Whitman College, in conjunction with the Walla Walla Police Department, is investigating the origins of an apparent prank bomb threat for Hunter Conservatory on Wednesday, April 1.
In the late evening of Tuesday, March 31 a select group of Whitman community members received an e-mail warning them that a bomb would go off at Hunter at 6:30 p.m. on April 1. The e-mail also made reference to April Fool's Day.
“Issuing such a threat, whether a hoax or not, is a felony offense," said Dean of Student Chuck Cleveland in an campus-wide e-mail alert.
The e-mail was sent from a hacked student G-mail account and the identity of the sender is currently unknown.
The Whitman administration was made aware of the threat early Wednesday morning and subsequently notified the Walla Walla Police Department.
The Whitman community was alerted of the threat at 11:40 a.m. and Hunter was immediately evacuated and locked and the surrounding area was cordoned off. Campus security and the Police Department conducted a sweep of both the interior and exterior of the building during the afternoon hours.
According to Chief Financial Officer Peter Harvey, no signs of a threat were found.
The economic crisis has finally hit home. Last night, Wednesday, March 11, 300 Whitman students, faculty, staff and concerned community members filed into Maxey Auditorium to discuss the controversial decision to convert the varsity Alpine and Nordic ski team to a club sport. President George Bridges, Athletic Director Dean Snider and other top administrators were on hand to answer questions from the audience about the decision which was announced to the community on March 10.
On Friday, Mar. 13 murderer Cal Coburn Brown, 50, is slated for execution at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla in what will be the state's first lethal injection since 2001.
As of publication,...
Across departments, budgets are being slashed in order to cut costs during this economic recession, resulting in a drop in wages and hours for Whitman students who hold jobs.
According to Walter Froese, Controller of Whitman College, the extent of the impact on student wages is hard to ascertain because it is specific to each department.
“Most offices and programs have a discretionary part of their budget which can be spent in many ways: services, supplies, travel and, among other things, student wages," said Froese. “To the extent such budgets were reduced, it may be difficult to estimate the exact impact on student wages."
For all the hype over the new printing quotas, fewer than a dozen students showed up to last Thursday's forum on the issue, the first of two. Those in attendance, though, had a platform to share their views.
“The purpose of this event is to solicit information and opinions," said forum moderator and Campus Sustainability Coordinator senior Karlis Rokpelnis. The event also featured an update on GoPrint from Associate to the President and chair of the Conservation Committee Jed Schwendiman and WCTS Middleware Analyst Mike Osterman.
In effect since January, GoPrint is a new printing management system that requires students to release their printing jobs in order to reduce waste. As they release their print jobs, printing fees are deducted from students' $60 printing credit.
Remember opening your campus Webmail last week to find an e-mail from the Dean of Students warning you to watch out for the dangerous mud-piles?
Perhaps the e-mail seemed a bit absurd and unconventional,...
Whitman alumnus Bill Murray '92 returned to campus this last week to present a lecture on his experiences as an embedded journalist in Iraq for the Hosokawa Endowed Lecture series. As part of his stay...
Terry Tempest Williams, poet, activist and environmentalist, visited Whitman College for the first time in her career last Thursday.
The abundant nature of Williams' work in many writing and environmental...
After being notified that both the varsity Alpine and Nordic programs would be cut, Whitman skiers are left with a decision to make: what to do now.
The timing of the decision makes student choices...
With the declining economy and burgeoning tuition costs, students at Whitman are beginning to search for summer jobs in order to help pay for the next school year. One of the best times to begin searching...
At 11:19 a.m. President George Bridges released a letter to the community explaining the rationale behind the administration's decision to cut the varsity Alpine and Nordic ski teams for the coming academic year.
While acknowledging the ski teams' strong history at Whitman and recent national success, Bridges sites the student experience and available funding as the reasons behind the decision.
“Over many years, Whitman skiing has experienced the greatest success when competing with other teams in the Northwest Conference and in national championships of the USCSA," Bridges wrote. “By withdrawing from NCAA sponsored competition and shifting solely to USCSA competition, I believe our students will experience more success athletically and, by virtue of limiting their travel to competitions with Northwest colleges and universities, more opportunities to participate in on-campus programs at Whitman."
During the month of February, Andrea Ramirez, Director of Student Activities and adviser to ASWC, worked every single day, including weekends.
"[I'm] here not just 8-5 but on the weekends and in...
