Feature pg. 6
Students break down their weekly budgets and discuss the dollars and cents of off-campus living
Sports pg. 7
A concussion story: Peek into one athlete’s experience of sports injury treatment at Whitman
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ISSUE 11 November 17, 2011 Whitman news since 1896
On Friday, Nov. 11, Luz Rivera, lead organizer of the Consejo Nacional Urbano Campesino, spoke to a full house about her female empowerment work in Tlaxcala. Photo by Axtell
Activist Luz Rivera urges local grassroots involvement by DY L A N T U LL Staff Reporter
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by CAITLIN H A R DEE
A&E Editor
ARCHIVE PHOTO GRAPHIC BY HENDERSHOT
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magine having the freedom to travel the world for a year with a video camera, capturing inspiring footage from a multitude of cultures along the way. For alumnus Teal Greyhavens ‘08, the dream became reality when he was awarded a Watson Fellowship to explore cinema across the globe. The film that resulted from his year on the move, “Cinema Is Everywhere,” had its North American premiere on Oct. 22 at the 2011 Austin Film Festival. The Pioneer spoke to Greyhavens over the phone on the triumphs and trials of recording his masterpiece. “It was fantastic. We were at the Austin Film Festival in the Alamo Ritz Drafthouse Cinema, which I had never been there before, and it’s just one of the greatest cinema spaces that I’ve ever been in,” said Greyhavens. “Fantastic turnout and people really seemed to love it, so it was a great experience.” Greyhavens, who graduated from Whitman with a major in rhetoric and film studies and a minor in religion, almost left the college in his first year. “When I was a freshman at Whitman, I came within inches of transferring out to go to a proper film production school because I knew that’s what I wanted to do; that’s what I loved,” said Greyhavens. “I decided to stay at Whitman because I had the sense that what was more important than being able to make a film was to be aware, to absorb, to know how to listen to people,
to perceive the world and to really hear people’s stories and integrate that into all the wide variety of things that you can learn, that I did learn, from a Whitman education. I stayed at Whitman because of wanting to not pigeonhole myself into knowing how to make a film but not having anything to say. I think that absolutely came through in making this film. There was hardly any technical expertise involved; it was mainly my ability to immerse myself in these other cultures, talk to people, learn, absorb, interact and all the kind of things that I think you get from Whitman.” That decision also panned out in the form of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a highly unusual grant for self-development and world exploration only available to students at a select number of colleges. “I should probably say for Whitties reading this, and Whitman being a Watson candidate school, the Watson Fellowship is not a film production grant and it’s not a grant that one seeks with, like, ‘I’m going to make a product and sort of benefit from it in a tangible way’ in mind,” said Greyhavens. “My Watson project was to explore what it means to go to the movies and what cinema means to people in cultures all over the world. As part of the proposal, I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to take a camera and see if I can capture some of what movies look and feel like everywhere.’ So I did that. It was very open-end-
ed, I didn’t have hardly any plan or contacts or anything like that, and almost everything that went into the film that became “Cinema Is Everywhere” was total serendipity. Basically I came back from the Watson and sifted through about 150 hours of footage and sort of at that point decided, ‘I think I have a film here.’ And that became kind of the next project.” Greyhavens’ travels took him through a number of cultural and political climates, including Tunisia, brimming with the tension that would eventually spark the Arab Spring. “When I was in Tunisia, I followed a young filmmaker named Karim who had a documentary that was about a taboo subject in Tunisian Muslim society. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the reactions of the people to his film really were kind of a microcosm of the willingness of people, the desire of cultures to be open and to communicate with each other. In Tunisia in particular, it was affecting because we saw that play out just this year in ways that I never imagined. It was the same response that I found to cinema—I think cinema is ultimately a form of community—and to see that take place and then evolve into what it did in Tunisia was really amazing. There were very much sort of pre-echoes, premonitions of what was to come,” said Greyhavens. A journey of such proportions without a support network naturally posed significant challenges.
ot since the Vietnam era have social grassroots movements been featured as prominently in the world media as right now, as evidenced by the coverage of Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring. Activist Luz Rivera spoke to the same goal of common people leading social change on Friday, Nov. 11, using her lively and inspiring personality to talk about her own from-the-bottom movement in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Luz Rivera, lead organizer of the Consejo Nacional Urbano Campesino, and her translator and colleague Stuart Schussler are traveling to schools in the Northwest to give their lecture entitled “Sowing Struggle: Urban and Rural Social Movements in Tlaxcala, Mexico.” Through her own movement, Rivera demonstrated how social change and solidarity are both incredibly possible and important for Walla Walla and oth-
er communities around the world. Senior politics major Katie DeCramer organized the lecture with the help of the Politics Department, WEB, the Intercultural Center, Beyond Borders Club and Whitman Direct Action. DeCramer explained why she feels Rivera’s presence is important at Whitman. “We’ve all been hearing about Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring and different sort of from-the-bottom social organizing. Luz and the movement she’s involved with in Tlaxcala speak to that same goal,” she said. “I think [it is important] for Whitman students to see movements within a larger breadth, and also to see how solidarity functions between movements and different contexts can be a very valuable thing to learn.” Sophomore Allison Bolgiano, who helped translate informational flyers into Spanish and attended the lecture and dinner, spoke about Rivera’s lecture. see LUZ RIVERA, page 3
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Whitman debate moves Whitman community concerned toward gender equality about recent Koch-funded lecture see TEAL GREYHAVENS, page 4
by ROSE WOODBU RY
by EMILY LIN-JONES Staff Reporter
T
he conservative-allied Charles Koch Foundation and Whitman College would not normally seem an ideal pair. However, when the foundation funded a recent lecture series, this unlikely pair was brought together, resulting in mixed opinions from the Whitman community. The Classical Liberalism Lecture Series, held on Thursday, Oct. 27, was originally funded by a private donor with the intent of bringing more conservative ideas to campus, especially in the fields of economics, politics and environmental studies. Last year Whitman’s Development Department applied for and received a grant from the Koch Foundation, using it to fund the visit of the most recent speaker in the series, Gary Liebcap, who gave a lecture entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons.” The Charles Koch foundation is one of several organizations founded by brothers Charles and David Koch, billionaire co-owners of Koch Industries who have become well known in the political sphere for their financial support of conservative and libertarian initiatives. Director of Development
Rachna Sinnott explained that funding for academic programs like the lecture series is procured on a case-by-case basis. “What we look for are funding sources whose interests match the projects that we want to do. This foundation was brought to my attention because their funding interests aligned with the type of project that this classical liberalism series is,” Sinnott said. Faculty involved in organizing the lecture series noted that there was some contention around the decision to accept Koch Foundation funding originally. They have since recommended to the Development office not to re-apply for a Koch grant. “We’re all pretty comfortable accepting funds as long as there aren’t undesirable strings attached. When we accepted [the Koch grant], there were no undesirable strings attached,” said Associate Professor of Economics Jan Crouter. Miles C. Moore Professor of Political Science Phil Brick agreed. “The question is, when you take money from a foundation, to what extent are you endorsing that foundation and to what extent are you simply taking the money and doing what you want with it? The way we always see things here is that we want to take money
from foundations and we want to do what we want to do,” he said. Brick also noted that faculty made the decision not to re-apply for funding once they perceived the Koch foundation as overstepping its bounds. “The foundations often want reporting on how we spent their money, but what really turned us off to [the Koch foundation] was that they started wanting all sorts of other things, like student emails. They want contacts so they can recruit conservative-minded students . . . To me that really crossed the line, and it’s unethical,” he said. Senior Lecturer of Environmental Humanities Don Snow agreed that the problem in accepting the funds was not solely due to the Koch foundation’s political stance. He cautioned against oversimplifying the process of seeking out and accepting monetary donations. “If a person uses political ideology as a litmus test to judge the worthiness of the donors, that person’s potentially going to get in a position of near-paralysis in terms of actually gaining funding from sources,” Snow said. Snow added that the complications present in this case were relatively unusual. see KOCH FOUNDATION, page 3
Staff Reporter
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n the debate community, it’s not uncommon to hear derogatory terms used to describe female debaters who come across as overly aggressive. The unequal gender ratio within the activity seems to stem partly from its history as an activity practiced largely by white males and also from general sexism in society. Because of this, the Whitman Debate Team and the national debate community have started to provide more opportunities for women to gain a stronger presence in the activity. When senior debater John-Henry Heckendorn first joined the Whitman Debate Team in 2008, there were only a few women on the team. Now, in part because of efforts to promote female participation by Debate Coach and Professor of Forensics Jim Hanson, Whitman’s Parliamentary team has six women and thirteen men and the Policy team has six women and four men. While these numbers seem to be moving towards a more even ratio, the community at large is currently still dominated by men. Hanson said that there is probably a three to one ratio of male to female debaters nationally. “Women are not well-represented in debate. It’s not an equal
distribution of sexes in round or in the judging community,” junior debater Miranda Morton said. Junior debater Carly Johnson noted that sexism in debate seems to come largely from the general influence of society. “I definitely think [sexism in debate] is a real problem, but it’s not necessarily something that stems from the debate activity or community but [from] larger forces,” she said. Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the Gender Studies Program Melissa Wilcox discussed this issue. “It’s part of our society that women are expected to be accommodating; women are expected to be nice,” Wilcox said. “Men are expected to be aggressive, they’re expected to be tough, they’re expected to be go-getters . . . Therefore, when a woman is perceived as a tough, aggressive go-getter, she’s bitchy, she’s masculine, she’s a lesbian.” Morton agreed that sexism within the debate community is a reflection of a greater social problem. “I feel like it’s also in society too where, you know, there’s this group of intellectual women who don’t fit into the categories that are in our hegemonic patriarchical structure, and they become the ‘bitch’ because we have nowhere else to put them,” Morton said. see DEBATE, page 3
NEWS
Nov
17 2011
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Whitties fight food waste
NUMBERS IN THE NEWS
by MOLLY JOH A NSON Staff Reporter
by SHELLY LE
A
s students lined up to put their dirty dishes in the dish room at Prentiss Dining Hall earlier this month, they were faced with one more extra step—scraping their excess food waste into a large bin, which was being managed by two encouraging Green Leaders. The first two weekends of November, the food conservation breakout group of the Green Leaders program staged a collection of students’ personal food waste, calling it “No-Waste November.” During the first weekend, Nov. 5 and 6, the green leaders measured 50 lbs. of food waste on Saturday and 43 on Sunday. On the second weekend, Nov. 12 and 13, they collected 46 lbs. on Saturday and 36 lbs. on Sunday. “It’s a good cause and something we could work on. Also, they cheered for me when I ate all my food. [The project] made dish collecting more joyful,” said first-year Evan Griffis. The idea was born from a discussion the Green Leaders in the food conservation group had about where they saw the biggest waste of food on campus that they could have influence over. One answer was personal food waste. “Someone will get a dish that isn’t quite to their taste and just throw an entire dinner away and get a second one or third one or just have eyes way bigger than their stomach,” said sophomore Lydia Bailey, who is the Green Leader in charge of the food conservation breakout group. The goal of the project was to raise awareness of how much food students waste on an individual basis. “Our goal was to shock the student body into seeing how much food is wasted just within one brunch period.
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News Editor
Percentage of the population that lives in developing countries that face water shortages because of a lack of infrastructure to fetch water from rivers and aquifers.
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Percentage of the global population that consumes foods irrigated by waste water that can contain chemicals or disease-causing organisms.
1/2
Fraction of primary schools in the developing world that do not have access to water and sanitation facilities.
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Years in which the amount water withdrawals have tripled due to rapid population growth.
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Sophomore Green Leaders Lydia Bailey and Kaylee Kautz observe students dispose of their dishes from behind a trashcan in Prentiss Dining Hall. They will continue throughout November with hopes of cutting down on unnecessary food waste. Photo by Felt
We didn’t really want to advertise or anything, as a way to give us a more accurate representation,” said sophomore Kaylee Kautz, who is the Green Leader for Douglas Hall. By scraping their food themselves, students were forced to have more accountability for their waste. This led to some interesting interactions. “People would have an entire sandwich and be about to dump it in [the trash] and then grab it off the plate instead,” Kautz said. Bon Appétit helped facilitate the project by connecting the group to the staff that supervises brunch mealtime, as well as providing them with the garbage can and food scale that was necessary. Bon Appétit was
very supportive of the project since lower food waste is part of the “low carbon diet,” a larger initiative within the company. In 2009 and 2010, the dining halls on campus surveyed the total amount of food wasted as part of a company-wide project. With a baseline amount of waste of about 4,000 pounds a week, the company was able to reduce food waste by 12 percent in 2009 and 10 percent in 2010. “In the kitchens, the food waste seems like an awful lot, but a big chunk of that is we’re not buying processed food so we’re processing it here. We’ve got all those cantaloupe rinds, potato peels and everything else,” said Roger Edens, the general manager of Prentiss Dining Hall.
In an email, Edens also stated that the reduction of food waste was important because of what happens after it ends up in the landfill. Food waste in a landfill ends up creating methane gas, which has a 23-times greater impact on climate change than does carbon dioxide. Bailey also stressed that reduction of food waste has a much bigger effect on sustainability than just turning off a light. According to Wastedfood.com, America wastes 40 percent of food produced for consumption. “If we cut down our waste, we could potentially cut down the food we have to produce by 40 percent, which would allow us to practice more sustainable agricultural methods and
Average number of gallons of water used domestically per person per day in the United States.
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Average number of gallons of water used domestically per person per day in Ghana. S O U RC E S: T H E W O R L D H E A LT H O RG A NIZ AT I O N, T H E C L E A N WAT ER P RO J EC T, T H E S TO C K H O L M IN T ER N AT I O N A L WAT ER IN S T I T U T E, T H E H A RVA R D IN S T I T U T E F O R IN T ER N AT I O N A L D E V ELO P M EN T, T H E U NI T ED S TAT E S G EO LO G IC A L S U RV E Y, T H E N AT I O N A L AC A D EM Y P R E S S
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Administration addresses diversity
On Monday, Nov. 14, ASWC hosted a second town hall meeting. Assistant Dean of Student Engagement Noah Leavitt and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Tony Cabasco answered student questions regarding diversity and financial aid and its effects on the student body. Photos by Li ADVERTISEMENT
WHITMAN STUDENT FEES AT WORK ASWC FINANCE MEETING 11/4 • Vote to recognize Green Leaders as an ASWC club. Vote passed: Y: 15, N:1, A:2. • Request of $1,743 from the Green Fund to fund Campus Climate Change for worm composter materials. Vote passed unanimously. • Request of $755 from Contingency Fund to fund Fencing Club to augment their fiscal year 2012 budget. Vote passed unanimously.
• Request of $2,540 from Travel & Student Development Fund to fund Back-country Ski Club for Avalanche Awareness Level II Training. Vote passed unanimously. • Vote on Senator Michel’s amendment to freeze 50% of Travel & Student Development fund to be allocated next semester. Vote passed: Y: 16, N:1, A:1.
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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 weekly Letters to the Editor in print and online.
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Students unsure about loan plan by EMILY LIN-JONES Staff Reporter
P
resident Obama’s new plan to ease the burden of student loans may give some hope to eligible Whitman students and thousands of other indebted college students nationwide. The plan will go into effect in January 2012, lowering monthly payments and allowing students to consolidate their federal loans. Obama announced the initiatives on Oct. 25 in the wake of the Occupy protests that highlighted student debt as a significant issue for young voters. Student debt recently exceeded credit card debt to become the largest source of household debt in the country and is estimated to hit $1 trillion by 2015. Obama’s administration plans to use executive authority to accelerate changes to the Income-Based Repayment program passed by Congress in 2010. These changes would limit monthly payments to 10 percent of the borrower’s discretionary income and decrease the time period for loan forgiveness from 25 years to 20 years. A separate initiative would allow eligible borrowers to consolidate their direct federal loans and
government-backed private loans for a reduced interest rate. Nearly six million students have loans nationwide, and almost 50 percent of currently enrolled Whitman students have taken out student loans. According to Whitman’s Director of Financial Aid Marilyn Ponti, Obama’s initiatives will provide some help but don’t address more pressing concerns for students with loans, such as rapidly rising interest rates. The interest rates of subsidized Stafford loans are set to double in July 2012, rising from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. “For current students who are taking loans, while it’s beneficial what [President Obama’s] doing, really what would be important is for them to take a look at the interest rates and help students,” Ponti said. Whitman students with loans also expressed mixed feelings about the plan. “I think the plan has good intentions and ultimately will help those struggling with student loan debt. Personally, I hope the measures don’t affect me much because I hope I’m not still in debt twenty years after I graduate,” said sophomore Paul Lemieux. Senior Omar Ihmoda, co-
ILLUSTRATION BY PETERSON
president of Whitman’s First Generation and Working Class club, noted that the loan plan doesn’t necessarily solve the problem of rising student debt in the United States. “It’s an improvement, obviously. It leads, at the very least, to less of a burden for someone who’s graduating. For the short term, that could help people, but at the same time there are deeper problems that I think are fueling the dissatisfaction with the whole system of student loans. I think this [plan] is just a way to appear to address that problem without really addressing the problem,” Ihmoda said. Ponti encouraged students and their families to become more active in monitoring and urging action from the federal government in order to curtail increasing educational expenses. “We should as a country be helping our students and not putting this huge burden on them as far as paying off their student loans. Legislators tell us they don’t hear from students, and they don’t hear from parents, and therefore they kind of do what they want. Our message needs to be [that] we’re not okay with this,” she said.
Audience struck by speaker’s charismatic appeal for activism from LUZ RIVERA, page 1
ILLUSTRATION BY JOHNSON
Politically-charged lecture funds cause mixed feelings from KOCH FOUNDATION, page 1
“In the donor-donee relationship, what can get sticky is when with a donor you get something more than their money. You get a grant plus certain requirements. Sort of like money plus dessert, and usually it’s not a very good dessert,” he said. Whitman students echoed similar sentiments. First-year Collin Smith became concerned about Koch funding when he attended Liebcap’s lecture, at the start of which the Koch foundation’s sponsorship of the event was briefly acknowledged. “I was just surprised more than anything, when I heard their name, that they would even look at Whitman because I view Whitman as sort of a liberal place. I think most people do. I was surprised that we took money from the Kochs,” Smith said. While he reported satisfaction with the lecture itself, Smith expressed ambivalence about the Koch Foundation’s involvement in higher education. “I feel like, as much as I dislike the Kochs and what they
do, if they give us money and we use it in a positive way and are not affected by the Koch interests, then I’m happy to take their money. But it does worry me: Why are the Kochs paying into this? Is there some sort of ulterior motive?” Smith said. Other students who attended the lecture felt negatively about Whitman’s use of Koch Foundation money. “My opinion would be that it’s really not all right and that the college should not be taking funding from an organization that is basically trying to coercively change people’s opinions in ways that benefit [the Kochs] . . . Their goal, it seems to me, is to organize society in a way that supports their business practices,” said first-year Brandon Hunzicker. Hunzicker further expressed the belief that Whitman should not accept funding from an organization trying to disseminate a particular political viewpoint. “I think that it’s money that should be refused almost as a statement.”
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“I think her lecture is a good reminder that we can do things— not just as individuals and also not through the government but somewhere in between— by connecting with other people and trying to form community organization,” she said. Rivera herself described how she wanted her lecture to be received and how her movement relates to Whitman students. “I hope [Whitman students] make their own movement, with their roots in this school, but that they go in many different directions in this country and even outside this country. And so we don’t want to be an example for what they should do here, because in each different place there are different needs,” she said. “We are an expression of the ways in working in Tlaxcala, but in Whitman, in Walla Walla or the U.S., there will be different forms of different expressions that give their own face to what needs to be done.” But it was really Rivera’s unique, captivating personality that made the lecture so stirring. All of those who met with her spoke to how inspirational and charismatic she is. DeCramer talked about the first time she saw Luz speak. “We’d been hearing, ‘Just wait until you meet Luz.’ She walks up and starts speaking, and all of a sudden I just said, ‘That’s her, that’s Luz,’ and [my friend] was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re right,’” she said. “[Luz] captured everyone in the audience’s attention, in a room of 200 people, and was really speaking to people.” “It was really inspiring; I loved it,” Bolgiano said about the lecture. Rivera spoke about her take on Whitman and how Whitman students have the opportunity to make similar social changes. “I have found a community of teachers and students who are
Speaker Luz Rivera captivates an audience in Kimball Auditorium with her discussion on social justice movements. She urges students to consider local issues. Photo by Axtell
very fraternal and interesting; who are disposed [toward] doing things for their community, both their university community and this place where Whitman is located; who don’t just see themselves individually, but
who are also looking to have a collective reflection—which is a good combination in order to make Whitman a good place to study and also to dream and dream about how this world can change,” she said.
Women in debate confront sexism, gendered judgments from DEBATE, page 1
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On the other hand, Hanson discussed the ways in which debate can provide opportunities for women. “The other side of this is that debate can also be an incredibly empowering activity, and it can do that in a number of ways. First of all, the women, the students, who want to speak about issues related to sexism, to gender roles, etc., have every opportunity to make their case, and I would say that the debate community is overwhelmingly pro-diversity,” said Hanson. Heckendorn and Morton are a part of Sisters and Allies Against Inequality in Debate, a group that was created by the nation-wide debate community to establish a more gender-equal environment in debate. The group pairs younger debaters, male and female, with older
mentors in addition to distributing a newsletter that circulates at every debate tournament. Morton serves in the group as a mentor and emails on a regular basis with two female debaters from across the country. “[The group] lets debaters know that there are strong, powerful women in the activity,” she said. At the same time, specific features of debate can make sexism seem more pronounced than in other areas of society. For example, judging in debate can be subjective because it is often based on the opinion of one person; therefore, image is crucial to a debater’s success. “It’s much harder to be assertive and willful and strong in a debate round if you’re a woman because it just doesn’t come across right,” Morton said. Heckendorn also said that he has known of female debaters being
criticized for their appearance. “There have been comments about girls wearing makeup and dressing up for debate and judges telling girls they need to do that,” he said. Sophomore debater Ben Menzies noted that, though he hasn’t observed such incidents on a regular basis, gender bias does occur mostly at lower levels of debate. “There was a time when it was seen as acceptable to encourage women to be . . . more ‘sexy’ in order to win a ballot or something like that, but that really doesn’t happen anymore,” he said. “Part of the weird thing about debate is that at the lower levels there is a pretty heavy gender bias towards men just in terms of the number of competitors. But what I’ve noticed is that in the upper levels . . . which are the top teams at any given tournament, the numbers kind of even out.”
A&E
Nov
17 2011
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Preacher-turned-atheist Dan Barker explores questions of religion, ethics by A LEX H AGEN Staff Writer
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n Saturday, Nov. 12, outspoken atheist Dan Barker gave an extensive, thought-provoking presentation on religion and ethics in contemporary America. Barker, who worked as an evangelical preacher for 19 years before leaving the clergy to join the Freedom From Religion Foundation, spoke about his personal experiences and beliefs before taking questions from the audience. The author of several books, including “Godless” and “Losing Faith in Faith,” Barker spoke frankly about his disillusionment with religion, detailing his evolution from a devout believer to a critic of Christianity and its teachings. “I came to a point where I had to choose . . . Do I want truth or do I want God? You can’t have both,” Barker said. “I realized there’s no coherent definition of a god, there’s no good arguments for a god.” Barker also discussed living ethically without religion, an issue he cares about passionately. “They say that we atheists
are borrowing from the Christian morality. You hear that a lot, but I actually think it’s the other way around—I think believers are borrowing from humanistic morality,” Barker said. He mentioned that “peace and love” are often thought of as religious teachings. “Those values that are common to all religions; those are not religious values,” said Barker. “Those are human values. They transcend the religions.” Barker’s thoughts seemed to echo those of the Whitman community. In a survey conducted by The Pioneer, 96 percent of respondents answered “yes” when asked, “Do you believe people can live ethically without a religious structure?” 31 percent of respondents identified as agnostic, while 29 percent identified as atheist and 28 percent identified with various branches of Christianity. Other world religions registered few or no respondents, with Unitarian Universalism as the next most popular belief system. The lecture was dynamic and, in spite of the weighty issues Barker discussed, playful at times. Barker spoke about serious topics but punctuated his lecture with
Thursday, Nov. 17, 6 p.m. Book & Game Company, 38 E. Main Street.
Dan Barker (above) speaks in Kimball Auditorium. Barker detailed the course of his long journey from devout Evangelist pastor to prominent atheist. Photo by Beck
quips, such as his remark that his born-again brother was the “white sheep” in his family of atheists. The event, presented by Whitman’s Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics group, attracted a large crowd that filled most of Kimball Auditorium. Barker’s ideas proved to be provocative, sparking spirited conversations across campus. Thoughts on the lecture varied greatly. “He seemed to be a funda-
mentalist atheist,” said first-year Marijke Wijnen, noting his adamant beliefs and convictions. “He was closed-minded,” said first-year Elana Simon. “Just like his former belief system, it seems like his current one leaves no room for discussion—it’s absolute.” Whether or not students agreed with Barker, the lecture gave the Whitman community a lot to think about on a Saturday evening.
‘The Way’ depicts journey of healing
cluded) to continue the unfinished 500-mile pilgrimage from France to Spain. Along the way, Tom meets many entertaining fellow sojourners. These acquaintances turn into unwanted followers, who predictably become friends, adding their own bite of humor into the movie. Each trekker hikes for his or her own reason: to quit smoking, to lose weight, to get rid of writer’s block, to hunt for leprechauns or to honor the memory of a son. The movie chronicles each of their self-discoveries. The film’s premise is nothing extraordinary, but the sheer beauty of the landscape and Sheen’s acting save this movie. Sheen reminds us how he can play any role from the army captain in “Apocalypse Now” to the president in “West Wing” to an old man hiking the 500-mile journey in “The Way.” “The Way” moves on predictably, and I knew the ending after the first 20 minutes. What makes this movie a worthy find is the heart and soul put into the acting as well as the beautiful scenery spanning from the border of France to
Staff Writer
L Greyhavens ‘08 releases film from TEAL GREYHAVENS, page 1
“If I had been doing this with all the resources of a major film production, it would have been different in a lot of ways, and I would have chosen to keep it the same in a lot of ways,” said Greyhavens. “The ways in which it was difficult: being alone on the Watson . . . Not speaking the language was particularly tough. I probably filmed at least 20 to 25 hours of footage in Hong Kong having no idea what was going on around me. People speaking in Cantonese all day long, and I was filming people having no idea what was going on—that was not ideal. When I came back from the Watson, after spending some time at home catching up with family, I came to L.A. because of course that’s where the business of film production happens. Among the many things I had to do to get the film completed and turn it into a proper film was translating an absurd number of hours of footage. I had the help of a lot of really great people here, people who spoke Arabic and Hindi and Cantonese. I definitely owe the film to them in part.” While it might be easier to play
* STYLE SPOTLIGHT
up the film’s star power in Western countries with the name “Tilda Swinton,” Greyhavens has resisted doing so, striving to bring the disparate worlds of cinema together. “It’s been very interesting with this film because, of course in almost all the circles I travel in, people perk up when they see that Tilda Swinton is involved, and they like to ask about her,” said Greyhavens. “The fact of the matter is, there are people in the film like Indian director Shyam Benegal, for example, or Stanley Kwan in Hong Kong, who are every bit as famous and wonderful and have contributed just as many amazing things to cinema as she has, but they’re almost unknown in the West. And that’s sort of part of what the project was about, that back-and-forth. All of them were fantastic. In every case I just got very lucky. Some of it was persistence, and some of it was total right-place, right-time, getting to sit down and talk with these people, and it was just really an honor.” Since signing a distribution deal for “Cinema Is Everywhere,” Greyhavens has been in constant motion with a whirlwind of diverse projects.
Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights several events happening on campus or in Walla Walla during the weekend. Here are this week’s picks:
Beth Myrle Rice Book & Game and author Beth Myrle Rice presents a reading of prose and poetry from “Clips & Consequences: A Memoir.” A free spirit, skateboarder, slam poet and activist, Rice recounts her experience losing child custody over marijuana laws.
by NATH A N FISHER
Teal Greyhavens ‘08 (above) films in the Sahara Desert. Photo contributed by Greyhavens
PIO PICKS
ooking for a feel-good movie that you could watch with your family over the upcoming holidays and actually tolerate? Check out “The Way,” a movie that examines a band of troubled souls and their journey of self-discovery along the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and shows that enjoying life is about the need to stop . . . pause . . . and smell the roses. “The Way” begins with a phone call to Tom Avery (Martin Sheen), a hard-ass ophthalmologist who doesn’t like making friends, hearing the news that his 40-year-old son has just died in a storm in France at the beginning of his trip. Tom’s life is turned upside down as he journeys to France to retrieve the remains of his son and ends up strapping on his son’s backpack (cremated ashes in-
Big Art Big Art celebrates the artists of last year’s blue moon magazine with live music, readings, art for sale and delicious snacks from the Colville Street Patisserie.
Thursday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Laht Neppur Ale House, 53 S. Spokane Street.
Bizarre Love Triangle Bizarre Love Triangle play an acoustic blend of pop, rock, folk and country at Sapolil Cellars. Enjoy Laht Neppur beer on tap and 10 percent off Sapolil Cellars wine. No cover.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. Sapolil Cellars, 15 E. Main Street.
the mountains in Spain and into the hill towns of Basque country. “The Way” is a family movie that examines the importance of living your life your own way. Heck, we are all going to die, so why not live life to the fullest? Needless to say, I have officially added another journey to my bucket list—the trek called El Camino de Santiago. ¡Buen Camino!
ILLUSTRATION BY PETERSON
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cause—I don’t know, camel? I don’t like camel as much as I thought I would. But then I put it on, and I was like, ‘Oh, this fits so well,’ and I’ve kind of grown to like the color and the cut a lot better. I got the sweater at the Goodwill here. I got this scarf when I was in New Orleans.” “I like to play with color, and I like everything to be very cohesive. I don’t like having too many patterns at a time. I really admire people who wear, like, a lot of patterns and a lot of things at one time, but I like to wear stuff that’s really clean.”
KWCW SHOW OF THE WEEK ‘Chappy Hour’ Evelyn Levine ‘15 (above) models her clean, streamlined style. Photo by Beck
Every week, The Pioneer searches out Whitties who bring an extra splash of fashion consciousness and sartorial daring to campus. This week’s Style Spotlight: First-year English major Evelyn Levine.
Dance meets pop and some dubstep on top. DJ Chap and esteemed guest hosts will lift you out of that midweek funk and shake your junk with the latest in those electro sounds you crave. Putting the hump back in your Wednesday since ‘08! Wednesdays, 10 p.m. - Midnight. On the dial at 90.5 FM Walla Walla and streaming live at www.kwcw.net. For requests, call (509) 527-5283.
Enroll in our acclaimed Master in Teaching Program -- or interview against someone who did.* *78%
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Style Soundbites “I’ve always wanted a leather jacket, and, about a year ago, my mom went to Argentina with some of her friends to celebrate her birthday, so she brought the jacket back for me from Argentina. I originally wanted a jacket that was brown, and when I got it at first I really didn’t like it be-
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OPINION
Nov
17 2011
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eSports require more accessibility BLAIR FRANK Junior
S
ometimes, when I’m bored, I like to watch other people play video games. I’m not alone, either—an entire community has sprung up in support of “eSports,” which is a fancy term for what most people would consider competitive video gaming. Interestingly, it’s fairly popular: Video streams of popular tournaments will often bring in tens of thousands of viewers who are following their favorite teams and players. But as far as the popular consciousness goes, eSports isn’t often discussed just because most peo-
ple don’t even know it exists. For those of us who enjoy it, we really want to see it flourish. There’s a lot of talk about growing eSports and making eSports more popular, but it’s often directed at a preexisting community. If the eSports community is going to stand up and scream, “WE DEMAND TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY,” we need to be willing to take outreach seriously. One of the biggest issues I have with the current eSports scene is the unwillingness to cater to the uninitiated. A lot of the games we enjoy watching (Counter-Strike, Starcraft and League of Legends come to mind) have a higher base level of understanding than a game of football or baseball. In baseball, the objective is fairly obvious: Get more runs than your opponent by making it possible for your players to run around the bases more often than their players. Even before the game ends, the conditions for winning are pretty clear. Whoev-
Political Cartoon by Kelly Douglas
er has the bigger number on the scoreboard at the end of the game will win. Compare that to a game like Starcraft. There’s really no easy way for someone who has never played Starcraft before to look at a single frame of the middle of a game and see how it’s going. That, in and of itself, isn’t a problem. It becomes a problem when there’s also no intelligent commentary that allows people to understand what’s going on. I’m a huge baseball statistics nerd. Being able to look at players through the lens of their numbers is something that appeals to me. But at the same time, I don’t expect commentators to wax poetic about Carlos Beltran’s winsagainst-replacement rating or a certain team’s win percentage during a part of the game. I understand that’s not something that ordinary spectators are interested in. Unfortunately, eSports are really missing that mentality at the moment. I see a constant push for more and more detailed and
ILLUSTRATION BY BOWEN
advanced commentary, not commentary that everyone can un-
Voices from the Community Where do you spend your money outside campus? Poll by Beck
PABLO RIVAROL A
KENDR A VANDREE
First-year
Anderson Hall RD
“I spend a lot of my money on food and that’s just about it. I don’t spend very much . . . maybe $100 a month. That’s a complete guess.” ADVERTISEMENT
“The way that I spend most of my money off campus is either on food, crafting supplies, gifts for others or plane tickets home.”
derstand. For those of us who enjoy watching a Major League Gaming tournament on the weekends, we have to be willing to give that up if we honestly want to grow gaming into something that people can watch on TV. Assuming a spectator will understand the ins and outs of a game is too great a burden of knowledge, especially with the games that are currently being played in a professional capacity. I think there’s a great opportunity in the future for people to sit down and watch a video game played competitively and really get involved in that competitive scene. But unless we’re willing to actually make eSports accessible to people who don’t eat, sleep and breathe these games, that’s not going to become a reality. We need to drop the elitism and welcome the uninitiated because this is too much fun not to share.
Have a strong opinion about something? You don’t have to be a columnist! Contact editors@ whitmanpioneer.com about writing a guest column.
FEATURE
Nov
17 2011
6
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BEYOND TUITION *
Investigating the additional and unexpected costs of college
What’s the cost of fun at Whitman?
Whitties discuss online at www.whitmanpioneer.com
Bookstore staff strives to meet student needs
surveyed students:
living on campus: 56.1% living off campus: 43.9%
by T Y LER KING
Average Student Spendings
Staff Reporter
T
WHITMAN COLLEGE
Off Campus Students
Students Living off Campus
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TEXT BOOKS (PER SEMESTER)
BREAKING THE BANK
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WHIT MAN (WE BOOK EKL Y) STOR E
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What does your Whitman education really cost you? 101 students surveyed break down their budgets. INFOGR APHIC BY HUANG
Independence gained off campus Staff Reporter
T
he priority of any institution for higher education is to endow knowledge and to allow students to explore intellectual interests. Yet at a college like Whitman, with few commuting students, there are other needs that must be met: food and shelter. According to the Whitman Financial Aid webpage, for the 2011-2012 school year, tuition for students living on campus is $52,056. Of that, $10,160 is allocated for room and board. As part of Whitman’s policy, students under the age of 21 are required to live on campus for four semesters. Options for on-campus living include nine residence halls and 11 interest houses, with the exception of fraternity houses for initiated sophomores. Sophomore Joel Senecal lives in College House, one of the residence halls offered to upper-class students. College House is on the edge of campus, near the Bratton Tennis Center and offers everything from traditional doubles to a six-person conjoined apartment with a kitchen. “Currently, I feel very well provided for by Whitman. I have a great deal of amenities, and a wide variety of living options,” said Senecal. Though Whitman owns College House and most of the other residence options, the businesslike entity that runs the halls is Residence Life and Housing, an “auxiliary enterprise” independent from Whitman funding. “Anything that will be used
in the residences—even toilet paper—we buy,” said Nancy Tavelli, director of residence life and housing. “We are expected by Whitman to pay our own way.” Because no Whitman funding is given to Residence Life, it creates a budget every year so that it charges students exactly what will be used. Room charges go towards maintenance, utilities such as internet and heat, custodial and employee paychecks, any services provided by the physical plant and the programming put on by the hall and house staff members.” According to Tavelli, with all the included amenities, a regular double (or any room in an interest house) costs about $391 per month over 12 months. “That’s looking at room rent for the year, because if you rent a place, it’s not usually 12 months,” said Tavelli. Residence Life indeed plays a large part in the campus community, but after students have lived on campus for four semesters, many choose to move outside “the bubble.” A common notion among college students, their parents and even faculty is that when students decide to live off campus, they are taking their first step into the adult world, where they have to pay for their own necessities. “I think it’s a learning experience for the students. When they’re done with school, they’re [again] going to be looking for a place to live,” said Cindy Russell, the trust coordinator at the Off-Campus Housing Office. For many students, living off campus is less expensive than
paying Whitman room and board charges. For students wanting to rent housing, there are two options: the first is to rent a house or apartment from an independent landlord, as junior Sally Boggan does. Boggan lives in “Troy,” a house on Isaacs, with seven other students. Maintenance is covered by the landlord, but they all pay about $20-30 per month for utilities, and split the rent depending on their room type. “My rent is $280 a month, because I’m living in a closet,” said Boggan. “Everyone else here pays $320, which is still a lot cheaper [than on-campus costs].” Boggan has also found that buying her own food is less costly than being on a meal plan. She uses about $800 a semester, whereas Bon Appetit’s traditional Meal Plan C costs $2,730 a semester. At first, Boggan’s parents were skeptical about the transition from on-campus to off-campus living. “My parents were worried about it because it’s more out-of-pocket costs and nothing from loans,” she said. But once Boggan showed her parents the numbers in comparison to on-campus costs, they agreed to finance her off-campus living. Another upperclassman who lives off campus is senior Ryan Smith. Smith lives with two friends in one side of a Whitmanowned duplex called “The Hole in the Wall.” After renting from an independent owner last year, Smith entered Whitman’s housing lottery for this school year and eventually ended up with his current abode. The lottery is run every spring
by Russell. There are 37 Whitmanowned housing units to choose from, and availability changes from year to year. Rent varies by number of bedrooms, but is between $300 and $450 per month. Smith and his duplex-mates pay about $850 per month, which, divided among the three of them, is a little over $280 per month. Heating and water utilities are included in the rent, and the
I really like the idea of Whitmanowned houses. They help people save money and offer a different type of residence life.
,,
by MOLLY EMMET T
Ryan Smith, '12
Off-Campus Housing Office takes care of maintenance. Groceries are about $200 per month, which is also cheaper than a meal plan, but Smith says he often eats at Reid or in the dining halls because the food there is good and it takes longer to make his own. “I really like the idea of Whitman-owned houses,” said Smith. “They help people save money and offer a different type of residence life.” Both Russell and Smith agree that while living off campus may actually be cheaper, students do it for the sense of freedom it offers.
he Whitman College Bookstore sees a rush of students buying textbooks at the beginning of each semester, and while those transactions are not representative of shopping habits throughout the year, textbook costs remain a major point of concern for students. “On a daily basis, most of the transactions are pretty small,” said senior Heather Smith, one of the student managers. Even with these smaller purchases, the bookstore strives to keep prices low. A recent pricing change on a popular item, sweatshirts, has had a noticeable effect on sales, according to senior Wing Lam, another student manager. “People used to always just buy, like, the traditional ‘Whitman College’ ones, but now people are buying more of the other ones because of greater variety and better cost,” Lam said. However, students are most concerned with the price of textbooks. Bookstore employee and junior Lesli Meekins says it can be difficult for the bookstore to keep prices low. “There’s not really that many strategies out there when you’re stuck with a high price tag from publishers,” Meekins said. Even so, Acquisitions Specialist Janice King does not consider that price tag fixed. “Janice, our textbook buyer, is always talking to the publishers, trying to get a lower rate,” Meekins said. If she finds out that some publisher doesn’t end up giving the bookstore the lower rate they had previously agreed upon, “she calls them up and she’s ‘mama bear;’ she’s trying to keep prices low,” Meekins said. Despite King’s efforts, the price of textbooks can be expensive for students; this is one of the reasons why the “buyback” policy exists. “Buyback is a good way for students to recover some of the expense of textbooks. If a book is going to be used by a professor for the next semester, the bookstore will pay the student half of the initial cost, and we give cash,” King said in an email. Meekins doesn’t think students realize how much work goes into lowering prices. “I think one of the most frustrating things about it is when everybody is coming in to buy textbooks and people mutter, ‘oh my gosh, they’re ripping us off,’” said Meekins. Although junior Cassandra Smith buys most of her books online, she doesn’t think the bookstore is ripping anyone off. “I feel like [there would be higher prices] in any store setting because they do have to make a profit, whereas if I buy them online it’s from people who just want to get rid of the books most of the time,” Smith said. The bookstore is selfsustaining, meaning its income funds the staff wages and benefits, student wages, services and the purchase of supplies and inventory. “Any profits earned by the bookstore are allocated to Whitman College’s general fund and used to support employee salaries/benefits, faculty research, student scholarships, financial aid awards, etc.,” said King. Even if students don’t always realize it, the bookstore staff constantly tries to meet their needs. “We are proud to be one of the last independent college bookstores in the Pacific Northwest and to contribute to a sustainable local economy,” said King. “We are the students’ bookstore and that is always foremost in our decisions.”
SPORTS
Nov
17 2011
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SCOREBOARD Basketball
Women’s vs. Lewis & Clark College Nov. 15
Loss 61-65
Swimming
Men’s vs. Lewis & Clark College Nov. 11 vs. Pacific University Nov. 12 Women’s vs. Lewis & Clark College Nov. 11 vs. Pacific University Nov. 12
Win 163-34 Win 140-63 Win 136-63 Win 106-99
UPCOMING Cross Country
Men’s and Women’s DIII National Championships Nov. 19
Swimmers race for cause Colin Orr ‘14 races one of many 50-yard sprints during the Hour of Power, which drew thousands of participants worldwide in support of sarcoma research. Photo by von Hafften
by SA R A H DEBS Staff Reporter
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ast week the Whitman swim team joined 150 other colleges worldwide in the annual Hour of Power, a swim relay consisting of an hour of continuous sprints in honor of Carleton College swimmer Ted Mullin, who passed away in 2006 from sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer. Hour of Power, which took place on Nov. 8, raises funds for research at the University of Chicago regarding treatments and cures for sarcoma. During this year’s event, the Whitman swim team stood on the pool deck wearing navy swim caps with “Cancer Sucks” printed in large letters, dancing to high-energy music and cheering on those in the wa-
ter while waiting for their turn to swim. In just an hour, the team totaled an impressive 6,100 yards. Whitman first became involved in Hour of Power five years ago when the swim program was approached by Carleton coach and Whitman alumnus Andy Clark as well as Rick and Mary Mullin, Ted Mullin’s parents. The event, reflecting Mullin’s love for swimming, was his favorite workout to do with his team. “I and our team are moved by what we have learned about Ted Mullin’s character and his story. He had an incredible spirit that drove him to work hard (‘leave it in the pool’) and to give everything he had to his teammates even while he was battling this terrible illness. That is something I want to honor,” said Head Coach
Jenn Blomme, who organized her team’s participation in the event. Hour of Power is unique opportunity for athletes to swim not as individuals but as a team. The event is time for the team to come together as they work towards a larger goal. “Swimming can be a selfish sport if you’re only concentrating on yourself, your times, your technique. This goes beyond all that and it’s really fun to be a part of that bigger scale,” said junior Andrew Roehrig. “At the same time, it is such a great bonding experience because there’s just so much energy.” The athletes participating in the event appreciate the experience to swim for something larger than themselves because it encourages self-reflection.
“Events like these makes you realize how much you take things for granted,” said first-year Nic Win. “You have a lot of opportunities, and sometimes you just go through the motions. Something like this makes you more conscious about decisions you make. It is very inspirational.” Coach Blomme sees a positive future for Hour of Power. “I hope it continues to grow and gain more publicity. We were really excited to lead the charge this year in getting nearly full participation from all the Northwest Conference swim teams. I’d like to see that grow and grow. I hope that with the great swimming community being forged all across the country that we are able to help support more research for sarcoma.”
Staff Reporter
E
lbow, Apple, Carpet, Saddle, Bubble. If you have ever suspected that you had a head injury, chances are you have been asked to remember these five words and repeat them to test your immediate memory. I was asked to repeat these words in the Varsity Athletics Training Room after sustaining a concussion at swim practice. What exactly is a concussion? While it is widely believed that you need to lose consciousness in order to have a concussion, this is not true. “Most people don’t lose consciousness when they receive a concussion. In fact, losing consciousness is a sign of a very serious head injury,” said Head Athletic Trainer John Eckel. According to WebMD, “A concussion is a type of brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull.” One of the most common symptoms is a headache that won’t go away, but fogginess, nausea, and sensitivity to light and noise are also associated with concussions. In my experience, having visited both the Whitman training facilities and the Welty Health Center, treatment of concussions is very inconsistent at Whitman. After a day of extreme headaches, I went to Welty to have my head checked. The nurse there asked about my symptoms and told me that I most likely had a mild concussion but that I would need to see a doctor to know for sure. Unfortunately, I would have to wait a day to have an appointment with the doctor there. The doctor referred me to the Walla Walla Clinic for immediate diagnosis. Once there, I was told that the clinic didn’t have the facilities to deal with head injuries and that I should go to the ER. At the ER, I was told that I had a concussion and should take at least a week off swimming. Back at Welty, I was reprimanded for not remembering to ask for a doctor’s note. I wasn’t in the best state to remember anything, especially after all the running around that I had done. These are the options offered to club and IM athletes at Whitman. Hannah Moskat, a senior IM football player, received a minor concussion and also visited the Health Center. She was asked about her symptoms and walked through orientation questions and was sent home with instructions on what not to do. “After looking at my symptoms, the nurse told me that she could safely say that I had a concussion and I could see a doctor if I wanted to, but I didn’t need to,” said Moskat. This is now contrary to Health Center Procedure. “We have a new policy that is that we have implemented forms and we have to evaluate the student according to this form, and,
depending if we are really uncomfortable, we do not hesitate to send them to the hospital for a CAT scan,” said Nurse Ruggeri. As a varsity athlete, I was able to also go to the Athletic Training room at my coach’s request, where I had a very different experience than I had at Welty. I was asked about my symptoms and questioned in order to determine my immediate memory and concentration capacities. This included the word test above, the day’s date, repeating numbers in reverse order, walking heel to toe and touching my nose with my eyes closed. I was told to come back every day to record my symptoms and that once those were gone I would take the impact baseline test, which all varsity athletes complete before their sports season begins their first year. I was also told not to do anything that would raise my heart rate and to avoid studying for long periods of time. From this experience and my four years as a varsity athlete at Whitman, I have concluded that treatment for concussions at Whitman is extremely inconsistent. Concussions are fairly common among varsity athletes, and good treatment is very important. “Every year we have about six concussions, with one from swimming and cross country, but mainly it’s soccer and basketball,” says Eckel. But many IM and Club athletes also get concussions every year and have more limited access to good treatment. One important aspect of the treatment that varsity athletes receive is the baseline test. “Without the baseline test, it’s hard to see where someone is at. A score of 27 is considered ‘normal,’ but if someone scores a 25, I have no way of knowing if they have a concussion or if they don’t test well on this sort of test,” says Eckel. The number of concussions seen in IM and club athletes is much higher. “This year we’ve only had three or four concussions, mostly from football and rugby, but in the last two years we’ve seen tens of concussions,” said Kathy Ruggeri, Welty Health Center nurse. With a case study of three different nurses and an athletic trainer at Whitman and four different experiences, it is clear that care should become more standardized. What can we do about the rate of concussions at Whitman? A standardized care system would be a first step. “We’ve talked about doing baseline testing for everyone, but with that comes a cost. It already costs a lot to test all of the varsity athletes, so I really don’t think that will happen,” says Eckel. “The student needs to know that if he has one concussion, he probably shouldn’t play for the rest of the season,” says Nurse Ruggeri. Can you remember the words from the beginning of the article? Just checking your delayed recall concentration.
Basketball
Men’s vs. Washington University in St. Louis Nov. 18, 8 p.m. vs. UC Santa Cruz Nov. 19, 8 p.m. vs. Chapman University Nov. 25 vs. Cal Lutheran University Nov. 26 Women’s vs. Williams College Nov. 19 vs. Tufts University Nov. 23
Home Home Away Away Away Away
Swimming
Men’s and Women’s NWC Invitational Nov. 18,19
Away
Women’s basketball seeks glory
by M AT T TESMOND
Concussed: Athletes get inconsistent treatment by SY LVIE LUITEN
Away
Staff Reporter
T
Whitties let loose on the quidditch pitch Nov. 13. Jackson Bellaimey ‘12 (top center) caught the snitch for his team, winning the tourney’s final match. Photo by Bergman
Week of Wizardry wraps up with Quidditch tourney by SY LVIE LUITEN Staff Reporter
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or those of us who thought our childhoods were over after the last “Harry Potter” book came out, fear not. During Whitman’s annual Week of Wizardry, students can participate in Harry Potter-themed events including the annual Quidditch Tournament. Last Sunday, this event took place on Ankeny with five competing teams of at least seven players each. Besides having a common love for Harry Potter, participants are driven to play to enjoy the outdoors and team camaraderie. “We were sad at the end of the IM football season; we play together well, so we decided to get a Quidditch team together,” said senior player Mackenzie Hales. This magical tradition is not a long-standing one. “Last year was our first year. I joined WEB as a freshman, and worked with [junior] Kelly [Hall], and we started the Week of Wizardry. This year I got her position,” said sophomore WEB Special Events Director Alexandra Schaffer. Schaffer has closely followed the Quidditch rule book to re-create the game on the ground. “I went to a Harry Potter conference in Florida, and Kelly also had some rules she devised. We also changed some of the rules of the snitch to have more game time,” she said. In a world with no magic
brooms or flying balls, some original rules were tweaked. Brooms were held between players’ legs as they ran across the playing field. “It’s difficult running around with a broom between your legs, but then you get going, and it’s like you’re flying,” said team captain senior Maggie Massey. The snitch, too, was adjusted to work with the law of gravity: A student dressed in gold or yellow ran around, trying not to get their flags pulled. “I love Harry Potter and running but didn’t know of a team, so [being] the snitch seemed like a lowcommitment way to be involved,” said junior snitch Rachel Quednau. In the end, “The Team That Shall Not Be Named,” won the competition after seeker senior Jackson Bellaimey captured the elusive running snitch. “Quidditch is part of my family legacy—my brother was at Middlebury during the time that it began there and was one of the announcers for three years,” said Bellaimy. Middlebury was the first college nation-wide to adopt Muggle Quidditch in 2005 when students Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe took it upon themselves to adapt the rules to the non-magical world. Hundreds of colleges now play every year, and an annual Intercollegiate World Cup has even been created. This year the fifth annual World Cup is being held in New York City from November 12-23 with 100 teams from the United States and Canada.
his year, the women’s basketball team is looking to build on its past success and break out as the top team in the Northwest Conference. After a disappointing loss in the first round of the playoffs last year, the women return with a new playing style and an eye on the goal of being NWC champions. “It’s heartbreaking to look at some of the games [from last season],” said junior guard Kelly Peterson. “A lot of those games we lost were really close.” Eight of Whitman’s 11 losses were by margins of less than 10 points. These close losses provided valuable learning, however, which will pay big dividends this season. “We got a lot of experience. We played a lot of close games, and I think we have learned how to close out those games,” said junior forward Mary Madden. “We know what it takes to win and do well,” said Peterson. The women are using a new offensive game style based around speed and a playbook consisting of more than 100 plays. This style plays perfectly into Whitman’s strengths. “We want to utilize our quickness and speed, and this fast pace also means a lot of different line-ups,” said Peterson. This requires a quick analysis of plays and good court vision. “I think our biggest strength is our high basketball IQ,” Peterson said with a smile. “We know how to run the plays and read the other teams.” Winning the close games will no doubt be the deciding factor when it comes to topping the conference. “Our goal is to win it all,” said sophomore Marah Alindogan. “We could realistically win conference, but we’re really working toward getting a playoff game at home,” said Madden. This, of course, would mean a top-two finish in the conference. Most important, however, is the team attitude. “We have a lot to prove, and we are playing with a chip on our shoulder this season,” said Madden. “Our team is very cohesive and hardworking.” With high goals and a strong will, the women are ready to take on the conference. “All the hard work will pay off. The last three or four years we have finished no higher than third. We want to break that mold.”
Jenele Peterson ‘12 dribbles during the season-opening game. Photo by Bernstein
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Nov
17 2011
Typical Social Networking @ Whitman lurkbook Super intelligent guy who probably should have attended Reed instead of Whitman because he is constantly tweaking out and consequently way too into commenting on metaphysical properties of the weather loves it when the wind kisses your face with her cold, dry lips. Like
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20 seconds ago
That one girl who is always changing her relationship status because she thinks that one-night stands are the same as relationships went from being “single” to “in a relationship.” Like
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1 minute ago
Girl who hates school and only posts about weekends, breaks or socializing Only FIVE MORE DAYS till the weekend!!!!!! Like
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11 minutes ago
That girl who takes a photo of every meal she makes and then tries to tag it with a humble tagline to make it look like it wasn’t difficult to make made some simple choucroute garnie with a lil’ bit of bouillabaisse to top it off for din-din tonight. Yum! Like
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13 minutes ago
Girl who’s always trying to prove to everyone how talented she is, but is too busy with “important” tasks to actually prove it I would have made the same thing tonight, but I had to work on a 12-page thesis for my double major, double minor :/ No rest for the gifted, I guess, haha ;) Girl who hates school and only posts about weekends, breaks or socializing Only two weeks until break tho Popular kid who posts random, superfluous statuses which people feel obligated to like because they know how popular he is What’s the deal with carabiners? Like
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16 minutes ago
39 people like this.
K N O W Y O U R
CAMPUS CULTS
“The Partiers”
Characteristics: • Going out every night from Thursday to Saturday • Dancing or otherwise gyrating to music (preferably turned up high enough to make the brain liquify and spill out the ears) • Devoted worshiping of the deity known only as “Shots”
“The Devoted Students”
Characteristics: • An almost disturbing obsession with the quiet room in the library and a sick desire to be the last one there in order to receive the highest honor: signing one’s name in “The Book” • Starting homework the night it’s assigned
ILLUSTRATION BY VAZQUEZ
• Applying an obscure practice known as “time management” (NOTE: due to scheduling issues, the Backpage has yet to find out to what this refers)
“Basically Everyone”
Characteristics: • An intense delusion regarding how much work can be fit in an hour before class • An inclination to disbelieve any possibility that they will not finish an assignment before the due date • An ability to use absolutely anything as an excuse to not do homework (“IS THAT A BABY IN A WAGON? I SIMPLY CANNOT DO HOMEWORK NOW”)
W
ake up, check the clock. 9:50 a.m. on Nov. 7. Ahh, feels so great to have the full 10 minutes to get ready for Encounters. As I stroll the six feet it takes to get from Jewett to Olin East, I’m surprised at how few people are walking across Ankeny. I mean, come on—it’s 10 o’clock. What about those hoodrats who
have 9 o’clock classes?! And dang, where’s all my fresh meat at for Encounters? Whatever. As I continue through the courtyard and into my class, I realize some fools must be tripping because a gripload of rando upperclassmen are kickin’ it in room 129, having some serious discussion. This is odd . . . what the hell is going on? Don’t these
Comic by Emily Johnson
Best Weekend EVER!!! Watched the greatest movie of all time, “Mission Impossible II,” then made some brownies and hung out with my girls playing Uno for nine hours! Haha life doesn’t get much better than this Comment
21 minutes ago
Friend who got into Columbia and constantly reminds everyone of how much better his life is than everyone else’s James Franco’s lecture last night about the inequalities of a modern-day artist was simply fantastic. God, I love this university! Like
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22 minutes ago
Guy with no musical talent at all who always posts obscure indie song lyrics to narrate what he perceives to be problems of the day “The treacherous streetlights call for the blinders glaring the dark sides of the rule of supply and demand” -Jarle Bernhoft Like
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28 minutes ago
Girl who posts every mundane detail of her daily life Laundry, work, lunch, work, class, haircut, dinner, homework, sleep. Here we go again . . . Like
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30 minutes ago
Girl who’s16always trying to prove Comment minutes ago to everyone how talented she is, but is too busy with “important” tasks to actually prove it Yeah, I have to work at all three of my jobs today, then go to my four student leadership meetings and then go to an extracredit opportunity for Bio that’s only offered for the A+ students . . . ugh Girl who hates school and only posts about weekends, breaks or socializing Only FIVE MORE DAYS till the weekend!!!!!!
That one girl who is always changing her relationship status because she thinks that one-night stands are the same as relationships went from being “in a relationship” to “single.” Like
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30 minutes ago
“The Freshmen”
Characteristics: • Continually complaining about a ritual or rite known only as “Encounters” • General emotional breakdowns during class registration • Occasionally merging with the Partiers . . . at least until they are kicked out
“Whitties”
Characteristics: • A devastating blend of intelligence and good looks • The questionable pairing of socks with any kind of shoe • At least two unusual talents, ranging from unicycling to Tuvan throat singing
Now that you have been educated, the question remains: Which cult will suck YOU in?
Daylight Savings gone wrong
Girl who thinks she has it all but everyone knows it could be much, much better
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cats know it’s Encounters time?! Well, this is too weird. Imma just take a two-hour nap before lunch. Waking up, I head down to the dining hall at 11:55. What the heck!! Jewett dining hall . . . closed on a Monday!! Is it doomsday? This must be the apocalypse!! I should really spend less time at the library, yo.