When sophomore Ariel Carter-Rodriguez and first-year Laurel Low wanted to start a badminton club, they thought other students would want to as well.
“We sent out an e-mail just within Anderson, and we already got 10 responses,” said Carter-Rodriguez.
On Sunday, Dec. 5, the ASWC Senate voted to fund two proposals for clubs and one for a new magazine. Carter-Rodriguez’s badminton club, along with the Anthropological Society, both received ASWC recognition and 150 dollars in funds for 2010-11. ASWC also voted to give 2,205 dollars to KWCW to fund monthly printings of a music magazine “Hey Man.”
The badminton club’s funding was not without discussion, though. Some of the ASWC senators were unsure if ASWC was allowed to fund athletic clubs. However, ASWC can fund athletic clubs if the clubs are not competitive, and at this point in time, Carter-Rodriguez and Low do not plan on entering any competitions.
Now the badminton club is trying to find a time when the club can reserve the gym for meetings and to find out what athletic equipment is already available. They believe that Sherwood Athletic Center already has a net that they can use, but plan to buy birdies and racquets with the funding ASWC provided them.
The Anthropological Society, as represented by senior Mackenzie Fitzwater, plans to take students on anthropological field trips and bring in speakers. When asked whether the club activities should be done by the anthropology department, Fitzwater explained that she wants the club to have more functions.
“We want the club to be more than that. We see it as a way to explore the history, culture and activity of Walla Walla, to expose younger students to the anthropology department, and to learn more about postgraduate options and careers related to anthropology,” said Fitzwater.
Fitzwater also said that she wanted signing up for the club and any field trips to be easy, even for non-anthropology majors.
General Manager of KWCW senior Matt Bachmann believes that Whitman could use a magazine dedicated to the art of music.
“We want to fill a void of music criticism. We also want to get new music out to the community,” said Bachmann.
He has the first issue already laid out and plans to print it and distribute it this month. He plans on running a fairly small print in December to see what the demand is like, as well as to save money. KWCW staff wrote so many articles that the first issues is longer than planned.
Bachmann also says that “Hey, Man” will solicit stories from the general Whitman student body as well as from KWCW staff.
