and ask them questions about the book and hopefully get them involved in the story. The goal is to not only cultivate a love for reading but also for critical thinking and analyzing plot and things like that,” said Lou. Lou volunteered as a reader for the Story Time Project for three years before applying to take the lead as the student intern. The program has remained high on her priority list for so long because this is the only program at Whitman that is literacy-focused. The other community service programs fall heavily on friendships and developing social relationships.

“Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes, and reading to others is something I enjoy ... I wanted a way to be-

come more involved in the program and do more to facilitate early literacy in this community and get Whitman students excited about books,” said Lou. The SEC also runs the College Coaches tutoring program for high school students, but Lou thinks it’s important to start sooner than that.

“I’ve noticed a lot of discussion in the media about the importance of early literacy in kids, and how kids who aren’t read to by the time they are four or five are already behind their peers when they enter kindergarten,” said Lou. She is not alone in her conviction. At the beginning of every semester, students sign up to join the service listserv at the activities fair and apply to join the project as readers.

First-year Peter Ramaley joined with one of his close friends after finding out about the project at the fall activities fair. Ramaley said he has enjoyed volunteering as a way to balance out the academic side of his first year of college.

“It’s really fun, because you get to hang out with these preschoolers—they’re super energetic. They love it. When we

walk through the door they always scream ‘Story Time readers!’ ... and they come up and hug you, and sometimes they give you a picture they’ve drawn ... One of the cool things is you get to read them the books from your childhood and see how they experience it, which is always fun,” said Ramaley.

First-year Forrest Arnold participated in the project last semester. Every Monday morning for four months, he walked to Green Park Elementary School with his partner and read to the bilingual students there. Arnold was assigned to Green Park’s Spanish immersion program because of his experience with the language. Though the SEC and Penrose Library both have collections of children’s literature, Forrest always went to the public library to access their larger Spanish collection.

According to Arnold, the project proved educational for him as well as the children. He didn’t always understand all the stories, but he made sure he was able to pronounce everything.

“Even beyond the expansion of vocabulary, it definitely [improved the] speaking skills that lead to fluency. My pronunciation

has become so much better than if I hadn’t done this program. And besides that, it’s a learning experience to be integrated into any kind of school experience where you’re actually part of a lesson plan, and you see how they work you into the class,” said Arnold.

Arnold says it is beneficial in other ways too. He appreciates going to the library each week just to get off campus and get into the community. He thinks it’s important to bridge the divide between Whitman students and Walla Walla community members.

“I think it’s really important to get out of the Whitman bubble, and it’s just such a great experience ... a low time commitment [and] high-enjoyment service opportunity,” said Arnold.

Most importantly, the children love it too, according to Lou. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any readers telling me the kids are not interested in being read to, or don’t enjoy it, or don’t care.

The kids, overwhelmingly, get really excited when the readers come to read to them,” said Lou. For Ramaley, the kids’ enthusiasm makes it all more than worthwhile.

“I’ll definitely keep doing Story Time next year,” he said.

Classroom volunteers put high schoolers on road to college

by Anna Zheng Staff Reporter

I Seniors Ethan Parrish and Kari Paustian (top photo) read to children once a week at a local daycare. Story Time also sends its volunteers to local elementary schools (above) to read aloud to students of different ages. Photo contributed by Katie Steen ADVERTISEMENTS

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n the spring of 2010, Whitman alumna Emily Lorente ‘11 started an outreach program called College Coaches, which focused on one-on-one mentorship for students at Walla Walla High School.

When the program was founded, Lorente worked for Walla Walla High and paired high school students with Whitman students for one-on-one mentorship. The individualized aspect of the program allowed high school students to get personal academic help and guidance. But when the program moved to Whitman’s Student Engagement Center in 2011, the program shifted to a classroom model.

Now, students volunteer as aides for a class called Guided Studies, which provides ninth and tenth graders with academic support. College Coaches has changed over the years but has not changed its main goal: helping high school students become college-bound through encouragement from positive role models and mentorship.

Whitman students typically volunteer for one hour a week.

Junior Nate Higby has volunteered with the program for two years. He views College Coaches as one of the few opportunities near campus where he can interact with Walla Walla High School students, and he wants to use his identity as a college student to help encourage and promote higher education.

“It shows [the students that] Whitman cares,” said Higby.

“The fact that we’re reaching out to them shows that we want them to succeed. When they know a really good school [like Whitman] is saying ‘You can do this,’ they start thinking college is viable.

Our presence in [the classroom] alone puts college on their radar.”

Not only are volunteers positive role models for students, they also provide academic support by helping the stu-

dents with homework and keeping them focused and on-task.

“On any given day, you could be helping a student with algebra—if you remember it—or you could be helping someone with a paper,” sophomore Arden Robinette said. “Or it could be someone who says ‘Hey, I want to study psychology. What does Whitman have for psychology?’”

According to volunteers, personally relating to the student can help bridge the gap between a high school and a college student. The volunteer has to be able to open up and relate to the student in order to reach them.

“It’s like walking a line between being an interesting person that [the students] could consider, ‘Oh, it’s pretty cool that he’s going to college,’ and then once they feel a little more comfortable, that’s when you can breach more into a tutor,” said first-year Tim Kent.

Kent decided to volunteer for the program because of his previous experience working with high school students when he took a gap year to coach basketball and baseball. He sees the relationship between the Whitman volunteer and the high school student as a balance between being a positive role model and a mentor with the ultimate goal of academic guidance. “[One of the College Coaches] was getting along pretty well with a boy who at first came in [and] was talking about getting into a fight after school,” Kent said. “It was nice to see because he came in really not thinking about school at all, and then once she got there and started talking to him about math, he kind of opened up a little more.”

As the two developed a stronger relationship, they were eventually able to focus more on his schoolwork.

Senior Natalie Pond, the College Coaches intern of two years, describes the volunteering experience as transcending the boundary between college and high

school. Volunteers must be willing to face the challenges present in a high school environment.

“You kind of have to reorient yourself in a really positive way,” Pond said. “It does really great things for your character. It does put people in vulnerable and challenging places. High school is so unique because it is close to home and going back to that world is kind of a struggle.”

Higby said his love for this program started before the shift in the program from a one-onone focus to a more open format in a classroom. Last year, he worked with a Walla Walla High School student who wanted to attend Whitman.

“He was a junior at that time.

He’s a senior now, and he got into Whitman, so that was a highlight of the program for me,” Higby said. “[It’s] knowing the fact that the time I spent with him and the work we’ve done together helped him achieve this amazing opportunity.”

As the intern who oversees the College Coaches program, Pond believes it still has the potential to change and grow in the future. With the number of volunteers fluctuating between 16 and 25 each semester, Pond is able to pay more attention to each volunteer and respond to the needs of the program’s partner institutions. She hopes to build a stronger connection to other area high schools besides Walla Walla High. Currently, one Whitman student teaches an improvisation class on Friday afternoons at Lincoln High School.

“We’re constantly into exploring new things [like classes at Lincoln],” Pond said. “[College Coaches] is such a growing and developing program and has so many open doors. It’s going to continue to be very much experimental, responding to the needs of the school. I’m always interested in what we can do differently.

We’re so young [as a program].”

OPINION

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7 International games cost more than just money 24 2014

Andy Monserud First-year

BASIC PLEBIAN INSTINCTS

I

wrote a column earlier this year discussing the chronic mismanagement of the Olympics and the havoc they wreak on the cities who host them.

Perhaps my lens was too narrow—enormous global sporting events appear to bring this kind of chaos everywhere they land.

Brazil recently deployed more than 2,000 troops into a slum in Rio de Janeiro in an attempt to curb gang violence against police in the area and to secure tourists for its upcoming World Cup. The soldiers appear to have succeeded in cooling down the violence there, but their mere presence demonstrates a disturbing facet of the international soc-

cer tournament. The drug gangs are a problem all the time, but only when they threatened foreign tourism did the government of Brazil put its foot down.

The soldiers’ mission to “pacify” the slums’ residents will continue through July, turning the entire neighborhood into a sort of benevolent police state. While it’s better than the alternative—a hostile takeover by the street gang Comando Vermelho—the fact that it took the World Cup to prompt action in the slums is worrisome.

Of course I don’t expect Brazil to allow drug gangs to run wild during one of the world’s most popular sporting events.

But the slums have always been a problem. The fact that they chose the short-term option of establishing military control over their own citizens rather than working toward lasting change lays bare a great fallacy in the doctrine behind these events.

Far from bringing the world together, as proponents claim they do, events like the World Cup show us exactly where we’re farthest apart. The people in that slum will never see a World Cup match—they’ll only see the wealthy tourists passing through their neighborhood

on their way to the twelve lavish stadiums Brazil built for the cup. The World Cup, and events like it, put a damper on real domestic issues in the countries that host them in favor of vague boasts of international unity.

The World Cup does create certain advantages for the countries that host it, notably a brief influx of cash from other nations, but these advantages are short-lived. It’s hard to believe that turning Brazil into a borderline police state with several brand new, expensive soccer stadiums is worth the short-term earnings the cup garners the nation. Adding in the recent murder wave sweeping Rio de Janeiro in anticipation of the cup and the projected increases in crimes directly associated with events of this magnitude (most obviously human trafficking), one can’t help but reevaluate the assertion that such gatherings help the people of their host nations.

Sports can be great. They do create ties between people and between nations, even if those ties are only universal annoyance at vuvuzela-wielding crowds.

But we should remember that for every bit of international unity a game creates, there can be much more serious human costs.

Mease not Mooses

Brogue presents unique landscape Toby ALDEN Senior

THE BUSINESS OF PLAY

H

ow do you write about video games? Until recently, nearly all writing on games was done under the auspices of the “review,” a consumer-minded evaluation of game as product, designed to help determine whether or not a particular title was worth buying. This led to a lot of unsavory practices: scores tying aspects of the game’s presentation to arbitrary scales, meaningless comparisons to existing games (“like World of Warcraft in space!”) or gushing endorsements from sources paid for their positive coverage.

It’s true that games are products—the sales figures of any AAA title are enough to affirm that. But commercial rubrics like reviews have a habit of reducing a game down to a series of bullet points, such as

Brogue is unpredictable--the same azure potion that healed you last game could poison you the next, forcing you to consider your actions carefully... regenerating health, the ability to take cover and realistic decapitations, that say little about the actual experience of playing the game. Worse, this fetishistic enumeration of features leads to reviews that criticize titles for lacking all of the characteristic bells and whistles of its genre, preempting any meaningful consideration of the game on its own merits. Imagine if movie reviews worked the same way: “While “The Avengers” contained satisfying levels of super-

hero violence, it lacked the transforming robot cars that “Transformers 3” had shown were a vital fixture of the action genre.”

The problem with the review model is that it’s essentially a response to the question “Should I buy it?” The corollaries of this question—Will I enjoy it? How long is it? Is it expensive?—don’t lead to an insightful treatment of their topic. More interesting questions include: What is it like to play it, and why? What are the rules of the game, and what effects do they have on the player in combination? How does the game create meaning? And what role do you play in its construction?

One game I’ve been playing recently, Brogue, gives interesting answers to all these questions. Borrowing the format and name of the 1980 dungeon crawler Rogue, the game presents an overhead view of a dungeon rendered entirely in text characters. The player is represented by a “@” symbol, a jackal by a lowercase “j,” and so on. The dungeon has 26 floors, each more dangerous than the last, and at the bottom lies the Amulet of Yendor, which you can retrieve to win the game.

Death in Brogue is permanent and means starting the game over from the first floor, but the topography of the dungeon and the placement of its inhabitants are different with each new attempt, meaning you’ll never play the same game twice. Unlike many seemingly more complex games that force you along a linear narrative, Brogue is unpredictable—the same azure potion that healed you last game could poison you the next, forcing you to consider your actions carefully and stay alert to your surroundings.

The enemies, items and features of the landscape all interact with each other in meaningful ways: gas-filled bloats explode when hit and fill the air with a caustic vapor, forcing you to dispatch them from afar or contain the gas behind a door—or you can sneak past and avoid them entirely. Even though winning is nearly impossible, the stories Brogue tells— with your help—are compelling enough to make even dying fun.

Brogue is free, and can be downloaded for Mac and PC at https://sites.google.com/site/ broguegame/.

by Asa Mease

Affirmative action ruling maintains inequality Kyle Seasly Junior

MUSTACHE MUSINGS

O

n March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in his first inaugural address, “All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

When the Supreme Court upheld Michigan’s 2006 constitutional amendment banning racial preferences in admitting students to public universities, they failed to take into account that the amendment was a clear example of tyranny of the majority. Eighty percent of Michigan’s residents are white, and the amendment passed with 60 percent of the vote. As a registered voter in Michigan, I am ashamed that this constitutional amendment was passed. (Then again, I could not vote at the time.)

But as a citizen of the United States I am further ashamed that the Supreme Court would uphold such a deplorable measure.

In an ideal world there would be no need for affirmative action. People would be judged, as

Voices from the Community Hanne Jensen Senior

Juli Dunn

Director of Academic Resources

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once noted, based on the content of their character, rather than the color of their skin. This, however, is not the reality today. Rather than addressing the problem of racial inequalities in K-12 schools, the voters of Michigan chose in 2006 to make sure the inequality that existed there continued at the collegiate level. Since the ban in Michigan passed, and in states that have passed similar laws, the rate of minority enrollment has declined in contrast to a growing minority population.

The amendment represented complete self-interest on behalf of Michigan’s voters. Many voters imagined a scenario where a less qualified minority student was admitted over a qualified white student. The amendment failed to address the widespread problems of racial inequality in public schools across

The issue of K-12 education needs to be addressed before we start banning racial preferences. Only when graduation rates are equal can we even begin to consider the amendment as being fair. the state. Instead, the white voters of Michigan covered their own tails first rather than addressing the problem head-on.

For example, I went to East Grand Rapids High School. It

wasn’t a private school, but the school was 90-95 percent white.

My parents chose to live there because the school system was outstanding. The property taxes were high, but I got a good education there that allowed me to be relatively prepared for Whitman. The graduation rate for my school varied between 90-99 percent, depending on the year.

Across the state, the average high school graduation rate for white Michiganders in 2010 was 80 percent. The average graduation rate for black students, on the other hand, was only 54 percent. The fact is, these odds aren’t fair. The issue of K-12 education needs to be addressed before we start banning racial preferences.

Only when the graduation rates are equal can we even begin to consider the amendment as being fair. Now, the amendment just allows for further civic inequality.

Justice Kennedy declared in his opinion that, “This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved. It is about who may resolve it.” But how can the Supreme Court let those who resolve it act so openly in their own selfinterest? Should voters, the majority of whom are white, be allowed to address racial issues that they are largely unaffected by and could possibly benefit from?

These are the questions I have for the Supreme Court. Justice Sotomayor, in her dissent, seemed to be echoing Jefferson when she stated, “The constitution does not protect racial minorities from political defeat, but neither does it give the majority free rein to erect selective barriers against racial minorities.”

What’s on your springtime Walla Walla bucket list? Poll by Nilce Alvarez

Ian Wyant Senior

Mica Rudich, Hannah McCarthy and Josh Rubenstein Sophomores

“I would like to go to the cemetery. And also picnic, probably not at the cemetery.”

“I don’t believe in bucket lists. I don’t have one; I don’t keep one. If I die tomorrow, I don’t want to regret having not done half a dozen things that would be on the list. I put things on lists and then cross them off because I’ve already done them.”

“I would like to walk to Waitsburg. I would like to follow the railroad tracks around Walla Walla ... I would like to go to the Unnatural History Museum, and I would like to go to the Whitman Mission.”

Mica: “I want to play hide ‘n’ seek with Josh and Hannah.”

Hannah: “I want to play hide ‘n’ seek also.”

Josh: “I also want to play hide ‘n’ seek. And go swimming.”

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Spring is in the air, but is love? http://www.YogaKarmaSutra.com

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Hella chill yoga babe seeking YOU

Name: Mollsmary (Jo)Hanson Seeking: The horse to my buggy.

Sexuality: Rosemary-sexual Turn-ons: 5-foot-3 , blonde-ish, humor writer for the back page, commencement speaker for Whitman class of 2014.

Deal-breakers: You are literally anyone except for Rosemary Hanson.

On a typical Friday night you are: Looking through my personal collection of un-tagged Facebook photos of my one and only.

Favorite Rosemary: Springtime Rosemary.

Hey, you! No, not you. You!— the strapping young man firmly gripping his mug chock full of steaming green tea and carrying an organic hemp man-purse adorned in various political pins. Yeah, come here. It’s your lucky day, because you’re now the number-one candidate for a fantastic new spiritual opportunity: being my yoga partner. I’ve searched high and low for someone who can bring something unique to the table—or should I say the mat?— and I think that you may be the right one. Dare I say that we could even be yoga soulmates? I’m not looking for the whole take-one-yoga-classwith-me-and-get-my-hopes-up-and-then-say-it-was-just-aone-time-fling kind of deal. No, I’m looking for the yin to my yang. But enough about you, let’s talk more about me.

My favorite word: Loincloth ;) My fetishes: kombucha, extraordinarily dry elbow skin, and mason jars.

My celebrity crushes: the Progressive Insurance Lady and Optimistic Granola Girl.

My hobbies: watching you while you sleep, snapping every three minutes at poetry slams, and shopping at Whole Foods.

My pet peeves: As I previously mentioned, I’m not

http://www.Dates4Does&Deers.com Name: Lelly She, EIC Gender: Doe. Hobbies: Seeing how long I can stay in the Pio office without leaving.

My current record is 56 hours!

Turn-ons: Owning a large supply of baking soda.

Turn-offs: Slow email response time.

Seeking antler size: Antler size doesn’t matter.

looking for a yoga one-night stand. I want a stable relationship in which I can be confident that on Saturday morning you’re not over at Martha or Britney’s place engaging in sun salutations.

Don’t even get me started on those naked yoga-practicing posers.

Still interested? You can reach me at mothergoddess@downwarddoggie style.com. Namaste.

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http://www.oursortofpeoplesearch.com @Downtonhaveme137 Looking for: Small estate in the country, quaint but not shabby. Decent staff, French cook a must.

Gender: “Gentry,” dear. Landed.

Title: Duchess.

Income: One does not discuss money. It is frightfully vulgar.

Occupation: One does not “do,” but has done for one, if you do understand.

Hobbies: Surveying my estate, a decent fox hunt now and then and telling the servants how better to do their work. They are so lazy, you know.

What is the most private thing we’re willing to admit?

How frightfully bourgeois. No, I do not think I’ll be answering that.

Favorite sport: Polo, both watching and playing.

Deal-maker: Duke, Lord or Viscount.

Name: Sockette Physical age: 3 years Physical description: Well-loved poly-cotton blend, shin-high, navy with orange stripes.

Looking for: Someone to complete me.

Deal-breakers: Holes in toe or heels, unwashed, static cling, tube.

Deal-makers: Well worn, but still cozy. I find golden toes to be especially cute but love all colors.

How did your last relationship end: Lost in the dryer.

Deal-breaker: Count or Baron.

If you were a song? I would have no business writing this ad. The questions people ask these days.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you find “the poor?”

One. Generally shabby and frightfully surly.

Preferred name of chauffeur, butler or footman: Franz.

Favorite noise of shock or derision: “I say” is a classic, but “my word” has a certain ring to it.

Monocle? Yes or No? Absolutely yes.

Favorite war to bring up at dinner? The Boer War, most definitely.

Ideal date: A visit to my estate, dinner with my entire family, a long walk in the garden and a proposal. If we are feeling adventurous, perhaps a brief and dissatisfied discussion of Keats.

http://www.blazersconnect.com Name: Momena Bearagon Physical age: 21 Hometown: Denver, Co.the Mile High City Turn-ons: Owning a dispensary.

Turn-offs: DEA officers, law enforcement of any kind.

Looking For: Chillin, man.

Hobbies: Smoking, vaping, toking Favorite color: green Favorite inspirational quote: “Study high, take the test high, get high grades.”Fridays

http://www.barnesandnoblesdates.com Name: Harper Collins Physical age: 22 Metaphorical age: 187 Gender: Non-Fiction Female Looking For: Fictional Male, preferably tall, dark and handsome with an air of mystery.

Deal-breakers: Predictable plot lines and cliché endings.

Deal-makers: Thick spines, tiny type, plot twists, published before 1960.

How did you previous relationship end: On page 347 with a surprise ending that nobody saw coming.

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Spirit animal/object: Penguin, get it? Like the publisher. It’s a book joke.

Song: “I like big books and I cannot lie, you other readers can’t deny, when a book walks in with itty-bitty text and a big spine in your face, you get reading” — Sir Reads-a-lot Inspirational Quote: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” — Jane Austen Favorite book: Is this a trick question?

Favorite binge TV: The library.

http://www.celebritylookalikedating.com Name: Eliza Taff Physical age: 25 Mental age: 45 Hometown: Lawrence, Kan. Current location: Los Angeles to stalk Jerry Seinfeld.

Favorite TV show: “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (sorta, not as enthusiastic about it as Larry David’s original writing).

Hobbies: Watching “Seinfeld,” playing “Seinfeld” monopoly, coming up with fake storylines for the show.

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Most embarrassing thing you’re willing to admit: I’m afraid of most animals smaller than me. And bigger than me.

Favorite movie: Bambi.

Favorite quote: “Does before hoes.”

Message me if: You want to hear the latest scoop on campus...or want to get a scoop of gelato with me.

Annie Wilkes Age: 21 Metaphorical age: 22 Looking for: someone to buy me Taco Bell Gender: flawless Hobbies: binge watching Investigation Discovery, binge watching Animal Planet, binge

watching the History Channel, tree climbing, magnets.

Likes: oceans, tacos, cats, manly tears Dislikes: bowling, tetris, gentle breezes, cauliflower.

Deal-breakers: unhygienic fingernails, snapping, toe rings, neutral stance about

Monsanto.

Deal-makers: didgeridoo skills, mullets.

Most private thing I’m willing to admit: I was bit by a squirrel when I was 10, and I enjoyed it.

Spirit animal: manta ray Spirit color: clear Inspirational quote: “You know my swag, not my story.”—Justin Bieber On a typical Friday night I am: practicing underwater breathing Personal statement: I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win it all. What you see is what you get, so never judge a book by its cover. You don’t have to like me, but you do have to respect me. For everything I’ve overcome to get to this point in my life, I’d like to thank not only God, but also Jesus. #blessed