Cycles of Satire: Addressing Mass Shootings

Nandin Ganjoloo, Opinion Columnist

November 25, 2018

Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, I read the “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens” headline on the satirical news outlet The Onion. I thought it had a good point and humor is always a plus for me, so I followed The Onion on socia...

OP-ED: Whitman’s Money Perpetuates Violence

Divest Whitman

November 9, 2018

Power, privilege and race. These are everyday buzzwords at a school like Whitman where everybody is eager to prove their progressive politics. But what does this mean in terms of environmentalism on campus? Climbing gyms, Patagonia jackets and young toned, national park frequenting white bodies...

OP-ED: My Letter of Resignation from ASWC

Ari Louie, Former ASWC Sophomore Senator and Senate Educator

November 9, 2018

I resigned from ASWC and my letter of resignation is below. I am sharing it here because I believe that transparency is important to the integrity of our student government; ASWC did not publish my letter or any notification of my resignation. Dear Senate and Students, I am writing to you because I am resignin...

Contextualizing Outrage Culture

Cy Burchenal, Opinion Columnist

November 9, 2018

Public vigilance is a critical part of democracy as a concept, because in order to act via their vote and voice, the public must be both informed and actually care. People, as fallible actors, are prone to failures of character. Bigotry of many kinds exists in prominent positions both in government an...

Critiquing Modern Masculinity

Jack Fleming, Opinion Editor

November 9, 2018

In modern-day American society, unspoken and antiquated definitions of masculinity and a profound unwillingness to discuss male insecurities adversely affect men of all ages. We still have this idea that male vulnerabilities are entirely unacceptable and must be repressed. This absolutely must change. Ma...

Divestment: An Economic Perspective

Dani Schlenker, Opinion Columnist

November 9, 2018

During the height of the U.S. anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, college students all across the nation protested university investment in companies that traded with or owned operations in South Africa. Due to increasing pressure from these students, many institutions divested from these companies ind...

OP-ED: The Board is Coming! Get to Know How Whitman College Works

November 4, 2018

What is the Whitman Board of Trustees? The Board of Trustees is the legal governing board of Whitman College, whose primary purpose is to ensure that the college is fulfilling  its Mission Statement.   Who are the Trustees? The Trustees are a group of (currently) twenty-one individuals. Most...

Geoengineering and Climate Change

Gavin Victor, Opinion Columnist

November 2, 2018

Geoengineering is the concept that we can directly use our technology to alter the climate. Instead of our effects on the environment being collaterally harmful, they can be positive, intentionally. Geoengineering is a highly debated hypothetical solution to the anthropogenic climate change problem, involvi...

Reconsidering Sustainability

Dana Walden, Opinion Columnist

November 2, 2018

A few weeks ago, the Wire published a letter written by a former Whitman student, Vivian Voth, in which Voth details why she left Whitman. In her view, the college is not as sustainable as it could be, and such inaction warranted her transfer. Voth places most of the Whitman community’s apathy on the col...

Mislabeling our International Students

Nandin Ganjoloo, Opinion Columnist

November 2, 2018

A is an international student. “Your English is very good!” might be a compliment to them. B is an international student. “Your English is very good!” might be demeaning to them. C is an international student. Their response to "Are your parents coming for parents weekend?" might be yes an...

Embracing Bourdain’s Globalism

Jack Fleming, Opinion Editor

October 25, 2018

I miss Anthony Bourdain. Since his death in June of this year, millions have rightfully memorialized his sophisticated palate, complete sincerity and intimate relationship with food. But what I found uniquely admirable about Bourdain was his globalist vision – he saw a flawed, complicated and beautiful...

Revolutionizing the Senate

Cy Burchenal, Opinion Columnist

October 25, 2018

As a document, the American Constitution has reshaped itself profoundly numerous times. The fact that the Constitution is a living document is its most important characteristic. But like all works of legal writing, it has aged. The aspects of the United States that once made the Constitution such an...