volume cxxix

page 4 page 4

Seth Dawson 12 terms Obamas killing of Anwar al-Awlaki authoritarian

Katie DeCramer 12 talks IM football, cookies and the politics of Sesame Street

Phillip Cheng questions the magic behind herbal cures

OPINION, PAGE 7 SPORTS, PAGE 5OPINION, PAGE 7

SportsOpinion

OCT

132011 www.whitmanpioneer.com | Whitman news since 1896 | Walla Walla, Washington

ISSUE

6

Prentiss Princesses,

2-West Bros

Facebookprepares for drastic makeover

Feature looks beyond thetraditional residence

hall labels

Students and security experts discuss Timeline, the social giants upcoming revamp

page 6 page 4

With debate about gay rights dominating national politics and rainbow stickers slapped on laptops all over Whitman campus, it is clear that in recent years, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) issues have been brought to the front of the American consciousness. As a nation we are moving gradually towards greater social and legal acceptance of all sexual orientations. It is surprising to realize that there are still few professional athletes publicly out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning: it seems the sports world has been left behind in this national shift in consciousness.

Athlete Ally, a program founded with the purpose of bridging this gap through conversation and action, has reached almost 40 colleges across the nation since its inception less than one year ago and is now being brought to Whitman by a few proactive students. The official website defines an Athlete Ally as any personregardless of sexual orientation or gender identitywho takes a stand against homophobia and transphobia in sports and brings the message of respect, inclusion and equality to their athletic community.

Athlete Ally is spread organically through student initiatives on campuses around the nation and is concentrated near its home in the Northeast.

When I was at grad school at Harvard, they had just started an Athlete Ally group on campus. I think we were one of the first, said Whitman varsity swimming alum and current admissions officer Robert Street 07.

The program was started by Hudson Taylor, an All-American Division I wrestler and theater major at the University of Maryland who saw the need for greater awareness about LGBTQ acceptance in athletics at all levels. At its most basic, participation in the program consists of signing a pledge that states: I pledge to lead my athletic community to respect and welcome all persons, regardless of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Beginning right now, I will do my part to promote the best of athletics by making all players feel respected on and off the field.

The purpose of the pledge is to spark thoughtful dialogue among athletic communities and inspire further action supporting LGBTQ acceptance in sports. Whitman is about to become the first college in the Northwest Conference to join the growing number of participating institutions.

Im incredibly excited [about this coming to Whitman]. I think that this is a good place to create the discussion amongst

athletic teams and to help lead the way with other

liberal arts colleges in the Northwest, says Street.

Given that the Whitman community is known for its open-minded attitude and progressive values, some may wonder whether a program like this is even necessary.

This, as it turns out, may be just the problem.

W alt Disney, Hen-ry Ford and one in seven Americans share an invisible characteristic: They have learning disabilities.

Project Eye-to-Eye, a nation-al organization that facilitates men-torship between adults and elemen-tary school students with learn-ing disabilities, is new to Whit-man this fall. In the program, Whit-ties with learning disabilities cre-ate art with local fourth- and fifth-grade students who face similar challenges. The 13 Whitman men-tors will meet with at least as many elementary school students for the first time this Thursday, Oct. 13.

Senior Natalie Tamburello, who participated in Project Eye-to-Eye at her high school, started Whit-mans chapter of the organization. The program is rewarding to her as a mentor because it allows her to empower kids who are struggling with issues similar to the ones that she faces as a person with dyslexia.

[Project Eye-to-Eye] helps kids build self-esteem so they learn how to self-advocate, Tamburello said.

Part of self-advocacy includes asking for extended time on ex-ams, taking a calculator to exams and letting a teacher know that you prefer not to be called on to read.

Sophomore Ted Younie initial-ly thought he would be too busy to mentor, but he later decided that he really cared about serving as a role model for students who were go-ing through an academic experi-ence similar to his own. Since he is a BBMB major, he used to men-

tor with the Howard Hughes Med-ical Institute, but because of his background as a student with dys-lexia, he decided to devote his time to Project Eye-to-Eye instead.

Any student can help some-one in science, but there are not that many collegiate dys-lexics out there, he said.

According to Director of Aca-demic Resources Juli Dunn, 10 per-cent of Whitman students have a documented learning disability af-filiated with the Academic Resource Center. Since national statistics are higher, she suspects that an even higher percentage of students on campus have a documented disabil-ity but have chosen not to make use of the ARC. According to Dunn, the most common learning disabilities on campus are Attention Deficit Dis-order and Attention Deficit Hyperac-tive Disorder. Others include dyslex-ia, dysgraphia and slow processing.

In Project Eye-to-Eye at Whit-man, elementary school kids from Edison, Sharpstein and Green Park will meet with their individually as-signed mentors once a week in the Fouts Center for the Arts to do an art project that relates to their learning disability. One project, for example, involves the kids designing and presenting an inven-tion that they believe would help with their disability.

Younie described the goals he hopes to at-tain for the elemen-tary school kids from the project.

A fter a long night at the fraternities on any given weekend, the amount of waste left behind from the parties is astounding. Glass bottles are strewn about the sidewalk and red plastic cups fill trashcans to the brim.

While Whitman has a rep-utation of being environmen-tally conscious, Whitman fra-

ternities and sororities may not always uphold this status.

Juniors Danielle Broida and Zoe Rogers have recent-ly introduced the Greeks Go-ing Green program in an ef-fort to make the Greek sys-tem become more organ-ized in its recycling programs and encourage overall en-vironmental sustainability.

Broida commented on the overall goal of Greeks Going

Green.

Because federal law defines maternity leave as a type of disability leave, Whitman recently implemented a short-term disability policy to address the physical needs of faculty members who are also new mothers.

Athlete Ally spreads toWhitmancommunity

Project Eye-to-Eye provides support for local students New recycling program

helps Greeks go green

by LIBBY ARNOSTISports Editor

T his year, a short-term dis-ability policy was add-ed to the faculty hand-book. The policy, which can be used as a maternity leave policy, was created to address the phys-ical hardships faced by moth-ers who have just given birth. It was crafted by the 2008 Facul-ty Fringe Benefits Committee.

The short-term disability pol-icy is separate from the already ex-isting family leave plan, a policy which allows tenure-track facul-ty members to reduce their course

loads to accommodate family re-sponsibilities such as caring for a newborn or sick relative. Accord-ing to the 2011 faculty handbook, the family leave plan grants fac-ulty members a one course reduc-tion at 95 percent pay and a two course reduction at 75 percent pay.

The short-term disabili-ty policy covers physically and mentally disabled faculty mem-bers for up to six months. Ac-cording to federal law, the pol-icy also allows new mothers to take a one-course reduction af-

ter they have given birth. Be-cause of the switch to a 3-2 course load and the terms of the fami-ly leave policy, a new mother can take a semester (two courses) off with only a five percent pay cut.

Those who wrote the fam-ily leave plan hoped to use lan-guage that would not exclude men or adoptive parents. In do-ing so, they did not address the physical impact of pregnancy.

Assistant Professor of Pol-itics Susanne Beechey was one of the first faculty members to

use the new short-term disabil-ity policy to take time off af-ter the birth of her son. She dis-cussed the trouble with the fam-ily leave policy via email.

Whitman was ahead of many schools in long ago in-stituting gender-neutral fami-ly leave but behind in address-ing the gendered, physical reali-ties of pregnancy and child birth. This disadvantaged female facul-ty who bore children, she said.

see ALLIES, page 5see EYE-TO-EYE, page 2

see GREEKS GO GREENpage 3

see SHORT TERM DISABILITY, page 2

BALANCING MATERNITYWITH TENURE PURSUITS

by ROSE WOODBURYStaff Reporter

by DYLAN TULLStaff Reporter

by KARAH KEMMERLYNews Editor

ARTWORK BY BERFIELD

ILLUSTRATION BY PETERSON

Oct

132011

PAGE

2NEWSNUMBERS IN

THE NEWS

1 millionPounds of material waste Americans generate per person every year taking into account hazardous waste, con-struction debris and chemicals used for manufacturing.

32% Percentage of total waste Americans recycle.

44%Percent of Walla Walla residents that participate in the citys recycling program.

30Gallons of bottled water the average American consumes annually.

0Number of plastic water bottles sold on campus.

$236Billion dollars of estimated annual revenue of the U.S. recycling industry.

6.8%Total percent of plastic used in the U.S. that is recyclable and becomes recycled.

11.6Million tons of paper and card-board exported to China from the United States in 2009.

80%Average percentage of a re-cycled electronics that are sent to locations like Guiyu, China, where employed workers are paid an average of eight dollars a day.SOURcES: tHE UNIVERSItY OF UtAH, DIScOVER MAGAZINE, tHE NEW YORK tIMES, tHE WASHINGtON tIMES, tIME MAGAZINE, NAtIONAL PUBLIc RADIO (NPR), tHE UNION BULLEtIN

by shelly leNews EditorR epresentatives from over 30 graduate schools gath-ered in Reid Ballroom on

Oct. 6 for Whitmans tenth annu-al graduate school fair. The Stu-dent Engagement Center host-ed the event, which was designed to educate students about their post-graduation options. A stream of students filtered in and out of the room throughout the after-noon, perusing the information laid out on tables and chatting with representatives from schools around the Northwest and beyond.

We think studentsfirst-years through graduating sen-iorsshould attend this fair just to find out what the possibilities are, said Director of Career De-velopment Susan Buchanan, who has organized the fair for the past ten years. They might find some hidden jewels and surprises that they didnt know before. For first-years and sophomore students, [the fair] can help them determine their course of study at Whitman. Stu-dents can learn a lot. Its particular-ly valuable because of the human contact with the representatives.

Programs represented at the fair ranged from schools offering degrees in natural medicine and ed-ucation to travel-volunteer organi-zations. Prior to the fair, a panel of law school representatives fielded questions from interested students.

It used to be where students went to law school just to become a traditional trial attorney, but now-adays you can utilize the law de-gree in many different ways, said Mathiew Le, a representative from University of Washingtons law program. Le cited advocacy and politics as possible areas to which a law degree could be applied.

SaeRom Konecky, a rep-resentative from Gonzaga Uni-versitys law program, advised students to research their post-graduation options carefully.

Definitely find out as much as you can and weigh what youre getting into against what you real-ly want out of it, she said. [A law degree] is a really expensive degree to get if youre not entirely sure if thats the path you want to take.

Students interested in trave-ling after graduation were given the opportunity to converse with rep-resentatives from programs such as

the Peace Corps and the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program (JET), both of which assist col-lege graduates in working abroad.

Its really a chance to expe-rience another countrys culture while at the same time understand-ing yourself in a different light, said Brett Rawson, representative for JET and a Whitman alumnus.

Although statistics show that many Whitman students do end up pursuing a postgraduate educa-tion, the fairs organizers have had trouble drumming up student inter-est in the event in the past. Rachel Christopherson, an admissions of-ficer representing Pacific Luther-an University at the fair, said that nationally the number of students applying to graduate schools has been relatively low in recent years.

There are fewer students coming to grad school. Its kind of working in a different way than professionals in the industry are used to. Generally a down econo-my means more people looking to further their education. It had been the case in 2007 that the numbers of graduate students were going up, but the census from 2010 showed that theyve started to lessen again. I think people are worried about

how to pay for it, and if its really going to lead to a job afterwards.

192 students attended the fair and 17 attended the law school panel, a significant increase from previous years according to As-sistant Dean for Student Engage-ment Noah Leavitt. Leavitt cred-ited an unorthodox ad campaign by ASWC for the events success.

ASWC did a really great job creatively getting the word out about these two events and it is highly likely that much of the in-crease in attendance is related to ASWCs investment in making [the fair] an important learning and reflection opportunity for the entire student body, said Leavitt.

ASWCs advertising tactics included encouraging professors to speak in class about their grad-uate school experiences. ASWC also set up several eye-catch-ing displays around campus, in-cluding colorful roadblocks and a stuffed cowboy near Styx, ac-companied by slogans encour-aging students to attend the fair.

The light-hearted nature of the advertising I think emphasiz-es what a benefit and good thing it is to go to the fair, rather than just some sort of requirement, said

ASWC President Matt Dittrich. The idea is that we make it feel super accessible and something that is worth students while.

I think this is a really great resource we have on cam-pus, an opportunity to bring all these different options to one room and help give a little fo-cus [to] what I want to do imme-diately after graduating, said senior Emma ORourke-Powell.

Other students found that the fair didnt have enough va-riety to hold their interest.

I didnt really see any-thing that jumped out at me. I just kind of walked in and walked out, said senior Jessica Ma-tresse, a Spanish major. Most of the things I know about graduate school I researched on my own, so nothing [at the fair] seemed to fit what I was looking for.

Associate Professor of Poli-tics Jeanne Morefield also ac-knowledged this problem.

The family leave poli-cy worked well for men and for adoptive parents, but it wasnt enough for women having ba-bies who couldnt just spring back to work after giving birth. It also placed a heavy burden on women who were the pri-mary wage earner in their fam-ilies and who couldnt af-ford to take time off, she said.

Beechey feels that the short-term disability poli-cy has addressed these issues.

In acknowledging the gen-dered, physical realities of preg-nancy, the new short-term dis-ability policy is a great im-provement, of particular val-ue to female junior facul-ty members. While not per-fect, this policy is a big step in the right direction, she said.

Dean of Faculty Timo-thy Kaufman-Osborn agrees.

We still have a ways to go before Whitman is as fully fam-ily-friendly as it might befor example, through better provi-sions for infant and child care. Still, the adoption of the short-term disability policy is an im-portant step in the right di-rection, he said in an email.

Sarah Hurlburt, the chair of the 2008 Faculty Fringe Bene-fits Committee and primary au-thor of the policy believes that putting a short-term disabili-ty policy in the handbook was

a natural step for Whitman.No one I talked to could

remember a medical incident that resulted in a dock of pay. Adding the short-term disa-bility policy to the handbook made official what was already in practice, she said. Hav-ing a policy on the books is im-portant so that everyone knows the possibilities open to them.

Like Morefield and Beechey, Hurlburt doesnt call the policy perfect, but she be-lieves it has made a positive im-pact.

When writing the poli-cy, we were trying to do the most good. We werent try-ing to make a statement about a perfect world, she said.

Hurlburt says that the new policy has greatly im-proved Whitmans mater-nity leave policies in com-parison to similar colleges.

With this policy, Whit-man has leap-frogged from the bottom third of the panel of 14 to the top third, she said.

Several panel schools, like Grinnell College and Reed College have similar poli-cies for addressing maternity.

Fortunately, taking time off has been beneficial for Beechey.

Without the new short-term disability policy I would not have been able to take the semester to recover and be with my son. With this poli-cy I will be able to return to the classroom in the spring fully recovered, she said.

[I want] to make kids excit-ed about learning and to be able to stand up and tell your teacher or professor who I am and what I need to make my learning environ-ment the best [for me], he said.

Dunn described her role in the project to be mainly advisory because she believes the beauty of the program lies in giving the men-tors and the elementary school students space to learn from each other away from the influence

of academic authority figures.I respect that space and I

think its important that students are given that freedom, she said.

Dunn hypothesized that many of the Project Eye-to-Eye mentors signed up for the program as a way to give back for the help they had re-ceived and to pay it forward.

However, both Tamburel-lo and Younie stated that they had a hard time in elementary school because of the lack of sup-port and mentoring they received.

Tamburello used to think she wouldnt be able to go to college because of her dyslexia. Now she is committed to using her degree to help people like herself. Last summer she received the Whit-man Internship Grant to conduct research on the brain science of dyslexia at Stanford University.

At the end of year there will be an art show displaying the mentors and mentees work.

Its all about L.D. [learn-ing disability] pride, Tamburel-lo said.

Students weigh options at grad school fair

Policy aids new mothers

Whitties with learning disabilities mentor

by EMILY LIN-JONESStaff Reporter

Stephanie Herbst 12 talks to a representative from the Oregon Leadership in Sustainability Graduate Certification program. Schools pres-ent primarily represented teaching, business and law programs. One hundred ninety-two students attended the fair. Photo by Bergman

Student mentors Ted Younie 14, Natalie Tamburello 12 and Bella Zarate 14 hope to give local fourth and fifth grade students with learning disabilities extra support. Program mentors will meet with students once a week to work on art projects. Photo by Felt

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefPatricia Vanderbilt

Managing EditorCara Lowry

News EditorsKarah Kemmerly Shelly Le A&E Editorcaitlin Hardee

Feature EditorsAlyssa FairbanksKelsey Kennedy

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Opinion EditorKyle Seasly

Humor EditorAdam Brayton

Photography EditorEthan Parrish

Illustration EditorBinta Loos-Diallo

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

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

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For information about advertising in the Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact vanderpa@whitman.edu.

from SHORT-TERM DISABILITY, page 1

from PROJECT EYE-TO-EYE, page 1

CORRECTIONS TO ISSUE 6

In the Whitman Crime in Numbers infographic on page 1 Drug Violations should be 7 for 2008, 30 for 2009 and 17 for 2010. Aggravated Assault

should be 1 for 2010.

Oct

132011

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3NEWS

[Greeks Going Green] is a pro-gram working to implement a greater sense of environmental stewardship into the Greek sys-tem. We hope to spread aware-ness, education and thoughtful ac-tion about sustainable living on campus and beyond, she said.

The key to this system is the sustainability chairs. Sustainabil-ity chairs are the environmental leaders of each Greek chapter, or-ganizing and encouraging a sus-tainable chapter. The idea of hav-ing an environmental leader in each chapter is modeled after the Green Leaders of Whitmans compost-ing program, who are likewise en-vironmental stewards of residence halls. Sustainability chairs are ap-pointed like any other Greek po-sition, such as philanthropy chair, social chair or president, and are in charge of coordinating recy-cling for their individual fraternity.

Sophomore Tau Kappa Ep-silon (TKE) Sustainability Chair Max Reikosky described via email his position and expectations.

For TKE in particular, I plan to create a separate box for glass since glass is usually thrown away. This box at the end of each week will be picked up by the organization that created the sustainability chair

and take it to be recycled, he said.Up until this point, the recy-

cling has been incredibly disorgan-ized for all of the fraternities. Ac-cording to Broida, Bob Biles, the recycling manager, had interns who would come and pick up the fraterni-tys recycling once or twice a week.

A survey was sent out to get the opinion of Greek members on the sustainability of each chapter.

100 percent of people said that their chapters could be more sustainable, Rogers said.

Due to the confusion that has been felt by fraternities about the recycling and handling of waste and the overwhelming feeling that eve-ry chapter could be more sustain-able, it is surprising that this sys-tem was not implemented earlier.

Sophomore Sam Kirsch, a Phi Delta Theta, commented on Phis current recycling system via email.

A dedicated program de-signed to help Phi be more account-able for recycling and eco-friendly is a great idea. Not only just with recycling, but getting Phi more in-volved in reducing consump-tion of environmentally impact-ful products as opposed to just re-using or recycling is also an im-portant step towards improved sus-tainability, he said. Phi does an adequate job of trying to man-age its ecological impact, but

it could certainly do more, and hopefully Greening the Greeks is a way to accomplish that.

The basics of the program draws inspiration from a similar University of California at Berke-ley program titled Greening the Greeks. The idea is exactly the same: to encourage the Greek system to become more environ-mentally friendly and efficient at recycling, while also ensur-ing that the program is self-sus-tainable. The program at Berke-ley was a wild success, and was enthusiastically adopted through-out the 38 fraternities on campus.

Now, the responsibility of creating a more sustainable Greek system falls on the sustainabili-ty chairs of each chapter. With or-ganized and dependable sustaina-bility chairs like Reikosky, it ap-pears that environmental sus-tainability will increase dramat-ically within the Greek system.

Rogers expressed her ex-citement regarding the program. Rodgers hopes that the program will be sustainable with the or-ganization of dependable sus-tainability chairs like Reikosky.

I hope its a program that will just stay for the fu-ture. Itd be really nice to see it just keep flourishing and, yeah, just see where it goes, she said.

On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Walla Walla community is hosting a walk to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event. It hopes to raise awareness about domes-tic and sexualized violence in or-der to work towards preventing it.

The event begins with a noon walk from Heritage Park on Main Street to the county courthouse and

concludes with a 6 p.m. candlelight vigil at the Land Title Plaza on Main.

Organizations sponsor-ing the event include the YWCA, the Diversity Advisory Coun-cil, the Washington State Peni-tentiary Employee Association, the Zonta club of Walla Walla and the United Gender Movement.

Chetna Chopra, adjunt in-structor of general studies at Whit-man, is a member of the Diversi-ty Advisory Council that helped coordinate the event. She feels

that discussing issues of do-mestic violence is necessary.

In a time when the city of To-peka considered repealing the law that criminalized domestic vio-lence because of budget cuts and shelters are losing financial sup-port, it is important to keep this is-sue in the public view, she said.

Chopra believes that domes-tic violence is a widespread issue.

This isnt just a wom-ens problem. This affects men and children, too, she said.

With the colonization of an Alpha Phi wom-ens fraternity chap-ter on the Whitman campus this fall, Greek life is chang-ing. The new sorority, invit-ed by the Panhellenic council last fall to colonize at Whitman, ended its recruitment process at the end of September and be-gan sorority activities last week.

The Panhellenic commu-nity is excited to get the year started, said Allie Winkel-man, Alpha Phis main lead-ership consultant from the in-ternational office. Were su-per excited to have members. We are going to continue to get more members throughout the semester hopefully, so were really excited for that too.

The womens fraternity commenced with about 35 mem-bers from all four grade levels at Whitman. The majority of the girls are first-years, which Win-kelman says is important for building a strong base, but the ad-dition of the upperclassmen will help Alpha Phi start off strong.

Were excited for having the five seniors and the upper-classmen who might not have had a chance to do Greek life before and to show us the ropes at Whitman, said Winkelman. Its great for [seniors] because they get to experience Greek life before they leave and leave such a great mark for their last year. Were really happy with it.

So far, Alpha Phi has had its official bid night, its first func-tion and chapter meeting, and a few informal get-togethers.

I feel like we havent got-ten to know each other that well yet, but everyone Ive met is really great, said first-year Julia Thompson, a new pledge. [Everyone is] real-ly down to earth, and as some-one who went through for-mal rush, I feel more comfort-able with this group of girls.

The first chapter meeting went over much of Alpha Phis history both nationally and at Whitman and discussed the so-roritys national philanthropy. According to Thompson, the chapter was present at Whitman for about 30 years beginning in the 1940s, but died out in the 70s because of lack of demand.

Rumors surrounded the chapters reformation this fall, but mostly people ques-tioned what the goals of the re-instatement of the womens fraternity were going to be.

A lot of the girls in [Alpha Phi] didnt rush the first time. Its not like they went in ex-pecting to join a sorority, said new pledge and first-year Louisa Rogers. I think whats appeal-

ing about Alpha Phi is that we can make it whatever we want.

Winkelman said the organ-izers had no expectations for the number of pledges the sorori-ty would get, because coloni-zation is such a unique process. She was not directly involved with the selection process, but the organizers were looking for a cohesive group of wom-en to represent Alpha Phi well.

Ive been pretty hap-py so far, said Thompson. I think that theres a good mix of girls. I think that the demo-graphic is maybe a little bit dif-ferent than the other sororities on campus, and we can make it basically whatever we want.

We dont have a stereotype to fit, and we dont have to pick a group we feel like we identi-fy with the best, said Rogers. Were kind of starting a group, and so we get to define it be-cause it hasnt been defined.

According to Rog-ers, some girls who partici-pated in recruitment for Al-pha Phi were not offered bids.

We had a meeting to talk about how were trying to stay away from the really exclu-sive Oh, were a sorority, said Rogers. That being said, there were some people who just didnt get in to Alpha Phi.

Rogers said the bid pro-cess really looked at the in-dividual girls, and tried to make sure they would work well with the sorority.

They were looking at the girl, and not like, Oh, youre not good enough for Al-pha Phi. said Rogers. It was more like, You dont real-ly seem like the kind of person who would really enjoy this.

With the new beginnings now, the small womens fra-ternity will include leader-ship opportunities for all mem-bers. Each member will be as-signed to a committee to help plan events for the year, and in November the sorority will hold formal elections for official of-ficer positions along with the other three womens fraternities.

Its not all me, said Win-kelman, speaking about the or-ganization tasks for the sorori-ty. Ill give [the members] ad-vice and generate ideas and help them implement things, but it will be a lot of the girls jobs to get things done as well.

Winkelman has an apartment in Walla Wal-la and is stationed here all year to help with the tran-sition and building phase.

My job is technically to be a traveling consultant, said Winkelman. She will go back and forth between Walla Wal-la and national headquarters in Chicago, but Whitman is her primary focus for the year.

At Whitmans Graduate School Fair on Thurs-day, Oct. 6, one ta-ble stood apart from all the rest. The experience it offered was significantly different from the rest of the room: the moth-er of all community service, 27 months with the Peace Corps.

According to their mission statement, the Peace Corps is an arm of the U.S. government that aims to help the people of inter-ested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, help promote a better understand-ing of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Regional representative Erin Erickson was on campus to be-gin her job of engaging and re-cruiting students from Whit-man. Erickson, herself a Peace Corps alumna after serving a term counseling nonprofit organ-izations in Moldova, arrived at Whitman with a specific strategy.

My plan is to engage the modern languages department, French and Spanish speakers es-pecially, Erickson said. To en-gage specific departments that are relevant to Peace Corps ser-vice is a strategy Im looking for.

At the fair, and at a presen-tation given later that day, Erick-son explained numerous aspects of the Peace Corps: its deploy-ment strategy, in which host coun-tries request help from volunteers for projects in six general are-as; its schedule, which includes three months of intensive train-ing, a year of cultural immersion and a year of work in any of over 75 developing nations all across the world; and the programs benefits for college graduates.

Its a life-defining ex-perience: two years of quali-ty, challenging and very reward-ing international work experi-ence in a technical field, which is very applicable to the work-force back home, she said. I can say that having Peace Corps experience makes you stand out over other applicants applying for jobs in the United States.

At the informational ses-sion, several students expressed interest in the Peace Corps. Sophomore Morgan Walk-er first learned of the organiza-tion from a high school teacher.

I really liked the idea of it, Walker said. It sounded like [my teacher] had this great experience that really benefited him . . . I real-

ly wanted to enrich myself by do-ing it, and maybe give myself a lit-tle more time before grad school, before starting the rest of my life.

Assistant Professor of Histo-ry Jacqueline Woodfork spent two years with the Peace Corps in Li-beria, teaching English to mid-dle school students. Woodfork be-lieves that her service changed the entire direction of her life.

Honestly, I got more out of it than I gave. I have learned that you cannot call yourself poor, Woodfork said. When youre a graduate student and you have very little disposable income, the word poor pops into your mind for self-description. But when you really see poverty, you re-alize that you simply cannot

talk about being poor because you cant go to the Taco Truck. Peace Corps was the best deci-sion I ever made, although prob-ably not for reasons I originally thought it would be a great thing.

One challenge that Peace Corps recruiters often face on col-lege campuses is a view held by some students that the organiza-tion represents an arm of Amer-ican imperialism. Natalie Jam-erson, co-president of Whitman Direct Actionan organization, similar to the Peace Corps in its mission, that takes Whitman stu-dents to work in the same com-munity in Guatemala every sum-merspoke to this viewpoint.

If we perceive a need that externally seems like one that

should be addressed, that might not be their priority, and they might not volunteer their own ef-fort or resources, Jamerson said. The way to get things done is to empower the community mem-bers to solve their own problems. Taking ownership of the pro-ject is whats really important.

In graduate school, one of Er-icksons professors asked her to consider the interventionist an-gle of the Peace Corps. She con-cluded that the relationships built between volunteers and commu-nities go far beyond imperialism.

The value of building per-sonal relationships is what brings peace, in my opinion, Erickson said. I was able to say, Im an American citizen, but I may not agree with everything my govern-ment is doing. And they could talk about their politics, and we could have an exchange and dialogue that wouldnt have been possi-ble if I had not been a volunteer.

Woodforks personal expe-rience with the Peace Corps in-formed her own opinion on the eth-ics of international development.

What is important, that the Peace Corps sometimes los-es sight of, is that we are working ourselves out of jobs, she said. We want nations to be able to fill their own human resource needs from their own citizen base.

Woodfork said that she was struck by how much of what we do is developed by the host coun-try. However, she acknowledges that there are multiple motivations that drive a Peace Corps volunteer.

Saving the world is not go-ing to happen through the ef-forts of one Peace Corps volun-teer. There are cross-purposes and cross-motivations at play, she said. There is no saving the world. But sometimes you can have a positive impact on a per-son, and that is a good thing.

New program helps Greeks go green

Locals walk to end domestic violence

Alpha Phi establishes identity, finalizes bids

Students consider ethics of international work with Peace Corpsby SAM CHAPMANStaff Reporter

by ALLISON WORKStaff Reporter

by KARAH KEMMERLYNews Editor

Erin Erickson, Walla Wallas regional representative for the Peace corps, encourages students to consider the Peace corps as a post-graduate option at the graduate school fair. the Peace corps sends volunteers to over 75 developing nations. Photo by Beck

from GREEKS GO GREEN, page 1

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Oct

132011

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4A&EPIO PICKS

Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights several events hap-pening on campus or in Walla

Walla during the weekend. Here are this weeks picks:

Rocky Horror Picture Show TryoutsIn preparation for the Satur-day, Nov. 12 showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, tryouts for the shadow cast and opening dancers will be held in Maxey. Take the stage in a night of wild debauchery and B-movie fun! No acting experience required.Thursday, Oct. 13, 8 p.m. Maxey Auditorium.

Persian Sunfire Window UnveilingAcclaimed glass artist Dale Chihuly and Walla Walla Foundry President Mark An-derson 78 present Whitman with the gift of a new custom glass installation. Come see the new piece, inspired by ancient Middle Eastern art, in an unveiling ceremony in Cordiner.Friday, Oct. 14, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Cordiner Hall.

Sweet AdelinesJoin the Sweet Adelines, Walla Wallas female a cap-pella group, for an evening of live music, with guests the Blue Mountain Chorus and Blueprint Quartet. Tickets online at www.bluemountain-chorus2011.eventbrite.com and in-store at Book & Game.Friday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m. WWCC Performing Arts Center.

Tatsuya NakataniThe Art and Music Depart-ments present visiting improv drummer Tatsuya Nakatani. Nakatani explores resonance and percussion, using violin bows to manipulate the vibra-tions of cymbals and singing bowls.Monday, Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m. Chism Recital Hall.

As coursework piles up and the daylight dwindles, you may find yourself craving a caffeine pick-up. But where to find your fix? I head-ed to three local coffee shops and tried a nonfat latte at each. Heres the latte lowdown on Reid Es-presso, the Main Street Starbucks and the Colville Street Patisserie.

Scaldingly hot and unfail-ingly acrid, the lattes at Reid are possibly the worst java for your buck in Walla Walla. The caf brews Starbucks coffee, so the difference between the two prod-ucts lies with the technique of the Bon Apptit baristas, the equip-ment, or both. The flavor resem-bles a burnt piece of toast lad-

en with rancid butter. Most egre-giously, these lattes are consist-ently devoid of foam. They ap-pear to contain some kind of heated dairy product, but its de-cidedly lacking in frotha dis-grace to the name of latte. Mean-while, the $3.25 price for a 12 oz. latte makes this not only the worst of the three lattes, but also the most expensive. The only conceivable reason to grab cof-fee here? Convenience. For stu-dents in a rush, Reid provides a more immediate location than the coffee shops downtown.

Starbucks nonfat latte sim-mers at a drinkable tempera-ture with a nice layer of foam. The latte has a smooth flavor, although its a little bland. The Starbucks on Main Street of-fers a comfortable environ-

ment to study or relax with friends, and prices are fairly cheap at $2.72 for a 12 oz. latte.

The Colville Street Patisse-ries nonfat latte is bursting with rich, multi-textured flavor to sat-isfy even the most demanding coffee connoisseur. Every as-pect down to the hue of the brew, swirling in soft shades of warm mahogany, shows more depth and dimension than either of the other two lattes. If you stay there to enjoy your drink, theyll serve it with intricate designs in the foam in a nice ceramic mug. And with the Patisseries lovely mod-ern interior design, done in stone and beautiful curving surfaces and adorned with art, hanging out for a few minutes is anything but difficult. $3.15 for a 12 oz. latte.All prices are listed with tax included.

Every week, The Pioneer searches out Whitties who bring an extra splash of fashion consciousness and sartorial daring to campus. This weeks Style Spotlight: Senior theatre major Caitlin Goldie.

Style Sound Bites

My scarf was my great-grandmas, and I inherited a lot of her scarves and clothes and costume jewelry and such. I wear her things often. It has definitely an emotional attachment because of that. The boots I got in Portland, in a little store that was across the street from my favorite tea place. Its in a neighborhood that I really like.

Basically, I put outfits together at the last minute, and I just wear whatever I feel like wearing in the morning. I dont really give it too much thought, but I do think about it.

For a lot of my short little life so far, I think, like, Jackie O. was sort of a fashion icon to me, but that sort of branched off from that, and now I just wear a bigger variety of things.

Things that Im attracted to, for myself to wear, are usually just things that stand out to me. Things that I think are unusual Im usually attracted to. I think that people should just wear whatever they want. People are often afraid to wear things; like, people will tell me, Oh my gosh, I could never pull that off, or something, and I always think thats kind of ridiculous, because why not? Why cant you just wear whatever you want? Nothings going to happen to you.

As Whitmans new class of 2015 learns how to bal-ance upcoming midterms, hectic study weekends and late-night cram sessions, music seems to be a necessary distraction and a helpful tool to get through it all.

This past week, The Pioneer polled new Whitman students about their needs and opinions regarding study music. Most agreed that the best study music consists of more laid-back, less beat-driven music.

I cant listen to screaming mu-sic, said first-year Franchesca Corts.

Fellow first-year Lauren Plat-man agreed.

I prefer more mellow, less repetitive music. I also definite-ly cant study and listen to mu-sic Ill sing along to, she said.

But while certain study sound-track needs were more general, some students offered up specif-ic study music likes and dislikes.

Definitely no Wu-Tang Clan, said first-year Alex Beard.

No hip-hop, said first-year Matthew Nelson. I like ba-roque. Handel is the best to lis-ten to because it is so relaxing.

Other popular study music in-cluded Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Bei-rut, RJD2, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Franz Ferdinand, Deer-hunter and Department of Eagles. However, some students preferred no music or non-lyrical music.

I typically dont listen to music with lyrics while study-ing, said first-year Annabelle Marcovici. But when I do lis-ten to music, I listen to Vene-tian Snares. Its a breakcore band. I feel like it helps me think faster.

Music can be kind of dis-tracting, said first-year Ruth Hwang, adding that she some-times listens to recordings of rain to help her concentrate. Marco-vici expressed similar methods.

When I just want to stay fo-cused I listen to white noise on my headphones, said Marcovici.

When Im doing math or an-ything with numbers, I like to listen to rap, said first-year Henry Allen. But when Im reading I cant lis-ten to anything. I feel like when Im listening to music Im either trying to learn the lyrics or trying to sing along; therefore, I find that music can really hurt my concentration.

Hearing the title Drive, the aver-age moviegoer would get psyched up for a fast-paced, thrilling ride. However, after a great opening chase scene, nobody does much driving in this 2011 octane-tinged crime film. Drive, like its title, has no frills whatsoever and apparently the director believes that silence is golden. No drama, no dialoguewhats left to watch? The hunk?

Drive follows Ryan Gos-ling, known only as the Driver, a stunt man by day and a getaway driver by night. When the Driv-er falls for his neighbor Irene, who has a husband in jail and a nice kid, the plot moves along predictably through the first hour. The Driv-er goes on a date with Irene and, when they return, carries the young boy into bed, but still only opens his mouth to put in his toothpick.

After about an hour, I was re-

ally hoping the movie was going to be over soon. Then the film took an unpredicted U-turn. Irenes hus-band comes home and is forced to rob a pawnshop, and the Driver of-fers to help. Finally the movie shifts out of second gear andBAMthe husband is shot and killed. The action ramps up as the Driver tries to avenge the death of Irenes hus-band. How sweetwell, not real-ly. Enter Albert Brooks (playing a neurotic person as usualremem-ber the voice of the dad in Find-ing Nemo?). Brooks gives the cu-linary one-two punch to an em-ployee, a fork in the eye followed by two stabs of the butcher knife to the jugular. Excellent cinema-tography and the silence, even if it does drag on, dramatically magni-fies the gratuitous violence tenfold. Read the rest of this review atwww.whitmanpioneer.com

By now, many of Facebooks users have grown accus-tomed to frequent changes and overhauls of its design and fea-tures. However, with the sites new-est incarnation on the horizon, some may find it more difficult to adjust.

Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced plans for Timeline, a new profile lay-out designed to be easier to navi-gate. Resembling a digital scrap-book, the feature presents each Fa-cebook users information in a re-

verse-chronological format, with each post or event on ones pro-file stemming from a timeline in the center of the page. The new format, rolling out over the next few weeks, was designed to make it easier to see everything one has posted on Facebookessential-ly a digital record of a persons life, depending on how much in-formation he or she has posted.

As always, new concerns about Internet privacy come along with the new format. How-ever, the new design may not be as unfamiliar as it seems.

I think it looks like its com-

pletely different, and when I first saw it, I was like, Whoa, people are gonna freak out about this, but once you get used to it, its even more user-friendly, said soph-omore Anne Gaskins, who is al-ready using Timeline on her profile.

Though it may have an easy-to-use layout, Timeline still provides a good reminder of what to post and what not to post on the Internet.

I think its making people more aware of the risks of sharing too much, said Whitman IT Secu-rity Officer Mike Osterman. Rec-ommending pages like Sophos, which posts tips on Facebook pri-

vacy, Osterman added that stu-dents should take this as an op-portunity to get more familiar with what your privacy settings are.

If people who will be im-portant in my future see this, will it be embarrassing? I think thats the key question, said As-sistant Vice President of Com-munications Ruth Wardwell.

For better or worse, Time-line is comingafter an ini-tial opt-in period, all user profiles will be converted to the new for-mat. In the meantime, users can start considering how these chang-es will impact their sharing habits.

T he Fine Arts House offers a haven for some of the cre-ative, artsy kids running around Whitmans campus. Two of the current residents, sopho-mores Zoe Randol and Russell Sperberg, talked about life in the interest house, their connections with art and what to consider if youd like to live there next year.

The Fine Arts House, es-tablished in 1982, is located on the corner of Boyer Ave. and Otis St. Adorned with a color-ful sign and a rainbow ham-mock, it exudes the vibe of a bohemian artist commune.

Its very different than liv-ing in a dorm, said Sperberg. Its a lot cozier, but its living in close proximity with six people who you kind of know, but you dont know what it will be like to live with them. Its trial by fire.

But we all get along really well, Randol added. Were a very high-energy group. Its nice that our big personalities clash well.

Sperberg, a theatre ma-jor with a passion for piano, de-cided to join the house after vis-iting for dinner one evening.

I loved all the people in-volved, and I thought it would

be more in tune with the things that I like to do, said Sperberg.

A graduate of a performing arts high school, Randol was ac-customed to being surrounded by artists of a multitude of disciplines.

I like talking with people who are passionate about arts oth-er than my own, she said. It in-creases my love for my field.

When asked about the inter-view process for the house, both performers recalled a particular request by R.A. Julia Schneider.

Julia asked me to hand in a CD of my art, said Sperberg, who

turned in a CD of all the songs that had ever had an impact on him.

Randol, an actress and an English major, found this par-ticular request a little more dif-ficult, but rose to the challenge.

I just submitted some sil-ly pictures of me acting, said Randol. Some of them were legitimate, some were just of me making some re-ally ridiculous stage faces.

Its about the right fit, Sch-neider said. Come to one of our house dinners, take a tour, make sure this is the right place for you.

Dead Sun RisingJay Duncan takes you to the Land of the Rising Sun via the underworld. Spinning indie rock, metal, cyber-grind, digital hardcore, Japanese psych rock, vinyl and cassettes.

Mountain Goats to Merzbow and the entire spectrum betwixt.

Mondays, 2 a.m. - 7 a.m. On the dial at 90.5 FM Walla Walla and stream-ing live at 2. For requests, call (509)

527-5283.GRAPHIc BY ALDEN

KWCW SHOWOF THE WEEK

Facebook prepares users for Timeline takeoverby ALEX HAGENStaff Writer

Latte lovers guide to Walla Walla coffee scene

FAH shelters creativity, passionby MALLORY MARTINStaff Writer

the FAH (above) offers a stimulating abode for creative students. Photo by von Hafften

STYLESPOtLIGHt

caitlin Goldie 12 (above) models her unique look that combines vintage pieces and newer items. Photo by Beck

New Whitties share study soundtracks

by CAITLIN HARDEEA&E Editor

by CLARA BARTLETTStaff Writer

Lattes from Reid Espresso, Starbucks and the colville Street Patisserie (top to bottom). Photos by Hardee (top), Felt

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Movie Review by Nathan FisherILLUStRAtION BY BAILEY

Oct

132011

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5SPORTSVolleyballvs. Lewis & Clark CollegeOct. 8

SoccerMensvs. Whitworth UniversityOct. 8Womensvs. Willamette UniversityOct. 8vs. Whitworth UniversityOct. 12

Vollyballvs. Pacific UniversityOct. 14vs. George Fox UniversityOct. 15

SoccerMensvs. University of Puget SoundOct. 15vs. Pacific Lutheran UniversityOct. 16Womensvs. Pacific Lutheran UniversityOct. 16vs. University of Puget SoundOct. 15vs. Trinity CollegeOct. 19

Cross CountryMens and WomensBoxer RebellionOct. 15

GolfWomensNWC Four-Way MatchOct. 15

Loss 1-3

Loss 1-2

Loss 1-2

Loss 1-2

Away

Away

Away

Away

Away

Away

Home

Away

Away

SCOREBOARD

UPCOMING

New coach, playing style kick women into high gear

A fter recent changes in both coaching and play-ing style, the womens soccer team has made improve-ments in its game and managed to maintain a strong team atmos-phere. The team has increased the number of defenders and reduced the number of attackers. The team, which has yet to lose a conference game this season, had an overall re-cord of 8-9-2 in 2009 and 6-11-2 in 2010. The women say their play-ing style has evolved with the team.

Freshman year we played 4-4-2 and now were playing a 4-5-1 system. We changed our playing

style tactically and that has both positives and negatives, says jun-ior co-captain Jaclyn Rudd, de-scribing, from defense to offense, the layout of players on the field.

Last year we played a 3-5-2 system so now theres one less de-fender and one more forward which is working better, says Rudd.

Changes in the teams sys-tem have been based on play-ing to the strengths of the team each year. Weve adjusted to the strengths on the team fairly wellas people graduated, we switched a lot, said junior Erin Flannery.

Scott Shields was coach of the womens soccer team until two years ago, when he switched to coaching mens and womens

cross country. Following a na-tion-wide search, current Head Coach Heather Cato was brought to Whitman. This is her sec-ond season with the women.

Scott had Corina Gabbert, who was a big scorer, and to not have her changed the way we played. We work as a unit now rather than to certain individuals, said Cato.

Since Catos arriv-al, the womens tactics on the field have been adjusted.

We use a system that best fits our personnel. We add-ed a bit more competition and aggressiveness, said Cato.

Adjustments were neces-sary for the new coach, who came from the University of Ar-

kansas, where she participat-ed on the soccer team as a play-er and later as an assistant coach.

Its hard going from being a player to a coach, but the hard-est is going from Division I where sports are number one to Divi-sion III where school is number one. Im really trying to help them be successful in both, said Cato.

The team helped Cato make the adjustment to be an effective DIII coach.

[Cato] didnt know how [our system] works, so she really listened to us and adjusted, said Flannery.

Despite major changes in coaching and playing style, the team has managed to stay unified.

We maintained cohesive-

by SYLVIE LUITENStaff Reporter

Whitman Sports weekly factoid

The Whitman womens Cross Country team is current-ly ranked No. 25 in the na-tion among NCAA Division III schools, and 3rd among West Region teams, only behind McKenna-Scripps-Mudd and Lewis & Clark College. Ranked 18th nationally two years ago, the team made its first nation-als showing at the 2009 Divi-sion III national championships.

The womens soccer team runs drills on the practice field. Their current conference record is 3-5, with zero ties. They stand one win higher than they did at this point last season, and continue honing their skills with new techniques. Playing more offensively, the women have averaged 17 shots on goal per game this season. Photos by Bernstein

Ally program to spark LGBTQ conversation among athletes

Athlete Profile: IM football player Katie DeCramer 12

You would think she was beat-en, but really shes a badass.

Teammate Hayley Falk 12Profile: Katie DeCramerClass: SeniorMajor: Politics, Spanish minorHometown: Mendota Heights, Minn.

What first brought you to Whitman?Whitman was the last school I visited, and I just had a real-ly good visit. I was really im-pressed with the students and the classes and just the general kind-ness and sense of community.

How did you get involved with flag football?Ive always played sports, so this wasnt the first sport Ive played. [I played] varsity bas-ketball throughout high school. I really like contact sports.

What position do you play?Center, offensive line and sometimes [defensive] line.

I hear you have an interest-ing story from your freshman year about cookies and a bro-ken nose.(Laughs) My first semester I played one and a half games and then broke my nose. I was play-ing d line, and I smashed my head against another persons head. Spent the afternoon in the ER with a teammate; then I came back to my room and found that the other team had come to see how I was doing and brought me freshly baked cookies. For that to happen in the first three weeks of school, it sucked be-cause I had two black eyes, but it was really sweet that the oth-er team made me cookies. Lit-erally, people gave me looks

for the next month. Another kid in my Core class got stitch-es from flag football so we joked that we were the same.

After not playing your soph-omore year, how did you get back into the game?[Senior] Emily Johnson asked me if I wanted to play and I was like, yeah, I want to play again. I needed contact sports in my life.

Whats something unusu-al about your experience with flag football?My dad went to school to be a Catholic priest and he ended up playing center. After I scored my first touchdown on a cent-er sneak last year, I called my dad. Its neat because when you look at girls flag foot-ball, their moms didnt play, so its a father-daughter thing.

Shifting gears: Tell me about State of the State.Its a community-based research class taught by Professor Paul Apostolidis. What we are do-ing is partnering with commu-nity-based organizations to con-duct research for them, both as a way to improve the efficiency of their programs by research-ing the areas where they see the most need for research and also as viewing a democratic process on a research level. My research project specifically is to con-duct field interviews with Lati-no students and parents at Wal-la Walla public schools. The big key is addressing the achieve-ment gap. This class is my life.

And your thesis research?For my thesis, I am research-ing the globalization of Sesa-me Street. Children watch in-ternational co-productions of Sesame Street in 140 countries across the world, making it the most-watched childrens televi-

by PAMELA LONDONStaff Reporter

DeCramer 12, a senior politics major with a passion for education policy and Sesame Street, moonlights as a defensive player on the Munchers IM football team. Photo by Li

We have a sort of complacency be-cause people dont think homopho-bia is an issue anymore on Whit-man campus, so there are a lot of things that fall by the wayside. And that includes homophobia in varsi-ty sports, says swim captain sen-ior Matt Rowett, one of Whit-mans Athlete Ally representatives.

I dont think that Whitman is an overtly homophobic place at all, says senior ultimate frisbee player Alice Minor, Whitmans other stu-dent Athlete Ally representative.

However, latent language and behavior that assumes heterosexu-ality for both men and women con-tinues to alienate some athletes.

Theres still the kind of lan-guage and kind of general con-sensus about what it means to be an athlete that can kind of build up walls between us, says Mi-nor, referencing the overwhelm-ingly hetero-normative cul-ture still surrounding athletes.

Im queer, and Im an ath-lete. This is a hard project to de-scribe, but I think its real-ly important, says Minor.

We just want to set a prece-dent to make it something that peo-ple talk about. Were trying to cre-ate a conversation, says Rowett.

This conversation is about hom-ophobia in athletics, but is ultimate-ly grounded in elements of respect and tolerance essential in team unity.

We want people to recog-nize that homophobia in athlet-ics and on the Whitman campus in general is not non-existent; it is still present, and similarly in ath-letics nation-wide it is a very im-portant issue. We want this conver-sation to become an important part of team dynamics, says Rowett.

Rowett and Minor plan to meet with student representatives from all varsity sports teams in the coming weeks and hope to spread the dis-cussion to each team through team leaders, coaches and administrators.

I dont think this is going to be effective if its only two people mak-ing the push for this; we need the en-tire campus, the entire athletic de-partment behind us, says Rowett.

Athletic Director Dean Snid-er has been helping plan Rowett and Minors initiative at Whitman. Im glad to support this cause in any way I can. I would fully expect that our students, our faculty, our staff, our coaches would be glad to be a part of this. I think it can only have a positive effect, says Snider.

The varsity swim team signed the pledge last week after watch-ing an informational video and hav-ing a short discussion about the program. The hope is that the dis-cussion Athlete Ally starts among Whitman athletes will eventual-ly spread beyond Walla Walla.

I hope at Whitman that this creates a dialoguebut I hope na-tionally it really creates this discus-sion around what comments were making, how we use our words and how that affects peoples accept-ance of themselves and their ac-ceptance as athletes, says Street.

While this grassroots pro-gram has great potential, it wont be effective unless tak-en to heart by participants.

I want to make sure that we have people do more than sign a piece of paper. Its exciting; its fun to get people talking about something that is so important, says Minor.

For more information, please visit the Athlete Ally website atwww.athleteally.com

Setting out with high hopes, the womens volleyball team has seen a difficult fall season with two key players injured and an overall 0-8 NW Conference record. Corie Brewer 13 currently leads the team in season kills with a total of 101. Photo by Bernstein

from ALLIES, page 1

ness despite the changes, says Flannery. Both coaches have re-ally emphasized team cohesive-ness, said Rudd, who played one year under Shields before he made the switch to cross country.

This team is a big fami-ly that Scott started and weve continued. Being so far away from mine its really nice to be able to come here and have that soccer family, added Cato.

sion show in the world. An ex-ample of this process of globali-zation mixed with local cultural curriculum goals is that in South Africa the cast of Takalani Ses-ame includes Kami, an HIV-positive muppet whose moth-er died of AIDS. The inclusion of Kami in the show is part of the worlds first preschool HIV-AIDS prevention education. My thesis aims to figure out what the globalization of Sesame Street reveals about the nature of U.S. cultural imperialismhow Sesame Street works with-in the framework of cultural im-perialism and moves beyond it.

What are your plans once you leave Whitman?I dont have a specific career goal necessarily. I love working with children and the U.S. pub-lic education system desperate-ly needs reform. I have consid-ered being an elementary school bilingual teacher as a stepping-stone to a career in education policy, specifically focusing on how schools can better over-come the achievement gap. My very broad goal is to address how racism is institutionalized in the U.S. public education system.

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6

Do students fit the supposed reputations of the residence halls and particular sections in which they are placed? Or are these stereotypes what Associate Dean of Students Nancy Tavelli calls a self-fulfilling prophecy? In Tavellis experience these stereotypes are not substantiated over time.

If you look at the long view that I do, expectations [of the residence halls] change, she said.First-years are placed in dorms based on a computer program that uses the roommate questionnaire filled out by incoming students with

separation by zip code to match students with similar expectations and lifestyle choices. Despite this method, there is no formula that guarantees an entire section will be perfectly cohesive or live up to a particular stereotype. And yet, students still focus on section stereotypes and rivalries, often judging their fellow students based on where they live on campus.

This week, Feature tested the validity of these stereotypes with residents of various dorm sections and looked at the history of our residence halls.

T he stereotypes are only partially true. While Lyman does tend to draw more studious introverts, I have found that we are really not much more secluded than any other hall, said first-year Ethan Scardina, a resident of the Lyman Tower.

The Tower is a section in Lyman occupied by first-year, upperclassmen and transfer students of mixed genders, and is often described as a section which isolates itself, with individuals only making friends within the Tower. It is separated from the other sections of Lyman by both a door and the halls main lounge.

There isnt as much interaction [between the] Tower to A section and B/C section as there is between A section and B/C section, said Scardina.

However, Scardina and other Tower residents are making an effort to increase interaction between Lyman sections, and reject the idea of an overarching stereotype for the Tower.

No stereotype can perfectly describe an individual; youll just have to come chill with us for that, said Scardina.

Heres a trivia question fit for Whitties: What used to be an old hospital, has its own volleyball court and is sometimes believed to be located past the wheat fields?

If you answered, North Residence Hall, you are correct!

These are some commonly cited (and partially false) attributes of North, but the dorms reputation should really be examined through the eyes of the diverse students who have experienced it firsthand: the residents.

Current first-year Richard Gagliardi made the choice to preference North because

C-Section in Anderson Hall is occupied by 26 first-year boys this semester who are unanimous in their agreement that their section does not boast a long-held stereotype. When C-Sec is a boys section, there is traditionally a rivalry with Jewetts 2-West section. This years boys, however, do not agree. They recount an instance of a few 2-West residents attempt to prank them earlier this year for no apparent reason that then forced them to accept the rivalry.

We are kind of rivals with 2-West in a way, said Colin Domonoske, C-Section first-year. They tried to prank us and we got them back.

Besides the imposed rivalry with the Jewett boys, C-Sec residents are known to be bro-ey and typically play sports. In the section this year, there are three cross country runners, one soccer player, one swimmer and a myriad of ultimate Frisbee players.

Clayton Collins, another C-Section resident, emphasizes the musicality of the section this year. Both Collins and fellow C-Section first-year Dylan Martin are in the T-Tones a cappella group, and there are other section mates who play instruments such as the piano and ukulele.

The section also agrees on the fact that they are really close, and that there is never a dull moment.

I think we bond really well together, said Martin. And were damn fine.

That about sums it up, Id say, said Carl Garret, Martins roommate.

No one is as familiar with the Prentiss Hall stereotype as those who live in the building. The Prentiss princesses, the most dangerous catch and afraid of boys are on the tip of every residents tongue when asked about stereotypes.

Prentiss is one of the quieter residence halls, and the actual layout of the building discourages inter-section and building-wide communication. However, the stigma surrounding Prentiss living has proven to be far from the truth.

People assume based on the quietness that they are less social, said Resident Adviser of Alice section Sarah Stanger. It is about half-and-half every semester, people who stay in on the weekends and people who go out.

Stanger did caution to take this information with a grain of salt, as she can only speak for trends noticed within the independent sections. The ladies of Prentiss are making a great effort to put an end to the afraid

Of all the sections in Jewett, 2-Wests reputation is perhaps the most notorious for their hard-partying ways.

First-year Zac Parker, a current 2-Wester, has a clear idea of how the section is perceived.

The stereotype is, you know, that 2-West is always pretty wild, he said.

Fellow first-year Brett Porter thinks the stereotype from past years affects the reputation of the current residents.

I kind of get the feeling thats how were seen around campusnot because thats actually how we are but more because of how people have been told to think about that, he said.

He asserts that 2-West is much more than just a wild section.

Everyone here is really close to each other and knows each other really well, he said.

Junior Matt Raymond lived in 2-West as a first-year and felt a similar closeness. He points to the tragic death of Richard OBrien, a fellow 2-West resident, as something

WHEN WALLS

TALK

Examining section stereotypes across campus

FAST FACTS

ASWC funds were once used to buy alcohol for residence hall parties. One example is the New Dorm dance, commemo-rating the opening of Douglas Hall in 1970.

Gentlemen used to pick up their dates in Prentiss from the first-floor beau parlor, the only place men were allowed.

College House, built in 1928, was an apartment building and the Riv-iera Motel before it was converted into a dorm in 1968.

Marcus House was pur-chased by the Delta Tau Delta fraternity in 1966 and was used until the demise of the chapter in 1994.

The Kirkman House was gifted to Whitman in 1920 and was used as a mens dormitory. It was sold in 1923 and used as an apart-ment until it was placed on the National Register of Historic Homes in 1974.

Anderson Residence Hall was named after a former Whitman College presi-dent.

North Hall has served several uses by the college since being converted from the Walla Walla Gen-eral Hospital, including a catering service, confer-ence center and book arts work area.

The Greater Whitman Plan, an architectural design of the college pro-posed in 1908, included a grandiose series of columned buildings and a formal quadrangle where Ankeny lies today. The overly ambitious plan en-visioned several academic buildings (Forestry and Irrigation, Mining and Ge-ology, Civil and Mechani-cal, Arts and Architecture) as well as segregated gym-nasiums and dormitories for men and women.

Lyman Tower

Prentiss Hall

Anderson C-Section

North Hall

Jewett 2-West

Jewett Pit

comparing then and now: A photo taken of a Lyman room in 1940 (left) complete with typewriter and fabric in place of a bulletin board. A current students room in Lyman (right). Photo at left contributed by Whitman College; photo at right by Bergman

by TYLER KINGStaff Reporter

by MOLLY EMMETTStaff Reporter

by KINSEY WHITEStaff Reporter

by FRANNIE NUNNStaff Reporter

by SANDRA MATSEVILOStaff Reporter

by SUSANNA BOWERSStaff Reporter

of boys rumor. Alice section hosted a baking party with an Anderson Hall male section, and boys from all residence halls are regularly seen getting lost in the Prentiss corridors.

You are not the stereotype you are coming into. It is what you are going to make of who you live with. Attitudes should be changed, said former RA and resident Lindsay Olson.

ILLUStRAtION BY JOHNSON

I n the past, the Pit has typi-cally been characterized by a close-knit group of real-ly fun, interesting girls. The idea of living with all girls in the base-ment of Jewett may not appeal to a lot of incoming freshman, but many quickly change their minds.

When I heard I was going to be in an all-girls section in a coed dorm, I wasnt too terribly excit-ed, said Julia Bladin, current Pit resident. But when I met these unique, outgoing girls, they com-pletely changed my idea of the Pit.

It seems that this year isnt much different than usual.

The Pit is just a rock-in group of girls havin a rock-in time! said Zoe Pehrson, refer-ring to her experience as their RA last semester and this semester.

Everyone is really differ-ent socially, but we all come to-gether really well, said Celia Lang, another Pit resident this year.

that brought the section together.He meant so much to

so many different people in so many different ways and I think that showed just how dear everyone in that section was to each other, he said.

Though Raymond admits that 2-West may have been particularly wild that year, he maintains that 2-West is more than their reputation.

No matter what you think of that years 2-West, which is legendary for its antics, it always seems like a place where its just amazing how people can come together, Raymond said.

he liked the idea of having a singlewhich North offersbut now asserts that he is pleased with the atmosphere as well.

All the dorms are great, said Gagliardi, but North is unique in that the sense of community is a bit stronger.

Still, some residents of North are willing to distinguish it from the other dorms, but in a way that embraces its unconventional image.

It takes a certain quirkiness to be willing to live here. I love it, said sophomore Maggie Eismeier.

Oct

132011

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7OPINION

I am involved in not one but nine long-distance relation-ships. When I left for col-lege I had no intentions of claim-ing any of the sort, but I am now two months into the se-mester and find myself devot-ing nearly every second of my free time to scheduling Skype dates, engaging in Facebook dis-cussions and making late-night phone calls on the picnic tables outside of Anderson in the in-creasingly frigid October air.

Before I left, a multitude of worries barraged my thoughts. My greatest fear was not just that my friends and I would grow apart, but that I wouldnt care that we had. I was afraid of the impending apathy of my life.

In order to combat this I have been spending an inordi-nate amount of time attached to my things in order to remain at-tached to people. My phone con-nects me to friends in Portland, Boston, Maine, Vermont and back home in California. Face-book permits me to have con-versations with my friend in Rome who otherwise would be quite difficult to catch and ex-pensive to talk to because of the

distance. But the more text mes-sages I send and the more Sky-pe calls I make, the more I am beginning to realize that my at-tempts to maintain these rela-tionships are frustratingly futile.

It has been said that tech-nology is deteriorating the modern relationship. But it al-ways seemed to me to enhance my friendships. The time spent

apart, however, has made it clear that that is exactly what it was: an enhancement, not the foun-dation of a relationship. Being able to communicate with peo-ple through technology is a har-rowing feature of modernity. It would be undoubtedly more dif-ficult to hear of each others lives without the utility of Facebook or our cell phones. But at the same time, there is no replacement for good ol fashioned conversation.

I cannot duplicate the expe-rience of interacting with a per-son through Facebook chat. I cannot simulate the feeling of being in the presence of a friend through texting him. And I can-not receive a hug from the im-age on my Skype screen. No matter how fervently I at-tempt to retain these relation-ships in the form I left them in, it is something I will never be able to do. And that has proved incredibly difficult to admit.

But taking a break now does not mean that we cannot pick up where we left off. As my friends roommate told her, having any intense emotion to-wards your friends at all just proves that you care. So rath-er than draw me into submis-sion, the intense frustration and futility I often feel in attempt-ing to maintain these relation-ships while we are apart assures me that they are worth the effort.

And that is in itself is the strikingly paradoxical na-ture of the situation: Although my efforts will invariably be in vain, the very fact that I am willing to make them at all is what makes them worthwhile.

Sometimes there is an incli-nation to distrust the U.S. government and Western medicine. We have heard about things like the medical indus-trial complex. So as an alterna-tive, some people are more will-ing to trust natural remedies. In most cases, trusting these kinds of herbal healers would not be a problem. But for seri-ous diseases like AIDS, any so-called cure is immoral because

it spreads false hope. In certain parts of Africa, there is little or no access to antiretroviral drugs. Those with AIDS have little hope and sometimes cling to any cure that anyone proposes.

An example is seen in Gam-bia. In 2007, President Yahya Jammeh proposed and adminis-tered an AIDS cure. The Gam-bian health ministry claimed the cure eradicated the virus from patients. However, the origi-nal viral load tests were done in a university in Dakar, Sene-gal and showed patients still had significant amounts of the virus in their blood. The government dismissed this claim and refused to reveal what was in the cure. So how do you spot a hoax AIDS cure or any other herbal cure?

Well, there are a few ways: First, no medical expert or heal-er would ever claim that a cure is a miracle breakthrough or that it can cure 100 percent of patients.

Also, no medical expert would claim that a certain substance can cure many different diseas-es. First of all, there is no single cure that can work for everyone. Different people react different-ly to different medicines. There are all different types of people with all different body types; no cure will be 100 percent effec-tive. Other times, people have allergies which do not allow them to take a certain medicine, whether it is synthetic or herbal.

Another example is that just because a medicine is natural does not always mean that that medicine is good. Many natu-ral chemicals can be harmful to humans. For example, hem-lock and ricin both occur nat-urally in the castor bean, and they are extremely toxic. Also, note that just because a sub-stance is man-made does not mean that it will be bad for you.

A third way to tell is by see-

ing how many people a herbal drug has been tested on. The only way to check a drugs effective-ness is by testing it among many patients. However, some herb-al healers may say they have not been able to do adequate testing because the U.S. government shut them down or suppressed information on their cure to pro-tect U.S. interest in established lucrative medical companies.

They claim that the med-ical industrial complex ex-ists through government. Even if this were true, the only way to know a drugs effectiveness is through extensive testing.

Conspiracy theories may say that the government or med-ical companies may be sup-pressing the cure for AIDS. However, the truth is that west-ern medicine still has difficul-ty finding a cure. Antiretrovi-ral drugs can suppress HIV in the bodys system, but they can-

not cure patients. The tricky part is that the virus inserts its genetic material into a hosts cells and remains dormant for years or decades while the pa-tient takes the antiretroviral drugs. Current research is look-ing for a way to destroy these infected cells. Furthermore, government conspiracies as-serted by these kinds of herb-al healers may be overblown.

The U.S. government does not solely support lucra-tive drugs. For example, the government is currently do-ing research on human hor-mones such as interleukin-2. Like the human genome, these cannot be patented and there-fore cannot yield large profits.

So, people can be skep-tical of the U.S. govern-mentit is healthy to do so, and it is their right as U.S. cit-izensbut people should also be wary of herbal healers.

PHILLIPCHENGFirst-year

Herbal cures not valid substitute for medicine

Modern communication lacks heart but provides convienence

ELIZABETHCOLEFirst-year

ILLUStRAtION BY DOUGLAS

Al-Awlaki assassinated;no due process of law

T he Obama Administration has decided that it has the author-ity to kill citizens at its dis-cretion, ignoring any and all Con-stitutional rights that get in the way. Last month, the government assas-sinated two American citizens in Yemen with no due process, no tri-al, no charges and no legal justifi-cation. The deaths of Anwar al-Aw-laki and Samir Khan were hailed by the President as another signif-icant milestone in the broader ef-fort to defeat al Qaeda and its af-filiates, but it would have been more accurate to call it a milestone on the road to authoritarianism.

As citizens, we are supposed to be protected by the due process of law. The Fifth Amendment guar-antees that the government will re-spect peoples rights when it decides to prosecute, fine, incarcerate or kill them for a crime. Despite their ties to al Qaeda, al-Awlaki and Khan had the same rights as every other citizen. They had the right to be informed of their crime. They had the right to a trial by jury. They had the right to face their accusers and the right to le-gal representation. The Obama Ad-ministration decided to skip all those minor Constitutional hurdlestri-als can be so annoying sometimesand jump straight to the execution.

Now, in the aftermath of two unconstitutional assassinations, the Administration is refusing to tell us what evidence it used to justify killing these citizens. White House spokesman Jay Carney assured the press that the Administration would only target citizens who threaten the nation, but revealed nothing about how it would determine who is a threat. Last week, Reuters report-ed that American militants like An-war al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of

senior government officials, which then informs the president of its de-cisions . . . There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel . . . Neither is there any law es-tablishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate. Apparently we all owe an apology to Sarah Palin; Obama does have a death panel after all.

Of course, this death panel is far more sinister than the ones Pal-in suggested were hiding in the Af-fordable Care Act. It has been em-powered to decide which citizens are entitled to their Constitutional rights and which citizens are unprotected threats. It can determine who has the right to due process, the right to a trial by jury and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishments on whatever grounds it sees fit. Be-cause it has no public record and is governed by no laws, this panel nev-er has to reveal the standard of evi-dence it uses to make its decisions. What does it take to earn a spot on that kill list? How much evidence is enough to prove that a citizen is a threat worthy of assassination? We the People have no idea. The Obama Administration refuses to tell us.

The key to our government is the separation of powers. There are checks and balances, designed to keep any one branch from gain-ing too much power over the peo-ple. Through these assassinations, the Obama Administration is sub-verting this separation, setting the precedent that American citizens can be imprisoned and killed at the discretion of an unchecked, ungov-erned executive panel. The only way to fight against this authoritari-an power is to check it with the pow-er of another branch of government. I urge you to call your Senators and Representatives and ask how they intend to protect your rights. The number for the Congression-al switchboard is (202) 224-3121.

by SETH DAWSON 12Guest Columnist

Political Cartoon by Eddy Vazquez

Voices from the Community What was/is your first-year sections stereo-type and do you think it is accurate?YONAH BIERS-ARIELFirst-Year

LYDIA COLLINSSophomore

KATHERYN BOGLEYFirst-Year

KEVIN DYERJunior

People generally think that North-ies are reclusive. I think it may be true in some cases, but there are definite-ly some outgoing people in my section.

I live in North this year and the stereotype is generally that peo-ple are quiet and awkward. I would say this is half true and half false.

My freshman year, theres not much of a stereotype for [Jewett] 4-East, but my year we wouldve been the nerds. Ba-sically there were two groups of peo-ple hating the crap out of each other.

Im not really sure what the stereotype of [Anderson] D-sec is, but everyone is really friendly. There is a good mix of things, but sometimes people can be argumentative.

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Oct

132011

PAGE

8BACKPAGE

Today a female student was spotted with an issue of the Whitman Pioneer, the local campus newspaper. She was tall, with brown hair and blue eyes, and in her hands and before her eyes was a large piece of paper that is rumored to have had a banner reading The Pioneer.

The girl was interviewed, and her name was determined

to be Hailey Bergner, and her interview made it into the paper that she was reading.

I want to know whats going on on campus on a week-to-week basis, I think, she said. That must be why I picked it up.

The color scheme seemed to be blue and orange, with the color photography and illustrations on the front

page as well as other pages. However, most of the colors of the paper were black and white. This includes the black and white words throughout and even some black and white illustrations and photography.

Editor-in-Chief Patricia Vanderbilt was both shocked and awed at the news of this odd and spectacular occurrence.

This might mean that we might get more bids for advertising, she said.

An extensive survey was taken across a wide spectrum of Pioneer readers named Hailey Bergner and the results concluded that she was only reading the Backpage. To this, Humor Editor Adam Brayton responded by guffawing

and