Some students opt for alternative spring breaks

When you put college students and Spring Break together, the image of club hopping in Mexico may come to mind. Although many students look forward to spending these two weeks away from school, others say they prefer options that provide first-hand, educational experiences.
“The alternative started in 1997 and ever since then it’s been a student-organized, student-planned and student-run program,” said Lina Menard, the coordinator for the Center of Community Service here on campus.
Every fall there is a call for proposals from students that are interested in running programs themselves. The center only takes care of logistics and leaves it up to the program leaders to obtain funding and recruit other students who would be interested in a variety of trips that are proposed every year.

According to Menard, the idea of “alternative” spring breaks allows one to think beyond the typical leisurely vacationing, instead combining it with learning and community aspects.
Senior Johanna Allen and junior Jonathan Goldenberg are the student leaders of “Borders in Our Backyard.” The trip started as a four-day weekend option in the fall of 2007 and will be debuting as an alternative spring break option on the first week of the vacation.

“It’s for anyone who is interested in immigration issues and generally trying to understand what’s going on here in the Northwest,” said Goldenberg of the trip.

When asked what kind of experiences can come from a trip like this, Allen said, “It can widen perspectives and increase awareness about relevant topics.”

Professor Aaron Bobrow-Strain’s U.S.-Mexico border trips sparked a student-led alternative spring break that carries the same idea of traveling and talking to different people around the Northwest that are involved in immigration issues.

“It’s a chance for students to meet with people from both sides of the border,” said Bobrow-Strain.

Menard added that the list of options students have for trips is varied. One successful program has been a week away at a Monastery in Whidbey Island, teaching students about the Monastic lifestyle.

It has become so popular, said Menard, that the program might run twice during the two weeks of break.

“People can clean up parks, do stream restoration…the environmental trips seem to be the most popular and very rewarding for the people that decide to go,” said Menard.
The opportunities are endless, and Menard hopes that more students not only go on the trips, but also decide to start some themselves in order to provide programs that can pique anyone’s interest.

Keep an eye out for more information about Alternative Spring Breaks and visit thesca.org to find some great spots around the world that are in need of help during vacation.

More than Mormon: Students shed light

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly nicknamed “Mormons,” gave a presentation to raise awareness about their religion. Speakers from the local church, many of them Whitman students, took turns sharing information about the religion.
However, many students were disappointed that the Latter-day Saints avoided issues of contention. “I thought it was a good idea for a lesser-known or lesser-understood faith to make itself understood. But I felt like they shied away from talking about the more controversial stuff,” said first-year Kyle Byrd-Fisher.

Some students went to the presentation because of the advertisements around campus.
“I thought it was interesting they didn’t address many of the stigmas mentioned in their advertisements,” first-year Kristin Iviy said, referring to table-toppers and fliers that promised answers to questions such as, “Do Mormons really have horns?” “Are Mormons really polygamous?” and “Who is Joseph Smith?”

Some of these questions were answered directly in the lecture, while some were answered in a handout of facts about the Mormon Church. Junior Gregory Phillips, who organized the event, gave a brief history of the church, including a summary of the role of the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith.

Polygamy was not mentioned in the talk, but it was addressed in a handout that read, “Polygamy, a limited practice in the early pioneer days of the Church, was discontinued in 1890, some 118 years ago.”

The speakers also talked about the role of missionaries and the history and basic beliefs of the Church, and many of them shared personal testimonies.

“The missionaries took me to church and I felt closer to God than I ever felt before,” said senior biology major Robert Marcotte of his conversion experience.

Many of the speakers spoke about issues that were very personal to them and one presenter was nearly moved to tears by her testimony.

“I know how shy many of them can be, but they were very brave,” said community and church member Cheryl McCracken.

Many audience members appreciated this honesty. “Their willingness to be open about their faith was refreshing, yet they didn’t try too hard to push their religion on us,” said first-year Olivia Johnson.

The presentation was considered a success by Phillips.

“Our main goal was to promote understanding of our religion and I think we were able to do that,” he said.

Olin 130 was packed with supporters and curious students who stayed for the hour-long presentation. If some didn’t get answers to all the controversial questions they had, they at least came out with a greater understanding of Mormons.

“I already knew about the beliefs they talked about,” said Kristin Iviy, “but they gave a really good impression of Mormons. They were all normal, pleasant, and had senses of humor.”
Jerica Johnson, a first-year, concluded the presentation by encouraging the audience to decide the truth for themselves.

“Faith doesn’t come from external sources; not from church leaders or family,” she said, then quoted from the Book of Mormon, “We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true.”

Abshire Awards finance variety of professor, student projects

Twelve teams of students and professors received Abshire Research Scholar Awards from the college for research projects this semester. The subjects of the projects cover a wide variety of disciplines and departments, ranging from cancer treatment to a course on the Silk Roads.
Alfred D. Abshire, who graduated from Whitman in 1945, founded the Abshire Scholar Awards program in 1981 in honor of his wife. The awards are given every semester to students involved in undergraduate research projects. By working with professors for five to eight hours per week, students can earn up to $800 from the award.

“It’s just like a job,” said Physics Professor Dayle Smith, who is working with junior Ben Miller on research about the potential use of DNA in computer components. “It’s a research experience. Students are taking classes and have a lot going on—five hours of research a week is asking a lot. The financial incentive helps take the edge off that.”
The 12 awards given this semester mark an increase in the number of recipients compared to previous semesters.

“The interest in collaborative experiences such as this is greater now than it may have been in the past,” said Provost and Dean of Faculty Lori Bettison-Varga in an e-mail. “Since we do have the funds available to support that greater interest, we were able to grant a larger number of awards.”

Students are nominated for the Abshire Research Scholar Award by professors. Some professors planned their projects with specific students in mind, while others, like Chemistry Professor Tommaso Vannelli, were approached by students with specific research interests.
“Last year, professors presented work at a seminar for chemistry and BBMB majors,” said Vannelli. “Afterwards, John Nelson and Simon Quay approached me and said they were interested in doing research with me.”

Both Nelson, a junior chemistry major, and Quay, a junior BBMB major, are Abshire Scholars. Vannelli is advising Nelson in synthesizing a library of molecules belonging to a class of compounds known to treat cancer tumors after activated by light. Quay is isolating a protein to detect arsenic in water.

Some of the research teams see the Abshire award as an opportunity to conduct research across disciplines that might not ordinarily be grouped together. Senior Sarah Haas, a double major in philosophy and studio arts, is working with Philosophy Professor Tom Davis on “A Graphic Interpretation of Conformist Subjectivation in Emerson, Nietzsche and Judith Butler.”

“The diagram Professor Davis is working on is a perfect opportunity to study how art and philosophy play into each other,” said Haas. “In art and philosophy, it’s hard to come up with a way to do collective research—this is a unique opportunity in that respect.”

History Professor Brian Dott and Biology Professor Heidi Dobson are also working on interdisciplinary research, planning a course about the Silk Roads to be offered for the first time in spring 2009. Dobson, with junior Nicole Goehring, will be researching the scientific aspects of products traded throughout China, central Asia and Europe. Senior Kate Rosenberg is helping Dott with research tracing the historical movement of goods.

“In addition to researching different aspects of the course, both Professor Dobson and I need a lot of help from the students in narrowing down the focus of the course,” said Dott. “Right now we’re covering from 200 B.C. to the 13th century, which is much too broad for a one semester course.”

Other recipients of the Abshire Scholar Awards include English Professor Sharon Alker and senior Kim Trinh, who are working on the Daniel Defoe Society project; Professor of Geology and Environmental Studies Bob Carson and sophomores Ian Hoyer and Julia Spencer for work on Carson’s book on the geology of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem in Wyoming; History Professor Julie Charlip and first-year Jaspreet Gill for a project titled “Bearing Arms without an Army: The Security Forces of Costa Rica”; Theater Professor Tom Hines and sophomore Ian Jagel, who are continuing to develop Hines’s online “Ancient Theatre Archive”; Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies Kari Norgaard and junior Leora Stein for their comparative study of responses to climate change in the United States and Norway; and French Professor Zahi Zalloua and senior Anne Conners, who are addressing questions about magical realism through Toni Morrison’s “Beloved.”

Student-led Winterim workshops kick off semester

From Ukrainian egg decorating to beer tasting; murder mystery to Pilates, this year’s Winterim workshops gave students the chance break out of their usual routines.

Winterim, which took place from Friday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, Jan. 20, is an annual event sponsored by ASWC Programming in which students and staff are able to lead and attend workshops outside of traditional curriculum.

“What impressed me most was the diversity of the actual workshops,” said sophomore Nadim Damluji. As ASWC programming chair, Damluji was responsible for organizing and overseeing the event and making sure that everything ran smoothly.

Damluji started planning halfway through the first semester. According to Damluji, the beginning steps of the process involved announcing a general callout for applications and then presenting the received applications to the programming committee, wherein it was decided which workshops could be realistically sponsored.

Damluji arranged the approved workshops into a comprehensive schedule over the three days and booked the rooms that the leaders requested. He then made certain that the event and sign-ups were well-publicized, so that the workshops could be well-attended.

Workshops are financed by ASWC Programming. Workshop leaders propose the estimated cost of running their workshop, and accepted applicants are given the appropriate funds.

“We have a specific budget for Winterim, but this year we requested even more funds for Winterim because we felt really passionately about a lot of the workshops—we wanted to make sure that they happened,” said Damluji. “We thought they’d be great opportunities for the student body, and I think it’s an especially good use of the student body money.”

About 25 workshops took place over the three days, in classrooms, on campus, in Walla Walla and beyond.

Students explored telemark skiing, light sculpture creation, country music appreciation, scavenger hunting and Asian culinary skills, among others.

“We took about 20 kids and went down to the Ice Chalet in town. We spent the beginning of the workshop teaching the basics in skating, then played some games and had a free skate,” said junior Erin Morris, who led an ice-skating workshop with sophomore Kali Stoehr.
Winterim also offered workshop leaders the chance to gain experience in instruction and leadership. Both Morris, who coaches youth hockey, and Stoehr, who teaches community ice-skating classes, have experience in skating instruction.

Stoehr and Morris both recommend putting on a workshop to anyone who is interested.
“If there’s something that you’re excited about, most likely there’s someone else on campus that is excited about it too,” said Stoehr. “So go for it.”

The prospect of meeting new people was what prompted first-year Ryan Lum to sign up for a “Learn to Play Go” workshop.

“On Saturday, a few friends and I walked over to the Ultimate House, where the workshop was held. We were taught how to play Go [a strategic board game], and we drank tea,” said Lum. “I liked meeting the upperclassmen and interacting with them. It was nice for them because they got to interact with the first-years that they wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

Upperclassmen scramble to find housing

Clouded by stress and confusion, the upperclassmen rush for off-campus housing has arrived. Although some students have not even begun to think about where they are going to live next year, many landlords claim they have already found renters for all of their houses.
“Once one person starts, then everyone has to, it’s like a race,” said junior Jessie Conrad.
Landlord and Whitman graduate Leah Taylor owns five properties in Walla Walla for student rental. She recommends students find housing soon after winter break.

“We typically have every house rented by the end of January for the following school year,” Taylor said.

Taylor also advises students to pay attention to the listserv and to ask friends for the e-mail addresses or phone numbers of their landlords. A lot of landlords own more than one property and can help students find housing.

“Once you find a house you want to rent, don’t delay, get a lease signed,” Taylor said.
Other good places to look are the classified ads in the Union-Bulletin and on the message board in the Reid Campus Center basement. It can also be a good idea to post a message on the student listserv asking if anything is available for your group.

“I feel like I’m going around in the dark. When I talk to landlords they say they’re full and I don’t know when I was supposed to start looking,” said sophomore Amelia Gallaher.
For students unable to find off-campus housing through landlords and friends with leases they are willing to pass down, the college owns 28 additional rental properties. These houses provide 127 students with housing and are still considered off-campus despite being owned by the college.

The houses are put in a lottery held shortly after spring break. If a junior lives in a house they are allowed to keep the house for the following year, but can stay for a maximum of two years. This precludes passing the lease down to underclassmen friends.

“We don’t think its fair to pass the house down. For one thing we need to give all of the people who don’t have the opportunity of knowing someone who lives in one of the houses the opportunity to get in. Also, it makes it much harder to do projects,” said Rental Property Manager Kathy O’Leary.

The 28 homes are on a rotating project schedule. Three or four houses are targeted for updating every year. This means students may have the opportunity to live an a recently remodeled home or in one which has been subjected to 10 years of wear and tear.

Whitman-owned houses try to keep rent low, but it is generally a little more expensive comparable area rents. This is in part because the school pays for utilities. The school does not subsidize those extra costs, but adds to the rent what the projected utility bill will be.
Upperclassmen who have gone through the process note that while housing may initially be stressful to find, it eventually all works out.

“It’s totally doable. I like how reasonable it is to live in Walla Walla. It’s about half of what my friends pay in real cities,” said senior Mollie Price.

The date of the housing lottery will announced shortly before spring break and the available houses can be looked at online at the Residence Life Web page: whitman.edu/content/business_office/rental/student-rental-properties.

Symposium turnout shows student apathy

No one expected last week’s second annual Symposium on Diversity and Community to be as well attended as last year’s. After all, last year there was a real, pressing issue that needed to be addressed: Two students’ costumes at a fraternity party had moved the campus to practical pandemonium over the hypersensitive subject of race and racism in the context of Whitman College.

In case you somehow missed it, the students had attended a Survivor-themed party wearing black paint on their faces and upper bodies. Photographs from the party (which turned up on Facebook days later) were spotted by another student, who felt attacked by the costumes, which she felt were reminiscent of blackface make-up and minstrel shows. She e-mailed the student listserv voicing her concerns, effectively launching a campus-wide debate on what was and was not racist, and what Whitman should do about it.

Here’s what Whitman did about it: The administration canceled classes for a day to host a campus-wide symposium and discussion on race. The day’s events were attended by more than 1,000 Whitman students, faculty and staff—that’s more than three-quarters of the campus. Last year, symposium sessions were almost exclusively standing-room-only affairs. All in all, the first symposium was hailed as an enormous success.

Of course, there have been critical voices. Listserv e-mails and hushed side conversations expressed concern that while talking about diversity was great, it really wasn’t enough. What were Whitman students doing to remedy obvious race problems on campus, and more importantly, in America at large?

As the year wore on, discussion on race was largely shelved. Of course, the administration tweaked things here and there (notably replacing faculty members in several academic departments with new hires specifically educated on subjects of diversity; ASWC, too, formed a Diversity Committee to keep conversation going about follow-up symposia). But for the most part, Whitman went back to its comfortable state of complacency.

That original symposium (and its multi-pronged follow-up activities) was nevertheless enough to change Whitman’s reputation. A school that had been off-handedly referred to as “White-man College” behind its back for years was suddenly ranked number 12 in the “Lots of Race/Class Interaction” category by Princeton Review. In reality, the race and class demographics at Whitman haven’t changed much in the last several years; in fact, the Pioneer reported that this year Whitman enrolled only three African-American student—an almost 10-year low.
So why the sudden jump in ranking? The symposia—last year’s and this year’s—certainly haven’t hurt. You have to admit: A campus-wide conversation on issues of “diversity” and “community” looks great on paper.

Personally, I tend to side with the critics. A day-long discussion on race seems largely masturbatory to me. Sure, you can talk and theorize about these things all you want; you can even feel guilty for your white privilege or your rich parents for a couple of hours; but at the end of the day, nothing has changed. You figure you’ve done enough just by thinking about and recognizing these issues. Then you can do your homework in general mental peace.

That said, I was profoundly disappointed in the turnout for the morning and afternoon activities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day—the day selected for this year’s symposium (the evening keynote address by Patricia J. Williams, on the other hand, was pleasantly but unsurprisingly full). For the Plenary Session (which featured discussions on everything from classism to weight-ism; the State Penitentiary to illegal immigration; pride to secrecy; as well as a healthy dose of student testimonies on identity), Cordiner Hall was less than half full. I went to one afternoon session that was attended by about 30 students (this was one of the better turn-outs, by the way); another that was attended by fewer than 10.

Most of my friends didn’t participate in any of the day’s activities; admittedly partly out of sheer laziness (and a refusal to pass up the opportunity to get drunk on a Sunday night), but partly, they claimed, because the idea of a symposium didn’t really fly with them.
“What’s the point? You sit around and feel guilty for being white. What does that accomplish? You leave feeling better about yourself for talking with a bunch of other white people about the oppressed minorities of society. That’s bullshit.”

And on some level they’re right.

On a deeper level, though, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a national holiday for a reason. We miss classes not because MLK liked to drink and smoke in the afternoon, but because he died fighting for Civil Rights. There’s no non-clichéd way to put that: Martin Luther King Jr. Day exists to remember, celebrate and mourn the events of the Civil Rights Movement—whose ramifications, by the way, are still just as enormous and tense as ever.

It would be great if everyone took 20 minutes out of every day to think about race, class or religion in America outside of a mandatory classroom setting. It would be great if everyone had the time to read the paper and remain educated on the crises and struggles we are continually facing on these issues. It would be really great if everyone who cared, on some level, about race and class in America did something proactive about it—started a research group; organized a community coalition; wrote letters to Congress; blogged every day; etc.

But we don’t.

So when there’s one day set aside to simply think, talk, and meditate on these subjects, it is our responsibility to take advantage of that. It is absolutely uncomfortable and frustrating to think actively about these things; reality is difficult—we all know that. Thinking and talking and talking and thinking, though, is how change begins. Very few successful actions come without careful contemplation.

Maybe 90 percent of the students who attended this year’s race symposium left with no new ideas. Maybe most of us returned to the academic world without added consideration on these major problems in America.

But if one person learns something that turns into proactive motion—wouldn’t you call that a success?

The symposium is self-important and vain. It might exist only to keep Whitman high up on the Princeton Review’s list. But we can (I might argue we have a responsibility to) get more out of it than just that.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.” Take information where you can get it; take time when it is given. And maybe next year, without any incentive, Whitman will grow out of its arrogance and move towards a greater understanding.

Writer’s Strike continues; industry suffers

Twelve weeks into the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike, many television programs have gone dark.
“I was watching ‘Chuck’ and there was no resolution! Suddenly it just ended, and my sister and I just looked at the screen and said ‘What!?’” said senior Deanna Lucini.

The strike began in November and primarily focuses on the writer’s perceived rights to Internet residuals. The WGA is facing off against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and asking for  2.5 percent of profits from new-media sales and distribution. Writers are currently not paid for streaming material—including full episodes archived online—which some companies have argued is “promotional material,” despite embedded advertising.

“Soon, when computers and your T.V. are connected, that’s how we’re all going to watch,” said writer Howard Gould at a WGA meeting just prior to the strike. “Those residuals are going to go from what they are towards zero if we don’t make a stand now.”

The AMPTP argues that new media is too new and an unpredictable medium.
“The average working WGA writer makes more than the combined salaries of a teacher, a firefighter, a police officer, and an emergency medical technician,” says the AMPTP’s official Web site.

“But strikes are never about money. They’re always about respect,” civil rights worker Andrew Young told Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert on “The Colbert Report.”

Indeed, the losses from the strike have already far exceeded the disputed money. The WGA estimates that the strike has now cost writers over $160 million, though their proposals would have resulted in only $151 million in three years.

“The U.S. economy is positioned for a hard fall, and they’ve lost almost $2 billion in revenue in Los Angeles,” said Rhetoric and Film Studies Professor Amy Corey. “For a country on the edge of recession, I’m surprised there isn’t more effort to end the strike.”

The strike has put many production staffers out of work as well. “Legions of hairdressers and stylists must be in mourning right now,” said Lucini, referring to the cancellation of the Golden Globes (which was retooled into a less glamorous press conference).

Some show runners, like Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, chose to pay their non-writing staff while production was halted. Recently, though, late night television has returned. Some shows—David Letterman’s “Late Show” and Craig Ferguson’s “Late Late Show”—have arranged separate deals with the WGA allowing their writers to return, since Letterman’s independent production company, Worldwide Pants, produces both shows. Other hosts—Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Carson Daly and Stephen Colbert—have returned to their respective shows without writers, many of them forced to improvise as members of the WGA themselves.
Moreover, many of the starlets that frequent late night television have refused to cross the picket line and do interviews, leading to some creative bookings: O’Brien spent a good 10 minutes with P. Diddy’s butler.

Some are impressed with the creative approaches of writer-less hosts.

“I have a renewed interest in late night shows, don’t normally watch them,” said Lucini. “Leno actually seemed better than he has in awhile because he actually had to think about his material. Previously it seemed like he was going through the motions.”

Others are less than satisfied with the quality of returning shows. “I don’t watch T.V. often, but it’s getting lame,” said Genevieve Yazzie of Bon Appetít. “I just hope people are noticing the difference in things.”

“There’s a certain sense of bitterness that pervades the program,” Corey said of watching a writer-less Jon Stewart, who has temporarily changed the name of his program from “The Daily Show” to “A Daily Show.”

A Pepperdine University poll showed that 84 percent of the public were aware of the strike in November. Public opinion largely favors the writers, with nearly two-thirds siding with the WGA.
“I like that they’re making Hollywood sweat,” said Yazzie.

“The studios have done little to present a case for their holding out for so long, especially since striking a deal with the Director’s Guild so quickly,” said senior Rob Rye in an e-mail.

However, 75 percent of respondents in the same poll had little to no concern over the strike.
“Moralistically, I can understand where the writers are coming from,” said Lucini. “But from a selfish standpoint, I just want my T.V. shows to come back on.”

“With all the late night shows off the air, Americans have been forced to read books and occasionally even  speak to one another,” Conan O’Brien joked upon returning to his NBC show.

O’Brien’s humor rings true for senior Suzanne Zitzer.

“I feel sorry for the writers,” she said. “But I hope it means people will watch less television.”

“People are still watching T.V.,” said Corey. “There are small shifts to other activities, but there is so much programming out there. I’m watching reruns of ‘CSI’ because I was watching ‘Ugly Betty’ in the fall, and they’re new to me.”

The WGA and AMPTP are currently discussing the possibility about resuming talks after they broke down last month, and many hope that the Oscars—planned for February and supposedly hosted by Jon Stewart—will proceed.

Regardless, Corey said, “It will take a long time for original programming to recover.”

The underdog army of Iowa, losing the battle, winning the war

Nothing about Iowa is glamorous. The star quality that passes for currency in New York and Los Angeles is as alien to the Hawkeye state as a palm tree. That is why every four years, with the influx of people and attention that comes with the Iowa Caucuses, Iowans feel like they have been transported to another world.

And so did I. Walking among the politicos, journalists, wonks and other suited outsiders that deplaned with me in the Des Moines airport this December felt like being in a raiding party; we were entering a foreign land in search of democratic booty.
The plunder would not be easy to come by. When I arrived in Iowa there were three weeks left until the caucus and the polls showed John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a three-way tie.

Edwards was my candidate. Without the vindicating results of Iowa and South Carolina’s contests, Obama’s artful rhetoric seemed little more than cake icing. And anyway, if Obama really stands for the whole country, why isn’t his health care plan universal? Clinton’s claims of independence and a readiness for change were and remain insubstantial pandering; how independent can you be if you accept more lobbying money (to the tune of tens of millions of dollars) from pharmaceutical and defense corporations than any other member of congress? John Edwards, the old school populist, the class warrior liberal with no financial ties to special interests, was my guy, despite lacking the other candidates’ news support and a $100 million war chest.

It was impossible to spot the Edwards headquarters from the street except by the signs on the door and the rotating crowd of cigarette smokers outside of it (as my boss said, “if you don’t smoke on a campaign, there is something f***ing wrong with you”). Similarly nondescript buildings nearby played host to the Clinton and Obama campaigns; all of the high-profile downtown office spaces were occupied by the Republican candidates’ staff while we Dems held it down in the boonies.

It was clear that the office we were in was not meant for anything nearly as intricate as a modern large-scale grassroots campaign. The bottom floor was home to the field office (the branch of the campaign dedicated to non-mass media voter contact) while all the strategy, press and finance people who were either too important or not important enough to be with John on the stump were upstairs. I found my home below decks with the field people.
If a campaign is an army trying to win the caucus-battle, the field office is the infantry and logistics branch (the press specialists could be the air force, dropping bombs, the strategy people might be the intelligence and leadership, you get the idea). In the two weeks before caucus week we sent about 30 volunteers knocking door to door and made more than 1,000 phone calls per day.

The tempo increased exponentially in the last five days before the caucus when the 14 field organizers and I began the field blitz we had been planning. Every house of likely caucus-goers in every precinct in Des Moines would be contacted at least three times by phone and visited at least once at their door. We were marshaling our corps of volunteers to do battle with two better funded and better covered campaigns.

I worked in the largest caucus staging location for these last days, a gymnasium-sized union hall with one central room, a smoke-filled break room and dingy offices. Burly steel workers sat next to Southern belles in this melting pot of Edwards supporters, each working frantically for the cause.

When caucus day finally came, the weather changed drastically. It had been terrible for my first three weeks, never topping 15 degrees. On caucus day, the thermometer shot up to 35, melting ice and our clench on victory. Through our superbly organized field operation we had been able to contact every voter we thought would attend the caucus; according to their responses, Edwards would sweep.

The weather told a different story; it wouldn’t only be the hard-core activist Democrats (Edward’s base) that would make it out to the caucus as usual. First time caucus-goers (Obama’s chance for a win) and old people (Clinton’s coalition) would now surely find their way to caucus in the relative warmth. Our game plan, resting largely on the assumption that the level of caucus participation this year would remain similar to that of previous years, was burned by newly arrived sun.

The rest is history; Obama won by 8 percent in a caucus with almost double the turnout of 2004. Senator Obama’s appeal to traditionally politically inactive individuals is a powerful force, and the great weather of Jan. 3 certainly helped him bring them out. I was sad, even depressed, for a while. But now I am excited to support Obama against the establishment Democrats for Clinton, and to continue on the path fighting with the underdog in Iowa set for the next step of my political life.

Shipwreck: Abroad! A full life in Hungary

No fear is as great as the fear of exile. The sentinels, in their glossy red armor, knocking on your door with the staff of authority, sealed documents of High Damnation in hand…it is a terrifying image. But I have been exiled, and I confide that I enjoy my new life.

Exile is more honorable than you think, and more bearable. Our parents threaten us constantly with loss of title and disinheritance, but still many fear exile from these wasted shores. Fear not, friends.

I myself reside now in the far-fabled land of Hungary, called Magyarorszag by the wise, where a dark-eyed people invented insane new geometries and accursed puzzle cubes.

I love it, and I never intend to return, and the damned scandal sheets can print what they like. Every day outstrips the last: In the morning, the ancient Jewish quarter beckons with its mournful synagogue and plentiful seltzer, while in the afternoon a thousand landmarks crowd my schedule.

In the old Soviet bloc, you will find every imaginable amenity. The fabled absinthe faucets have fallen into disuse, but there still many diversions. All possible plans dissolve before the quantity of options: My laundry can wait, the Slovakian circus is in town!

Old men will whisper the identities of traitors and heroes as they sleep on the metro. Bullet holes everywhere pock the faces of Ronald McDonald and Will Smith. Retired lingerie models put cigarettes out on their tongues to prove their mettle.

In bars, you can discover whole belief systems drowned in liquor: Shots, deciliters, fruit brandy and all the other mysteries of faith conspire to blur vision and speed dance.

The bartenders, either terrifying and suspiciously injured or beautiful and unreasonably perky, will grin and pour.
You can walk through parks littered with plaques bearing the names of fallen heroes. Poets who defended ramparts and soldiers who divided particles cast bronzed and brilliant shadows on the dying weeds.

It is impossible to cast a whole people into words—even a single blinking child confounds the ablest pen. But it is possible to find out how others regard America, the vast petulant salesman of Tomorrow.

Besides the front line of bouncers, tobacconists and whores, who all have steady contact with Americans, many citizens of Budapest have a confused image of the United States. Our film industry makes out as robbers and sex addicts, impossibly witty and wasteful. The ramen-eating, earth-tone-wearing student of our campus has little place in this fevered imagination.

I am not a wealthy man: My factories all closed when the bottom fell out of the Robo-Gladiator industry three years ago. Still, the assumption is that I can afford any amount of drinks and bridge repairs. I make no complaints:

My forgeries are skillful and respectful towards the original artists.

Still, I came here to drowse over the cold science of form, not enjoy myself, and I damn well deserve that much. If I had wanted to have a good time, I would have said as much on my visa application.

I haven’t found the bright, burning anti-U.S. hatred that foreigners apparently reserve for CNN cameras, but there is some contempt, swimming underneath the surface.

The security detail at “Szex Shop & Sztriptiz,” a local gift and novelty store, was less than polite during my last visit, even if I was as hammered as a railroad spike.

Even my normally chipper languages teacher was put off when I asked how to say: “Halt, great-horned dweller of the blasted land, for I am a son of the lineage of Washington and Lincoln!”

These minor faults aside, the people of Eastern Europe are very kind and well-disposed towards Americans, particularly in light of their decades long training in our demise under the Soviet Union.

Indeed, in their desire to escape that terrible and astonishing tyranny, the Eastern states have embraced our unceasing creed of action films and tubed potato chips with ease and enthusiasm.

Western Europe may be more iconic and garish, Asia may boast a landmass greater than all the planets in the solar system, and Africa may boast the soaring strains of “Bright lights, Big city!” but Eastern Europe remains the jeweled trigger on the pearl-handled Luger of Earth.

McDonald’s: I’m Lovin’ It

Imagine the options: Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Big Mac, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Quarter Pounder, McChicken, Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Sweet and Sour Sauce, Barbecue Sauce, Honey Mustard Sauce, Southwest Salad, Asian Salad, Bacon Ranch Salad, Egg McMuffin, McSkillet Burrito, Sausage McMuffin, Fruit n’ Yogurt Parfait, McFlurry. I’m lovin’ it.

I am not your typical Whitman College student. I don’t play Frisbee, I don’t own a pair of Chacos, I hate rock climbing, and I like McDonald’s. I love McDonald’s. For the past three and a half years I have been hiding this secret, clandestinely munching on Chicken Nuggets in the parking lot of the McDonald’s on Issacs, each dip into the Sweet and Sour sauce full of shame.

In high school it was no big deal. My friends and I would go to McDonald’s all the time, take it back to school, and eat it in plain view of the entire campus. Why, then, can I not bring myself to step onto Ankeny, red, white and gold bag in hand? Why the shame?

I tried to reveal my love of McDonald’s to a few other Whitties on a road trip and was met with bitter remarks such as “I didn’t know there were any Whitman students who like that place,” and “We could go there I guess, but I would only get water,” and lastly “I wouldn’t even get the water.” My face turned red and I hastily agreed to stop at Taco del Mar instead. I’ve read “Fast Food Nation,” I’ve scanned the articles on partially hyrdrogenated soybean oil, I’ve seen “Supersize Me,” I know there is no such thing as a nugget on a chicken, but I still love McDonald’s.

First off, I genuinely love the taste. I adore trans fats, so shoot me. But there is more to McDonald’s than taste. The Hamburglar for one is an inspired pun. And while Ronald McDonald is slightly disturbing, in the way all clowns are, the Hamburglar is quite lovable.

On top of that, I just love the globalization of McDonald’s. I now have come to expect that there would be McDonald’s in Italy, France or Chile. But should I find myself in Qatar, Aruba, Georgia, Slovakia or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines I can find some solace in knowing that Micky D’s is nearby.

That’s another thing, the nicknames, oh the nicknames. In the UK it is referred to as Macky D’s, McDo in France, Maccers in Ireland, Mackedonken in Sweden and Macarranis in Mexico. What a lovely, shape-shifting and versatile institution. It might use tumor-ridden beef or contribute to the obesity of America, but I think it is just great.

So now, I welcome your scorn. And if you see me in a green Ford Explorer, stuffing my face with fries, knock on my window and I’ll give you a greasy, oily, salty smile.

Tech upgrade results in grades, scheduling errors

Since launching a new upgrade of the school’s administrative program, Datatel, in October, several scheduling and grading mix-ups have occurred. The most notable errors were a mistake in the online grades that were posted Dec. 20 and the scheduling of the History and Sociology of Rock ‘n’ Roll class.

“We went to a brand new version of the software, and this is the first time we’ve done grades and registration with the new software,” said Director of Administrative Technology Michael Quiner. “We messed up.”

The upgraded version of Datatel was a general update that needed to be tailored to fit Whitman’s needs.

“Whitman has very unique policy requirements and those put excessive demand on the software and the staff that has to adjust the software to fit Whitman’s picture,” said Registrar Ron Urban.

In the scramble to adjust the software, a computing error was made which caused all A’s to show up as A+’s on the online reports. This mix-up affected 1,100 individual grades; however, it had no effect on either semester or cumulative GPAs.

“It was honorific capital that was being spent; it had nothing to do substantively with the numerical value,” said Urban.

Even though GPAs were not affected, a minority of students still requested that their A+’s be restored. Their requests were not accommodated.

Most students understood the mistake. “I thought it was a little weird, but it was fine,” said first-year Diane Feuillet. “An A was still fine with me for my first semester at college.  It wasn’t a huge deal, a little disappointing at first, but I didn’t mind too much.”
The mistake was fixed within the next day.

“It was embarrassing, but they caught it within a day and I suspect that some students didn’t even notice a difference,” said Urban. “Justice was served in the end.”

Independent of the Datatel upgrade was a scheduling blunder surrounding the History and Sociology of Rock ‘n’ Roll class. The class, which is typically group-taught on a two-year rotation by Professors Keith Farrington and Dave Schmitz, was accidentally scheduled as two separate classes, one in the sociology department and the other in the history department. Last year, Schmitz was on sabbatical and the course was taught solely by Farrington.
“Last year only one professor taught the class and we didn’t catch the transition from one to two, so we left it as two separate sections,” said Urban.

Unfortunately, the slip was not recognized until after pre-registration was complete.
“We should have proofread our schedule of classes more closely and that’s what we are going to do from now on: have two sets of eyes look at it,” said Urban.

Schmitz and Farrington were then faced with a decision of whether to un-enroll 50 students or teach the classes separately.

“Both Dave Schmitz and I are pretty student oriented, and know it’s a small school and that if students want to take classes you try and do what you can to let them into the classes,” Farrington said. “We winded up having two separate sections of the class.”

With each professor teaching a section of 50 students, they were able to accommodate all hundred students who were originally registered, as well as accommodating many students on the wait list.

“We’ll have to see how it turns out, but we think this is pretty workable and manageable,” Schmitz said. “It was just an honest mistake and what we didn’t want was to punish the students.”

Given the change, each class plan was slightly altered to reflect the specialty of the professor teaching it. “The sections will have somewhat different emphasis,” said Schmitz. “But we tried to minimize that by swapping sections about seven or eight times a semester.”

Although both the grading and scheduling mix-ups have been fixed, Urban assures us that when dealing with a complex computer system, future errors are inevitable.

“These will probably never happen again, but I can guarantee you that we will make other mistakes,” said Urban.

Wind storm ravages campus over break

On Friday, Jan. 4, while the majority of the student body was wrapping up their last week of winter break, a windstorm struck Walla Walla that downed more than 55 trees around campus and knocked out power for 30 hours.

“Above all else, we are thankful that no one was injured,” said Whitman President George Bridges, in a statement released soon after the storm. “And it is miraculous that the physical damage was minimal. I want to thank everyone who has stepped up in response to this storm… I’m not surprised about the way the campus pulled together in response to the storm, but I could not be more proud, grateful and impressed.”

Among the students and staff present for the storm were members of the Residence Life staff, who were on a retreat in College Place. When the winds started, with gusts later reported at about 78 miles per hour, tiles on the roof of the church in which staff members were staying began flying off.

“At first I had no idea there was a storm going on,” said sophomore James Bevan-Lee, a Resident Advisor who attended the retreat. “I [went] upstairs and then the door just flew open, before I could even open it. … There were branches and everything flying down the street, it was absolutely insane.”

Bevan-Lee described the atmosphere among the Residence Life staff as the storm continued.
“Everyone was looking out the windows, and the ceiling of the church was flying off, trees were down. … We just kind of had to come together to make the best out of a bad situation. It was a good bonding experience,” he said.

Ben Wu, Residence Director of Lyman House, described the difficulty the staff faced in navigating their way back to campus after the storm.

“There were lots of trees down, so it was difficult to drive around. …The windstorm came in the morning, and I drove back to campus to pick up a few things and Boyer was completely blocked off, because there was a giant tree right in that crosswalk between Memorial and Prentiss,” he said.

Students being housed at North Hall over break experienced some power outages, but regained electricity earlier than other buildings because North is on a separate power grid.
“We ended up going to Wal-Mart and buying them flashlights and things like that to bring them [during the power outage],” said Wu.

The storm also impacted Whitman students staying near campus to participate in the Wilderness First Responder (WFR) program.

“When we were outside during the windstorm doing our practice scenarios, we thought that a tree was going to fall on someone,” said first-year and WFR participant Julia Light. “We had lots of practice scenarios where trees fell on people. One of our fellow trainees had a tree fall on their house.”

Apart from structural damages to several buildings around Walla Walla, including a few college-owned properties, power was completely shut down from Friday morning until about 10 a.m. Saturday, causing schools like Walla Walla Community College to cancel classes. A state of emergency was briefly declared for Walla Walla County after much of its population was left without power.

“I don’t think we realized the significance of the storm right away,” said Bevan-Lee. “We thought the power would be out for like an hour.”

Both Wu and Bevan-Lee expressed their gratitude that the windstorm struck before students returned to campus the following week.

“We weren’t really expecting it,” Wu said. “It was lucky that no one was around campus…just imagine not having power for like two days.”

“It would have been chaos,” Bevan-Lee said, describing the situation that might have evolved if the storm hit while school was in session.

“The thing that was actually pretty amazing was how quickly everything got cleaned up after the storm,” Wu continued. “The Physical Plant had to pretty much saw all the trees into manageable pieces and then they wood chipped some of them and they hauled off some of the log-sized ones to store. … So by the time school resumed for everyone you wouldn’t have known anything had happened except for the stumps.”

Also in his statement published on the Whitman Web site, George Bridges wrote, “Our entire physical plant crew brought their knowledge and expertise. Our admissions, registrar, business office, student life and residence life staff spent hours over the weekend getting ready for students to return. And the technology services staff brought the campus network back online very quickly after power was restored.”

blue moon’s ‘Install Me’ takes over campus

This week Whitman’s literary magazine blue moon went 3-D. On Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m., blue moon hosted “Install Me,” an exhibition of performance and installation art on campus. For one hour, the entire campus became a gallery of student art that couldn’t be printed in blue moon.

Kate Rosenberg, editor-in-chief of the magazine and creator of “Install Me,” chose installation and performance art specifically because they are underrepresented on campus.

“This is the first year we’ve ever done anything like this with blue moon before, and we’re hoping to overwhelm the campus with this art,” said Rosenberg. “Install Me” was originally planned for a single venue, but the magazine staff decided instead to allow entrants to choose their own sites. During the event, campus maps were handed out highlighting the positions of every artist.

“Install Me” was the second event put on by the magazine this year, but the first with new content. In November, Verve Coffeehouse downtown hosted “Big Art,” a showcase of work from last year’s blue moon. Rosenberg chose these events to keep the magazine a presence on campus, even before its April release date.

“I really wanted blue moon to be a yearlong program, and not just something exciting at the end of the year. The combination of these two events is a really good way to build momentum, getting different kinds of artists involved in the program. We’re building more of a community at Whitman.”

More than anything, Rosenberg hopes “Install Me,” which took place the week before general submissions for this year’s blue moon are due, encouraged students to send their work in. For submission guidelines, visit whitman.edu/bluemoon.
“The magazine is great for presenting art in a professional, 2-D format, but performance and installation art can convey a wider range of messages. That’s what we’re hoping to see brought here,” said Rosenberg.

In order to boost submissions, every member of the blue moon staff was required to either submit or sponsor a submission to the event. The deadline was extended several times in order to allow for more entries.

“It’s scary, in an academic environment like this, for students to take part in an art form that’s more deeply personal and exposing,” said Rosenberg, who had a piece in the show entitled “Oh My God, How Was It?” performed in the entrance to the library.

Art Selections Editor Adriana Piazza was also excited for the variation from the norm promised by “Install Me.” Her installation was edible, and also in the entrance to the library.

“There’s going to be a much bigger range of people involved in this project,” she said last week as she prepared for the show. “It’s a good opportunity for people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as artistic, who aren’t art majors. We’re hoping to attract people who weren’t familiar with installation of performance art before this, and who got excited about it through the advertising.”

The staff for blue moon have advertised constantly this school year, using the venues of Facebook and YouTube as further ways to reach large numbers of students. Students can now join a Facebook group which links to blue moon’s Web site and updates members on news about the magazine.

Campus has also been bombarded with blue paraphernalia, which changes week to week. The presentations have no identifying mark on them, other than an occasional reference to the submission deadline of Feb. 4.

Last week an advertising installation next to Memorial was taken out of the tree branches where it hung and was left on the ground. This event took place at the same time that the horse sculpture on the edge of Ankeny, which had been wrapped in blue plastic sheeting, was covered in Kappa Kappa Gamma advertising. Magazine staffers took down the Kappa posters immediately, which were unrelated to blue moon and “Install Me.”

Last week the blue moon in the windows of the library was also unveiled.

“It’s a keystone of advertising for the magazine,” said Piazza. “The horse worked out well because it was right before the moon went up on the library. Now hopefully people know what the horse was about.”

Sex, Lies and Videotape: Letting ‘The Departed’ lie in its pool of blood

I recently saw “The Departed,” Martin Scorsese’s 2006 blockbuster about the seedy underworld of Boston gangs. It was a huge deal. Oscars were won, critics were thrown into fits of ecstasy, beloved TV actors were thrown off buildings. Huge deal.

I also recently saw “Shortbus” again. “Shortbus” made $131,000,000 dollars LESS than “The Departed” in theaters in 2006. Don’t laugh. I’m being serious.

I’ll hand it to Martin. His movie is smart, surprising, complicated and well-acted. It’s just bloody as hell. And I think that’s totally unnecessary.

“Shortbus” made so little money because it is entirely about sex and features actors actually having sex. It looks real because it is real. It would be porn, except the plot is actually crucial and there is no degrading enterprise behind this movie. The director, John Cameron Mitchell, wanted to make a ground-breaking movie that was honest about sexuality. Which also makes it different from porn.

I think the phrase “sex sells” is absurd. If that were true, “Shortbus” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien” would be the two most popular movies of all time. They certainly are not. They get banned and protested. When jaded producers with cigars dangling out the sides of their mouths say “sex sells,” they mean the kind of sex that happens on basic cable. The kind where kissing leads to loving undress leads to no mention of protection leads to 100 percent successful vaginal orgasm every time.

“The Departed” has one sex scene. It ends at the loving undress. Which isn’t actually very loving. When sex doesn’t sell from that first scenario, it will certainly sell when it victimizes one of the involved parties (I will refrain from saying it’s ALWAYS THE WOMAN), and when both parties seem to like it that way.

There is no reason to keep making movies like “The Departed.” There is no reason to glamorize life as a Boston gang member. Scorsese’s skill is undeniable, but it needs to leave the realm of angry Irish/Italian/Michael Jackson men. Yeah, that’s right. He did the video for “Bad.” I really do feel some guilt about my anger towards Martin. He’s got those great glasses. But what he’s doing is wrong.

What Scorsese (among many, many others) is doing is encouraging a culture where the sight of close-range bullet wounds and murder out of spite is no longer disturbing, but the sight of male nudity (especially if it is near OTHER NUDE MALES) is absolutely so. “The Departed” would like us to forget that being naked, of the two scenarios, is actually the one that will not land you in prison for the rest of your life.

No, you will not swim in mounds of coke like Jack Nicholson with the hooker girlfriend if you decide to start a mob. You will get shot by the police, like everybody in “The Departed,” and no one will care because it will look just like it does in all those movies.

I don’t think violence will disappear if violent movies disappear. I do, however, think violence will change. Criminals will not be so creative. They will stop getting ideas from people who win prestigious Hollywood awards for thinking up perfect crimes.

I also think sex will change if movies with realistic portrayals of sex become mainstream. Rape is such a destructive form of assault because it plays on the fact that sex is taboo. Everyone’s afraid to talk about it too honestly because there are genitals involved in rape. Nice people do not talk about genitals. They Beta snap when people get shot in the forehead unexpectedly instead.

“The Departed” is an easy target, no pun intended, because it really doesn’t leave much except for blood. If Martin Scorsese called me to argue about the merits of his work, he would have to work pretty hard. Way too many characters end up in pools of brain-blood for there to be a moral to the story. The good guys and the bad guys die. Actually, there are no good guys or bad guys. They just all die.

“Shortbus” is also an extreme example. There are movies that portray the human figure truthfully and, without exception, involve hardcore penetration. I am asking that we as consumers aim to support this category.

I suggest we remember that we were all born a) naked and b) as the direct result of sex. We were not born knowing the names of handguns.

Revealing spirituality one week at a time

“Spirituality” is a loaded term; if this is obvious to you, you’re probably a Whitman student. Perhaps you’ve passed Core; or maybe you failed it—I’ll assume you at least read the syllabus just to see how much reading you were going to avoid while you drew random circles in your otherwise empty notebook with a pencil and compass; or maybe you’ve encountered some form of broadcast news coverage, reporting on, rather hysterically no doubt, the rather hysterical religious and/or pseudo-religious rhetoric of modern American presidential campaigns. Watching the History Channel will provide you with a similar education.

As long as you haven’t spent your entire life imprisoned in a cave staring at shadows, you know that “spirituality” is a loaded term. If you have been imprisoned in a cave your entire life, stop reading this article immediately. It offers you nothing, not least because you can’t read. Go back to the cave and save yourself the trouble—your eyesight will thank you.

For those of us whose existence has been elevated by knowledge—and you go to Whitman, remember, so yours must be roughly equivalent in scale to the last grade you received on a philosophy paper—there’s no turning back. We are not only aware of our existence, we at least know something about the, often, brutal role religion has played in the history of mankind and we are inundated with dubiously self-serving and insincere religious and spiritual messages: everything from Jerry Falwell to Miss Cleo. “Spirituality” is a term loaded with bullshit.

To concern myself with this sort of loadedness would be to cover familiar ground, especially for you, loyal Whitman reader. Rather, I’m interested in the other things with which spirituality is loaded: the complex, the mysterious, the stuff of personal reflection and experience. I’m interested in what’s left if that stuff doesn’t exist, if indeed we are no more than human, and there is no greater. I want to know what you, YES YOU, think about God.

Before soliciting your response, I should like to introduce my own religious history, if not my thoughts. I was raised by a spiritually aware mother and a father who was sympathetic to her interest. They attended the Unity of School of Christianity in Kansas City, where I was born, and continued to so while I was growing up. Other than for Bar-Mitzvahs and the odd funeral or tourist visit, Unity is the only church I have attended. As the name suggests, it is a Christian institution, concerned with metaphysical interpretations of the Bible and a personal experience of God and the spirit of Christ. I’ll talk more about Unity in future issues. I think I’ve thus gained an appreciation for the potential power of both organized religion and personal spirituality, whatever that is.

I’ve been a lapsed church-goer for a long while, and I struggle with these questions all the more as a result. So I’m resolving, in service to this column and what I think might be my soul, that I’ll be attending a religious service once a week, meditating once in a while and taking a yoga class. This last one might be entirely worthless as a means of spiritual development—I read a story in the Los Angeles Times last month about L. A.’s elite having yoga cocktail parties, which are like regular cocktail parties but for jerks, so I’m skeptical. If you have a suggestion that isn’t a cult that will make me drink strychnine or pound Keystone, I’m open.

As an element of this part-time quest, I want to hear from you. If you are a faithful Christian, I’d prefer not to hear any more about the dogma of your chosen faith than is necessary to explicate what you think. If you’re a committed atheist, or an uncommitted one, I want to hear about the moments which make you think harder and wonder if it’s possible you’re wrong, if there are any. The joys of faith, the depths of spiritual doubt and everything in between. Contact me by e-mail or phone. If you know me, talk to me. If you don’t, introduce yourself. I’m serious. I want to see what Whitman thinks, if they think at all. And you do think, don’t you?

Professors bring expertise to Juvenile Detention Center, State Pen.

The Washington State Penitentiary’s presence in Walla Walla is pretty obvious. The lights from the prison are visible from many places in town, signs warning against giving rides to strangers line the highway and KWCW gets its most consistent numbers of listeners from behind bars.

Not as many people at Whitman think much about the Walla Walla Juvenile Detention Center. Minors who have been sent to the Center are out on the sidewalks of downtown every weekend doing garbage duty, but their presence rarely registers with those walking by.

Rebecca Sickels, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies at Whitman, has devoted much more than her attention to these teenagers. Every week for almost two years, she’s been teaching a yoga class for girls at the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC).

“It was a friend of mine that happens to run the JDC that told me I really ought to teach there,” said Sickels. “I said I would do it for a month, and if I hated it my friend had to stop talking about it. Of course I ended up loving it.”

In order to take Sickels’ class, female detainees must first earn privileges in the Detention Center. Every student who takes the class chooses to be there.

“Sometimes they don’t want to finish a class, but it’s always better than being in their rooms. I would love to think they come for me, but I’m sure they actually just hate staying in the same place all day.”

The makeup of the class is diverse, according to Sickels. There have been times when she reports having every girl present there for a different crime, and being held for a different length of time.

“The hardest thing, the thing that makes it different than Whitman, is that the kids I’m teaching are always revolving. It’s not a long-term holding facility. The kids go on to jail, or rehab, depending on what they’ve done. Or they go on probation.”

Sickels is in the middle of trying to create a program for her students who get put on probation. With a potential start date sometime next fall, this setup would allow relationships with students to last longer than their stays in the JDC.

“It seems like as soon as we form a relationship, they’re moving on,” said Sickels. “I hope to eventually have them for longer, on a more structured program.”

For the sake of detainee confidentiality, no questions could be asked of girls at the JDC who have taken yoga from Sickels. She’s described by her Whitman students as “encouraging,” “perky” and “knowledgeable” in class.
But more credit is due to the young women taking yoga than the instructor, insists Sickels.

“Lots of people have written them off, just because their lives took this turn. Every person there has just as much inside of  them as you and me. They just have to tap that instead. These kids aren’t just out doing garbage duty every week. They would love to be seen as who they really are,” said Sickels.

Eventually Sickels hopes to combine yoga with volunteering even further, giving her students the chance to teach yoga in the community as well. Instructors must be certified to work at the JDC, but Sickels is confident that if given the opportunity, Whitman yoga students would also be interested in teaching.

Sickels is not the only Whitman faculty member to bring her expertise to Walla Walla’s inmates.

English professor Roberta Davidson decided to move the Shakespeare class she’s been teaching for 20 years on campus to the Washington State Penitentiary, where she worked with maximum-security prisoners.  She co-authored a book about her experience, entitled “Macbeth for Murderers,” whose release has brought the project some media attention. An interview with Davidson about her book, as well as her time behind bars, can be found online at Seattle’s NPR Web site: kuow.org.

“I’m always looking forward,” said Sickels. “I’m hoping that as part of an advanced class, I can send some students into elementary schools or into the JDC with certification. There’s a path in front of us. It’s just waiting to see if people want to follow it or not.”

Save the drama, vote for Obama

The future of Iraq, the war on terror, and America’s response to global warming are all at stake in the 2008 presidential election. As such, electability should be the prime concern when picking a Democratic candidate, as the policy gap between Democrats and Republicans on these and other key issues is simply too great to risk yet another defeat.

Obama has several clear advantages here. First and foremost is the issue of the GOP base. John McCain’s maverick past, Giuliani’s social liberalism and Romney’s flip-flopping have deflated the GOP faithful, while the Democratic base has set turn out records in Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire. The GOP has no one to rally for, so the ONLY way the Democrats risk losing this key advantage is if they give them someone to rally against.

That someone is Hillary Clinton. Clinton has been the subject of GOP slander for almost two decades, leading to her having the highest negative rating of any of the major candidates at a whopping 47 percent (compared to Obama’s 20 percent). Obama’s message of unity has led him to outperform Clinton among independents in every primary and caucus so far, a fact that has spilled over to him out performing her against GOP challengers in the national polls.
The number tell a clear tale. Realclearpolitics.com reports that Obama does, on average, 5 points better against Giuliani, 7 points better against Huckabee and 9 points better against Romney. Think this is all irrelevant because either would easily win in November? Think again. McCain, fresh off South Carolina and New Hampshire primary victories and arguably the new GOP front runner, beats both Obama and Hillary, with Obama constantly doing 3-4 points better against him.

Even Democrats have begun to realize Clinton’s electability issues. Leaked memos from Democratic strategists argue that Hillary’s polarizing nature means she would lose key states like Missouri and Ohio, while conversely Obama delivers more independents, does almost as well as Clinton with woman, spurs greater African American turnout, and keeps the GOP base at home. All these factors make Obama the surer bet for victory in November.

Some have speculated America is not ready to elect an African-American. Whether America is ready for the nebulous “black president” is irrelevant; the numbers prove they are more ready for Barack Obama than they are for Hillary Clinton.

Not only would Obama be more likely to win, he would also be a more successful president. The fatal flaw of Hilldog’s “fight the GOP” pitch is that even if she wins, she will have done so by a very narrow margin, splitting the nation and making it functionally impossible to actually govern. In this environment of partisan venom, how can liberals expect someone who is demonized by even moderate Republicans, and who openly demonizes them back, to be able to create the bipartisan consensus need to get laws passed through a polarized Congress?
Obama’s message gives him more possibilities. Obama has a chance to not only win, but to win without antagonizing large portions of the right, thus warming the political climate. This is fundamentally different from the inevitable, frosty reception Clinton would not only initially receive, but would exacerbate over time with her divisive governing philosophy.

This basic differences in the nature of an Obama presidency trumps the overblown concerns about his lack of experience. Obama has more foreign policy experience than Reagan, Clinton, or GWB (former governors); he is four years older than Jack Kennedy when he got elected. He is attempting to fundamentally alter the culture of Washington, making his lack of Washington experience one of his greatest assets.

On the issues, as much as they pretend otherwise, they are virtually indistinguishable. The main difference between them is not substance, but style, and Democrats have to wonder Clinton would be too busy fighting the GOP to actually be able to effectively fight for the change America desperately needs.

Female athletes deserve less objectified, more balanced media coverage

At the turn of the century, female athletes made up 40 percent of sports participants nationally, but received only 8 percent of the entire sports coverage. Those numbers haven’t changed much since then.

When female athletes do get covered for major news publications, it is done in such a way that reinforces traditional images of femininity. It appears that the goal of these journalists is to mold these women into presentable debutantes rather than report about their careers.

On Dec. 5 of last year, Gene Wojciechowski, a columnist for ESPN.com, wrote a feature on Candice Parker, who many sports analysts think may become the greatest women’s basketball player of all time. Wojciechowski, instead of writing about Parker’s decoration as a two time all-American, a John R. Wooden Award recipient and national champion, begins his article comparing this fierce athlete to Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde.” Apparently, they both have small dogs. The similarities end there.

Later in the article, Wojciechowski privileges his reader with the knowledge that Candice Parker doesn’t do her laundry every week. Not only that, but she knows the lyrics from Disney’s “Part of Your World.”

While dominant male athletes such as Brett Favre, Tiger Woods or Roger Federer are elevated to superhuman levels, Wojciechowski diminishes Candice Parker to a little girl in pigtails.
This is not an isolated incident.

Back in the 1980s, Chris Evert was a world number one tennis player and won 18 grand slam singles titles. Upon her retirement in 1989, Sports Illustrated decided to put her on the magazine’s cover. Next to Evert’s picture was the quotation: “I’m going to be a full time wife.” On the inside of the magazine were several pictures of Evert during her career and her husband was in each one.

Both in the feature on Candice Parker and the cover of Chris Evert, the focus is not on their athletic prowess and strength, but on their femininity. The most frequent example of this happening in the media is when an athlete gains recognition for her looks, rather than her game. Anna Kournikova was the most highly paid woman in sports at the turn of the century, but it wasn’t because of her backhand.

Most recently, on Thursday, Jan. 24, Michael Wilbon of “Pardon the Interruption” admitted that the only reason he is going to watch the final of the Australian Open was because both Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic were beautiful women.

Several people will point out in response to the outrage over comments such as Michael Wilbon’s that male athletes are seen as sex figures as well. This is indeed true, but there is a huge difference in the presentation of both genders. When a male athlete is marketed as attractive, he is shown performing in his sport because sweaty, muscular men are supposed to be sexy.

The same is not true for women. An attractive female athlete is rarely pictured actually performing in her sport. Instead, these women get dolled up and become the equivalent of a model.

Both male and female athletes may be seen as sexual figures, but the gendering of their sex appeal harbors the same submissive image as the ultra feminine Candice Parker or Chris Evert.

The most extreme case of this happening is when magazines like Maxim or Playboy pay a prominent athlete to pose nude. No one is going to look at a naked woman and suddenly respect her for her athletic ability. In addition, no magazine is going to pay prominent male athletes such as golfer John Daly to pose nude, and please let none of them do so.

More than black and white: second annual symposium and diversity and community

“Remember: A freer world begins with a freer mind,” said junior Aisha Fukushima in a “Reflection on Identity.”
Five students presented their reflections on identity as part of the Plenary Session of Whitman’s second annual Symposium on Diversity and Community. The theme of this year’s Symposium was “Unfolding Identities.”

“When we talked to faculty and staff and students about last year’s Symposium, one of the things they suggested was to include aspects of our community that were more varied,” said Dayle Smith, professor of physics and chair of the Symposium planning committee.

“I loved that the different topics covered were in themselves diverse,” said first-year McKenna Milici. “Everyone could take something different away.”

Senior Nani Gilkerson, who was a member of the planning committee, agreed that many people on campus wanted to include aspects of difference besides race.

“So what we ended up doing, I think, was creating a really broad theme, and in my personal opinion I think that that was probably one of the weak points of this year’s Symposium, that there wasn’t something that was clearly bringing it all together,” said Gilkerson.

Attendance at this year’s Symposium was down from last year’s. This is arguably attributable to the fact that there was no driving incident for the event.

“Planning this year’s symposium was challenging because it was inspired by MLK day, whereas last year’s symposium was our response to a particular incident on campus,” said Smith. “We cancelled classes, it was a big media event.”

The timing of the Symposium this year also affected attendance. Rather than having classes cancelled, the event was scheduled on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In addition, the weather on the day of the event was poor.

“None of us slept the night before, because we were worried about [attendance],” said Smith. “It was a holiday, it was really cold and snowy, so everybody who was there wanted to be there and that was really great but we were worried that the turnout wouldn’t be good.”

“We could have done more advertising,” said sophomore Missy Navarro, who was a member of the planning committee. Holding the Symposium immediately after winter break presented a challenge for advertising.

Another major challenge for this year’s committee was finding ways to attract first-year students on campus.

“I think it’s hard because they weren’t here for last year’s blackface event, and they don’t have any context for what the Symposium is,” said Gilkerson.

The planning committee worked closely with the RAs to promote the event. A portion of the RA training was devoted to talking about the Symposium and RAs were asked to promote the event at their section meetings.

For Gilkerson, one concern was whether the Symposium attracted people who might not otherwise be aware of issues of diversity on campus and in the Walla Walla community.

“The people that came and the people that presented were the people who really cared about the issues, so I think that in that way, I don’t necessarily know if that many people came who didn’t already feel like it was a pressing issue,” said Gilkerson.

This year’s Symposium was also a test to see whether the event should be continued every year. One idea is that it should be built into the academic calendar, like the Undergraduate Research Conference.

“We do have a grant that is an ongoing grant of $6,000 a year to do a Symposium-like activity,” said Gilkerson.

“I’m actually not sure,” said Smith, on whether the Symposium will continue to be an annual event. “I hope that we’ll continue to do it every year.”

IN FASHION: Should the boot get the boot?

“What are you wearing?”
This was the disgusted remark which came from my eternally fashion-savvy roommate this morning as I emerged with my cup of coffee wearing thick, sensible, black goulashes over my blue jeans.

“They’re goulashes.” I knew how I looked: I looked like a clown.

“I’m aware. But why are they goulashes?”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but there are eight inches of snow outside.” I was visibly perturbed by his chagrin—although I secretly figured I’d be the one laughing an hour later as we walked to class together, me comfortably dry in my knee-high atrocities while his trendy Vans bore the brunt of the brutal weather.
It is a tricky question, though: In dire weather situations (like this week’s uncharacteristic-for-the-Northwest blitzkrieg of a snowfall), should fashion suffer, or should you?

To answer this question, I decided to test various shoes-and-jeans combinations in the field (i.e. in makeshift catwalks across Pioneer Park, where the snow is particularly perilous), in hopes of finding the best alternative to my faux pas this morning.

I must start with a quick digression: In my opinion, the jeans-in-boots look is never cute. I mean, I get it: It’s warm, it’s efficient… if you do it right it can look pretty seamless. Skinny girls can sometimes (sometimes being the operative word here) pull it off if they’re wearing really sexy skin-tight suede things over very tight, very tapered, very dark-washed denim.

But rubber boots or Uggs (or Fuggs, if you prefer) over your favorite pair of Levis is a concept that died unceremoniously in 2002, and no one will ever resurrect it. I don’t really care if your rubber boots have adorable little ducklings on them, or if your Uggs come in the up-to-the-minute Rum Raisin shade. It has never, can never, and will never look good. Period.

The obvious alternative, of course, is to try boots in other capacities. I began my research with red, pleather ankle boots I bought at a vintage shop in Williamsburg last summer (yes, I’m shamelessly dropping “a vintage shop in Williamsburg” in order to develop fashion clout). These were a poor choice because the sexy little heel, while adorable, gave me no traction and I wiped out in front of the park’s swingset. A 6-year-old laughed at me and I had to move my “catwalk” across the park to avoid eye contact with him for the rest of my experiment. After all, I had four more pairs of shoes to test.

Another obvious problem with ankle boots in snow: Snow gets in them. Really easily. This is probably because they usually give some comfortable breathing room at their cut-off point (unlike regular boots or sneakers), practically begging for unwanted snow. This is uncomfortable, even with socks.

Next, I tried a pair of those cheap, hipster, faux-suede black flat boots you can buy at Target (you know the ones: They tie in the back and look kinda scrunchy in the ankle; you can’t go to a Jenny Lewis concert without seeing at least a dozen pairs; etc.). I attempted to wear these under my jeans, but the straight-legged cut wasn’t going to accommodate it, so I tied them on over the jeans, chalking it up to the lesser of three evils of the boots-over-jeans options.

Let me say this now: Cheap, trendy boots will work for approximately 10 minutes in eight inches of snow. Maybe 15 if you buy them a size up and consistently wear them with gigantic wool socks. After that, the snow seeps unapologetically through, with freezing and profoundly uncomfortable ramifications. I guess if you’re just walking across campus, this is maybe (maybe) a worthwhile option. But a whole day in high-fashion low-practicality boots is absolutely out of the question.

I shifted to waterproof Mary Janes with good rubber traction, which I walked toward the gazebo in. I made it exactly three freezing steps before my feet were completely soaking wet. Next.

Vintage-inspired tennis shoes are honestly probably your best fashionable bet in the snow. I have some really hot Ventilator Reeboks in bright yellow, pink and green (they kind of have that Public-Enemy-meets-the-NBA-in-1993 vibe that’s really hip right now), and paired with some cotton socks, they kept my feet pretty dry and undamaged. I imagine they’d get wet eventually, and I’d have to switch, so I guess I’d recommend having two pairs constantly on hand during this kind of weather. Maybe keep one pair in your hip-hop-inspired bag or something. I don’t know.

Finally, I tested a pair of six-inch high heels. The color was very good (eggplant), but past that, wearing these in the snow was probably one of the worst and most dangerous ideas I’ve ever had. The narrow heel got caught on a buried root and promptly came off. While I was hopping around in the other shoe, trying not to step directly in the snow with my bare foot, my ankle inevitably twisted and I ended up comically face-down by the offending sycamore. I’ll bet the 6-year-old by the swingsets caught the whole humiliating fiasco, too, adding insult to apparent injury.

The thing is this: Fashion just isn’t worth it. In the end, I’m going to stick to the goulashes, regardless of their silliness, because they make sense. Also making sense in this weather: Those ugly, ubiquitous brown hiking boots that you wear on OP-like excursions in the mountains. Those look really nice about now.

Those who are willing to sacrifice not only comfort but basic wellness for the sake of flattering footwear in the snow are just not hot. They appear a little idiotic. Not getting pneumonia should be incentive enough for letting what’s in vogue grow vague during the more frigid months in Walla Walla.

Nextflix It: “The 10th Kingdom”

“The 10th Kingdom” is seven hours long. Perhaps I should start by saying that. It first aired as a nine-episode TV miniseries. But what I’m recommending is setting aside an entire day (or night) and watching the whole thing, start to finish. You can only leave the couch to make more popcorn.

Everyone knows Manhattan is full of freaky things, but maybe you didn’t know it is also a portal to the mythical Nine Kingdoms, home to Snow White, Cinderella and wicked witches like you would not believe. This comes as a shock to Virginia (Kimberly Williams), who finds the portal by mistake and thus also lets in some baddies from across the three-dimensional pond.

Immediately upon her arrival in the Kingdoms, Virginia is saddled with the tasks of returning a dog prince to human form; avoiding the lustful gaze of Wolf (Scott Cohen), a well-meaning but carnivorous man-wolf and defeating the Evil Queen (played by Dianne Wiest, one of those women who gets more beautiful as she gets older). It’s not immediately clear why Virginia gets chosen to do all of these things, but it turns out her connection to the Kingdoms goes deeper than a portal in Central Park.

The most remarkable thing about this movie is that it rarely drags, which is mighty impressive for 417 minutes. The makeup is fantastic, and the Woodsman particularly is a genuinely creepy bad guy. He’s the character in Snow White who is ordered to murder the princess in the woods and return her heart to the Queen. He carries a crossbow. This is terrifying.

Essentially, if at any point in your childhood you enjoyed a) fairy tales, b) attractive people, c) marathon movie nights or d) all of the above, “The 10th Kingdom” is a great choice.

Snazzy Movies, Silly People: ‘Atonement’ and ‘Cloverfield’

“Atonement,” directed by Joe Wright and adapted from Ian McEwan’s novel, is a beautiful film. With cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, Mr. Wright has filled the movie with popping, liquid moments like a shot following a young girl (Saoirse Ronan) down an overgrown garden corridor, or the much-ballyhooed four-minute take on a war-worn beach. Given the revered source material and the visual sheen, the film should be an assured success. Yet I left “Atonement” with a sense of dissatisfaction I couldn’t place.

The story begins in 1935, in an English country house where no one seems to have anything to do but lounge about, most of all 13-year-old Briony Tallis, a precocious hopeful playwright whose endless tapping at the typewriter inspires Dario Marianelli’s score. Keira Knightley and James MacAvoy play Cecilia and Robbie, the stifled English equivalent of star-crossed lovers. Their reverie is broken by a series of misunderstandings that culminates in a lie told by Briony which separates Robbie from Cecilia and leaves him disgraced. The film is the story of Briony’s quest for atonement, but I think it also means to explore the power of language, the endless consequences of an action and the way fiction can both heal and wound.

I am told Mr. McEwan’s novel manages this meditation gracefully, but “Atonement” the movie convinced me of neither its underlying meaning nor the plight of its characters. It asks for sympathy with Cecilia, Robbie and Briony, but invests little in making them likeable, and it gazes forlornly at their woes but fails to plumb real intellectual pith from its source. The result is a kind of middling sensuality, the impression of profundity carried along on the gossamer wings of style and a few flashy narrative strokes from McEwan.

What is wrong with “Atonement” is embodied in the sensational single take at Dunkirk: Like we in the story, the camera floats through an impressive series of momentary conflicts, but it doesn’t invest in any of them long enough to create more than a hurried, stylized sketch of struggle and sorrow. The story as adapted, which is straightforwardly, is too sprawling. It has too many actresses playing Briony, it covers too much time in too few hours and it pins its emotional impact on an event which I found forgivable and even commonplace. As I was floated like the show-offy camera through Briony’s distress at each stage of life, I had only fleeting feelings of discomfort, like passing a great tragedy in a swiftly moving car.

Strange though it may sound, the same preoccupation with structure wounds the monster flick “Cloverfield,” though with more laughable results. If Mr. McGarvey’s flowery take at Dunkirk was the real star of “Atonement,” “Cloverfield”’s centerpiece is the movie itself—an 85-minute gimmick that crosses “The Blair Witch Project” with “Godzilla” and has neither the ingenuity of the former nor…well, it’s about as bad as the latter.

“Cloverfield” is supposed to be the actual camcorder footage of one hapless group of New Yorkers on the evening when …something… strolls in and stomps the bejeezus out of the city. The dim-witted Hud (T.J. Miller) is our ostensible cameraman while he and his group of friends clamber around the city trying to avoid being gobbled, trampled or blown up. The shaky result has had people in theaters across the nation vomiting in their seats. I, for my part, only vomited intellectually.
“Cloverfield” aims for realism, but the story it has chosen to dress in documentary clothes is harder to believe in than the end of the writer’s strike. I don’t mean the giant lizard-octopus thing lumbering through Manhattan—that’s a movie mainstay by now. What I couldn’t believe was that as the entire city is fleeing and the Chrysler-building-sized creature is bearing down, Rob Hawkins (Michael Stahl-David), our de facto hero, elects to trek back through the city to rescue Beth (Odette Yustman), not his bride-to-be, not his long-lost love, but a floozy he hooked up with a month ago. About the time his friends decide to go with him, you start rooting for the monster.
The movie does many things well. The special effects, disguised as not special at all because of the herky-jerky footage, are terrifically convincing. At least a dozen shots must have been technical nightmares (cuts are few and far between), yet they come off effortlessly. But I could not understand why the filmmakers thought they had so little plot to work with that they had to inject the contrived mission to save Beth. Having to escape from a burning island with a giant iguana that drops little scuttling velociraptors seems like plenty of material to me.

There are so few moments in the movies when a character is a step ahead of the audience (“I Am Legend” mercifully had a few of those). Woe it was to me to think that producer J.J. Abrams, whose characters on “Lost” were just launching an encouraging streak of not behaving like nitwits at the end of the third season, could have given us something more than the usual monster-movie drivel. Instead “Cloverfield” is at best a mediocre scare flick; at worst it’s the depressing announcement not only that the statute on movies not showing Manhattan under attack post-9/11 has run out, but that the bar of taste on that sort of spectacle hasn’t been raised in the least.

Seeing beauty and embracing life

I was going to write about the problem of specialization. How the notion of the whole is lost, how the ultimate goal of a better life is forgotten in the details, how the idea of good work is perverted and put to the service of aimless wanderings and meaningless tussles. But such criticism isn’t the beginning. The beginning is beauty.

All good criticism is in the service of life. The critic that deconstructs without the aim to rebuild anew with truer proportions is an enemy of life. In this column I will often take on that role of the revisionist. But I hope that I will as often find myself the celebrator, devoting myself with compassion to exploring the impulses that inspire us to love, laughter, generosity and contemplation.

And that is where I would like to begin. To begin at the beginning, with delicacy, with beauty, with the pulse hammered out by the beating heart of the universe. The stuff for which painters paint, architects design, priests preach and I hope, for your sake, for which students study and professors teach.

This is why we criticize. Because we sense the presence of something that compels us, something that gives direction and urgency to our movements. Because we yearn. Because we know that goodness is something tangible, something that we hold and breathe. And because we are in danger of losing it if we stop wanting it.

Last night my friend hosted a potluck as a housewarming. Dozens of people piled into their three-room apartment. We sat on couches, on the floor and on each other. Voices mingled with the smells of carefully prepared food, with the ambience of lighting and the freshness of the cool darkness just outside the large windows. When the door opened people would look over until the face of the newcomer came into view, their warm food cradled in their arms, their eyes bright with expectation and excitement. I savored that meal and that company. And I savored the space. I went there to share in the goodness of life that comes from food and community. To be nourished and strengthened.

Afterwards I went to the library with a heart-friend. We went for poetry. For Neruda’s exultant joy and Rilke’s sweeping compassion. We giggled between stacks of shelving to the sound of Spanish love poems read out loud in English with a French accent. The delicacy of syllables tickled our imagination; the precision of words brought forth exclamations of admiration, astonishment.

This morning, as I walked out in the snow, I spooked a squirrel out of a tree. As it scampered to a more distant tree I saw that its mouth was full of leaves. What could this be, I thought, this was something new to me. As it hit the new tree it shimmied to the far side, out of view. I gave it a few seconds to climb before I too skirted the trunk and looked to find it. Just in time. It stashed the leaves, delicately using its paws to pack them into the visible beginnings of a nest not 15 feet above the ground. I stared, surprised, but already planning to come by this place as spring came on and see the progress of this live giving project. I have seen a baby squirrel just once before: clutching firmly to its mothers neck as she bounded away from the rudeness of my presence. I now have the promise of seeing another. This next month I’ll pray that nature didn’t cross her fingers.

Nevada demonstrates why caucuses are superior to primaries

On Martin Luther King Jr. weekend I flew home to Reno to participate in my first presidential caucus. This year, Nevada was selected as the third state to vote on the presidential nominations, after Iowa and New Hampshire. Nevada was selected to represent the views of a western state as well as a state with a substantial minority population (Latino) and a strong union presence in our largest city, Las Vegas, home to 70 percent of the state’s population.

In my county, there were 80 caucus locations in which neighborhood precincts were directed to vote. My precinct turned out three times as many Democrats as expected, probably due to the excitement generated by the candidates’ multiple visits over the past few months.

Two and a half hours after the caucus started, I was shocked as I watched CNN project that Hillary Clinton would win. I had just returned from my precinct location, the downtown Reno library, where Barack Obama was the victor with almost twice as many supporters as Clinton. I had talked to friends and family in other precincts, and they all reported the same results—Obama had won each of their individual precincts. Frustrated, I asked my mom how this was possible. How could Clinton be ahead by over 4 percent, when it seemed like Obama was the victor in the northern part of the state?

“Well, Clark County messes up every election,” my mom responded. She explained that with such a large percentage of the population, what happens in Las Vegas doesn’t generally stay in Vegas—the city controls the outcome of the election for the entire state.

Interestingly, while Clinton won the majority of the votes in Nevada, primarily in Clark County (Las Vegas), Obama won by sizeable margins in almost every other part of the state. This is where it is handy to understand how a caucus is different from a regular presidential primary, because although CNN, MSNBC and FOX all reported a “big win” for Clinton, Obama actually won more national delegates in Nevada.

Delegates are determined based on congressional districts, and some of these districts are weighed more heavily than others. This is especially important in a state like Nevada, because otherwise each election would be decided by Las Vegas, leaving the less populated areas in the state without a voice. In Congressional District 2, which makes up Washoe (my home county) and the northern rural counties, Obama won four delegates and Clinton won only two. Clark County consists of two congressional districts, where Obama and Clinton each won five delegates. At the end of the day Obama had won 13 national delegates and Clinton won 12.

Regardless of who got the most delegates or who won the majority of the vote, the importance of the early Nevada and Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary seems to be who gets the “Big Mo.” Although Obama won in Iowa, the momentum did not carry him to victory in New Hampshire. Perhaps Clinton’s “win” in Nevada will not be as powerful as she hopes in South Carolina, or the next 16 Democratic primary states to vote.

I personally found the caucus to be a wonderful experience where I was able to connect on a civic level with my neighbors. I arrived early to my precinct location and stood outside, helping distribute stickers and signs to fellow supporters of my candidate, while also trying to persuade undecided voters.

Once the caucus started, each candidate group literally stood in different areas of the room and their votes were counted. For the first round, each candidate must get at least 15 percent of the vote to be considered “viable.” Based on my caucus population, that meant at least 28 people. After round one, Kucinich and Edwards did not make the cut, leaving followers of Obama and Clinton to try to persuade the Kucinich and Edwards supporters to join their own respective groups. Another count was taken, and based on the number of supporters in each group, Obama won seven delegates from my precinct and Clinton won four.

Nevada voters are now debating in local newspapers and blogs about the virtues of a caucus over a primary. Many find the caucus process too disorganized and raucous, and wish to return to a primary. Others find the caucus invigorating and exciting, enjoying the opportunity to discuss national politics with their neighbors.

I believe that the caucus system is the way to go, because political parties are responsible for funding them. Since presidential nominations are party politics, it should be the Democratic and Republican parties who sponsor the nomination process. In Nevada, the state legislature pays for a primary election, which costs about $2 million. With so many other areas in need of funding, such as K-12 education, higher education and health and human services, Nevada can’t afford to spend its taxpayer dollars on a partisan political process.

Moreover, I found the caucus process to be much more enjoyable and inspiring than the normal ballot-casting method used in a primary. The enthusiasm I felt from my fellow caucus participants and the remarkable caucus turnout on a statewide level has given me hope for the future of democracy in Nevada and nationally.

Recycling efforts not always efficient

Recycling is not necessarily good for the environment.

Or at least it might not be unless it’s done correctly, claimed Walla Walla City Manager Duane Cole, speaking at Walla Walla Community College last week.

“The city and I personally support recycling and I did not propose to end it,” Cole said. “With that said, however, the systems we design can be questioned depending on what we are trying to achieve.”

The current recycling system in Walla Walla involves weekly curbside pickup for all private residences. After recyclables are collected, they are baled and hauled by diesel truck to Portland or Seattle, explained Cole. There they are separated and likely sent to a remanufacturing plant or prepared for shipment to Asia. Cole questioned whether or not this made sense from a carbon emission perspective.

In addition, he estimated that fumes from 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel might be pumped into the air every year from the trucks going to houses alone. He questioned whether or not alternatives exist that would reduce this amount of fuel.

One of the alternatives he mentioned would have residents take their recyclables to depots located in convenient locations like grocery stores. Cole recognized that this sort of system would require monitoring depots to prevent trash-dumping. He also acknowledged that it would likely lower recycling participation.

“But if recycling is right to do and the carbon footprint of the current system is pretty high, then people ought to do it,” Cole said of a self-hauling system.

City Council and Walla Walla County Resource Conservation Committee member Barbara Clark is not so sure it’s as simple as that.

“With a depot, we simply don’t collect as much stuff if people have to individually take things somewhere,” Clark said.

Clark is a member of Walla Walla 2020, an environmentally-aimed civic group with goals to “envision, plan for and undertake projects to help realize a livable community in the Walla Walla area now and for the future,” according to their mission statement.

The group has existed since 1988 and has been monitoring local recycling since it first began in the late ‘80s with Neighborhood Stations similar to the suggested depots. The group reported that 22,000 pounds of recyclables were collected in a month of Neighborhood Station recycling. The group also reported that 39,000 pounds of recyclables were collected in just a week after curbside recycling was instated in 1997.

The significant difference between these amounts makes Clark hesitant to return to such a system.
Clark also questioned how much less fuel would actually be emitted with a depot system.

“Thirty thousand people in their cars going to depots … is that going to really reduce the carbon in the air?” she asked. “I don’t think so.”

A second alternative that Cole raised was the conversion of recycling vehicles from Diesel into a non-carbon generating fuel as a potential future service.

Finally, Cole raised the point that if landfills continue to fill at the current rate, the city has 950 years left of space.

“Would it make more sense and reduce the carbon footprint of the community to not recycle at all at this time while working on a plan to mine the landfill in the future for waste to energy, raw material, or some other purpose?” Cole asked.

Sophomore Lauren Imbrock agreed with this point made by Cole.

“It takes a lot of energy to recycle. I feel like there are other more important things that we could do first that could be more effective than recycling,” Imbrock said.

Sophomore Carly Spiering was more hesitant.

“I don’t know … once you stop actively pursuing something, it kind of takes a backburner,” Spiering said. “I don’t want to write off recycling just yet.”

While Clark agreed that shipping recyclables to other cities and countries was not the best thing for the environment, she said that she would like to see recycling become more localized.

“I do think it’s important to continue recycling. But the first thing is to reduce,” Clark said.

“You probably grow up hearing, reduce, reuse, recycle. Well, for most people it’s, ‘Maybe I’ll recycle.’ The reduce and the reuse are pretty much neglected,” Clark said.

Clark said that society has increasingly turned away from reusing household items, and that has resulted in an enormous amount of waste.

“That is a huge cultural change. We’re really in a throwaway culture,” she said.

“At some point, you can’t just keep throwing stuff in a dump. You have to use it again.”

We are all hypocrites

On Dec. 13, I landed in LAX airport. I took my first two steps on U.S. soil, feeling worldly and smug from the past four months of cold showers and composting. That high lasted for a good seven seconds. And then I ran to Starbucks.

I sat there for about two hours during my layover to Seattle, sipping my white chocolate peppermint mocha, breaking off the corner pieces of my blueberry scone and taking small bites with my eyes closed. Bliss. After four months of biodegradable shampoo and mosquitoes up the yin-yang, my scone sprinkled with crunchy sugar and corporate consumerism was not even a guilty pleasure—it was just a pleasure.

Not to say that my time in Costa Rica was for naught, the minute that blessed latté touched my tongue. Mind you, I lived and breathed environmentalism day and night for an entire semester.

My study abroad experience? Forget art and gelato and the ancient chapels of Rome and welcome to the Center for Sustainable Development, where our shower dregs water the garden and our socks flutter from clothing lines like strings of Christmas lights. It was not always pretty and idealistically simple in that “back-to-nature” way that every environmentalist dreams they would thrive in. I smelled. My T-shirts molded, literally, molded in the rain. I washed my plates in a communal water bucket that always hosted floating bits of bean and lettuce. It was disgusting and it was greasy and it was often uncomfortable.

But I had spent so much time sitting on my high horse in some Whitman classroom, analyzing energy use trends and scowling at the ignoramuses who putz around in their Hummers and throw away a plastic bag after only using it one time, that I figured it was finally time I practiced the sustainable lifestyle I so easily preached. It was time I stop driving around to my proverbial soap boxes in my parents’ Ford Escape and started to walk my talk.

And, lo and behold, as my weeks in Costa Rica went by, the ghost of my enormous ecological footprint back in Seattle and Walla Walla began to hover around me every time I dropped a banana peel into the compost bin. Much to my chagrin, those banana peels did not make me feel good about my noble environmental contribution—they only made me painfully aware of exactly how many peels I have not composted in my lifetime. Probably as big as a sand dune. Class act, I am. A first-class hypocrite.

And I was still aware of this as I sat in Starbucks on Dec. 13, a date I had long before red-inked on my calendar as my joyous reunion with clean bathrooms, hot water and coffee shop chains. My latté was heavenly, heavenly bliss. Even after four months of sustainable living. Even after becoming an eyewitness of the shameless exploitation of small sustainable coffee farms by Starbucks and other giants willing to sacrifice social and environmental justice for an extra five cents per cup. Even after my environmental reawakening, after seeing the light and the error of my Starbucks-loving ways. The Christmas music, the broad-backed armchairs, the mahogany—I was a sucker for all of it, all over again.

So it was in this moment that the experience of the past semester finally caught up to me in a whooshing fell swoop, in one single lesson much more valuable than forest gap dynamics or national park policy. Four months in Costa Rica taught me this: We are all hypocrites.
It was that easy. We are all hypocrites. I’m a hypocrite and so are you. We do things which completely violate what we have said two seconds before, and that’s completely normal. We all have beliefs and opinions and passions, and we all contradict them. Accepting this fact is the greatest thing you can do for your convictions, because it gives you permission to be human. It lets you lean back and relax and fully take your beliefs as your own, even though you aren’t a flawless projection of them.

And so I did not, as I had predicted, return to the United States frantic and stressed about how wasteful we are with natural resources, how inefficient our light bulbs, computers and toilets are, how long the marathon will be to slow the encroaching effects of fossil fuel depletion and deforestation.

I was and am eerily calm about how unsustainable I can be, simply because I now understand that being a hypocrite is only human. Sometimes I don’t unplug my electrics from their outlets because it is tedious. Sometimes I won’t carpool with my mom because it is inconvenient. And sometimes I want a white chocolate peppermint mocha in a paper cup. But this doesn’t mean I don’t fully stand for environmentalism and at least strive to live sustainably.

Once I admitted this to myself, my job as an environmental warrior seemed so simple and easy. I cannot assume the responsibility of everyone around me. I will not try to counterbalance every paper cup that is tossed away by wearing a ceramic mug as a necklace and carrying it wherever I go, just in case I want to buy some tea.

I used to stress about the cognitive dissonance between what I said and what I did—how could I call myself an environmentalist when I just threw away a Naked Juice bottle because I couldn’t find the nearest recycling bin? I can. And I do. I am only 20 years old, and my political weight is a whopping zero, and there isn’t a whole lot I can single-handedly do in the global name of environmentalism. But I am aware of my actions and their consequences. I can try. And I will keep trying, doing all that I can within the parameters of my power.

When a student in my Environmental Studies 120 class last spring asked an environmental warrior hero of mine, Winona LaDuke (during her lecture on renewable energy), exactly how she felt about the oil wasted by the plane she took to fly to Walla Walla, she paused merely for a second before responding, “You can spend a lot of time pounding yourself for things as they are, you know. I just try to do the best I can.”

Women’s basketball struggles to recapture early momentum

The 2007-‘08 women’s basketball team started out strong with wins on the road in California. They carried the momentum by beating league opponents they have had trouble with in past years. However, on their last road trip, the team lost against the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University. The bi-week schedule left another game to be played at home against Whitworth, which resulted in another loss and a tough break in the confidence of the squad.

Reflecting on the last few games, sophomore Michelle Krall said, “We didn’t play together very well. There are just some easy things to work on that can be fixed.”

Before playing the conference leaders, George Fox University, last Friday, the team had to recover from a rough couple of games and prepared to face the top of the pack.

Coach Michelle Ferenz said, “George Fox is veteran team that starts five seniors. They’re also nationally ranked.”

After losing 55-47 against George Fox, first-year Becca Sexton said, “Despite falling short, it was well fought and a great way to end the first half of the season going into conference.”

The team has shown a lot of potential and hopes to take on the remainder of the season.

“We have seven freshman on the team this year, matching the number of returners. They are an extremely talented group of recruits who have been willing to take on challenges and are eager to learn the ins and outs of our program,” said senior Captain Kristina Francis.

Difficulties of the first half of the conference won’t stop the ladies from focusing on making this a well-fought season. Coach Ferenz acknowledges that they’ve been inconsistent, but said, “It’s a sign of a young team, and so we can only grow from here. There are a lot of veteran teams in the conference and it takes a lot to rattle their cages.”

Compared to other teams in the conference, Whitman tries to improve on any weaknesses that young teams typically have. The women seem to agree that consistency may keep them in the fight for the top spots at the end of the season.

“I believe we can continue to play well and stay at the top of the conference to qualify for a playoff spot,” said Francis.

The women play Willamette University and Linfield College at home this weekend.

Walla Walla rebuilds after wind storm without federal aid: Fallen trees and wind incurs $2,230,316 in damages to homes, businesses, personal property

Debris blankets Pioneer Park. Near its center, a large pine lies on its side, partly obscured by snow.

Indeed, although no deaths or injuries have been reported as a result of the Jan. 4 storm that ravaged Walla Walla, the town has lost many of its oldest inhabitants—its trees.

“It’s sad. It’s really a shame,” said Walla Walla resident Ken, who preferred not to give his last name. “Some of these trees have been here for 150 years. It’s astonishing how much damage there was within the city.”

The Emergency Management Department reported damages to homes and businesses totaling $1,522,059 and personal property losses totaling $708,257. Emergency Management Director Don Marlatt said that most of the damage was insured.

“There was a lot of damage, but we were really lucky. We didn’t take any calls for emergency medical services as a result of the storm, which was remarkable,” Marlatt said.

Ken and his wife, Cathy, moved to Walla Walla a year ago from Seattle, where their property was once damaged in a windstorm. This time around, their house escaped harm.

Neal Christopherson was not so lucky. Whitman College’s director of institutional research was at home during the storm when a large falling tree struck the house.

“I was watching from the window and saw it coming right at me,” he said.

Christopherson ran and sought refuge at a neighbor’s home. Now, like many other Walla Walla residents, he and his family must rebuild, replacing the broken roof and cracked rafters.

“We’ll be starting work in a few weeks,” he said. In the meantime, he has been living surprisingly comfortably in the house, which hasn’t even leaked despite recent weather.

Elsewhere, repairs have been hampered by the snowfall that dropped several inches on Walla Walla.

“[The snow has] disrupted the public works crews from cleanup, and they’ve been diverted to snow removal,” Marlatt said. Weather reports forecast additional snow throughout the week.

Across town, at the Memorial Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, repairs continue after the windstorm damaged several buildings and caused the temporary evacuation of 11 administrators.

“The cleanup continues. The weather hasn’t helped. It’s slowed the process down,” said Brian Haines, a police officer who works at the Center. Haines said the Center’s warehouse has been condemned and other buildings are off-limits until damage can be fully assessed.

On the day of the storm, Haines was on duty and received a call just after 9 a.m. telling him that one of the buildings had sustained damage.

“As we were heading over, we were flagged down…a car had been smashed,” he said. Luckily, no one was inside the vehicle.

Later, Haines and his partner were posted at a gate. “At one point, we had our vehicle in park, and the wind gusted and actually moved the car. It was…interesting.”

Haines estimates that 19 of the Center’s trees were lost in the storm.

At Mountain View Cemetery, as many as 50 trees came crashing down, many damaging the gravestones below. The cemetery was temporarily closed for repairs, as were many parks.

Walla Walla did not receive federal aid. Some businesses suffered financial losses after having to close when the city lost power that Friday morning. Pacific Power said that as many as 18,000 customers were without power during the storm.

“The city responded quickly,” Cathy said. “Everybody really pulled together.” Volunteers from Pasco and Richland also offered assistance.

“We got lots of offers for help,” said Christopherson. “We didn’t end up needing much, but we felt supported by the community.”

An open letter: Don’t cut student funds

President Bridges,

I am writing in response to evidence that indicates that your office is shifting financial support from students to teachers. If, by my counsel, you can be persuaded to do otherwise, I will have succeeded beyond any expectations.

I should first cite examples of the grievance I am referencing here. I note that each of these examples has been conveyed to me in person.
First, I am told on good authority that your office turned away a Whitman Direct Action request to fund their upcoming goodwill efforts in Mumbai, India. Mr. President, I’m sure I don’t have to inform you that Whitman Direct Action, or WDA as it has become commonly known, is an outstanding student organization that undertakes projects of massive sociological significance all over the world.

The upcoming conference they will be hosting with regard to water sanitation in Mumbai is only the most recent of their projects. I’m told that said conference will boast the attendance of a member of the Indian Parliament. But more importantly: The reason I’m sure that I don’t need to give you the résumé of WDA is because you have cited them as an example of great things that Whitman students do. Significantly, you have done so in a publication sent to past and potential donors.

Furthermore, I have been informed that you have denied funding to a group of senior studio art majors who requested money to fulfill a pseudo-requirement of their major. Their trip to New York in order to study the art scene is “strongly recommended” by the studio art department, and they receive insufficient funding to meet that recommendation. This denial came even after those artists promised to make an installation on the Whitman Campus—something that would clearly benefit the campus as a whole.

These are only two examples, and there have been more. I know there have been more because I sit on the finance committee of the Associated Students of Whitman College. Your refusal to fund student groups has resulted in a vacuum of money that students have had no alternative but to fill. This means that the finance committee (and student moneys in general) has had to fill the gap left by the President’s shift in priorities.

Because that’s what I see this move as: A shift in priorities away from students and towards research. Let me introduce a caveat here: I have been told that these moneys, previously allocated to student initiatives, have been shifted to cover teachers’ research. The veracity of that statement is unclear.

Regardless of where these funds are currently being spent, the important point is that they are not being spent on students. Not only have students lost an important source of funding from your office, sir, but they have also had no warning about such a drastic financial shift. Neither the finance committee, ASWC or the student population at large was made aware of this situation in time to make alternative arrangements. This money is discretionary, and therefore allocated at your disposal. However, it is my general opinion that when you are about to undercut the financial stability of student initiatives, you could at least warn someone.

The situation has been established, and as (again, only having been told this secondhand) these moneys have already been spent elsewhere, there is nothing that we can do for the present. However, I do think that it would behoove your office, Mr. President, to respond to several concerns:

1. Where exactly is this money being spent? Is it, as I have been told, funding teacher initiatives and research?

2. What recourse does the President’s Administration suggest to those students who have (in the past) so frequently depended on funding from the President’s Office?

3. Does the President’s Administration plan to continue prioritizing faculty above students?
These questions are not only mine, Mr. President, but they are shared by a large number of students—at the least, they are shared by those to whom you have already denied money. In doing so, your administration has passed on a chance to empower students.

Sincerely,
Bryce Alan McKay

Nordic skier Spika helps Whitman claim stake in national competitions

by Brennan Jorgensen
staff writer
Competing at a Div. I level, sophomore Nordic skier Devon Spika leads the pack with skill, enthusiasm and experience. Spika carved her mark early last year by placing in the top-10 four times and attending the NCAA National Championships. She is already off to an impressive start this racing season.

At the season opener in Salt Lake City, Utah on Jan. 12, Spika placed 12 in the women’s freestyle, setting the bar high for the rest of her races. A week later at the University of Colorado Invitational she placed 13 in the freestyle and 15 in the classic.

Nordic skiing is only competitive at a Div. I level and in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA), Whitman is the only Div. III school to compete.

The universities of Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Denver and New Mexico, the top teams in the NCAA Div. I ski program, tend to dominate the races. With the addition of Spika to the team, however, Whitman is beginning to claim a stake in Nordic skiing success.

Div. I schools provide scholarships for top athletes and often have much older and more experienced racers. At Whitman, the women’s team is composed of first-years and sophomore students, not provided with any monetary gain.

“To place as high as she does in our region is remarkable. Devon certainly has an inner drive for success,” said Coach Calisa Schouweiler.

Raised in Ottawa, Canada, Spika began alpine skiing at an early age.

“I learned to ski when I learned to walk,” said Spika.

At 7, however, she decided to try out Nordic skiing and found it much more to her liking. At age 11 she joined a junior racing program that had members all the way up to seniors in high school, providing Spika with a number of talented role models. With over 200 kilometers of

Nordic trails within close distance from her home, Spika spent a lot of time on the snow.
When she was in high school her family moved to Denmark, where she attended Copenhagen International School for three years.

“Before going over [to Denmark] I decided I was going to be serious about training and focus, but it was hard there because there weren’t very many skiers,” said Spika.

Predominately lower than sea level, Denmark does not get much snow. So Spika traveled north to compete in Norwegian and Swedish Cup races.

“I saw that I really wasn’t all that good and had to improve a lot. I came [in] last for the first time which was a big turning point for me,” said Spika.

It was at these cup races that Spika really became excited for skiing. After graduating from high school in Denmark she spent a year at a Norwegian sports school where she studied sports medicine and trained nine hours a week.

At Whitman the Nordic team trains four days a week at Tollgate, about an hour drive from Walla Walla. That means two hours of drive time for an hour and a half of skiing.

“All of us on the ski team are aware of the difficulties of training in Walla Walla and the fact
that we’re pretty far away from snow,” said sophomore Adele Mery. “You really do have to be pretty independently motivated.”

Spika not only leads in technique and in performance, but she also has the motivation and excitement to succeed. Pre-race dance parties and pump-up music sing-alongs are a few things many of her teammates and coach have complimented her on.

“In the end I know all the athletes look up to Devon.  It is great to have someone placing as high as she does, as she paces the other women along.  In the end, this helps our team in placing higher as well,” said Coach Schouweiler.

Their own words: two leaders speak on their workshops

Dayle Smith: “Under-Represented Groups in Science”

Q: How did you decide to run a Symposium workshop?

A: A lot of people are interested in increasing the diversity of people who take science classes. It’s something that the National Science Foundation and our local and national government are interested in, and that’s something that I care about as a minority who does science. There’s never anyone who looks like me when I go to a conference and, in order to change the face of what science looks like, people will have to get pretty active. So that’s what my workshop was about, diversity and identity formation as a scientist in particular, what some people are trying to do to make science classes more welcoming to all sorts of different kinds of people, and also just sort of what some of the statistics look like.

Q: What kind of work went into planning that?

A: I chose topics related to that concept that I would have been interested in. So, practical tips for how to organize a class, for instance, so that it accommodates people with a lot of different learning styles. We know, for instance, that certain people from certain ethnic groups prefer warmer temperatures or a brighter classroom. We know people from certain ethnic groups need more time to reflect before they can answer a question. Do you design your classroom to reach a lot of different people? That’s something that I was interested in, so that’s what I put into the talk.

Q: How did you feel about the result?

A: We got a whole lot of really good stuff out of the discussions, some really good ideas for how to change things here and in general. It was small, though. I had two faculty members, two staff members and two students in there. So it was a nice little sampling but it was pretty small. The nice thing about it was that we could really talk, so the discussion part was really good.

Jeremy Balch: “The Politics of Attraction”

Q: What made you want to lead a Symposium workshop?

A: Well, I’m the GLBTQ Intern, to start with, and I figured, since it is a talk about minorities and diversity on campus, the term “sexual minority” has been floated around a lot, so I kind of wanted to address that. And also it was kind of a personal thing too, because I wanted to actually get some answers about why people actually care to begin with when it comes to sexuality issues.  And also because I wasn’t really sure what “sexual minority” meant.  So, it was personal as well as trying to get the whole idea of the sexual minority out there.

Q: What did it take to put it all together?

A: A lot of reading.  Basically, my friends all took off about a week and a half before the end of winter break, so that left me a lot of time in the UCSD library, so I just pored through a bunch of history textbooks.  It was like hundreds of pages of reading.  I really enjoyed it, though.

Q: What for you was the biggest challenge?

A: I’m not really good at speaking for long periods of time.  So I guess the practice, just practicing and the presentation itself and being able to say everything I want to say, and not having to read from a sheet and still give a presentation that length.

Q: How do you feel about the way it turned out?

A: I think it turned out pretty well; at least it was improved since that Sunday.  And I kind of wanted it to be more of a discussion, but I realized that I didn’t really put together the slides that way, and the room wasn’t really structured like that, so unfortunately I couldn’t ask a lot of questions.  It probably would have been better with more discussion, but other than that it went well.

Revealing spirituality one week at a time

“Spirituality” is a loaded term; if this is obvious to you, you’re probably a Whitman student. Perhaps you’ve passed Core; or maybe you failed it—I’ll assume you at least read the syllabus just to see how much reading you were going to avoid while you drew random circles in your otherwise empty notebook with a pencil and compass; or maybe you’ve encountered some form of broadcast news coverage, reporting on, rather hysterically no doubt, the rather hysterical religious and/or pseudo-religious rhetoric of modern American presidential campaigns. Watching the History Channel will provide you with a similar education.

As long as you haven’t spent your entire life imprisoned in a cave staring at shadows, you know that “spirituality” is a loaded term. If you have been imprisoned in a cave your entire life, stop reading this article immediately. It offers you nothing, not least because you can’t read. Go back to the cave and save yourself the trouble—your eyesight will thank you.

For those of us whose existence has been elevated by knowledge—and you go to Whitman, remember, so yours must be roughly equivalent in scale to the last grade you received on a philosophy paper—there’s no turning back. We are not only aware of our existence, we at least know something about the, often, brutal role religion has played in the history of mankind and we are inundated with dubiously self-serving and insincere religious and spiritual messages: everything from Jerry Falwell to Miss Cleo. “Spirituality” is a term loaded with bullshit.

To concern myself with this sort of loadedness would be to cover familiar ground, especially for you, loyal Whitman reader. Rather, I’m interested in the other things with which spirituality is loaded: the complex, the mysterious, the stuff of personal reflection and experience. I’m interested in what’s left if that stuff doesn’t exist, if indeed we are no more than human, and there is no greater. I want to know what you, YES YOU, think about God.

Before soliciting your response, I should like to introduce my own religious history, if not my thoughts. I was raised by a spiritually aware mother and a father who was sympathetic to her interest. They attended the Unity of School of Christianity in Kansas City, where I was born, and continued to so while I was growing up. Other than for Bar-Mitzvahs and the odd funeral or tourist visit, Unity is the only church I have attended. As the name suggests, it is a Christian institution, concerned with metaphysical interpretations of the Bible and a personal experience of God and the spirit of Christ. I’ll talk more about Unity in future issues. I think I’ve thus gained an appreciation for the potential power of both organized religion and personal spirituality, whatever that is.

I’ve been a lapsed church-goer for a long while, and I struggle with these questions all the more as a result. So I’m resolving, in service to this column and what I think might be my soul, that I’ll be attending a religious service once a week, meditating once in a while and taking a yoga class. This last one might be entirely worthless as a means of spiritual development—I read a story in the Los Angeles Times last month about L. A.’s elite having yoga cocktail parties, which are like regular cocktail parties but for jerks, so I’m skeptical. If you have a suggestion that isn’t a cult that will make me drink strychnine or pound Keystone, I’m open.

As an element of this part-time quest, I want to hear from you. If you are a faithful Christian, I’d prefer not to hear any more about the dogma of your chosen faith than is necessary to explicate what you think. If you’re a committed atheist, or an uncommitted one, I want to hear about the moments which make you think harder and wonder if it’s possible you’re wrong, if there are any. The joys of faith, the depths of spiritual doubt and everything in between. Contact me by e-mail or phone. If you know me, talk to me. If you don’t, introduce yourself. I’m serious. I want to see what Whitman thinks, if they think at all. And you do think, don’t you?

‘Non-Shock Jocks’ Talk: Super Bowl

This is the first installment in what will be a weekly column from Eli Asch and Brian Woods. Each Thursday, the two will debate the biggest national sports story of the week that will then lead into their sports talk radio show on Fridays at 10 a.m. on Whitman’s KWCW. Their columns will be written in a conversation-style format, which emulates the back-and-forth discussion they have on their show.

WOODS:
Finally, the Super Bowl XLII matchup is set. In the AFC Playoffs, the Patriots continued their perfect season, showing that they can prevail through sub-par games from star receiver Randy Moss (one catch for 14 yards against Jacksonville) or NFL Most Valuable Player Tom Brady (three INTs vs San Diego). The NFC proved to be there for the taking as the New York Giants, led by the other Manning son, got hot at the right time and won three straight road playoff games to get to the Super Bowl. With the Patriots favored to win by 12 points on Sunday, I think the big question out there is, “Can the Giants make things close, or at least interesting?”

ASCH:
I think that question must be answered with a resounding “yes.” As we saw in their Week 17 contest—in which the Patriots trailed by as many as 12 points in the third quarter before sealing their perfect regular season with a 38-35 win—the Giants actually match up against New England as well as anyone. Giants’ defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan are strong and fast enough up fronts cause problems aplenty for anyone’s offensive line, and although Brady was only sacked once in Week 17’s game, Strahan and Umenyiora’s pressure and presence was clearly felt—as Laurence Maroney and his measly 2.4 yards per carry on that day can attest. The Giants also had some success running the ball against New England—admittedly in small doses—and if they can control the clock by getting Brandon Jacobs 20 or 25 carries this time around, their chances of not just beating the spread, but even eking out a close-and-late victory, will certainly increase.
Also, although the Super Bowl has a history of blowouts—only the most diehard football fans remember more about the Budweiser frogs than they do about the largely lackluster string of NFL championship games in the mid- and late-’90s—the Patriots’ 2002, ’04 and ’05 Super Bowl wins all came by the same margin: three points. While I’m not guaranteeing a last-second Stephen Gostkowski game-winning field goal, I certainly think the Giants can keep it interesting.

WOODS:
While I agree that the Giants may have the talent and confidence to keep things close for awhile, I really don’t see them having any chance at pulling it out in the end. I’ve been impressed by the Giants’ ability to go to their power running game led by Jacobs, and I think that’s where the Patriots are susceptible. But then I look at the Patriots’ road to the Super Bowl and how they beat Jacksonville, who in my mind had probably the best running game in the league. It was clear this year that the AFC had three, maybe four teams that could have made it out of the NFC, and with that I think the Patriots have already beaten their closest competition, because the Giants don’t do anything better than any of the teams the Patriots have already beat (and keep in mind the Patriots already beat the Giants too). The Giants’ pass rush might be the only exception, like you said, so Strahan and Umenyiora give them a puncher’s chance, especially if that one punch could knock out an already fragile MVP like Tom Brady, who’s been photographed wearing a protective boot over his ankle and suspiciously absent at practices early this week.

ASCH:
This whole ankle injury situation smells fishy to me. I mean, yes, sure, Brady does have a sprained ankle, but there is no way that it is severe enough to substantially hinder his ability to perform in the Super Bowl. I get the feeling that Bill Belichick and the Patriots—who are notoriously coy in sharing injury information with the media—are playing possum here, intentionally setting up an ambiguous situation in which the media exaggerates the extent of Brady’s injury, and by extent challenging the Giants to bring pressure. If the Giants take the bait, a (likely fully-healthy) Brady will pick them apart. How much do you want to bet that once the 15-minute open portion of practice ended and the media members were escorted out Brady trotted out onto the field and worked on some quick timing routes with Wes Welker?

WOODS:
Belichick and Brady are definitely up to something here, and I would agree that the “injury” probably won’t have any effect on the game (even if it is injured, he’ll have had two weeks to heal by the time the game rolls around). But there is the possibility of something worse for Brady, keeping in mind that this is the league where injury issues are always kept under the rug. For instance, in between starting playoff games, quarterback Phillip Rivers of the Chargers underwent surgery on his knee without anyone knowing about it until after they lost. So don’t get too comfortable, Patriot fans.

ASCH:
I’m really not worried about Brady’s health. Strange as it is to say, it might be more worrisome if the Patriots weren’t playing these “bootgate” mind games. Even with a healthy Brady, though, these Patriots will have their hands full with the Giants pass rush, their power running game, a seemingly-new-and-improved Eli Manning (who has looked better than Brady during the playoffs), and—not least importantly—the pressure they must feel not to blow their perfect season now.

Picks:
WOODS: Patriots 31, Giants 20
ASCH: Patriots 34, Giants 31

Crying rivers, building bridges, getting over it

It’s possible that I stand alone on the Hillary crying debacle. It’s possible that I stand alone in my disgust at the phrase “Hillary crying debacle.” It’s highly possible that I’m alone in thinking that way too much column space has been given to why we think Hillary ‘cried,’ and not enough to why we think it matters so much.

Whether or not Clinton’s tear ducts are functioning, weak, dishonest, strategizing or any other number of ridiculous adjectives, has become newsworthy. People enjoy reading about this topic, and some will cast votes deciding the fate of their country based on what they have read about it. Clinton might as well start stumping about that minute and a half in New Hampshire, because we’re all thinking about it anyway.

I could not care less if she cried. Whatever the reasons, whatever the motivation, it’s water falling out of her eyes. In this case, not even falling. Just sitting there shining. And sitting eyeball-water is now determining her electability as President of the United States.

What I do care about is the nature of the political game. The way in which America’s (theoretically) sharpest minds are not above arguing over who is “likeable enough” and who “has help on special days” with hair and makeup. If this kind of information was important, then of course it would be crucial when, where and under what circumstances Hillary Clinton pulled the gushy card.

It simply is not. It is, in fact, detrimental to the political process.
Mudslinging is embarrassing to watch, almost no matter what mud is being slung. It’s either bad for the recipient, who may in fact have something to hide, or it’s bad for the attacker, who looks desperate and foolish.

This case is clearly the latter.

Hillary Clinton is deserving of critique, as are all of her opponents. This critique should never, under any circumstances, NEVER, focus on her gender. Neither should it focus on Obama’s race. This historical moment is only a stride for equality in America if we can shut up long enough to let the candidates be equal.

Imagine what this race would be like if Clinton could spend her time talking about issues instead of defending her emotional capacity. Imagine what this country would be like if no one had cared four years ago when Howard Dean got riled up during a campaign stop and shouted. He literally, quite literally, lost the election because his voice cracked and some talking head decided that made him insane and possibly cannibalistic.

Well, voices crack when they’re tired. The nature of the American caucusing system is to run candidates ragged seemingly for the sport of it. There’s not actually a reason for most of what goes on leading up to November. Voting dates could be spread out, and geographical clusters could vote together instead. The future leaders of the free world could get some sleep.

But they don’t, and so here we are writing editorials and arguing about what caused Hillary to tear up in New Hampshire. In fact, the question that caused all the ruckus was about how Clinton manages to keep herself so together on the campaign trail—a question that would absolutely only be asked of a woman by another woman, and one which wasted the time of everyone present.

No one asks Obama how he keeps in touch with his African heritage every day. Gender is truly the trump card in this election. Clinton cannot be viewed by the American public as anything before she is viewed as a woman. This two minute incident in a New Hampshire café is a “crying debacle” because crying is inextricably connected to the female. It’s like she served it to us on a platter. “Look at me, I am a woman. You can tell this because I answer questions about makeup, and worse than that, I CRY in the middle of my answer.”

Who on earth actually knows what went through her mind then, or any other time? What matters, what NEEDS to matter, is that Clinton is a front-runner for the candidacy of President of the United States. She needs to be judged based on her answers to the questions that aren’t about looking good on the campaign trail. It needs to be noted that, whatever was happening for her emotionally, she answered her question thoughtfully and intelligently.

Essentially, I think a lot of the world’s problems might be solved if more political tears were shed. But that’s not Clinton’s problem. She is not a poster child for emotional breakdowns. She did not, in fact, have an emotional breakdown.

She’s running for President. We get to vote or not vote for her. Let’s start asking smart questions of Clinton and her runningmates, and let’s pay attention to the answers instead of the tear ducts.

‘Arms and the Man’ comes to Walla Walla theater

The Little Theatre of Walla Walla kicks off the 2008 portion of their 2007-’08 season with George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” this Friday.
Opened in 1944, The Little Theatre of Walla Walla is an all-volunteer, community theater.

“For a town this size to have such a great, active theater is just fantastic,” said Julie Arnold, a season ticket holder.
“We’re really excited about this play,” said director Rich Hinz.  “We’re putting some finishing touches on it right now, but it’s coming along really nicely and we have a really impressive cast, so it should be a great show.”

“Arms and the Man,” written by Shaw in 1894, is characterized as romantic comedy and a comedic satire which takes place during the Bulgarian-Serbian War of 1885.  According to The Little Theater’s official description of “Arms and the Man,” “In this play Shaw wrote a satire on war and the professional fighting man; the typical Shavian touches throughout are very good fun; but of course there are serious points to be made too, and Shaw makes them in his inimitably brilliant manner.”

“It’s a particularly interesting and provocative show considering the current political situation and the wars going on right now.  But it’s still very funny too,” said Hinz.

“Arms and the Man” runs Feb. 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 (matinee), 15 and 16 with show times at 8 p.m. and the matinee at 2 p.m.  Show tickets are $12 ($9 for children) and are available for purchase by calling (509) 529-3683 or at the box office at 1130 E. Sumach, just above the Whitman soccer fields.  Auditions for The Little Theatre’s one act play festival are coming up on Feb. 5 and 6.

Focus the Nation cultivates further environmental awareness at Whitman

The nation-wide event Focus the Nation has not passed over Whitman College: It has made last week one of the biggest weeks for climate change on campus.

There are over 1,500 groups, organizations and campuses participating, with the goal of formulating solutions to combat global warming and climate change that students can take to our representatives in the government.

At Whitman the event will run throughout the week, rather than span a single day, as it will at other campuses.

“The idea [of focus the nation] is a national teach-in day.  A lot of schools are canceling classes [on Jan. 31] and having a kind of symposium-like setup, with events going on all through the day and different speakers from all through the school.  This was what we initially wanted to do, but we decided this [week-long setup] would work better for our school’s setup,” said sophomore and event co-organizer Katie Rouse. At Whitman talks were at lunch and in the evening, Monday through today.

The event’s keynote speaker, Christine Ervin, will speak tonight in Maxey at 7 p.m. on “Focusing the Nation: It’s Crunch Time.” Ervin was the assistant secretary of energy under Clinton and is the former president and CEO of the Green Buildings Council.  A panel will follow her talk.

“We’ve gotten together the presidents from Whitman, Walla Walla Community College and Walla Walla University, and all three of them will be getting together to do a public panel to discuss the roles of colleges and university in addressing and combating climate change,”  said Rouse.

To Rouse and fellow organizer, sophomore Megan Bush, the president’s panel is especially exciting.

“Its huge to be able to get all three presidents in Walla Walla at the same time to actually sit down and talk about climate change,” said Rouse.

Bush agreed.  “Its never been done before.  George Bridges said it wasn’t possible,” she said.

Tonight’s events will be a culmination of talks that have been occurring all week both in the evenings and at lunch by professors and staff.

“Professors were incredibly receptive to the idea [of Focus the Nation].  We started talking to them months ago and we actually got more responses than we had space available.  Departments—I know biology as well as the sociology—talked within their areas and came up with a plan about what they were going to talk about.,” said Bush.

The founder of Focus the Nation is Evan Goodstein, a professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore.
The program is made up of several parts, including a webcast that occurred on Jan. 30, featuring Stanford climate scientist Stephan Schneider, a teach-in in on Jan. 31, a call for senators and government representatives to meet with the student bodies that participate in the teach-in and a poll on the Focus the Nation Web site about which climate change initiative congress should pursue.  In the poll, participants are asked to pare 10 popular environmental initiatives down to five.

“I’m excited to hear the dialogues of this week and vote after I’m a little more educated and aware of what I think.  Hopefully it will create more of an awareness,” said Bush.

Professor speaks on effects of class, alcoholism, religion on health

Harvard Professor Dr. David R. Williams gave scientific evidence to support total abstention from alcohol consumption. Walla Walla University (WWU) hosted Dr. Williams to speak about the effects that socioeconomic status, alcoholism and religion respectively have on health.

As a Seventh-day Adventist university, WWU promotes abstention from alcohol, Saturday worship (instead of Sunday) and good diet and health, among other practices. At the beginning of the year, students sign forms promising to abstain from alcohol use.

Williams’ speech on alcohol consumption suggested that even moderate alcohol use is detrimental to the drinker’s health.

“There are studies that show people who drink moderately are healthier than people who abstain,” said Williams, “but impressive evidence suggests it is confounded.” He explained that a confounded relationship is one that is caused by an outside factor. “It is true that moderate alcohol drinking is associated with people who live longer, healthier lives, but those people also have higher educations, and different social and racial classes,” he said.

Students were not surprised by his message of total abstention from alcohol use.

“He’s Adventist. The school would never have let him come if he had advocated any other message,” said one student who wishes to remain anonymous.

“There are a few students who are involved in alcohol consumption to a point we don’t think is appropriate,” said Dr. Aldin Thompson, head of the theology department. “We hope that Dr. Williams can be an inspiration to them and the whole community.”

Laura Foster, senior math major at WWU, said, “I wasn’t surprised by his message because of my own experience with religion and health. I see the effects every day.”

Williams’ other two talks were also centered on health and were pertinent to his religious audience. He talked about the social inequalities in health and the effect religion has on health, hinting that religious people live longer lives than non-religious people.

“All three talks touch on issues of important moral and religious overtones,” said Dr. Michael Beazy, on the faculty development committee at WWU.

“People who are from low-income households have a mortality rate three times higher than people from high-income households,” he said in his lecture. “They have less access to medical care. But they also don’t have as many green spaces and playgrounds that are more conducive to exercise.”

His final talk was attended mostly by community members and faculty of WWU. He showed a correlation between church attendance and health. Dr. Williams’ statistics suggested that being religious has positive effects, adding as much as 13 or 14 years to a person’s lifespan, though he said there is very little understood as to why this is.

While Dr. Williams is Adventist himself, he thinks this has little impact on his work.

“While religion doesn’t technically affect my work, it does determine which questions I do and don’t ask. Science isn’t value-free,” he said.

“I like the idea that a person can go into science with a religious background and still make a meaningful contribution,” said senior Rachel Davies.

Dr. Williams is popular in the scientific community. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly papers in scientific journals and edited collections, and is on the top 10 list of most-commonly-sited researchers.

Williams delivers keynote on race, class

The keynote lecture on Whitman’s second annual Symposium on Diversity and Community last Monday night almost did not happen.

Patricia J. Williams, the Columbia University law professor and columnist for The Nation magazine who was slated to speak, experienced a flight delay that left her stranded in an airport in Denver for hours. Though she was scheduled to arrive early in the afternoon and have dinner with faculty and organizers, her flight into town landed only minutes before the lecture had to begin and she took the stage immediately following her arrival on campus.

Interspersing sociological analyses with humorous personal anecdotes, Williams spoke on the state of affairs of race and identity as they exist in the United States today. She identified this particular moment in American history as a pivotal crossroads. At the same time, she lamented the decline of true political activism and the lack of relevant and accurate information provided by the modern media.

Throughout her lecture, Williams touched upon the civil rights movement of the ‘60s, eugenics, movies, journalism and the 2008 primaries. She tied them all together into a one conclusion: Racial and gender discrimination is still very much alive in contemporary times, and there’s still much work to be done.

“[Williams] has a brilliant intellectual mind, but she has a way of expressing her ideas in a way that is incredibly accessible,” said history professor Julie Charlip. “She stands up there and she tells these wonderful stories, which are very funny, but there’s also a very clear message that we need to think carefully about the political situation in the country and the way things are being presented to us.”

“I was really excited to go see Patricia Williams because we read her in Alt Core last semester,” said sophomore Seth Bergeson. “Her book was amazing. I loved the lecture, she was a skilled speaker with a lot of great content. I joked with my friends about this—if we could combine Patricia Williams’ content with Salman Rushdie’s speaking style to make a superhuman speaking machine…that would really be something.”

Junior Tim Shadix echoed these sentiments and felt that Williams’ lecture fulfilled an oft-ignored niche in campus event bookings.

“It was nice to hear a speaker talk about politics and current events, because that’s not something we usually hear a lot of at Whitman,” said Shadix. “I felt like her speech was a bit disjointed, but that was okay because it looked like she was doing a lot of thinking on the spot. She provided a lot of entertaining real life examples relating to the things she was talking about.”

Williams was born in 1951 in a racially segregated Boston neighborhood where hers was the only black family while she was growing up. She belongs to the generation that entered school shortly after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and questions about race and identity were part and parcel of her everyday childhood life.

“I can’t remember not being aware of race on some level,” said Williams in an e-mail.  “My earliest recollections were of being singled out as ‘the colored kid.’”

“Perhaps because I was so young when I had to consider all this, I think of [the fight against racism] as just part of the routine of what one does to live fully,” said Williams.  “You always have to push a bit, struggle some, act in ways that hold the door open for the next person behind you.”

In 2000, Williams won the MacArthur Fellowship, a no-strings-attached $500,000 genius grant. She is currently writing a column in The Nation magazine called “Diaries of a Mad Law Professor.” Her book, “The Alchemy of Race and Rights,” is one of the required readings for the Critical and Alternative Voices class.

How green is your presidential candidate?

Previously only mentioned once during the 2004 presidential debates, climate change has come to the forefront of campaigning in the 2008 elections. Regardless of party, environmental action has been incorporated into election plans. The spectrum begins with conservation leader John Edwards and ends with non-committal Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.

Slowing climate change comes with a number of strategies. Cap-and-trade systems are supported by most major candidates as viable solutions for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. A mandatory cap on pollution emissions is created and then divided into permits which can be bought and sold by polluters. This gives companies flexibility in the manner in which they reach their emission targets and sets a clear limit on emissions.

Candidates Paul and Romney oppose the cap-and-trade system and instead propose a carbon emission tax. While the tax may penalize polluters, it allows companies to merely pay the tax rather than reduce emissions. This is one reason why candidates Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Dennis Kucinich, Mike Huckabee and John McCain support a cap-and-trade system over a tax.

Edwards has taken a more aggressive approach to climate change than any other Democratic candidate, most of whom have now followed his lead. He was the first to propose an 80 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 and to move toward 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. Clinton and Obama were quick to adopt similar policies regarding cap-and-trade systems and renewable energy.

“Edwards seems most progressive and then Hillary has basically just adopted all of Edwards’ plans,” said senior Beth Frieden.

On the Republican side, Huckabee supports getting 15 percent of U.S. electricity from alternative energy sources by 2020, including renewable, clean coal and nuclear powers. McCain and Romney also support renewable energy but have not set specific goals.

While McCain does not assert specific goals, he did introduce the Climate Stewardship Act with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in 2003. Although the bill failed, it would have required the biannual re-evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions to ensure consistency with the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and cap emissions at the year 2000 level. McCain has proposed more legislation in the Senate regarding climate change than any other candidate.

In March 2007 Edwards made his campaign entirely carbon-neutral. He is buying carbon offsets to neutralize the effects of his campaign travel and office energy use, while also cutting energy consumption at campaign offices, by buying recycled-paper office products and encouraging staff to walk to work and take other energy-saving measures.

Edwards and Kucinich oppose nuclear and clean coal energies. Clean coal is coal chemically washed to remove minerals and impurities, then burned, with resulting gases treated with steam. The sulfur dioxide is removed and is then re-burned to make the CO2 in the gas economically recoverable. This process is meant to enhance its efficiency and environmental acceptability. Clinton, Obama, McCain, Huckabee, Romney and Paul all support clean coal.

Some students have noted that these policies are hard to trust, however.

“Who knows what they will actually do? Right now its all about being elected,” said senior Katie King.

Clean coal is primarily supported as a means to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Edwards and Kucinich note, however, that clean coal does not set any limits on greenhouse gas emissions and still requires the burning of precious fossil fuels.

Biofuels reduce the quantity of fossil fuels burned and cut back on carbon emissions created by transportation vehicles. While Kucinich remains skeptical of ethanol produced from corn and other food sources, he does support non-food sources for biofuels.

Clinton follows closely in Edwards’ footsteps. She calls for 60 billion gallons of homegrown biofuels to be available in vehicles by 2030. Obama also supports this proposal, while Edwards calls for 65 billion gallons by 2025. The results are very analogous policies.

“They all have very similar policies. And it almost seems like their differences are just to have differences because they’re so small,” said King.

Republican candidates McCain, Romney and Huckabee also support the increased use of biofuels, but have not stated specific goals. Paul believes the market should determine which fuels are used and so does not currently support biofuels.

Like Kucinich, Clinton proposes a $50 billion 10-year fund for green research. Edwards offers a $13-billion-a-year fund and Obama a $150 billion 10-year fund. These moneys would go toward renewable and alternative energy research in a further attempt to solve the climate crisis.

Fuel efficiency is another hot topic of debate and one of the fastest ways global pollution can be decreased. All four Democratic candidates support an increase in fuel efficiency within the next 15 years.

Obama introduced the Health Care for Hybrids Act to increase incentive for fuel efficiency. The federal government would help cover health-care costs for retired U.S. autoworkers in exchange for domestic auto companies investing at least 50 percent of the savings into production of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

On the Republican side, Huckabee and McCain support an increase in fuel efficiency as well. In 2002 McCain introduced legislation that would have raised standards to 36 miles per gallon by 2016. Paul and Romney oppose raising fuel efficiency standards. Paul voted against raising standards both in 2001 and 2005.

One clear difference between Democratic candidates is their position on nuclear power. All four Republican candidates support nuclear power, but only Obama has expressed support from the Democratic party. Clinton is “agnostic” on nuclear power, not wanting to emphasize it as a possible energy source unless waste-storage and other problems are solved.

Nuclear power now represents over 70 percent of our non-carbon generated electricity. Obama does not believe that the U.S. can reach its climate goals without the use of nuclear power. He is also against the expansion of nuclear power and wants to set clear guidelines on how the power can be used and disposed.
At a Campus Climate Challenge meeting last week many students weighed in on the candidates’ commitment to halting climate change.

“Its definitely a hot issue in the political arena,” said sophomore Katie Rouse.

“At the same time though, the number of questions asked by mainstream reporters regarding climate change has been the same number of questions asked about UFOs,” said sophomore Sarah Judkins.

While more publicized this election year, climate change is still not treated as a central issue of campaigning. Democratic candidates have stated more developed strategies than most Republican candidates, but McCain has made a point of including climate change in his election plans.

As a whole, the Democratic candidates hold very similar strategies for solving climate issues, only differentiated by small details. Edwards definitely leads the way, not only by stating climate plans first, but by taking an overall more aggressive approach. Obama, Clinton, Kucinich and McCain follow close behind, perhaps reacting to the pressure exerted by Edwards. Ultimately, when it comes to establishing how green a candidate really is, election will be the only means of knowing their true color.

Save the seed and savor the satisfaction of your own garden

Plants come from seeds and seeds come from plants. Seems like a simple enough combination, but in this case things are not as simple as they appear. Hybrid seed has been marketed in the U.S. since the 1920s. Hybrid seed results from crossing two related plants that are valued for different traits. The resulting generation has both of the favorable traits, often leading to huge advances in crop yield. In fact, most of the increase in agricultural production in the world since the 1920s has been a result of hybrid crops.

This increase in productivity comes with consequences: A loss of free seed for the farmer. The hybrid vigor that makes these crops so successful also makes their seeds totally worthless. Unlike open pollinated crops, hybrid crops produce seeds that, when planted, create a plant that will not grow well, produce unpleasant tasting food or otherwise be of little value to the farmer.

This forces farmers who grow hybrid crops to buy seeds from the breeding companies every year, rather than be able to save and collect their own seed. It may come as little surprise that the majority of seed given to foreign countries as farm aid is hybrid seed from American agricultural companies, locking even subsistence farmers into the cash economy.

These hybrid crops and other more recent biotechnology advances have all but destroyed the tradition of seed saving in many part of the world, particularly industrialized nations that have been a part of the agricultural “green revolution” for a long time now. This has effects far beyond just a loss of self sufficiency.

Today only three crops—rice, wheat and corn—provide 60 percent of the calories in the world. And within each of these three plants the genetic diversity has also been decreasing, due to the use of just the most highest yielding varieties. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 75 percent of crop diversity was lost during the 20th century. This is problematic on several levels.

First of all, if you have ever learned about the Irish potato famine you will know that a low level of genetic diversity makes crops more susceptible to disease. Any sort of immunity or resistance lacking in one plant in such a monoculture world is also lacking in the majority of the rest of the crops around. With fewer people saving seeds all over the world, many genes conferring resistance to all manners of blights, pests and rusts are being lost forever.

Besides resistance to pests, many genetic differences between crops make them more suitable for certain environmental conditions. Some varieties of rice do better in drier rather than wetter or colder rather than warmer climate. In the current agricultural mode the same crops are grown everywhere, regardless of how well suited they are to that particular environment. This often means an increased reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation in order to prop up crops that are maladapted for their surroundings.

Loss of genetic diversity also means a lack in the diversity of our foods. Thousands of delicious varieties have disappeared that we will never get to taste. Indigenous peoples from the Andes had thousands of different, constantly evolving varieties of potatoes with all sorts of unique culinary purposes. Some were better for soups, others for drying, others for baking and so on.

There is a small but growing movement underway to cultivate more open pollinated crops and practice seed saving to preserve the remaining diversity of our food. Though labor intensive, growing a tomato that is adapted to your locality and that you are bringing back from the brink of obscurity must be extremely satisfying. As biotech corporations move into genetic engineering, patenting genes and considering the use of genes that create sterile plants, this seed saving is a way of fighting back against corporate control of the garden bed.

2008: This year already got real.

We’re only four weeks deep in this year and already we’ve had a statue go down hard (not to mention trees, but we hear they grow back). Plus the whole campus got a tundra-style makeover. And we all forgot to drop that 8 a.m. class before Ron Urban ended our dreams of freedom. And this blue moon thing keeps yelling at us to submit, submit, submit, and some but not all of us are into that sort of thing. Is it too premature for a year in review? When we won’t survive to see February, no. No it is not.

Blue Moon turns 21 – sexual revolution to follow?

A pastiche of thoughts and reactions to the
greatest scandal to rock campus since Ryanhood.

“blue moon has been legal for THREE YEARS? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?”

“Can you go to the liquor store and get me a handle of Bacardi? I kind of told all of 4-West that I have a fake.”

“Is there any way that, you know, you could, like, submit to me sometime? I mean, your call…I’m easy. Oh, geez, I did not mean that as a comment on you. I know you say you’ve been around the block, but you know, I respect you. You know that, right? I…I would take it slow for you…I mean, not like SLOW, but, uh…I know what I’m…doing…”

“Painfully hip? Dude, I
totally have that on vinyl.”

“Submit to you five times one way, four times another way and even three times another way? Are those
numbers arbitrary or what? And how does that even work?”

“I appreciate the offer and all, but it feels like I only ever really see one side of you.”

“Aw, come on, now you’re just making me feel like a pedophile for reading
quarterlife. And that’s not cool.”

“I know you may think it’s not possible for a person to please you this much, but with me, a blue moon comes way more than twice a month.”

back page exclusive!
blue moon responds.

Okay, look. You batch of sick undersexed freaks TOTALLY took my letter the wrong way. It was not meant to be taken as sexual innuendo. Nor was it an open
invitation. Allow me to clarify a few points you have raised:

1. Just because it looks like I wrapped Styx in condoms does not mean that I
advocate bestiality.

2. It is not possible for you to go into a bar and buy me.

3. When I said “YOU. I want you,” I meant it as more of a royal “you.”

4. Don’t show me your ass and tell me we’re soulmates.

5. Your number does not count as a submission. And no, neither will a painting of your number. Or even a performance art piece entitled “My Number.”

And as if this year hasn’t had enough shake-ups already, the Back Page got bi-curious over the break. For the first time since as long as anyone can remember, there’s a girl writing some of this stuff. Here’s a special sneak preview: of what to expect in the months to come:

Ladies’ Corner

Finally, girls, there’s a place on the back page that’s just for you. No men allowed! When you’re trying to charm a handsome Beta or TKE into giving you his pin this spring, remember these helpful tips:

- If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. The non-slip surfaces will help you get a better grip. No more asking your beau for help!

- Put a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent embarrassing drips on your best frock!

Join us next week when we discuss massage techniques for your stressed fella, and how to mix a martini just the way he likes it.

This corner sponsored by Jonathan Swift and King Henry VIII of England.

State of the Campus

by George Bridges
president

Dear Students and Friends of Whitman College,

I was hearing of this “State of the Union” that happens annually, and realized I was a little guilty of a presidential complex. So allow me to show you all how it’s done.

Our spring term certainly has started off with a bang! Actually, more like a series of bangs—of trees crashing to the ground and trying to wreak havoc on our fair campus. And did I say “spring term”? I guess I ought to say WINTER term, with all that snow and ice outside!

I would like to make explicitly clear, however, that you are in no danger, from Yetis or the renegade elements. At this point we are taking every possible measure to keep our Whitman family safe. I have ordered every inch of sidewalk and driveway on campus to be doused with salt to keep our students on their feet, where they belong. And here’s a little secret I’ll let you in on: after the salt gets absorbed into the ice and the ice melts into water, we can build new transparent sidewalks on top of that salt water and then put aquatic creatures underneath! It’ll be just like those floors with goldfish living underneath in Tomorrowland. I know I can’t wait to hear a tour go by the library admiring the natural beauty and wonder of Squid Sidewalk and Beluga Boulevard!

BOOKS: ‘Memories of My Melancholy Whores’

In between his more well-known works such as “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love in the Time of Cholera,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez published a novella with the curious title of “Memories of My Melancholy Whores.”

The story is told from the unlikely perspective of an old, ugly, Colombian journalist, who decides to celebrate his 90th birthday by having wild sex with a virgin girl. The girl chosen for him by the owner of the brothel turns out to be only 14, but after working in a button factory all day and taking care of her family, she can only sleep.

Thus begins the bizarre and sometimes touching romance between a man whose body is decaying as his career becomes completely pointless and a girl who struggles just to stay alive. Having never slept with a woman he didn’t pay, the protagonist finds himself in love for the first time with a girl who, night after night, he only watches as she sleeps.

Given the subject matter of Marquez’s novella, it is not surprising that one is often shocked and even disgusted while reading it. In order to appreciate the more uplifting and heartwarming qualities of the story, you have to withhold your usual disagreement with a relationship that you don’t believe should exist. These characters search for love despite their wretched existences that deny them the clean, Hollywood ideal of flawless bodies and pure, beautiful romance.

Upon completing the novella, you might have the sense that you have been let down or denied the perfect, sweet ending you might have expected to contrast the rest of the story’s dark mood. While Marquez’s characters do redeem themselves in some ways, they remain real people with real sins and real regrets that may never be completely washed away.

“Memories of My Melancholy Whores” shows us the gritty underbelly of love. Rarely is the romance between ugly, old, or whorish people given the spotlight. Marquez’s work is daring and puzzling, creating beauty out of an unsightly environment. It teaches us that even the most wretched members of society are capable of loving. They may not be Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, but their love is genuine and deserves our acknowledgement.

Hillary has strong voice needed to win

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has the strong dedication and experience to take the United States from being the laughingstock that it is today to a renewed position as the morally upright and powerful nation that it was not long ago. She is the voice of power and commitment in the 2008 presidential election. And, perhaps most of all, she is the experienced candidate who knows how to deal with the tense politics of the crippled world as is needed in order to be the leader of the free world.

Clinton holds the ideals of real politics firmly in her mind, not the promises of unattainable desired politics.

Many of the policies of Obama and Clinton are similar, but Obama supports more of the ideal than what can actually be accomplished. In Iraq, for example, Obama promises to set a permanent deadline for troop removal. However, Clinton makes no such fake promise. She said that the situation is not a static problem that can be solved by a single deadline but, instead, a very dynamic issue that will need reassessing and adapting as the situation evolves.
Her position on health care is also very practical. She proposed the introduction of a universal health care system. This new policy would ensure that all Americans can get the health care that they deserve no matter their status, gender, racial background or any other reason. She will not leave the voters to find their own security in health care like many of the other candidates.

Beyond her policies, though, Clinton is the most capable of the Democratic candidates to run this country at this time. The United States is not in a time of peace and comfort. It is quite the opposite. We live in a time of turmoil, both domestically and in the greater world internationally. In order to deal with this difficult situation it is important that a candidate with experience take hold of the Oval Office.

Clinton knows what it is like to be president through her husband and she knows what it is like to be a strong leader through her own extensive political experience. She can lead through this rough period, unlike the other candidates on the field.

So she has the policies and she has the experience, but many people in this country still fear her “electability.” Electability is a strange concept to begin with: Why should somebody not be elected if they have good policies and the experience necessary? What else plays into the situation?

The most obvious problem Clinton will face is her gender. It is, obviously, true that there has never been a woman president, but that does not mean that there cannot be. This country is ready for change. That can be seen by the surprising turnout of people at the early primaries, it can be seen by the increased following of the election by the general population and it can be seen by the young people’s newfound interest in the election, especially with the youth turnout for Clinton in New Hampshire, unlike Obama’s low turnout of young voters in South Carolina. We are ready to see something happen and Clinton can make that happen regardless of her sex.

Walla Walla rebuilds after wind storm without federal aid

Debris blankets Pioneer Park. Near its center, a large pine lies on its side, partly obscured by snow.
Indeed, although no deaths or injuries have been reported as a result of the Jan. 4 storm that ravaged Walla Walla, the town has lost many of its oldest inhabitants—its trees.

“It’s sad. It’s really a shame,” said Walla Walla resident Ken, who preferred not to give his last name. “Some of these trees have been here for 150 years. It’s astonishing how much damage there was within the city.”

The Emergency Management Department reported damages to homes and businesses totaling $1,522,059 and personal property losses totaling $708,257. Emergency Management Director Don Marlatt said that most of the damage was insured.

“There was a lot of damage, but we were really lucky. We didn’t take any calls for emergency medical services as a result of the storm, which was remarkable,” Marlatt said.

Ken and his wife, Cathy, moved to Walla Walla a year ago from Seattle, where their property was once damaged in a windstorm. This time around, their house escaped harm. Pat Williams

Neal Cristopherson was not so lucky. Whitman College’s director of institutional research was at home during the storm when a large falling tree struck the house.

“I was watching from the window and saw it coming right at me,” he said.

Cristopherson ran and sought refuge at a neighbor’s home. Now, like many other Walla Walla residents, he and his family must rebuild, replacing the broken roof and cracked rafters.

“We’ll be starting work in a few weeks,” he said. In the meantime, he has been living surprisingly comfortably in the house, which hasn’t even leaked despite recent weather.

Elsewhere, repairs have been hampered by the snowfall that dropped several inches on Walla Walla.

“[The snow has] disrupted the public works crews from cleanup, and they’ve been diverted to snow removal,” Marlatt said. Weather reports forecast additional snow throughout the week.

Across town, at the Memorial Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, repairs continue after the windstorm damaged several buildings and caused the temporary evacuation of 11 administrators.
“The cleanup continues. The weather hasn’t helped. It’s slowed the process down,” said Brian Haines, a police officer who works at the Center. Haines said the Center’s warehouse has been condemned and other buildings are off-limits until damage can be fully assessed.
On the day of the storm, Haines was on duty and received a call just after 9 a.m. telling him that one of the buildings had sustained damage.
“As we were heading over, we were flagged down…a car had been smashed,” he said. Luckily, no one was inside the vehicle.
Later, Haines and his partner were posted at a gate. “At one point, we had our vehicle in park, and the wind gusted and actually moved the car. It was…interesting.”
Haines estimates that 19 of the Center’s trees were lost in the storm.
At Mountain View Cemetery, as many as 50 trees came crashing down, many damaging the gravestones below. The cemetery was temporarily closed for repairs, as were many parks.
Walla Walla did not receive federal aid. Some businesses suffered financial losses after having to close when the city lost power that Friday morning. Pacific Power said that as many as 18,000 customers were without power during the storm.
“The city responded quickly,” Cathy said. “Everybody really pulled together.” Volunteers from Pasco and Richland also offered assistance.
“We got lots of offers for help,” said Christopherson. “We didn’t end up needing much, but we felt supported by the community.”