WHITMAN COLLEGEWalla Walla, WAVolume CXXVI Issue 11whitmanpioneer.com

A!"#$ %%, %&'&

!e music department launches a brand new outdoor jazz festival

UP IN SMOKE JAZZ BASH!Men’s tennis team wins fourth consecutive

Northwest Conference Championship

DYNASTYWhitman smokers explain the

attraction of a cigarettepage 4 page 11

Locals line courthouse steps for tax day Tea Party protest

Protestors sing patriotic songs at a Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots rally at the County Courthouse on tax day. Members protested government overspending and high taxes while emphasizing pride in American freedoms.

FENNELL

!e Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots held a rally outside the county courthouse on !ursday, April 15, to demand "s-cal responsibility from the government. !eirs was one of hundreds of protests occurring across the country, including a gathering of approximately 25,000 in Washington, DC. According to event organizer Martha Clinehens, holding a rally on tax day sends an important message to the government about its use of citizens’ money.

“If our tax burdens become too bur-densome, we will be shackled to the state,” she said.

Clinehens said the intent of the event was to celebrate the things which have made America great, and to rally for what she believes are core American values—limited government, "scal re-

sponsibility and the preservation of free markets.

“In a time of economic stress and political controversy, we felt it would be useful to remind Americans of the principles that make this Nation unique among the world’s nations,” she said.

To this end, the evening’s events in-cluded a reading of the preamble of the Constitution, a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the performance of several patriotic songs. Pride in Ameri-can freedoms was a recurrent theme in both songs and speeches.

“It’s our men and women in uniform, not any campus organizer, who have given us the freedom to demonstrate to-day,” said Clinehens.

Clinehens started the Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots last year with several oth-er Walla Walla residents who were con-cerned about government overspending,

particularly the stimulus bill.“We thought we should make a few

signs and just do something,” Clinehens said of their "rst rally, which about 400 people attended. “We saw there were more people who were concerned about having so much debt.”

Clinehens is particularly concerned about government spending on entitle-ment programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. While she doesn’t advo-cate eliminating these programs, she be-lieves they need to be reformed, with a focus on eliminating fraud and wasteful spending.

“Funding ever-expanding government entitlement programs simply by raising taxes or issuing new debt obligations is a vicious cycle that is unlikely to be successful,” she said. “While it is probably unrealistic to

by RACHEL ALEXANDERStaff Reporter

Grievance policy goes to council, faculty vote

ASWC student representatives are work-ing together with members of the faculty and sta# to put the "nishing touches on the Student Grievance Policy, a procedure by which students can present formal complaints to the college. !e policy is scheduled to be reviewed by the Academic Council during its April 28 meeting and if approved, will be submitted for the faculty to vote on during its meeting on May 12.

!e purpose and procedures of student grievance policies vary from school to school, but they are normally established in order to provide a process of impartial review for student complaints against ac-tions by the sta#, faculty or administra-tion of an institution. Although ASWC representatives have decided the policy will only be used to resolve a limited range of issues students may have with faculty or sta#, they still strive to write it in nonspe-ci"c language. Senior ASWC Senator Di-vneet Kaur, who spearheads the student government’s involvement in developing the policy, explained the need for express-ing the policy in general terms.

“!e policy cannot outline speci"c procedures for speci"c types of grievances because it needs to be able to address any situation that may arise,” said Kaur.

Work to develop the student grievance policy began nearly two years ago when Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland and Associate Dean of Students Clare Carson prompted ASWC student representatives to look into developing the procedure; Kaur joined the e#ort at the beginning of this school year. Since then, she has worked extensively with Andrea Dobson, division III chair and associate professor of astronomy and general studies, to "nal-ize the terms of the policy.

“It would begin with an informal pro-cess,” Kaur said of the terms of the tenta-tive policy, which will likely incorporate informal procedures for presenting griev-ances as well as formal procedures. “Ob-viously it would encourage the student to go talk to the professor he or she is having an issue with. !e next step would be for the student to go and talk to the Dean of Students or the Dean of Faculty.”

If the issue could not be resolved at that level, Kaur said, an investigatory commit-tee would be formed. !e current pro-posal has committees including one fac-ulty member, one sta# member and one student. Depending on the nature of the individual case, committees would look into the situation and report its "ndings to the Dean of Students, the Head of Human Resources or the Dean of Faculty, who would proceed to work with involved par-ties to come up with a resolution.

Finalizing the goals and procedures of the policy has been a slow process. Se-nior ASWC Student A#airs Chair Jordan Clark, who has been overseeing the proj-ect, explained the delays.

“We have a lot of turnover year to year in ASWC, and so it’s hard to pick up the ball and keep running with it,” Clark said. “It’s also di$cult to pinpoint exactly what’s going to make faculty and sta# most com-fortable with it. !ey have legitimate concerns, because they don’t want to be penalized for, say, giving a student a bad grade.”

Dobson said that while the groups working to "nalize the policy are closer than ever, adoption of the policy this year is not guaranteed.

“It’s possible it could be done by the end of the year, but then it could take until next year,” said Dobson. She stressed that if the policy vote did get delayed until next year, it would be on the top of the agenda.

When asked whether she felt like there was any resistance from professors, Kaur gave a strong no.

“People have been very receptive. Ev-eryone I have talked to has accepted that there is a need for this,” she said.

Dobson believes the strength and dedi-cation of this year’s ASWC senators has allowed the policy to advance this far to-wards approval by the college.

“ASWC and the senior senators are re-ally good this year,” Dobson said.

College recruiting new faculty members

Whitman resumed its faculty recruit-ment this year a%er many tenure-track faculty searches were suspended in fall 2008 due to the economic crisis. Whit-man has been conducting eight searches for tenure-track positions, along with several other one-year positions, this year.

!e college is conducting searches for tenure-track positions in astronomy, chemistry, Chinese, Japanese, philoso-phy, studio art and two positions in eco-nomics this year according to Provost

and Dean of Faculty Timothy Kaufman-Osborn. Of these searches, the searches for astronomy, Japanese, philosophy and studio art have been successfully com-pleted thus far.

!e process of recruiting faculty members at Whitman is a complex en-deavor, involving a signi"cant invest-ment of time and resources on the part of the faculty, the administration and the Board of Trustees.

“Because of our high standards, and because Whitman is a desirable place to teach, members of search commit-tees work very hard, putting in many

hours beyond their time teaching, doing scholarship and participating in faculty governance,” said !omas Callister, as-sociate dean of faculty and professor of education.

!e hiring process for tenure-track faculty begins when a faculty position is empty, usually due to a professor retir-ing or leaving.

!e faculty search begins when open-ings are identi"ed by the Committee of Division Chairs, the provost and the president and then approved by the Board of Trustees. At this point, the de-partment submits a request to the dean

of faculty and the Committee of Divi-sion Chairs to maintain the position within their department. !e president, with the advice of the dean of faculty and the Committee of Division Chairs, has the ability to re-allocate the tenure-track position to another department, but this does not happen frequently.

While on campus, the candidates interview with the search committee members and with a committee of stu-dents from the department. !e candi-dates also meet sta#, the dean of faculty and the president. !e candidates do

by JOE VOLPERTStaff Reporter

by JEREMY GUGGENHEIMStaff Reporter

FACULTY, page 2

The Dogs featured in Chicago magazineby CAITLIN HARDEEStaff Reporter

“We’re all kind of living in the moment right now,” said junior Matt Bach-mann, bassist for Chicago band The Dogs, summing up the wave of public-ity the band’s been experiencing in the wake of their last album, Free Write.

“We were just featured in Chicaco Deli Magazine,” said Bachmann. “Deli Magazine, there’s eight of them basi-cally, one in Chicago, New York, LA, San Francisco, New England . . . they wrote us up last year and they wrote us up again this year, and we got nomi-nated for Artist of the Month.”

Mobilizing their fans through Face-book, the band dominated the voting for the title, which was conducted by online survey. In the end, they won the prestigious title, defeating other fixtures of the Chicago music scene, including Them Damn Kids and This Is Versailles. Winning Artist of the Month brought the band not only wider recognition, but a number of material perks as well.

“We get some exposure and some free studio time, which we’ll probably use over the summer to track some drums,” said Bachmann. “We got a lot of positive feedback, we’ve been get-ting a good amount of write-ups—it’s going really well.”

The band’s energy comes out most powerfully in live performance. Vocal-ist Rivkah Gevinson spoke about the onstage vibe.

“The best part about The Dogs for me is the performing,” Gevinson said in an e-mail. “Chicago Dogs fans know that that is half of what makes The Dogs. It’s great—there is so much

THE DOGS, page 6

ASWC finalizes budget for 2011 fiscal year

Newly formed Gospel Choir joins Choral Contest lineup

ASWC voted unanimously during its Sunday, April 21, meeting to "nalize its budget for the 2011 "scal year, which totals $462,400. In addition to funding eight new campus clubs and organiza-tions, the budget allocates more money to its Travel and Student Develop-ment Fund as well as to campus media groups.

Sophomore Finance Chair Matt Dittrich explained that in an e#ort to spend student fees more e$ciently, the Finance Committee budgeted for 45 more students this year, or 1,445 stu-dents total, which makes available an ad-ditional $14,400 in funds. In past years, ASWC only budgeted for 1,400 students, but enrollment growth over the past "ve years has added more money in student fees, and that money was being placed in a discretionary fund.

Dittrich decided to move the student fees out of the discretionary fund so that the money would be available for direct allocation to campus clubs, organiza-

tions and other funds.Based on the high number of requests

students made to ASWC this year to fund travel and conference expenses, the Finance Committee decided to ap-propriate a large amount of the money made available from the additional stu-dent fees to the Travel and Conference Fund. !e 2011 budget allocates $16,043 to the fund, a signi"cant increase from the 2010 allocation of $9,473.

Students not only requested more money to cover travel expenses this year, but also requested funding for eight clubs and organizations on campus that are newly formed or have been granted club status this past year. ASWC granted a to-tal of $4,340 to fund !e Secession, Cam-pus Climate Challenge, College Coaches, Dance, the Whitman Student Historical Society, Quiz Bowl, Slam Poetry and the Whitman Premedical Society.

Aikido, Baking Club, Juggling Club and the Peace Coalition did not reapply for funding this year.

ASWC student fees will remain un-changed at $320 per student per year.

TEA PARTY, page 2

Typically, the annual Whitman Choral Contest pits singing groups from each fraternity and sorority against each oth-er, as well as men’s and women’s inde-pendent groups. A cappella groups like Schwa, the Testostertones and the Sirens of Swank also compete in a separate cat-egory. !is year, however, yet another group will join the line-up, competing in the main contest against choirs such as Beta !eta Pi, the winner of last year’s ‘People’s Choice’ Award.

!e Gospel Choir, started this year by sophomores Daria Reaven and Jo French, will perform for the "rst time at this year’s contest, Friday, April 23, in Cordiner Hall at 7:30 p.m. Despite its name, the group has no religious a$li-ation, and sees ‘gospel’ more as a musi-cal style or genre than a religious state-ment.

First-year Jillian Brown described her experience singing in the newly-created group.

“I’m not very musically experienced

or knowledgeable, and quite a few peo-ple are in the gospel choir are, which is nice, so there’s a bunch of people who can o#er direction,” said Brown. “It’s just a really fun atmosphere to go be a part of, and everyone’s always pretty light-hearted and ready to have fun and sing some gospel.”

Meanwhile, other groups have been busy polishing their repertoire, such as the Independent Men’s Choir, winner of the men’s category in 2008. Senior Adam Caniparoli, who is leading the choir this year, described his hasty assumption of the directorial position.

“It was all very quickly put together, it was sort of at the last second,” said Ca-niparoli. “Myself and David Protter were going to put this group together and we really didn’t know what we wanted to do, but I had more of a background in music than David, so I took the lead.”

Nevertheless, Caniparoli is more than con"dent that the group will pull through in time for the performance.

“We’ve basically been learning our

by AMI TIANStaff Reporter

CHORAL CONTEST, page 3

page 6

by JOCELYN RICHARDNews Editor

Positions for astronomy, Japanese and philosophy have been filled, while the search for chemistry, Chinese, studio art and two economics tenure-track faculty remains.

2 NEWS April 22, 2010April 22, 2010 NEWS 3

TEA PARTY: Rally draws few college-age people

FACULTY: Students provide input!"#$ page 1

!"#$ page 1

think in terms of rolling back federal entitlement programs, it is foolhardy to allow such programs to continue to evolve into bottomless money pits.”

Prior to her involvement with the Tea party movement, Clinehens said she had little to no previous involvement with politics. She believes this is true for most of the other Walla Walla Tea Party Patriots. !is is part of the appeal of the Tea Party for many of its supporters—it is seen as a grassroots movement, which is largely organized at the local level and built on common concerns about gov-ernment spending. !e grassroots claim has been contested by some observers, who note that the movement was en-couraged by cable news coverage, par-ticularly Fox News, and supported by current and former Republican Party leaders.

Regardless of how it got its start, Tea Party supporters are eager to claim the movement as their own. Walla Walla resident Douglas Murphy, who attended the rally, said he saw common ground between the Tea Party principles and his own political views.

“[!e Tea Party] seemed like a uni-"cation of people that were discussing political principles that were similar to mine,” he said. “While I may di#er slightly in various views politically and socially, I "nd that Tea Party members are standing up for what I believe to be essential to a strong and ethical nation.”

Murphy was one of a few college-age people in attendance. According to a re-cent New York Times article on the Tea Party movement, the average supporter

is a married white male over the age of 45. !is statistic seemed to accurately describe the Walla Walla rally’s attend-ees, though there were several families with young children present.

!e keynote address was given by Ret. Lieutenant Colonel Larry Adams, a former member of the Marine Corps and the Boy Scouts of America. Adams spoke about the importance of patrio-tism and standing up for American val-ues.

“Patriotism has nothing to do with politics,” he said. “It is a true emotion. It cannot be summoned.”

He also derided government bureau-cracy and overspending.

“It appears that for some, as of late, the Constitution guarantees life, liberty and the pursuit of loopholes,” he said.

Several rally attendees held signs in protest of recent government policies and the Obama administration, includ-ing signs that read, “Obama, Pelosi, Reid: !e Axis of Taxes” and “I will not be subjugated.”

!e speakers largely focused on gen-eral principles and beliefs, such as lim-ited government and freedom of speech, rather than attacking speci"c policies of the Obama Administration.

For Murphy, the purpose of the rally was to engage with other people who are questioning our nation’s government.

“Whether I agree or disagree with what they are questioning makes no matter to me,” he said. “!e fact they are questioning in a logical and peaceful manner and participating in their soci-ety’s future is what I "nd truly impor-tant and [worthy of] respect from any free-thinking citizen.”

two formal presentations while on cam-pus, including a demonstration of their teaching and a presentation of their re-search.

“I think that our best-selling [assets] are the students. In the process, they get to meet our students one-on-one. !ey are so blown away by the quality of our students that that becomes one of the real selling factors of the college,” said Jona-than Walters, Division II chair and pro-fessor of religion.

Sophomore Alexe Helmke partici-pated in the recruitment process for an astronomy professor.

“I was really happy with the fact that students’ input was a factor,” she said. “People might look really awesome on paper, but getting to meet them and listen to them talk helped us really "nd out who would bene"t the students and the school in the long run,” she said.

If the Committee of Division Chairs or the dean of faculty decide that a di#erent candidate would be better for Whitman as a whole, it can ask the selection com-mittee to consider a di#erent choice.

“[!e Committee of Division Chairs] is looking out for the whole college rather than for a particular "eld,” said Walters.

Kaufman-Osborn noted that Whit-man sometimes confronts various prob-lems in the recruitment process. !ese include candidates who would prefer to teach at a large, research-oriented uni-versity, candidates whose spouse would be unable to "nd a suitable job in Walla Walla and those who do not want to be in an isolated location.

In addition, Whitman is vying with other institutions to recruit top faculty.

“!e di$culty in hiring excellent fac-ulty is that there is competition for the best faculty. We have very high standards and new faculty who meet those stan-dards are sought out by other institutions as well,” said Callister.

!e upcoming change from a 3-3 to a 3-2 teaching schedule may eventually a#ect faculty recruitment. Whitman con-ducted a yearlong survey on the implica-tions of switching the course load.

According to Kaufman-Osborn, the vast majority of departments showed that they could in fact move to a "ve-course load, but a few departments said that that a "ve-course load would disrupt their major programs.

“We need to take that into account in "guring out what tenure track searches to recommend,” he said.

Walters believes the hiring process, al-though complex, is working well.

“We’ve got an outstanding faculty and every one of us has come in through this process,” said Walters.

E. JOHNSON

Service day unites Walla Walla’s colleges

ADVERTISEMENT

Faculty recruitment explained

Julian Weller, a student at Walla Walla University, and Alex Pearson ‘12 shovel dirt as part of a landscaping project for the second annual Spring Service Day, Sunday, April 18. The day, which featured a variety of local volunteering projects, brought together students from Whitman, Walla Walla University and Walla Walla Community College.

“!ere are thousands of people who have had their rights taken away because the courts have abdicated their responsibil-ity,” said Clint Bolick during his lecture on judicial activism in Maxey Hall, on Wednesday, April 21. Bolick is the di-rector of constitutional litigation for the Goldwater Institute, a conservative public policy think tank. He is best known argu-ing a number of prominent cases about school choice before various state Su-preme Courts, and successfully defended an Ohio school voucher program before the United States Supreme Court in Zel-man v. Simmons-Harris.

Bolick argued that in an era where government regulations are constantly increasing and becoming more burden-some, an activist judiciary is necessary to ensure that the Constitutional rights of individuals are upheld. According to him, an activist judiciary is one willing to strike down laws which are unconstitutional. He believes that many regulations governing business fall under this category, because the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any state from making laws which abridge the privileges and immunities of its citizens. As an example, he mentioned a regula-tion prohibiting shipping wine across state lines, which existed primarily to protect the interests of an oligopoly of wine sellers. !e judicial system, he argued, provides a place where “the proverbial hammer of David” can be wielded against the “Goli-ath of special interests”.

!e lecture was presented by WEB and ASWC, as part of an e#ort to bring more conservative speakers to campus.

“We want to present a diversity of opinion, especially with the health care debate going on,” said sophomore Charlie Weems, the WEB Lectures Director.

Bolick addressed concerns he has with the health care reform bill, and said he plans to litigate against the provision requiring people to purchase health in-surance or pay a tax if they do not. He believes that this provision is unconsti-tutional, because it mandates commerce which occurs almost exclusively within

individual states, rather than regulating interstate commerce. He also argues that previous Supreme Court decisions about abortion have established a right to medi-cal autonomy, which prevents the govern-ment from interfering this directly in an individual medical decision.

For all the current issues raised by the lecture, only about thirty students attend-ed. Among those students, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

“It’s nice to have something like this once in a while that’s the opposite of what most people would think at Whitman,” said sophomore Yonas Fikak. !ough

Fikak said he disagreed with Bolick about the constitutionality of the health care mandate, he ended up reconsidering some of his own opinions.

“His de"nition of activist judge is di#er-ent than what I expected,” said Fikak, who said he has always associated the term with interpreting the Constitution in the context of today’s world, rather than by the literal words of the Founding Fathers.

For Bolick, the primary duty of courts is to protect individuals from the other, o%en overreaching branches of government.

“It is imperative that courts enforce the rights in the Constitution,” he said.

Bolick speaks on judicial activism

Clint Bolick, director of the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, spoke Wednesday night on constitutional law and judicial activism.

by RACHEL ALEXANDERStaff Reporter

VON HAFFTEN

FENNELL

!e faculty recruitment process is fairly complex. !is is the general recruitment process for a tenure-track professor:

1. !e process starts when a faculty position is empty, usually due to a pro-fessor retiring or leaving.

2. If the dean of faculty, the president, and the Board of Trustees approve a tenure-line search for a department, the department begins the search by publishing the job description in profes-sional publications within the "eld.

3. For each opening, a search com-mittee is formed. !e search commit-tee for a tenure-track position is typi-cally composed of the tenure faculty members of the department that has the opening, the chair of the division, at least one member of a di#erent division, and students.

4. !is search committee reads all of the applications and develops a ranked list of the top applicants.

5. Most academic "elds have a yearly conference that many of the applicants attend, and the search committee does preliminary interviews at these confer-ences when possible. A%er the inter-views, the committee makes a list of the top "ve or six applicants.

6. !e committee then sends the list to the dean of faculty for approval.

Of those "ve or six top applicants for a tenure-track position, the committee and the dean then select three or fewer candidates to come to campus. While the candidates are on campus, the com-mittee both assesses the candidates and tries to sell Whitman.

7. Next the search committee meets again to rank the candidates that came to campus. !e committee only ranks applicants that they deem acceptable, so if the committee does not approve of one candidate, that candidate will not be included in this list.

8. !e dean of faculty and the Com-mittee of Division Chairs must approve the search committee’s ranked list. !e president then must approve the deci-sion as well.

9. Finally, the search committee con-tacts the top applicant on the list to o#er him or her the position.

10. If the applicant accepts, the search is complete. If the "rst applicant de-clines, the search committee contacts the next acceptable applicant on the list, assuming that there are more acceptable applicants who have been approved. If there are no more applicants that the committee has deemed acceptable, the search is "nished and will be restarted at a later time.

2 NEWS April 22, 2010April 22, 2010 NEWS 3

A number of campus clubs and organi-zations got a boost in participation last Saturday, April 17, as dozens of admit-ted students participated in “Get Whit-tie,” a program organized by the O!ce of Admissions to give students admitted to the class of 2014 the chance to jump into campus life during Admitted Stu-dents’ Day.

Ben Lilly, an admitted student from Sunnyvale, Calif. felt that the program made Whitman’s Admitted Students’ Day better than those he had attended at other colleges he was admitted to, includ-ing New York University and UC—Santa Cruz.

“It was de"nitely the best admitted stu-dents day I went to,” he said. “#ere were more activities. Most of the others were more help yourself; like they had booths set up with information about stu$ and you took one campus tour. But they didn’t have any classes set up or activities. #is was more like, ‘Hey, it’s camp for a day! Go see everything!’ And it felt more orga-nized than the others.”

“Get Whittie” was inaugurated last year a%er the Ultimate team expressed interest to the O!ce of Admission in allowing ad-mitted students to come play Frisbee with them during Admitted Students’ Day.

“#e idea [behind ‘Get Whittie’] is to try to get prospective students integrated with, interacting with and doing ‘Whit-man stu$ ’ with Whitman students,” said Tony Cabasco, dean of admission and "nancial aid. “We don’t want prospec-tive students to sit in panel a%er panel; we don’t want them to come here all day and be talked at. We want them to come here and to go out and experience [the college.]”

According to Cabasco, many more student clubs and groups participated this year, allowing students to choose from a series of di$erent activities such as going to a Whitman baseball game, helping out at the organic garden, play-ing Ultimate frisbee or touring and participating in KWCW.

“I work for the O!ce of Admission in addition to being an Organic Garden co-president, so when the O!ce of Ad-mission decided to add a ‘Get Whitte’ part to their ASD last year, the Organic Garden seemed like a great idea to have be part of that activity,” said junior Robin Lewis, co-president of the Or-ganic Garden.

“We worked with seven or so stu-dents and one awesome dad. #ey came down at 2:30 and could come and go at their leisure. #e dad that stayed the entire time proved to be a great help as well as a wonderful conversationalist,” Lewis said.

Lewis described the day’s activities.“First we gave them a tour of the

garden to tell them a bit about who we are, what we do and why we do it. A%er that, we did a lot of fun activities like planting beans and squash. No turn-ing compost on ASD! We also mulched some paths between beds and generally hung out and raved about how awe-some Whitman is.”

Senior Joe Gustav, co-general man-ager of KWCW, worked with the Of-"ce of Admission to organize an open house at the campus radio station. #e open house was a new addition to “Get Whittie” this year and one KWCW plans to o$er again in the future.

“We wanted to get people excited about K-dub even before they arrived on campus as freshmen, and I think it

worked well for us,” said Gustav. “About 10 students came in for our open house to see the studio (with some DJs on-air doing their show) and hear about hav-ing a radio show and how they can get involved at the station, even as fresh-men. Everybody who came was really excited about the prospect of hosting a radio show, and had fun going through our extensive music library to see what we have.”

Despite having a good day, Lilly didn’t "nd the admitted students day to hold any surprises.

“It didn’t really show anything me anything that I didn’t expect to see; it seems like a really cool school. It’s a good blend of quirky and having a typi-cal college atmosphere,” he said. “And the town of Walla Walla is de"nitely pretty dead, which I was sort of expect-ing. But it’s a really lively campus con-sidering it’s surrounded by nothing.”

Cabasco said Admitted Students’ Day is just one of the resources the Of-"ce of Admissions has established to help admitted and prospective students learn about Whitman life.

“[Admitted Students’ Day] is one ma-jor activity within a gamut of activities that our sta$ is organizing and doing to get the word out and to allow perspec-tive students to come visit or get their questions answered,” he said.

Ultimately, Admissions O!cer Cate Van Oppen was very pleased with the outcome of the day.

“I think it’s been a little bigger in size and it’s de"nitely been bigger in the scope of activity,” she said. “As al-ways the students seem really excited to be here and I’m really excited about that . . . I think the day [went] really smoothly.”

Admitted students “Get Whittie”

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CHORAL CONTEST: Indies present challenge

WOLFF

Where in the world Whitties wander

music for two weeks, which is a little stressful, but there’s a lot of really talent-ed people in the group,” said Caniparoli. “I think we’re going to be in really good shape.”

#e Independent Women’s Choir, too, has overcome obstacles in its prepara-tion. #e co-director of the group, junior McKenna Milici, appreciated how well the group rose to meet the challenges they faced this year.

“[Junior Emily Allen] and I were more ambitious with our song choices this year,” said Milici. “One of our songs is four-part harmony—and it was actually written for mixed men and women’s choir, and we ar-ranged it for just women . . . And Emily ac-tually wrote the arrangement of our other song. I’m always so impressed by the tal-ent of a group of women coming together, and we wanted to step it up a bit.”

Milici also found di!culty in recruit-ing members for an independent group.

“I sometimes feel the Indy Women Choir is at a disadvantage because we don’t have the established structure of a sorority to pull members from, but it just means we have to work harder advertis-ing at the beginning,” said Milici.

Although the indy women have not had the comfort of drawing from an es-tablished community, Milici has enjoyed the creation of their own community over the rehearsal process.

“#e women who I get to work with are incredible—and we become close over the course of our rehearsals,” said Milici. “My hope is always that this is a fun pro-cess for the girls involved, because I’m having a blast.”

Sophomore Paul Kruss, director of the Sigma Chi choir, is also directing a choral contest group for the "rst time.

“#e position of running the choral contest for this house sort of fell into my lap, me being one of the few musically inclined or musically active people in the house,” said Kruss. “So I didn’t really

know what to expect.”Despite being new to the position,

Kruss has high expectations for the group.

“I am putting an emphasis on us try-ing to do some more actual singing in the house this year though, so we have put some more serious work into our songs this year than I think we did even last year,” said Kruss.

Choral Contest, however, is generally acknowledged by the group as ultimately about having fun.

“I have been pleasantly surprised though with the level of participation and enthusiasm in the house. I think that we, as a house, are pretty excited for Choral Contest and hope to have a pretty good showing this year,” said Kruss. “I don’t think anyone in the house really cares that much about the competitive aspect of the contest, but I think people are look-ing forward to going out there and hav-ing fun with it and hopefully making the crowd happy.”

!"#$ page 1

by NATE LESSLERStaff Reporter

Forty-nine percent of Whitman

juniors studied abroad during

the 2009-10 school year. Their

top countries included New

Zealand (29), the United King-

dom (29), Spain (21), Italy (16),

France (12) and Argentina (8).

Of the 191 students who went

abroad, 70 went to predominant-

ly English-speaking countries,

45 went to predominantly Span-

ish-speaking countries and the

remaining 76 went elsewhere.

Juniors studied abroad in 34

different countries this year.

4 FEATURE April 22, 2010April 22, 2010 FEATURE 5

“!e people who smoke on campus can basically be divided up between Betas and hipsters,” senior Beta !eta Pi member Joe Gustav jokingly re-marked.

Now wait, hold on. !is is not an-other typical article about smoking on Whitman campus. Too o"en over the years you’ve opened these middle pag-es to #nd the same article drawing false lines and division between smokers and non-smokers on Whitman’s cam-pus. Instead, investigation reveals that Whitman’s attitudes towards smoking and tobacco use are what its student body aims to be—diverse.

First, the adamant non-smoker.“I think it’s stupid!” said junior Kate

Pringle. “!ese are educated people; they were smart enough to get into Whitman—why smoke?”

Pringle’s protests against smokers on campus were passionately enumerated, and ranged from the proximity of trash cans to walking paths as well as the un-attractiveness of the habit.

“It’s not just health reasons, but it smells bad; I have to hold my breath when I walk by the ashtray trash

cans. But it’s the health reasons too. I see what it does to people when they smoke and I don’t want even a fraction of that to happen to me,” she said.

Yet somehow, and perhaps inexpli-cably, the attractiveness of smoking seems to proliferate as students prog-ress through their years at Whitman. Pringle said that a couple of her friends had started just last year.

“I was shocked,” she said. “!ey all hid it too, like it was shameful. It seemed a rebellious thing.”

Senior Annabelle Bewicke, another non-smoker, agreed with Pringle’s re-action to new smokers.

“[It] seems they always feel guilty about it which almost makes it worse [and] makes me more uncomfortable that they have to sneak around us,” said Bewicke about her friends who smoke.

Yet Bewicke also observed that to her friends, smoking seemed like, “a nice little ritual . . . a social thing.”

Bewicke’s observations and personal experiences with tobacco use have caused her to develop a tolerant stance towards the use of others as well as a peculiar rationale for her own tobac-co use. A"er seeing her grandmother die from emphysema and a lifetime of

smoking, Bewicke refuses to smoke.“It was a long and agonizing death

and I was really close to her, so I’ve never smoked a cigarette because of that,” Bewicke said.

However, since winter break, Be-wicke has begun chewing Camel Snus pouches, Copenhagen and Skoal Patches occasionally on the weekend. She rationalizes her inconsistent stance towards tobacco due to chew’s less per-sonally scary health hazards, combined with her personal experience with it.

“I de#nitely see the hypocrisy when I [chew],” Bewicke said. “But the main thing that bothers me about cigarettes is the smell and the danger of lung dis-ease. !e main risk for chewing tao-bacco is gum disease, which I always #gure you have to do a lot of it before you ever get into problems.”

It is this exact question of addiction that #lls senior Chris Duncan with in-dignant rage when he is negatively tar-geted for his smoking habit. Duncan began smoking when he was 16.

“My parents sadly condoned it be-cause I had gotten in trouble smoking weed, and cigarettes are legal,” Duncan said.

Today, Duncan continues to smoke cigarettes.

“I’d like to quit, I’ve tried a couple of times, but I’m addicted,” he said. “And let me tell you, when I smoke 30 ciga-rettes in a day, I feel terrible about it; my body hurts.”

What Duncan most wanted to ex-press was the unnecessary judgement and rudeness expressed by non-smok-ers who are intolerant to his addic-tion.

“[Smoking] is legal—people can’t say a thing to me about it,” he said. “Every-one who drives is giving o$ more toxic and worse fumes then cigarette smok-ers, so people who are against smokers should stop driving cars before they say anything to me.”

All parties interviewed agreed that

there is an image related to their to-bacco use that makes it appear espe-cially attractive. Pringle insisted smok-ing was, “all about the image,” while Bewicke admitted that, “pretty much whenever I’m around Beta and I’m chewing I get a lot of props for it.”

Duncan also remembered the in%u-ence that his older brother had on his introduction into smoking.

“It had more to do with having a personal role model,” he said.

!e diversity of attitudes towards smoking on campus seems to stem from people’s personal experiences. !is realization has changed many

students’ attitudes towards users and nonusers alike from a position of judg-ment to one of tolerance. For Bewicke, her own addiction to ca$eine has so"-ened her stance on the smoking habits of others.

“I’m fairly understanding towards addiction,” she said. “I’m more judge-mental of people who start smoking because it seems more of their choice.”

For Duncan, the memory of his own pathway towards addiction will be the motivation for him to #nally quit.

“When I have to become a role mod-el, that will be the point I have to quit, whatever that means,” he said.

by HADLEY JOLLEYStaff Reporter

Surviving swine flu: A year of fears over H1N1

At Whitman, smoker stereotype proves hazy

Paul Hamilton-Pennell ‘13 takes a cigarette break. In contrast to some stereo-

types, Whitman smokers choose to light up for a variety of reasons.

by AMY CHAPMANStaff Reporter

LOOS-DIALLO

LOOS-DIALLO

BULLION

Picture of healthBetween all-nighters, pizza binges and weeknight parties, college students don’t always put health first. This week, we’re looking at issues that affect students every day, but often get pushed to the back of our minds. From smoking stereotypes to study drugs and the availability of injury care on campus, maintaining healthy habits seems to mean something different to every Whitman student.

Do you smoke cigarettes?

How much do you smoke every day?

Results compiled from a Pioneer survey completed April 2010. 194 students

participated.

Pioneer survey: Smoking on campus

LERCHIN AND MOWE

Sophomore Lindsay Olson went to bed one night a"er developing a sore throat, but woke up in the middle of the night with the chills and an even worse sore throat. She took some Advil, but it didn't work.

"I went to the health cen-ter at like two in the morn-ing by myself, just walked there. It was terrible," she said.

At Welty Health Center, like many Whitman students this year, Olson was diag-nosed with in%uenza-like ill-ness and sent home with a care packet of painkillers, masks and other supplies for caring with the %u; and they directed Olson to isolate herself in her dorm room. Because the health center did not screen Olson, or many others, for swine %u, it's hard to be sure that what she and other students experienced was the H1N1 pandemic and not another type of illness, like the seasonal %u. However, Whitman, along with other colleges, did experience a outbreak of ILI, with many students falling ill, missing class and isolating themselves.

"It was the CDC and the American College Health Association's sugges-tions that we don't run a check on every single student who comes with these types of symptoms," said Direc-tor of the Health Center Claudia Ness.

Checking for swine %u would have involved taking a swab and analyzing it, and doing it for every student who

came in to the health center would have cost too much, and since the treatment for swine %u is the same as for other %ues and %u-like diseases—treating

the symp-toms—tests would not have changed policy. !e exceptions were stu-dents who had prior h e a l t h c o n c e r n s , like asthma, that made s w i n e %u es-pecia l ly d a n g e r -ous. !ese were also the stu-

dents who the health center contacted to get the #rst chance at the early vac-cines. However, of those tests that the health center ran, none came back positive for H1N1.

Olson, however, still believes that the disease she got was swine %u.

"I've had the regular %u be-fore, and this is de#nitely di$erent," said Olson.

According to Ness, the outbreak this year last year was di$erent from years

before. !e major outbreak at Whitman lasted

from mid-October to early-December,

petering out several weeks or so before

winter break. In years past, the %u cases tended to

be less concentrated, with few-er cases at one time but with a longer-lasting outbreak than this past year, where the outbreak was much more

concentrated in time. !e concentration of the %u cases likely increased the visibility of the recent %u epidemic compared to years past.

During the height of the outbreak, the %u was highlighted in the media every day; even !e Pio-neer declared its impor-tance with headlines like "Flu hits Whitman cam-pus hard, H1N1 vaccine

near" and "Flu increases at

Whiman, strain

unknown." While no stories directly raised fears of swine %u complications, most detailed the severe outbreak dur-ing the fall, where many students were sick and isolated.

In fact, the isolation policy promoted by the Health Cen-

ter prompted senior Galen Bernard, former news edi-tor, to write an editorial in November. Bernard argued that isolation was not nec-essary, hadn't been used in

previous years and lead to psychological consequenc-

es as a result of the lack of human contact.

A"er the visibility of the %u in the fall, the

CDC predicted a possible outbreak

of H1N1 in M a r c h

a n d

A p r i l , but according to Ness, the %u did not break out at

Whitman or at other campuses. Another out-break next year is possible, how-

ever, especial-ly if

t h e

virus undergoes signi#cant evolution between years.

American colleges are not the only ones worried about swine %u. Ac-cording to Olivia Jones, a junior who studied abroad in Beijing, China, her university would check student's tem-perature with "temperature guns" be-fore letting students into the dorms. She experienced similar precautions at Chinese airports.

"It was mostly paranoia. One kid in the program did legitimately get swine %u. I de#nitely got the %u in the begin-ning, but I was afraid because this was right a"er the other kid got the swine %u and he went to the hospital and they put him in quarantine, and nobody had heard from him in a few days, so once I got the %u symptoms I didn't tell anyone," said Jones.

She theorized the heavy precautions in China about swine %u trace back to China's experience with bird %u, a more dangerous type of in%uenza.

While swine %u can lead to danger-ous complications, they are not that common. According to Ness, no Whit-man students developed complications that necessitated hospitalization, and most recovered within a few days.

College living, however, does lead to increased illness, due to the close liv-ing conditions.

"Let's face it, when you're sharing bathrooms with other people, and you're brushing your teeth, and turn-ing the faucet on and o$, there's a lot of hand-nose-face contact—washing your face, putting your contacts in, all these sorts of things—that makes

it very easy for these germs to thrive," said Ness.

4 FEATURE April 22, 2010April 22, 2010 FEATURE 5

Among its collegiate peers in the Pa-ci!c Northwest, Whitman College dis-tinguishes itself as one of the very few schools that permits students, regardless of age, to consume alcoholic beverages within the con!nes of residence hall rooms. Unlike Paci!c Lutheran Uni-versity, Whitworth University, Lewis & Clark, Lin!eld College or Walla Walla University—institutions that strictly forbid underage students from drink-ing in any situation—Whitman only requires “no drinking of alcoholic bev-erages and no open containers of alco-holic beverages in public places on the college campus.” While Whitman does go against the mainstream stance on al-cohol policy, both the student body and the administration nearly overwhelm-ingly assert the policy’s positive impact on student health.

Sophomore Colleen O’Bannon be-lieves that the alcohol policy encour-ages students to drink responsibly without the threat of reprimand from the college.

“I think that it’s great that they rec-ognize that students do drink and that there isn’t a huge punishment for it,” she said. “You just have to be smart and keep it in your room.”

O’Bannon also emphasized that responsible drinking nevertheless re-quires students to watch their behavior.

“I do think that, at the same time, people are not as responsible as they should be with their liquor intake, es-pecially at parties where you’re not watching it as closely,” said O’Bannon.

Sophomore Brett Konen reiterated this general viewpoint.

“I think [the alcohol policy] is bet-ter because then people don’t feel pres-sured to drink,” she said. “People know how to be responsible here.”

From the outlook of Residence Life, the non-threatening nature of Whit-man’s alcohol policy allows Resident Assistants and Resident Directors to monitor students’ health and safety without compromising a trusting rela-tionship.

Junior Jay Richards, last year an RA in Jewett Hall and currently an RA in Douglas Hall, stressed that Whitman’s alcoholic modus operandi permits au-thority !gures to look out for students while simultaneously maintaining a friendly atmosphere.

“What I like about the policy is that it makes my job a better job as an RA,” he said. “It’s not my job to police, and so, for me, it’s more about making sure that people are safe. I can actually be present when people are drinking and people

don’t try to hide from me. It makes it a lot easier for us as RAs to observe in-hibiting or dangerous behavior.”

Richards, a transfer student from the University of Portland, has a unique perspective on Whitman’s alcohol pol-icy. Instead of Whitman’s milieu of tol-erance and trust, schools like the Uni-versity of Portland engender feelings of uneasiness and suspicion.

“When I went to school at Portland, people did everything that they do now; they just had to hide,” said Rich-ards. “Instead of being able to come in whenever they wanted to, or if they were sick, come in early, get taken care of, they had to sneak in a"er 2:30 when the [enforcers of] public safety le", when they weren’t doing breathalyzers and things like that.”

Whitman, in adopting this open policy that acknowledges the fact that many college students do drink, pro-motes an environment in which people will talk to the administration about al-cohol safety as well as seek out medical help if the need arises.

Welty Health Center—the only colle-giate health center in the Paci!c North-west that operates 24 hours a day—not only looks a"er students with the #u and o$ers 45-minute massages, but also aids students who consume an excess of alcohol resulting from binge drinking.

Claudia Ness, interim director of the Health Center, a%rms that the alcohol policy advances the idea of student responsibility while assuring that stu-dents stay safe.

“I believe the Whitman policy re-garding alcohol correctly places the responsibility on the individual student and nurtures more responsible drink-ing habits,” Ness said in an e-mail. “&e number of students that utilize the Health Center for alcohol related is-sues is a small percent of the Whitman College student body. &is number has been relatively consistent over the past four years, I do not believe it is an over-whelming number or out of line with the norms of other college campuses of this size.”

“I do believe that more Whitman students come to the Health Center for care because they know it is a con!den-tial and safe and non-judgmental facil-ity,” said Ness.

In spite of Whitman College going rogue in the face of a large majority of colleges and universities that bar the consumption of alcohol with no excep-tions, Whitman's policy nonetheless creates a successful model of interac-tion between students and the admin-istration that ultimately puts the well-being of students !rst.

by GRANT BRADLEYStaff Reporter

Whitman reflects on

lenient alcohol policy

Some students stick with co$ee to mus-cle through college workloads, some use prescription neuroenhancers. Ac-cording to many students at Whitman, the two aren’t necessarily all that dif-ferent. In an era of overzealous ADHD (attention-de!cit hyperactivity disor-der) diagnosis, study drugs—primarily Adderrall, Ritalin and Concerta—have carved themselves a niche in competi-tive college and high school campuses without attracting a particularly nega-tive or criminal connotation.

“So many kids shouldn’t be on Ad-derrall daily, but once in a while isn’t so bad,” said an anonymous Whit-man student in a survey circulating this week on the use of study drugs on Whitman’s campus.

Of the 193 student respondents, 13.5 percent have used study drugs and the vast majority—87.2 percent—of these students did not have a prescription. Of this group, 34.5 percent claimed one-time use, while 11.5 percent use study drugs once a month and 7.7 per-cent use on a weekly basis. A third of respondents speci!ed particular usage habits, predominantly concentrated around !nals and major project dead-lines.

While we’re nowhere near endemic use, study drugs on the Whitman campus are fairly visible—at least to

students. In nosing around for this ar-ticle, I received a surprising number of o$ers, friend-of-a-friend sort of hook-ups, and general commentary.

“Everybody’s looking for Adder-rall these days . . . It’s that time of the season,” said a sophomore on Satur-day. Several students expressed pass-ing interest in the idea, piqued by the thought of increased productivity and the fabled focus promised by these study aids.

Conversely, the negative repercus-sions of using neuroenhancers are rarely discussed. Of course there are side e$ects—some users say they get real sweaty, and there’s always the dan-ger that the resultant focus, motivation and inability to sleep might be misdi-rected on extraneous tasks—and it’s obviously illegal, but major problems on campus have yet to surface.

“It’s not an issue we deal with with any frequency,” said Claudia Ness, di-rector of the Welty Health Center. &at said, neuroenhancers have high abuse potential and Adderrall is classed as a Schedule II drug by the Controlled Substance Act. Additionally, study drugs o"en work as appetite suppres-sants and can lead to potentially severe dehydration.

Senior Nikki Schulz conducted a study for her sociology thesis this year, investigating the role study drugs have for students coping with academic and

social pressure. Of the 14 students involved, whose habits ranged from concentrated usage three to four times a week to singular experimentation, Schulz says most did not consider their use unlawful or immoral.

“A lot of my participants didn’t see it as a crime or a big problem on campus. &ey downplayed how deviant it is,” said Schulz.

Essentially perceived as perfor-mance enhancers for cognition, how is the use of neuroenhancers di$erent from doping in sports? Might we reach a point where competition leads aca-demia down the same road many feel professional cycling has taken? Is there anything morally wrong with doping if it creates a more capable, productive student body?

Unfortunately, study drugs don’t necessarily improve the quality of stu-dent work—they’re more an antidote to procrastination. Schulz found that most of her participants didn’t con-sider their usage unfair or iniquitous because they didn’t see the quality of their work improve. According to many participants, study drugs seemed to enforce existing bad study habits.

“Once you’ve used them, it’s easier to leave things to the night before,” she said. “[&e common perception is that] it’s just something that people do to get their work done and not that big of a deal.”

by JENNY WILLISStaff Reporter

Among students, study drug use taken in stride

&e athletic training room at Whitman is located in the basement of Sherwood Athletic Center and frequented by many athletes. However, just how ac-cessible is injury care at Whitman?

&e athletic training room provides injury prevention and rehabilitation. It is closed during the summer, but has high attendance during the school year and sports seasons.

“In the fall, we get upwards of 100 people in here a day,” said Nathan Fry, an assistant athletic trainer.

&e athletic training room has ex-tensive facilities, including an icebath and a hotbath.

“I’d like to have a whirlpool with a treadmill in it. But to tell the truth this is the best facility I’ve worked in,” said Fry.

For students who have access to them, these resources are not only popular, but necessary.

“I’m a fan of the athletic training room," said sophomore Marisa Poor-boy. "I love the services they provide and I go there all the time."

However, currently, the athletic trainers can only provide extensive care to varsity athletes.

“It usually comes down to a funding and liability issue,” said Fry.

Fry does say that he would never re-fuse care to a non-varsity athlete.

“I’ll talk to someone if they came in here with an injury. I can’t do a lot of tests that I would do on a varsity ath-lete.”

Skip Molitor, assistant athletic di-rector at Whitman, shed some light on the services Whitman provides for non-varsity athletes. He clari!ed that the athletic training room is a varsity athletic facility and part of the varsity athletic services.

For club sport athletes he recom-mends a di$erent course of care.

“&e club sport athletes have the same availability as all Whitman stu-dents—the health center,” said Moli-tor.

Welty Health Center is open 24 hours, seven days a week and is the go-to facility for injured non-varsity athletes.

“We do recognize that the IM Sports and the club sports need a little more support. We’re actively trying to !ll the role of the athletic training room,” said Claudia Ness, director of the health center.

&e health center has been trying to open up and promote their injury ser-vices to the student body. It has an ice bath, a hot bath and a physical therapy conditioning room, and is constantly trying to improve the facilities.

“I don’t have certi!ed athletic train-ers. We do have licensed nurses. We

have a physical therapist and massage therapist who each come in once a week,” said Ness.

&e health center responds to vari-ous needs of the non-varsity commu-nity at Whitman by providing them free basic injury care such as evalua-tions, tape jobs and ice.

“&e bottom line is as we make changes, we are making them in a di-rection so we can be of more service to the IM and club sports,” said Ness.

Despite the availability of some aid at the health center, many students re-main upset by the fact that club and IM athletes cannot receive immediate care at the athletic training room.

“I just wish Whitman would set it up so other athletes would get better med-ical care, especially at crucial times like right a"er an injury,” said one student who wished to remain anonymous.

Sophomore Lizzy Schiller, the wcap-tain and founder of club tennis, point-ed out that the school’s policy regard-ing the athletic training room fuels a widening divide between varsity ath-letes and all other athletes.

“While the athletic training room is a great resource for varsity athletes, in a way it also creates this weird hierar-chy between the varsity athletes and ‘the others,'” said Schiller.

Schiller acknowledged that varsity athletes work hard and deserve certain

bene!ts, yet felt that all Whitman stu-dents deserve access to the same sup-port.

“We’re all paying almost $50,000 to be at Whitman so why can’t we all enjoy the resources our school o$ers?” she said.

Junior Anna Forge, who is a club and varsity sports athlete and a student athletic trainer, o$ered a holistic view of the athletic training room, as she views it from multiple perspectives.

“&e ATR sta$ is undermanned as is, and adding the club teams to the heavy tra%c that goes through it would put even more pressure, stress and require longer hours for our already over-worked ATCs,” said Forge.

Forge also understands how brutal club sports, such as rugby, can be-come, and would love to see some sort of compromise regarding the training room.

“Maybe setting aside some hours/certain days in which club sport ath-letes can come in and get treatment, a"er completing the necessary paper-work,” said Forge.

Schiller agreed with this proposal.“Maybe the athletic training room

could have at least a small amount of open hours speci!cally for all other athletes while still maintaining large amounts of time solely for varsity ath-letes,” she said.

by BECKY NEVINStaff Reporter

Injury care in high demand

Justin Artis ‘13 bikes while Brandon Shaw ‘12 treats his ankle in an ice bath in the athletic training room. Both are members of the varsity basketball team.

CORNELIUS

How much do you smoke every day?

Pioneer survey: Use of study drugs among Whitman students

Although the use of study drugs is illegal without a prescription, many Whitman students don’t see it as a serious problem.

Results compiled from a Pioneer survey completed April 2010 and 194 students participated.

CORNELIUS

of students who have taken a study drug:

LERCHIN AND MOWE

!e PioneerISSUE 11

APR. 22, 2010

Page 6 A&EA&E “Jazz with Jonas and Robby” is hosted by !rst-years Jonas Myers and Robby Seager every Saturday from 2-4 p.m. Priding themselves on inexperience and on-air awkwardness, Myers and Seager maintain witty banter be-tween the music. "e mission of the show is to introduce its listeners to all sorts of jazz (which is perfect study-ing music), including swing from the ‘30s, bebop from the ‘60s, hip-hop/jazz fusion from the ‘90s and every-thing in between. "is eclectic mix is accompanied by in-depth discussion of the music, o#en including insight-ful personal stories. "e show is also entertaining due to Myers’ and Sea-ger’s trademark gimmicks, such as the argument over whether the show is called “Jazz with Jonas and Robby” or “Jazz with Robby and Jonas,” as well as their “"ing of the week . . . of the week,” and other humorous interjections which have no relation to the music whatsoever.A few of the favorites:

-tic)

Finest Hour)

Plays Mac Rebennack)

90.5 FM. Stream online at kwcw.net.

KWCW SHOW OF THE WEEK

contributed by KWCW

!e Pioneer highlights a few events happening on campus or in Walla Walla during the weekend. Here are this week’s picks:

84th Annual Choral ContestFor more information, see “Newly

Friday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. Cordiner Hall. Free.

Visual Art Majors Senior !esis Exhibition - Opening ReceptionJoin this year’s seniors in the studio art department as they show o$ what

they’ve been working on all year. "e exhibition will remain open through graduation in the Sheehan Gallery, but this opening reception will be a special chance to meet the student artists. Friday, April 23, at 5:30 p.m. Olin 130. Free.

Imagine Festival"is annual event put on by the

number of performances, both by Whitman students and visiting groups. "e highlight of the event

Gajjde Punjabi, traveling all the way from the University of Washington. Also performing will be the Whit-

truck will also be on site. Saturday, April 24, 1-3 p.m. Reid Side Lawn. Free.

Renaissance Faire"is year’s Faire will feature the usual array of activities including unicycle jousting, fake sword !ght-

Nordic. Saturday, April 24, 10 a.m.

PIO PICKS

exciting energy and just about any-

drenched in sweat by the end of a gig and feeling so much love for each other and for what we’re doing. We somehow always get put in really tight spaces and our touring band, which includes seven members and two drum sets,

kind of just ups the energy. It’s just im-possible to not smile.”

the amount of touring that will take place is still uncertain.

gigs during spring break; this spring break none of us came home, so we don’t have a whole lot planned,” said

We had a really good kind of tour last year, we played around the Midwest and stuff went really well, so I’m sure we’ll be able to get ourselves in with some gigs. And I know our sister

tour with us, which I don’t think we’ll be able to do this summer, but maybe after school next year we’ll just go on tour. We’ll see what happens.”

members are already working on inde-pendent songwriting and are in con-stant communication.

“We’ve been talking a lot about what we want the [next] record to be like. Right now we’re bouncing around 50

-cord every summer. It’s probably going to be even more nuts [than last sum-

mer] because Peter, our lead singer, isn’t going to be back until July 5, so we’re gonna have like two months to record the whole thing.”

who handles production for their al-bums as well as contributing vocals, guitar and percussion, spoke over the challenges of the last album and where the band hopes to take their next re-cording project.

My Room, Not Alone,’ there’s like two hundred tracks on that specific song,” said Krivchenia. “It was a lot of fun to mix, but it taught me a lot. I want to focus on setting certain limitations for us in terms of sound and what we re-cord. Not to put us in a prison, but I want to put a focus on a certain thing so there’s a more cohesive blend to the album.”

Krivchenia was enthusiastic about the prospect of free time in a profes-

own basement studio, but emphasized that the band maintains their creative perspective and avoids obsessing over production.

“We’re always like, Oh, it’s be nice to have it sound really good when we track it, but at the same time it’s like, fuck it, as long as it has the energy that we’re trying to show people, it’s fine, you know? I don’t think we’re ever go-ing to be studio bitches,” said Krivche-nia. “We’re just like, it sounds cool, it has a vibe.”

-load a complimentary copy of Free Write, visit their Web site at thedogs-music.net, and their blog, at thedog-blogblog.blogspot.com.

THE DOGS: Riding wave of publicity, Chicago band looks to recording"#$%, page 1

"ey rock your campus parties. "ey rehearse in your buildings. "ey cruise your quiet streets in a vast, suspicious beige van full of instruments and equipment. "ey are Plateau, and with the release of their self-titled album,

to discuss the record, the touring expe-rience and that sketchy vehicle.

“"e ‘Folkswagen’?” said drummer and sophomore Alex Folkerth, laugh-ing.

“It’s a sexual plot, really,” said lead vocalist and guitarist junior Adrian

“We tour in the van,” said Folkerth. “My grandfather Joe Romano was a jazz musician who used to tour in the same van. He passed away about a year ago, and I inherited the van—still put-ting it to good use.”

For Plateau, touring and performing live is an essential part of the band’s identity—extending even to the re-cording process.

“We de!nitely started as a live band, and we wanted our recordings to re%ect that, so we recorded in Hunter, in the auditorium, just recorded everything live,” said Folkerth. “We did overdub some vocals and lead guitar, but basi-cally it’s a live recording.”

“We didn’t do the bit-by-bit thing

"e band composed their material

taking the lead in songwriting.“I bring in the tunes, and then they

interpret them, and always for the

have a set idea of what I want, but usu-ally what they want is better than what I want. It’s really a group process.”

And which songs were the band members most proud of?

“I am most proud of ‘"e Slide,’” said

bassist and vocalist sophomore Mat-thew Sweeney.

“I really like ‘I’m Asking Why,’” said Folkerth. “"ere’s something about the sound that turned out really well for me. I like listening to that one.”

“And ‘Half Asleep,’ that’s a good one. -

ery song is my favorite.”

“It’s my—our—lives on a record,”

Plateau recorded the album in April of 2009. "roughout the rest of the year, Folkerth produced and polished

-ter abroad in Scotland. Revealing the friendship and camaraderie that have kept them connected, each band mem-ber spoke warmly of the other’s abili-ties and their dynamic together.

“Folk is the best producer,” said -

“I’ve never clicked with a group of

continued. “We’ve got Folkerth who’s just fuckin’ amazing on the drums, he can interpret your mind. And Sween—Sween brings some sort of a bassline that you’ve never pictured, but it’s fan-tastic . . .”

also talented,” said Sweeney. "e band laughed.

Plateau’s reunion following the fall semester provided the perfect time for a January release, and now the band is honing and practicing their material for live gigs. "e guys are working with

set length of about an hour and a half.For Whitman students who saw

Folkerth and Sweeney perform last semester with King Friday, that band’s repertoire has not been wholly aban-doned. King Friday, a recording proj-

ect of Sweeney’s and Folkerth’s, turned -

-cus for Sweeney and Folkerth is back on Plateau—but the creative products remain.

“Sween is a fantastic songwriter,”

“We do play actually a King Friday

said, adding.“And we’re going to try and incorpo-

rate more, cause Sween’s a great song-writer and needs to be heard,” said

Harnessing their material, the band took to the road for a round of live performances over the spring break, in cities ranging from Olympia, Wash. to Pullman, Wash.

“Whitman almost has this satura-tion point of creative people, with not enough people that are in audiences,” said Folkerth. “So it’s really nice to go to Pullman, not to stereotype the big public school, but there’s just not a lot of bands that play at Pullman that are students. So it’s really cool to go up there and they’re like, ‘Ohhh, you guys are a band, you’re really good! Oh, play at our party.’”

Plateau has been busy at Whitman too. Performances at Rosaacs last Fri-

-day rounded out last weekend, and to-day, Apr. 22, the band has hit the road again for another show in Pullman. On June 5, the band will perform at "e

“We’re trying to plan some gigs throughout the summer—in Seattle, we hope to make it to Portland—we hope

album tracks, check out their MySpace at myspace.com/plateauwhitman.

Plateau hones latest album for touringby CAITLIN HARDEEStaff Reporter

In addition to the music department's two jazz ensembles, there are usu-ally one or two student-organized jazz groups that perform on campus each year. With three such groups playing

director of jazz studies and professor of music, an ideal time to put into ac-tion an idea he had been contemplat-ing for some time.

On April 27, the Whitman Music

-cert will take place on the Reid side

--

“I’ve been thinking about it for years; my graduate school had one in the spring end of the school year,” said Glenn.

Glenn, who has played in numerous outdoor jazz festivals in the United

idea of an outdoor bash just a few weeks ago to jazz musicians in the department. Students were receptive to the idea and quickly agreed to per-form.

“I’m excited to play outside, especially during dinner hours.”

in the ensembles and his own student band. Glenn explained that the festi-val will serve as an alternative to the jazz ensembles' usual spring concerts. In the past, end of the year jazz perfor-

-catessen downtown on Main Street in Walla Walla. After the Olive Market-place restaurant replaced Merchant’s this past year, Glenn began thinking

of new ideas for a concert venue.“Rather than replicate that experi-

ence, I thought this would be a good opportunity to break that tradition and try something new,” said Glenn. “I think it will work a lot better. Play-ing outside will attract a lot of people, especially those who don’t know that it’s happening.”

-chant’s, Glenn explained, few students attended and only one of the two jazz

openness of the event, Glenn and jazz students expect to attract people from campus and the community.

“It’s great to have a crowd watching, especially for the people on campus to

playing wine cellars or restaurants, and [Whitman] people don’t neces-sarily come. It’s good exposure for us; we love playing concerts.”

-dent run jazz groups often play at venues in Walla Walla in addition to concerts on campus.

group has several gigs left to play be-fore school ends, mostly for wineries and festivals in Walla Walla.

“I wasn’t surprised though I was -

tually I’m not surprised because it seems like something like this should

this give us musical opportunities to perform.”

groups are made up of musicians from the jazz ensembles and that several are members in multiple student bands. He said that his hope for the event is that it will begin a trend of attracting students and local community mem-bers to Whitman jazz events.

Glenn mentioned the possibility of having outdoor festivals for future end of the year performances and per-

the end of fall performances.“I’m hoping that it does become

a tradition,” said Glenn, pointing at

the music building. “It could work really well here. We certainly have a good space, right across the street.”

-day, April 27, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Reid side lawn.

Music department’s first-ever ‘Jazz Bash’ aims to expand audiencesby LIZ SIENGStaff Reporter

Sophomore Plateau bassist Matt Sweeney performs at this year’s Barefoot

Formal. Initially slated to take place on Reid side lawn, this year’s dance

was moved to the Tau Kappa Epsilon house due to the threat of thunder-

storms and redubbed ‘Shoes Encouraged’ Formal. Other performers in-

cluded Red Light Blue Light (who performed at last year’s Barefoot Formal)

and senior DJs Graham Brewer and Graham Toben. For an exclusive look at

the rest of Plateau, see ‘Plateau hones latest album for touring,’ this page.

BULLION

‘Barefoot’ Formal moved to TKE amidst weather concerns

I thought this would be a good opportunity to break tradition and try something new . . . Playing outside will attract a lot of people.

- David Glenn, director of jazz

!e PioneerISSUE 11

APR. 22, 2010

Page 7A&ECaribou's !"h album, Swim, is the headiest thing Dan Snaith has done in some time. In spite of Andorra's focus on lush melo-dies, '60s pop and arrangements made to accentuate those leanings, across nine new songs he dives into more cerebral territory. He places percussion at the forefront and anchors a world of textures and e#ects around his drums, yielding what could simultaneously be his most danceable and psychedelic material yet.

$at said, Snaith is not shooting to make dance music here; his rhythms rarely give way to straightforward thumps, and when they do, they're unexpected and violent, like on "Found Out," where the kick-snare comes in suddenly following the synths that loop throughout much of the song, and then breaks down and gives way to distorted, clattering toms only two min-utes later. "Bowls" comes next, and more than anything else, it sounds like arpeg-giated harps and bells bouncing violently between the le" and right stereo channels before aggressive bass hits, and the ar-rangement sounds almost like a rewriting of house music tropes, gleefully de!ant and ringing out the entire time.

On "Leave House" he channels the late cellist and disco auteur Arthur Russell al-most completely, evoking his late-period electronic compositions and processing his vocals through a similar set of ef-fects, rendering it reverbed and ghostlike; sounds %oat around him.

Yet most of these songs also lack straightforward verse-chorus structures. Not that that's anything new for Caribou, whose early material was entirely instru-mental, but it marks a departure from Andorra's comparatively tight construc-tion. "Hannibal" reveals both an easily-digestible rhythm and a pop song, but not until four minutes in, and it ends al-

most immediately a"er establishing itself. Only two moments provide easy points of entry, and those are opener "Odessa" and closer "Jamelia." "Odessa" is the only moment across the entire disc in which Snaith places his increasingly-strong sing-ing at the forefront, and it pulls o# the IDM/psych-pop/indie-dance crossover thing within the context of the pop song e#ortlessly without sacri!cing texture or interesting production; an entire album of these would, more or less, kill. "Jamelia" opens dissonant and gives way to Snaith's loudest, most impassioned-sounding vo-cals yet in a stunning build that, frustrat-ingly, only hits once.

At times, Swim listens like a complete and total assault of ideas. Snaith rarely lets something ride for more than a minute, and when he does, it's something unex-pected, even contrary to the notions of hooks and immediacy. Beyond its book-ends, it unravels slowly, and though few moments stand out, taken as a whole it proves as compelling as it is occasion-ally irritating, much like 2005's !e Milk of Human Kindness—its closest point of reference within his back catalog. It does, however, prove that Snaith is one who refuses to be content with simply rehash-ing concepts within his palette and is still among the most interesting electronic musicians working now.

Visceral in its depiction of a not-so-distant dystopia, “$ings We Didn’t See Coming” explores the limits of human relationships—the rare instances that drive us together and all the moments that drive us a part. Amsterdam follows one man through a series of short stories that spans three decades and all physi-cal and societal levels of an apocalyptic world. $e Age Book of the Year for 2009, Steven Amsterdam’s debut collec-tion was praised by Harper’s Magazine: “$e strength of Amsterdam’s book, as of [Margaret] Atwood’s recent work, lies in its eschewing of pie-in-the-sky theorizing that so o"en mars science !ction.”

Amsterdam’s future is not composed of handy robots, sleek architecture and hovering cars. No, in fact, any seemingly positive advance in this society’s tech-nology arises out of a need to survive. Trucks become huge and are equipped with televisions and refrigerators be-cause people are forced to live their lives inside them. $is post-apocalyptic world is ripe with disease, extreme weather and survival crime, but this is not a sto-ry of tremendous fear and isolation (try “$e Road”); rather, it is a collection that embraces the connection that is forced, rejected or embraced when vast numbers of people are forced to remain in continuous competition for survival and still attempt to re-create some form of consistent governance.

$e collection begins with “What We Know Now,” introducing us to the main character, and unnamed narrator, as a child in 1999 with a father preparing for the impending Y2K crisis. As the narra-

tor grows he makes his way alone in the world, taking varying government jobs (working at barricades, convincing peo-ple to leave their homes for dry ground during a never-ending rainstorm) or stealing necessary supplies like wa-ter and food. Along the way he meets Margo, who is present through the three center stories as both companion and obstacle: “As long as I have known her, I have never known peace.” Our narrator encounters disease, ego and ine&cient government as his life progresses all with the dark backdrop of su#ering and

constant change, which never seems to be for the better.

Works like this, which string together the life of a character or family through sections or stories, really are the best of both worlds (see Susan Minot’s “Mon-keys” for a particularly wonderful ex-ample). Each story is self-contained but

through the course of the book, a reader can truly gain an emotional attachment to characters as well as revel in their shi"ing views and opinions. In a way, I would probably have been unable or unwilling to truly accept that Amster-dam’s “I” remained the same character, but this narrator grows and learns as his environment deteriorates and mutates around him in a way that becomes hard to question considering the circum-stances. $e landscape and the tragedy are both always di#erent in each of Am-sterdam’s stories though they all possess the same sense of inevitable strain and disappointment.

Large chunks of time are absent from our narrator’s life, and theses excluded periods seem to be the ones that hold the most important and perhaps con-sequential moments of his life. What happened to cunning, reckless Margo? How did his family separate and disin-tegrate? Hints are provided in the lovely, yet abrupt endings of most stories, but it seems that these excluded years might actually hold the best stories of all.

Apocalypse, tragedy, hungry people, desperate people, big trucks and sex are written all over this book, but behind these ideas which are clearly depress-ing, or made depressing in one story or another, Amsterdam inserts a barrage of humor that feels most right when it is out of place and inappropriate. “$ings We Didn’t See Coming” starts out strong, !zzles in the middle but leaves on a com-manding note in the !nal story, “Best Medicine.” Dystopia is never barrels of fun, but Amsterdam creates a world that weighs on you with such absurdity and discomfort that it becomes the kind of baggage you almost hate to see go.

ACROSS1. Unit of meat5. Barely misses the basket9. Cock’s counterpart12. C or D, e.g.13. Bibliography abbr.14. “My two cents,” in chatspeak15. Filibuster, say17. Auction datum18. 4/20/10 campus event20. Half a sleigh?21. Pre-1917 rulers22. Phys. exam data25. Butt27. Petty squabble29. 4/22/10 campus event33. “$e Odyssey,” for one34. VCR remote button35. Certain colonizer36. __ Donna39. British john41. 4/23/10 Whitman event46. V - II47. Bootlegger’s trade48. Journalist Koppel49. Village50. Canal of cong51. Snake’s head?52. Chances53. Some state pols

DOWN1. Recipe direction2. Unaccompanied3. Obligatory 17-Across4. Contentions5. Hit F5 while browsing6. Couple7. “__/Sade” (1967 !lm)8. Winter vehicles9. Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland10. Carbon __ (global warming issue)11. Silently approves16. “Chill out, bra”19. Journalist Conde22. Luck, poetically23. Champion’s collection24. “Juiced” topic26. Formal title28. Nobel’s invention30. Eastern dignitary31. Has a purpose32. Mega-superstars37. Cuban dance38. Not sotto voce40. Catchall multiple choice option41. Invoke in a paper42. Rotary phone feature43. Yet another name for 9-Down44. Take scissors to45. Golfers’ accessories

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

by KARL WALLULISPuzzlemaster

MUSIC REVIEWMOVIE REVIEW

Swim, Caribou; Merge, 2010

“Things We Didn’t See Coming” by Steven Amsterdam, Pantheon 2009, 199 pages

BOOK REVIEW

Kick-AssWhen the red band trailer for this movie was released online in late December, it hit the populist pond of docile, naïve, and/or sensitive folks with a cannonball splash. $ey had no idea what had hit them: $is cute, 11-year-old-girl said what? Does she even know what that means? How can these Mephistophelean types represent children in this way?

Last week, “Kick-Ass” had a wide re-lease and, though the movie is a pathetic mish-mash of the worst aspects !lms like “Superbad,” “Superman” and “Kill Bill,” it hopefully de!ed the violently purist vi-sions of children to which many parents foolishly still hold on. $e !lm, directed by Matthew Vaughn (“Stardust”) and starring Nich-olas Cage and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin’ from “Superbad”), is an action-packed orgy about a teenage boy who tries to become a real life superhero, but !nds that there’s a lot more to the pseudo-profession than just kicking ass and taking names.

$e violence is certi!ably gratuitous—though the !ght scenes could use a cue from Yuen Woo-ping (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “$e Matrix” and “Kill Bill”)—and the acting is as young and immature as the actors themselves. An ad-aptation of a Mark Millar comic book, the biggest pitfall of “Kick-Ass” is that it wanders down the path of self-assured seriousness instead of chiseling some teeth for the rabble-rousing, biting parody it could have been.

If you were expecting some sort

of over-the-top critique of postmodern superhero consumerism, I suggest you wait until Quentin Tarantino decides to go at it alone with a pop-culture encyclo-pedia. If you’re looking for a montage of ensanguined !ght scenes championed by some puny, underdog teenagers, however, this movie might be right up your dark ally. Either way, keep in mind that “Kick-Ass” is meant to push buttons, not grace-fully and artistically sew them.

!e Secret in !eir EyesLaced with melancholic beauty of the kind that inspired Chopin’s Op. 28 preludes, Juan José Campanella’s Oscar-winning !lm for Best Foreign Language Film, “$e Secret in $eir Eyes,” explores the haunt-ing memory of the cold case of a 25-year-old who was raped and murdered in the

mid-‘70s. $e !lm, at once set in the 1974 past and the 1999 present, methodically transports the viewer between these time periods with a grace unparalleled by any Hollywood schematic, yet still manages to maintain an air of mystery likely gath-ered from Mr. Campanella’s time in the United States directing several episodes of “House” and “Law & Order.”

Fortunately, the insight he gathered from that work eschewed the numbing contrivances upon which those shows are so proudly based. Ricardo Darín—the Argentine equivalent of George Clooney, with a little less pizzazz—leads an excel-lent cast of national actors that include Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Fran-cella.

Benjamin (Darín), a recently re-tired criminal court investigator, has decided to take up the labori-ous hobby of becoming a writer and, in a nostalgic e#ort to relive part of his career, decides to write a novel based on the aforementioned unresolved rape and murder. He shares his plans with Irene (Vil-lamil), the beautiful judge and for-mer colleague he has secretly loved since they !rst met, who is hesitant at !rst to explore the depths of his project.

Clues unfurl slowly, situating Benjamin in the middle of a ju-dicial thriller whose increases in intensity and artistry are in lockstep with one another. $e !lm is a tribute to the excel-lence of Argentine cinema over

the years, and, for that matter, to the Academy’s ability to recog-

nize gems at a distance from their American backyards. I can assure

you that if you go through the trou-ble of !nding it, “$e Secret in $eir

Eyes” will reward you in the end.

by BECQUER MEDAK!SEGINMovie Reviewer

O. JOHNSON

‘Kick-Ass’ too serious; ‘Secret in

Their Eyes’ deserving of Oscar win

‘Swim’ occasionally irritatesby ANDREW HALLMusic Reviewer

Amsterdam’s ‘Things We Didn’t See

Coming’ is stark, but only in content

by CHRISTINE TEXEIRABook Reviewer

KWCW SHOW OF THE WEEK

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SONG

!e PioneerISSUE 11

APR. 22, 2010

Page 8 OpinionApril 22, 2010 OPINION 9

POLITIC AL C ARTOON

LET TER TO THE EDITORDear Editor,

In last week’s issue, William Witwer wrote a column urging the Catholic Church to “change the policies that may have contrib-uted to the problem (i.e. doctrine requiring celibacy, prohibition against women being priests).” He also admitted, however, that he was “not sure what the facts are, exactly . . . “ I urge him to do some investigation into the facts, surely a proper activity for a journalist. If he had done so, he would have discovered that the rate of sexual abuse by Catholic priests is no di!erent than that of clergy in other denomina-tions, and in fact of men in other positions which involve frequent contact with youth (teachers, coaches, etc.).

For evidence on this, I suggest he read the recent Newsweek article, “Mean Men” (available online at http://www.news-week.com/id/236096), as well as the Se-attle Times investigation into the moving around of serial abusing coaches in the state of Washington in 2003, “Coaches Who Prey” (http://seattletimes.nwsource.

com/news/local/coaches/). "e data and cases cited in both articles would at least strongly indicate that the requirement for priestly celibacy has nothing to do with the problem. Moreover, while it is true that women do not abuse children at the same rate as men, I am fairly sure that nei-ther Mr. Witwer, nor any reasonable indi-vidual, would want to bar men from the clergy and all positions involving contact with youth.

Finally, to suggest that the Catholic Church has done nothing to improve institutional response and prevent serial abuse by individual priests is to demon-strate ignorance of policies put in place by the current so-called “hyper-conservative” pope while head of the Congregation for the Faith. "ese have streamlined the pro-cess by which priests are suspended and removed from ministry when substanti-ated claims are made against them. "is has been admitted by even the most lib-eral Catholic publication in this country, the National Catholic Reporter (see http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/

keeping-record-straight-benedict-and-crisis), a magazine that generally goes out of its way to advocate for so-called “mod-ernization” of doctrine along the lines sug-gested by Mr. Witwer.

Obviously in the past the Church has been at fault in her handling of cases and treatment of victims, as she herself has both admitted and apologized for repeat-edly, and she can always work to do better, but there has been a sea-change in the re-sponse to abuse in the last 20 years, result-ing in a dramatic drop in number of re-ported incidents. "e vast majority of the cases under discussion, horrible as they are, date from before the 1980s. To suggest that there has been no genuine attempt to “shi# focus” and “$x [the] problem” is simply wrong. I suggest Mr. Witwer fol-low Jon Stewart’s own advice, and get his news from some source other than "e Daily Show.

Sincerely,Claire ValenteAdjunct Assistant Professor of General Studies

Impulsiveness key to

living meaningful lifeI did an idiotic thing the other day.

On what amounted to little more than a dare between a few friends, we all, in our in$nite wis-dom, decided to pierce both of our ears. "is deci-sion, remarkably,

was not made in a drunken stupor. Were this the case, it would be easier to justify. But, alas, no, this was merely an impulsive decision, made know-ing full well that the result would be the douche-y appearance I have since donned.

Now, I have two absurdly large faux-diamond studs in my ears and, in all honesty, I’m keeping them. Not because I look good or because it was a good decision, but because I think it’s kind of funny.

What I can extract from this cir-cumstance, this particular instance of dumbassery, is the fun in impulsive-ness, in spontaneity.

"ere is something inherently mo-notonous about what we do in day-to-day life; hell, that’s why the term day-to-day life exists. It is used as a catchall phrase to describe the things we do everyday that are deemed so ordinary and so routine as to not be worthy of mentioning.

Now, these routine tasks are in no means something to be avoided because, obviously, they have a purpose, and, in-cidentally, they do not land you the title of Jersey Shore look-alike on the fourth %oor of Jewett. But, something must be said for breaking from routine, doing things that may not make all that much sense and getting a story out of it.

Drunken people understand this concept exceptionally well, which is why many a morning detective has emerged with stories gruesome, hilari-ous or pretty much legendary. Unfor-tunately they perhaps take it a bit too far, which is why sober people should practice impulsiveness responsibly. "is cunning strategy nets the hilarity of the story without the possibility of waking up to $nd you razed Olin to the ground.

What it comes down to is that im-pulse makes your life worth relating to people. What stories do we tell people we have just met? Do we talk about that one time we went to class, sat through it in silence, went home and went to bed? Hell no we don’t. We tell stories of the dumbest, most singularly idiotic and spectacular of the things we have done.

We talk about things that, on the sur-face, we wish we hadn’t done, or at least wonder why we did. We do this, but then, we come to recognize ourselves through these things, through these impulsive exaggerations of our own personalities. In a way then, impulsive decisions are part of what makes a per-son worth knowing, if a person is only as good as the stories they tell, which, in some cases, is true, then there is much to be gained in acting on impulse.

Life slows back down to monotony when too much time is spent deliberat-ing about everything you do. If every-one thought everything through, where would be the hilarious tattoos? "e bungee jumping? "e skydiving? If you agree with Jack London when he says, “"e proper function of a man is to live, not to exist,” then you can see the es-sence of what it is to follow impulse and act spontaneously. What you’re doing when you jump out of that plane, when you do a gainer o! that cli!, is not set-tling with existing but rather, living.

JOEY KERNColumnist

Embrace Obama’s

pretentiousness, not

Tea Party’s anti-elitism Many of his more conservative op-ponents see Presi-dent Obama as either an elitist Washington in-sider, or a radical Muslim socialist bent on tearing our country apart. Or, in spite of the apparent contra-dictions, both at

the same time. Such is the detrimentally divisive political climate we live in.

"ough the radical liberal label is al-most laughable (he’s a fairly conserva-tive Democrat, whatever his opposition says), the elitist one is much harder to shake. For one thing, he went to Har-vard Law School and was president of the Law Review there. He speaks with eloquence and heavily emphasized dic-tion; even the most conservative of poli-ticians grudgingly acknowledges this skill, though most turn it into a criticism of his ability to get things done—i.e. he can only give brilliant speeches rather than enact policy.

And, by many appearances, he is an elitist, as he attended the school with the best reputation in the country and became that middle-class dream of a po-sition, a lawyer (and a writer); his skills with the English language do, at least in my opinion, place him among the elite. Many Tea Party members feel that he does not represent the “real America,” that his public persona reeks with the stench of a high-brow academic mind-set. I guess they miss the folksiness of President Bush.

I don’t. I think that his command of our language demonstrates his intelli-gence, even if it is not as politically ap-pealing as, say, Ronald Reagan. I think his membership in the elite and preten-tious Harvard University shows a com-mitment to learning and is representa-tive of how extraordinary he really is. Because, in all fairness, the appearance of pretentiousness (which is generally just intelligence) is only a bad thing when it attacks people without just cause.

I don’t mean that pretentiousness is good in all forms. I just think that it’s good to have high standards for who gets to lead our country. Devoid of poli-

tics, would you rather have a Texas dad-dy’s boy who don’t speak real good and who got C’s at Yale, or a brilliant student in charge of the Harvard Law Review? I think pretentiousness (as in standards) should be celebrated, because they lead to better results, or at leas the hope that better results are possible.

I do not mean to suggest that every person who smokes self-wrapped ciga-rettes, likes to talk about movies and bands you’ve never heard of and just generally likes to assert the depth and breadth of their intelligence—i.e. pre-tentiousness in its conventional form—should be running our country. Nor do I wish to assert that those who are not en-trenched in the celebrated institutions of this country are somehow lesser; I just perceive it as an o!ensive criticism that Obama being a member of the elite is a bad thing.

Not that I don’t understand the popu-list anger; the Tea Party members are angry with the direction that the coun-try is going, the size of the government, the in%uence of lobbyists, the lack of accessible jobs. "ey see Obama’s intel-lectualism as cold and without empathy, though they wouldn’t agree with him anyway. I just don’t think we should be critical of him for this trait. Politics aside, the fact that he was elected shows that maybe, just maybe, Americans do actually have standards and pretensions about the quality of their leadership.

"at being said though, Obama needs to be more emotional come election season, because many Americans vote with their hearts, not their heads. In this sense, the issues matter less than how they are presented. Yet Obama’s preten-sions should not be used against him, even though they will be.

WILLIAMWITWER

Columnist

Rethinking tech: Fountain

pens worthwhile experienceI’m a gadget geek. I love having the latest, greatest thing (no, I do not have an iPad yet). Over this semes-ter, though, I’ve picked up a new love for a par-ticular gadget, or rather a family of gadgets: fountain

pens. Before you start making assump-tions about my writing instruments of choice, let me tell you a bit: Fountain pens don’t require dipping. You won’t $nd me walking around with an inkwell and quill around campus. Instead, these pens are o#en well-designed pieces of art made of plastic or metal, and have a means of storing ink beyond just a few lines’ worth.

"ey’re also the best writing expe-rience I’ve ever had. Nothing com-pares, in my experience, to the smoothness and precision that a good fountain pen can pro-vide. Ever since I picked up my $rst one, I’ve had noth-ing but good experi-ences with the pens that I’ve acquired. I was able to write for $ve hours s t r a i g h t with a f o u n t a i n pen over spring break, with-out even so much as a hint of a cramp.

“ B u t Blair!” I hear

you say, “You’re the tech columnist! You’re supposed to be writing about computers and video games, not pens!” Well, I disagree. Fountain pens are the epitome of a technological experience. Each one has to be precision made. While I do most of my writing on my laptop, it’s nice to have a writing imple-ment I can take with me, along with a notebook, so I can quickly jot down notes.

Fountain pens even have a better impact on the envi-ronment: Re$lling the same fountain pen saves the plastic or wood and graphite

required by traditional pens and pencils. Plus it means that you can use a wide variety of inks. In the three pens I have inked right now, one of them has a red-black, t h e other one a

grey, and the third a

dark teal.For the sake

of argument, let’s say that my little

primer here has pro-vided you a signi$cant

enough impetus to look into becoming a fountain pen user.

Where do you start? If you want just a taste of the FP experience with-

out having to sink a lot of time or money into it, try the Pilot Varsity. "ey’re like any other disposable pen, save for the fact that they use fountain pen nibs in-stead of a traditional rollerball or ball-point design.

If you feel like fountain pens are de$-nitely for you, check out the Lamy Sa-fari. I’m a huge fan of Lamy’s pens. "ey come in four styles: broad (the widest, wettest line you can get), medium, $ne and extra-$ne. Try one you think is right for you. (I’m a fan of their $ne nibs.) "e best part of the Safari is that the nibs are interchangeable. Want to try a broad nib where you usually used a $ne? Just swap out one nib for another.

If you just want to $nd some more in-formation, check out the Fountain Pen Network at fountainpennetwork.com. It’s a huge, friendly community of folks who love fountain pens and are happy to help other people who might be inter-ested or need some advice. You can $nd me on there—I’m “belril.”

So, I hope I’ve piqued your interest. If you see me on campus and want to give one of my pens a try, just holler. I’ll be happy to show you.

BLAIR FRANKColumnist

ALDEN

Europe’s Next Eruption:

DOUGLAS

Because, in all fair-ness, the appearance of pretentiousness (which is generally just intel-ligence) is only a bad thing when it attacks people without just cause.

April 22, 2010 OPINION 9

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Violence in video games deserves same treatment as violence in film

It’s a perennial favorite of news o r g a n i z a t i o n s : Some new vid-eo game is the scourge of mod-ern society, due to some sort of possibly objec-tionable content that has suburban mothers locking

up computers and X-Boxes. When-ever someone goes out and commits some reprehensible act, it’s all about the video games. In my experience, if you were to go into a room filled with teenaged males, you’d find that the vast majority of them will have played some sort of violent video game.* Why then are people always shocked that when some angry, teenaged prick decides to go shoot someplace up he happened to play “Call of Duty” or “Grand Theft Auto?”

I’m sorry if this sounds controver-sial or is difficult to understand, but killing video game characters and people are two completely different things. To illustrate my point, con-sider “The Matrix” and its related se-quels. These are not friendly movies.

Neo and Trinity don’t show up in an office building with bags and trench coats full of firearms to give everyone a friendly hug. They show up to shoot the living daylights out of the place. And somehow, it managed to reach critical acclaim. On some level, there is a common agreement between the moviegoers and the filmmakers that none of it is real.

Compare that to one of my per-sonal favorite games: “Bioshock.” The main character is not there to give hugs either. You spend your time run-ning around an underwater dystopia shooting people.** Philosophically, it addresses questions similar to “The Matrix.” It has one of the best crafted stories of the entire genre, to date. It’s about as violent as “The Matrix,” and again, there is the same unspoken agreement between the player and the game designers that it’s not real. When I’m killing enemies in a video game, I know that all I’m doing is changing some ones and zeroes in a data file.

But what about kids? Parents don’t want 10-year-old Billy playing “Gears of War.” That’s fine. Parents need to look at their kids’ video game intake and figure out what the best thing to do is, just as they would with movies

or television. My parents didn’t let me see “Saving Private Ryan” when it came out, because I was seven. That was the smart thing to do. Video Games, like movies, are clearly labeled. Any-one who’s under the age of 14 or 15 probably shouldn’t be playing a game rated “Mature,” just like they probably shouldn’t watch an R-rated movie.

In a condensed form, it all comes down to a matter of choice. I can choose whether or not to play “Grand Theft Auto” (to date, I have not). Par-ents can choose what’s right for their kids. Just because something exists, doesn’t mean that everyone has to play it.

*Granted, I don’t have copious amounts of scientific data to back this up, but I would hope that as a teenaged male (for one more year, anyhow) my experience would carry a little weight.

**If you want to be technical, they’re “splicers,” people who have modified their genetic structure to the point where they’ve gone crazy.

BLAIR FRANKColumnist

Republicans’ self-serving attack on financial reform distorts truth

After nearly a year of refut-ing ridiculous rumors about “death panels” and govern-ment takeovers, President Obama signed health care reform into law last month. The Obama Ad-

ministration’s next priority is finan-cial reform legislation that could pre-vent a financial collapse like the one that precipitated the Great Recession of 2008.

You’d think that anyone whose memory reaches back to the fall of 2008—with banks failing left and right, the Dow plummeting and millions of Americans losing their jobs—would support such a bill. But sadly, partisan politics has once again trumped logic in the halls of Con-gress. In a too-familiar tactic, Re-publican leaders have self-servingly attempted to defeat the bill by mis-leading the American people.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the highest-ranking Republican in the Senate, declared on April 13 that “we cannot allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts. That’s why we must not pass the financial reform bill that’s about to hit the floor.”

Senator McConnell’s statement is malicious and false.

First, the bill would not balloon the federal deficit by allowing “endless taxpayer-funded bailouts.” Rather, the bill would help prevent the same collapses that caused 2008’s financial crisis.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has the right to seize any bank that it deems likely to fail. Con-gress created the FDIC after the Great Depression made clear that without

regulation, bank failures can send the economy into a downward spiral.

In the 1930s, banks were just that: places to deposit money and secure loans. Sub-prime mortgages and ad-vanced financial derivatives didn’t exist, and the FDIC’s power was ad-equate to keep the financial industry stable. The FDIC is no longer adequate to regulate today’s complex financial industry. The proposed financial re-form bill would extend regulatory au-thority like the FDIC’s to complicated financial institutions like Citigroup and Lehman Brothers.

Seizures under the new financial reform bill would not be “taxpayer funded,” as Senator McConnell al-leges. Just as banks fund the FDIC through an insurance premium, the money for any “bailouts” under the new bill would come from the finan-cial institutions themselves. Further-more, the bill will make any future seizures far less likely by prohibiting the risky (and in some cases outright fraudulent) investment practices that led to the financial collapse.

Simply put, financial reform makes sense. The government should regu-late financial institutions to prevent them from engaging in risky prac-tices. The government should be able

to seize institutions that put the entire economy in danger by making poor decisions.

So why are Senator McConnell and other Republicans working so hard to defeat it?

Despite their rhetoric, it’s not be-cause Republican leaders have re-made their party into the defender of middle-class America. Top-level Re-publicans remain allied with financial institutions. Wall Street executives and lobbyists are dedicated to defeat-ing the proposed financial reforms and have held meetings with Republi-can brass while debating the bill.

Rather, the Republicans’ motiva-tion for opposing the bill is transpar-ent and self-serving. After proving unable to prevent health care reform, the GOP is desperate to hand Presi-dent Obama a political defeat. And a recently leaked memo from a top Republican strategist shows that the party’s tactic of choice is linking any legislation to 2008’s bank bailouts, which are immensely unpopular.

This tactic is dishonest on numer-ous levels. Despite Republican efforts to link bailouts to the Obama Admin-istration’s expansion of government, the bank bailouts where not Obama’s idea. Rather, they were the brain-child of Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury under George W. Bush. Many Republicans, including Senator McConnell, voted for the bailout bill, which most economists agree was dis-tasteful but necessary.

Despite their claims, Republicans are not opposing financial reform to protect taxpayers. They are doing so to protect their vested interests on Wall Street and to hand President Obama a political defeat. The pawns in their game are the American Peo-ple, who might face a future econom-ic crisis if the GOP blocks meaningful reforms.

JAMES SLEDDColumnist

California: Failed state, complete reform only possible option

Last weekend, the California Democratic party convened for its annual meeting where it debated and amended a party platform that addresses 23 issues ranging from “business and the econo-

my” to the last category, “world peace.” Unfortunately, none of the 9,000 words managed to address the true issue: Cal-ifornia is a failed state.

While the term “failed state” is usu-ally reserved for sovereign states that have been taken over by warlords or Somali pirates, it also applies to one of the 50 domestic states whose govern-ment cannot address or solve the prob-lems it faces. !at pretty much sums up my home state of California.

Only t h r e e states in the country have the su-permajority requirement, that is, the re-quirement that both houses of a leg-islature have two-thirds votes to pass a budget. Six-teen states have the same su-permajority requirement for rais-ing taxes. California got this second supermajority requirement—com-monly known as Proposition 13—be-cause of an ill-advised experiment in direct democracy.

Twenty-four states have the referen-dum and initiative process that allows citizens to place proposals on the bal-lot. California is the only state that does not allow its legislature to amend ini-tiatives that its voters have passed, no matter how crazy. As it turns out, voters like to receive bene"ts from the state but they don’t like to pay for them.

Prop 13 exempli"es that insanity. It was passed in 1978 in order to lower property taxes and keep them from ex-ceeding 2 percent per year while at the same time specifying the supermajority for future tax increases. Lowering taxes and virtually preventing future tax in-creases sounds great until you think

about what those taxes pay for, like schools, libraries, "re departments and other public services.

!e combination of the supermajori-ties required to pass a budget and raise taxes has made solving California’s $30 billion budget gap virtually impossible, as evidenced by the reoccurring budget stalemates. Since they can’t raise taxes, the state legislature has resorted to cut-ting public services.

In the 1950s and ‘60s California had the best public education system in the world. Now the legislature is disman-tling it. Tuition, fees and other costs for community colleges, state colleges and universities and the UC system have skyrocketed. For me, the education cuts hit home. My sister at the University of California at Santa Barbara will have to pay an additional $1,344 in tuition next fall. My cousin recently dropped out of a community college in Hayward because she couldn’t get the classes she needed to graduate.

But education isn’t the only is-sue facing the golden state. Los Angeles has the big-gest homeless population in America, one of over 85,000, a third of which are veterans. !e L.A. County Jail is the largest mental

health facility but it doesn’t seem to be working since California has the worst recid-ivism rate in the country. Cali-fornia has started paying courts with I.O.U.s, causing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to

say that California “no longer administers justice” because

the courts are closed part of the time and cases are

absurdly backlogged. California uses too

much water and has let the infrastruc-

ture to transport it crumble. It

has the worst credit rat-

ing of all 50 states

a n d t h e

u n -e m -

p l o y -m e n t

rate has reached a new

high of 12.6 percent.!e situation is dismal but it is not

hopeless. Instead of mindlessly review-ing its 23-issue platform, the California Democratic party should have been calling for a constitutional convention. Repair California, a group pushing for a constitutional convention, found that 71 percent of Californians would vote yes on a proposition to call a conven-tion to "x California’s broken system of government. Unfortunately, the orga-nization has since run out of funds, just like everything else in the state.

Many Californian leaders have said that it is too risky to have a conven-tion because “anything could happen.” What they don’t seem to understand is that “anything” would be better.

LISA CURTISColumnist

SLOANE

Do not be deceived by Republican scare tactics. Financial reform is not about government bailouts. To avert another financial meltdown, Wall Street must be regulated properly.

You’d think that any-one whose memory reaches back to the fall of 2008—with banks failing left and right, the Dow plummeting and millions of Ameri-cans losing their jobs —would support such a bill.

!e PioneerISSUE 11

APR. 22, 2010

Page 10 SportsApril 22, 2010 SPORTS 11

The springtime tradition of Greek-end kicked off last Thursday, Apr. 14, complete with food, fun and football. Members of Whitman Greek groups played a series of flag football games in pursuit of the prestigious title of Greekend champion.

Kappa Kappa Gamma went un-defeated to win the sorority tourna-ment, avenging last year’s last-place finish, while Tau Kappa Epsilon took home the glory among the fraternities by defeating Phi Delta Theta 14-7 on Sunday.

In the first game of the tournament, Kappa Kappa Gamma defeated Kappa Alpha Theta 19-7. Kappa kept things rolling in Sunday’s de facto champion-ship game as they defeated defending champion Delta Gamma 13-7 to earn the title of Greekend Champions.

For senior Kappa captain Rachel Constantino-Wallace, the victory was especially meaningful in her last year playing Greekend football.

“It was great to win, especially com-ing off the two losses last year,” said Constantino-Wallace.

The early loss proved to motivate the Theta team as they upset defend-ing champion Delta Gamma 13-7 late Saturday in the game of the weekend.

DG led 7-0 for most of the game until the Thetas scored 13 unanswered points in the final minutes to steal the victory from the shocked DGs.

Sophomore Lea Gariando began the Theta comeback with under two min-utes left in the game when she picked off DG quarterback Lauren Parsons’s pass and returned the ball 50 yards for a tying touchdown. Theta’s defense held the DGs scoreless on their next possession and got the ball back with just over a minute left. Then the fire-works started.

With 10 seconds left in the game and the ball on the DG 25-yard line, the Thetas completed a perfectly ex-ecuted half back pass as senior quar-terback Emily Ufheil-Somers dished the ball to fellow senior Julia Russell, who connected with sophomore Em-ily Coba in the end zone for the go-ahead score.

DG did not go away quietly, down to their last play. Parsons’s Hail Mary pass found the hands of senior Hilary White; however, Coba saved the day for the Thetas as she pulled White’s flag just shy of the end zone.

“We were all shocked about the win. Goes to show how much respect people have for the DGs,” said se-nior James Bevan-Lee, Theta’s coach. “There’s no denying their athletic ability.”

Theta’s victory over DG was partic-ularly impressive considering they did

not field a team during the fall football season, while the DG team advanced all the way to the semi-finals.

Theta’s Greekend team featured a combination of players who played for section teams in the fall. While one predominately Theta team, F-YeAh!, advanced all the way to the intramural championship game, the Thetas still faced the challenge of put-ting together a Greekend team in only three weeks.

“I think the Thetas are a good mix-ture of players. There are a lot of girls who play [for different teams in the fall]; having them all come together in one team was great,” said Bevan-Lee.

Bevan-Lee credited the Thetas’ work ethic—they practiced at least three times a week for the three weeks leading up to Greekend—as the main catalyst for their victory.

In the fraternity division, Phi and TKE advanced to Sunday’s champion-ship game thanks to forfeit victories over Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi, re-spectively.

“It was a bit of a let-down that Beta and the Sigs didn’t field a team,” said senior TKE Graham Brewer. “It was disappointing to only play one game.”

As the defending Greekend and In-termural champions, TKE entered the

game with big expectations.“Because we fielded the same team

as [when we won] last year, we knew we would win,” said Brewer. “We defi-nitely expected to win.”

The TKEs lived up to their expecta-tions early. They kicked off the scor-ing on their second drive as senior Christopher “TC” Tobin-Campbell caught a short slant and outran the Phi defense, giving TKE an early 7-0 lead. TKE expanded their lead to 14-0 when sophomore Gene Kim fooled the Phi defense with a center sneak midway through the first half.

The Phis got on the board in the closing minutes of the first half as se-nior quarterback Ben Kron hit fellow senior Jonny Tat at the goal line for a touchdown to narrow the TKEs’ lead to 14-7 at half-time. This proved to be the final margin as the game turned into a defensive battle of attrition in the second half.

No team really threatened the end zone until the Phis almost scored on their last offensive play of the game as Kron hooked up with Tat on another long pass; however, referee junior Chris Barton called Kron down right before he released the pass, negating the resulting touchdown and securing the win for TKE.

TKE, Kappa rule Greekendby MELISSA NAVARRO and MAX RAUSCHStaff Reporter and Sports Editor

Above: Graham Brewer ‘10 looks on as Sam Chasan ‘10 of TKE lays a block

against Phi’s Bidnam Lee defender and clears the way for Christopher Tobin-

Campbell ‘10 during a 14-7 victory. Right: Kenna Little ‘13 of Kappa Kappa

Gamma takes down DG receiver Hilary White ‘10 during a 13-7 Kappa victory.

PHOTOS BY JACOBSON

!is past weekend, the Northwest Con-ference Tournament marked the end of the season for the Whitman women, and the collegiate careers of seniors Divneet Kaur and Hadley DeBree. On Friday, April 16, the Missionaries had two matches. !e "rst was a 5-0 rout of sixth-seeded Paci"c University, while the second came down to the wire, up-setting the number two-seeded Lin"eld College, 5-4. With both victories under their belt, the Missionaries advanced to the "nals on Saturday against top-seeded Whitworth University. But the Pirates proved to be too much, dispatch-ing Whitman, 5-3.

Going into the tournament as the number three seed, Whitman had a battle to "ght. Unlike the number one or two seeds, they did not have a "rst round bye. However, they easily dispatched Paci"c, winning 5-0. In doubles, junior Elise Otto and "rst-year Alyssa Roberg won a hard-fought match at number one, 9-8 (7-4); DeBree and Kaur won 8-4 at number two; and "rst-year Kate Kunkel-Patterson and sophomore Emily Rolston won 8-6 at number three.

Going into the singles matches up 3-0, Whitman quickly ended the match. Otto defeated her opponent at number one singles 6-1, 6-1, and Kaur, at num-ber three singles, blanked her opponent 6-0, 6-0 to end the match at 5-0.

Later that Friday a#ernoon, Whitman took on a more formidable opponent in

number two-seeded Lin"eld. Otto and Roberg started o$ the doubles match with an 8-5 win at number one doubles, but the teams of Kaur/DeBree and Kun-kel-Patterson/Rolston fell 5-8 and 8-9 at number two and three doubles, respec-tively.

On the singles side, Roberg fell at number one, 3-6, 4-6, but Otto quickly answered back at number two, winning by the same score. DeBree fell at num-ber three 4-6, 6-2, 4-6. However, the last three of the singles line-up all pulled out victories. Kaur bested her opponent at number four 6-1, 6-4; Rolston won 6-1, 6-2 at number "ve and Kunkel-Patter-son came back from being down a set 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Having lost to Lin"eld twice during the season 5-4, the upset put the Mis-sionaries in good spirits.

"Anytime you play a closely matched team and it comes down to 4-4 and the last match on decides it, it creates an amazing atmosphere that is a thrill to be a part of; pulling out that last match is a feeling that is hard to describe if you've never been a part of it," said Head Coach John Hein. "Lin"eld has a proud and wonderful program that always shows up to play and while we have been close for years, they have found a way to eek out wins time a#er time, so for Hadley and Div in their senior year it was de"nitely a sweet thing to beat the Wildcats."

On Saturday, the Missionaries had high hopes going into a match-up with Whitworth University, the number one

seed and favorite to win the tourna-ment.

Just as with Lin"eld, Whitman dropped two before singles-play start-ed. Otto and Roberg got the win 8-5 at number one doubles. DeBree and Kaur fell 3-8 at number two and Kunkel-Pat-terson and Rolston fell 5-8 at number three.

In singles, Otto and Kaur showed sparks, winning 6-4, 6-2 at number two and 6-2, 6-3 at number four, respec-tively, while the rest of the Missionaries struggled. DeBree fell 1-6, 0-6 at number three, Rolston at number "ve fell 0-6, 4-6, and Kunkel-Patterson fell 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) at number six. Kunkel-Patterson's match clinched the the "#h victory and the tournament title for Whitworth Uni-versity, and le# the number one singles match with Roberg un"nished, but down 7-6 (7-5), 4-1.

"We fought like champions and le# it all on the court against Whitworth," said Hein. "We can be very proud of every-thing we've accomplished.”

Placing second at the conference tour-nament puts a cap on the best season the Whitman women have had in the past decade. !ough not advancing further in the post-season, Hein received the Northwest Conference Coach of the Year Award along with "rst team All-Confer-ence honors for Otto and Roberg.

With only two graduating seniors, the Missionaries will look to return to the conference "nals next year and to much more success in the years to come.

by LINDSAY FAIRCHILDStaff Reporter

Pirates pillage Missionaries

Divneet Kaur ‘10 returns a forehand from the baseline during practice in prepara-

tion for the Northwest Conference Championships. The third-seeded Missionaries

made it to the finals but fell short against a top-ranked Whitworth University 5-3.

JACOBSON

April 22, 2010 SPORTS 11

S!"#$%&#

S!'(#)'*($FRIDAY, Apr. 16Women’s Tennis: Northwest Confer-ence Tournament

Whitman College 5, Paci!c University 0Singles--Otto d. Goya 6-1, 6-1; Kaur d. Wong 6-0, 6-0; Doubles--Otto/Roberg d. Goya/Yoshimoto 9-8 (7-4); DeBree/Kaur d. Wong/Mizuno 8-4; Kunkel-Pat-terson/Rolston d. Velligas/Soga 8-6

Whitman College 5, Lin!eld College 4Singles--Olbrich (LC) d. Roberg 6-3, 6-4; Otto (WC) d. Katter 6-3, 6-4; Lar-son (LC) d. DeBree 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Kaur (WC) d. Click 6-1, 6-4; Rolston (WC) d. Nip 6-1, 6-2; Kunkel-Patterson (WC) d. Watanabe 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; Doubles--Otto/Roberg (WC) d. Katter/Olbrich 8-5; Click/Watanabe (LC) d. Kaur/DeBree 8-5; Larson/Franceschina (LC) d. Kun-kel-Patterson/Rolston 9-8 (7-3)

Men’s Tennis: Northwest Conference Tournament

Whitman College 5, Paci!c Lutheran University 1Singles--Solomon (WC) d. Trudel 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Tolman (WC) d. Peterson 6-4, 7-5; Moshevich (WC) d. Floyd 6-2, 6-1; Doubles--Solomon/Moshevich (WC) d. Peterson/Trudel 8-4; Sheldon/Manser (PLU) d. Fuchs/Miller 9-7; Tolman/Kas-sam (WC) d. Smoots/Dickey 8-6

Men’s Tennis: Whitman College 5, Willamette University 1Singles--Tolman (WC) d. Baumgartner 6-4, 6-3; Fuchs (WC) d. Lagattuta 6-1, 6-0; Holton-Burke (WC) d. Mack 6-3, 6-2; Doubles--Moshevich/Solomon (WC) d. Wong/Ferguson 8-1; Houser/Mack (WU) d. Fuchs/Miller 8-5; Tol-man/Holton-Burke (WC) d. Lagattuta/Baumgartner

SATURDAY, Apr. 17Baseball: Willamette University 13, Whitman College 3

L--Tolleson (1-7)Score by Inning R H EWillamette....111 522 010 - 13 16 1 Whitman.......001 200 000 - 3 6 1

Willamette University 9, Whitman College 10 W--Tolleson (2-4)Score by Inning R H EWillamette.....300 040 002 - 9 16 1 Whitman.......210 030 004 - 10 16 1

Women’s Tennis: Whitworth Univer-sity 5, Whitman College 3Singles--Otto (WC) d. Marshall 6-4, 6-2; Towne (WU) d. DeBree 6-1, 6-0; Kaur (WC) d. Bosman 6-2, 6-3; Staudinger (WU) d. Rolston 6-0, 6-4; Wing!eld (WU) d. Kunkel-Patterson 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Doubles--Otto/Roberg (WC) d. Bosman/Marshall 8-5; Burns/Stauding-er (WU) d. DeBree/Kaur 8-3; Towne/Wing!eld (WU) d. Kunkel-Patterson/Rolston 8-5

Men’s Tennis: Willamette University 1, Whitman College 5 Singles--Tolman (WC) d. Baumgartner 6-4, 6-3; Fuchs (WC) d. Laguttata 6-1, 6-0; Holton-Burke (WC) d. Mack 6-3, 6-2; Doubles--Moshevich/Solomon (WC) d. Wong/Ferguson 8-1; Houser/Mack (WU) d. Fuchs/Miller 8-5; Tol-man/Holton-Burke (WC) d. Laguttata/Baumgartner 8-5

Women’s Golf: 1. Whitworth Univer-sity (329, +41), 2. Paci!c University (341), DNF--Whitman College Individual Scores-- 7. Holland (88, +16), 12. Lodine (+20), 13. Evans (+24), DNF--Hayer

Men’s Golf: 1. Whitworth University (300, +12), 2. Paci!c University (331), 3. Whitman College (334) Individual Scores-- t-6. Campbell(81, +9), t-8. Clark (+11), t-8. Raher (+11), t-12. Brandel (+15), 14. Abercrombie (+16), 16. Devine (+22)

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Golf: Both men and women are com-ing off of a disappointing weekend, where they both finished last in their respective three-way matches. This weekend, April 24-25, will be their last chance to shine as they travel to Port-land, Ore. to compete in the Northwest Conference Golf Championships at Heron Lakes Golf Course. For seniors Kelsi Evans it will be her last collegiate golf tournament.

Baseball: "e Missionaries are com-ing o# an upli$ing weekend where they snapped a fourteen-game losing streak during their last home stand of the sea-son against Willamette University. "ey will travel to Atherton, Calif. to take on Menlo College in a pair of double-headers on Saturday and Sunday. "e Missionaries will be looking to this out-of-conference jolt to !nish the season strong with only one more weekend in their schedule.

The transition from college football to the NFL is the last consolidation of talent that play-ers must survive before they reach the promised land of chartered flights and multi-

million dollar contracts. Players lucky enough to get drafted must adjust to being a rookie in an unfamiliar town after two to four years of being the “big man on campus.” The learning curve is steep and even college’s best players struggle to excel.

Almost every player who has suc-cessfully made the transition from college to pro ball has commented on how much faster the game is on Sundays and how, as a result their room for error shrinks. Even Heisman Trophy winners—the award is given every year to college football’s best player—are not guaranteed success at the next level. Nebraska’s Eric Crouch and Oklahoma’s Jason White, the 2001 and 2003 Heisman Trophy winners re-spectively, never took a single snap on a Sunday.

Their plight has led me to consider the future of another Heisman Tro-phy winning quarterback, Tim Tebow. Tebow is undoubtedly one of the best college football players of all time. In his four years at Florida he was a Heis-man finalist three times, won two BCS National Championships and set more records than I can list. However, he is not the traditional blue chip quarter-back NFL coaches and owners love to draft in the first round. His rough and tumble playing style and unorthodox mechanics have scared a lot of teams away. Should an NFL owner give him a shot at playing on Sundays? I have compiled a list of pros and cons for NFL teams considering drafting the football missionary.

Pro: Tebow is a winner. In his last two years as a starter at Florida, Tebow was 26-2, enough said.

Con: Tebow has terrible throwing mechanics. Even he knows this, which is why he spent the entire winter work-ing with various quarterback’s coaches to raise his arm angle and speed up his delivery. On average NFL quarterbacks have about four seconds to throw the ball before they are knocked into next week by one of the four, 350-pound behemoths trying to seriously injure him. If you have ever seen Tebow play you know it takes him about three sec-onds just to go through his wind up. It is hard to believe that three months of work can erase 21 years of muscle memory.

Pro: Tebow is a leader. In 2008 dur-ing his post-game press conference after the top-ranked Gators' 31-30 loss to unranked Ole Miss he gave a speech straight out of a sports movie montage, apologizing for the loss and promising “Gator Nation” that for the remainder of the season they would see “no team play harder.” The Gators never lost another game that year and eventually defeated Oklahoma 24-14 in the National Championship game. Tebow’s speech was so influential in the team's turnaround, the University of Florida erected a statue outside The Swamp in honor of the occasion. How many current college students do you know with their own statue?

Con: College success doesn’t trans-late to the pros. NFL players and coaches respect and demand talent, something that Tebow is definitely lacking in certain areas. His competi-tive fire might not be able to carry him through any further. Plus his re-ligiously tinged leadership could be questioned at the professional level. When he tried to lead a prayer before the Wonderlic test—administered to every player at the NFL combine last month—he was promptly told to “shut the fuck up.”

Pro: Teams don’t have to worry about Tebow getting in trouble off the field. This is a guy who doesn’t have so much as a speeding ticket on his re-cord. In the age of Mike Vick, Ben Ro-ethlisberger and Plaxico Burress this is an invaluable quality.

The pros have it 3-2. I say give the guy a chance. He may not be the next Peyton Manning, but this guy will go to bat for any team that gives him the opportunity. Plus God is on his side, which is nice.

MAX RAUSCHSports Editor

Put me in, Coach; I’m ready to play

Last Saturday, April 17, the Whitman men's and women's club rugby teams welcomed their counterparts from East-ern Washington and Spokane (Gonzaga) to Walla Walla for the !rst ever Whitman Round Robin Tournament on Ankeny Field. However, at the end of the day, no clear winners emerged as all six teams !n-ished 1-1.

"e Whitman Motherruckers started out their day strong with a victory over the Spokane Marmots, a regional club team. Junior captain Emily Lorente saw the win as indicative of the Motherruckers im-provement over the course of the season.

“Our team has improved immensely and the Marmots are a team that beat us earlier this spring,” said Lorente.

Although the Motherruckers lost a 15-10 nail-biter to Eastern Washington in

their second game, Lorente was still over-whelmingly positive about the weekend as a whole.

“"e games went very well. We lost a very close game against Eastern, a highly competitive opponent," said Lorente. "We played some superb rugby, and three of our !rst-year players scored their very !rst tries this weekend. It was a great end to a great season.”

First-year Emmy Coleman, one of the Motherruckers who scored for the !rst time this weekend, echoed an overwhelm-ingly positive sentiment even following the last-second loss.

“It was awesome,” Coleman said. “Even though we lost, having three players score

their !rst tries in one day was great.”"e Whitman men fared just as well in

their !rst match of the day, upsetting the traditional northwest powerhouse East-ern Washington Eagles 21-19, thanks to two tries from sophomore sensation Matt McMillan and clutch kicking from fellow sophomore John Henry Heckendorn. "e win was particularly impressive consider-ing the Eagles decimated the Reapers 91-0 on Ankeny just last fall.

"We came out strong against Eastern and made crucial open !eld tackles to stop their o#ensive powerhouse players," said McMillan. "We played smart, hard-nosed rugby, and didn't make a lot of mistakes and I think that was what really made the di#erence in the !nal outcome."

"e surprise victory over Eastern seemed to zap the Reapers' energy as they came out %at in the !rst half of their sec-ond game against the Spokane Outlaws, a team made up of mostly Gonzaga Uni-versity students, falling behind 20-0 early. Despite a furious second half comeback, led by Heckendorn, the Reapers could not overcome their !rst half de!cit, eventually falling to the Outlaws by a !nal score of 20-12. Despite the loss, Men's Head Coach Eric McAlvey had nothing but praise for his team Saturday.

“"is past weekend we played the best rugby of the year," said McAlvey. ""e boys played with intensity and did not back down against the much larger, more ath-letic teams. "ey played two great games of team rugby.”

Although both teams' seasons are draw-ing to a close, the optimism for next season is just beginning. McAlvey especially is hopeful for an improvement on their 4-5 !nish.

“"e team has been very solid this year," said McAlvey. "We began the year with a large roster, lost a few guys through the typical attrition, but they have really come together this spring. We are graduating only four seniors this year, so we look to have the foundation in place for next year.”

Lorente was just as glowing with her assessment of the Motherruckers' coming season.

“Our team has improved immensely since the beginning of last fall, and our program is really looking up," she said. "We have the most dedicated, motivated, bad-ass team I have seen here at Whitman, and I am very excited to see the coming years of Whitman Motherruckers rugby.”

"e Motherruckers !nished their sea-son on Saturday, April 17, while the Reap-ers will close out their season this weekend with their annual alumni game Saturday, April 24.

by BAILEY ARANGOStaff Reporter

Whitman ruggers storm Ankeny

Carrie Beckman ‘13 leads a pack of ad-

vancing Motherruckers. Both Whitman

teams finished the tournament 1-1.

BOWMAN

"e Whitman men’s tennis team took !rst place in this weekend’s Northwest Confer-ence Tennis Tournament, earning them-selves a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament beginning May 8 in Claremont, Calif. "e Missionar-ies defeated upstart Willamette University Saturday a$ernoon in the conference !nals to qualify for nationals for the fourth year in a row.

Whitman, ranked number !ve in the West region and number 21 nationally, rolled through the young Bearcats 5-1 on the strength of impressive performances from a multitude of players. Senior Matt Solomon and junior Etienne Moshevich cruised to an 8-1 victory in number one doubles that set the tone for the a$ernoon. "e Missionaries also picked up points from senior Christoph Fuchs 6-1, 6-0 vic-tory at number !ve singles. "e doubles team comprised of !rst-year Je# Tolman and sophomore Conor Holton-Burke pitched in with an 8-5 win at number three doubles. Tolman and Holton-Burke also contributed individually with 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3, 6-2 wins at number two and sixsingles, respectively. "e only loss came at no. 2 doubles where junior Quin Miller and Fuchs fell 5-8.

Solomon was recently named the Northwest Conference Player of the Year for the second time in three years, but on Saturday his team played so well that the team victory was decided before the end of his number one singles match against Josh Wong (although it was match point). He was joined on the All-NWC First Team by Tolman, who scored Whitman’s win-ning team point in number two singles. Moshevich and fellow junior Chris Bailey were voted to the All-NWC Second Team.

As the number one seed, the Missionar-ies had a !rst round bye before facing Pa-ci!c Lutheran University in the semi!nals this passed Friday a$ernoon, also winning that matchup, 5-1. Willamette, the num-ber three seed, %attened bottom-seeded

University of Puget Sound 6-0 in the !rst round and upset number two seeded Lin-!eld College for the opportunity to play the top-seeded Missionaries in the !nals. "e !nal score was not unexpected: "e Bearcats had previously succumbed to Whitman by scores of 7-2 and 8-1.

"e Missionaries’ combined accolades for the season are astounding: Besides the national team ranking and all-conference teams, Solomon is ranked number !ve in the West region, Tolman—again, he’s only a !rst-year—holds the number 25 spot, and the doubles pairing of Moshevich and Solomon is ranked number !ve in the re-gion.

"is weekend’s action served as another reminder of Whitman’s recent dominance with the racquet, a four-year run perma-nently atop the Northwest Conference. "e Missionaries !nished with a perfect conference record and broke the 20 win mark for the fourth consecutive year.

Head Coach Je# Northam has put to-gether an asphalt juggernaut that will be very tough to beat in the national tourna-ment.

“[We’re expecting] to play our best ten-nis at the end of the year,” said Northam. “As far as advancing, it depends on the draw. [One region will host] three of the top six schools in the country. Historically, we’ve had bad draws. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Seniors Solomon, Fuchs, Jake Cappel, Nadeem Kassam, Jasper Follows, David Deming and "omas Roston will close their careers without losing a single deci-sion to a conference opponent. Many have been to the NCAA tournament. Solomon alone has gone three times, and along with the rest of the seniors will be looked at to provide some serious leadership.

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of ex-perience,” said Moshevich. “In the past, we’ve squeeked by [in the NWC cham-pionships], but this year, a bunch of guys played big. We’re hungry. Our whole team believes that we won’t only do well, but that we can win.”

Men’s tennis advances to NCAA nationalsby ALLAN CRUMStaff Reporter

TOUR OF WALLA WALLA

Last weekend nearly 350 riders converged on Eastern Washington for the fourth annual Tour of Walla Walla. Whitman’s Ben Chaddock ‘10 led after the first stage and finished fourth overall, earning $350 in the process. Chad-dock was the highest placing rider not affiliated with a professional team.

FENNELL

!e PioneerISSUE 11

APR. 22, 2010

Page 12 Backpageattempting

humor since

1922...ish

O C E A N C AT S !

Chad and Daryl’s record of father-son bonding activities for the Xanga Neu fraternity: DAY 1: Chad and Daryl ate out at Pita Pit and shared a common love for “!e Wire” and a secret passion for playing the piano.DAY 2: !e two played “Guitar Hero” in Daryl’s room a"er a quick li"ing sesh at the gym. DAY 3: Broke in the new mitt on Ankeny with a game of father-son catch.DAY 4: Chad taught Daryl how to shave. Chad used a Mach 3 turbo;, Daryl used a spoon. Chad assured Daryl that “one day, you’ll be using a real man’s razor like your Pop.”DAY 5: A day of #shing at Bennington Lake. !e two threw back some Bud Lights and shared stories of adventure and late-night escapades, each ending with Chad’s moral: “Being a man’s about integrity and doing the right thing. Just follow your heart son.”DAY 6: A"er a long day of schoolwork and rugby practice, Chad comes home late to Daryl, who fell asleep on his couch while watching “!e Wire,” gripping a picture he drew of the two shotgunning beers, written at the bottom: “I think you are the best dad.” Chad sheds a tear, covers Daryl with a blanket and vows never to let work come in the way of time with his son.DAY 7: Chad PDFs his economics class a"er missing Daryl’s tennis match which Chad promised he’d make it to. Over a game of chess, Chad smiles at Daryl and tells him, “Daryl, men gotta work hard, but sometimes men gotta make hard de-cisions. I hope I never let you down again.” !ey shake hands and go to chapter together.

Megan and Denise’s record of moth-er-daughter bonding activities for the sorority Delta Delta Delta:DAY 1: Megan and Denise walk to Sweet Basil Pizzeria to share a pizza and then go to Starbucks for some iced tea. DAY 2: Megan and Denise go to Open Mic Night at Reid and whisper whenever a cute boy is performing. Megan unintentionally points out Denise’s boyfriend and says, “I think that guy’s a TKE. I’d do him.” Denise grows uncomfortable.DAY 3: Megan invites Denise over to her Prentiss dorm room for a spa day. Me-gan hands Denise a bowl of cucumbers and a sea-salt exfoliating mixture and asks Denise to give her a facial. When Denise asks if she gets one, Megan says “if we have enough facial stu$ le".” No “facial stu$ ” remains.DAY 4: Megan texts Denise: “I have something to show u. Come ovr with a 4 pk of Mike’s Hard Lemonade @ 9 2nite.” Denise arrives with the Mike’s, Megan proceeds to chug all four bottles of Mike’s, burps, and says, “And that’s how to be a true sorority girl. Let’s go to TKE.” Denise goes back to Anderson at 9:15 p.m.DAY 5: While straightening Megan’s hair for the “Space Aged Women and Pro-metheus Men” function, Denise questions Megan’s lack of shirt. Megan responds, “!is is how Tri-Delts do it.” Megan then requests Denise’s boyfriend’s cellphone number “for a project they’re working on together.” Denise does not oblige.DAY 6: Denise and Megan study together at the library. While checking her Fa-cebook, Denise sees a picture of Megan licking Denise’s boyfriend’s cheek in the TKE basement with caption “%irrrrt. Just like TRI-DELTS do it!”DAY 7: Denise deactivates from the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Megan is expelled from the Delta Delta Delta sorority for smoking marijuana during chapter.

What the basement of your frat says about you

Parent-child activities

DANCE FLOOR: How long has that stain been

there? Nobody knows. Your beer-soaked, cramped, slip-

pery dance floor says that you are a fun-loving, ener-

getic party animal. Who has time for dancing anyway

with all that bottle breaking and impromptu boxing to

get to later?

BEER PONG TABLE: !e staple of any good fraternity basement, the beer pong table must meet all professional and safety regulations. !is will be where everyone at your party will be spending the majority of his of her time, so anything more or less than perfection will not be tolerated.

DJ BOOTH: DJs must be sophomores

or juniors with an intricate knowledge of early- to mid-2000s rap and techno. Any-

thing more or less will be 100 percent unacceptable.

WALL S: To get the most respect from your many visitors, your walls should be abso-lutely filthy. We’re talking dirt, mystery stains and Megan Fox posters. Under a backlight, this thing should look like a five-year-old’s glow-in-the-dark sticker collection. !e stench should be so palpable that you can smell the basement from the top floor of the house.

Featuring

guest writers:FORMER GREEKS

Curiosity: A Cat-astrophe The latest scare campaign from Felines Against Curiosity and Curiosity Related Tragedies (FACCRT)

CURIOSITY

Watch Out!

I THOUGHT I’D ALWAYS BE ABLE TO CHASE MICE. THEN, I TRIED PEOPLE FOOD AND COULDN’T STOP.

MY LAST WORDS: “WHAT’S THAT THING IN YOUR HAN—ARE THOSE TREATS?”

CURIOSITY

That Shit is

Fucked Up

NO ONE EVER THINKS THEY’LL END UP AN INTERNET MEME. CURIOSITY WILL MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

CURIOSITY

LOL FML

NO ONE THINKS A SIX-HOUR-LONG MUSICAL FEATURING FUZZY LEOTARDS IS HUMANE. CURIOSITY WILL CHANGE THAT.

Curiosity

Seriously, it’s

that awful

SONG

SONG

Malea Castellanos and Orion Hughes-Knowles

BASHAM