Whitman released its 2010 Annual Security Report, including crime statistics for the calendar year of 2009, last Friday, Oct. 1. The college discloses the statistics in accordance with the federal Clery Act.
Most notably, between 2008 and 2009, reported sex offenses on-campus and in students' off-campus houses fell from 18 to eight. Reported incidences of aggravated assault fell from two to zero. Meanwhile, reported burglaries rose from two to seven, robberies rose from zero to two and drug violation referrals rose from seven to 30.
In an effort to reduce course conflicts, Whitman administrators and faculty are considering several changes to the way courses are scheduled. The possible changes, which include a more even distribution of when courses are scheduled throughout the day and a switch to Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday classes only, would create additional course time slots and reduce the number of course sections offered at any single given time block.
As graduating seniors receive their diplomas on Sunday, May 23, they're not the only ones who have put in a lot of work to get to commencement. Whitman's administration undertakes in a massive effort to make sure the special day is, well, special.
Nearly 250 students, largely frustrated by reduced course offerings as a result of the upcoming 3-2 teaching schedule, larger classes and a 16-credit pre-registration cap for fall 2010, expressed their concerns in a recent ASWC survey on pre-registration.
Faculty and administrators, meanwhile, are pointing to statistics indicating that the effect of 3-2 on pre-registration has been minimal.
The ASWC Senate voted on Sunday, May 2, to allow students studying abroad and in domestic off-campus study programs to vote in ASWC elections. Until this year, such students had been unable to vote in ASWC elections because they technically were not paying ASWC dues while abroad.
The Baker Ferguson Fitness Center quietly changed its Saturday hours on April 17 in response to student feedback and seasonal changes in usage across Whitman's athletic facilities. Saturday hours are now...
In the midst of last week's Executive Council elections and yesterday's Senate races, several Whitman students studying abroad were surprised to find that they are ineligible to vote. Their exclusion resulted from their not paying ASWC dues this semester; students studying abroad and in domestic off-campus study programs generally pay tuition and fees to their respective programs rather than to Whitman.
A Whitman education is set to have a sticker price of just under $50,000 next year following the Board of Trustees' approval of a five percent tuition and room and board hike at its winter meeting.
The increase, which raises tuition from $36,620 to $38,450 and standard room and board charges from $9,260 to $9,720, represents a smaller increase from the six and seven percent tuition increases of recent years. ASWC fees remain unchanged at $320, while textbook and supply costs, which vary, can amount to well over $1,000. President Bridges and other administrators worked with the Whitman Budget Advisory Committee, which includes student, faculty and staff representatives, to come up with the new budget and tuition levels.
Retired Whitman Politics professor Mary Hanna passed away on Wednesday, March 3, after a battle with cancer.
Hanna came to Whitman in 1983 as an associate professor of political science and retired...
Walla Walla police returned stolen property to a number of Whitman students who were robbed over the winter break. The items were recovered from a house across town, and six juvenile gang members were arrested in connection with the robberies.
