PIONEERT he

1896

EX AMICITIA VERITAS

I

THE

WH

ITMAN PO

NE

ER

GROWING TUITION OUTPACES FAMILY INCOME Whitman College recent-

ly released its student fees for the 2012-2013 ac-

ademic year. Tuition for next year is set at $41,790, a four percent in-crease from last year’s tuition. This is the lowest tuition increase the col-lege has had since 2000. Despite this lower-than-average tuition increase, the growing cost of college prompts some to consider the sustainabili-ty of the higher education model.

While tuition increases are oc-curring nationwide, at some plac-es as high as nine percent, some students are optimistic that Whit-man is able to keep financial aid costs at pace with increasing tuition.

“My hope is that the qual-ity of education that we’re pay-ing for now and students will con-tinue to pay for in the future will be worth the high price tag, but by that same token we’ll be able to of-fer more financial aid,” senior ASWC President Matt Dittrich said.

Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Peter Harvey further ad-dressed the particular factors that go into the decision to increase Whit-man’s tuition and by how much.

“We look at what our needs are, what kind of salary increas-es we want for staff faculty and other priorities if there are any new initiatives we want to take. Then we look at the market place, how our college compares to oth-er colleges,” he said. “It’s all

about trying to find a balance.”Next year, the college hopes

to primarily fund salary increases for faculty and staff that have un-dergone performance appraisals.

“A high priority for the col-lege is doing a three percent in-crease for faculty and staff,” Har-vey said. “We would have actu-ally done more [increases]; in the last few years we’ve only had one to two percent salary increases.”

Additionally, the college will be adding two new tenure line fac-ulty positions next year, one in chemistry and one in biology.

Tuition increases have been outpacing growth in consum-er price index and family in-come. Taking into account infla-tion, Whitman tuition increas-

es have averaged 3.27 percent over the past 20 years. In contrast, in-flation levels have averaged 2.63 percent in the same time period.

However, Harvey re-minds students that compar-ing the cost of education is not necessarily a fair comparison.

“A Whitman education to-day is significantly stronger and better than it was 10 years ago . . . the faculty student ratio is signifi-cantly less than it was 10, 20 years ago. We do a whole bunch of edu-cational experience programs that we never did 15 years ago,” he said.

President George Bridg-es discussed the correla-tion between higher educa-tion and the skilled labor market.

“Tuition increases have out-

paced inflation for many years in sectors of our economy reli-ant on highly skilled workers. The costs of seeing a doctor, lawyer or attending a college or univer-sity where faculty members have PhDs from leading graduate pro-grams have all risen at rates higher than inflation,” he said in an email.

In a sense, college financ-es can be compared to the busi-ness model of selling technology.

“Look at a Whitman education like an Apple product. They come out with a new iPhone or a new iPad that’s stronger every couple of years. In order to stay relevant and in demand, you have to be making yourself better, and I feel that Whit-man does as well,” Harvey said.

by SHELLY LENews Editor

Recently, immigration has been a highly contested po-litical issue, but six Whit-

man students who spent one week on the U.S.-Mexico border reveal that immigration and border con-trol is just as much a humanitar-ian issue as it is a political one.

Earlier in January, sopho-more Keiler Beers began organ-izing a group of five students to take part in a spring break service trip volunteering with the organi-zation No More Deaths. No More Deaths is a non-governmental or-ganization based in Tucson, Ari-zona that provides direct human-itarian aid to immigrants cross-ing the U.S.-Mexico border. Un-der the conviction that humani-tarian aid is never a crime, vol-unteers provide food and water, and medical assistance if need-ed, along the trails frequented by immigrants crossing the border.

The group included sen-ior Lauren McCullough and sophomores Sean McNul-ty, Maren Schiffer, Luke Rod-riguez and Genevieve Jones.

No More Deaths attempts to raise awareness that immi-gration is a humanitarian cri-sis, not just a hot political is-sue. This stance on the issue first prompted Beers to organ-ize a group of student volunteers.

“The politics of the is-sue is important, and some-thing that needs to be addressed, but . . . it is a humanitarian cri-sis,” says Beers. “It’s not some-thing people can take sides on other than the fact that no one should be dying in the de-

sert, and I think that is some-thing everyone should be able to come to a common ground.”

After a day of orientation with members of the organi-zation, the group of students camped near the border town of Nogales. The group spent all day hiking along the heavi-ly trafficked trails, leaving wa-ter bottles and food for migrants.

“There’s trash everywhere, like used water bottles, cloth-ing, backpacks and a lot of oth-er stuff you wouldn’t expect to see. You really got a sense of how many people were cross-ing by looking at the amount of trash,” said Rodriguez.

When two lost men wan-dered into their camp one morn-ing, the group was faced head-on with the shocking reality that most migrants face. Rodri-guez described the experience.

“They were really disorient-ed. Their group had been scat-tered by border patrol on Sat-urday night and it was Wednes-day when they walked into our camp. They probably had been going in circles . . . they hadn’t had food since they’d been scat-tered. They had been drink-ing from cattle tanks, which is not good water at all, so one of them had bloody diarrhea.”

Jones was also deep-ly effected by this event.

“One of the men qualified for an emergency evacuation and it was extremely difficult to cope with the fact that we couldn’t just put him in the car and drive him to the hospital,” she said.

According to Jones, a medi-cal evacuation in the desert would not only have been costly and le-

gally complicated, it would also have ended in his deportation.

On their final day, the group witnessed ‘Operation Stream-line,’ which is a court proceed-ing that happens every week-day and allows for quick and ef-ficient mass deportation. Cre-ated in part to give jail time for crossing in the hopes of deter-ring immigration, detainees are given half an hour with an attor-ney on the morning of their tri-al. Almost every detainee is giv-en a plea bargain, in which they are sentenced to between 15 and 188 days in prison as opposed to being charged as a felon, a crime that risks up to 20 years in prison.

All students reported that their views towards immigration policy have changed significant-ly. Policy changes in the last dec-ade have extended border con-trol’s jurisdiction past the bor-der zone, which has increased border control’s presence and authority in Southern Arizona.

Because there are check-points along the roads extend-ing from the border all the way to Tucson, migrants must hike an extra 70 miles north through mountain desert in order to get past the border zone. By con-structing walls in places where it is easier to cross the desert, border control is effectively funneling the flow of migrants through an extremely harsh and mountainous desert terrain.

“What [border patrol] is es-sentially doing is trying to make the journey of crossing as dif-ficult as possible,” said Rod-riguez. “I expected misguid-ed policy, not malicious policy.”

No More Deaths provides humanitarian aid at borderby JULIA STONEStaff Reporter

Maxey Museum to return Native American remains, burial items

Any place as old as Whit-man’s Maxey Muse-um is bound to have

a few skeletons in the closet.The Museum’s proprietors

brought some of them to light last month when they discovered a box containing human remains and items thought to have been taken from Na-tive American burial sites along the C o l u m b i a and Snake Rivers. The college will return the re-mains and a s s o c i a t -ed objects to local tribes later this month, as per the Native American Graves Protec-tion and Repatriation Act.

“[We’re] very happy to comply. The museum is a valuable resource, and the last thing we want to do is

get in trouble with anybody. Not just the Native Americans, but the feder-al or state [government],” said Profes-sor of Anthropology Gary Rollefson.

NAGPRA, a federal measure passed in 1990, requires all institu-tions that receive federal funding to return Native American cultural items to their places of origin, or face a fine from the Department of the Interior.

This is the latest in a series of several repatriations Maxey Museum has gone through since hiring former

visiting pro-fessor Jennif-er Karson as its NAGPRA consultant in the spring of 2009. Kar-son serves as a mediator be-tween the col-lege and the Confederat-

ed Tribes of the Umatilla Reserva-tion, who have reclaimed many of the skeletal remains and funerary objects formerly stored in Maxey Museum.

by EMILY LIN-JONESStaff Reporter

A desert view of Altar Valley in southern Arizona, where student volunteers with the Tucson-based organization No More Deaths provided food, water and medical assistance to immigrants crossing the border in harsh conditions. Photo contributed by Beers

by AMY HASSONStaff Reporter

InterNation Celebration changes venue to reach wider audience

see NO MORE DEATHS, page 3

see MAXEY MUSEUM, page 3

see TUITION INCREASE, page 3

ILLUSTRATION BY HWANG

B elly dancing, Span-ish love songs, Irish step-dance and a fashion show.

These were just some of the many entertaining acts fea-tured in the InterNation Cele-bration on Friday, March 30.

In the past, the Beyond Borders Club hosted an international banquet consisting of both food and perfor-mances together. This year, the club decided to revamp the celebration, splitting the event up into two parts.

The night started with an In-ternational Feast in Prentiss Din-ing Hall, which featured foods from Latin America, Asia and Africa. The InterNation Celebration, held later in the evening at Reid Ball-room, showcased 12 performanc-es from different parts of the world.

Senior Rimmy Doowa, a per-former in the celebration and ac-tive member of the Beyond Bor-ders Club, said the chang-es were made in hopes of reach-ing a broader and bigger audience.

“Separating [the feast and perfor-mances] and making the tickets cost $5 instead of $10 or $20 opened it up for the whole Whitman community and the Walla Walla community. We all work so hard for it, so it’s better to have a bigger audience,” said Doowa.

First-year Lydia Loopesko, a master of ceremonies for the event, and member of the Be-yond Borders Club, was very en-thusiastic about the new venue.

“The fact that we had good lighting and sound made it look much more profession-

al and formal,” said Loopesko.All proceeds from the event

went towards establishing an In-ternational Students Fund.

Junior Marcial Díaz Mejía is president of the Beyond Borders Club and thought the new fundraising focus of the event helped boost the turnout.

“Knowing that the mon-ey would support fellow Whitties seemed to make the event more at-tractive,” said Díaz Mejía in email.

Many international students are not able to afford the costs of trave-ling to and from home during win-ter, spring or summer breaks. Al-though details are not yet final-ized, the International Student Fund seeks to improve students’ expe-riences by defraying those costs.

“This our first year try-ing this, but this fund has a lot of potential,” said Doowa.

Junior Marcial Díaz Mejía is president of the Beyond Borders Club and thought the new fundraising focus of the event helped boost the turnout.

“Students were more interest-ed as we told them about the Inter-national Student Fund that we are creating. Knowing that the mon-ey would support fellow Whitties seemed to make the event more at-tractive,” said Díaz Mejía in email.

Many international students are not able to afford the costs of trave-ling to and from home during win-ter, spring or summer breaks. Al-though details are not yet final-ized, the International Student Fund seeks to improve students’ expe-riences by defraying those costs.

“This our first year try-ing this, but this fund has a lot of potential,” said Doowa.

28,327

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

20102012

1990 200019801970196019501940193019201910190018901882

WHITMAN FEES: A HISTORY

LegendTuitionRoomBoardBooks & Supplies (est.)ASWCHealth Insurance

In 1882, a semester at Whitman would cost you the equivalent of $363 2011 dollars. This graphic documents the rise in Whitman charges over the past 130 years. The data was compiled from past college catalogs in the Penrose Library Archives starting in 1882, when the first college catalog was published. All figures were adjusted for infla-tion using the consumer price index and are calculated in 2011 dollars.

*2012 insurance fee is projectedInfographic by Alexander, Berfield & Hendershot

1929: Stock market crash1929-1941: Great Depression

2008: Global financial crisis

2001: Invasion of Afghanistan

1955-1975: Vietnam War

1987: Black Monday (stock market crash)

1944: G.I. Bill1914-1918: World War I

ISSUE 9 | April 5, 2012 | Whitman news since 1896

Apr

052012

pAGE

2ASWC CANDIDATES

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefPatricia Vanderbilt

Managing EditorCara Lowry

News EditorsKarah Kemmerly Shelly Le

A&E EditorCaitlin Hardee

Sports EditorLibby Arnosti

Feature EditorsAlyssa FairbanksKelsey Kennedy

Opinion EditorAlex Brott

Humor EditorCari Cortez

Photography EditorEthan Parrish

Illustration EditorBinta Loos-Diallo

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

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

CODE OF ETHICSThe code of ethics serves as The Pioneer’s established guidelines for the practice of responsible journalism on campus, within reasonable inter-pretation of the editorial board. These guidelines are subject to constant review and amendment; responsibility for amending the code of ethics is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief in conjunction with the editorial board. The code of ethics is reviewed at least once per semester.

To access the complete code of ethics for The Pioneer, visit whitmanpioneer.com/about.

WRITING

NEWSRachel Alexander, Allison Bolgiano, Amy Hasson, Molly Johanson, Emily Lin-Jones, Julia Stone

A&EClara Bartlett, Nathan Fisher, Alex Hagen, Mallory Martin, Ellie Newell

FEATURESamuel Adler, Susanna Bowers,Molly Emmett, Talia Rudee, Kinsey White

SPORTSPeter Clark, Sarah Debs, Kyle Howe, Pamela London, Sylvie Luiten, Matt Tesmond

OPINIONSam Chapman, Blair Frank, Sandra Matsevilo, Nathan Ord, Kyle Seasly, Julia Stone

BACKPAGEElena Aragon, Tabor Martinsen, Theo Pratt, Dana Thompson, Bridget Tescher

PRODUCTIONProduction ManagerTed Hendershot

Production AssociatesKatie Berfield, Sean McNulty Madison Munn, Molly Olmsted, Cara Patten, Allison Work

Chief Copy EditorJean Marie Dreyer

Copy EditorsAleida FernandezMarisa Ikert

ILLUSTRATIONAlex Bailey, Ariel Carter-Rodriguez, Kelly Douglas, Ruth Hwang Emily Johnson, Julie Peterson, Erika Zinser

PHOTOGRAPHYcade beck, Caitlin Bergman, Faith Bernstein, Allie Felt, Halley McCormick, Chaoyu Li, Nicholas Farrell

BUSINESSBusiness ManagerHailun Zhou

Circulation AssociateEmily Coba

WEB TEAMWebmasterKirk Crosland

Web EditorSara Rasmussen

Web Content EditorJosh Goodman

ADVERTISINGAdvertising ManagerHannah Bauer

Advertising AssociateWill Martin, Woodrow Jacobson

For information about advertising in The Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact business@whitmanpioneer.com.

PIO

NEE

RThe

What is your year & major?

2013, economics major, math minor.

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

Experience . . . [This] gives me a better foundation when making the major decisions that I will be making as President. I’ve also benefited from serving on a wide range of committees including the Oversight Committee, Student Affairs Committee and Executive Council. I know where ASWC has been in the past, and I will use this knowledge to better lead ASWC into the future.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

Whitman provides us with a great foundation of learning, but then seems to fall short in helping us transition from inside the Whitman bubble to the real world. We have the ability to make proactive changes by working with the Student Engagement Center to offer students better connections with alumni. We can do this by using a virtual network where alumni and students are automatically connected. There are already schools who have built this platform.

KAYVON BEHROOZIAN

Presidential Candidate

What is your year & major?

2014, politics

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

1) I will be a Junior if elected. I won’t have my thesis [or] graduation . . . to distract me from performing the duties of the President.

2) I have served as a senator my entire time at Whitman and currently serve on the Executive Board for not only Model UN as their President, but also for Phi Delta Theta as their Treasurer. I will come in with multiple perspectives on how execs should be run, and I will be free to run it in a way that I know to be more effective for my leadership style.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

Whitman offers a premier liberal arts education—but something students constantly complain about is the significant lack of real world experience they receive during their time here. Whitman needs to begin offering opportunities for real world experience both in and outside of the classroom.

I will push for such action. In high school, we had a “student store” that was run entirely by students. Accounting, inventory and marketing were done by students. The success of that store hinged on the students themselves. This is real world experience. Likewise, many colleges around the country have something similar.

I am a driven leader that will confidently represent you as your President.

The ASWC President serves as a liaison to the Board of Trustees, Administration and ASWC. This takes a confident, devoted, knowledgeable and energetic individual—qualities that I’m well experienced with.

The ASWC President is responsible for maintaining strong relationships with the Student Body at large . . . [this is] something I plan to significantly improve when I take office.

I want to focus on creating more experiential learning opportunities for our students. I’ll be advocating to each department to find new innovative ways to develop experiential curriculum.

I aim to make ASWC more transparent and accessible to the students; to continue building ASWC into a formidable voice [within the] college; making positive steps forward with campus safety; and [to] increase ASWC’s hand in developing “real-world” experience opportunities on campus.

What is your year & major?

2013, English with a minor in religion

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

I have been involved as both a senator and a member of the Executive Council

on ASWC. I have . . . come to gain a solid handle on where ASWC stands and where it can be taken. As the only woman running for the position, I have experiences and views that differ from the other candidates.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

I believe that Whitman . . . fosters a strong sense of community, and the best way to do so is by keeping all members of the student body informed and aware. I hope to work with campus media organizations, clubs and college administrators to promote transparency with regards to both administrative and student government actions.

I would like to serve as the head of the Student Affairs committee, a committee I was a part of as a senator. While working with this committee, I helped facilitate writing the Pre-Registration Survey, founding the Coalition of Student Governments Whitman compares itself with and meeting with student advisers.

As the club clerk, I have maintained communication with over 60 clubs, and helped 20 of those clubs write constitutions passed through senate. I have also spent time working to completely re-structure the club clerk position for

future years, so that clubs get even more of a say in their representation on ASWC. If elected, I would continue working on projects we started this year, and . . . begin a number of other ideas . . . such as creating networks for students within the same major (or the same abroad programs, etc.) in order to spread communication, community and awareness.

I am running for ASWC Vice President. I’ve had the opportunity to serve on the Student Affairs Committee working on initiatives for the student body. I solicited faculty syllabi and helped institute a way to view

them through CLEo. Through this, I had an opportunity to navigate situations with varying faculty perspectives. In addition, I have had a full year on student affairs and [am] familiar enough with the committee that I feel comfortable enough to keep it working for your best interests. Among other initiatives this year, I have helped organize first-year ASWC informational sessions, instituted student taught yoga classes, researched perceptions of ASWC from the student body as a whole and have helped in the continued design of an Academic Major Informational Packet.

I have many goals for next year: discovering if ASWC elections are limiting for people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, researching and advocating for service learning opportunities in different academic disciplines and continuing to educate incoming classes about the functions of ASWC, as well as open leadership positions within it.

FERNANDO MEDINA COREYVice-Presidential Candidate

ALLISON BURNSVice-Presidential Candidate

RYAN GILKEYPresidential Candidate

For three years I have been representing you on ASWC, holding positions on various committees, as well as spending one year on the Executive Council. This unmatched experience will provide me with the foundation needed to lead ASWC through our current challenges and beyond. As President, I will:

1) Work to increase student input in matters such as the curriculum and tenure process.

2) Work with the Student Engagement Center on creating a virtual network to easily connect current students to alumni for internship, career and graduate school advising and opportunities.

3) Improve ASWC communication with the student body, because your representatives work for you and you deserve to know what we are doing to improve your Whitman experience. . . Students deserve to have more resources available when learning about careers and searching for job possibilities.

What is your year & major?

2013, sociology-environmental studies

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

I am involved with various groups on campus which I believe gives the advantage of knowing the diversity of opinions and students’ interests.

What is an issue or problem on

campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

I believe that students should have more experiential learning as part of the education in which they interact with the outside world. I’d like to see more opportunities for students in all the majors as well as interdisciplinary approaches. I’d like ASWC to coordinate efforts by talking to the administration and faculty, and coming up with possible solutions together.

I am running for ASWC Vice-President/Student Affairs Chair. I was born in the year of the dragon, and I am a Pisces who enjoys dancing, cooking and getting lost in big cities.

During my time at Whitman, I have worked in constructing Whitman as an institution that provides different learning opportunities to enhance the student experience. I have served as a senator during my sophomore

and junior years, in the Student Affairs, Nominations and ommunications Committee . . . I have seen the organization

grow and evolve, and more effectively advocate for students. I want to continue this path and work towards a stronger institution that leads the way in the evolution of Whitman as a community in which students play an important role.

MARCIAL DÍAZ MEJÍAVice-Presidential Candidate

What is your year & major?

2013, economics with a minor in French

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

I have over two years of experience working in ASWC and one semester serving as the Oversight Chair. As the Oversight Chair, I had the opportunity to sit on the Executive Council, see ASWC as a whole and work with each individual committee. Because of this, I am very familiar with how each committee functions and how to best coordinate them.

The Finance Chair position requires the understanding of the business office system here at Whitman. I was the student intern there last year, so I am very familiar with how it functions in relation to ASWC. I also possess knowledge of economics not only from the United States, but also from China and Europe.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

Whitman is an academically rigorous college, but our occupational training isn’t enough. I would like to work closely with the SEC to increase internship/student job opportunities, and establish graduate school liaisons for students. This would provide a new source of information about graduate school and summer internship opportunities. I am planning on bringing in recent Whitman graduates to talk to students about their job search experiences and GRE preparation.

Giving students access to their funds requires a unique blend of political savvy and financial understanding . . . As an international student from China studying economics, I have first-hand knowledge of how valuable it is to be exposed to people of different backgrounds.

In my two years serving on ASWC’s Oversight Committee [and] as Oversight Chair, I have gained exhaustive knowledge of how ASWC works.

As Finance Chair, I’d make sure it’s easy for you to get your money’s worth from the resources you’ve helped create. . . I’d hold an information session every semester to explain how you can get your ideas funded by ASWC, and also hold monthly conferences explaining where your money is going and why.

www.youtube.com/voteformargaret

XIAOJIAO (MARGARET) YANGFinance Chair Candidate

What is your year & major?

2015, undeclared with an interest in politics, philosophy and rhetoric

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

My background in advertising as a member of ASWC’s Communications Committee will be instrumental for the Nominations Chair position. Nominations Committee has been plagued in recent years with low numbers of

applicants for positions, and I feel an increased focus on physical advertising in addition to email will be extremely effective.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

I think that homogeneity is a pretty

huge issue at Whitman. While I love most of the ‘Whittie’ reputation, I don’t like [that it] necessitates a sort of sameness amongst all the students here. I think my focus on raising the inclusivity and accessibility of ASWC is the most genuine plan I can offer for redressing this problem from the position of Nominations Chair.

As Nominations Chair, I will be tasked with organizing the nominations process for each of the campus media organization heads, non-senator members of the Nominations Committee, as well as College Committee positions.

Given my experience as a member of both the Nominations and Communications Committees

of ASWC over the past year, I feel that I am extremely qualified to manage the Nominations branch of ASWC and fulfill these duties. As Chair, I would focus on substantially raising the extent to which each position Nominations handles is advertised for. I see this position as a unique opportunity to use my skills and abilities to get more people across campus involved in ASWC.

ZAC PARKERNominations Chair

Candidate

SAM SADEGHI

Finance Chair Candidate

What is your year & major?

2013, economics

What do you think you offer to your position that’s unique from other candidates?

After having served on the Finance Committee and as the CEO of the

Whitman Investment Company, I have learned a great deal about what it means to be responsible for other people’s money.

What is an issue or problem on campus for students that you would like to effect change in, and if so, how?

Two big things! One, I will actively push to increase the total amount of money going to student development projects. Two, I want to increase funding for clubs sports. I would do this not through raising the student fee, but through alumni donations.

I have decided to run for ASWC Finance Chair because I truly care about your student experience. When elected as Finance Chair I will have three primary goals:

1) I will actively push to

increase the total amount of money going to student development projects.

2) I want to increase funding for clubs sports.

3) I want to help each and every one of you reach your goals and discover new passions.

After having served on the Finance Committee and as the CEO of the Whitman Investment Company, I have learned

a great deal about what it means to be responsible for the students’ money. Likewise, in my position as Finance Chair, I will make it my priority that your money goes to projects that will ultimately make Whitman College an even better place to go to school. As Finance Chair, I want to work to represent the most important aspect of Whitman, the student body, your voices and concerns.

Responses compiled by staff reporter Molly Johanson, photos by Bergman

Platforms and full interviews can be found at whitmanpioneer.com

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Apr

052012

pAGE

3NEWS

During spring break three sen-iors were given the chance to expand their knowledge of

the civil rights movement beyond the Walla Walla school system.

Seniors Shannon Morris-sey, Libby Watkins and Alys-sa Fairbanks, along with Assis-tant Dean for Student Engage-ment Noah Leavitt traveled to the Office of Civil Rights in Se-attle on March 21 to give a pres-entation about their experiences teaching the civil rights movement in Walla Walla Public Schools with the Whitman Teaches the Movement initiative. The three were also recognized with Civ-il Rights Education Hero Awards.

“Just the opportunity to be the guest speakers at the OCR was just really cool . . . as seniors in col-lege, we have something to offer; they were interested in what we had to say. That just felt really power-ful . . . They’re people who got in-volved in their work because they wanted to change the world when they were in college. It was cool for them to see the next genera-tion of activists,” Morrissey said.

The Whitman Teaches the Movement initiative began this past fall as a one-time engagement with the community. In a partner-ship between Whitman, The South-ern Poverty Law Center and Wal-la Walla Public Schools, 100 Whit-man students volunteered to teach about civil rights in local elemen-tary, middle and high schools in

the weeks following Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The repercussions of the movement have gone on to have many positive impacts in the lives of students and communities.

The invitation to come to the OCR was extended by Attorney Tim Sell, who read about the Move-ment in the news. The visit served as educational for both the OCR and the students who presented.

“I learned, they learned, it’s

cool. Talking with the OCR about it made it seem all the more relevant. I want to go to law school. I’m really interested in civil rights and educa-tion . . . I hadn’t even really thought

about the fact that there was an of-fice of civil rights of the depart-ment of education. It’s really cool though because all of a sudden it just fell in to my lap,” Watkins said.

Leavitt noted that the opportu-nities that are created by the Move-

ment are just part of the mission of the Student Engagement Cent-er. Because of the success of the Movement, the SEC plans to hire for a position that organizes com-

munity outreach events. In look-ing towards the future, Leav-itt plans to possibly expand the scope of the Movement program to include education about civ-il rights locally in Walla Walla.

“The college is trying to find

ways for students to deepen their understanding of this piece of land that we’re all sharing here . . . You can have experiences here [in Wal-la Walla] that can translate at an in-credibly high level of importance and significance,” said Leavitt.

In addition to connecting the college to the OCR, the Movement initiative has created a strong con-nection with the Southern Pover-ty Law Center. Kate Shuster, who conducted the Center’s initial re-search project about the state of civil rights education in Ameri-ca and put together the curricu-lum for Movement, just released a new study titled The State Stand-ards We Deserve. Shuster contin-ues to work with Whitman in the evaluation stage of movement.

“Whitman Teaches the Move-ment was a huge success. Whitman students seem to have learned a lot . . . Whitman Teaches the Move-ment is a model program for other colleges and universities across the country,” said Shuster in an email.

The program evaluation was conducted by Morrissey, junior Ethan Robertson and first year Fa-biola Ochoa. With the help of Shus-ter, the group plans to have a report ready by the end of April. In addi-tion, Leavitt and Community Ser-vice Coordinator Interim Kelsie Butts are preparing a report which will serve as a how-to-guide for other schools who would like to conduct a similar service project.

“This is such a cool op-portunity. It’s just like a win-win-win . . . everyone gains so much,” said Morrissey.

by MOLLY JOHANSONStaff Reporter

Students win awards for civil rights education

Students share their desert experiences with lectures, panel, gallery exhibition

Remains to be reburied at Umatilla reservation

Beers agreed and ex-panded on the way legal poli-cy takes precedent over the hu-manistic side of immigration.

“How the border patrol does what it does, and the disregard for human life that goes on down there suggests something larg-er than just a policy problem.”

For Schiffer, a crucial aspect

of the problem is that immigrants that have successfully crossed can-not openly share their stories for fear of legal consequences; the re-sult is widespread misconcep-tions about who exactly is crossing.

“While it’s completely true that cartels control vast areas of border territory, almost every-one actually crossing is just des-perate to escape poverty or return

to their families,” said Schiffer.The group constructed an ex-

hibit to display stories of immi-grants, artifacts and photos in the Stevens Gallery. They also hosted a panel on the evening of Wednes-day, April 4 with Professor Bo-brow-Strain and Professor Apos-tolidis to bring to light and start a dialogue about the border cri-sis. By sharing powerful stories

the group hopes to better in-form the Whitman community of the humanitarian crisis that is happening in our own country.

“It’s about raising aware-ness. What I’ve focused on is un-derstanding the situation be-cause I think that with understand-ing comes conscious decision making and conscious activism about the issue,” says Rodriguez.

from NO MORE DEATHS, page 1

“These items have been in the col-lection of Maxey Museum for prob-ably about 100 years. It’s very hard to know how they came to be in the collection,” said Kar-son. “It’s now against the law to disturb archaeological sites. One hundred years ago, it wasn’t.”

The remains will be returned to the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton, Ore. The tribes will then take them to be reburied in a private location on the Umatilla reservation.

Repatriation of remains has long been a point of contention in

the Northwest and other areas of the United States. Rollefson points to Kennewick Man, a prehistor-ic skeleton discovered along the Columbia River, as an example of when negotiations between tribes and archeologists may break down.

“Among some archaeolo-gists there’s still a lot of push-back . . . How do we repatriate this to the proper Native American group if we can’t even identify it? It’s a dif-ficult moral question, it’s a difficult legal question. Some American ar-chaeologists would say it’s a diffi-cult academic question,” he said.

Fortunately, most of the remains found in Maxey have been easy enough to identify that repatriation has presented few major conflicts.

“We’ve never had anything as potentially earth-shattering as Kennewick Man,” said Rollefson.

According to sophomore Blythe Monoian, president of the American Indian Associa-tion at Whitman, artifacts loot-ed from grave-sites are still a sore point for many Native Americans.

“[It’s] adding insult to injury . . . There are still people alive to-day who have undergone oppres-sion from the government, who had to go to Catholic schools and were forced to not speak their lan-guage and were taken away from their parents. The oppression is still so recent,” she said. “[Repa-triation] is trying to reclaim the things we do have left, and arti-facts tend to be extremely valuable.”

Karson said that at this point Whitman seems to have account-ed for and repatriated many of the human remains in its collection.

“There’s hardly any human re-mains left [at Whitman], so that’s good. That’s almost completed,” she said. “We’re miles ahead of places like Harvard, Berkeley, Universi-ty of Oregon. Every university has to deal with this, unfortunately.”

Where this analogy fails, [Ap-ple] can often bring down the cost of technology, Whitman can’t . . . the whole nature of our prod-uct is based on faculty-student in-teraction and small class sizes.”

First-year Evan Griffis is hopeful that the college will pro-vide him with a financial aid pack-age that will reflect Whitman’s higher tuition, and would like to see the benefits of increased tuition in his subsequent years at Whitman.

“I understand that it’s a nec-essary evil,” he said, “but it’s hard to say that you actually feel that your educational experience is in-creased to the same amount you’re paying—I hope so, but as a fresh-man I haven’t had enough time here to actually say I’ve felt it.”

According to Harvey and Dean of Admission and Finan-cial Aid Tony Cabasco, the col-lege is helping students deal with the increasing cost of col-lege by providing more financial aid. The college has allotted even more financial aid for new stu-dents next year to increase soci-oeconomic and ethnic diversity

“Federal and state govern-ments pays less toward supporting education, our students used to get

more grant money and we’ve tried to make up with that with Financial Aid. One of the biggest growing portion[s] of our operating budg-et is financial aid,” Harvey said. “Not everybody’s going to afford [Whitman] but we’re doing a lot to help as many [students] as we can.”

Cabasco discussed the chal-lenges of ensuring students re-ceive enough aid to actually at-tend Whitman, while also al-locating enough money to ap-peal to prospective students.

“We’re trying to balance our increases with what can we do to relieve pressure on stu-dents by ensuring financial aid is available, and we don’t want to put ourselves in position where we hurt the retention of stu-dents or our chances of attract-ing new students,” Cabasco said.

While financial aid may be a growing sector for the col-lege, students currently not re-ceiving any form of financial aid have been especially feel-ing the increasing stress of pay-ing almost an extra for tuition than what is originally adver-tised to them their freshman year.

“I was not considered for any merit aid coming to Whitman, and Whitman did not offer any need

based aid. This continued increase in tuition means only an extra bur-den on my parents,” junior Mat-thew Morriss said in an email. “In some ways it’s easy for people who may have a lot of aid to say the tu-ition increase doesn’t affect them, but it really affects my family.”

Griffis, whose own experience is currently subsidized by financial aid further discussed the impor-tance of the College’s retention rate.

“Tuition is felt by students, es-pecially those already on aid that is dependent on them coming here. If it’s already hard for a lot of stu-dents, a $1,600 increase is diffi-cult. I would hate to see an in-crease that is meant to improve our education be the factor that makes somebody not return to Whitman.”

With increasing tuition prices every year, the college doesn’t ex-pect to move back to a need-blind admission policy in the near future.

“Given our place in the mar-ket place, we can only afford to do so much, and when we deal with those realities, I don’t think we’re abandoning our values. We’re still working aggressively to encour-age and promote the diversity of our student body,” Harvey said.

Griffis noted that it is unfor-tunate that need-sensitive admis-

sion affects Whitman’s diver-sity, but believes that the col-lege administrators are mak-ing a well-reasoned judge-ment based on the different ar-eas Whitman wants to excel in.

“High tuition paired with a need-sensitive admission might be unattractive to incom-ing freshmen, but it’s a tough de-cision for the college to make. At the same time, it’s unrea-sonable for students to demand a need-blind admission policy if the school is not in the finan-cial standing to do so,” he said.

Although the college is working towards expanding its financial aid sector, the reality of increasing costs is hard to ig-nore. At Whitman’s average tu-ition percent rate increase, 30 years from now, when most cur-rent students can expect to be-gin funding their own children’s higher education, students can expect to pay nearly $100,000 dollars or more a year—not in-cluding housing, books, extra-curricular fees, and travel costs.

“I do understand the motiva-tions of the college for increasing tuition,” Griffis said. “I just can’t think of what else college could do to make it worth that much.”

from MAXEY, page 1

Financial aid to increase with tuition

Sophomores Luke Rodriguez and Geni Jones, senior Lauren McCullough, sophomores Keiler Beers, Sean McNulty and Maren Schiffer, and ju-nior Rachel Alexander shared their experiences providing humanitarian aid for migrants on the border at a panel on Wednesday, April 4. Photo by Farrell

Seniors Alyssa Fairbanks, Libby Watkins and Shannon Morrissey presented to members of the Southern Poverty Law Cen-ter at the Office of Civil Rights in Seattle on March 21. They recieved Civil Rights Education Hero Awards. Photo by McCormick

“These items have been ni the collection of Maxey Museum for probably about 100 years. It’s very hard to know how they came to be in the collection.”Jennifer Karson, Northwest Museum Temporary Assistant

from TUITION, page 1

Apr

052012

pAGE

4A&E

RAPtivism, a hip-hop al-bum by Whitman alum-na Aisha Fukushima

’09, has finally been released after years of traveling, re-cording and post-production.

Fukushima, who was able to produce the album thanks to her Watson Fellowship, traveled ex-tensively in Africa, Europe and Asia. The fellowship awarded her $25,000, giving her the opportuni-ty to collaborate with several art-ists and rappers around the globe.

Fukushima’s travels took her to places such as Copenha-gen, Denmark, where she heard the story of Iraqi asylum-seek-ers living in the heart of the city.

Fukushima noted that although she experienced different stories around the world, much of what she encountered was relatable.

“Lyrically, in the creative pro-cess, we really try to connect our struggles, because the deportation, the immigration debate, things that we talk about in that particu-lar song, are something that peo-ple in the United States, as well as Denmark, as well as a number of other countries, people have ex-perienced this,” said Fukushima.

While Fukushima’s travels took her to a variety of very dif-ferent places, connecting her to a new “global family,” she felt a special connection with the peo-ple she met in South Africa.

“This was the first time in my life that I lived in a place where

I actually blended in in some sense,” she said, mentioning that its history of apartheid and cur-rent cultural and political atmos-phere were a special inspiration.

Fukushima’s wide array of influences and inspirations are present throughout the al-bum, which mixes elements of various genres of music as well as different styles of hip-hop.

“A lot of it borrows from what we might think of as the Amer-ican hip-hop aesthetic, but then we might hear traditional in-struments, we might hear a cer-tain kind of flow in the Wolof style,” said Fukushima, refer-ring to her experiences in Senegal.

Fukushima also mentioned other musical influences, includ-ing Lupe Fiasco, about whom

she wrote her thesis at Whit-man, as well as Billie Holiday, Lauryn Hill and Ella Fitzgerald.

After an extensive post-pro-duction process, which culmi-nated in mastering by Legion of Dume in Seattle, Fukushima re-leased the album online. Her fu-ture plans include a speaking tour in Kazakhstan this sum-mer, a TED talk in Alaska, and a workshop for youth in San Francisco, all the while spread-ing the message of RAPtivism.

“It’ll continue to go global as well as serve the local,” she said.

Fukushima recently attend-ed a release party for the al-bum, noting the positive re-sponse the album has received.

“There was so much posi-tive energy in the room. I was,

like, ‘Yes! This is what RAPtiv-ism is about!’” said Fukushima.

The entire RAPtivism al-bum can be downloaded for free (with an optional donation) at http://raptivism.bandcamp.com.

Besides being a whistling virtuoso and a lyrical ge-nius, Andrew Bird is ca-

pable of taking a song that be-gins as a simple melody and weaving it into something in-credibly complex and beautiful.

With his new album Break It Yourself, including a song featur-ing St. Vincent, Bird doesn’t disap-point. All the staples of his style are there: the pizzicato violin pluck-ing, the whistling interjections and the obtuse, borderline dark lyrics.

Since he started his solo career 10 years ago, Andrew Bird’s music hasn’t strayed from his roots and unique chamber pop style; as a body, his work has been relatively consistent.

But in listening to each of his individual albums, one develops the sense of looking at his music through different panes of color-ed glass. Noble Beast was bright and yellow, sunny and happy-go-lucky. Mysterious Production of Eggs was dark-tinted, weird, warped and hard to see through.

In his recent 2012 album, Break It Yourself, Andrew Bird erects a window that utiliz-es a full spectrum of the colors used in his previous albums, further saturating these colors to create a slight variation on his past musical body of work.

Overall, the album feels like a means of catharsis for Bird. His lyrics often taste of bitterness, with lines such as “You’re the one who sank my Lusitania / but somehow it don’t register as pain at all.” Despite the gloomy mes-sages of some of his songs, the music itself is more upbeat than it has been on previous albums.

Yes, Break It Yourself might be more of the same from Andrew Bird. But if the same is evocative lyrics dripping with mystery mixed with intricate, layered and melod-ic lines, then why complain? This latest album doesn’t disappoint.

Young adult novelist John Green, author of the award-winning novels

“Looking for Alaska” and “Paper Towns,” alters his storytelling method for his new novel, “The Fault in Our Stars.” Green’s pre-vious novels tell stories of unre-quited love from the perspective of skinny, geeky young men, but in Green’s new novel, the protag-onist is a terminally ill female who very quickly finds and de-velops a romantic relationship with a one-legged, “metaphori-cally-inclined” basketball star.

This change in pace may seem strange for those who have previously read Green’s nov-els, which so poignantly cap-ture the bitterness of unrecip-rocated emotions and the awk-wardness of adolescence. In “The Fault in Our Stars,” however, Ha-zel and Augustus immediately act on their feelings for one an-other, leaping into love before the cancer present in both their bodies can take away their op-portunity to spend time togeth-er. The rapid maturation of Ha-zel’s and Augustus’s relationship allows Green to explore deeper

themes with his new work, tran-scending previous elaboration on longing, frustration and pursuit of the “dream girl” for a new dis-cussion, as Hazel’s disease and her relationship with Augustus force her to confront the funda-mental realities of life and death.

With this new novel, Green continues to demonstrate his knack for blending serious, even tragic, situations with laugh-out-loud humor. Overall, “The Fault in Our Stars” is a heart-rending love story and rightful-ly lacks most of the wacky an-tics of Green’s previous books, but Hazel’s wry observations and Augustus’s charm provide levity. Targeted toward young adults, Green captures the teen-age voice impeccably, yet pep-pers his work with sufficient-ly elevated diction and literary references to keep sophisticat-ed readers happy. Even the nov-el’s title is an homage to Shake-speare’s “Julius Caesar,” which should establish that “The Fault in Our Stars” is not your average YA novel, nor is it your average “cancer story.” This book may in-duce tears in even the least senti-mental reader, and it certainly inspires thought and provides a heaping helping of perspective.

I am proud to report that I ac-tually read a non-required book this week—”The Hun-

ger Games” by Suzanne Col-lins. Okay, okay, it’s an easy fun read, 374 pages with big print, with words of fewer than eight letters. The film version is a sur-prisingly good adaptation of the book, making me pleased to say I thoroughly enjoyed both.

For those who haven’t read the book, “The Hunger Games” is set in the future, with America separated into 12 districts ruth-lessly dominated by the Capitol, under the leadership of President Snow (Donald Sutherland). Each year, the districts must partici-pate in a raffle to “elect” two 12- to 18-year-old Tributes to partic-ipate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death between the 24 contestants, and the last one alive is showered

in riches and glory for life. The Games are broadcast-ed across all the districts to serve as a remind-er of a f o r m e r

squashed rebellion, reasserting the power of the Capitol over all.

“The Hunger Games” follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Law-

rence), who v o lu n t e e r s as Tribute to

replace her younger sis-

ter who was chosen in the raffle.

Katniss is stripped from her family and friends, cleaned up, clothed and trained by her drunk and sarcastic men-tor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson)

before being placed in the arena for the Games. Katniss learns to do whatever it takes to survive.

I loved the book, and I real-ly liked the movie version of “The Hunger Games,” which sticks reasonably close to the text. The casting is spot-on with Suther-land and Lawrence bringing great performances, but the drunk and stumbling Harrelson and the dra-matic blue-haired Stanley Tucci stole the show. Both were hilar-ious in this relatively grim film and gave strong performances.

If you have not read the book, I highly recommend it. It is a quick read that keeps you hooked. Even the movie, clocking in at two and a half hours, barely feels like an hour. Fear not, you don’t have to read the book to love the movie. Teen angst, bloody bat-tles and a fast-moving plot all lead to a great movie for anyone to enjoy! Luckily, we have two more books (and three more mov-ies) in the series to anticipate.

Every week, The Pioneer search-es out Whitties who bring an ex-

tra splash of fashion consciousness and sartorial daring to campus. This week’s Style Spotlight: sophomore

anthropology major Janaki Phillips.

Style Soundbites

“I found this sweater in a vin-tage shop in Queen Anne, Seat-tle when I stayed there visiting my best friend last spring break. My belt, I found this spring break; I went back home [to Denver] for the first time in, like, eight months and went shopping with my mom and we found this belt for, like, $2 at a thrift store. It was a good find.”

“My bracelets, I’ve had for a while. I made the large one—it has arrows on it. This one I’ve had on since June 2009. It’s a wristband from a concert I went to in Finland. It was a rock fes-tival, and I haven’t taken it off since.

My rings—this one has Sanskrit on it; it’s a prayer to the Mother Goddess.”

“I have eight piercings, five of which I did myself. I got my first ear pierc-ing at Claire’s — pretty standard — and then, when I was 15, my mom took me to get my nose pierced. I pierced my second ear piercing my-self, and then, in high school, over a year or two, I started gauging them. While I was an exchange student in Finland, I pierced my own lip one night, for no other reason than, I was kind of bored. My host sister had a lot of piercings and there’s a huge piercing culture in Finland for some reason, and also, I was mes-saging some friends from home, and one of my friends just got her sep-tum pierced. I was like, ‘I want an-other facial piercing.’ And so I did it myself, sort of stupidly, before I re-alized that there is indeed a nerve in your lip, that if you hit, you’ll par-alyze your own face. But I didn’t know about that, so I just went for it.”

PIO PICKSEach Thursday, The Pioneer

highlights several events happening on campus or in

Walla Walla during the weekend. Here are this week’s picks:

IntermezzoWhitman Dance Production presents “Intermezzo,” with direction by Adjunct Instructor of Dance Idalee Hutson-Fish and additional choreography by Raffaele Exiana. Come view a selection of four beautiful new dance pieces, set to the conduct-ing ofVisiting Assistant Profes-sor of Music Jeremy Mims with the Whitman College Orchestra.Friday, April 6, 8 p.m. Cordiner Hall.

CoffeehouseCoffeehouse and WEB present two groups of Whitman senior women: Daria Reaven and Jo French, followed by For Square, consisting of Alethea Buchal, Elizabeth Fleming, Carrie Sloane and Carissa Wagner. Come relax and enjoy the music! Friday, April 6, 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Reid Campus Center.

Wind Ensemble Spring Con-certThe Whitman College Depart-ment of Music presents the Whitman Wind Ensemble Spring Concert, conducted by Professor of Music David Glenn.Wednesday, April 11, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Chism Recital Hall.

Whitman alum’s ‘RAPtivism’ album spreads positive message worldwideby ALEX HAGENStaff Reporter

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ tells bittersweet tale of cancer-stricken lovers

by KARIN TOMPKINSContributing Reporter

Janaki Phillips ‘14 models her blend of vintage and world style. Photo by beck

IMAGE COURTESY OF FUKUSHIMA

‘Hunger Games’ brings deadly dystopian struggle to big screenby NATHAN FISHERStaff Reporter

‘Reggaeducation’Tune in for your Reggaeducation with Devyani Gupta, transcending

stereotypes and brightening your day with a mix of new and old reggae bands and crossover artists. Each week features a band’s biography. Jammin’ till the jam is through!

Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. On the dial at 90.5 FM Walla Walla and streaming live at www.kwcw.net. For requests, call

(509) 527-5283.

GRAPHIC BY ALDEN

KWCW SHOWOF THE WEEK

LOOS-DIALLO

Andrew Bird weaves deep pop melodies

by CLARA BARTLETTStaff Reporter

ADVERTISEMENT

STYLESPOTLIGHT

Apr

052012

pAGE

5SPORTS

T his past weekend Whit-man’s cycling team host-ed the Missionary Omni-

um, a Pacific Northwest Colle-giate Cycling Conference race that occurs in Walla Walla each year. The team featured 18 rides this weekend, against Division I and II schools including the Universi-ty of Washington, Oregon State, Gonzaga and Willamette. Organ-ized and run by the same student-athletes that were racing, the event brought in funds to support the growth of Whitman club cycling.

The Whitman teams per-formed outstandingly, with the B women placing first in the time tri-al and the B men placing second. In the individual criterium race, senior Aurora Bowers and jun-ior Molly Blust placed fourth and fifth respectively; in the men’s B

division, sophomore Luke Ogden, and first-years Alberto Santos-Davidson and Eli Robinson took first, sixth and eighth. Sophomore Rachel Geiter earned the most points: 158 total for the weekend.

In the past years, Whitman has been a powerhouse team, winning the DII Championship in 2010. The team, currently ranked just behind University of Oregon, Uni-versity of Washington and West-ern Washington University, appre-ciated having the race at home in Walla Walla for various reasons.

“It is nice having a home ad-vantage, because that is one of the courses that we ride all the time. We have done really well in the past—it is nice know-ing the course and the corners, and you know where the weird spots in the road are,” said Blust.

This home race acts as the starting point for the final push to the end of the season. “My legs

don’t start getting into race form until now. Our big race is confer-ence at the end of the year, as well as Tour of Walla Walla,” said Blust.

“[This race] is building up to the conference finals. For some riders, if they are in the top cat-egory, they can go on to nation-als, which are in May over in Ogden, Utah. It is another step in the season, another chance to get some experience, to get some points for the team,” said senior captain David Hancock.

Hancock has been hard at work not only preparing for the race, but organizing it as well; he is the race coordinator this year. As this race is the primary fun-draiser for the team, this job is key for making possible future races and events for the team.

“It is a chance to raise mon-ey which goes to paying for travel, and food, and regis-tration for all the other rac-

es. So we have two things go-ing on at once,” said Hancock.

As cycling is a club sport and therefore has no college-hired coach, the Whitman’s cyclists take it upon themselves personal-ly to train and prepare for races.

“Since we are a club sport, we don’t have a coach to tell us how to prepare. [The difficulty of rides] definitely depends on where people are in their training,” said Blust.

By the end of the sev-en whirlwind in-season weeks, the team will have traveled throughout the Northwest to at-tend various racing events.

“We’ve been to Eugene, Corvallis, Bellingham, Se-attle; next week is Bozem-an and Missoula, and confer-ence finals will be in Pullman and Moscow,” said Hancock.

Although much of the team is comprised of first-years and sophomores, many of the riders

are ranked as B riders, defining their status in cycling races, rang-ing from A to C, with A being the highest. The higher ranked rid-ers are up against stiffer compe-tition, as the races are more com-petitive and faster. The A ranked riders receive more points in the standings because of their rank-ing, and more difficult races.

“This is definitely more of a development year, but we have a lot of really good riders. We are win-ning in the B’s but we don’t have any A riders. Whitman is com-pletely dominating the B field in both the men’s and women’s field. Right now we are in fourth place in the conference, which is real-ly good for our size,” said Geiter.

“[The Missionary Om-nium] was the hardest race I’ve ever done. It was real-ly tough; the whole weekend went really well,” said Geiter.

Over lunch at Jewett Din-ing Hall, Morgan and Courtney sit down to

talk about tennis, twins, and time at Whitman together. Hometown: Austin, TexasMajor: Both Undecided

When did you start playing Tennis?Morgan: When we were five years-old.Courtney: The courts were right across the street from our elemen-tary school so it was the cool thing for little kids to go and play tennis.

Were you part of a team when you were younger?Courtney: It was mostly individ-ual tournaments that we start-ed playing when we were eight.Morgan: When we were 12 we started travelling outside of Tex-as to national tournaments.

Did your high school have a ten-nis focus?Courtney: It was a normal college prep school, but happened to have a tennis academy attached to it.Morgan: The academy was a ton of work. We had prac-tice from 3:50 until 6:00 eve-ry day and then fitness until 7:00.Courtney: During the day when other kids had free periods, we were having lessons. It was a lot of work, but it helped us get better.

How was the transition from high school tennis to college tennis?Courtney: Coming to a Divi-sion III school was kind of dif-ferent because we were training at an academy that was prepar-ing us for a DI-level school. So here there is a lot more empha-sis on school work, which is im-portant. So we’re really well pre-pared, and we can always do ex-tra work outside of practice.Morgan: Also, junior tennis is so cut-throat, and a lot of jun-ior players start hating tennis. Coming here, the environment is so much more healthy. Every-one wants to work so hard and get better. The team is so much more supportive than the academy.

Looking forward to the next three years, what are you guys most excited about?Morgan: Spending more time with

our team, just getting even closer.Courtney: This year I want to win conference and get to nationals.Morgan: I want to win a na-tional championship.

Favorite pre-game meal?Morgan: Steak, everyday!Courtney: Yeah, steak is awe-some!Morgan: But like, really, pasta with some chicken is probably the best.Courtney: No sodas or candy.Morgan: Except for occasional-ly...…

What’s it like to go to college to-gether?Morgan: We were both choosing between the same top two schools and our parents were like “Ok, you guys need to decide on the count of three just say which school” and we both said Whitman.Courtney: But we have our own friends and everything so it’s nice.

Favorite place to eat in Texas?Morgan: Everything is good!Courtney: Can’t go wrong, bigger and better. I mean, Outback is a chain…

Morgan: But it’s one of our favorites!Courntey: Also, Homeslice piz-za. We took the team there when they came to play over in Tex-as spring break and they loved it.Morgan: And Amy’s ice cream. Best ice cream in the world!

Any pet peeves about being a twin?Morgan: We get asked three times a day asked if we’re twins. We’re kind of used to it so it’s not that big of a deal.Courtney: Just people call-ing us the wrong names. They know who we are, but peo-ple just mess up sometimes.Morgan: Or just being called “Lawless” or “The Twins” in-stead of our first names.

Favorite part about being twins?Morgan: The Fred and George [from Harry Potter] aspect that we get to prank people and be tricky.Courtney: And the Brian Broth-ers! They’re amazing ten-nis double players, the best that have ever lived, by far.Morgan: They’ve been our idols since we were eight.

Profile: First-year Lawless twins serve up wins for women’s tennisby SARAH DEBSStaff Reporter

by KYLE HOWEStaff Reporter

Sweets host Onionfest

During a wet, muddy two-day stretch this past week-end, Whitman’s Ultimate

team took a quick break from intense DI tournaments to have some fun. The team competed in Onionfest, a coed tournament hosted by the sweets featuring 21 club and college teams from across the northwest.

“Onionfest is definitely a lot of fun. It offers the men’s and women’s teams the opportuni-ty to dress up, goof off and care less about the more competitive as-pects of frisbee than about enjoying the lighthearted spirit of the tour-

nament,” said junior Eddie Hill.There was potential for a mean-

ingful match-up with the Huskies from the University of Washington, but unfortunately the team had to end up cancelling it’s trip to Walla Walla.

Instead the team got to fo-cus full-time on fun, while not worrying about the results.

“This tournament actual-ly doesn’t demonstrate anything about our season, It’s just a real-ly fun time for the team and al-ums to come and play,” said sen-ior captain Stephen Stradley.

Now that the fun is over how-ever, both the men’s and women’s teams will continue to fight for na-tional prominence on the DI level.

Photo by McCormick

Together with their teammates, first-year tennis phenoms Courtney (left) and Mor-gan Lawless have taken the Northwest Conference by storm. Photo by Bergman

SCOREBOARDGOLFMen’sNWC Spring Classic March 31-April 1: 2ndWomen’sNWC Spring Classic March 31-April 1: 2nd

BASEBALLv. Lewis & Clark College March 31: L 4-3v. Lewis & Clark College April 1: W 7-5v. Lewis & Clark College April1: W 11-2

TENNISMen’sv. Whitworth University March 31: W 9-0Women’sv. Whitworth University March 31: W 6-3

UPCOMINGBASEBALLv. Pacific University April 6-7: AWAY

TENNISMen’sv. Linfield College April 8: AWAYv. Willamette University April 8: AWAYWomen’sv. Linfield College April 6: HOMEv. Willamette University April 7: HOME

by MATT TESMONDStaff Reporter

First-years Evan Heberlein and Peter O’Rourke take a break to bite into the week-end tournament’s namesake food—a Walla Walla sweet onion. Photo by Farrell

Apr

052012

pAGE

6FEATURE

by KINSEY WHITEStaff Reporter

spring day

tripping

Is Walla Walla feeling a bit old-hat, yet you’re still yearning for a slice of small

town Americana? Look no further than Waitsburg, Wash.

“Waitsburg? I didn’t know there was anything to do in Waitsburg!”

Well, you were wrong!Located just 20 miles east

of our fair college town, the town of Waitsburg offers enough attractions to thoroughly titillate the culture glands of you and your day-tripping companions.

For a history lesson, visit the Bruce Memorial Museum, restored by the Waitsburg Historical Society, and featured on the National Register for Historical Places. Built in 1883—less than two decades after Waitsburg’s founding—this once lived-in Victorian mansion now stands in all of its restored beauty as both a monument to the

past and as an educational tool.Feeling a bit down, and the

SAD light in the Counseling Center is just not doing it for you? Try some aromatherapy by visiting Lavender’s-R-Us, Waitsburg’s u-pick lavender field and lavender gift shop. Deck yourself out with lavender swag, or, if you want, just stop long enough so that you can leave smelling like soap.

And if all your fragrance-wafting has left you feeling a bit peckish, avail yourself of Waitsburg’s local culinary fare. Jimgermanbar—named for its owner, Jim German—serves up a host of Euro-inflected small plates. And, if you are of a lawful drinking age, sip on some of German’s cocktails, which have carved out an ardent following due to their seasonal ingredients and expert execution.

Still hungry? For another dining experience, head across the street to the Whoopemump Hollow Café, which dishes up

southern comfort food Tuesday through Sunday, and has reached the status of a Waitsburg institution not only through its solid takes on Southern classics, but through its lively, friendly atmosphere.

Now how about some wheat? Stop by L&B Kitchens, Waitsburg’s local purveyor of wheat products. Yet be warned: This is not your everyday purveyor of wheat meals and flours, as L&B Kitchens specializes in the purveyance of the nutritious whole grain wheat berry. Boil them, mash them and stick them in a stew; these unctuous and succulent morsels are the perfect way to savor a last taste of Waitsburg, as well as the perfect addition to soups, chilis and salads. So take a package to go, so that upon your return, you may prove to your disbelieving peers that you experienced the fun, one-of-a-kind urban tapestry that is Waitsburg, Wash.

And before I forget: Pass the wheat berries, please!

Waitsburg offers slice of small town lifeby SAM ADLERStaff Reporter

by KELSEY KENNEDY Feature Editor

Milton-Freewater inspires flavorful trip

Novices welcome on spring OP excursions

Spring in Walla Walla offers the chance for a mid-semester adventure. Whether you prefer to indulge in local food and drink, explore hiking trails or take an

OP sea kayaking trip, opportunities outside the Whitman bubble abound.

The town of Milton-Free-water, Ore.—affectionate-ly known among locals as

“Muddy-Frogwater” for its ubiq-uitous frog imagery—is with-in easy reach of Whitties look-ing for a day trip off campus.

Just 10 miles south of Whit-man, Milton-Freewater’s lo-cation in the Walla Walla Val-ley Wine Appellation attracts many tourists to the area for tast-ings. However, the town’s ap-peal extends far beyond grapes.

The Blue Mountain Cider Company, one of the most cele-brated attractions in the area, of-fers a change of pace from win-ery visits with its variety of ci-ders made exclusively from ap-ples grown in the Wal-la Walla Valley.

“Cider is not as fill-ing as beer and it’s something different . . . there’s something for everyone,” said Nancy Cazele, one of the co-owners of the f a m i l y - r u n c o m p a n y.

T h e c o m p a -ny offers sweet, dry and cherry varieties of cider year-round, and special seasonal fla-vors in spring and summer. Peach cider, the company’s most popular springtime flavor, will be availa-ble at tastings starting on the Wal-la Walla Valley Wine Alliance’s spring release weekend, May 4-6.

The Blue Mountain Cider Company is open for visitors 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Monday-Saturday.

For the more food-motivated taster, Milton-Freewater’s choc-olate shop Petit Noirs is the per-fect place to indulge in a myri-ad of unique truffle flavors, in-cluding pumpkin white choc-olate, rhubarb ginger, Pendle-ton whiskey hazelnut praline and rosemary pink peppercorn.

Petit Noirs owner Lan Wong attributes this mix of sweet and savory flavors to inspiration from the natu-

ral environment of the area.“Our inspiration comes

from wines and fresh produce grown around here,” she said.

Petit Noirs prides itself on making chocolates with high con-centrations of cacao (at least 64 percent in dark chocolate and 35 percent in milk chocolate) that are free from preservatives and ar-tificial flavoring. According to Wong, the shop offers “a little of everything for everyone,” ac-commodating all budgets. Wong’s homemade nougats are a steal at $1.50 and truffle boxes start at $15.

The Petit Noirs tast-ing room is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Thursday-Sunday.

Only a couple miles down Highway 11 is Clay in Motion, an art studio specializing in hand-decorated traditional Ameri-can pottery. Clay in Motion own-ers Bob and Corina Neher focus on creating pottery that is func-tional, lead-free and dishwasher-, oven- and microwave-safe. Their biggest selling item, the origi-nal hand-warmer mug, is a practi-

cal and affordable pur-chase for students

(only $18), glazed with

color com-b i n a t i o n s inspired by

nature such as “ocean tide” and “desert sand.”

The Clay in Motion studio, gift shop and espresso stand are conveniently located in the same complex on the east side of High-way 11. In addition to pottery, the Art in Motion gallery hous-es other crafted goods including blown glass and artisan jewelry.

The studio and shops are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays.

After a day of shopping and visiting tasting rooms, day trip-pers to Milton-Freewater can go back in time in the comfort of their own cars at the local drive-in movie theater. As of press time, the current shows at the drive-in were “The Hunger Games” and “One for the Money.” Tick-ets are $6 per person and infor-mation about upcoming shows and showtimes is available at ht tp://m-fdriveintheatre.com /

Looking to stay active this spring with some fun outdoor activities? Whitman’s Out-

door Program, as well as many oth-er clubs on campus, is offering sev-eral opportunities this season.

Sign-ups for Outdoor Program excursions began at the Winter Ac-tivities Fair, but there are still spots open for certain destinations at the rental shop on a first-come, first-served basis. Ac- cord-ing to Stu-art Chapin, the as-s i s t a n t d i rec tor of the out-door program, the most popular trips in the spring tend to be backpacking and sea kayaking. The one backpacking trip already has a long waiting list, but it is not too late to sign up for sea kayaking or some of the other opportunities.

“Check out the whitewater raft-ing,” said Chapin. “We still have space, and it’s really fun. The scenery at the Grande Ronde is as good as you can get!” Chapin raves about this loca-tion, claiming he saw ten bald eagles when he visited over break. This trip, among many others the OP offers, is especially geared toward beginners.

“The OP’s job is to provide in-tensive instruction to entry-level par-ticipants. If they want more, they should go to the whitewater club, climbing club or any of the other out-door clubs on campus,” said Chapin.

“If you are competent outdoors

and in snow, the mountaineering trips are open. If you are belay-certified, the climbing trips are open, and eve-ryone is encouraged to come to the competitions,” said junior Jack Lazar.

The Sweet Onion Crank climb-ing competition is coming up on April 28, which is a great way to get a taste of the climbing community without even having to leave campus.

“I think the climbing club isn’t so much of a club as it is climb-ing people, and climbing peo-ple are [really] cool,” said Lazar.

He described the amazing friends he has made and the fantas-

tic times he has had on trips with this support-

ive group of peo-ple, and encour-ages everyone

to try it out. If you don’t feel ready

t o take on an ex-cursion quite that long, con-

sider a simple biking trip to a near-by location such as Bennington Lake.

“The OP bike shop has recently come into a lot of bikes, which will be for sale over the next six months,” said Lish Riley, the rental shop manager. If even that seems too daunting a pros-pect, there are great options right here on campus for students to stay active.

“The open kayak is for peo-ple who want to stay on campus to just see if they like it,” said Chap-in. Other fun activities like the climbing wall are also free, and can give students an idea of wheth-er they would enjoy a longer trip.

For more information about outdoor programs, visit the rent-al shop in the Reid basement.

As the spring season ushers it-self gracefully into Wal-la Walla, the beauty of the

city itself and the surrounding nat-ural world become more readi-ly available for seasonal recrea-tional activities. The possibilities for individual spring recreation, such as hiking and biking, abound.

For students interested in bik-ing, cycling team members fresh-man Eli Robinson and senior Da-vid Hancock suggest the Mill Creek Road Trail, a 28-mile trip that fol-lows Isaacs all the way out of town.

Robinson also suggests a trip to Harris Park, which is south through Milton-Freewater and then east out of town. The Harris Park trip is up to 50 miles roundtrip, but promises gor-geous views. For more adventurous bikers, Robinson recommends a 90-mile roundtrip trail, south from Wal-la Walla through Milton-Freewater, continuing south to Weston, turning onto highway 204, and climbing un-til you reach a tollgate. Although ex-tremely long, the climbing aspect of this trail is both an amazing work-out and well worth it to see the view.

“For a shorter ride, you can head out to lower Waitsfield from Clin-

ton by crossing the high-way and loop back on middle Waits-field via a right turn on Valley Grove. That ride is about 16 miles, and is great around sunset! For quicker adven-tures, taking the Mill Creek trail up to Bennington Lake is always nice,” said Hancock.

For students who enjoy pound-ing the ground rather than biking, Walla Walla offers an abundance of hiking trails within the Umatil-la National Forest. To find a com-plete list of trails in all four rang-er districts of the Umatilla, you can visit the Walla Walla Ranger Sta-tion, located at 1415 W. Rose St. One of the four ranger districts of this area is called the Walla Wal-la, which consists of 19 different trails open to hiking and biking.

“I think hiking is an amaz-ing way to spend time off cam-pus,” said first-year Ali Danko. “Walla Walla is really pretty. I feel like a lot of people consider [this town] to be underestimated be-cause it’s so flat. However, when you hike, you get to appreciate the scenery that is actually around us.”

An easier trail from this area is called the Jubilee Lake National

R e c -r e a -tion Trail, which is 2.6 miles in length, but only tips in at a maximum of an 8 per-cent grade, lowering its overall difficulty. For Whitties seeking a more difficult trail head, the 9.8-mile North Fork Umatilla Trail of-fers a challenge. This climb con-sists of a 5.8-mile-long climb along the south slope of the Coyote Ridge. Finally, for the most challenging of hikes in the Umatilla, one can try the Umatilla Rim Trail. Beginning at the Buck Creek Trail head and end-ing at the Blue Mountain trail, this trail takes one over 2,000 feet up-wards in elevation over 7.5 miles. In the first 1.5 miles alone, the hik-er gains 1,900 feet of elevation. Al-though difficult, this trail promises a panoramic view off of Buck Moun-tain that is well worth the climb.

Hikers, cyclists offer advice on local trails

by SUSANNA BOWERSStaff Reporter

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHNSON

Apr

052012

pAGE

7OPINION

Voices from the Community What is your favorite part of WallaWalla spring? Poll by Li

YIFAN YANGJunior

CHRISTOPHER FARLEYSophomore

ROSE WOODBURYSenior

XIAOTONG DUANSophomore

Once I wake up from the green couch I can see the blue sky and white clouds.

Long runs in the wheat fields under a clear sunny spring sky.

Having friends over for cookouts and bonfires in our backyard.

Spring means the coming of summer and then I can go home!

When I was a junior in high school, I acted in a pro-duction of “Our Town,”

Thornton Wilder’s classic play, in which a layer of sweet Ameri-cana conceals a core of pure hu-man misery. In a key scene, the protagonist asks the omnis-cient narrator if anybody “re-alizes life while they live it.”

“No,” replies the nar-rator. “Saints and po-ets, maybe. They do some.”

It’s the poets, the writers and fabricators, with whom I am con-cerned today. As everybody who reads fiction with any regulari-ty knows, there are certain ele-ments that are crucial to a good story, and whose absence fre-quently causes a reader to “for-get” to finish: compelling, real-istic characters; a vivid setting; and a plot to move things along.

My philosophy of life has al-ways been to live like I am writ-ing myself in a story. I’ve tried a

few philosophies, and this is the one that has brought me the best dividends. It allows for tremen-dous freedom while ensuring everything I do will be fruitful.

I’ve been a writer of fiction for many years, and I can’t help do-ing this; for most of us, it comes naturally, because—to some de-gree—we all got into this in or-der to rewrite our own lives. We knew that, if we learned to ma-nipulate words well enough, it would grant us omnipotence: over another world, if not our own.

To live your life like a writer means to gather fascinating char-acters around you. We do this by seeking out dimensions in those we know, because everyone is a compelling character: It is truly rare to meet somebody who is bor-ing to the depths of their soul. We love the characters in our lives not despite their flaws, but because of them, because flaws make a char-acter all the more lovably human.

To write your life means that you put extra effort into estab-lishing your setting. You’ll need to make sure that you notice de-tails—not every detail, of course, because that detracts from oth-er stuff, but just enough to make the place in which you live a play-er in your day-to-day actions. If you build your setting well enough, it can become like a char-acter, and you’ll never feel alone.

If you write your life, it’s got to have a plot. Some people think all lives have one out of necessi-ty, and there’s some truth to that, but all plots can stagnate. It’s our responsibility, as writers real or metaphorical, to add incident to them. If you just let things hap-pen to you—or worse, let noth-ing happen at all—nobody will believe you as a protagonist.

If you write your life, you’ll find it far easier to pass through hard times, because you’ll know that nobody wants to read a story in which everyone is happy all the time. Complication, as I once heard it described, is when an author makes things as bad as they can possibly be, and then worse. Eve-ryone has had weeks where they feel like a cosmic writer is mess-ing with them. Ultimately, though, you are the cosmic author—and if you can learn to take pain not as tragedy but as catharsis, you’ll en-sure the best outcome for yourself.

There is no greater joy than agency, from which all oth-er joys follow. Under this philos-ophy, whether you choose to in-dulge your passions or live fru-gally, to have globetrotting ad-ventures or to build a reward-ing life at home, you will be be-holden to only one idea: making sure your novel, for which you are author, audience and protago-nist, doesn’t make you fall asleep.

Writerly perspective adds value to lifeSAM CHAPMANFirst-year

ADVERTISEMENT

Political Cartoon by Kelly Douglas

Americans and Whitman stu-dents have a long legacy of being interested in human-

itarian crises outside the United States. Live Aid in the 1980s. Su-dan. Haiti. Most recently, Whitman students and the broader American public are discussing the contro-versy around the recent viral video about Kony and conflict in Ugan-da. However, our recent experience volunteering on the U.S.-Mexi-co border with No More Deaths threw into light a strange paradox: Although Kony is currently wide-ly discussed at Whitman and in the American media, there are few people aware of the human rights crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Immigration, while politi-cal in some ways, has humanitar-ian dimensions which, cloaked in political rhetoric and polem-ics, go unnoticed. When we only look to humanitarian issues be-yond the United States, we remain

both ignorant to the humanitari-an crisis on the border and una-ble to take meaningful action. This lack of action extends well be-yond the border itself, and limits our options in the fight for justice.

It’s not our own posturing which has us suggest that there is a humanitarian crisis on the bor-der: It’s a widely held interna-tional view. People are dying in the borderlands every single day. There have been over 70 known deaths on the Arizona border alone since last October. The Ameri-can Civil Liberties Union esti-mates that there have been 5,607 migrant deaths from crossing in the last 15 years—but the actu-al death toll is likely much greater.

It’s hard to find bodies in an expansive, dangerous desert, and other estimates suggest that as many as 30,000 people have died. Last week, Amnesty International released a report which found that border policies result in a “pattern of human rights violations.” Most obviously, these human rights vi-olations occur on the border and

are caused by entities like Bor-der Patrol. However, the humani-tarian implications of borders ex-tend far beyond the physical wall: Borders exist beyond borders, even here in Washington state.

Take for example, the is-sue of educational equity. As the United Nations recognizes, “Ed-ucation is a fundamental human right and essential for the exer-cise of all other human rights.” Still, in the United States, undoc-umented students are ineligible for any form of federal financial aid which often makes higher educa-tion prohibitively expensive. This is only one example of an invisi-ble border; there are many others.

Our focus on issues outside U.S. borders has an additional con-sequence: The way we think about fighting injustice is constrained. It becomes easy to believe that pas-sive behaviors—donating for a cause, buying wristbands or hold-ing a benefit—are not only ways to generate real social change, but perhaps the only way to do so. These are valuable actions in

their own right, but they also mask the fact that there are other more meaningful and effective ways to address human rights issues.

We do not suggest that Whit-ties shouldn’t care about or be ac-tive in issues which occur outside the United States. In fact, many hu-manitarian issues are, in differ-ent ways, linked directly with pol-icies and actions from the Unit-ed States, and it’s important to rec-ognize this. However, we must be attentive to the ways our focus is pulled to some issues at the cost of others. We also have to acknowl-edge that there is more we can do to address the humanitarian is-sues caused by immigration poli-cy, and it can happen in our school.

Earlier this year, ASWC and the Board of Trustees passed a Statement on Undocumented Stu-dents. This is a perfect example of Whitties creating real change, no wristbands required. As such, we hope to see heightened aware-ness of, and more actions combat-ing, the invisible and visible bor-ders to human rights on campus.

Last Sunday, the ASWC senate approved a nearly $8,000 funding request for

Whitman Direct Action’s annual two-month summer trip to a rural village, Willywood, Guatema-la. It wasn’t an easy sell—these funds are a part of Whitman’s sticker price, a fee of approxi-mately $320 each year, appropri-ated by the ASWC senators who we elect to fund all of the stu-dent organizations on campus.

In justifying this request, my first passionate impulse is to cry for the most basic and es-sential human right, access to clean water. However, I quiet-ed my personal resolve to fight this injustice—as a result of Guatemala’s weak centralized and historically corrupt gov-ernment, insufficient and inef-fective water policies and infra-structure, and a lack of educa-tion surrounding sanitation prac-tices. These factors alone do not justify the financial contribu-tion of every Whitman student. What might begin to do so is the opportunity that Whitman Di-rect Action has afforded me, and the equal opportunity that eve-ry student has to get involved with WDA or with the many

other organizations on campus.We all have an equal oppor-

tunity to argue before ASWC to request these funds our-selves. The money in the Trav-el and Student Development fund allows our student gov-ernment to fund a wide range of student organizations and re-quests. Whitties pay for the li-on’s share of our project, so WDA always keeps the benefits to student body in mind by com-piling reports, presenting find-ings at the undergraduate con-ference, and hosting educational events and conversations about development each semester.

All students, regardless of their involvement with WDA on a weekly basis, were allowed to participate in the independent studies and encouraged to ap-ply for the Project Team. More broadly, all students have equal access to ASWC funding to pur-sue whatever it is they believe deeply in. Our position as stu-dents at a small, private liber-al arts school—with all the li-brary resources, professor ex-pertise and funding only acces-sible to college students—allows us to start working on our pas-sions or professional goals today.

WDA, and other ASWC or-ganizations like it, provides crucial opportunities to devel-op students’ passions outside of the classroom. Whitman alum-

nus and founding WDA mem-ber Curt Bowen demonstrates where these opportunities can lead. Following graduation and a Davis Projects for Peace fellow-ship, he and a few other Whit-ties started a sustainable agricul-ture NGO called Semilla Nueva. They essentially took the WDA model and planted it in Guate-mala, where they carefully tend to its successful growth in many rural villages. His experiences in WDA were no doubt formative in the eventual creation of Semilla Nueva, and I hope that other stu-dents make use of Whitman’s op-portunities to further their own passions—career or otherwise.

My Whitman education both in the classroom and through WDA has empowered me to act in an educated, and hopeful-ly ethical, manner toward social and environmental justice. This is my passion, and what I want to do with my life. Whether or not you share my often idealistic sentiments, I hope this piece may at least remind you of the incred-ible and endless opportunities that exist on this campus. Every student organization here is the brainchild of a group of Whitties, and by paying the ASWC fee, we all agree to financially support each other in our pursuits. I en-courage you to take advantage of these resources, and to live your passions as much as possible.

by LAUREN McCULLOUGH ‘12and KEILER BEERS ‘14Guest Columnists

by ANNA MURVEIT ‘13and SEAN McNULTY ‘14Guest Columnists

WDA’s funding reminds Whitties of easily accessable campus resources

No More Deaths reveals abuse near home

ILLUSTRATION BY PETERSON

Portable gaming is in cri-sis. Dedicated handheld consoles like the Ninten-

do 3DS and PS Vita are primar-ily designed to do one thing: play games. When dedicated hand-held consoles were the only game in town, console makers didn’t have a problem. But now, thanks to smartphone platforms like iOS and Android providing rich gaming experiences in their own right, Nintendo and Sony have to rise to meet that challenge.

Therein lies the prob-lem: The handheld market has long been focused on provid-ing an acceptable gaming ex-perience, and has relied on be-ing the only game in town for any sort of handheld video gam-ing in order to make sales. With the rise in mobile gaming that

we’re seeing now, though, that sort of mentality seems increas-ingly outmoded. I’m catching up on much of Square Enix’s back catalog right now on my iPhone. Square’s ports of classic titles like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy Tactics are proof that it’s possible to provide a rich gam-ing experience on an iOS device.

As a college student with limited income, paying $300 or $400 for a device that does not perform multiple tasks like a smartphone or a laptop seems re-ally steep. New games for those systems cost $40. That kind of an expenditure is just hard to swal-low as a cash-strapped student, especially for a handheld experi-ence that seems to be up to par, but nothing incredibly special.

I don’t want to see hand-held consoles disappear, though. Complex gameplay, especially when it comes to certain genres like shooters, is incredibly diffi-cult to execute on a device with no physical buttons. I firmly be-lieve that handhelds can contin-ue to be a driver of innovation in portable gaming, but Nintendo and Sony have to step up their ex-ecution, and prove that their con-soles are worth the extra money.

Unitaskers must up their game

BLAIR FRANKJunior

Mutualistic symbiosis.I make sandwich.U eat sandwich.

a place for food

Text or call509-522-9991

Sunday 10-3:30Monday-Saturday 10-7:30

Apr

052012

pAGE

8BACKPAGE

ADVERTISEMENT

Cartoon by Ariel Carter-Rodriguez

Due to quick accessibility and numerous colorful il-lustrations, it has been noted that the Backpage of The Pioneer gets rather a lot of traffic. We in the hu-mor department would like to thank you for flipping the paper over and critically perusing our attempts to be funny whilst occasionally quirking your lips in what MAY BE a hint of a smile. To show our appreciation, we’ve decided to give you a special sneak-peek, be-hind-the-scenes, once-in-a-lifetime, overly-hyphenat-ed-adjective glimpse into the life of a backpage writer.

8:25 a.m. Wake up suddenly from a horrible dream involving Jerry Seinfeld and two empty halves of coconuts asking, “Am I funny? AM I FUNNY??” Realize there are only five minutes until the alarm goes off. Use an obscure British cussword and just haul your corpse out of bed.

9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Various and sundry classes. Scribble down a couple of sex-related quotes from your professor for Overhead @ Whitman.

3 p.m. Think about writing your article. Promptly forget about it when you see a squirrel flat-out sprinting across Ankeny. The long way. Go outside to cheer the audacious little bastard on.

4 p.m. Okay, seriously writing your article now.

4:01 p.m. LEVEL SEVEN APPRAISER ON BEJEWELED HELL YEAH

4:38 p.m. Focus. Psych yourself up to write your article. Stare at your face in the mirror trying out different kinds of laughs (the bark, the laugh that goes in instead of out, and my personal favorite: the nose laugh, also known as the Snot-Put).

5:15 p.m. Sporadic sobbing of “I don’t know how to be funny!!” to friends who nod politely while rolling their eyes at the same time, tal-ented Whitties that they are.

6 p.m. Distract yourself with food. Pasta line for seconds. Homemade ice cream sandwich with cookies for dessert. ‘Nother one for the road. ‘Nother one for the destination. ‘Nother one for the food baby. He’s a growing boy.

7 p.m. Finally write the thrice-blasted article, bleeding every word through your eyeballs, and turn it in. SUCK. CESS.

All this “Hunger Games” mania got me thinking: What would hap-pen if a similar situation occurred at Whitman? What circumstanc-es could lead to such a terrifying prospect? Here is a potential and (hopefully) unrealistic situation:

Due to lack of available food, laziness to continue to pro-duce food, punishment to

ungrateful college students, or merely for some sick pleas-ure and satisfaction that only the drones of Bon Appétit could find amusing, no more food is giv-en to the students. Instead, Bon Appétit invests all their time and efforts into putting the school on lockdown by keeping stu-dents on campus via watch-men, i.e. former workers camp-ing out in cars in case any unfor-tunate student tries to escape, or through the many squirrels Bon Appétit has trained to keep watch and eavesdrop on students.

Just to prove how much pow-er they have over students, Bon Appétit decides to pit each class year versus each other in a battle for survival. Each class elects six

of their craftiest, strongest, clev-erest and craziest mofos to fight against the other classes to death or submission in the unpleas-ant dystopia formerly known as Prentiss Dining Hall. In a pervert-ed version of a Mr. Whitman cam-paign, chosen students ask for donations for supplies they might need in their impending fight. The entire student body is mandated to attend the “games,” which will be filmed live. The contestants are placed in the dining hall and only allowed to use what is availa-ble to them, i.e. stale bread, which can cause blunt force trauma; cups of hot tea to burn the others; or the “poisonous” shrimp, mush-room and corn soup, which caus-es vomiting and, in extreme cas-es, death if even a spoonful is con-sumed. The winning class is pre-sented with unlimited flex dol-lars/meal swipes, while the oth-er classes must forge for food on campus or use their two meal swipes a week cautiously. With a final slap in the face, Bon Ap-pétit reminds all Whitman stu-dents to “not fuck with the peo-ple who handle your food.”

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF a backpager

ADVERTISEMENT

The Early Career MBA for Business, Government and Not-for-Profi t Management

Real people. Real experience. Real world.

facebook.com/WillametteMBA @WillametteMBA

for Business, Government and Not-for-Profi t Management

Apply Now for Fal l 2012

ILLUS

TRA

TION

BY P

ETE

RS

ON