+ March 03: Several restrictions on the Navy’s employment of mid-frequency sonars off the coast of California were upheld by a federal appeals court. This is significant because President Bush has attempted to exempt the Navy from environmental laws, but the appeals court agreed with an earlier ruling that questioned the constitutionality of Bush’s ruling.
source: […]

Milenko Matanovic, a Seattle architect specializing in neighborhood revitalization, gestured to brightly colored drawings as the neighbors of Edith and Carrie street nodded their approval. It was the last day of a series of meetings organized by the Walla Walla grassroots organization Commitment to Community. The goal of the meetings was to plan a community […]

The slacker sport has brought their A game.
Founded on the principles of feel-good sportsmanship and summer afternoon fun, ultimate Frisbee has moved to the next level of competitiveness.
Whitman’s Frisbee teams have grown in both size and talent since ultimate first showed up on campus in the 1980s.  Especially for the men’s team, this year has […]

“Of course I have a secret identity. I don’t know a single superhero without one. I mean, who wants the pressure of being super all the time?” said Mr. Incredible of Pixar’s hit animated film “The Incredibles.”
Dr. Aaron Lefohn, ’97, has lived the life of a superhero, accomplishing the extraordinary and learning from unforgettable experiences […]

From prep school games to pure athletic pursuits to stadium-sized productions and now to alternative sports. The face of college sports is constantly changing, and the current shift toward alternative sports and activities is no exception.
It turns out you don’t have to be on the cross country team to be in good shape or on […]

I have a 14-year-old brother, and he likes to read books about the world’s dumbest criminals, or scariest haunted houses; non-narrative and pointless all. In fairness, I used to enjoy that type of thing—not the reading of it, but the ability to whip out random facts to impress and/or annoy the nearest adult. The only […]

In the strong Northwest Conference, every night is a dogfight. The Whitman women’s basketball team came out battling from the very beginning, against their initial ranking as seventh place as much as against other teams. The strong but young squad proved they deserved recognition with their winning record and competition for the playoffs up until […]

Whether we like it or not, there is no denying that we live in a two-party system. No, it was never intended to be this way. And no, it is not written down as such. But it evolved into what we have now.
Why? Well, my guess is that the Founding Fathers […]

“The first time I became aware of Latino/a labor in American media was when I was in fourth grade,” began Doctor Mari Castañeda, associate professor of communications at the University of Massachusetts—Amherst at her lecture last Tuesday entitled “Waiting for their Close-up: The Political Economy of Latino/a Labor in Hollywood.”
Castañeda is a leading scholar in […]

Johnny Angel Leal, 27, a former Bon Appetít employee and Walla Walla resident, was arraigned on second degree murder charges last Monday.
Leal allegedly stabbed his brother, Pedro J. Ramirez, 28, to death in the early hours of Feb. 21.
Leal pleaded not guilty to the charges; the court set a trial date of April 7.  If […]

The face of Whitman is undergoing some drastic changes.  Among the more noticeable renovations happening on campus, the Fouts Center for Visual Arts should be completed in time for the fall 2008 semester.  The 38,000 square foot building will include space for art exhibits, classrooms and studios for sculpturing, painting, digital photography, woodworking and outdoor […]

Dear Sweet Kaitlin,
This weekend I had a truly religious experience. If you have visited my top-secret sexy Italian online forum in the last 24 hours you may have read the explicit version of the second greatest story ever told, but in case you haven’t:
This weekend I found Jesus.
I’ll give you the TV-14 synopsis.
On Saturday night, […]

Where you live is kind of a big deal. It may not seem that way to you freshmen who live in the land of equal housing (i.e. Jewett, Anderson, Lyman, Prentiss). When everyone’s rooms are exactly alike, there’s no strife—it’s like Residence Life’s version of communism.
But when you freshmen begin to search for a place […]

So Walla Walla probably isn’t at the top of the list outdoor Meccas made up of towns like Boulder, Hood River and Bozeman, but there are a surprising number of excellent ways to get outside that are just a quick drive away.
Mountain Biking
During the fall and spring months, the mountains surrounding Walla Walla offer some […]

I am amazed by culture.  It stands among bread, agriculture, the wheel and tamed animals as one of the greatest of human achievements.  These seem like fairly dry reasons for loving culture: it looks good on the human resume; it’s a keystone for our ideas about history and science and art.  I think culture is […]