‘Cool the Schools’ campaign reaches out to local kids

The “Cool the Schools Campaign” seeks to open an active dialogue with the youth of Walla Walla concerning current environmental issues facing the globe. The Whitman College Environmental Education for Kids Club (EEK), Youth Adventure Program (YAP) and the Campus Climate Challenge (CCC) worked with the Sustainable Living Center of Walla Walla to put together the campaign.  At least 36 trained volunteers will be placed into three local elementary and middle schools to teach students about the environment, various climate issues and what they can do to personally make a difference. Each lesson will last approximately an hour and will be during the weeks of April 6-10, April 13-17 and April 20-25.  With the help of the National Forest Service at Fort Walla Walla the Campaign put together a curriculum that incorporates lesson plans from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and addresses national learning standards.  The three main points of the curriculum are ... Keep reading

Community members gather to discuss Community Gardens

Community members met at the First Congregational Church on the corner of S. Palouse St. and E. Alder St. on Tuesday, Feb. 24 to discuss creating Community Gardens in Walla Walla. The meeting can best be described as a collaborative effort. A diverse crowd of more than 70 people gathered to learn about Community Gardens and discuss their potential within Walla Walla. Emily Deitzman of Welcome Table Farm, Dan Clark of Faith Communities for Sustainability and Ann Finan, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at Whitman, organized the meeting. Two local organizations dedicated to sustainability, Sustainable Walla Walla and Walla Walla Valley Faith Communities for Sustainability, sponsored the meeting.  Deitzman is a seasoned veteran in establishing and running Community Gardens. She serves as a great resource for locals interested in participating in the local Community Garden effort. According to Deitzman, the meeting’s goal was to figure out “how to make all of our ... Keep reading

College again receives honor for Community Service

Whitman College has been honored yet again by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Whitman’s name has appeared on the annual President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for two years in a row. Center for Community Service Coordinator Lina Menard said the organization started three years ago and has been choosing winners annually. Whitman did not apply the first year. Menard said that Whitman’s place on the Honor Roll was not a result of recent changes on campus, but rather a long history of service. “I don’t believe there has been a change at Whitman as much as there has been a renewed interest in community service nationally and among young people in particular,” she said. “The programs continue to attract more volunteers each year and we continually strive to improve the services we’re providing both to our students and to the populations we serve.” Whitman is one of 10 colleges ... Keep reading

Mentor-mentee bond celebrated at annual celebration

[caption id="attachment_3073" align="alignright" width="350" caption="Last year's mentees and mentors gather on campus. Photo courtesy of the Communications Dept."][/caption] The Whitman Mentor Program’s anticipated event of the year, the Mentees to Campus Carnival, takes place Friday, Feb. 20 from 12-2 p.m. This event celebrates the special bond between Whitman student mentors and their Walla Walla elementary and junior high school mentees.  “This is a big, fun event,” said Whitman Mentor Intern, senior Amy Strauss. “The kids love it. It’s their one chance to get to come to Whitman during the school year.” The Carnival’s main purpose is to provide a day for the Mentor Program mentees to interact with other mentees and with their mentors, exploring the mentors’ schooling and living environment. Mentees get to leave school early, play games and ... Keep reading

Center for Community Service expands programs

Two student-created community service programs, The Youth Adventure Program (Y.A.P.) and Adopt-A-Grandparent (A.A.G.), have been incorporated into the Center for Community Service (C.C.S.) this semester. Junior Elena Gustafson started Y.A.P. during her first year at Whitman. According to Lina Menard, the coordinator for C.C.S., Gustafson started Y.A.P. to fill a void in the community. “She realized that there really wasn’t a program at Whitman or in the Walla Walla community that provided training and helped people to take kids out into the community…to play and learn more about the environment,” said Menard. Now that Y.A.P. is a part of the Center for Community Service, Gustafson serves as the Y.A.P. intern. Every student-run community service program that’s part of the Center has a paid student intern. The student-run programs at C.C.S. include Y.A.P., Adopt-A-Grandparent, the Story Time Project and the Mentor program. In addition, a community outreach intern coordinates seasonal and ongoing C.C.S. projects. Menard ... Keep reading

Local restaurants close their doors

No one can escape it. Even the bubble of Walla Walla has been popped by the recent economic recession. Four restaurants, 26Brix, Luscious, Sean Destination Grill and Pine Street Diner at Elmer’s closed within the last two months and two businesses, Gotta Go Embroidery and A Touch of Class, are planning to close in March. While the owners of the local businesses are choosing to close for personal reasons, the restaurants needed to close due to poor weather conditions and the credit disaster. “Back to back harsh winters, the recession and the inability to re-structure debt because of the credit meltdown all contributed to our closure,” said owner of 26Brix, Mike Davis. Bob Austin, owner of another local restaurant that survived the winter, Merchant’s Delicatessen, agreed with Davis about the harsh winters. “After being here six years we’re used to it. It’s ... Keep reading

Diversity Symposium

With the passage of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, students noted the disappearance of Whitman’s annual Diversity Symposium from the college’s calendar of events.  The symposium was organized in response to a 2006 incident at a “Survivor”-themed Sigma Chi party in which two students wore blackface paint.  This year, a Service Day was scheduled on the holiday instead. “There’s just been a lot of hearsay surrounding the event. A lot of gossip,” said senior Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) representative Aisha Fukushima. The immediate aftermath of the blackface controversy sparked angry listserv e-mails and eventually class cancellation. “We put up fliers, talked to faculty, worked late-night meetings to set up the symposium’s format,” said Fukushima of the student committee’s response. “It wasn’t just one particular person who cancelled classes,” said Associate Dean of Students: Intercultural Programs and Services Mukulu Mweu. “Students put up a petition to the faculty and explained why classes should ... Keep reading

Mike Osterman named Frye Fellow

  Mike Osterman, middleware analyst for Whitman’s Emerging Technology department, has been named a 2009 Frye Leadership Institute Fellow. The Frye Fellowship is a prestigious information technology program designed to develop the next generation of higher education leaders.  Osterman’s work with projects such as netFiles, CLEo and GoPrint have designated him Whitman’s first recipient of the award. “I feel incredibly honored to have been selected, and am looking forward to the challenge ahead. I’m especially grateful that I’ve received a Mellon Foundation scholarship, which will cover all my expenses, including travel, for the residential portion of the program,” said Osterman. The Frye Leadership Institute provides an intensive two-week residential program held in early June for faculty, librarians and university information technology professionals who aspire to significant leadership roles. The program focuses on creative leadership and the qualities needed to confront strategic changes in higher ... Keep reading

Remodel: A cooperative effort

  If you shopped at the Daily Market Co-op even a month ago, you probably wouldn’t recognize it today. The Co-op, located at has been drastically remodeled, doubling its shelf space, increasing its inventory, and even repainting. “I walked in and said, ‘This looks fabulous!’” said senior volunteer coordinator Wynne Auld.  The co-op has also overhauled its administrative structure. Previously, a paid project manager oversaw all the activities of the co-op. Now, however, it has switched to a completely volunteer-based system. Appointed day managers supervise the store, and trained volunteers work in shifts throughout the day.  “It’s amazing to run an organization of all volunteers,” said Auld. “People have to be really reliable.” In 2005, three Whitman students received a $40,000 grant from ASWC to provide the Whitman and wider Walla Walla community with a sustainable and healthy local grocery ... Keep reading