WHITMAN NEWS, DELIVERED

Walla Walla, WAwhitmanpioneer.com

March 3 2011 P!"# 1

Men’s Tennis team seeks high-caliber

competitionMen to play more

teams outside o$ NWC, aim to

improve national standings

Economic recov-ery making billions for the United States

ISSUE 6

PAGE 6 PAGE 7

Columnist Staten Hudson advocates the repeal o$ the Repa-triation Act.

VOLUME CXXVIII

Several weeks ago, The Pioneer was ap-proached by senior Dan Hart with some of the allegations described below. As a result of his coming forward, we be-gan an investigation into his claims as well as into the policies of the admin-istration, of TKE and of all the Greek groups in regards to initiation. This article is the first of a series based on our investigation into initiation prac-tices across campus, including those of sports teams and student organizations. Our goal in printing this article is not to write an exposé on any fraternity’s initiation practices or to damage the reputation of Greek groups on campus. On the contrary, we have attempted to present the facts and opinions expressed to The Pioneer from all sides of this matter. We hope this article will inspire a thoughtful discussion on all the issues presented here, and we encourage you to comment on this story at whitman-pioneer.com or to submit a Letter to the Editor expressing with your thoughts.

On Feb. 18, senior Dan Hart approached Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland as well as

The Pioneer with hazing allegations against Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE). According to Hart, TKE violated Whitman’s Code of Conduct, spe-cifically the college’s hazing policy, during the fraternity’s initiation cer-emony of new members last winter.

Hart, a junior at the time, un-derwent 16 hours of TKE initia-tion before making the decision to cease participation in the activities and de-initiate from the fraternity.

Hart alleged that the 2010 TKE initiation included restrictions on food and sleep, verbal abuse and required clean-up work—all of which are in violation of Whit-man’s hazing policy. He waited a

year to come forward over con-cerns for his personal safety if he made the allegations public.

According to college policy, which is found in the Student Handbook, “[hazing] is any activ-ity of a physical or psychological nature that is degrading or hu-miliating to another person.”

Associate Dean of Students Clare Carson said the college ex-panded this hazing policy in 2008, after the administration became aware of hazing inci-dents occurring as part of a vart-

sity sports team’s initiation process.In addition to Whitman’s haz-

ing policy, the state of Wash-ington has its own laws against hazing, thus students attending college in state—whether pub-lic or private—can be prosecuted under these laws separately from the policies of individual schools.

In the two weeks since the al-legations were first brought to Cleveland’s office, the administra-tion has begun a formal investi-gation into the validity of Hart’s claims. The administration has

met with both Hart and the mem-bers of the TKE Executive Council.

“The college takes all these kinds of investigations seri-ously and we have an obliga-tion to investigate. That’s what we’re doing,” said Cleveland.

“When students come forward with allegations, we are always con-cerned about their personal safety, how they are doing, what kind of support they need,” Cleveland add-ed. “By the same token, we’re also concerned about the well-being of either the individual or the group

to whom the allegation is leveled against. We feel that we have an obligation to all students to provide them the support they need to get through difficult issues and times.”

The TKEs initially declined to be interviewed for this article, preferring instead to respond to allegations in a Letter to the Edi-tor which can be found on page seven. Ultimately, current Whit-man TKE President, junior David DeVine, responded over e-mail.

Allegations Leveled

The last initiation activity Hart participated in, and the event that ultimately compelled him to de-ini-tiate, took place in the TKE kitchen.

According to Hart, he and his fellow initiates were instructed to prepare breakfast for the ac-tive members in accordance with TKE initiation rule number 13—provided to Hart by the TKE He-gemon—that all pledges must “make and serve breakfast”—a task made more difficult by the trash and food that had previously been smeared on the kitchen surfaces.

Hart said that when the pledges cleaned up the trash, it was smeared back on the floor and kitchen surfac-es; when they finished cooking the food, it was thrown against the wall. He said this went on for four hours.

“It was senseless and I was ter-rified and I was scared by what the TKEs were doing. They were pur-posefully intimidating me into do-ing what they wanted: to clean this kitchen, which in the first place had no point other than to sub-mit to their actions,” said Hart.

Hart alleged that the TKEs em-ployed verbal abuse to force the new members into labor similar to that in the kitchen, as well as to “dehu-manize” new members in an attempt to make explicit the power dynamics between new and active members.

Seeking...This week Feature explores the search for spiritual purposePAGE 5

Social Dance Club gets into the ‘swing’ of things at Winter Ball

PAGE 4

The Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) house on Issacs Street, where members of the fraternity go through initiation. PHOTO BY PARRISH

by MOLLY SMITH & DEREK THURBEREditors-in-Chief

with RACHEL ALEXANDER & JOSH GOODMAN News Editors

INITIATION, PAGE 2

Art space limited for non-­majors

Shannon Flood ‘11 sculpts a her tea pot for an advanced independent study. Flood was able to get clearance to enter the building during evening hours. PHOTO BY KLAG

Studio art at Whitman is both a hobby and an academic disci-pline, a fact that makes use o$

the art building and its studios a con-troversial issue, as some students feel they should have access to said facili-ties even i$ they are not art majors or enrolled in art classes.

The art building currently closes at 10 p.m., but is available to a select number o$ students via identi$ication card swipe access.

“The building closes at 10, and it is open from 7-10 for stu-dents enrolled in art classes. The building is not designed for rec-reational space for Whitman students, [just as] the science building is not designed for recrea-tional science projects,” said Assis-tant Professor o$ Art Michelle Acuff.

by MCCAULAY SINGER-MILNESStaff Reporter

ART BUILDING, PAGE 4

Alpha Phi approved by Whitman faculty

Whitman College faculty voted on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to approve Alpha Phi

as Whitman’s fourth sorority. The vote was the culmination o$ a year-long selection and approval process, and means that a chapter o$ Alpha Phi will be started at Whitman next fall.

The news was met with enthusi-asm by junior Heath-

er Smith, who was

Panhellenic President last year.“I feel really fortunate that I

was able to be a part of Panhel-lenic at such an exciting time,” she said in an e-mail. “I don’t know if the Whitman community and the Greek system fully real-ize how rare and exciting this is.”

Smith is currently abroad, but largely directed the pro-cess of recruiting and approv-i n g the addition of

Alpha Phi to Whitman’s Greek community over the past year.

Current Panhellenic Presi-dent sophomore Alex Wood-ward echoed Smith’s sentiments, and said that Panhellenic will now be able to move forward with starting the new chapter.

“We were at a stand-still until they voted,” she said.

Whitman’s Panhellenic Ex-tension Committee voted last April to begin the process of se-lecting a fourth sorority to come to campus. The decision was made to address overcrowding issues and reduce chapter sizes for the three existing sororities--Kappa Kappa Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Gamma.

“This is something that we’ve

by RACHEL ALEXANDERNews Editor

ALPHA PHI, PAGE 3

Allegations of hazing levelled against TKE initiation practices

A%&'(')*+!*',( '( *-# &'%)* ,$ '(.#)*'"!*',(

Uprisings in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few weeks have dem-

onstrated the importance o$ spectacles in the international media. With these recent events in mind, speakers gath-ered in Maxey Auditorium to partici-pate in a symposium entitled “Global Media, Global Spectacle” on Sat. Feb. 26. The symposium featured a panel o$ Whitman students and professors as well as visiting professors, who dis-cussed various media spectacles and the ways they inform opinions about current events. This event was part o$ Whitman College’s Global Studies Initiative, which brings faculty from a variety o$ disciplines together to discuss and engage with global issues.

Salman Hameed and Shiloh Krupar listen to and ad-dress questions from the audi-ence. Credit: Marie Von Hafften

The Global Studies Initiative was $irst conceived at Whitman in 2005, and the $irst symposium was held in 2009. Thus far, sympo-sia have been funded by a $345,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which was given for the

purpose o$ globalizing the college.“It’s always a challenge to keep a lib-

eral arts education up to the moment,” said Professor o$ Sociology Bill Bog-ard, while moderating the symposium.

The discussion topic--global spectacles--prompted conversa-tion about the role that media plays in representing events worldwide.

Assistant Professor o$ English Gaurav Majumdar said he hoped that the symposium would increase awareness o$ the issue among stu-dents. “[I hope for] an increased self-consciousness about what he or she is seeing in the media and what he or she is seeing the political circus,” he said.

Bogard opened the discussion by explaining the topic o$ specta-cle. According to Bogard, events are globalized by media and become spectacles. One important consid-eration is for what purpose or for whom spectacle is being used. “Glo-balization is not necessarily a good thing,” said Bogard. “Globalization does not serve everyone equally.”

The topic o$ spectacle was then discussed by three visiting profes-sors: Douglas Kneller, Chair o$ Phi-losophy o$ Education at University o$ California at Los Angeles; Salman

Hameed, professor o$ Integrated Science and Humanities at Hamp-shire College in Massachusetts; and Shiloh Krupar, assistant profes-sor o$ the Culture and Politics pro-gram at Georgetown University.

Kellner discussed the role o$ spectacle in recent Middle Eastern uprisings, as well as the use o$ social networking sites by activists in the region. According to him, media is used by protestors to uncover police brutality and corruption as a revolu-tionary tool. The wide variety o$ its uses make media “contested terrain.”

Hameed’s talk focused on the con-$lict between science and religion in the Islamic world. Scienti$ic discover-ies can take the form o$ spectacle, par-ticularly when they are perceived to be in con$lict with religious beliefs. Based on this con$lict, Hameed asked “Who has the authority to interpret science?” Today, those with authority in the Arab world are mainly religious and political authorities, but according to Hameed, 60% o$ the Arab world is age 26 and under. “This is a population that is young, educated, and globally con-nected,” he said, adding that they will

by WILL GREGGStaff Reporter

Media spectacles discussed in Global Studies symposium

SYMPOSIUM, PAGE 3

March 3 2011 P!"# 2

According to rule number five of TKE initiation, all pledges must al-ways “wear hoodwinks but not out-side.” Hart explained that a “hood-wink” is a piece of cloth adorned by a number identifying each ini-tiate. Hart’s number was “1876.”

“I despised being called 1876. These are my friends, these are my colleagues, my peers—these are peo-ple I look up to. These are people I tutor and they are calling me 1876. It doesn’t get a whole lot more dep-ersonalizing than that,” he said.

In 2007, former Whitman stu-dent Daniel Bachhuber also ap-proached the administration with similar concerns. Like Hart, Bach-huber de-initiated from TKE as a result of his dissatisfaction with as-pects of TKE initiation. In his three days of initiation, he experienced comparable types of food and sleep deprivation and forced cleaning.

“Initiation wasn’t anything constructive; it was destructive. If we were going to deprive our-selves of sleep but we wanted to do something constructive, we should have built a house for Habi-tat for Humanity or something like that,” said Bachhuber. “The way I construed the situation is that they were trying to break us down and recast us into this mold of a TKE fraternity member.”

Both Hart and Bachhuber al-leged that TKE initiates were forced to take communal showers in freez-ing cold water. According to rule number nine of initiation, all pledg-es can only “shower with direction.”

“I’m told that I can’t take a show-er because another rule is that pledg-es can only shower under the direc-tion of an active,” said Hart. “We are all lined up. We are in our under-wear; some people are naked, and we are forced to go into the shower.”

According to Cleveland, Bachhuber’s accusations were dealt with at the time by As-sociate Dean of Students Bar-bara Maxwell, the Greek advisor.

Maxwell declined to com-ment specifically on Bachhuber’s allegations, but said that the ad-ministration has consistently ad-dressed complaints about con-duct violations during initiation.

“When an incident gets brought forward, there’s an in-vestigation, there’s a finding, there’s an outcome,” she said. “One [claim] wasn’t handled any differently than the other one.”

Bachhuber had problems, however, with the way the ad-ministration dealt with his claims.

“[Maxwell’s] recommenda-tion was to express my grievances with [the fraternity presidents] and she made some sort of prom-ise that things would be cleaned up the next time around, but I didn’t ever see the extent of what that was,” said Bachhuber. “My interpretation of the entire situa-tion is that whoever was involved wanted to sweep the incident un-der the rug so they could keep on doing what they were doing.”

After de-initiating, Bachhuber strug-gled to con-nect with

Whitman, especially with his friends in his residence section.

“I lived in 2-West, so everyone I knew was part of a frat house,” said Bachhuber. “To de-initiate was really hard for my social life, not necessarily because anyone made it explicitly so, but because I felt ostracized from the community that developed from [initiation].”

Hart said he did not feel the repercussions of his de-initiation as harshly as Bachhuber. Accord-ing to Hart, the fact that he was a junior and had already developed a support system at the college was a primary reason for the less-ened impact of his de-initiation.

“I already have my friends, whereas a lot of the freshmen are all friends with the TKEs, so they believe they would be so-cially ostracized,” said Hart. “I had all these other communities that were willing to welcome me.”

Maxwell agreed that the de-sire to be accepted as part of a group might deter some stu-dents from coming forward with allegations of misconduct.

“I think it’s hard [to come for-ward] if you’ve got an affiliation or attachment to a particular group, whether that’s a fraternity, soror-ity or an athletic team or another club on campus,” she said. “It’s human nature to want to be af-filiated and want to be accepted.”

Interfraternity Council Presi-dent, and member of Sigma Chi, junior Peter Olson con-tests the claim that participa-tion in fraternity initiations is influenced by peer pressure.

“Not all the time are people pledging with all their best friends,” said Olson. “Theoretically you could see how that may happen, but at Sig we actively work to have an open channel of communica-tion and really check in with them throughout pledgeship and initia-tion to make sure they’re comfort-able with everything going on and that they’re having a good time.”

Maxwell added that national Greek organizations have been very proactive in developing com-munication channels for mem-bers, including toll-free 800 num-bers where misconduct claims can be reported anonymously.

Bachhuber left Whitman in May 2007 after his first year, a decision which he said was in-fluenced by his experiences both during and after initiation.

“I initially took a leave of ab-sence and then I dropped out all together. A good 60 percent [of this decision] was because of ini-tiation. The singular effect of de-initiating destroyed my entire community at Whitman and the community of what Whitman is supposed to be about,” he said.

Official Regulations and Re-sponse

According to the national Tau Kappa Epsilon organization, “[TKE] does not condone or toler-ate any form of hazing and is com-mitted to a membership educa-tion period which instills a sense of responsibility and commit-

ment to the new members.”Current Whitman

TKE President junior David DeVine said Whitman’s TKE chapter up-holds all national standards as well as follows all Whitman policies.

“The administration is aware of the details of our initiation. Any issues that may exist will be ad-dressed,” said DeVine in an e-mail.

“Through a shared experience, members learn to trust and depend upon one another. They are much closer friends as a result,” he added.

Hart also said he recognizes the benefits of fraternity mem-bership, which he said prompted his initial decision to rush TKE.

“I genuinely like the TKEs. I am not coming forward now be-cause I have any personal resent-ment toward any members of

TKE. That community can be re-ally good for people,” said Hart. “I think the friend aspect of it is why a lot of people want to initiate.”

According to DeVine, initi-ates may opt out of any activities they find objectionable, a claim Bachhuber and Hart both found to be true in their own experiences.

“During the initiation week, they’re expected to be committed to the initiation process. They’re expected to participate in every-thing, but if they feel really uncom-fortable with something, they’re given the option to [opt out],” said Olson in regards to Sig initiation.

DeVine said that nothing in TKE initiation would be considered more stressful than the first day of classes for first-year students and that TKE initiation does not in-volve any illegal activities which could make initiates uncomfort-able. Both Hart and Bachhuber also emphasized that the use of alcohol or drugs was not a part of TKE initiation nor was physical contact or abuse. This fact is affirmed by TKE initiation rule number 18 that there is to be “no alcohol or drugs.”

Perceptions and Going ForwardSophomore Panhellen-

ic President and Delta Gamma member Alex Woodward said that in spite of popular percep-tions, initiation is not synony-mous with hazing new members.

“People associate hazing and bad things happening [with] ini-tiation, but those aren’t the same and those don’t coincide together. It is interesting that people always ask about that aspect of initia-tion, because there are really all of these great things that happen that have nothing to do with negative impacts on members,” she said.

Woodward and Olson also em-phasized that Greek groups on

campus strive to have account-ability and provide outlets for

members to address concerns with ini-

tiation practices. C o n c u r r e n t

with these p r a c t i c e s , M a x w e l l said she

s u p p o r t s any student who comes f o r w a r d , hoping that initiation can be a positive

experience for everyone involved.“[The Greek groups’] intent

is to create a strong, cohesive group of people where everyone feels valued and respected,” she said. “I would hope that if peo-ple don’t feel like that’s happening that they would come forward and that we could use it as an oppor-tunity to educate the group so that they would then make changes.”

Like Woodward and Max-well, Hart wants the positive as-pects of TKE initiation, and of Greek life in general, to be em-phasized. Hart, however, believes that the positives are currently undermined by hazing practices.

“I don’t want hazing to occur in the TKE house,” he said. “I don’t want to take communal showers, I don’t want to be called by a num-ber, I don’t want resources to be wasted in the way they are, I don’t want to be yelled at and intimidat-ed. I would rather see initiation be a true, transformative experience.”

To read the official TKE response to this article please see the Letter to the Editor by TKE President junior David DeVine on page 7.

NUMBERS IN THE NEWS

70,000Number o$ Wisconsin union members and supporters who gathered at the state capitol on Saturday, Feb. 26 to protest the governor’s proposal to end collective bargaining rights.%&'()#* +,%)&-%,- %.!.# /&'(-!0

2,500Number o$ Washington union members and supporters who gathered in Olympia on the same day in support o$ Wis-consin workers.%&'()#* .1# %.(!-"#(

$57,113 Median salary o$ Wisconsin public sector employees with a bachelor’s degree.

$51,921Median salary o$ Wisconsin private sector employees with a bachelor’s degree%&'()#* -#+ 2&(3 .,4#%

20.1Percentage o$ workers in the United States who were union members in 1983

11.9Percentage who were union members in 2010

36.2Percentage o$ U.S. public sector employees who were union members in 2010

6.9Percentage o$ U.S. private sector employees who were union members in 2010%&'()#* 5'(#!' &$ 0!5&( %.!.,%.,)%

by RACHEL ALEXANDER

News Editor

TKEs deny allegations, aim for positive initiation experience for all pledgesfrom INITIATION, PAGE 1

EDITORIAL POLICYFounded before the turn o$ 20th century, The Pioneer is Whitman College’s weekly, student-run newspaper. With a circulation o$ over 1,200, The Pioneer serves both the Whitman College student body and its network o$ faculty, staff, parents and alumni as well as the local Walla Walla community. The Pioneer publishes a weekly issue o$ the latest news, arts and sports coverage and student editorials. The Pioneer is entirely student-run and serves as an open forum for

the student body as well as an outlet for gaining journalistic experience at a school that has no journalism program. The staf$ receives guidance from a Board o$ Advisors, a group o$ campus and community leaders, including Whitman College faculty and staf$ with journalism expertise as well as members o$ the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. The Pioneer strives to maintain the highest standers o$ fairness, quality and journalistic integrity and is governed by a Code o$ Ethics.

For information about advertising in The Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact

BUSINESS@WHITMANPIONEER.COM

Letters to Editor may be submitted to The Pioneer via e-mail to editors@whitmanpioneer.com or sent to The Pioneer, Whitman College, 280 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA, 99362. All submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Sunday prior to the week that they are intended to appear. All submissions must be attributed and may be edited for AP-style and $luency.

The Code o$ Ethics serves as The Pioneer’s established guidelines for the practice o$ responsible journalism on campus, within reasonable interpretation o$ the Edito-rial Board. These guidelines are subject to constant review and amendment by the current Editor-in-Chie$ and Editorial Board. The Code o$ Ethics is reviewed at least once per semester. To access the complete Code o$ Ethics for The Pioneer, visit whitmanpioneer.com/about.

WHITMAN NEWS, DELIVERED

SUBMISSION POLICY

CODE OF ETHICS

E D I T O R I A L P R O D U C T I O N W R I T I N G B U S I N E S S

Editors-in-Chief

Molly Smith & Derek Thurber

Managing Editor

Alyssa Fairbanks

News Editors

Rachel Alexander & Josh Goodman

Feature Editors

Cara Lowry & Patricia Vanderbilt

Sports Editors

Libby Arnosti & Nick Wood

Opinion Editor

Gary Wang

Backpage Editor

Diana Dulek

Photography Editor

Jack Lazar

Illustration Editor

Olivia Johnson

Web Editor

Ellie Gold

Production Manager

Maggie Appleton

Production Associates

Ted Hendershot, Miriam Kolker, Abigail Sloan, Meg Vermilion

Chief Copy Editor

Jenna Mukuno

Copy Editor

Maggie Ayau

PHOTOGRAPHYMarin Axtell, Faith Bernstein, Julia Bowman, Brandon Fennell, Ben Lerchin, Kendra Klag, Ethan Parrish, Marie Von Hafften

ILLUSTRATIONSam Alden, Jea Alford, Molly Johanson, Binta Loos-Diallo, Carrie Sloane, Jung Song, Markel Uriu

NEWSAlyssa Goard, Will Gregg, Karah Kemmerley, Shelley Le, Riley Mebus, Joe Volpert

A&ETaneeka Hansen, McCaulay Singer-Milnes, Kate Robinette, Will Witwer

FEATUREHanna Kahl, Kelsey Kennedy, Maren Schiffer

SPORTSAndrew Hawkins, Tyler Hurlburt, Pamela London, Matt Manley

OPINIONAlex Brott, Lissa Erickson, Bryant Fong, Blair Frank, Tristan Grau, Staten Hudson, Ami Tian

BACKPAGEAdam Brayton, Cari Cortez

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Dhavan Vengadasalam

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Advertising Designer

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HAZING RULES

Whitman College’s Hazing Policy: (pgs. 52-54 of the Whitman College Student Handbook)

Hazing is any activity o$ a physical or psychological nature that is degrading or humiliat-ing to another person. Groups o$ individuals or individuals acting on behal$ o$ a club, group, organization, or team sometimes use hazing as a way o$ initiating a person into their respective group. Hazing does not encour-age respect for others and is unacceptable and prohibited by Whitman College. . .

The following behaviors and activities would constitute hazing on this campus. It is important to note that social pressure can constitute forced or requisite participation, even i$ the organizers claim that the activity is voluntary.

-tentionally endanger the physical and mental health or safety o$ students.

consumption o$ any food, liquor, drug, beverage, water, or any other substance.

participation in physical activi-ties, such as calisthenics, exer-cises, or so-called games.

-duct that could embarrass or adversely affect the dignity o$ the individual, including the performance o$ public stunts and activities.

weather.

from sleep deprivation, physical activities, or exercise.

would be illegal or unlawful, or might be morally offensive to new members.

paddling, striking with $ists, open hands, or objects, and branding.

will, and forced transportation or stranding o$ individuals.

ups” and berating o$ individuals.

work or labor created for new members.

study.

lewd behavior.

Washington State Hazing Law:

RCW 28B.10.900

As used in RCW 28B.10.901 and 28B.10.902, “hazing” in-cludes any method o$ initiation into a student organization or living group, or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to such an organization or living group that causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger or physical harm, or serious mental or emotional harm, to any stu-dent or other person attending a public or private institution o$ higher education or other post-secondary educational institu-tion in this state. “Hazing” does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions.

RWC. 28B.10.902

A person who participates in the hazing o$ another shall forfeit any entitlement to state-funded grants, scholarships, or awards for a period o$ time determined by the institution o$ higher education.

RCW 28B.10.903

Institutions o$ higher educa-tion shall adopt rules providing sanctions for conduct associated with initiation into a student organization or living group, or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to an organization or living group not amounting to a violation o$ RCW 28B.10.900. Conduct covered by this section may include embarrassment, ridicule, sleep deprivation, verbal abuse, or personal humiliation.

I think it is hard [to come for-

ward] if you’ve got an affiliation

or attachment to a particular

group...BARBARA MAXWELL,

Associate Dean of Students

The Pioneer is looking for staff reporters. Interested students should visit whitmanpioneer.com/apply.

Applications for Pioneer Editor-­in-­Chief are also available through goaswc.org and are due on March 30.

March 3 2011 P!"# 3

ADVERTISEMENT

Whitman rental house catches

fire over weekend, no one injured

Firefighters respond to a house fire which occured in a Whitman rental house last weekend. The house was being rented by a Whitman professor at the time of the fire. PHOTO BY PARRISH

A house fire occurred at 222 Stanton St. early Saturday afternoon. Four people-

-two adults and two small chil-dren--were in the house but es-caped with no injuries; two cats were taken to a veterinary office.

Firefighters respond to a house fire which occurred in a Whitman rental house last weekend. The house was being rented by a Whit-man professor at the time of the fire. Kendra Klag, a Whitman Pioneer photojournalist, is featured in the foreground. Credit: Ethan Parrish

The fire, which was called in at 12:19 p.m., started from a base-ment fireplace according to Brad Morris, a deputy chief for the

Walla Walla Fire Department.According to the Union-

Bulletin, a door to the fireplace was left open, causing ash to spew out and spread to the main floor. There was an estimat-ed 125,000 dollars in damages.

Though there was no obvi-ous charring on the outside of the house, witnesses said they saw smoke coming from the house.

The house, which is located be-hind Jewett Dining Hall and Lyman House, is a Whitman-owned rental, according to Scott Towslee, a rental property maintenance technician for the college. It was occupied by Assistant Professor of English Christopher Leise and his family.

by JOSH GOODMANNews Editor

Panelists Salman Hemeed and Shiloh Krupar discuss the role of specta-cle in global media during the Symposium. PHOTO BY VON HAFFTEN

Students curious about the future o$ Whitman College gathered in Reid Campus Center on Mon-

day, Feb. 28 for an ASWC town hall meeting, where they heard from Pres-ident George Bridges and Associate Professor o$ Sociology and Assistant Dean o$ Faculty Michelle Janning.

The meeting focused primar-ily on a presentation by Janning about an opportunity for student input in the accreditation process. Students were also given the op-portunity to ask Bridges questions.

Janning explained that the time frame of the accreditation process, during which evaluators of the Northwest Commission on Col-leges and Universities give Whit-man its stamp of legitimacy, is changing. What used to take place in a two-year-long rush every ten years is now going to occur gradu-ally over the course of seven years.

In April she will write a draft of a one-year report, which is due in September.

“It’s essentially a 15-page-long document in which we define who we are for ourselves,” Janning said.

At the town hall meeting, she wanted to get student feed-back on the college’s mission statement. The mission state-ment will serve as a backbone for her accreditation report.

Attendees were given a sheet of paper with a list of the cur-rent mission statements three core themes: academic excellence; en-gagement, personal development and responsibility; and collabora-tion and community. Listed under-neath each core theme was a bul-leted list of objectives within the theme. Students’ goal was to sug-gest indicators for these objectives.

“We want to know from you what Whitman does that is unique,” Janning said.

Janning suggested the high participation at the undergradu-ate conference as an exam-ple of the first objective listed under “academic excellence,” which speaks to the college’s “in-novative intellectual culture.”

Jewett Hall Resident Direc-tor Justin Daigneault suggested the residence life evaluation sys-tem as an indicator for the second theme of engagement, personal development and responsibility.

ASWC Vice President and Chair of the Student Affairs Com-mittee John Loranger was very positive about student involve-ment in the accreditation process.

“It’s an awesome chance for students to participate in a pro-cess that represents the school to so many people,” he said.

He said that allowing stu-dents to participate reflects posi-tively on the administration.

“It says a lot about this institution. Students are a big part of the school.”

Attendees then asked sev-eral questions of Bridges.

First-year Brian Choe asked about the financial situation of the college. Bridges told attendees that he feels the current financial situa-tion is “solid,” especially taking into consideration the current economic troubles other colleges are facing.

First-year Kayvon Behroo-zian expressed a concern he heard from many first-years: most of their professors are not tenure-track professors.

Bridges responded by saying that the administration is moving “very aggressively” to hire some new faculty members and to pos-sibly establish new tenure-track lines. He told attendees of the Mel-lon Grant, a grant Whitman ap-plied for in October that would help fund up to eight new tenure lines.

The students also asked about the status of the education and music, specifically jazz programs.

Bridges said that six years ago, a group of faculty decided to phase out the education program, and though Whitman will still offer some education-related classes, the major is no longer available.

He also said the music depart-ment underwent an external review a year ago. Evaluators suggested that with the number of music faculty, it would serve Whitman well to change the music program from conservatory style to more focus on music history and theory.

Students expressed that they would be disappoint-ed to see the performance as-pect of the music major go.

ASWC Finance Chair Mat-thew Dittrich was pleased with the question-and-answer session.

“The student-administra-tion relationship is a marriage. Happy marriages require com-munication. Town hall is an in-credible opportunity for stu-dents to directly communicate to the administration,” he said.

by KARAH KEMMERLYStaff Reporter

go up,” said Associate Dean o$ Students Barbara Maxwell.

According to Maxwell, opti-mal chapter size is around 65 mem-bers. Whitman’s existing sororities are well over this number; last fall, Delta Gamma had 110 members.

“At one hundred members, we’re pushing providing a qual-ity experience,” said Maxwell.

Speci$ically, she said that smaller chapters allow more members to pur-sue leadership roles, and ensure that everyone is able to participate in com-munity service and other activities.

The process o$ selecting a soror-ity to come to Whitman began last spring. After the Extension Commit-tee approved the plan to add a fourth sorority, members o$ the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) were able to submit applications to Whit-man. NPC is an organization made up o$ 26 national sororities, includ-ing the three already at Whitman. Maxwell said that only $ive groups applied, in part because Whitman Panhellenic chose to limit the pro-cess to sororities which had existing chapters in the Paci$ic Northwest.

“We wanted [our chapter] to be able to belong to a province or a dis-trict, because that’s where leadership opportunities exist,” said Maxwell.

To choose a sorority for Whit-man, Smith formed a committee which included members o$ each sorority to rank the applicants. After the ranking had been ap-proved, the top three groups were brought to campus, and Alpha Phi was selected from among these.

Representatives from Alpha Phi are scheduled to visit Whitman in the spring. Because the sorority used to have a chapter at Whitman from 1948-1979, Maxwell said that some alumni o$ that chapter would likely visit campus at the same time that other sororities host alumni.

After the spring visit, Alpha Phi’s new chapter will of$icially begin in the fall. Because the chapter is start-ing from scratch at Whitman, they will not go through the normal re-cruitment process. Instead, Alpha Phi will only be able to recruit mem-bers after the other three sororities have $inished their fall recruitment. Maxwell said that $irst-years usually go through recruitment, and each sorority recruits a relatively small number o$ new members. In con-trast, Alpha Phi will need about 65 new members to start a chapter and needs to have a mix o$ classes repre-sented in their initial membership.

“In order for Alpha Phi to suc-ceed as well as the existing groups, all three sororities, as well as the four fraternities, will now need to come together as one united organiza-tion in their support,” said Smith. “I have no doubt that will happen, and it will be exciting to see the results.”

Maxwell stressed that a new sorority chapter represents an op-portunity for Whitman wom-en to take on leadership roles.

“Hopefully there are women out there who want the challenge o$ starting something new,” she said.

Woodward said that a fourth sorority on campus will mean more philanthropy and com-munity service will occur. She said she looks forward to the ad-dition o$ an Alpha Phi chapter.

“They’ll be a notice-able presence in the fall, and it will be exciting,” she said.

New chapter

to alleviate

overcrowding

from ALPHA PHI, PAGE 1

ASWC Town

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be important interpreters in the future.The $inal talk by Krupar focused

on the spectacle o$ Rocky Flats. Rocky Flats is a former nuclear weapons pro-duction facility near Denver, Colorado which was closed and converted into a wildlife refuge. Krupar discussed the change o$ the site’s identity from a nu-clear facility to a natural, wild specta-cle. She also focused on Nuclia Waste, a drag queen in the Rocky Flats area whose informative website seeks to cre-ate a spectacle o$ the continued nuclear contamination o$ the site and the bod-ies o$ people who live and work there.

This diverse collection o$ per-spectives on the symposium theme takes careful planning Considerations regarding speakers are concurrent with those regarding the topic itself, and can help in the topic decision. “It takes a lot o$ research to come up with individuals that can speak for the theme,” said Bruce Magnusson, As-sociate Professor o$ Politics and direc-tor o$ the Global Studies Initiative.

The three $ifteen minute speech-es were each followed with a $ive minute speech made by a Whitman student. Prior to the symposium, fac-ulty recommend students to speak. Students’ majors and theses corre-spond to the speaker’s topic and pro-vide additional angles for discussion.

“All three years students have absolutely nailed their pres-entations,” said Magnusson.

Nigel Ramoz-Leslie ‘11 lis-tens to his fellow presenters

Afterwards, Delbert Hutchison, a professor o$ Biology, and Majum-dar made speeches which asked fur-ther questions o$ the visiting profes-sors. The visiting professors addressed these along with audience questions.

The style o$ the Symposium, created in large part by Profes-sor o$ Politics Shampa Biswas, has remained constant for each sym-posium. The ongoing dialogue re-$lected the timeliness o$ the topic.

An agreement has been made with the University o$ Washington Press to publish the symposia along with supplementary content. The $irst symposium is completed and is in the publishing process and the second was submitted a month ago. These sympo-

sia will available online for Whitman students through Penrose Library.

The Mellon grant allotted fund-ing for the symposia for three years. Although this was last symposium to be funded from the Mellon grant, Magnusson said that faculty are ac-tively looking for alternate sources o$ funding for next year’s sympo-sium. He believes that the continu-ation o$ the Global Studies Initia-tive is important for the college.

“We can’t isolate our knowledge from each other and hope to come to productive conclusions,” he said. He emphasized the importance o$ being engaged across disciplines. “I think it’s exemplary o$ the liberal arts,” he said.

Symposium searches for new funding

from SYMPOSIUM, PAGE 1

It’s an awe-some chance for students

to participate in a process that rep-resents the school to so many people.

JOHN LORANGER, '11

PHOTO BY KLAG

March 3 2011 P!"# 4

When Whitman students learn about the his-tory of Japanese sculp-

ture, or enroll in a tea ceremony course, they don’t just look at pictures in a book or trek to the library. They use genuine his-torical artifacts, many of which haven’t had a secure and accessi-ble home at Whitman until now.

A gift made to the college in 1984 by Seafirst Bank, the Thomas P. Davis collection of Asian art now has a permanent home in Olin East. Lovers of historical art from both the campus and the community can now view pieces on a regular basis. The collection is comprised of stat-ues, ceramics, puppet heads, screens

and hanging scrolls--some of which date from the 15th century.

Associated Kyoto Program Chair Akira Takemoto designed Chikurakken (Enjoying the Bam-boo Room), which is his Ya-banouchi Tea Room and the Asian Studies Art Gallery, and acts as a type of steward to the college’s Asian art collection.

“We accepted this collection [in 1984] with the promise that we would exhibit it, but [that was] eas-ier said than done,” said Takemoto.

The lack of storage space led to the collection’s storage in vari-ous places across campus, boxed and separated. The college did a series of exhibits in the mid-1990s to try to fulfill the intent of the donors, but they were by neces-sity temporary. That problem

was finally addressed in 2009 and 2010 with the completion of the storage space and Chikurakken.

“My thought was if you’re going to store it it’d be important nearby or as close as possible to have a space to display it,” said Takemoto.

He rotates displays of the pieces in the gallery and brings out piec-es for his classes to look at when studying particular time periods and themes. The current theme, for example, is the significance of the Ordinary Mind, the mind that celebrates the everyday. Takemoto will subtly change the room and will replace one art piece for an-other to see what students notice.

“This room is asking us to put the ‘matters of consequence’ to the side and see what we discover. When you walk in here we’re not

asking you to know things, we’re asking you to notice,” he said.

It seems to be working. Sen-ior Raisa Stebbins, who is taking the tea ceremony course, appreci-ates seeing and using new and dif-ferent pieces from the collection.

“Professor Takemoto is re-ally good about rotating them, so while we get to know things really well there’s always some-thing new and surprising that will show up,” Stebbins said.

Students also benefit from the exhibition of the pieces in ways that a conventional museum set-ting would not allow. The statues on display now, for example, go back to the 8th century; because they’re Buddhist statues, Takemo-to said, the best way to exhibit them is how they would have been

originally used in a temple set-ting. He led his students inside and had a mini-ceremony with them.

“It’s really astounding to be able to use these things,” said Stebbins.

The collection in this way helps to fulfill Takemoto’s goals for the Chikurakken.

“My intent is to create a space where people come in here ... and there’ll be a different feeling to this space, it’s not just a classroom, and it’s not just a performance space and it’s not just an exhibi-tion space, it’s all of those,” he said.

The extensive Davis collec-tion, amassed by a bank executive stationed in Tokyo, transferred to Seafirst Bank in Seattle, gifted to Whitman and stored for 20 years is now viewed and used on a regular basis by faculty and students alike.

This weekend, Harper Joy Theater will explore the relationships o$ a group

o$ students, one o$ whom hap-pens to be a gorilla, in a produc-tion o$ Ping Chong’s “Kind Ness”.

The play, written in 1986, was originally a collaborative effort be-tween Chong and his company, and was almost completely generated in rehearsal. The Whitman cast, all jun-iors and seniors, continued that col-laborative spirit in their rehearsals.

“Improvising was something that was different for me, not just physical-ly, but also actually improvising lines in a few o$ the scenes,” said senior An-astasia Higham, who plays Dot. “And that was kind o$ scary, but seeing oth-er people rise to it ... and seeing it be successful helped in the process a lot.”

“It’s been a very challenging play for me to work on,” said sen-ior theater major Trevor Cushman. “Not much o$ who the characters are necessarily comes out in the text, and so a lot o$ the work I’ve been having to do in terms o$ $inding out who my character is I’ve had to do in rehearsal, and I’ve had to rely on just purely ... my creative intuition.”

“Kind Ness” is Cushman’s sen-ior project; he is keeping a re-hearsal journal, and after the pro-duction he will write a paper and have an oral defense o$ his project.

“I’m trying to make this, in a way, the capstone o$ my development as an actor and as an artist here at Whit-man, and use it as a springboard to really discover what my process is,”

said Cushman. “[But] my character is not a central character in the play, so I need to strike a balance between trying to make my performance as interesting and engaging as possible [in] an effort to challenge mysel$ in my creative capacities, but at the same time I don’t want to upstage the peo-

ple [whom] the play is really about.”Senior Erin Terrall, the play’s

sound designer and technician, is also using “Kind Ness” to complete his senior project. This is Terrall’s thirteenth Harper Joy production as either an actor or a sound designer.

“I’ve become a sound guy at

heart,” said Terrall. “I get stressed out by the late nights in the theater, but it’s really nice to have the building by myself, to have quiet and just sit and listen to my equipment for a while.”

“The sound design is super cool, and there’s a lot o$ challenges in it,” said Anastasia Higham. “It really

adds to the production; there’s mu-sic underscoring a lot o$ the scenes.”

When asked about the core o$ the show, all three seniors pointed to its exploration o$ diversity and otherness.

“I think the play is basically about the way we categorize people, and that relates in some very apparent ways to class and gender and race,” said Cushman. “This play not only scratches at those issues some but also [transcends them] ... and just looks at it as a more general cultural habit.”

“Chris [Petit, the play’s direc-tor] talked about that it’s important to realize why we are doing this in the Whitman community,” said Higham. “[It explores] the idea o$ diversity, which is a big buzzword at Whitman ... Otherness is really interesting in a Whitman context.”

Higham associated the play’s success at tackling these themes with its being an ensemble play.

“It’s my last play [at Whitman], which is kind o$ sad, but it’s also the perfect last play, I think, because it’s such an ensemble piece,” said Higham. “This kind o$ theater ... asks hard ques-tions but is also whimsical and beauti-ful and ridiculous and fun. It is some-thing that I’m really proud our theater does, and I think it’s an example o$ the best kind o$ work we do here.”

“Kind Ness” runs from March 3 to 6 on the Alexander main stage. The shows will start at 8 p.m. except for Sunday, which will start at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the box of-$ice, located in the Harper Joy lobby.

‘Kind Ness’ ensemble cast collaborates, prompts conversations on diversity

PIO PICKSEach Thursday, The Pioneer

highlights several events happening on campus or in Walla Walla

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

IHC M!%&' G%!( E)*%!+!,"!-.!In honor o$ the holiday, the FAH, Das Haus and La Maison will host a series o$ events. Students looking for a creative outlet can head to the FAH to make masks or Das Haus for face painting. Those looking to get their groove on can head to La Maison for their in-house dance party. Friday, Mar. 4. 9 p.m.-midnight.

B!//00- A%* W0%1(203The Sheehan Gallery and WEB will host a balloon workshop for students interested in the fun, $ine art o$ balloon animals and more. Artist Sean Rooney will demonstrate and teach bal-loon twisting techniques and discuss sculptural principles o$ balloon art, with a hands-on workshop to follow. Spaces are limited, so email Kristine Berg at bergkm@whitman.edu to sign up. Saturday, Mar. 5. 1-3:30 p.m. Fouts Building.

“F%##&04 R'&#%(”The Film Arts Series presents “Freedom Riders.” The $ilm, created by Whitman alumni Chris Kitchen ‘02 and Sam Pope ‘01, documents a small group o$ mountain bikers who combine the thrill o$ biking with sustainable trail building to produce the multimillion dollar sport it is today. Monday, Mar. 7. 7 p.m. Kimball Theatre.by TANEEKA HANSEN

Staff Reporter

Davis Collection of Asian Art consolidated for campus benefitby KATE ROBINETTEStaff Reporter

I$ popular culture is any indica-tion, ballroom dancing is not for the faint o$ heart, nor, stereotypi-

cally, for men. The Social Dance Club would love to change that, but their goal is not to boldly shake up the sta-tus quo. They just want to get as many people to dance and have a good time.

Enthusiastic member and part-time instructor Justin Daignealt, Resi-dent Director o$ Jewett , explained that the club is designed for beginners.

“The Social Dance Club is a space where we teach people how to go out to social events and gatherings and know how to generally dance with groups o$ people,” said Daignealt via email. “We don’t teach exact [or] per-fect ballroom techniques and styles [since] we are not classically trained professionals, but we do show people how to feel comfortable on the dance $loor, how to work with a partner and how to have fun with dancing.”

The club teaches a variety o$ dif-ferent dancing styles to anyone who will show up to the weekly meetings held on Sundays from 3-5 p.m. in Sherwood. The club devotes the $irst hour to Swing/Waltz/Foxtrot les-

sons and open dance. The second hour becomes a space for teaching Argen-tine Tango, i$ they have enough lead-ers. Daignealt mentioned that a lack o$ instructors can create problems.

“In order to join the club peo-ple do not need any previous dance experience, the only thing you need is to be interested in learning how to dance and wanting to meet some other people in the same position,” said Daignealt. “Sometimes we are a little ‘follower’ heavy and would love to get more guys/leads involved in the club, especially for tango.”

The club held their third an-nual Winter Ball on Saturday Febru-ary 26th, which is not a type o$ re-cital, but a chance for socializing and more dance instruction. Leaders o$ the club had high hopes for improv-ing on the attendance o$ the previ-ous years, which had been around 50 people. In fact, Annette Patton, one heavily involved club member, estimates that there were [insert estimate when I receive it] there.

“It was a great success,” said Pat-ton in an email. “We had an awe-some turnout (Reid Ballroom was $illed with swinging Whitties!) and a wonderful time dancing swing and

waltz. We started of$ by teaching ba-sic waltz and swing and then had an open dance, where we played swing and waltz music and went crazy.”

Along with Daignealt, Patton emphasized that absolutely anyone can come to a practice. She says that what they do in practice depends

heavily on the makeup o$ the group.“We usually tailor each meet-

ing to the group who shows up,” said Patton. “i$ the group includes begin-ners, we teach the basics, but i$ the group is mostly returning members we practice what we already know and teach more advanced material.

Some students feel this is an unfair policy, as it does not provide people who are creatively inclined, yet no art ma-jors, with a place to work and make art.

Other students feel they have suf$i-cient access to workspace, but may not always have the necessary materials.

“I have had trouble $inding ma-terials when I come in to do my drawing homework after class, but the studio is usually empty, so I don’t have a problem $inding space to work,” said $irst-year Eli Lewis.

There are currently private stu-dios available for senior art ma-jors to complete their senior theses.

Ryan Creal 12’, an Art minor and Art History major, works on a piece for printmaking. Credit: Kendra Klag

“The building was designed to ac-commodate the work that the seniors will do during their senior year so they are given a private studio dur-ing their time,” said Acuff. “To have that at the undergraduate level is rare i$ you are not at an art school.”

Many students feel that it is dif$icult to gain access to the buildings and ma-terials i$ they are not taking art classes.

“I think students here who are not art majors, or simply want to explore some artistic design without tak-ing a class or majoring in the subject would have a very dif$icult time using the art building. It is very inhospita-ble to those who have not been in-doctrinated into the arts,” said Lewis.

However, according to Acuff, many professors are more than will-ing to consider independent study projects for students who are seri-ously interested in the arts. Acuf$ is currently working with a recent Whitman graduate on an independ-ent study project related to sculpture.

“There are certainly professors who are willing to work in an inde-pendent study fashion, a student could $ind someone who is working in an established curricular vision o$ de-partment, which is plenty wide,” said Acuff. “Its not like there is an unwill-ingness, there is a real excitement to work with students who are serious.”

In addition, some faculty mem-bers, such as Acuff, believe it would be bene$icial for students to start an art club, so that members o$ the student body not directly involved in academic arts could gain access to the building in a safe manner.

“I think it would be really nice i$ students would bond together and start up an art club, and I think there would be no problem. They would be able to use certain space, and not con$lict with classes,” said Acuff.

The actors dance during a prom scene. ‘Kind Ness,’ the final show to be performed on Harper Joy’s mainstage this spring due to renovation construction, relies heavily upon student improvisation. PHOTO BY LERCHIN

SPOTLIGHT ON ART

Social Dance Club loosens members up on dance floor at weekly meetings

Art space available for independent projectsfrom ART BUILDING, PAGE 1

Students attending the third annual Winter Ball learn new moves. The event had more than 70 attendees. PHOTO BY VON HAFTEN

Dr. Seuss day celebrates author

Dr. Seuss lovers and Read Across America a$icionados $illed the basement o$ Reid

in honor o$ the author’s birthday on Feb. 27. Organized by Kappa Kappa

Gamma, The Center for Commu-nity Service and the Walla Walla Public Library, students celebrated the event with crafts, games and per-formances o$ “The Cat in the Hat.”

PHOTOS BY VON HAFFTEN

Ryan Creal ‘12 works on a printmaking project for class. PHOTO BY KLAG

by WILL WITWERStaff Reporter

March 3 2011 P!"# $

Many people often assume that spirituality and higher educa-tion are mutually exclusive

concepts—that being educated somehow inherently means that it is impossible to be spiritual. Yet Whitman College, a school o% self-proclaimed academic excel-lence, is also home to numerous religious groups and is considered a formative place o% spiritual understanding by many.

De!ining ‘spirituality’

Stuart Coordinator o% Religious and Spiritual Life Adam Kirtley understands that spirituality can mean different things for everyone and is a dif%icult term to de%ine given its deeply personal nature.

“Spiritual life is often referred to as meaning-making, re%lectiveness, pay-ing attention to the interior sel% and drawing connections with what you’re experiencing as a student and what it means to be a human being,” he said.

Similarly, when asked to de%ine the word “spirituality,” students fre-quently mentioned the words “be-ing”, “meaning” and “connection”.

“A broad de%inition o% the word could be the way you connect to God—but it doesn’t have to be God—it could be nature or something supernatural or om-nipotent,” said sophomore Ami Koreh.

“I think spirituality is the acknowl-edgment o% a being external to oneself, trying to understand things beyond oneself. I% you believe in a God that cre-ated you, this necessarily insinuates that God created you for a purpose, and so you try to ful%ill that aspiration or pur-pose,” said sophomore Stan Walmer.

Most Whitman students do not struggle with the concept o% spir-ituality in and o% itself. The prob-lem students most often face is how to best convey this spirituality.

“Whitman has a student body that sees themselves as valuing spir-ituality, but many o% them strug-gle to %ind the language to ex-press that spirituality,” Kirtley said.

College as a setting for spiritual exploration

According to a national survey con-ducted by the “Spirituality in Higher Education” group, college can be a very formative and important experi-ence in many people’s spiritual lives. The study concluded that the academic environment, along with the diverse and close environment on a col-lege campus, can lead to a substantial growth in spiritual qualities as de%ined by the study, even while engagement in religious activities tends to decline.

The most important thing for a col-lege to do in this respect according to the study is to provide spaces for spiritual ex-pression and interfaith dialogue in order to provide ample opportunities for stu-dents to engage with their “inner selves”.

Kirtley has taken this as a goal o% his of%ice since its shift from a strictly counseling position to a program-matic of%ice in the fall o% 2009. Re-cently, his of%ice brought David James Duncan to campus as a perspective on religious devotion and spiritual engage-ment outside o% organized religion.

While Kirtley does spend time reaching out to prospective students whose beliefs align with under-repre-sented religious groups on campus and working to support the existing reli-gious groups against oppression, the more widespread aspect o% his job is in promoting spiritual engagement—a purpose widely supported by the admin-istration and the college as a whole. His of%ice recently conducted a survey about religious and spiritual life on campus.

“I do have a sense in which I am supported by the institution and have it as a professional goal to engage the broader Whitman community to en-gage their student body,” said Kirtley.

With most students leaving home for the %irst time, college gives

them the chance to explore their be-liefs and their connection to every-thing else; many students feel natu-rally inclined to explore other ways to meditate, worship or re%lect.

“I was raised in a Christian home—I went to church and youth group, and I had Christian friends. But living, pursuing what the Bible actually says, living in constant pursuit o% spiritual-ity—that didn’t happen until I left home. Before it was basic, simple, more about myself,” said junior Miriam Garber.

For some the journey involves experimenting with new practices, while others focus more on academic enlightenment. And often, the search extends beyond the time at college.

Sophomore Siena Picchi-Dobson did not become interested in seeking spiritual beliefs until her %inal years at Evergreen College, where she earned

her %irst B.A. degree in International Studies before commencing her second undergraduate degree at Whitman. She transferred to Evergreen from Oberlin College, where most o% her attention was directed toward her academic pursuits.

“I was pretty focused on academics; I wasn’t even Christian then. I identi-%ied mysel% as an environmental activist and became interested in social justice, too. Nature was pretty much my spir-itual leaning, i% there was one,” she said.

Picchi-Dobson became more in-terested in exploring her spiritual leanings after Evergreen, when she travelled to Thailand to teach English. There, she explored Buddhism, then studied meditation in Burma. Now, she identi%ies hersel% as a Christian but

also practices Buddhist meditation.

Seeking spirituality at Whitman

With only 42 percent o% the student body claiming a religious preference (ac-cording to Kirtley’s survey), spirituality and religious adherence at Whitman is statistically below the national aver-age. However, the Paci%ic Northwest as a region is considered to be one o% the least religious parts o% the country. Whitman %its within the national trend.

At some point during the %irst year at Whitman, each student may grapple with questions o% deep spir-ituality. Most will read Kant, explore Plato and struggle with Descartes for three hours each week, then move on to the next book for class. Some stu-dents, however, %ind greater meaning in these texts. They read the Bhagavad

Gita or Augustine’s “Confessions” and %ind in them a way o% better under-standing and dealing with the world.

“In Encounters we teach all o% these texts that ask all these questions about what it means to be a human being and how do you live justly in an unjust world,” Kirtley said. “Yet we often don’t take that from the class and see how it can be applied to how we live in our world.”

At Whitman, open dialogue about spirituality is one o% the strengths o% our community—a wide range o% beliefs and practices are ex-plored in the classroom and beyond.

“The community here inspires you to explore others’ beliefs, get to know them more. I talk with my housemate, who’s Christian, about

religious ideas and explore the simi-larities between our religions,” said senior Trang Pham, who identi%ies as a Buddhist. “By going to school here, I’ve observed the religious practices o% others and am able to compare them to my experiences [in Vietnam].”

The generally curious intellec-tual atmosphere encourages con-versation among students regard-ing spirituality, which might be less likely to occur in other settings.

“In high school it was easy to %ind friends that agree with you and peo-ple to hold a %ive minute conversation with. Here, I can have extensive dis-cussions about spirituality with people that have radically different positions than mine,” said sophomore Will Stark.

“In Burma, everything is so formal, the spiritual tradition is so dense. Here, the mind-%ield is so open, which is a great

thing. There are always opportunities for open dialogue, especially one-on-one with professors,” Picchi-Dobson said.

Sophomore Spencer Wharton cre-ated AHA! (Atheists, Humanists, & Ag-nostics) with the hopes o% specifying such wide spiritual discussion. When he came to Whitman, there were many estab-lished religious groups, and he felt there should be an opportunity for students to discuss beliefs that question or doubt the existence o% the supernatural. The academic environment has allowed him to both accept and explore his beliefs.

“We are in an environment where we are encouraged to be curious, ask questions about the world. For me per-sonally, learning and satisfying my cu-riosity is a spiritually ful%illing way to approach life ... While non-believers follow questions to an agreed-upon location, the act o% questioning this lo-cation is not in any way discouraged. It’s important to ask what it means to be a non-believer, and what could change your mind,” said Wharton.

This open environment also al-lows for spiritual exploration through the investigation o% various practices.

“In [Whitman Christian Fellow-ship], we practice different disciplines from different denominations and traditions—like we’ve done Sabbath, foot-washing ... It’s just great to see the bond between people o% completely different traditions,” said Walmer.

Comparatively, some students %ind it more meaningful to search for under-standing in a scienti%ic or humanistic way.

“Long story short, ‘spirituality’ is not the word I’d use to describe my beliefs. It conjures up the idea that there has to be something supernatural, which is an idea I’m not sure I really like,” said Stark. “In a sense o% feeling a connection to the rest o% the world, I can %ind it in a non-super-natural manner ... My science classes here have given me a deeper understanding o% the principles that govern the uni-verse, and how everything connects.”

Although broad, the dialogue at Whitman only extends so far. Some students feel that there is a lack o% spir-itual diversity, with most students iden-tifying as Christian, agnostic or atheist.

“Whitman is liberal in that there are so many different beliefs, but I feel like as a Buddhist I am a minor-ity,” said senior Nang-San Hti-Lar Seng.

The lack o% pagodas and Buddhist cer-emonies here made Seng realize how val-uable everyday practice was in Vietnam.

“At home, religion is practiced in daily life, but I kind o% took this for granted. Here, we don’t have pagodas to visit. Now, I am more attached to my beliefs from before because I feel that gap, or missing part o% me,” she said.

A greater depth of purpose

Ultimately, many Whitman stu-dents %ind deep solace in spiritual-ity, seeing it as a way o% expressing the things they experience in college.

“The idea o% having a purpose or a meaning in life is something that is fairly endemic to going to college and knowing what you want to do with the rest o% your life,” said senior Ari Frink, a member o% the Unitarian Universalists on campus. “When you add in your faith to talk about it as the backdrop, it adds in different dimensions and perspective.”

Over 25 percent of American adults have left the faith that they were brought up in, and college can often be a time and place for spiritual exploration, seeking or transi-tion. A survey of Whitman students conducted by the Office of Spiritual Life found that 42 percent of those surveyed identify as “religious” and 67 percent as “spiritual.” When asked by The Pioneer how their beliefs have changed since coming to college, 30 percent of 131 students polled responded that they have become “more spiritual.”

These findings are by necessity problematic because the terms “religious” and “spir-itual” are difficult to define. And perhaps what is even more difficult than answering “yes” or “no” to the questions “Are you religious?” or “Are you spiritual?” is negotiat-ing how these terms fit into your own identity and personal beliefs. This week Fea-ture examines how Whitman students do just that.

Wandering path of spiritual exploration

College environment encourages contemplation of beliefs

Seeking solace: David James Duncan on journey to faith

by DEREK THURBER & MAREN SCHIFFER

Editor-in-Chief, Staff Reporter

Writer and activist David James Duncan visited Whitman College last week and pre-

sented a guest lecture titled “The Wild Without, and the Wild Within: Toward a spirituality that serves the living world.” In this interview Duncan shares with The Pioneer his personal spiritual lean-ings and the journey that led him there.

What does the word “spirituality” mean to you?

I’m struck by a single phrase, from the big sloppy Wikipedia entry, that spirituality is “an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence o% their being.” That phrase connects with the words o% Jesus, “The kingdom o% heaven is within you.” This is a piece o% news so incredibly good that many folks simply can’t accept it.

Heaven? In ME? Then why did I stink up the bathroom so bad this morning?!

Light a match, crack the window, and get on with it folks. Christ’s words and the Wikipedia phrase both put the responsibility for %inding an inner path on us: our effort. And Christ’s words suggest our puny efforts will one day be met with a glorious answering grace.

Practicing one’s spirituality can in-volve religious observance and church-going, but it is not something to do once a week at church or before din-ner via prayer. There is “an inner path” we can walk constantly in our day-to-day life. On such a path, intui-tion informs reason, the heart informs

the mind, we’re all renters and an Un-seen Companion is the Sole Owner, and the ordinary sometimes opens up and shows itsel% to be extraordinary.

What are your most memorable experi-ences, struggles or awakenings with spir-ituality after leaving home for the !irst time? How did your relationship with spiritual-ity evolve during your late teens/early 20s?

When I was a senior in high school in the suburbs o% Portland in 1969, I had an older friend down at Stanford who had become a serious seeker. He’d lost his father and I’d lost a brother. Grie% opened both o% us up. He was reading great literature, trying spiritual tech-niques and wisdom traditions on for size, and his circle o% friends, though pretty wild and crazy and hippie dip-pie, was for the most part fueled by a yearning to live with greater com-passion and love. I hitchhiked down there twice my senior year. And some-thing passed into me. My yearning for “essence o% being” grew intense.

When I graduated, I got drunk at the All Night party with my high school friends, but then went up in the Cascade Mountains and camped alone, fasting for a week by a wilderness lake. I got real lonely, real hungry, and real skinny. But my hope was to erase high school and start my life anew, based on my highest aspirations, with none o% the needless presumptions and limita-tions that high school life in%licts on us.

And by golly, it worked. I began not just to act, but to truly feel like a different

person, to experience intensi%ied crea-tive focus, to form new friendships and to seek and %ind a little spiritual solace.

How did you explore your spirituality dur-ing this time?

Through wisdom literature--shared with others who were passionate about it. Through spending time in the wilds. Also, shortly after I started college I befriended a young Catholic who in turn had befriended a Trappist monk who was also a novice master--a coun-selor to the contemplative troops, i% you will. I visited the monastery with my friend in November 1970, the same monk became dear to me--and 40 years later my college friend is the novice master at the same monas-tery, which I still visit as often as I can.

Even more importantly, I went to India, and made contact with a way that still sustains and inspires me. I don’t talk about this publicly, but I will say that, to protect my new “inner path,” I formed a very strong bond to American wilder-ness, wild rivers and birds, high moun-tain ridgelines. I found I could keep my inner life vitally alive by spending time in wild places, listening to wordless ser-mons. I also gained strength from those who know and love such places. There is a very strong spiritual strain in America, running from Emerson and Thoreau and Emily Dickinson on through John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt. This strain o% reverence is now, I dare say, part o% a global activist movement. It has been given voice and spirit via scores

o% people who’ve become pen pals and personal friends--my sangha, or faith community, you could say. And many o% my wilderness-loving friends are also practicing Buddhists or contempla-tive Christians--so religions are part o% the picture. And a ragtag army o% us are happy to be spiritual mutts o% great pas-sion but no particular pedigree, in the manner of, say, Muir or Mary Oliver.

Did you let go of any spiritual beliefs that you held strong to before then? Or, did you acquire beliefs you didn’t expect to?

Good questions! And the answer to both is: yes.

An early belie% I let go of:I held brie%ly to physical and dietary

purity. I felt it was necessary to breed spiritual purity and clarity. I was a very pure vegetarian for hal% a year. I enjoyed the energy the pure diet gave me, and the sensitivity to the natural world. But when I started college I would hitch to school from my gardener’s cottage in the country, and every time a big truck would blow by it nearly gave sensitive little me a nervous breakdown! I also found that striving for physical purity made me obnoxiously judgmental to-ward those I perceived as impure. Some o% the most soulful, well-informed, alert and compassionate people I know smell like onions or garlic or the cigar they enjoyed after lunch. Others are %ishermen-and-women, and, yes, hunt-ers too. At 18 I would have struggled to see their kindness i% I could also smell their ground bee% breath. But gradually

it hit me: what does any o% this prejudice have to do with opening up to love and compassion and the kingdom within?

I started de-emphasizing diet, kept up my other practices and pursued my passion for rivers with a %ly rod in hand. Within a couple o% years those %ly rods became for me what a Buddhist monk’s begging bowl or Wayne Gretzky’s hockey stick or Van Gogh’s paints and brushes or Yo-Yo Ma’s cello or Harry and Hermione and Ron’s wands are to them: a magic tool that opened up a way o% life, way o% seeing, way o% being.

A belie% I didn’t expect to acquire:I now hold that every single per-

son is %irst in importance, and no one is second. Yes, some are saints, some are blackguards, brigands and SOBs, and most o% us are some o% both. And yes, some people, when I see them coming, make me want to run away. But there is a soul enlivening every saint and sinner. And this soul, I sense more and more strongly, is a glory in its own right--a godgiven shard o% invincible perfec-tion. The entry o% this godshard into a human body is a wonder to me. Watch-ing the births o% my children made that clear forever. And I hold that this holy shard goes on shining in us no mat-ter how many times or how deeply we bury its brilliance under untruths and cruelties and low desires and addictions and delusions. I hold that, for incon-ceivable reasons, it is none other than the Lord o% Love Who invites all o% us to live and breathe here, and now and then allows our beautiful souls to shine.

by MAREN SCHIFFER

Staff Reporter

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHANSON

March 3 2011 P!"# $

UPCOMING EVENTS

Head swim coach Jenn Blomme understandably lost count o% the number o% broken school

records after the %irst night o% the three-day Northwest Conference Championships at Mt. Hood Commu-nity College in Gresham, Ore. By the end o% the meet, 16 new records had been set by the Missionary swimmers.

Assistant swim coach Antho-ny Russo was extremely proud o% the performance o% his swimmers.

“To break that many school re-cords is an amazing feat,” Russo said. “The team has worked hard all season and to see the bene%its o% their hard work is inspiring.”

The upheaval o% the old record board was lead by sophomore Katie Chapman, who broke the school re-cords in the 100 butter%ly and the 200 I.M., while also contributing to four relays that broke records. Chapman surpassed these records en route to winning three individual events, the 100 and 200 butter%lies and the 200 I.M., earning the honor o% Women’s Outstanding Swimmer o% the Meet.

Chapman hersel% could barely even believe that the meet turned out the way it did.

“It feels like a dream and I am just waiting to wake up,” Chap-man said. “It couldn’t have hap-pened on any other team.”

The Whitman swim teams are known in the conference for having the most spirit, which can greatly help swimmers stay motivated throughout the three-day marathon o% a meet.

At the meet, Missionary swim-mers never swam without a group o% their teammates at the other end o% the pool cheering until their voices were beyond hoarse. The Whitman swimmers also painted their faces and bodies, waved %lags, cheered the “freshest” cheers and danced like fools in order to keep

the energy up thoughout the meet.The other swimmers who broke

individual records were sophomores Kevin Dyer (500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle); Paul Chang (100 and 200 breaststroke); %irst-years Claire Col-lins (100 and 200 breaststroke) and Keller Hawkins (100 backstroke). The women’s team collectively re-wrote Whitman swimming his-tory breaking all %ive relay records, while the Missionary men set a new record in the 200 freestyle relay.

Senior Brian Wake%ield was amazed to see record after record fall.

“It was unbelievable. We’ve been looking at these records all year and

it’s eye-popping to see them fall like this,” Wake%ield said. “It tells you something about the group o% swim-mers we have to break 16 records.”

After all o% these records came tumbling down, the Whit-man swim teams found them-selves in third place for the men and fourth place for the women.

The men ended the meet with 529.5 points behind only Whitworth University and University o% Puget Sound, who had 923.5 and 586.5 points, respectively. The next clos-est team was over 200 points below.

The women %inished the meet in an all-too-familiar position: trail-

ing Lewis & Clark College by a single point in the race for third place for the second straight year. Whitworth and Puget Sound took %irst and sec-ond on the women’s side with 817 and 679 points respectively, while Lewis & Clark came out on top o% the Mis-sionaries with a 449-448 advantage.

Despite the repeat o% excruciat-ingly close %inishes for the women, the swimmers never let the results damp-er their mood, cheering the loudest when Blomme won co-women’s coach o% the year along with Lewis & Clark’s Chris Fantz and taking part in a post-meet dance party on the pool deck with swimmers from Whitworth.

In the last three years, the men’s ten-nis team has won three Northwest Conference (NWC) titles and is on

an active streak o% 71 consecutive con-ference wins. Currently they are ranked 19 in the NCAA Division III. This team includes three All-Americans, the 22nd highest recruiting class o% di-vision III colleges nationally in 2010 and inspiring Coach Jef% Northam.

In the past three years, however, Whitman has not made it past the %irst round o% the NCAA division III cham-pionship tournament, losing to the number one seed each time. This begs the larger question o% why Whitman cannot make the jump from conference champions to national competitors.

This year the NWC will require only 12 conference %ixtures instead o% 16. In a regular season a tennis team will play 20 in total. This structural change will leave the men’s tennis team more games and more chances to play high caliber opponents and get the experi-ence they need to become champions.

There is no doubt that Whitman has the best team in the Northwest Conference this year. After %ive con-ference games versus Paci%ic Univer-sity, George Fox, Willamette, Lewis & Clark and Lin%ield, Whitman has beaten their opponents 8-1, 9-0, 9-0, 9-0, and 9-0. In short, Whitman has dropped one match in their last 36.

“The coaching is incredible,”

said senior captain and two time All-American Etienne Moshevich. “Jef% [Northam] used to coach with Greg Patton [coach at Boise State] who is arguably one o% the best college coach-

es o% all time when they took Boise State to second in the nation. He’s ex-tremely good at %iring up our team. He keeps us together. Tennis is an in-dividual sport and he makes us play as a team. He’s the best coach I ever had.”

“Coach Jef% is easily the best coach I’ve ever had,” said junior and All-

American Conor Holton-Burke. “It has to be a tough job to handle 12 very dif-ferent college-age guys, but he manages to do that and create a culture where we all genuinely care about each other...

we’ve almost locked up the regular sea-son conference championship, and one o% our primary goals is to win the con-ference tournament [which will likely be held on the courts next to Ankeny].”

However, the players need to step up in order to use these four extra out-of-conference %ixtures

to become national competitors.“Over spring break, we’re playing

six nationally ranked teams, so that will be the barometer for where we are this season,” said Holton-Burke. “As a team, we feel really good about how we’re playing, and we think that we could surprise some people this year.”

With the %ixture change in the NWC the players will now have to show their prowess when they play over spring break. Even so, the current men’s team is arguably the best since their 71 wins in conference streak began.

“[Andrew La] Cava is a two-time All-American already after one se-mester,” said sophomore and doubles player Matt Tesmond. “It is extremely dif%icult to do--it rarely happens in a career much less a season. Nasko [Atanasov] is a big hitter from Bulgar-ia, Quin Miller is an excellent partner, Steven Roston ... has a lot o% potential for good things in the future. Will Hus-key has all started at six-seed singles versus Lin%ield and won the match.”

I% the team can put up a strong showing over spring break they can become national competitors.

“I want to win it,” said Etienne Moshevich. “I want to be number one in the NCAA.”

Ultimately, the revamping o% the NWC seems to work in Whitman’s favor. The strong recruiting, coaching and present talent have kept Whitman consistent. Perhaps this season they can make the transition from Confer-ence Champs to National Champions.

There’s no doubt that Whitman students are an active bunch: about three out o% every four

Whitties participate in athletics through varsity sports, club teams and intramural leagues. But not all athletes at Whitman are students. From squash to soccer to swimming, faculty and staf% members--many o% whom were college athletes as well--%ind value in continuing to incorporate sports into their lives.

“Sport has always been a passion,” said current Director o% Academic Resources Juli Dunn, who served as Whitman’s %irst certi%ied Head Athletic Trainer from 1993-2008.

As sophomore varsity soc-cer player at Whitworth Uni-versity, Dunn suffered an injury that caused her to spend a lot o% time in the athletic training room.

“That exposure led me to explore the %ield [o% sports medicine]. I fell in love with it during my %irst course,” she recalled. “Working as the Head Athletic Trainer allowed me to combine several passions: help-ing others, sports, and teaching.”

Since coming to Whit-man she has earned a blue shirt for intramural kickball and has also played intramural softball.

Dunn is now an active col-lege sports fan and statistic-keep-er for her sons’ baseball teams.

“It’s a great way to continue to enjoy those things I love,” she said.

Director o% Institutional Re-search Neal Christopherson has also been able to follow his ath-letic passions while at Whitman.

“One o% the reasons I decided to go to a small school is so I could keep running cross country and track,” said Christopherson o% his own col-lege running career at Wheaton College--during which he went to Division III nationals and became interested in training theory. This interest has led him to a position as assistant coach o% the Whit-

man varsity cross country team.Christopherson also remains per-

sonally active in sports: he ran a mar-athon just last year, bikes recreation-ally and plays intramural basketball.

“Right now I’m coaching my son’s 1st/2nd grade indoor [soccer] team, which is great fun,” he added.

For some, sports have played an important role not only for provid-ing fun and friendship, but also main-taining mental and physical health.

“Swimming has saved my life on a number o% occasions,” said Visiting Assistant Professor o% Art Mare Blocker, who is also a lifelong swimmer and former swim coach.

“A few years ago when I had a neck injury and had to have several o% my vertebrae fused, swimming sev-eral times a week helped me regain the use o% my [left] arm. I% I don’t swim, my left arm’s nerves seem to forget that they have a job to do.”

Blocker identi%ies the rhyth-mic similarity between her pro-fession and her sport as one reason she enjoys swimming.

“There is something about the back and forth activity o% lap swimming that mimics the activ-ity o% the printing press,” she said.

Swimming has also been a great outlet for mental stress. “When I am stressed out or angry, I try to go to the pool because I love to swim that energy off,” said Blocker.

Like Blocker, Assistant Pro-fessor o% Politics Aaron Bobrow-Strain has found exercise to be

therapeutic--and, at times, key to making academic breakthroughs.

“I used to compete in running and swimming, but really what I loved was the long stretches o% time to think things through,” he said. “I wrote my Ph.D dissertation while running and swimming. I’d start the run or swim with a thorny problem stuck in my head. As soon as I got moving, it would start to loosen up. Six or seven miles (or 60 laps) later, it would come clear, and I’d be frantically scribbling notes at the side o% the road or pool.”

When Ron Urban is not work-ing in the Registrar’s of%ice, he %inds similar value in heading to the Sherwood Athletic Center courts, playing racquetball with other members o% Whitman faculty and staff, and even some students.

“The sheer bursts o% energy, laughter, cheering and the occa-sional good-natured ‘Anglo Saxon utterance’ all add great joy to the game,” he said. “In addition to its being loads o% fun, the opportunity to reduce the pressures and stress-es o% the job via vigorous physical activity is an enormous bene%it.”

Professor o% Anthropol-ogy Chas McKhann also uses the Sherwood courts to play the sport he loves--squash.

“I’ve played ever since [graduate school], here at Whitman a couple times a week at lunchtime, and once or twice a year at tournaments in Portland,” he said. “I really like the focus and mental aspect o% squash.”

Every day, Whitman professors and administrators take to the court, %ield, road and pool. Mental release, physical health, focus and fun are reasons enough for them to take part in Whitman’s athletic facilities and active community. McKhann sums up in a few words the value o% continuing to be involved in sports.

“These activities have pro-vided a wonderful opportunity to maintain physical %itness, and have been priceless in terms o% creat-ing camaraderie and friendships.”

by ANDREW HAWKINSStaff Reporter

Conor Holton-Burke ‘12 claimed victory in the No. 1 singles match over Linfield’s Mark Magdaong during the Feb. 27 match. PHOTO BY ETHAN PARRISH

by TYLER HURLBURTStaff Reporter

Coaches Jamie Kennedy ‘96, Robert Street ‘07, Jenn Blomme and Anthony Russo urge on a Whitman swimmer from the bulk-head. Teammates show their support with flags and face paint as they cheer during a race. PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY KAYLA JOAN

Sixteen records fall at swim championships

NWC change could make men’s tennis national contender

by LIBBY ARNOSTISports Editor

Faculty value continued athleticism

Victory eludes ballers

Lightning couldn’t strike twice for the Whitman men’s bas-ketball team. After defeating

Whitworth University in the regu-lar season home %inale and Lewis & Clark College in round one o% the NWC tournament, the Missionar-ies fell 74-50 to the Pirates in Spo-kane, Wash. on Saturday night. Sen-ior Justin Artis and junior Brandon

Shaw led Whitman with 11 points apiece in a game that was tied at 26 at halftime. On the women’s side, Whitman traveled to Lewis & Clark Thursday night, only to fall 60-51 to the Pioneers. Junior Jenele Peterson led the Missionaries with 15 points.

Excerpt by Pamela LondonRead more at whitmanpioneer.com

Josh Duckworth ‘14, pictured, and teammate Justin Shaw ‘12 earned NWC Honor-able Mention and First Team honors, respectively. PHOTO BY MARN AXTELL

The opportu-nity to reduce the pressures of the job via

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mous benefit. RON URBAN, REGISTRAR

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March 3 2011 P!"# $

The original justification for a liberal arts educa-tion was that by learning

from a wide variety of disciplines--humanities, sciences and social sciences--is that we students are supposed to graduate as free think-ers. People who can take that addi-tional step back and come up with creative solutions to problems and change the world, to put it one way

But if our liberal arts education were merely a collection of facts from Plato, Einstein and Adam Smith, does that really teach us to be critical thinkers? Aren’t we instead more likely to forget the facts that we’ve learned once we get out and do the unthinkable of getting a job? Instead, I propose we view a liberal arts education more broadly to not just encompass the breadth of what we’ve learned, but also the habits of mind we’ve developed in and more crucially outside the classroom.

Fellow seniors, just ask your-self: what exactly have I learned at Whitman? Do I remember all the details of “Gilgamesh” in Core (Encounters soon-to-be Trans-formations)? Or all those Intro to X classes I took as a first-year?

Unless they’re directly related to your major, probably not. (Sorry professors!) It isn’t that we had bad professors or were bad students. The simple fact of the matter is that our brains are not machines. IBM’s Watson is incapable of forgetting information whereas we are con-demned and blessed with that capac-ity to both learn and forget. (What if you actually did have to remember everything you did last weekend?)

Now, what does this mean for us? We are technically supposed to pay 50,000 dollars annually to attend Whitman and live in Walla Walla for four years while learning as much as we can only to be doomed to forget what we’ve learned?

No. It’s my contention that one of the most valuable aspects of the Whitman liberal arts educa-tion lies not in the curriculum but in the student experience of be-ing equal members of the Whit-man community. Right now, there are students busy trying to install an industrial composting system at Whitman. Students annually hold events discussing diversity, femi-nism and the like. Some students even have the audacity (or too much free time) to sit in on the college’s advisory budget committee meet-ings. And of course there’s ASWC.

None of this really takes place

in Maxey, Olin or the science build-ing or assigned reading. So why do students do it? Why don’t we just go to class, get good grades and just frolic on Ankeny or in the newly renovated TKE basement? Some of us choose to of course, but many of us don’t. Resume? Duh. But is that all of it?Is student activism or par-ticipation in building Whitman just a tool to land a better job? Sounds awfully cynical if you ask me.

Now bear with me for a mo-ment. What if some students actual-ly cared about Whitman and want-ed to improve the tangible reality of the Whitman educational experi-ence not just for themselves but for students after them? Is that naive possibility realistic? Well, the truth is no one knows. Everyone of us, as

students, have different motives.But the fact remains, it is a tan-

gible reality that at Whitman Col-lege students do things to benefit the Whitman community not just for themselves or their classmates but for future students to come. To take a more concrete example, why do Whitman alumni prove so loyal to the college? Because part of who they think they are, who we will think we are, has to do with our experiences at Whitman not as transient passengers but as equal and active members of the land stretching from Isaacs to Alder.

Now, are we likely to for-get that? Maybe. But I’d bet that if you lowered the ASWC fee you’d remember it. And you’d re-member the process behind, say a yearbook initiative? What about the students who established the Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund? And ASWC of course.

My point is that as much learn-ing goes at Whitman in class as out-side of class. Moreover, the kind of learning that goes on in working through budget committee with faculty and staff, from a students perspective (I speak from personal experience on this) can be just as valuable as learning about the new-est abstruse critical philosophy.

To be fair though, when we first arrive on opening day at Whitman, are not equal members of the Whit-man community--unlike faculty and staff. We are emphemeral (even those of us who stay after gradu-ation and work in the wineries) because we will graduate eventu-ally. Yet, during our time here, we have the possibility of becoming equal members of this community by working, in concert with profes-sors and administrators, precisely to improve the quality of what we learn here. And that experience is something students are unlikely to forget. We just need the chance.

Gary is a political philosophy major in-

terested in reading, writing and talking.

As Republicans and Democrats squabble in Congress over how to balance a U.S. budget

increasingly fond o% red ink, they should take time to consider a pro-posal from two o% America’s most outspoken business leaders: John Chambers o% Cisco Systems and Safra Catz o% Oracle Corporation.

In a recent Wall Street Jour-nal article, Chambers and Catz re-fer to the “trillion-dollar elephant in the room”--their term for the vast sums o% money left unused on the balance sheets o% many o% America’s biggest corporations.

Why is this money left unused, they ask? Because most o% this mon-ey was earned by U.S. companies in overseas operations and bringing the money back home would ex-pose their earnings to the unneces-sarily high U.S. corporate tax rate o% 35 percent—a rate higher than all developed economies but Japan.

This is because o% a quirk in the United States tax system that al-lows the IRS to levy a Repatriation Tax on foreign earnings, mean-ing that the income earned by U.S. corporations abroad can be taxed at the U.S. corporate tax rate o% 35 percent when brought stateside.

U.S. corporations do get cred-it for any taxes paid to foreign governments, but end up pay-ing signi%icantly more in taxes when they bring foreign earn-ings home than they would i% they were based in any other country.

The United States is the only developed nation to pursue such a tax policy. Most developed coun-tries levy no tax at all on foreign earnings; some tax them at no more than a two-percent rate.

Chambers and Catz argue that by removing the Repatriation Tax, Congress would be able to provide another jolt to a U.S. economy still recovering from the throes o% the %i-nancial crisis by stimulating private investment. I am inclined to agree.

Because o% the tax, and the Unit-ed States’s unusually high corpo-rate tax rate, U.S. corporations are in no rush to bring money earned abroad back home. Instead, they are choosing to keep their money overseas, investing it in foreign

assets (even at lower rates o% re-turn) to inde%initely defer their day o% reckoning with the IRS.

This is not helping the eco-nomic recovery as those pro%its are not being fed back into the econ-omy. Money that could be used to hire new workers, train exist-ing workers or develop new prod-ucts is instead sitting dormant or is underutilized in foreign assets.

By removing, or at least low-ering, the Repatriation Tax, the United States would see a re-surgence in private investment as companies would %ind it less painful to bring pro%its home.

This is exactly what Cham-bers and Catz contend. They argue that the U.S. should re-institute a policy passed in 2004 that allowed for a temporary tax holiday for businesses. In 2004, instead o% 35 percent, corporations were only charged an additional %ive per-cent on top o% taxes levied abroad.

Because o% the measure, over 362 billion dollars was repatriated to the U.S. that year—a massive increase over the year before. By including provisions that bar companies from spending this money on executive compensation and encourage them to instead spend it on hiring and research and development, the U.S. could give a very real boost to an economy well on its way to recovery.

In addition, the IRS would be able to recoup over 50 billion dollars in tax revenue from the lowered re-patriation tax (%ive percent o% a tril-lion dollars), money that the coun-try would not receive otherwise.

Seeking any way to avoid pay-ing the punitively high U.S. cor-porate tax rate when they bring earnings home from abroad, companies have devised many clever ways o% tricking the IRS.

Many o% these techniques would not be out o% place in a John LeCarre spy novel. One such tech-nique, dubbed the “Killer B”, is named for section 368(a)(1)(B) o% the Internal Revenue Code, which concerns tax-free reorganizations.

A company using the tech-nique sells its shares to an off-shore company under its control and is then able to bring the cash from the sale home tax-free. The foreign earnings, disguised as payments for stock, are tax-free because sales o% stock are not con-sidered income under U.S. tax law.

With the Repatriation Tax low-ered, companies would have no need to resort to such sly maneu-verings and would be much more willing to bring the trillion dol-lars locked up abroad back home.

It may be counterintuitive, but by lowering the Repatriation Tax, the U.S. could not only spark eco-nomic activity, but also increase tax revenue. President Obama needs to follow through on his commit-ment to listen to the recommen-dations o% business leaders and lend an ear to Chambers and Catz.

Staten Hudson is an English major with

a passion for both Shakespeare and the

stock market.

Video games: graphics not as important

Liberal arts means treating students as equal co-­builders of Whitman community

U.S. corporate tax pol-­icy hurts investment

J. STATENHUDSONColumnist

GARYWANG Opinion Editor

BLAIRFRANKColumnist

When it comes to video games, the industry has made leaps and bounds

when it comes to hardware capa-bilities, and software often ends up matching that. Games today are sig-ni%icantly more complex, especially when it comes to graphics. It’s possi-ble to render nearly lifelike games in high-de%inition on massive screens, and game developers and publishers have been trying to turn stunning visuals into cash for quite some time.

Unfortunately, the gaming in-dustry’s focus on graphics is mis-placed. Graphics don’t mean that much when it comes to how en-joyable a game is. Sure, bad graph-ics can detract from an otherwise enjoyable game, but not nearly as much as bad writing and game-play can detract from bad graphics.

Let’s hop in the Wayback Ma-chine for a moment. Think about older eight-bit arcade style games, like “Pong”, “Pac-Man” and “Super Mario Bros”. These games were fun, even though they lack the same graphical advancement that we have today. Here’s the interesting thing: they still hold up as fun games to-day. One o% my current favorite iPhone games is a copy o% “Pac-Man: Championship Edition”. Even after 20 or 30 years from their original launch, these classic ar-cade titles still work as great games.

O% course, that’s not to say that graphics are worthless. Some o% my favorite games o% the past several years, like “Portal”, “Bioshock” and “Assassin’s Creed 2” are graphical marvels, and their beauty added to my enjoyment o% the game. Getting to experience Rapture in high de%ini-tion was stunning and added to my immersion in the world around me.

At the same time, graphical suc-cesses didn’t necessarily equate to decent gameplay. The public recep-tion o% “Crysis” seems to bear all o% those hallmarks: the game itsel% re-quired the latest and greatest in hard-ware, and received massive amounts o% hype for its graphics engine. The gameplay, however, didn’t hold up to all the visual bells and whistles. Treyarch’s “Call o% Duty 3” falls into the same category: the game itsel% was gorgeous, showing of% the HD chops o% a new generation o% con-soles, but suffered from bad controls, a bad story, mediocre voice acting and generally not-fun gameplay.

For comparison, consider “Mi-necraft”: Marcus “Notch” Persson’s brilliant open-world sandbox con-struction game. It has sold over a million copies, with no advertising budget, and it’s not even out o% beta yet. It’s captivated the hearts and minds o% many gamers and com-mentators alike. But its graphics look like something out o% a SNES or Nintendo 64. It’s a ridicu-

lously fun game that I’ve been cap-tivated by for quite some time, and there are many like me out there.

Minecraft is the perfect example o% the importance o% fun gameplay over good graphics. It’s not that peo-ple are playing the game despite the outdated graphics engine, it’s that they’re playing it because it’s just so much fun. The same thing goes for older games: they hold up over time because o% their overall quality rather than how spiffy their graph-ics look. I’d rather make another run through the original “Half-Life” than suffer through some o% the pretty but unplayable fare that gam-emakers have put out in recent years.

Here’s the problem with valuing graphics over gameplay: a realistic-looking game means nothing i% the other important components o% the game aren’t in place. Gameplay and story are what developers should be focusing on. When it comes to mak-

ing a meaningful work that will have a positive impact, it doesn’t matter how realistic the graphics look. As some-one who plays video games, I don’t need a realistic-looking character. I would much rather have a character whose personality and behaviors are realistic than just look at a pretty face.

Let’s face it: good graphics are en-joyable %luff. They can add to immer-sion and make the visual spectacle o% a game more enjoyable. The only thing they can’t do is make a game fun; a game that is realistic in its portrayal o% reality. That’s where good writ-ing and gameplay come in. So now it comes down to the people who make them to decide what they want to do: are they content with making games that look pretty but don’t have much to them, or are they going to actu-ally try to push this medium forward?

Blair Hanley Frank is an English major and

the technology columnist for The Pioneer. He also writes for PCWorld’s “GeekTech”

blog and can be found on Twitter as @belril.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,

As a four-year player and two-year captain o% the men’s varsity baseball team at Whitman Col-lege, I feel like I am quali%ied to an-swer the question raised by Mr. Huntington in his Feb. 24 letter to the editor entitled “Why does Whitman have a baseball team?”

I am very disappointed in the growing cutback culture that is tak-ing hold o% administrations across the country. Eliminating struggling programs is an easy excuse to dodge

the dif%icult process o% making them better. I understand that %inancial constraints often play a role in these decisions, but all too often disap-pointing results lead to hasty deci-sions to cut programs in times when they need the schools support most. I completely agree with you that our team has not succeeded anywhere close to what we expect o% ourselves, especially in recent memory. How-ever, anyone who is even peripher-ally involved with our team will tell you that we are making the chang-es necessary to %ind that success.

Should we have cut the men’s basketball team a few years ago when they were experiencing simi-lar dif%iculties? Robbing Whitman o% a team that was a serious con-tender for a Northwest Conference Championship title? They have inspired in our student body a level o% Whitman pride that I haven’t seen in my four years here. I’m glad that our athletic department

put their faith in Coach Bridge-land and the basketball program, just as they are putting their faith in Coach Holowaty and our program.

For decades, the baseball pro-gram at Whitman has given young men a unique leadership experience that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the college. Ask any o% our hundreds o% baseball alumni that are still coming back by the doz-ens for our annual alumni game in the fall. Ask the W Club, our fami-lies and our friends who have given their time, money and support in making our spring trips to Arizona possible. Ask our fellow varsity ath-letes, coaches and training staff. But I urge you most o% all to ask one o% our players. I know that the passion that any one o% us has for the game o% baseball will be answer enough.

Sincerely,Erik Korsmo ‘11Captain, men’s varsity baseball

Dear Editor,

Earlier this week a list o% com-plaints about TKE initiation was brought to the attention o% the men o% Tau Kappa Epsilon, the adminis-tration and The Pioneer. The speci%ic allegations are largely unfounded and falsi%ied. However, we acknowl-edge that the individual making these claims had a negative experience dur-ing the limited time he participated in initiation. In no way do we expect or intend that our initiation would be personally offensive to anyone who chooses to participate; because o% this we sincerely apologize to him for any anxiety that we may have caused.

Our goal with initiation is to re-inforce to each initiate that they can look to each other and those that have gone before them for companionship and support. The trust and core stabil-ity that is built during our initiation process makes our house stronger and facilitates our ability to under-take projects that bene%it the broader community. The men o% TKE have always contributed to the well-being o% the Whitman community as a re-sult. We uphold the fact that Greek life is a personal choice; the freedom to leave during initiation is made clear to all who choose to participate and their decision is always respected.

TKE strives to be in conformity with Whitman’s policies. The initia-tion process is reviewed annually to ensure that this is the case. We are cooperating completely with the ad-ministration to ensure both that our process remains effective at continu-ing to educate and develop young men o% good character and quality, and that it is always in full compliance with Whitman’s policies. Our hope is that we can move forward as an organiza-tion while continuing our success as a chapter and our positive in%luence on the Whitman Greek system and the broader Whitman community.

Sincerely,David DeVine, TKE President, and the men o% Tau Kappa Epsilon

ILLUSTRATION BY SONG

What if students actually cared

about Whitman and wanted to improve

the tangible reality of the Whitman educa-

tional experience ...

By removing, or at least lowering, the Repatriation

Tax, the United States would see a resurgence in private investment ...

March 3 2011 P!"# $

JUMBLE TIME! Dear Puzzlephiles,

I, slut, was out o% town this weekend and was therefore unable to create the crosswords that turn me on oh-so-much. Pressed with a deadline, I opted for a lesser, easier and ultimately more base form o% puzzling—the JUMBLE. Though this might not satisfy everyone’s raging puzzle desire, fear not, a crossword will be coming your way next week. Until then, the answers are here, and enjoy the jumble!Love,Adam “Slut-slut” Brayton

G R I T M O D O M E A

B O T A A P O D I M P

A T E N R E N E N A P

I M G O I N G O L I N

O G T N O S A P

U H F L I E S E T T U

R E I D E M A N D W E E P

S Y N C E R I E R S A

T E C H F M L

H A V E N O F O U T S

P E R N A I L M A T E

A R T C cr E E O S O S

L E S E M U S S E P T

COMICS

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

QUESTION: What do you call a nosy pepper?G L O H U S

B U N O A D

D R E H A L

At  Around:  Female,  BlondeRed  hoodie.  You're  really  cute.  I  can't  wait  to  see  you  in  

psych  tomorrow.

S D I A R N

L E R N AY

S A L O B T

I R D C E P

P O L J AY

Put on some real pants. You’re in public. People can see you. Save the Snoopy %lan-nel for the bedroom.

wants to see your dirty feet. And on that note, going barefoot to the Penrose bath-rooms is never acceptable.

-ing them over pants, %ine, at least you rec-ognize that it’s cold out. But ladies, please don’t wear your Uggs with short skirts. Pick a temperature to dress for, honestly.

camping trip, lose the convertible pants. You’re not going to need to change that shit up that fast. It’s either pants or shorts: pick one and move on.

time to put your XC sweatshirt to rest. I% you’re going to represent a team you don’t

cycling sweatshirt.

from Mercer Island. You can't get any less gangsta than that.

leggings in 3rd grade. Those blue Scottie-dog leggings were the shit. And as much as we wish we could still wear leggings every day, we’re not about to start. La-

wisdom that we can impart on you be-fore we leave, it’s this: leggings as pants are not %lattering on anyone over 10. Put on some pants, for Chrissake. (The Back-page editor would like to add that she oc-casionally wears leggings as pants ... Her housemates told her it would be okay ... )

The Fashion Police

Dear Whitman:

A message from

the fashion police

With housing and roommate situations becoming less of a question mark and more of an exclamation point, The Backpage has decided to come up with a list to help our fellow stragglers who don't know where/with whom they'll be living. (Disclaimer: Choose roommates at your own risk. The Backpage is not responsible for murderous

roommates or roommates who constantly want to “settle” “Catan”.)

Guide to choosing a roommate

kanye

Boyfriends  are  

like  rush  hour  

IN  THE  FUCKING  

tweet of the week

Grape  says:

8  hours  ago

Lucuma  says:

12  hours  ago

ILLUSTRATION BY BRAYTON

Guy who loves all his classes

Guy who hates all his classes

Sluts

Porn connoisseurs

Dude who showers once a week

Shut-ins

Anyone who can't hold his/her liquor

Furries

People who turn 21 before you

People with large DVD collections

People with hot friends

Anyone who relieves stress by cleaning

Dude with car

Dude with gaming console (and is willing to share it)

Girl who took the class last semester and can help you

In our years at Whitman College, we’ve seen some pretty egregious fashion choices. The Backpage’s comment on the abundance of !lannel on this campus really hit the mark, and we thought we might collect a few of what we believe to be the most important fashion tips we can impart to you, gentle readers.

We pay 50,000 dollars/year for our education. That's a lot of money for a piece of paper. We should be

to do, such as:

letterfromlucuma

ILLUSTRATION BY ALDEN

ILLUSTRATION BY SONG

Real Talk THE LIBERAL ARTS EXPERIENCE

AIM AVOID

Giggles!

 

Get drunkHave casual sexSocialize/drink/sleep in the libraryCreep on FacebookCreep on PeopleSearchStart watching new TV shows

Mack on likealittle

Bake cookies/cupcakes/cakeGreen dot duck rape

Get egged by towniesBarely get a 3.0Pre-game excursionsSunbathe on AnkenyUse the sauna

Dink aroundCurse like a sailor