Critiquing our Achievement Culture
Dana Walden, Opinion Columnist
February 24, 2019
I am not successful. At least, I never feel successful, not here at Whitman. Like many on campus, I feel the constant pull to do more. I consistently ask myself: “Am I doing enough?” “Am I being productive?” “Is this really the best way to spend my time?” What is enough? What is productive? ...
OP-ED: Being the Only Student of Color – ft. an Environmental Studies Course
Erina Horikawa, Senior
February 24, 2019
Being the only student of color is difficult and emotional, to say the least. This recently happened as I was the only person of color in Environmental Justice. I took the course, as a senior Race and Ethnic Studies major, because the course was cross-listed as Race and Ethnic Studies, and because I w...
Reflecting on Valentine’s Day
Gavin Victor, Opinion Columnist
February 19, 2019
It’s not just that Valentine’s Day was created by greeting card companies. Holidays are always contrived in some sense. The problem with this holiday has multiple tiers: one tier is that people need a holiday to tell them when to express their love. The deeper tier is that people ...
Overcoming the Bookstore Blues
Nathaniel Larson, Senior
February 16, 2019
As I bought textbooks and paid fees for my final semester at Whitman, it became clear that for one of the first times in my college career my book bill will be less than 300 dollars. But before I perform a happy-dance in the middle of the Whitman College Bookstore, I really need to ask myself how much cau...
Employing Pragmatic Optimism
Jack Fleming, Opinion Editor
February 14, 2019
The term “pragmatic optimism” may initially seem like a complete oxymoron. Indeed, the very idea that one could embrace pragmatism — seeing our flawed and complicated world just as it is — and still remain firmly optimistic is perhaps bizarre. Nonetheless, I would argue that embracing prag...
Denouncing Hip-Hop Criticism
Rina Cakrani, Opinion Columnist
February 14, 2019
The current state of hip-hop is often criticized by the American public due to a more explicit use of language that glorifies drugs and violence. Although it is certain that the message of mainstream rap music has changed from the previous generations, it is not fair for a black form of artistry to rec...
Letter to the Editor
Shannon Zander, Senior
February 14, 2019
My name is Shannon Zander. I am a first-generation student and an independent student, which means I receive no parental financial backing, making me solidly, undeniably, and sometimes soul crushingly working class. I don’t speak of it often except to those I am close to. But let’s talk. We clearl...
OP-ED: Killing in the name of Soccer
Jadon Bachtold
February 8, 2019
For a sport defined by culture, pride, and nationalism, soccer has become lethal. In the oil drowned nation of Qatar, soccer related governmental decisions have claimed the lives of 1,200 migrant workers. These deaths are the direct consequence of the country’s blind political ambition that has...
OP-ED: America’s Invisible Population
Becca Rubsamen, Junior
February 8, 2019
At 20 years old, you should already be thinking about your end of life care. By 2035 there will be more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18—the elderly population alone growing from 6.4 million to 14.6 million in just 20 years. There is extensive health insurance available for those...
The Myth of Economics
Gavin Victor, Opinion Columnist
February 8, 2019
Carl Sagan said, “science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” In this way, science is a human construct, and it does not exist objectively outside ourselves as we like to think. It is one method of explaining what we observe, a perspective we can choose to take, and be...
OP-ED: I Am Not An Activist
Walker Orr, Junior
February 8, 2019
I am not an activist. My planned line of work is that of a soil microbiologist or a plant breeder, someone trying to change the system through relatively established means. I have chosen as the particular angle for my life’s work — that of food, which I believe is at the center of the human cond...
Evaluating the Women’s March
Dana Walden, Opinion Columnist
February 4, 2019
The 2019 Women’s March was not for me. It was not for a lot of people. The march did not seem to have a clear purpose, or at least one centered around making a difference. At the inaugural march in 2017, while people marched for a variety of reasons — be they immigration reform, LGBTQ+ rights or racial...
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