WHITMAN COLLEGEWalla Walla, WAVolume CXXV / Issue 11whitmanpioneer.com

N!"#$%#& '(, )**(

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger ‘97 will fly to the Interna-tional Space Station in March as a part of crew STS-131 on a NASA mission to deliver and replace equipment. A ge-ology major at Whitman, she completed NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Training in Febru-ary 2006. This, her first flight, will be the next-to-last flight for the space shuttle Discov-ery, as NASA phases out the space shuttle program. With lift-off a few months away, NASA granted The Pioneer a 15-minute interview with Metcalf-Lindenburger.

The Pioneer: How has train-ing been going? What’s the coolest thing you’ve gotten to do?

Metcalf-Lindenburger: One of the coolest things was when I went to Brooks Air

Force Base (now Brooks City-Base) and we got to finally do centrifuge. It was fun because everyone always asks you if you get to do a centrifuge. It’s not scary or anything; it doesn’t make you sick. It’s ac-tually kind of fun, but a little less exciting than some roller coasters. And I like flying. To-day I’m going to fly in a B-38 to Florida and do a shuttle training aircraft [a NASA training vehicle that simulates the space shuttle’s handling qualities to train astronauts for shuttle landings].

Two Whitman students’ laptops have been returned following a week in which four laptops were stolen from the quiet room of Penrose Library.

Police confronted a 21-year old male in the parking lot behind Harper Joy ! eatre about 10:30 p.m. ! ursday, Nov. 12, a" er students chased him from the library. Police recovered a laptop belonging to sophomore Pam Donohue that had been stolen earlier that night. Sophomore Margaret Ross-Mar-tin’s laptop was returned to her Monday.

“! e students are responsible for helping catch the guy,” said Terry ! ompson, direc-tor of security, adding that students should notify security of suspicious people on cam-pus instead of risking pursuit.

Ross-Martin, whose laptop was stolen

four days prior, said she was frustrated a" er learning that another laptop had been stolen from the library that night.

“A" er it was reported, security checked out the library and then le" ,” she said. Ross-Martin then told her friend, sophomore Jo-anna French, that she thought she would be able to recognize if anyone suspicious were in the library.! at’s when they noticed a man dressed

in camou# age reading an encyclopedia of ornithology.

“It almost looked like he was trying to look studious. But as soon he noticed me looking at him he started to look nervous and walked out of the library very quickly. I ran a" er him and asked him questions. ‘Do you go here? What year are you? What’s your major?’”

At $ rst claiming to be a senior sociol-ogy major named Michael Anderson, he

was stumped when Ross-Martin asked himabout his thesis.

“At that point it was like a stand-o% ,” saidRoss-Martin. She saw senior James Franzand cried for help. Franz ran a" er the man,who # ed.

Police intercepted him as he was attempt-ing to drive away. According to Sgt. MikeRalston, they were unable to make an arrestor search his car because they lacked prob-able cause.

“! e law requires that we have probablecause before we make an arrest,” he said.“We had nothing.”

Police issued him a citation for misde-meanor the" and negotiated the return ofDonohue’s laptop. Ralston said the citationincluded a court date.

Ross-Martin asked the police for permis-sion to speak with the man privately to

Finding a # ight out of Walla Walla will become trickier starting Jan. 6, when Horizon Air cuts one of its three daily # ights to Seattle.

Horizon is cutting its midday # ight, which currently arrives in Walla Walla at 11:25 a.m. and returns to Seattle via Pasco half an hour later. Without the # ight, students, professors and visi-tors will be unable to touch down in Walla Walla before 4:40 p.m.

“I hope that doesn’t screw me up,” said junior Bailey Arango, who travels between Walla Walla and the Santa Barbara area during breaks. “It feels like it’s already a tough needle to thread, with only one airline in Walla Walla.”! e change is a result of Horizon’s

switch from 37-seat planes to 76-seat planes last year. ! ough Horizon says the midday # ight is unpro$ table and well below the system-wide load fac-tor, or percentage of seats $ lled, Ar-ango said students $ ll the additional capacity around vacations.

“It’s been pretty full every time I’ve been on,” he said. “[But] I’ve only traveled when there’s a school full of people who need to get home.”

With fewer # ights, students may be more likely to # y out of elsewhere, as sophomore Hannah Sieracki of Maine does.

“It’s cheaper to # y into a bigger air-port,” she said, adding that she already has to take two # ights to get to the Pa-ci$ c Northwest.

Professors make use of the airport year-round for Whitman-related business. Associate Professor of Psy-chology Matthew Prull, who travels to one to two conferences per year, said the # ight cut would limit departure options.

“It constrains the options available for reaching a destination in time,” he said. “Either you have to leave really really early or really really late.”

Prull says that Whitman faculty sometimes have to # y out of Pasco or Portland to get a good # ight time, and realizes that that may become more commonplace.

“It’s unfortunate because it’s con-venient to # y out of Walla Walla,” he said.! e remaining two daily # ights

should still allow students and pro-fessors good connecting times, said Dan Russo, vice president of market-ing and communications for Horizon Air.

by LIZ FORSYTHStaff Reporter

by LEA NEGRINStaff Reporter

Stolen laptops returned after students spot thief in library

Horizon reduces fl ight schedule

College expands dorm swipe access

Whitman plans to grant swipe access to stu-dents living on campus for all residence halls that have key card readers, e% ective next se-mester. ! is includes Jewett, Douglas and An-derson Halls.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to visit my friends without having to wait in the cold,” said $ rst-year Allison Ramp, a resident of North Hall.! e swipe access is in response to student

requests, said Director of Residence Life and Housing Nancy Tavelli.

“Students have asked for it,” she said. “A member of ASWC came in and requested this.” First-year ASWC senator Nathan Abrams led the push for increased access.

Until January 2009, residence halls with

swipe access were unlocked from eight in the morning to eight at night. Residence Life locked the doors in response to a string of the" s, only allowing access for residents. With the new system, students living on campus will be granted access from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“We were having a lot of people from out-side come in and steal things,” said Tavelli. “We’ll still check to see if people are okay with it. I don’t think there should be a problem; it’s exactly what we had before only now people need to have a Whitman ID.”

Ramp is excited for the new system.“It’s obnoxious to have to walk all the way

from North to visit a friend in Anderson, just to have to wait more,” said Ramp. “I think this will be a great system.”

Sophomore Claire Snyder also found prob-lems with having to wait outside dorms.

by ERIC NICKESON+MENDHEIMStaff Reporter

Administration talks fi nances with students in lunches, chapter meetings

Show me the money, students are de-manding of the Whitman administra-tion, as $ nancial concerns have come to the forefront of their relationship with Memorial.! e administration is responding

with increased outreach from individu-als such as Treasurer and Chief Finan-cial O& cer Peter Harvey and President George Bridges, who are informing students of how the school uses tuition and endowment funds and how it plans to replenish its co% ers. Bridges has led the public relations push, in settings ranging from greek chapter meetings to an Olin classroom for a limited-reg-istration “Inside Whitman” lunch.

Assistant Director of Alumni Rela-tions Jason Arp introduced Bridges at the latest Inside Whitman lunch, held Nov. 10 in Olin 157.

“! is is a chance for you to chat with administrators like [Bridges],” Arp said

to the students present.! e Inside Whitman forums used to

be available just for class committees, but this year the administration began o% ering it to the $ rst forty students to register. Twenty-three students attend-ed the Nov. 10 event, a similar enroll-ment to the Oct. 28 event, according to Arp.

“I think it gives a background to the institution,” Arp said of the lunch fo-rum.

Asked during the lunch about pos-sible budget cuts, Bridges was incon-clusive.

“We don’t have a list,” he said. “Ev-erything’s on the table.”

Bridges did say that there are no plans to construct new buildings, although this spring the Board of Trustees will review scheduled plans to renovate Harper Joy. Bridges also said Whit-man is not considering an increase in enrollment at this juncture. He noted that additional students paying tuition would not $ x the short-term $ nancial

problems because more students would require a new residence hall and likely additional academic buildings to hold them.

But Bridges and students are still searching for other possible sources of income, a" er Whitman lost $80 million of its endowment last year, a 20 percent drop. Five percent of the endowment goes toward the annual budget.

When asked who manages Whit-man’s money by senior Jeremy Balch, Bridges cited the Board of Trustees

committee that handles investments, assisted by Monticello & Associates, a Colorado-based consulting $ rm that advises many schools on their endow-ments. Bridges said the endowment investments are up approximately eight percent this year.

In addition to raising funds through investments, Bridges has been trying

by JOSH GOODMANAssociate News Editor

DID YOU KNOW

This will be the fi nal space •

station mission that includes

“rookie” astronauts

Metcalf-Lindenburger •

received the 2008 Pete Reid

Award for Young Alumni

yy LIIL ZZZZtttt

WHITMAN COLLEGEWalla Walla, WAVolume CXXV / Issue 11whitmanpioneer.com

N!"#$%#& '(, )**(

Twrel

bySta

Whitman graduate launches into space

BRIDGES, page 3

HORIZON, page 2

SWIPE, page 3

L APTOPS, page 2

SPACE, page 2

President George Bridges visits the TKE house to discuss Whitman’s greek system and post-graduate giving to Whitman as Sammy Sidoine ‘11 and Ian Coleman ‘11 look on.

by GALEN BERNARD News Editor

BULLION

Dramatic ‘Frenzy’!A&E staff reporter C.J. Wisler offers her

thoughts on Harper Joy’s latest produc-

tion. This time, the theater has taken

on “Frenzy for Two, or More,” Eugene

Ionesco’s classically absurd play in which

a simple argument spirals drastically out

of control.

A&E, page 9 BULLION

Feature Humor Opinion A&E SportsSeasonal recipes warm cold nights

PAGE 4

Health center calculates swine fl u risk with algorithm

PAGE 6

From ‘once upon a time’ to ‘happily ever after’ in 30 days

PAGE 7

Exclusive interview:King Friday

PAGE 9

Women’s cross country takes second, goes national

PAGE 12

“Even if environmental

conferences seem just to

lead to more conferences,

somewhere along the line

something productive

has to happen.”

Joey KernOPINION, page 8

“What I saw basically amounted to a

verbal diary, with unfortunate social

commentary interspersed throughout.

What I saw was media in its most base

and irrelevant form.

What I saw was vlogging.”

Lisa CurtisOPINION, page 8

2 NEWS November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 NEWS 3

!e Pioneer: So as an astronaut, how do you feel about the International Space Sta-tion? I know there’s talk about replacing it. What are your thoughts on that?

Metcalf-Lindenburger: I hope that a!er we’ve spent . . . I can’t remember the exact number, it’s several millions of dollars, on making it be up and in space . . . we [will] keep it going until 2020. "ere’s a lot more science that can still be done. And we are just #nally getting to six crewmembers up there. So I hope that we do extend out to 2020 and really show that it is a national lab, and you know all the others are on the Earth, so really it’s only begun in its abili-ties to improve our science. So I hope that we can see it through. In addition, I really want us to go back to the moon and on to other objects in our solar system. So I’m also hoping that we are building the next launch vehicle, which will hopefully be Ares. "at was a cool thing to do to be down in Florida and to watch it launch. [referring to the successful test launch of NASA’s Ares I-X booster, an unmanned prototype of the Ares I rocket that NASA plans to use for $ights a!er the space shut-tles are retired].

!e Pioneer: Tell me about your mission.

Metcalf-Lindenburger: Sure! We’re bringing up what we call a multi-purpose logistics module, which is basically like a U-Haul full of stu%. We’re bringing up the last crew quarters to support six people living at the station... so everyone will have their own private room. And then we’re bringing a couple of science racks. One’s a minus 80 degree freezer that actually helps with a lot of biology samples. And we’re bringing up a rack called WARF, which is a window to observations and it’s a very good optical quality for taking pictures. And then we have three spacewalks. "ey’re mostly centered around swap-

ping out an ammonia tank that is needed to cool the station. For those three space-walks I’ll be inside serving as the intra-vehicular spacewalk person doing all the steps and walking the guys through the timeline as they do these six-and-a-half-hour extra-vehicular activities. And I’m also doing some robotics on the mission with the shuttle arm and then the space station robotics arm. And then we’ll all come home!

!e Pioneer: As a former Whitman stu-dent, did you learn anything in college that helped you do this type of project? Did you ever see yourself doing some-thing like this when you were here?

Metcalf-Lindenburger: Well, I’ve always loved NASA. When I was at Whitman, I thought one day I’d come work at NASA. I didn’t know in what capacity, but I wanted to come work at NASA just because I was always interested in what it was doing and I liked space. I’ve been in love with space since I was really young, probably second or third grade. But, you know, I think with any education it’s what you make of it, and Whitman was a really good place for me. I was an RA, I was able to get really involved at Whitman and I think that as an astro-naut we have to be multi-taskers. We don’t get to specialize in one thing; we have to be good at many things and so it’s a lot like a liberal arts education.

!e Pioneer: One last question. If you could name a Mars Rover, what would you name it?

Metcalf-Lindenburger: If I could name a Mars Rover, what would I name it . . . umm . . . let’s see. Maybe I’d name it Cin-nabar, even though we’re not looking to #nd a whole lot of that there. "at was Bob Carson’s dog’s name, and the dog is red, and cinnabar is a red mineral, so I think that would be kind of cool.

SPACE: Alumna prepares for March lift-off!"#$ page 1

Big Block of Cheese Day was by all ac-counts a success, especially when mea-sured by the cheese.

By 6:30 p.m., the block of sage white cheddar cheese had been whittled down to a small cube, while senior ASWC President Nadim Damluji and senior ASWC Student A%airs Chair Jordan Clark sat happily in the ASWC o&ce.

“It’s been great. "at was a half-wheel of cheese,” said a proud Damluji.

Clark came up with the idea to have a day where anyone could come in and talk to their ASWC representatives. He based the concept o% of the “West Wing” television show episodes in which the White House sta% entertains propos-als from special interest groups that normally don’t get attention. ASWC fo-cused the day on making sure everyone could have their say.

“It’s kind of morphed into ‘let’s sit at the table and have a conversation,’” said Clark.

"e duo hoped that it would provide a space for people to address a variety of issues already on their minds.

“We’ve had complaints raising from ‘GoPrint is really frustrating and I’ve already run through my money’ to ‘I want more school spirit’ to ‘the back page’ and ‘there’s not been enough fe-male performers on campus.’ Like, any grievance you can air out here,” said Damluji.

Not all the interactions were com-plaints. Junior Ari Frink was one of the many students who stopped in to talk. He said he was readily supported by ASWC when seeking funds from ASWC on behalf of the Campus Cli-mate Challenge.

“For PowerShi! last year, ASWC threw down money for us to go to that conference; I just feel like the school has really helped out,” said Frink.

Damluji also used the event as an op-portunity to gauge student knowledge of ASWC as part of his continuing ef-forts to improve communication and involvement in the student community.

“I have questions for you on some things,” Damluji said to Frink. “How much do you know about ASWC? To try to get money, do you know where to go to and stu% like that?”

“I think I know how to do it,” said Frink. “I should because I’m a budget rep. But at least I know people who know how to do it, and they’ve ex-pressed that it’s not a di&cult process. Maybe I don’t know a ton about the in-ner working, bylaws and stu% like that, but I get the sense that people working for it are doing a good job and have our best interests at heart.”

Clark was excited about the input he was getting on the various issues. ASWC has been reaching out to stu-dents in various ways, including tabling during lunch four days a week to solicit comments on campus life from stu-dents. Clark promised that the Student A%airs Committee will be hard at work addressing student concerns raised dur-ing the day.

“Big block of cheese: success,” said Damluji.

New ASWC strategy: ‘West Wing,’ cheese

LOOS!DIALLO

JOHNSON

“We think that the schedule in there still connects pretty well,” he said. “We still have an early morning flight and a late night returning back.”

The Office of Admission said that while many prospective students fly into Walla Walla, one fewer flight per day shouldn’t hurt efforts to recruit students.

“I don’t think it’s going to make it a lot harder,” said Associate Director of Admission Katie DePonty. “It will probably change when they will visit. We may have fewer people coming into campus around noon and doing a tour in the afternoon and flying out in the evening; we may have more people fly into Walla Walla in the evening and stay the night and see campus in the

morning.”DePonty sees the flight cut as hav-

ing a bigger impact on admissions of-ficers’ travel.

“Now our only options are the 7 a.m. flight or the late afternoon flight,” she said, noting that some of her col-leagues use the midday flight for mid-length trips such as to California. “To get anywhere outside the Northwest means you’re limited to the early morning flight.”

While Russo said it is unlikely for the third flight to be restored, Horizon is open to comments from the Walla Walla community about more conve-nient flight times.

“We’re working with the commu-nity to schedule them at the best pos-sible times,” he said. “We’ve gotten some input from the community that

they want the flight into Walla Walla to come earlier and leave earlier.”

Ultimately, though, Russo said that scheduling a plane for as many as eight different round trips per day makes it hard to accommodate everyone’s pref-erences.

While the flight cuts mean fewer options for the Whitman community, DePonty points out that Walla Walla is still lucky to have air service.

“Compared to schools of our size in rural locations, we’re pretty lucky to have an airport five minutes from campus,” she said. “I have colleagues who have to drive an hour to an air-port. Keeping things in perspective, we’re pretty lucky to have two flights in and out of Walla Walla every day.”

HORIZON: Airline solicits community feedback on

!"#$ page 1

by LIZ FORSYTHStaff Reporter

request information about her laptop. She said she then pulled him aside and decided to negotiate with him herself. He gave her his contact information.

Several days later, a!er reaching an understanding, Ross-Martin paid the man a ransom of $130 to return her laptop. Accompanied by "ompson, she met him in the Safeway parking lot to complete the transaction.

“I feel sorry for him in a lot of ways,” said Ross-Martin, who is happy to have her laptop back along with her work and irreplaceable memories such as pic-tures.

“We’re always reminding students that, even though Penrose might feel like home to them, it is a public building. It’s important for students to be careful with their personal possessions and not leave valuables unattended,” said Penrose Li-brary Director Dalia Corkrum in an e-mail.

First-year Katie Matresse was also in Penrose around the same time the fourth laptop was stolen.

“We have a great school,” she said. “It’s really safe, but you still can’t leave a #!een-hundred dollar computer alone.”

Matresse admitted to having le! her laptop in the quiet room to retrieve a book for several minutes. Ross-Martin had simply le! the quiet room in search of a source upstairs and returned half an hour later to #nd her laptop missing.

"e circulation desks at the library and the campus bookstore have laptop locks for purchase and encourage stu-dents to utilize them. Ralston also urged caution.

“A little more awareness of what’s go-ing on around you, a little tighter per-sonal security measures would help,” Ralston said.

—Gillian Frew contributed reporting

!"#$ page 1

LAPTOPS: Student pays ransom for stolen computer

November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 NEWS 3

CORRECTIONS TO ISSUE 10:

!e photo accompanying “SHAC, Red Cross to o"er first aid certification clinic” on page 2 was credited to Si-mon Van Neste. It should be credited to Ellie Gold.

!e article “Brownell: Alumna shares recovery” on page 3 was mistakenly presented as a jump from page 1. !e entirety of the article is on page 3, and the reporter was Liz Forsyth.

!e caption of the photo accompany-ing “!etas dish, dance for CASA” on page 1 mentions Alixander Bowman. !e correct spelling is Alixandra.

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

Humor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8

A&E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12

IN THIS ISSUE:

Whitman o!ers its students a wide variety of housing options, including interest houses, mixed-gender sections and traditional college residence halls. In spite of these o!erings, there is cur-rently no opportunity for "rst-years to live with a roommate of the oppo-site gender. #ough this may not be a concern for many students, "rst-year Dena Wessel is determined to change the housing policy.

“By the time I graduate, I want to see gender-neutral housing at Whitman,” she said.

Many other colleges, including Co-lumbia and Dartmouth, o!er gender-neutral housing to students. Policies vary from school to school—some only provide this housing option for upper-classmen. Whitman’s o$cial policy is to allow co-ed rooms for any student living on campus who is not a "rst-year, as long as their parents sign a let-ter notifying them of their child’s living situation.

“Whitman’s policy is not conserva-tive by any means,” said Wessel. “It’s just not completely there.”

Speci"cally, Wessel says she would like to see a co-ed section with co-ed rooms as an option for "rst-year stu-dents.

“As a transgender, genderqueer or gender non-conforming freshman, you’re basically forced to out yourself to Residence Life to "nd comfortable and safe housing at Whitman,” she said.

Although a co-ed rooming option isn’t available for "rst-year students, the Residence Life O$ce is clear that they work to accommodate all students when assigning housing.

“I can’t think in recent years of anyone’s who’s identi"ed as transgen-der and approached us with concerns about their housing,” said Sean Gehrke, assistant director of residence life and housing. “We’d explore that as it came up.”

Gehrke acknowledges that the cur-rent policy requires trans students to come out to Residence Life if they have concerns about their housing situa-tion.

“I think that’s bene"cial in a way because it allows us to make sure that their needs are being met,” he said. “[Requesting a single] is always an op-tion for people.”

Nancy Tavelli, director of residence life and housing, pointed out that many of Whitman’s buildings were designed for single-gender occupancy.

“Our bathrooms are not well set-up for co-ed or transgender sections,”

she said. In schools where housing was built with gender-neutrality in mind, bathrooms o%en have separate chang-ing rooms or other features to allow for better privacy.

According to her, housing at Whit-man was entirely single-gender within residence halls until the 1980s. #en single-gender sections co-existing in the same building became the norm. Jewett’s fourth &oor mixed-gender sec-tions have been introduced within the last decade.

Issues like &oor layout have present-ed problems for further e!orts to make Whitman housing gender-neutral. For example, the fourth &oor of Jewett has two mixed-gender sections with two bathrooms, one of which is designated male and one female. Discussions of making the bathrooms gender-neutral came up early this semester.

“When it was two in the morning and I had to walk over [to the other bathroom], it was heinous,” said "rst-year 4-west resident Joey Kern. “#ere

is no excuse for that kind of preposter-ousness.”

#e two sections discussed making both bathrooms completely gender-neutral, but not all residents were com-fortable with this option. Eventually, a compromise was reached, where both bathrooms are gender-neutral from 10pm to 6am. #ese hours allowed people who had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night to use the bathroom closest to their room, while maintaining single-gender bathrooms

during the morning when most people were showering.

“It’s a step on the way there,” said Wessel about the arrangement. “People have to get more comfortable with it.”

In Lyman House, all sections are co-ed and have male, female and co-ed bathrooms. Lyman Resident Director Andrew Johnson sees this arrangement as more friendly to gender non-con-forming students.

“Given the layout of the building, it’s pretty easy to accommodate everyone,” he said.

Many "rst-year Lyman students weren’t aware of the co-ed bathrooms before they arrived on campus.

“You kind of do a double-take and are like, ‘Oh, there are guys in my bath-room,’” said "rst-year Ariel Carter-Ro-driguez. However, she says she adjusted quickly and "nds the co-ed bathrooms a non-issue.

Johnson feels that it’s important to keep all students’ needs in mind when considering gender-neutral bath-rooms.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily right to make all bathrooms gender-neutral,” he said, referring to students who might be uncomfortable with a co-ed bathroom. “However, if someone’s questioning their gender, they may not know which bathroom to use and I think that’s why it’s important to have that option.”

First-year urges college to consider gender-neutral bathrooms in dormsby RACHEL ALEXANDERStaff Reporter

37.5% goes out in financial aid

Where your tuition dollar goes

BOGGAN

“Last year there were definitely times when I wanted visit friends in a differ-ent dorm and I just ended up sitting outside the dorm doing weird things to try and get people to let me in,” she said. “It’ll be nice not to jump up and down to get into a dorm.”

Tavelli says Prentiss Hall has served as a trial. Prentiss is currently open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to provide access to the spirituality room.

“Prentiss was sort of our test run,” said Tavelli. “No one has had any problems. We close at night because we want people to use the phones and call after dark. It’s just safer that way.”

Students haven’t expressed any par-ticular concerns about their dorms be-

ing left open to Whitman students.“I think it’s great that we’re doing

this,” said first-year Trevor Miller. “I have no concerns; I feel pretty safe. A burglar probably won’t have a swipe card.”

Certain residence halls such as Marcus House, North Hall and Lyman House do not have swipe access and will remain locked at all times.

“We’ve been adding a swipe reader [per] summer,” said Tavelli. “But with this recent economic downturn, we had to stop doing that. We’ll probably start up with it again next semester.”

When the switch is made, Residence Life plans on remaining attentive.

“There are no major concerns,” said Tavelli. “But we’ll still continue to make sure everyone is okay with it.”

SWIPE: Some dorms lack card readers

BULLION

Tyler King ‘12 and Stephanie Burk ‘12 use a bathroom in Jewett Hall. The bathroom, which is gender

neutral from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., is one of few gender-neutral bathroom options on campus.

for an early Christmas by hitting the giving trail. Targets include even students still at school, through greek chapter meetings.Bridges visited Beta #eta Pi "rst on Sept. 27 and covered the rest of the chapters in following weeks. Only Sigma Chi, which has yet to respond, has not received a visit.

“His visits are to get to know each group a bit better and talk about philanthropy,” said Jed Schwendiman, associate to the president, in an e-mail.

Senior economics major Jenna Stearns was struck by the "nancial focus of Presi-dent Bridges’ presentation to Kappa Alpha #eta’s chapter meeting Oct. 18.

“My impression of his purpose was that he was there to solicit money from us; maybe not now, but as alums,” Stearns said. “It was very focused around why donating to the college was important, and why, once we graduate, we should donate.”

Bridges has also reached out to poten-tial donors across the country.

“My job is to tell the story of Whitman College, what we’re doing and why they should invest [in the school],” he said.

In order to reconcile the di!erence

between students’ needs and Whitman’s funds, the college needs $60 million dol-lars of new endowed scholarships, Bridges said. Currently, for every tuition dollar that comes in, 37.5 cents goes out in "nan-cial aid.

During both the Inside Whitman lunch and the #eta meeting, Bridges empha-

sized that, as a nonpro"t, Whitman is Walla Walla’s biggest charity, with funds providing opportunities for students and sta! alike.

“I never thought I’d enjoy asking people for money, but one of the joys of my job is something really good happens [as a re-sult],” Bridges said.

BRIDGES: President strives to raise awareness about post-graduate giving

#$%& page 1

Endowment increased by 8% this year

Endowment decreased by $80 million last year

#$%& page 1

CORNELIUS

Sarah Canepa ‘12 swipes into Prentiss Hall. Prentiss currently has swipe ac-

cess for all on-campus students from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Effective next semester,

students living on-campus will have access to all dorms with card readers.

4 FEATURE November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 FEATURE 5

H

!anksgiving break makes for a good chance to get cozy with a blanket and a good book, instead of the usual required reading for class. Here, !e Pioneer presents a recommended book list for those students for whom reading for pleasure is a such a distant memory they can’t think of what to read. !e focus of this list is on books that make provoca-tive, intriguing points, but are still enter-taining to read. Enjoy!

“Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

It’s the end times: !e armies of Good and Evil emerge to watch over the An-tichrist and prepare for the "nal battle, sea monsters emerge, the four horsemen of the apocalypse—war, famine, death and . . . pollution—ride again. It’s up to a pair of drinking buddies, who happen to be an angel and a demon who have become a bit too fond of Earth and hu-mankind to stop it. Luckily for them, the Antichrist isn’t who they think he is . . . or what they expect. !is excellent com-edy takes on fate, prophecy, human na-ture and the issues of modern existence while remaining hysterically funny.

“Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara King-solver

Nathan Price drags his wife and four daughters to Africa to be a mis-sionary and save souls. Nothing goes as planned—the supplies the family brought turn out to be useless, very few people join the church and the hard-ships he forces on the rest of his family in pursuit of his dream breaks it apart: His wife leaves him and takes their chil-dren on a malaria-wracked journey out of the Congo. However, their experience in the Congo continues to shape the lives of all the characters. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” this long novel deeply explores both the Congo and the characters it touches.

“Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler

When pyromaniac psychopaths torch Lauren Olamina’s home and kill her family, she has to set out across the dys-topian United States to "nd safety. Along the way, she joins forces with other peo-ple who are trying to "nd a home in this rough world and with them develops her new community and a new religion, Earthseed, focused on the continuation of life among the stars. Octavia E. But-ler tackles religion, sexism, racism and heights of both horror and grace. !e

by KRISTEN COVERDALE Staff Reporter

Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutonsfrom “Bon Appétit” magazine (www.bonappetit.com)

!is colorful, velvety soup is perfect on a chilly winter a"ernoon and the Gruyere croutons add a nice, little crunch. Serves 8.

Soup1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter1 large onion, "nely chopped4 large garlic cloves, chopped3 14 1/2-ounce cans low-salt chicken

broth4 cup 1-inch pieces peeled butternut

squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)4 cup 1-inch pieces peeled acorn

squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)1 1/4 tsp minced fresh thyme1 1/4 tsp minced fresh sage1 1/2 tsp ground cumin1/2 tsp ground ginger1/8 cup whipping cream

Croutons2 tbsp (1/4 stick) butter24 1/4-inch-thick baguette bread

slices1 cup grated Gruyere cheese1 tsp minced fresh thyme1 tsp minced fresh sage

For soup:Melt butter in large pot over medium

heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, all squash and herbs; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender. Return soup to same pot. Stir in cream and sugar; bring to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made one day ahead. Chill. Re-warm over medium heat before serving.)For croutons:

Preheat broiler. Butter one side of each bread slice. Arrange bread, buttered side up, on baking sheet. Broil until golden,

by WILL WITWERStaff Reporter

Movies are an art form so accessible that everyone is an enthusiast and a critic. While many people throw up their hands in despair when viewing a Pol-lock, everyone likes movies. Everyone. So recommending movies is a tricky business. Here are 10 movies that I like and think everyone should see.

1. Anything by Wes AndersonWhile it might just be the indie kid

soul in me, I love Wes Anderson in his entirety; every movie is great, in my opinion. !e most accessible is probably “!e Royal Tenebaums,” a quirky family drama featuring a terri"c ensemble cast. It’s hilarious; it’s sad; it’s amazing. Like every Wes Anderson movie. Watch it and be liberated.

2. “!e Graduate”As college students, “!e Graduate”

is a terrifying, electrifying movie. It’s also extremely funny and well acted, as well as revolutionary for cinema in general. And the ending, oh! the end-

ing! !e moment at the end de"nes the entire movie; it’s gorgeously subtle and wonderful. It’s a great, great movie that is almost universally beloved. Watch it and be terri"ed.

3. “District 9”Science "ction, in it’s purest form, is

about ideas. And giant battle scenes. “Dis-trict 9” has both, with a social commentary on South Africa packed seamlessly into its neat structure. !e main actor, Sharlto Copley, has never been seen on screen be-fore, and he carries the movie! If you love great movies, see this one. It doesn’t disap-point. Watch it and be awesome.

4. “Die Hard”!e movie that made Bruce Willis

into an action star is unquestionably one of the best of its genre. If you have seen it before, watch it again. It is is incredibly entertaining, violent and fun.

5. “Pulp Fiction”Quentin Tarantino is a master at

transforming humorless things into hilariously disturbing black comedy. I laughed at drug overdose, rape and

random killing. But the real reason to see this movie, aside from it’s Academy Award-winning screenplay and great cast, can be summed up with one name: Samuel L. Jackson. Watch it else I lay my vengeance upon thee.

6. “(500) Days of Summer”A nontraditional romantic comedy

with a nonlinear narrative, this movie is funny and a joy to watch. Surprisingly, this movie tested better with men than with women in screenings, although each gender was fairly enthusiastic. It comes out on DVD on Dec. 22, just in time for the holidays. Watch it and fall in love with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (or admire Zooey Deschanel).

7. “Up”Pixar seems to know just how to

make animated movies without many of the frustratingly irritating characters present in other animations (like talk-ing squirrels, for example). “Up” is no exception; in fact, the beginning is ac-tually very sad, though the "lm itself is lighthearted. It just came out on DVD Nov. 10, so watch it and be upli#ed.

8. “Star Trek”It’s rare that adaptation movies strike

a balance between appealing to fans of the original source material and trying to reach broader demographics, but “Star Trek” did that. With cameos from Leonard Nemoy, the original Spock, as well as a hilarious (but minor) role by Simon Pegg, this movie has it all.

9. “Moon”An independent science fiction

movie without any epicocity, Moon is a tricky but fascinating movie that is extremely well-acted and well-shot. Plus, Kevin Spacey is the voice of a creepy robot named Gerty. What’s not to like?

10. “Drag Me To Hell”Before Sam Raimi directed all three

“Spider-Man” movies, he got famous directing low-budget cult horror movies. He returned to his roots with “Drag Me To Hell,” a horror thriller with about a curse put on a loan of-ficer. Plus, it has Justin Long, which is always an added bonus. Watch it and go to hell.

Top 10 movie marathon must-seesRelax, sleep and be merry

Thanksgiving break is upon us,

offering a full 10 days to temporar-

ily escape the mayhem known

to take over campus as finals ap-

proach. While many students use

this time to catch up on school work

and prepare for ensuing weeks, it is

important to also make time to re-

lax, for the much-needed break you

deserve.

Be sure to spend some quality

time with the family, catch up with

old friends, sleep in and relax. Try

whipping up some of our proposed

recipes with your family, sure to be

a hit at any of your holiday celebra-

tions. For a calm night in with friends

we offer some classic cinematic

choices, and finally, for the much

anticipated “you” time, curl up with

a blanket and a book from our rec-

ommended book list. For those of

you staying on campus this break,

check out our top 5 list for some

fun events happening around Walla

Walla this week.

Happy holidays!

Each year President Bridges hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for students staying in Walla Walla over the holi-day break. Come to Baker Faculty Center at 5 p.m. on Nov. 26 for your favorite holiday treats, a chance to mingle with the president and an op-portunity to meet other students stay-ing on campus.

Heating up the kitchen: Holiday recipes sure to wow

Ch ee r

GOLD

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about one minute. Turn over. Sprin-kle cheese, then thyme and sage over. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until cheese melts, about one minute. Ladle soup into bowls. Top each with croutons and serve.

Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cakefrom Smitten Kitchen (www.smittenkitchen.com)

A delicious combination of #avors baked into each other in a warm, custardy cake. Bring this dessert to a holiday party or gath-ering and it’s sure to be a big hit.

1 cup all-purpose $our1 tsp baking powder1/4 tsp salt3 eggs, at room-temperature1 stick unsalted butter% cup sugar3 pears, peeled, in a small dice3/4 cup bittersweet

chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch s p r i n g f o r m pan and dust with bread-

crumbs or $our.Si# the $our, baking powder and salt

together, set aside.Using a mixer "tted with the whisk at-

tachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick, approximately 9 minutes.

While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (because it will foam a lot) and cook it until the butter browns and smells nutty (about six to eight minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids o& the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Re-move from the $ame but keep in a warm spot.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more.

Just as the egg-sugar mixture is start-ing to lose volume, turn the mixture down to stir and add the $our mixture and brown butter. Add one third of the $our mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the $our, the remaining butter and the rest of $our. Whisk until just barely combined—no more than a min-ute from when the $our is "rst added—and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes, or a tester comes out clean.

Lemon-Chamomile Shortbreadfrom “Real Simple” magazine (www.realsimple.com)

Perfect with tea or at brunch, these tasty little cookies take very little prep time and come out of the oven looking and smelling beautiful. Yields 18 cookies.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter1/2 cup sugar1/4 tsp saltGrated zest from 1 lemon1 tsp loose chamomile tea2 1/4 cups all-purpose $our

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square cake pan.

In a standing mixer "tted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Beat until light and $u&y. Blend in the lemon zest, loose tea and $our until smooth. Press into pan.

Bake 30 minutes or just until the short-bread begins to turn golden. Cut into nine squares, then cut each square into two tri-

angles.Cool completely on a wire

rack. Remove cookies from pan.

T h a n k s g i v i n g break is upon us, allowing students a much anticipated

chance to relax, sleep and spend time with family and friends. olid

ay

4 FEATURE November 19, 2009November 19, 2009 FEATURE 5

by HADLEY JOLLEY Staff Reporter

!anksgiving break makes for a good chance to get cozy with a blanket and a good book, instead of the usual required reading for class. Here, !e Pioneer presents a recommended book list for those students for whom reading for pleasure is a such a distant memory they can’t think of what to read. !e focus of this list is on books that make provoca-tive, intriguing points, but are still enter-taining to read. Enjoy!

“Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

It’s the end times: !e armies of Good and Evil emerge to watch over the An-tichrist and prepare for the "nal battle, sea monsters emerge, the four horsemen of the apocalypse—war, famine, death and . . . pollution—ride again. It’s up to a pair of drinking buddies, who happen to be an angel and a demon who have become a bit too fond of Earth and hu-mankind to stop it. Luckily for them, the Antichrist isn’t who they think he is . . . or what they expect. !is excellent com-edy takes on fate, prophecy, human na-ture and the issues of modern existence while remaining hysterically funny.

“Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara King-solver

Nathan Price drags his wife and four daughters to Africa to be a mis-sionary and save souls. Nothing goes as planned—the supplies the family brought turn out to be useless, very few people join the church and the hard-ships he forces on the rest of his family in pursuit of his dream breaks it apart: His wife leaves him and takes their chil-dren on a malaria-wracked journey out of the Congo. However, their experience in the Congo continues to shape the lives of all the characters. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” this long novel deeply explores both the Congo and the characters it touches.

“Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler

When pyromaniac psychopaths torch Lauren Olamina’s home and kill her family, she has to set out across the dys-topian United States to "nd safety. Along the way, she joins forces with other peo-ple who are trying to "nd a home in this rough world and with them develops her new community and a new religion, Earthseed, focused on the continuation of life among the stars. Octavia E. But-ler tackles religion, sexism, racism and heights of both horror and grace. !e

story continues to haunt years a#er it’s read.

“Chronicle of a Death Foretold” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Most mysteries answer the question, “Who dun it?” !is novella asks, “Why dun it?” Two brothers in a small town kill Santiago Nasar because they be-lieve he de$owered their sister, whose husband rejected her on their wedding night. !e entire town, including the mayor, knew of their plans, but no-body e%ectively stopped them. Told in a quasi-journalistic tone 20 years a#er the murder, the narrator attempts to "nd out why Nasar died, raising questions of the roles of honor and sexuality and the meaning of guilt.

“Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed” by Jared Diamond

In the follow-up to “Guns, Germs and Steel,” Diamond analyzes the en-vironmental threats that can lead to a society’s collapse and what people can do to either stop the collapse or allow it to happen. His cases involve Easter Is-land, which collapsed, and Japan, which did not. !e last section of the books deals with the environmental threats facing the globe today and ways to deal with them without collapsing. His theo-ries are fascinating and o%er food for thought to any environmentalist.

“Waiting for the Galactic Bus” by Parke Godwin

Two lay-about alien brothers from an advanced race, Barion and Coyul, get le# behind on Earth when their friends leave without them as a prank. Not knowing when they’ll get back home, Barion decides to enhance the intelli-gence of a particular ape species, which back home would not be considered a good candidate. Coyul, seeing what his brother did, decides to add his own ef-forts to the project. Over the years, hu-man power creates a religion, and two a#erlives, surrounding the two brothers, who still periodically attempt to help. When a American couple threatens to have a child who could be worse than Hitler, Barion and Coyul decide to step in to prevent the marriage; meanwhile, the other aliens are "nally coming back for the brothers. Hysterically funny, this novel takes on the root of human su%er-ing, the problems with dogmatism and the power of humanity.

“!ings Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe

Okonkwo has it good: Wealth, three wives, beloved children and status in his

society. Un f o r t u -nately, his society is threatened by outside forc-es—speci"cally Chris-tian missionaries—who destabilize his world, in particular by peeling one of his sons from his Igbo so-ciety. !e plot moves toward an end reminiscent of Greek tragedies. Achebe does a beauti-ful job of presenting Okonkwo’s rich, complex, changing world.

“Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Cre-ation” by Olivia Judson

When should you attempt to eat your partner? Is it always best to be a manly man? What does it cost to make a sperm, anyway? Dr. Tatiana, an advice columnist for the rest of creation, an-swers questions from confused animals, explaining the what and sometimes the why of relations with a humorous bent. !e sheer variety of behavior chroni-cled should invite contemplation—and laughter.

“Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris

In this collection of personal essays, Sedaris tackles such everyday topics as speech therapy, musical lessons and French grammar, and points out ex-actly how ridiculous they are. In one story, he recounts the time his sister Amy came home in half a fat suit to ir-ritate their fat-phobic father; in another, he discusses his di&culties in playing a guitar—which were not helped by his teacher’s suggestion that he think of it as a woman.

“!e Atrocity Archives” by Charles Stross

!ere are . . . things just past the borders of our world, and if we call to them—with, say, advanced mathemat-ics—they’ll come out. Fortunately, the governments of the world have it under control. Bob Howard works for a secret department of the British government, battling Lovecra#ian horrors and ob-structionist bureaucracy. Stross’s world is genuinely scary: It’s clear that the hu-mans are outgunned and continually "ghting against time. At the same, we haven’t lost yet. Its an alternatively scary, alternatively funny adventure story that makes a fun use of an a#ernoon.

by HELEN JENNEStaff Reporter

Every year, my family puts a Jew-

ish star on top of our Christmas tree.

I think it’s the only way that, as Jews,

we can justify celebrating Christmas.

And it looks awesome. Also, once we

got yarmulkes (traditional Jewish hats)

in our stockings.

Jonas Myers, first-year

When my mom and my uncles were lit-

tle, they would get very distracted wait-

ing for Santa to come. In order to keep

them busy, my grandma decided to

have beef fondue for dinner on Christ-

mas Eve. Because it involves cooking

your own food, it kept them from tear-

ing the house down. Now, on the night

before Christmas, my whole family

goes to my Grandma’s for fondue.

Robyn Metcalfe, first-year

Decorating and placing presents under

the traditional Hanukkah bush, which is

similar to a Christmas tree but different

in several subtle ways . . . (it’s shorter

and rounder).

Cory Rand, first-year

Dancing ‘round the Festivus pole.

Nick Cross, first-year

We always have pumpkin soup served

out of an actual hollowed out pumpkin

before Thanksgiving dinner.

Allison Armstrong, senior

My mom has these Martha Stuart but-

ter molds so all of our Thanksgiving but-

ter is in the shape of acorns or leaves.

We are only allowed to eat that butter

during the meal.

Claire Ostwald, first-year

My family likes to go for hikes on

Thanksgiving. It’s a good way to get out

of the house, enjoy the fall air and work

off the food we just ate.

Dena Wessel, first-year

One of my favorite holiday traditions

is making eggrolls with my family at

Christmas. Everyone sits together and

rolls them and then we all help my dad

fry them up in a wok and then eat them

with miso soup.

Isabella Lowery, first-year

Every year around Christmas my fam-

ily and I go into downtown Seattle to

shop and ride the merry-go-round and

it’s probably one of my favorite days of

the year!

Mollee Huisinga, first-year

Top 10 classic

reads that never age

Students share

holiday traditions

1 !anksgiving dinner with George Bridges

Each year President Bridges hosts a Thanksgiving dinner for students staying in Walla Walla over the holi-day break. Come to Baker Faculty Center at 5 p.m. on Nov. 26 for your favorite holiday treats, a chance to mingle with the president and an op-portunity to meet other students stay-ing on campus.

2 Be the "rst to witness snowfall in Walla Walla

The ten-day weather forecast pre-dicts highs in the mid-thirties next week, with a fair chance of snow. It may be your lucky day if you are the first to witness campus under a white blanket of untainted snow—it won’t stay that way for long. Be sure to bring a camera and brag to your friends!

3 Run the Turkey Trot

Don’t head o% to dinner with George Bridges just yet—before packing on the pie and stu&ng, attend this fun 5k race downtown. Starting on 1st and Main Street at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, this !anksgiving-themed 5k run and 1 mile walk is a fundraiser for the Blue Moun-tain Chapter of the American Red Cross. Registration is $15 on race day.

4 Attend “!e Miracle Worker” at the Little !eatre of Walla Walla

Take a break from the Whitman scene and attend a play at the volunteer-based Little Theatre of Walla Walla. Performed at 8 p.m. on Nov. 20-21 and 27-29, “The Miracle Worker” is a biographical play based on the life of Helen Keller. The Little Theatre of Walla Walla is located at 1130 Sumach St.

5 Sleep, relax and catch up on some of our recom-mended movies and books!

Take advantage of the painfully silent dorms (and really, the rest of campus too)—they won’t stay that way for long. Sleep in until noon, spend a lazy day in bed and check out a book or movie or two. Penrose remains open over break, allowing you access to all your literary and cinematic de-sires.

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Staying in Walla Walla for turkey day?

Top 5 things to do:

!e PioneerISSUE 11

NOV. 19, 2009

Page 6 HumorOpinion

Good evening you without a tail,

I am ripping this message into the couch

to let you know that I wasn’t at all offended

that you threw me out of the big sleeping thing

so you two could “make kittens.” I had been

inkling for a few meat pebbles an

yway. Alas, you

had forgotten to put food in that bowl labeled

Perhaps it was for the best as I have put on

a few pounds since you took away my carpet

let me rejoin nature like a normal cat. I do wish

If I had had testicles I’m sure they would’ve

-

Your Pal,

The Cat

Hey you that feeds me,First off, thanks for washing that sliding thing in the cooking place. An invisible wall be-

know that red dot that sometimes appears on the carpet? I was on Google the other day and Wikipedia says that that red dot is made of something called “light” which apparently you can’t catch or eat. Crazy right? I’m so glad I Googled this after I chased that dot into the Your Buddy, The Cat

instructs everyone in the house to pick me up precisely after I’ve found a sunny spot in the living room? Thanks.

Ever heard of Pavlov? I’d prefer it if your intentions when using the electric can-open-er were to feed me and only ever to feed me.

Things I’ve learned

from your erratic and

inconsistent feeding

habits: Milk gives me

diarrhea and food is

necessary for survival.

For Christmas, I’d like my claws back.

Jimmy, this is not a turkey. You clearly have no idea what a turkey is or what it looks like. Try again, using these books for reference: “10 Fat Turkeys,” “Turkey Trouble,” and “Perky Turkey Finds a Friend.”

Turkey abstract art Turkey realistic Turkey Michael Jackson Turkey soul patch Turkey middle finger

Dear Mrs. Johnson,As you may know, each year I have the fifth graders at Lake Park Elementary create hand turkeys for our yearly Thanksgiving time capsule. While most of the kids successfully participated, it seems your son Jimmy had some comprehension issues with what should be a simple, fun and elegant assignment that involved nothing more than tracing a hand and making a fake turkey out of it. I am sending Jimmy back home with his “hand turkeys” and my notes so you can see how obstinate your son has been in my class. The last thing any of us would want is for us to make Jimmy repeat this year again.Happy Thanksgiving,Ms. Landsbury

I’m sensing some anger here.Your attention to detail is over the top—I think you’re missing the point of the assignment. Don’t try to make the turkey look TOO realistic; it is a hand turkey, after all. Be creative!

I feel like this turkey is too soon, Jimmy. You’re getting closer. But the soul patch? It screams conceited predator. Unless your family celebrates Thanksgiving at the Jersey Shore, please try again.

H1Enya: !e easy listening disease H1N1.1 Murder Flu: !e "u that murders Terror Flu: An illness that manifests

itself solely through hallucinations of Glen Beck trying to crawl into bed next to you

Kangaroo Flu: Generally regarded to be the most adorable of all pandemics

Blue’s Flues: An illness in which an unseen audience gives you various directions to the vaccine

H1Irony: You get this whenever you talk shit about swine "u

H1N64: !e illness you got for Christ-mas in 1997

H1Enron: This illness causes you to go through a series of blackouts and become bankrupt until you are compelled to vote for a completely in-experienced Austrian movie star for governor

Panic Flu: Nothing to worry about, really

Little-known

Last Saturday, an anonymous team of courageous boys used their cunning for a chance to glimpse the sweet, forbidden fruit of the school-sponsored sex toy party. !e following is their commentary on what they witnessed:

What a bust! When we heard about this sex toy party, Ryan and I basically en-visioned dozens of beautiful, semi-nude ladies pleasuring themselves with an array of erotic gadgets and rubbing each other’s jezebels with tingle creams. We imagined this would all take place amongst "ow-ing curtains and so# cushions, incense

wa#ing through the room, perhaps some Herbie Hancock playing so#ly in the background to heighten the sense of de-sire. Topless pillow $ghts leading to two and three hour-long make-out sessions were more or less taken for granted as a certainty. As it turns out, however, the two weeks we invested in tunneling a peep-hole through the back wall of the Jewett main lounge were totally in vain.

Needless to say, we were very disap-pointed. Chris seemed to be hit the hard-est, and I was worried for a while that his sobs might give our hideout away. !e

clothed body to naked body ratio was much lower than we had anticipated. Also, instead of test-driving the dildos on each other, they just sort of passed them around shyly and talked for a long time! What we expected to be an open invite to experimentation was really just a sales pitch! Quick heads up to the men of this school: !is “party” will do surprisingly little to solve your dry spell. !is sums up the series of sexual disappointments we’ve met here since showing up at college in September. God, freshman year sucks.

TKE Thanksgiving leaves at-tendees thankful for the turkey,

less thankful for the herpes, page 19

In new issue of “Playgirl,” Levi Johnston f launts both his “Family

Values” and “the Bristol Breaker,” page 1

next week in THE PIO Plot of Palin’s, “Going Rogue”

proves eerily similar to Dr. Suess ’s “Hop on Pop.”

WHIT TIES WHO HAD SWINE FLUROSHAN ADHIKARI, MAT T DIT TRICH, ELLIE KLEIN

Passive-aggressive notes from cats

F F F- F see me

Strength of constitution ) + (Degree of Nurse Crushes X (# of DGs rented/week)) - (( !10 sec. rule adherence)

% of Cyborg Relatives who are kindergarten teachers with a passion for designing cold medicines Do they feel emotion (Proximity to MN) + ( # of friends who are Sigs ) ! (Do they still eat at Prentiss) ))

[Quality of Mom] X Do they already have Swine Flu?# of Naked Juices/Week Do they go by the name “Mucus face”,Addiction to Purple Drank ”Sick Kid”, “Diahrrea Drawers”, “Low-Immunity Boy

" x

a 3

d e

3

2hx (Are you Swine?)c

f g

FE ATURING

GUEST WRITERS

a) 10 pt. scale c)-100 to 100 pt. scale d) 0101 for no, “Love”= for yes e) in joules/m f) Lil’ Wayne excluded g) Adrians are always sick h) 70 pts Yes/No

(

Whitman students are receiving e-mails from the Health Center to let them know they are “at risk” for swine "u. Below is the o#cial Welty Health Center algorithm to calculate a students’ risk.Calculate your risk:

!e PioneerISSUE 11

NOV. 19, 2009

Page 7Opinion‘Capitalism’ must be discarded

as conservative platformWhen you think conservatism, you probably think capitalism or free-markets. No doubt, your instincts are correct. Yet, this connection that !gures so promi-nently in the minds of Anglo-American conservatives and the public is not a necessary, or dare I

say even desirable, one."e union between traditionalists, lib-

ertarians and military-industrialists in a cold-war conservative coalition is well-known. Yet one of the main outcomes of that alliance is the triumph of a pervasive and o#en unquestioned free m ar-ket capitalism.

Upon closer exami-nation, we !nd that the big umbrella of capitalism in the con-servative movement actually encompasses many and sometimes contradictory elements.

Big corporations vs. small business, big agricul-ture vs. family farms, upper class tax-cuts vs. middle class tax-cuts. In all of these con$icts of interest the rhetoric of capitalism can be deployed to favor one or the other interest groups.

Is it more capitalist or free-market to give a tax cut to the richest one percent of Americans or the top 30 percent?

Beyond the problem of interests, there is also a problem of philosophy inherent in the identi!cation of conservatism with capitalism.

Capitalism is a materialist ideology, as is Marxism. Capitalism approaches man and human life as primarily driven by individ-ual materialistic needs and ambitions.

"is is anathema to prominent strains of conservative thought that instead ap-proach man as a primarily spiritual and social being. For example, capitalism is necessarily neutral on questions of moral-ity. Whether child pornography $ourishes or not, whether weapons are sold to Islam-ic extremists or democratic movements, for a true capitalist the only principle is the market.

Free markets are also one of the most s o - cially disruptive forces, besides war,

at work in our world. "e $u-idity of capital, particularly transnationally, can revo-

lutionize communities over-night through loss of jobs and

environmental damage."e social fabric of com-

munities is heavily bound to their economies and

when the econ-omy changes

too rapidly, it majorly dis-rupts family

and community

bonds. Social conservatives in small towns across America are beginning to question the logic behind Walmarts and free mar-kets that can change their towns irrevoca-bly.

In reality, only the libertarian-minded fringe of the Republican Party are the “true believers” regarding free-markets. It’s a fal-lacy to conclude that conservatism is syn-onymous with capitalism. Indeed, it is not its capitalism that makes much of America detest the Republican Party. Rather, it’s the party’s blatant favoring of speci!c eco-nomic classes and sectors for government bene!ts and tax-cuts.

If the conservative movement, as op-posed to the Republican Party, is to gain ascendancy in America, they must jet-tison the simplifying rhetoric of “capital-ism” in favor of an unabashed bias towards the economic interests of the middle and working class.

"e Republican Party won these con-stituencies for years based upon social issues advocated on the back of a conser-vative grassroots movement. "e middle class throughout history has been the most nationalistic, reactionary and socially con-servative class.

Imagine the power of a movement based upon not only the social issues and patriotism that matter most to middle-class Americans but also the economic is-sues that plague their daily existence, like job outsourcing, mortgages and raising children.

"at must be the message of the conser-vative movement. We are here to defend not only your values but also your liveli-hoods and communities.

Alex Potter is a senior double-majoring in politics and Asian studies.

Every November, National Novel Writing Month (bet-ter known as NaNo-WriMo to its partic-ipants) rolls around. "e goal is simple: Crank out a 50,000 word manuscript in 30 days. Writing a novel is a major un-dertaking. Trying to write 50,000 words

in 30 days borders on the insane. But every year, people manage to pull it o%.

Now the real question: Why would any-one in his or her right mind do NaNoW-riMo? For a lot of people, it’s a great time to get some solid writing done. An entire com-munity has sprung up online to support all of the participants and writing your novel turns into a real community e%ort.

While the community is somewhat star-studded (current participants include bestselling horror novelist Scott Sigler and Printz Award-Winning young adult author John Green), most of the people who write during NaNoWriMo are average folks who have always wanted to get that novel that’s been stuck in their head out into the world.

In fact, NaNoWriMo has become so popular, there’s even a how-to book to help with your creative process. Entitled “No Plot? No Problem!” it’s a manual for those who are attempting the NaNoWriMo chal-lenge. "ere are also a bunch of other posts out there on the Internet with tons of tips and tricks from plenty of authors who have done this before. Personally, the best advice I’ve ever read was from productivity and creativity guru Merlin Mann, who said:

“When I’m reading about writing, I’m not writing.”

"e key with NaNoWriMo is not to at-tempt to write a perfect novel, but rather just churn out the words !rst and edit later. Sure, your novel may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but no book’s !rst dra# is perfect. "at’s why there’s National Novel Editing Month (or NaNoEdMo) in March.

Personally, I don’t have the time to dedi-cate to 30 days of hardcore writing. So, I’m declaring November to also be National Outline Something To Write Over Winter Break, I Mean, Seriously, Dude Month (or NOSTWOWiBrIMSDuMo).

It’s my way of still making a serious dif-ference in my writing, without subjecting myself to what would be abject torture with my current workload.

What’s really awesome about NOST-WOWiBrIMSDuMo, aside from its hilari-ously long acronym, is that it can involve you. "at’s right—you, dear reader, are more than welcome to join me in my quest this month.

If you’re interested in forming a com-munity around outlining, drop me a line in the comments for this article at www.whitmanpioneer.com, or send me an email at blairhanleyfrank@gmail.com.

Also, just because it’s crazy for me to dedicate the better part of my life to writing 50,000 words in a month, doesn’t mean that you can’t. I’d love to hear about your suc-cesses, trials and tribulations when it comes to this month.

Blair Frank is a !rst-year chemistry major. He interned at Macworld the past three summers.

‘NaNoWriMo’ encourages

almost every inner novelist

ALEXPOTTERColumnist

Odd Fellows Hoedown: Dancing for a cause

“Do you want to dance?”

She was beautiful. I don’t know why people ever say that age ruins beauty, because it doesn’t—it can’t. Sometimes when you look deep enough into someone’s eyes you just know they’re a beautiful person. Wrinkles and age

spots aside. Whether they can hear you, or will never understand a word you say.

Her name was Betty Hess, a resident at the local Odd Fellows Home. I had come under the pretense of volunteering for the Odd Fellows Hoedown. "e other vol-unteers and I had reached the part of the hoedown where we were supposed to run into the crowd and !nd an Odd Fellows resident to dance with. I don’t know why I chose Betty. I just knew she was the perfect dance partner.

“My knees are broken, honey—I don’t think I can dance.”

She was in a wheelchair, but that didn’t stop us—or most of the dance couples for that matter. "e dance instructor taught us how to push, step and turn with the wheelchairs in such coordinated patterns as found in a regular line dance.

I have never had more fun dancing. And I do believe if Betty had li#ed her feet more and I was able to turn the wheelchair slightly faster we could have beat any dance

competition out there."e highlight of the evening was when

we waved in unison with our spirit !ngers. One. Two. "ree. Four. And Turn. Right. Le#. Right. Le#. Dancing with Betty was dancing without any inhibition. A#er-ward, I asked her if she had an ‘adopted’ grandchild.

“What?”She peered at me intensely from behind

her glasses.“Do you already have an adopted grand-

child?” I said again.“A—a what?”I came closer.“A grandchild?”Eventually, a#er several more interac-

tions, we determined she didn’t. I resolved I would have to come back to visit her, if for no other reason than to bring her a bou-quet of $owers. Why? Because some peo-ple need to know how beautiful they are.

We went back to her room and she thanked me and promptly closed the door. I guess that’s what I liked about Betty; she had a !ery spunk about her—a !erce inde-pendence that had not waned with age.

"e Odd Fellows Home is only a block away from campus. It has free food and there are some amazing people inside wait-ing to tell you their stories. Some a#ernoon you’re bumbling around with nothing to do, go visit Betty—she’ll give you a talking to. "at is, if she can hear you.

Alethea Buchal is a sophomore hoping to create a major joining her interests in mu-sic and human rights.

ALETHEABUCHALColumnist

L E T T E R F R O M T H E P U B L I S H E R :

PioneerI’m writing to re-port on the state of !e Pioneer and the plans for its future.

Because of a summer resigna-tion the recently established posi-tion of publisher became vacant. "e publisher’s position was established to raise the focus on

the business side of !e Pioneer, to acceler-ate our progress in making the paper a self-sustaining, independent venture through advertising and subscription revenue.

Because of the importance of the new position to !e Pioneer’s plans, I felt it was my obligation to step into that role and lead the paper’s advertising and budgeting strategies. "roughout the summer and for the !rst portion of the fall semester I served both as editor-in-chief and publisher. Dur-ing that time, I nominated junior Gillian Frew, former director of content and news editor, to replace me as editor-in-chief and, e%ective Oct. 18, I formally stepped into the publisher position and Gillian assumed the editor-in-chief duties.

For the past four issues Gillian has had editorial control of the paper, allowing me to focus on continuing to develop a solid economic and governance model that will secure !e Pioneer’s future. I’m con!dent in Gillian’s abilities as a journalist and trust that she will continue to improve the stan-dards, quality and seriousness of purpose for which !e Pioneer has become recog-nized the past year and half.

Next semester I will be studying abroad in Brussels and will be saying goodbye to !e Pioneer. Gillian, too, will be studying abroad, so accordingly we have already be-gun the search for new leadership to con-tinue !e Pioneer’s growth. Although the deadline to submit applications for 2010 has already passed, I want to encourage

anyone who is interested in either the pub-lisher or editor-in-chief positions to apply in future years.

Leading !e Pioneer is an incredible ex-perience that has not only provided a ca-reer building opportunity, but amazingly enriched the relationships and experiences I have been fortunate enough to have at Whitman. It has enabled me to meet and discuss important issues with President Bridges, faculty members, administration o&cials, Walla Walla community leaders and respected national journalists. Beyond that, there is something about investigating and writing a story that is so satisfying—the adrenaline rush you get when you !nd a new lead, the triumph you feel when you connect the dots between sources, the sat-isfaction you get from seeing your name in print, knowing that you’re providing a service for the community.

My exhilaration for working for !e Pioneer began during my freshman year when I started as a reporter. By the end of the year, I decided to pursue my growing passion for !e Pioneer by applying to be editor-in-chief. I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into—the long nights (and early mornings), low hourly pay, e-mails from readers saying how we’d messed up; but I never could have imag-ined how the sleep-deprived year and a half to which I was committing myself would so drastically in$uence my time at Whitman.

"ere have been many weekend nights, vacation breaks and summer days con-sumed with the e%ort and excitement of building !e Pioneer. Looking back, I’m very proud of what we have accom-plished—a major overhaul of our Web site that garnered national recognition by the Associated Collegiate Press for ‘Best of Show’ Web site; the creation of a Code of Ethics to guide editorial decisions and proceedings; a switch in paper size from tabloid to broadside, and two major print redesigns; the publishing of our !rst-ever

graduation and back-to-school editions that jump started !e Pioneer’s business operations, bringing in a total of $8,000 between the two issues; the expansion of our publishing schedule from 22 to 27 is-sues a year; the hosting of four professional journalists to campus to raise community awareness about free speech issues and mentor the sta%; and the start of our !rst weekly radio news show, among many other things.

In many ways, !e Pioneer has been my experience at Whitman so far. And for that, I will be forever grateful. It will be di&cult to say goodbye to !e Pio, to move on from my love for the paper and the people who make it work. Working for !e Pioneer has shaped my life in ways I have yet to discov-er, and I am excited to build on everything !e Pio has given me and to take on what-ever my next challenge may be.

Before I go, there are some !nal good-byes I want to say.

To our readers, students, parents, fac-ulty and alumni: "ank you for reading and perhaps even sharing my love of this extraordinary operation; I hope !e Pio has been useful to you in your relation-ship with Whitman, whether by providing you with information or entertainment, sparking debate in a class or prompting you to speak out and voice your opinion. To the Pio sta%: "ank you for supporting me throughout all the changes; you are all incredibly talented, motivated people without whom nothing would have been possible. To ASWC: "ank you for your support of the improvements in !e Pio’s organization and governance; I hope to !nd a way to help to contribute to those e%orts as EIC- and publisher-emeritus when I return. To the Whitman faculty and administration: "ank you for your critiques and encouragement; they gave me the prompts, cautions and validations that made progress possible. And to !e Pioneer: "ank you for making my Whit-man education.

KIMSOMMERS

Publisher

BLAIRFRANK

Columnist

LOOS!DIALLO

DOUGLAS

8 OPINION November 19, 2009

A&E

Harmony at the cost of diversityI received an inter-esting commentabout my Nov. 5 column “Chinese education instills ‘professor phobia’ in students”: “If Chi-nese students are expected to be obe-dient, then I would assume that things

like leadership are also discouraged at Chi-nese schools.”

!is is a legitimate suspicion from American students. Indeed, Chinese edu-cation shows less respect for students’ self-expression. But that doesn’t mean Chinese educators don’t love students. !ey just love students di"erently.

Teachers are trained to regard students as kids who are incapable of making wise decisions. Traditionally, teachers are called shifu, which is a combination of the Chi-nese characters “teacher” (shi) and “father” (fu). Although this word is rarely used in today’s classrooms, teachers enjoy the role of substitute parents.

Real parents hold similar attitudes as their agencies at school. Chinese parents regard their children as Peter Pans but don’t enjoy seeing them #y to Neverland, fearing that without their guidance their children would die halfway.

Chinese society tends to de$ne young talents as students who succeed in the test-driven educational system. While recent years witnessed some Bill Gates-like young entrepreneurs who succeed with their busi-ness acumen rather than book smarts and school dropouts who rose to fame by pub-lishing best-sellers, the mainstream culture looks at those success stories as rebellious aliens rather than role models.

!e mainstream culture still appreci-ates very much the Chinese saying “To be a scholar is to be on top of society.” But these respectable scholars used to be obe-dient students who never said no to their teachers—and the problem of leadership lies herein.

As in many American schools, every class elects monitors. Every school has student union. Unlike many American schools, student leaders are evaluated based on how well they achieve the tasks given by teacher advisers. !ere is no stu-dent organization at Shantou University that is totally run by students. !e inter-vention of teachers is considered necessary because students are o%en assumed to be very stupid and naive.

Underlying the assumption is lack of respect for the intelligence of young peo-ple, which, no doubt, has a deleterious impact on the development of leadership. !e sparks of originality are o%en put out

by fears of being considered a childish dreamer.

Leadership in China is merely the abil-ity to imitate the leadership of one’s leaders. !e highest leaders are the most sophisti-cated imitators. !ey maneuver to please all sides and conciliate con#icting interest groups. !e art of their leadership is short and simple: Harmony is the premise of prosperity.

!e best way to achieve harmony in this view is to demolish di"erences. !e encouragement of obedience in class and at home, the appreciation of conformity at work and in society, both serve the goal of establishing a “harmonious society”—a socio-economic vision raised by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

!e reluctance to treat young people as independent-minded adults is therefore a logical means to an end.

It serves as a convenient strategy to fos-ter consensus and reinforce “harmony.” As for diversity, it might be something to celebrate in the 1,600-student Whitman community; but for China, whose popu-lation will amount to 1.37 billion in 2010, promoting diversity in China is almost as dangerous as waking a sleeping dog.Rensi Ke is a senior English major. She’s this year’s Whitman Sherwood Exchange Student from Shantou University in China.

LISACURTIS

Columnist

I’m perusing You-Tube, watching inane videos when I stumble upon an . . . inane video. !is one is di"er-ent, though. !is one claims to be a part of a series of other videos by the same guy. I press play with minimal expectations.

What meets my eyes is horrifying. A kid with a voice like Mickey Mouse and the biggest set of braces I have ever seen is discussing drivers education. What the hell is going on here? I’m not quick to judge these kinds of things, but neverthe-less I was somewhat skeptical of how this constituted media, or a video, or anything at all.

What I saw basically amounted to a verbal diary, with unfortunate social com-mentary interspersed throughout. What I saw was media in its most base and irrel-evant form. What I saw was vlogging. !e innovation of vlogging, which translates to video-blogging for those not hip with modern word combinations (wombina-tions), has translated media into an acces-sible, not terribly informative, YouTube-centric medium.

Vlogging: It o"ers a chance for every-day people to o"er their worthless two cents on a variety of issues—at what cost we have yet to calculate. To preface this ar-gument, vlogging, as well as blogging, has its merits and there are vloggers out there who provide reliable and interesting in-terpretations of media. But, this is not the prevailing culture of vloggers who, for the most part, are 14 to 16 year old YouTube purveyors armed with shitty senses of hu-mor and their dad’s video camera.

It’s not to say that these people are not entitled to their opinion, they are; but it would be nice if they could go through

channels that ensure they are not corrupt-ing the medium through which they are trying to get their voices heard.

How is this bastardization of media possible? Simple: !e same series of tubes known as the Internet that brought us Youtube and Spankwire unfortunately swept amateur vloggers up with it, carry-ing them forth to ruin media as we know it.

Any time a person o"ers their opinion on a subject, as is their right, there is room for interpretation, and there will always be people who disagree. !is, however, does not provide leave to those claiming themselves a form of media when oper-ating from a point of view grounded in nothing.

!ere is a line to be drawn when peo-ple can receive ad money, real money, for things as silly, trivial and inherently second-rate as amateur vlogging. While it’s impossible to say the media form itself is to blame, the Internet’s accessibility via YouTube and the like has paved the way for accountability in media to disappear.

!is is not restricted to blogging, as various Web sites and blogs are equally guilty of this kind of amateur hour media. Is there an editor to cull those with opin-ions o"ensive or at times even racist? No. Is there a publication with a representa-tion on the line for what these people say or do? In many cases, also no.

!ese checks on baseless commentary are what is necessary for media to retain credibility and for people to be able to trust, or at least $nd grounds to trust, me-dia outlets in general.

While restricted o%en to the realm of opinion, personally, I still would like to hear the opinion of someone at least quali-$ed to hold a position somewhere, work for a publication, or get a high school di-ploma, something which is woefully un-true in the case of many a vlogger.

Joey Kern is a !rst-year English major.

JOEYKERN

Columnist

Republicans offer no solutions of

their own for important issues!e Senate Envi-ronment and Public Works Committee passed a power-ful climate change bill on Nov. 5. But before commit-tee Chair Barbara Boxer banged her gavel down, the or-nate hearing room was half empty: No Republicans had

shown up to the hearing.Republicans declared Senator Boxer’s

decision to proceed without Republican participation marked the climate bill’s “death knell.” But even if Republicans had participated in the debate, they would have had nothing to contribute. !e for-merly Grand Old Party has lost all interest in actually solving problems. !e GOP has successfully stalled debate over crucial is-sues like health care and climate change by bloviating, blustering and spreading false-hoods.

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently worried that the Grand Old Party could become a “rump party,” uninterested in governing and concerned only with blocking the Democratic party. On no is-sue is this proclivity more apparent than

climate change.Ranking Republicans have found all

manner of excuses to derail climate legis-lation. Despite an overwhelming scienti$c consensus, most Republicans continue to question whether climate change exists; if they admit it exists, they question its dan-ger.

Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), rank-ing member of the Environment and Pub-lic Works Committee, insisted as recently as April that environmental groups were promoting “the false notion that man-made greenhouse gasses threaten our very existence.”

Just as they have done with health care, Republicans have shamelessly seized on disinformation and outright lies to stall progress on climate legislation. One such lie is that a climate bill will cost the aver-age American family thousands of dollars per year.

!e truth is much easier to stomach. According to the non-partisan Congres-sional Budget O&ce, a typical family will pay an additional 47 cents per day; since most of Washington’s electricity comes from hydropower, the average ratepayer here will pay even less.

While heaping criticism on Demo-cratic e"orts to pass a climate change bill, Republicans have o"ered no alternatives. When Republicans boycotted the Envi-

ronment and Public Works Committee, they forfeited their chance to debate or amend the Democratic bill.

Clearly, they are not interested in cra%-ing a compromise.

Leading Republicans claim that they would support climate legislation that would grow the economy and decrease de-pendency on foreign oil. !e Democratic bill would do just that. Even if Republicans believe that it would not, they have o"ered no alternatives of their own.

Meanwhile, the need for legislation is more pressing than ever. Climate change does not wait for political bickering and Republican intransigence will only make the problem more di&cult to address.

We need climate change legislation now. Regardless of Inhofe’s disbelief, cli-mate change does threaten the very ex-istence of millions of people worldwide. !e consequences of inaction grow more pressing by the day.

!e Republican party has stalled legis-lation on this crucial issue. !ey refuse to compromise, refuse to debate and refuse to o"er meaningful alternatives. Krugman may have given the GOP too much credit. At least on climate change, the Republi-cans already are a useless rump party.

James Sledd is a senior environmental-politics major.

JAMESSLEDD

Columnist

Value of environmental conferences: More conferences?Environmentalists really like confer-ences. Apparently, they also like hav-ing conferences to plan more confer-ences.

World leaders just announced that they don’t intend to actually sign a treaty on climate change in Copenhagen this

December, a conference that has widely been referred to as “the most important meeting in history.”

World leaders were supposed to gather in Copenhagen to dra% a comprehensive, equitable treaty on climate change that would take the place of the Kyoto Protocol once it expires in 2012. Instead, these lead-ers will be coming together to plan the next meeting where they supposedly will actu-ally dra% something.

I’m also guilty of the environmental conference syndrome. Since my $rst year at Whitman I’ve attended eight environ-mental conferences and I’m planning on attending the conference in Copenhagen. I say this not to brag but rather to re#ect on the value of all of these conferences.

In the age of widespread video and au-

dio technology capable of perfectly good virtual conferences, why are environmen-talist spending exorbitant amounts of time, money and carbon constantly meeting with each other?

Although I can’t directly ask diplomats why they keep meeting over this climate change thing, I have a pretty good idea why I and 43 other Whitman students recently decided to skip a weekend of partying and studying in favor of three days of climate workshops, panels and speakers in Eugene, Ore. It had to do less with the content of the conference than it did with the general sentiment the conference gave us. While the “How to Plan an E"ective Meeting”

workshop gave us a unique skill in organiz-ing, being surrounded by 500 other youth interested in the same issue motivated us to keep going.

Peer pressure is underestimated. While I might not jump o" a bridge if everyone else does it, I’ll probably jump on-board the youth climate activist movement if cool people around me are doing it. So back to Copenhagen: If the leaders of the world have decided that they aren’t going to get anything signed, why am I still going?

For the past three months I’ve been bar-raged by conference calls and e-mails from other U.S. youth delegates asking that very question. We’ve been planning a series of

actions to pressure our leaders into at least agreeing to a concrete plan. We’re planning everything from wearing green hard hats and talking about the unemployed U.S. youth who need green jobs, to standing outside the conference in our bathing suits holding signs saying “Don’t Leave Us Out in the Cold.”

Even if environmental conferences seem just to lead to more conferences, some-where along the line something productive has to happen.

Lisa Curtis is a senior environmental-poli-tics major. She is Whitman’s Sustainability Coordinator.

RENSI KEColumnist

the Pioneer E D I T O R I A L P O L I C Y

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ated Students of Whitman College. The purpose of The

Pioneer is to provide pertinent, timely news and com-

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whitmanpioneer.com/about.

SLOANE

8 OPINION November 19, 2009!e PioneerISSUE 11

NOV. 19, 2009

Page 9A&E

Both farcical and unsettling, “Frenzy for Two, or More” attempts to bridge the gap between !eater of the Absurd and artis-tic drama. Set in the midst of a generic, unspeci"ed revolution, a volatile and ri-diculous argument erupts between a man and a woman. !e internal and external battles both mirror and in#uence one another: !e couple argues over whether a tortoise or a snail is the same thing, and the strange battle wages on without rhyme or reason. As it builds up in vio-lence, the house, the couple’s relationship and the boundaries between reality and absurdity begin to dissolve.

Harper Joy’s recent production of the play, directed by Visiting Assistant Profes-sor of !eatre Jessica Cerullo, attempts to rectify this confusing yet remarkable play with incredible artistry. Her creative stage directions, as well as the actors’ strong choices, help to introduce this absurd and disturbed world. While the original list of characters includes only the couple, this play provides three, who interchange and mix as the play progresses.

Cerullo also took a big risk with her

actors and the characters they portray: Not only did the couples mix during the show, each night the three male and fe-male leads played di$erent parts. In other words, it was literally never the same show twice insofar as the characters are concerned. !is gave the show an even more frenzied and intense atmosphere because the actors had to learn more-or-less on the spot how to interact with their respective and ever-changing partners.

!e lead male roles, played by junior Trevor Cushman, junior Zach Simonson and "rst-year Marcial Diaz Mejia, all play up di$erent aspects to the same charac-ter, anonymously called He. !is cre-ates a character that is many-sided and, strangely enough, a representation of an “Anyman.”

!e same goes for the female leads: senior Kelsey Yuhara, sophomore Justis Phillips and sophomore Surabhi Veena-pani, who play the same eccentric and contrary She. !e actors not only ap-peared comfortable with one another but easily played o$ of one another’s choices and worked well together, no matter with whom they were.

Junior Devin Petersen’s set design gave the audience an intimate look inside the

lives of the characters, opening up the Friemann Stage space, giving the illusion of an actual home, complete with a neigh-boring hallway and room. Furthermore, the mirrors break, chunks peel o$ the wall to reveal random shapes of the same items that fall through the ceiling and transparent drips of blood appear on the walls. Creative, funny and thoughtful, Pe-tersen’s design helped make the universe more complex and compelling.

Subtle and artistically driven, “Frenzy for Two, or More” is another fun and challenging play carefully cra%ed by Harper Joy !eater and the theater de-partment. While di&cult to comprehend with its many pieces, Cerullo and the cast and crew of this show put on something very di$erent and enjoyable for the Whit-man and Walla Walla community.

‘Frenzy for Two, or More’ illuminates the absurdby C.J. WISLER Staff Reporter

A couple weekends ago, I was held pris-oner in the basement of the Palace. On that typical Whitman Saturday, there were about "ve events going on. I needed to move to the next party. But as student band King Friday played through a set, I was too captivated to leave.

It’s hard to pin down the appeal of this band, because their style eludes neat cat-egorizations. King Friday is comprised sophomores Matthew Sweeney and Alex Folkerth, "rst-year Boris Sagal and junior Bailey Arango. !ey joined me in the KWCW studio for an exclusive live acous-tic session and interview during !e Pio-neer News Hour, where we discussed the nature of their sound. I proposed the label “indie rock with a lot of soul.”

“I’ve never identi"ed with either of those,” Sweeney said.

“I’ve identi"ed with indie rock,” said Folkerth.

“I’d describe it as ‘60s slash ‘90s alterna-tive, but then there’s Bo [Sagal],” said Ar-ango, laughing. “Bo likes metal. Bo’s the armor on the King.”

King Friday are nothing if not diverse. Sweeney plays guitar and sings, as does Ar-ango. Sagal plays bass and sings, and Folk-erth plays drums and other improvisation-al percussion instruments—everything from an instrument case to a trash can to a tambourine. During our brief acoustic ses-sion, the guys frequently swapped instru-ments with each other and alternated lead

guitar and vocals. !e number of capable singers in the band a$ords them harmo-nizing and layering opportunities beyond the range of most live bands. !e overall sound, funky and raw, seemed too power-ful for these four unassuming guys and the tiny KWCW studio.

Some of that depth springs from their long involvement with music. Sweeney and Folkerth have known each other since fourth grade, and recorded King Friday’s "rst album, Enter !e King, last year at Whitman. All members of the band have been playing their instruments since grade school or middle school.

Additionally, all members are intensely involved with the creative process. Al-though they enjoy playing covers, the band has a vast repertoire of original songs.

“[Sweeney and I] did an album last year that has 12 songs on it,” said Folkerth, “and then Bo’s got entire albums written and re-corded himself.”

Sweeney and Folkerth released Enter !e King digitally, through small label Bro-derham. !e album can be downloaded through the label’s Web site, or purchased through the band’s MySpace page.

!e guys also addressed some of the challenges they face as a student band.

“Practice space, and drugs,” Folkerth said with a straight face.

His bandmates cracked up. “Come on, dude!”“Practice space. Our building is remark-

ably kind about us practicing in it, but it’s really loud,” said Arango.

“Actually my biggest barrier is, like, go-ing to college,” Folkerth said, laughing.

King Friday are mostly occupied with gigs here at Whitman, but have made oc-casional forays into other venues. And how far do they hope to take their music?

“Boyer Avenue,” Folkerth said in a dead-pan, eliciting laughter from the guys.

“Whatever’s possible,” Sweeney said.King Friday rounded out the week with

performances at Marcus on !ursday, Nov. 12, and Co$eehouse on Friday, Nov. 13.

King Friday shakes up campus bands scene

BAND SPOTLIGHT

by CAITLIN HARDEE Staff Reporter

!e annual Winter Student Art Salon, which will run from Dec. 4 through 18 in the Sheehan Gallery, takes on new impor-tance this year with the recent opening of the Fouts Center for the Visual Arts and a redoubled e$ort on the part of the gallery to engage the local community. !e salon puts on display a selection of works by all students, not just those who major in Stu-dio Art. Students may submit a maximum of three entries until the deadline of Nov. 30 at 8 p.m.

Exhibitions and Collections Manager with the Fouts Center Kynde Kiefel spoke enthusiastically about how much support the students give each other.

"It's just an incredible support and sur-prise to the student body that their peers are capable of such amazing creations," he said.

!e main goals of the exhibition as well as its format remain essentially un-changed.

"One of the things this exhibition does is that it provides an opportunity for stu-dents who are non-art majors . . . to have the experience of having their work in a professional gallery setting," said Dawn Forbes, director of the Sheehan Gallery. "I think it's a really nice thing to do because we have a lot of students who are very tal-ented, who participate in the classes here on campus, and it gives them an opportu-nity to showcase their work. I think part of it is giving recognition to those students outside of just the studio majors."

Students are involved in more than just creating the art that will be displayed.

"We have a wonderful student sta$. Last year, they helped a lot," said Kiefel. "We gave them some freedom to design the show since it's for students and about students, and it was somewhat by students too. !ey helped a lot and were pretty ex-cited about getting to help with the aes-thetic design of the exhibition and just kind of help around the promotion and all of that as well."

In addition, the exhibition helps to pre-pare the senior studio art majors for their own exhibitions in the spring.

"Some of the senior thesis students are

invited to assist in setting up the exhibi-tion so that they can learn the actual pro-cess of installation. It satis"es a lot of dif-ferent tasks. !ey learn how to use certain tools, what would work in certain spaces. !at's a nice training for the spring, when they will again have to consider what their work would look like in a nice setting," said Kiefel.

In past years, the community has been welcome to attend the event, but this year is the "rst time community members have been allowed to submit art for consider-ation.

"!is year, we may have the art club at Walla Walla Community College coming to campus. !ey've asked and we've agreed to allow them to come and participate in this event. It will give them a chance to see how a student show is run and learn some things about exhibition design and prepa-ration. It's really wonderful because it's not just a campus-wide activity, but is now also reaching out to a larger community as well. It's a chance to share what's going on with the larger community." said Forbes.

With the opening of the Fouts Center for the Visual Arts last year, Forbes thinks it both interesting and signi"cant that the salon still takes place in the Sheehan Gal-lery, which is located in Olin Hall, adjacent to the former Olin Hall studio art wing.

"I think that now the art department has moved across campus, it's a really nice way to maintain and demonstrate the relationship that the gallery has with the art department. I know that when the art department le%, a lot of the faculty and sta$ in this building [Olin] expressed dis-appointment and concerns because they really enjoyed having the students work here in this space. I felt it kept the building really alive and I always loved to see what the students were doing, so the exhibition sort of gives us a chance to maintain that in a way," said Forbes.

She also believes that by maintaining Sheehan as a viable, usable gallery, the department can keep students living near Olin informed of and involved with studio arts.

"While there is high tra&c over there in Fouts, not everyone on this side of campus makes it over there to see what's going on," says Forbes.

Art salon provides unique opportunity for studentsby MERRETT KRAHN Staff Reporter

King Friday band members Alex Folkerth, Bailey

Arango, Boris Sagal and Matthew Sweeney.

.

“Pirate Radio”As contemporary "lms like “Cadillac Re-cords” tend to reveal, music is all about hearing and nothing about listening. Richard Curtis’s latest cutesy British #ick, “Pirate Radio” (somehow translated from the British title, “!e Boat that Rocked”) follows suit, inspired by a little-known, strange-but-true tale from the ‘60s: !e British government’s attempt to eradicate rock ’n’ roll music from the airwaves be-fore the British invasion.

Curtis has o$ered us those heartwarm-ing British movies you keep on your shelf for whenever you need a little something to cheer you up or a little something to make you say, “Awww!” (His highlights are “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Notting Hill” and the Whittie favorite “Love Actually.”) With that cadre in mind, “Pirate Radio” is perhaps a little less romantic, but a lot more comedic.

Yet with such a quirky story whose moral and political implications cannot be ignored, it’s quite a shame that Curtis didn’t turn this formulaic rom-com into a memorable satire that might compete with Armando Iannucci’s marvelously woven satire-comedy “In the Loop.” !e ensem-ble cast, led by Phillip Seymour Ho$man (please, see “Synecdoche, New York”), takes turns stealing scenes from each oth-er—especially once Rhys Ifans’s character makes a suave return as the “king of the airwaves”—but the comedy never boils into laugh-out-loud exchanges; rather, it maintains a brisk simmer from beginning to end.

!e quirky story begins with the arrival of Carl (Tom Sturridge) aboard the pirate radio ship christened “Radio Rock” by the gods of the airwaves. He attempts to "t in

with cutesy bohemian DJs and rock mu-sic lovers, one of whom is his godfather, Quentin (Bill Nighy). Carl has recently been expelled from school and is hoping to "nd a new direction in life, but, instead, “Radio Rock” provides him with a so%-core version of the age-old triumvirate, “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.” At the same time that party is taking place, Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh), a prude government minister, tries to "nd any way possible to sink the ship and with it rock music.

A true a"cionado of rock music under-stands that its beauty lies in the mutual relationship it creates with its listener. Un-fortunately, there is no mutual exchange in this "lm—you can’t get no satisfaction. All “Pirate Radio” wants you to do is hear, not listen.“2012”OK, I know what you’re thinking. But let’s try to give this ludicrously unbelievable, conspiracy theory-promoting Hollywood epic a chance to win over our indie-loving, granola hearts.

Director Roland Emmerich has gone from the beginning of mankind to the end in a matter of years (“10,000 B.C.” was his last #ick), yet it seems as though the spe-cial e$ects he employs are no di$erent. Perhaps “2012” marks a return to the epic disaster movies of the late ’90s, includ-ing “Volcano, Deep Impact” and the one and only, “Armageddon,” that so dearly wanted us to consider the ethical implica-tions of deciding who lives and who dies when Earth is no longer habitable. But do they really? !ey tried to argue that the younger, healthier, stereotypically ‘normal’ people should repopulate the human spe-cies, but has human ethics only progressed so much since “10,000 B.C.”?

Emmerich seems to think so, still us-ing a cookie-cutter moral dilemma to carry—no, lug—this movie from begin-

ning to end. !e "lm begins with a story that could only make astronomers and astrophysicists cringe: In 2009, geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) learns that neutrinos from a massive solar #are have penetrated and are beginning to rap-idly heat Earth’s core.

He quickly "nds his way to the Presi-dent of the United States (Danny Glover) and, suddenly, the issue is swept under the rug. Should the government warn its people of an eminent catastrophe? Appar-ently not. (I didn’t want to read too far into this thoughtless "lm’s social critique, but the parallels with our current government are unavoidable.)

!at’s one storyline from the (present) past. !e next storyline follows Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a part-time famous science "ction writer and part-time lim-ousine driver for a Russian billionaire. While o$ on a camping trip with his chil-dren to Yellowstone National Park, Curtis meets the want-to-be-one-with-nature conspiracy theorist Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), who convinces him that the supposed Mayan prophesy is correct: !e last date on the Mayan calendar is Dec. 21, 2012 and, therefore, the end of the world.

Of course, “2012” would not be a movie if the false prophesy weren’t true. Quite re-markable CGI ensues: We see cities rang-ing from Los Angeles to Río de Janeiro crumbling before our eyes. Yellowstone erupts, San Francisco sinks, the Vatican falls to pieces, India #oods and every world monument you could possibly imagine is destroyed. Somehow, once the explosions settle, the apocalypse turns diluvian.

I’m not going to try to make sense of this movie. In the end, it becomes one huge CGI behemoth that should’ve been extinct by now. Perhaps that task is better le% to those credulous beings who think they can understand Mayan archeology.

Humor simmers in ‘Pirate Radio’; Emmerich lugs plot along in ‘2012’

MOVIE REVIEW

by BECQUER MEDAK-SEGUINMovie Reviewer

Devin Petersen ‘11 designed the production sets which disintegrated throughout the course of the play. From left: Trevor Cushman ‘11, Marcial

Diaz Mejia ‘13, Kelsey Yuhara ‘10 and Zach Simonson ‘11.

BULLION

HARDEE

COMMENTARY

See slideshow at www.whitmanpioneer.com/a&e

To hear their interview and acoustic session at KWCW, go to our Web site at whitmanpioneer.com/arts.

10 A&E November 19, 2009

Sports

Pizza lovers, make sure you’re sit-ting down. Pizza Pipeline is new in town, and is bringing you more pizza than you can handle. Its largest pizza measures in at a glorious 26-inch di-ameter.

“It’ll just barely fit through a con-ventional door,” said pizza driver Nate Shewchuk.

Pizza Pipeline, located at 1423 Plaza Way, opened its Walla Walla location approximately six months

ago. In addition to their monstrous pizza, Pizza Pipeline offers a range of normal sizing options. It also of-fers sub sandwiches, and will deliver throughout Walla Walla and College Place.

Manager Andrew Korbel is hop-ing to buy over this location soon and is pursuing an advertising cam-paign through various fronts—print, MySpace and potentially radio.

Pizza Pipeline can be reached at 509-532-2200 or on its MySpace page at www.myspace.com/wallapipeline.

How about 26 inches?

At this point it's lazy writing to liken John Darnielle—frontman and only constant member of The Mountain Goats—to some sort of religious speaker. It's been done many times, and the fact that his band's new al-bum, The Life of the World To Come, names every song after a Bible verse makes it an even lazier move. But when seeing him perform, it's hard to think of anything more apt than Darnielle as a preacher—or at least the leader of some sort of cult—with his raptured masses hanging onto and taking very, very personally his every word. The crowd at Seattle's Showbox at the Market last Tuesday, Nov. 10, was one of these; Darnielle knew it, they knew it and there were moments of unbelievable energy be-tween them.

The band is now expanded to a four-, sometimes five-piece with a full-time guitarist in Perry Wright and occasional strings from Owen Pallett, who as Final Fantasy is open-ing this tour and has previously done arranging work and toured with Bei-rut and Arcade Fire, among others. The effect is that Darnielle's increas-ingly restrained, more subdued work is played as aggressively as possible. The set drew heavily from the new album, but also featured older songs like "Cotton," with its bridges drum break beaten out hard by drummer Jon Wurster, and "Against Pollution," which somehow nearly bordered on weird heartland rock in a way that the album version never will. The band's best-known songs—"This Year," "No Children," "The Best Ever Death Men-tal Band In Denton"—were all treated as hits, usually beginning with Darn-ielle as sing-along leader more than a lead singer, stepping away from the microphone for a bar or two before audibly joining in. When Darnielle spoke at length about moshing, his crowd moshed aggressively to what is, when it comes down to it, acoustic-electric singer-songwriter music with lots of syllables in the lyrics. The end of the set even prompted a stage dive

as the band tore through an uptempo number about institutionalized youth. He was more than a little pleased by the fact that his music is now capable of inciting such responses.

Final Fantasy's performance be-forehand was a quietly fascinating thing. Like fellow violinist and clever person Andrew Bird, Pallett builds his compositions from looped lines and occasional use of an organ, but his songs follow less conventional structures and feature much stranger melodies, which sometimes works to his advantage. His forthcoming third album, Heartland, which is supposed-ly about "a young, ultra-violent farm-er, speaking to his creator" in one-sided dialogue, will likely be worthy of investigation. His set ended with a song he attributed to long-dead cul-tural theorist Theodor Adorno called "Independence is No Solution For Modern Babies," in which he called out Williamsburg and Greenpoint hipsters, among others, for wanting publicists and wanting only to dance; I couldn't tell if the joke was well-received.

Aside from adding Wright (also of a rock band called the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers), the biggest change to the band is the fact that Darnielle is now playing piano, which makes sense, given that The Life features several songs on which the instrument dominates. Like al-most all electric pianos, his didn't sound great, but sort of got the job done, if by "job" one means "restrict-ed motion and slowed things down a little." Every Mountain Goats set, even the solo ones, opens with Darn-ielle's "Hi, we're the Mountain Goats," and this didn't come until after he'd finished opener "1 Samuel 15:23" and switched to guitar. The new songs call for atmospherics, and Wurster and bassist Peter Hughes were able to pull off hushed drones and builds where needed, but the piano is clearly some-thing that the band hasn't quite got-ten used to or even something it may need. Regardless, Darnielle's energy and the response it elicits carried the evening, and while he was addressing the converted, he did so masterfully.

Mountain Goats ‘preach’ at Seattle’s Showbox

MUSIC REVIEW

by ANDREW HALLMusic Reviewer

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ACROSS1. High school org.4. 1958 Ford !op9. Mailboxes __12. It may be electric13. RC and Tab14. Wildlife attraction15. With 32-Across, crossword con-structor’s feat18. Charlie Brown’s nemesis19. Classic gaming console (abbr.)20. Score21. San Francisco hill23. Yes, in the land of the rising sun25. 2006 World Cup runner-up28. Like some protozoa32. See 15-Across34. Colony member35. Iron-carbon alloy36. Saruman portrayer in Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy37. It’s similar to class (abbr.)39. Holiday a"iction (abbr.) or one of its

symptoms40. It’s usually above the tab key41. Somewhat43. Pre-1917 rulers45. Reason for the feat49. Floral arrangement50. Chicago hub51. Author McKewan of “Atonement”52. Bizarre53. Vim and vigor54. College in Kerala, India

DOWN1. Timid kiss2. Actress Hatcher of “Desperate House-wives”3. Loads4. Anagram of “sec”5. #ey’re o$en accented6. __ gin %zz7. Auriculate8. Acid9. Book a$er Chronicles

10. “Hop __!”11. Secret language16. Flower frequently used in herbal remedies 17. Anguish22. Musician Phil24. Treatment for heart disease25. Mortgage-insuring agcy.26. Met a kidnapper’s demands27. Part of a famous belt29. Variety of dressing30. It’s cold even when fried31. Average grade33. 16-Down relative38. Disco __ of “#e Simpsons”40. Compass dir.41. Farm structure42. Director Egoyan43. Poetic pronoun44. 9-digit IDs46. “I see!”47. Outdated communication48. Cycle preceder?

CROSSWORD PUZZLEby KARL WALLULIS Puzzlemaster

W&'( () *'(+&:

“Broken Embraces” (Dir. Pedro Alm-odóvar) – released Friday, Nov. 20The films of auteur Pedro Almodóvar are a must for anyone who claims to love cinema. His latest (starring Penel-ope Cruz) is shot in 1950s American film noir style and centers around a blind writer who experiences events in the present that remind him of ones in the past. It promises cleverly-crafted divergent storylines, metacinema and study of how memory is constructed.

“Mammoth” (Dir. Lukas Moodys-son) – released Friday, Nov. 20Swedish director Lukas Moodysson, like Almodóvar, is a household name in international cinema. His latest film

stars two actors you’ll surely recognize, Gael García Bernal and Michelle Wil-liams, who play a successful couple in New York. The story takes us around the globe and deals intimately with is-sues of globalization.

“The Road” (Dir. John Hillcoat) – released Wednesday, Nov. 27At long last, the cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel will be released. It has an ensemble cast, including Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron. Though it may not be entirely faithful to the book, it already looks like a frontrunner for next year’s Oscars.

“The Princess and the Frog” (Dir. Ron Clements & John Musker) – released Wednesday, Nov. 25The unveiling of the first African-

American Disney princess make this film worth watching, regardless of how bad it may turn out to be. Early reviews suggest stereotyping and insensitivity, but Disney still firmly stands behind its product. If it’s anything like those Disney classics it claims to resemble, it may well become a classic itself.

Films to see, skip over Thanksgivingby BECQUER MEDAK-SEGUINMovie Reviewer

by CAITLIN HARDEE Staff Reporter

W!"# #$ %&'(:

“#e Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Dir. Chris Weitz) – released Fri-day, Nov. 20“#e Blind Side” (Dir. John Lee Hancock) – released Friday, Nov. 20“Old Dogs” (Dir. Walt Becker) – released Wednesday, Nov. 25“Ninja Assassin” (Dir. James McTeigue) released Wednesday, Nov. 25

For answers to last weeks crossword, see www.whitmanpioneer.com

COURTESY OF PIZZA PIPELINE

While a Touchstone press release blurb referred to Chris O’Dell’s book, “Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and the Women They Loved”, as “the ul-timate fly-on-the-wall rock memoir,” O’Dell hopes that readers take it as more than just a history of rock and roll.

“I hope that people will feel they are there with me on the journey and really connect to it,” she said in an interview. “Most of the book is about relationships, addiction, forgiveness . . . it’s about the human experience.”

O’Dell’s co-author Katherine Ket-cham also had some ideas.

“I think Chris’s story also shows how drugs can obstruct these rela-tionships,” said Ketcham. “It’s also about her experience during an in-credible era and . . . how many chal-lenges and joys a young person can face.”

O’Dell, an addiction recovery counselor and hynotherapist, shared her story on Monday, Nov. 16, in Maxey Auditorium with Whitman and the Walla Walla community about her experiences the music busi-ness, addiction and the intimate rela-tionships she formed with the Beatles and other rock and roll legends.

Initially a personal assistant at the multimedia corporation Apple Corps Ltd, she worked for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. She later worked as a tour manager for Bob Dylan and her good friend George Har-rison, among others. Eventually she traveled with groups such as Queen and Santana as the translator and co-owner of a Frankfurt promotion company.

O’Dell hoped that the student au-dience would be interested in her because they would connect to her story as a young adult, not just for the scoop on rock legends.

“A lot of what this is about is the time of youth . . . trying to decide what you want to do with your life,” said O’Dell.

“I think the fact [is] that life is so

open to possibilities when you are 20 years old, but you feel like you’re on a track,” said Ketcham. “What her story says to me is how opportunities are offered if you have an open mind.”

O’Dell’s tumultuous journey was surrounded by drugs and rock and roll but also by passionate people in-terested in cultural change and the music they made.

“Apple was like Google is now,” she said. “It was full of young people who were in [the music business] out of love for the music and wanting to be around it.”

Chris also highlighted the dramat-ic change in the music industry from when she first came into the business to after the ‘70s.

“Eventually, as I got older, the pas-sion for me just wasn’t there anymore and I just sort of outgrew it,” said O’Dell. “The music industry changed so that I couldn’t return to it now. I was actually invited to a tour in 2004

and by the end of it . . . I was just exhausted and sick.’”

Aside from the business aspects, she discussed many intimate friend-ships with George Harrison and his former wife, Pattie Boyd—who is still her best friend, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.

Her experience with some of the most beloved bands was candid and sweet-hearted rather than simply tabloid gossip.

“These people, particularly George and Pattie [Harrison] . . . were my friends, people I loved and still love,” said O’Dell. “I never wanted it to be a tell-all . . . because we built a ring of trust and I think I upheld that.”

O’Dell’s joyful memories and in-sight made the legendary figures of the ‘60s and ‘70s into real people—comparable even to Whitman’s frat brothers, roommates, classmates and best friends.

“We were kind of like a traveling college,” said O’Dell, laughing. “No matter what happened during this period—the drugs, the drinking, the free love—I can look back on it with happiness that I got to experience it.”

This connection with both the ba-by-boomers and our generation made for a reflective, entertaining and in-spiring night. For more information on O’Dell, go to www.chrisodell.net or www.missodell.com.

Former Beatles assistant O’Dell recalls travels, old friendshipsby C.J. WISLER Staff Reporter

Chris O’Dell spoke Monday, Nov. 16 in Maxey Auditorium. She has written a book about

her experiences working as a personal assistant to groups such as the Beatles.

HUBANKS

Most of the book is about relationships, addiction, forgiveness ... it’s about the human experience.

Chris O’Dell, author

10 A&E November 19, 2009!e PioneerISSUE 11

NOV. 19, 2009

Page 11Sports

Mixed martial artists: Modern-day gladiators

Last year the women’s basketball sea-son ended with a heartbreaking loss in the semi-finals of the Division III Northwest Conference Championship Tournament to the eventual tourna-ment champions, George Fox Univer-sity. This year, the Missionaries are determined to bring the conference title home to Walla Walla, and prove the slogan of their proposed new team T-shirts: “We’re on top!”

Winning the conference title is by no means an unattainable goal. In fact, they are sitting prettier than last year due to a deep roster with another year of experience under their slider shorts—every single player is return-ing from the 2009 season. With ju-niors Jenele Peterson and Rebecca Sexton and senior Hilary White hav-ing earned All Northwest Conference honors for the 2008-2009 season, and the addition of three promising first-years, Emily Gilbert, Mary Madden and Kelly Peterson, the Missionaries have high hopes.

White, voted one of six players to make All Northwest Conference First Team, undoubtedly had a colossal sea-son last year averaging 13.6 points per game and leading the team to an 18-8 record. Currently, the team does not have a captain.

“If we did [have a captain], it would

be [White],” said first-year guard Kelly Peterson.

White is satisfied about their chem-istry thus far.

“All [the girls] know each other re-ally well and the freshmen fit in really well too,” said White.

First-years Peterson and Madden are both out of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. and have made a smooth transition to Whit-man. More importantly for Whitman basketball fans however, they have taken to the team like ducks to water. Peterson has really enjoyed her first weeks with the team.

“I love the girls and the coach; we hang out together, do homework to-gether, go out to dinner,” said Peter-son, who already runs the court like a true Missionary baller. “We’re working hard and executing plays.”

Meanwhile White admits that the team struggles against George Fox.

“[We hope to] attack the basket with more dribble drive penetration,” said White. Combined with the addition of the new Missionaries, White hopes this will close out big games this year.

Having Sexton, one of the biggest centers in the league, can’t hurt either. Last season, Sexton beasted on the opposition, averaging 11.2 points per game, shooting a field goal percentage of 58 percent.

Head Coach Michelle Ferenz, start-ing her ninth season coaching here at Whitman and 19th overall, knows that

to go all the way the team will have to work together to beat George Fox.

“Everybody’s important. We’re go-ing to have to work together, and we know we can’t take nights off either,” said Ferenz.

Nonetheless Ferenz isn’t making too many guarantees at this point in time.

“The offensive execution still needs a little work,” she said. “They play re-ally well together, are unselfish . . . don’t gamble on defense [and should be] a better rebounding team than last year.”

The team knows this season is not going to be easy. The Northwest Con-ference is set to be extremely com-petitive, with only two teams in the conference hit hard by graduation, George Fox not being one of them. Still, for Whitman basketball fans, this season has championship written all over it.

Ferenz hopes there are plenty of rowdy Whittie fans for the season opener versus Macalester on Friday, Nov. 20.

“[Don't] go home for Thanksgiv-ing; it’s boring at home, right?”

So, even if you do decide to go home for the holiday, keep the women’s Mis-sionary basketball team in your hearts and dreams. But if you’re a truly de-voted fan and you give up delicious turkey for some great basketball, be sure to fill Sherwood with the signa-ture team chant, “Let’s go navy!”

by DOYLE McCARTHY and GABRIEL CAHN Staff Reporters

Whitman women shoot for victory

Randy Couture is a mixed martial arts fighter who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is paid immense amounts of money to beat people bloody. Strangely, he is also immensely religious.

“There's two people—Jesus Christ, who stepped up and died for our sins, and the American GI that steps up and dies for our freedom on a daily basis. This fight is for them!" Courture once said, on why he believes in America.

The two things seem as though they would be irresolvable; how can someone simultaneously hold a belief in Christ and dedicate himself to in-flicting pain? Let’s be honest, MMA is definitely a sport, but it is also a sport where the ultimate goal is to hurt a complete stranger so much they give in or go unconscious.

One reason might be that fighters like Couture endure such relentless pain in the octagon to remind him of the pain Christ endured for Christians and their sins, or the pain our Marines feel on the front line, or it might just be because they want to hit someone. We can’t be sure.

Boxing has been a socially accept-able part of American life for years. However, in recent years the likes of Don King, accusations of fight fixing and the absence of a unified title have delegitimized boxing’s purity. MMA can fill this void. MMA combines boxing with kickboxing and various forms of martial art producing more complete fighters; however, its under-ground roots have caused some people to label the sport as too violent.

John McCain wanted to ban UFC after he saw a fight in 1995. As a life-long boxing fan, he was horrified with what he saw, calling it "barbaric" and "not a sport." This protest is odd, con-

sidering both sports are centered on violence. Boxing enthusiasts would argue that competitive MMA fighting in the UFC is completely devoid of the purity and tradition found in the ring of boxing. Boxing may have tradition, but purity has been lacking in the ring for quite some time. It’s time to give MMA a chance to fill the void boxing has left in the sports world.

“The brutality that happens when the fight is taken to the floor and fighters trying to put their opponent into submission is the purist form of fighting I can imagine," said MMA enthusiast and junior Ryon Camp-bell. "This fierce attitude the fight-ers have not only makes the bouts so fun to watch, but also is what makes the sport even more respectable than boxing.”

Although not everyone will agree with the statement, especially the lat-ter part, what it boils down to is that the styles are just different. Boxers may be able to claim that there is more finesse involved in their sport, but in terms of identifying the best fighters, MMA takes the cake.

If we reconsider Couture’s moti-vation this makes much more sense. His heroes are the men who overcome obstacles in a cruel world. Okay, so it might be a stretch to compare Christ with America’s foot soldiers, but they both have a cause and both strive to overcome obstacles.

Mixed martial arts fighters may simply be expressing their refusal to give into the hardships they encoun-tered in a world that does not always play by the rules. Consider the back-grounds of most of the fighters in-volved in UFC. They come from poor countries, raised by poor families with a strong religious upbringing. When religion cannot save them from the hardships of life, fighting can, and vice versa. The octagon becomes their outlet for life’s difficulties, and what can be more pure than that?

by NOAH MOGEY and SAM KOLLAR Staff Reporters

COMMENTARY

SCOREBOARD

SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, Nov. 14

Women’s Cross CountryNCAA Division III West Regional in Claremont, Calif. - 6K

Top 3 Whitman Finishers Time

12. Yasmeen Colis 23:01.15

16. Sara McCune 23:19.60

19. Kristen Ballinger 23:30.68

*Team !nished 2nd of 17 teams

Men’s Cross CountryNCAA Division III West Regional in Claremont, Calif. - 8K

Top 3 Whitman Finishers Time

40. Curtis Reid 27:24.82

51. Alfredo Villasenor 27:49.42

61. Cory Rand 28.07.99

*Team !nished 10th of 17 teams

TUESDAY, Nov. 17

Men’s BasketballEastern Washington University vs. Whitman College in Cheney, Wash.

Score by half 1 2 Total Team Records

Eastern Wash. Univ. 49 51 100 1-2, 0-0 Big Sky

Whitman College 30 58 88 0-1, 0-0 NWC

Men’s BasketballThe Whitman men look to christen George Ball Court this Friday at 8 p.m. as they play their home opener against Portland Bible College in the first round of the inaugural Walla Walla Vineyard Inn/Bon Appétit Classic. The Missionaries look to their return-ing starters, sophomore Brandon Shaw and junior Max Adcox, to lead a team that features nine underclassmen.

Women’s BasketballSherwood Center will be busy this weekend as the Whitman women host

Macalester College, Whitworth Uni-versity and Lewis & Clark State Col-lege in the Kim Evanger Raney Classic. The Missionaries open up their season this Friday at 6 p.m. and the tourna-ment on Friday against Macalester looking to return to the Northwest Conference Championship Play-offs.

SwimmingThe Missionaries will face their first real test of the season as they travel to Portland for the two-day North-west Swim Invitational. Both men and women are looking to keep their win-

ning streak alive, each having a record of 4-0.

Women’s Cross CountryWith their second-place team fin-ish last weekend’s NCAA Division III West Regional Meet in Claremont, Calif., the women’s cross country team qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships, Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio. They’ll look to ju-nior Kristen Ballinger for leadership as she qualified, individually, for Na-tionals last year.

ADVERTISEMENTS

JACOBSON

Rebecca Sexton ‘11 posts up on Kirsten Vaculik ‘12 during practice. Sexton

leads the Missionaries’ charge to the Northwest Conference title.

Mixed martial arts replaces a problematic boxing industry, taking the title of the ‘most

GO TO

whitmanpioneer.com/sports

For sports columns, up-to-the-minute scores and cover-age of every varsity

sport on campus

12 SPORTS November 19, 2009

I’ve known yoga to be one of the most popular classes here at Whit-man. It’s always a class that !lls up quickly with upper-classmen who use the physi-cal activity as a nice break away from the academic set-

ting. You can tell which students are in yoga based on the mat they're toting into Sherwood and the fact that they always look a bit more relaxed and re-freshed than most students. I’m always in need of relaxation and refreshment, so I wanted in.

On my !rst day, I was greeted by the very charming Rebecca "orpe, the sport yoga instructor. "orpe has been teaching yoga for nine years and emphasizes well-being to her students above anything else.

“I always reference the energy centers or chakras in my classes and I always emphasize mette which means lov-ing kindness to oneself and to others,” "orpe said. I never thought a physical activity could be so in sync with mental and spiritual health, so I had to see it for myself.

She began the class by asking every-one where a sore part of their body was, as an indicator on what to work on that day. "orpe also asked us to express our stresses of the week to get it out of the way before clearing our minds.

“Yoga is not a !tness program. It is an eight-limbed philosophy and the physical aspect is only one limb,” "or-pe said.

With that in mind, I dove right in with various stretching positions, but instantly felt that physical aspect when I started reaching for a body part that was too far away. "e biggest challenge

for me, however, was the breathing pat-tern.

“Breathe in . . . and breathe out,” "orpe said to the class, as collective inhales and exhales !lled the silence in the room. "orpe told me that she usually plays music in the background, but she wasn’t able to provide any tunes that day. Unfortunately, the class was le# hearing me struggle with concen-tration on breathing.

With weights in hand, we did sev-eral lunges and li#s that worked upper and lower body muscles. I had no idea what a deltoid was until I whispered and asked another student where that was on our bodies. "ey’re apparently around your shoulders, where I ended up feeling the most sore the next day. "e deltoids, biceps, hamstrings and even the glutes were feeling the burn as we held positions for a few seconds. I noticed that with relaxed breathing, these positions didn’t feel like I was holding them forever.

Balancing is another one of my weak points. I found this out by doing a “tree” pose that required me to stand on one leg, with the other tucked at the knee for a good hip stretch. I was glad to be next to a wall because as soon as I closed my eyes my body structure fell apart. As I looked around, I saw that almost everyone had it done, showing a calm and comforting con!dence as they held still.

Lastly, we ended with some cooling down drills listening to "orpe’s voice soothe us into deep breathing and relaxation. I’m pretty sure I met my chakra at that moment.

Due to a slight mishap with class registration last semester, this class was meant to incorporate more exercise equipment suited for sport-like activ-ity. However, "orpe made the most of the change in classes and stuck with the sport component by including the use of weights and workout balls.

“Sport yoga is really a western hybrid of traditional yoga poses combined

with some western !tness techniques,” "orpe said about the distinction. “Nevertheless, my classes are always infused with the traditional teachings of yoga.”

"anks to years of cheerleading and gymnastics, basic $exibility is no stranger to me. At least that’s what I thought before going into Sherwood

for my !rst yoga class. Not only does this activity push your $exibility at times, it also challenges your muscle control and concentration.

“I'm a runner and I've found that yoga is a great way for me to balance my exercise and keep my whole body in shape,” said senior Kali Stoehr, a stu-dent in sport yoga. Stoehr also told me

that she comes out of the class feeling "more calm and centered."

It enlightened me to see how good yoga made me feel physically and mentally. Among all the stresses we go through each day, it helps to have classes like this available for us to bal-ance out a hectic lifestyle with a healthy one.

Missy gets athletic: Namaste!

by STATEN HUDSON Staff Reporter

Play ball: Sweets named

MELISSA NAVARROContributing

Reporter

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed Saturday, Nov. 14, at the West regional meet. The men capped off a solid season, plac-ing 10th out of 16 teams. The women excelled, claiming second overall and earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Div. III national champion-ships happening this weekend.

The men were led by senior Curtis Reid, who finished 40th with a time of 27:24.82. This was Reid’s best ever fin-ish at a regional meet.

First-year all-stars Alfredo Villase-nor and Cory Rand competed well, but weren’t at top form. Rand, who con-sistently placed first amongst his fel-low Whitman runners in other meets, placed a distant third at regionals.

“The meet did not go well for me at all,” said Rand. “My legs were very tired all weekend and I think my per-formance can be attributed to that along with the fact that I ran the first mile too fast.”

Coming into the meet, the men were ranked 7th in the region, ahead of Lewis and Clark and Occidental College. Both Lewis and Clark and Occidental finished ahead of Whit-man at the meet.

The men battled injuries through-out the season. Just three weeks ago, senior leader Matthew Kelly developed tendinitis in his right ankle, which prevented him from training with the team in the lead-up to regionals.

“I took a risk in my training and was averaging around 75 to 80 miles a week this summer and I ended up develop-ing tendinitis in my right ankle about three weeks ago,” said Kelly. “The last couple of meets have been pretty frus-trating.”

Kelly spent five out of seven days running in the pool in the three weeks before the regional meet.

On the women’s side, the regional meet was a chance to show the rest of the division just how hard they had been working throughout the season.

Senior Yasmeen Colis led the team, finishing 12th with a time of 23:01.15 on the 6,000-meter course. This was Colis’s best performance of her four trips to regionals. Senior Sara McCune finished close behind, placing 16th in 23:19.60, matching her previous best finish at regionals.

For McCune, her strong finish turned a somewhat lackluster season around. Her rough season, she said, taught her a couple things about the importance of being a good team-mate.

“This season has definitely been tough for me. I have only had one race that I really felt good about, but that has allowed me to develop as a runner and a person in a new way,” said Mc-Cune. “I think this season has helped me remember that running isn't about personal success, but rather about working hard and trying your best, both as an individual and as a team.”

Because cross country is often char-acterized as an individual sport, the team element is often overlooked.

“Mostly everyone’s goal on our team is to better themselves on an individual level,” said sophomore Erick Aguayo. “More often than not, this translates into a desire to work together by push-ing each other to do our best in prac-tices and competitions.”

Running in packs, giving teammates words of encouragement on the course and from the sidelines and pushing each other in practice are all ways that team helps its individual athletes.

Looking forward, both the men’s and women’s teams graduate a lot of their talent this year. However, both have strong first-year runners who will hopefully be able to keep Whit-man cross country strong for years to come.

“We are a much, much stronger team because of our freshmen,” said coach Malcolm Dunn. “They’ve been a great addition to the team; they force the top runners to stay on their game and many are top runners themselves. I’m really excited about our prospects for next season.”

by STATEN HUDSON Staff Reporter

Women’s XC earns trip to Nationals

Whitman men's basketball team opened their season Tuesday, Nov. 17, with a 100-88 loss to the NCAA Division I Eastern Washington University Eagles. However, despite the loss, there were quite a few bright spots for the Missionaries.

Sophomore Brandon Shaw led all scor-ers with 24 points. Shaw also contributed seven steals and four assists as he repeat-edly broke down the players charged with guarding him, weaving through an EWU team that was heavy on fouls and light players. "e Eagles were only able to suit up eight for their third game in four days.

"e Missionaries were able to frus-trate their Division I opponents with their swarming full court press that led to 30 turnovers for the Eagles, one shy of a school record. However, Whitman turned the ball over 19 times themselves, which added to the rather disjointed na-ture of a game where 56 total fouls were called.

"e press requires 40 minutes of hustle from the Missionaries, and several Whit-man players seemed to thrive in this hectic environment. First-year Drew Raher helped to keep Whitman close in a game in which they were physically overmatched, contributing 12 points and !ve rebounds in only 15 minutes of game time before fouling out.

Eastern Washington’s Head Coach Kirk Earlywine commented on the Mis-sionaries press.

""ey play a style that is probably not conducive to Division I, but it's very ef-fective at their level and for their team," he said of the NCAA Division III Mis-sionaries. "When you don't have size and you are playing teams that do, you want to scramble the game. You want to make guys that aren't necessarily ball handlers handle the ball and pass the ball in awk-ward spots."

However, Whitman's grit and hustle could not overcome the Eagles size and strength; the Missionaries were out-re-bounded 54-35 as two Eastern Washing-ton players, 6’9’’ center Brandon Moore

and 6’3’’ guard Alden Gibbs combined for 30 rebounds by themselves. "e de!-cit on the boards was compounded by Whitman's inability to make three point !eld goals as they shot only 17 percent from beyond the arc. Small teams that are physically overmatched usually live or die by the three, and on Tuesday poor long-range shooting sank the Missionar-ies.

Despite the loss. Missionary Head Coach Eric Bridgeland was optimistic about his team’s performance.

“We were pleased with our e%ort but not the outcome. [We] put up 88 points on a [NCAA Division I] team with-out one of our starters, [senior Jordan Wheeler] and made !ve to six runs at making it a serious game in the second half, against a team that 'had to win . . .” we were excited to see that we could dictate a Division I team into our style of play.”

"e Missionaries face Portland Bible College in their home opener Friday, Nov. 20, in the !rst round of the Walla Walla Vineyard Inn/Bon Appétit Classic.

by ALLAN CRUM Staff Reporter

Men’s basketball fallsto Eastern Washington

Melissa Navarro ‘10 strikes a Warrior I pose in the yoga room of the newly refurbished Sherwood Center.

CORNELIUS

A month a#er we reported that Walla Walla had been granted an expansion franchise in the West Coast League, a wood-bat collegiate baseball league, the team !nally has a name.

At a press conference held "ursday, Nov. 12, the team name and mascot were o&cially announced. "e team will be called the Walla Walla Sweets and its mascot will be Sweet Lou, an angry Wal-la Walla sweet onion brandishing a bat.

"e ownership group, Paci!c Ven-tures, held a name-the-team contest on the team’s Web site, www.wallawal-labaseball.com. Out of more than 600 entries, the Sweets moniker was chosen.

Other popular entries included the

Walla Walla Blues, the Walla Walla Pa-dres and the Walla Walla Bing Bangs.

"e team will open its inaugural sea-son next summer at Borleske Stadium. "e stadium is currently undergoing ex-tensive remodeling in preparation for the 2010 season.

A party deck and beer garden are be-ing added, along with new dugouts, a new backstop and a new grandstand behind home plate.

"e West Coast League is a high-caliber college wood bat league with franchises in Or-egon and Washington.

"e league attracts top college players looking to get some experience playing competitive wood bat baseball over the

summer."e season o&cially

starts June 8.