News media gets blamed for cultivating fear in this country.

As well it should: News sources report violent crime disproportionately to how often they really occur: especially regarding race and youth. The Berkeley Media Studies Group did a study in 2001 which found that “depictions of crime in the news are not reflective of either the rate of crime generally, the proportion of crime which is violent, the proportion of crime committed by people of color, or the proportion of crime committed by youth.”

This is dangerous, the study said, because 76 percent of the public form their opinions about crime based around what they see or hear in the news.

So now the Pioneer is running a lead story about two Whitman students shot at with BB guns while riding their bikes and another lead story concerning a car vandalism: both incidents which could be considered hate crimes. The question that immediately comes to mind is, “Is Whitman really a safe environment for students?”

Overall, it is.

That doesn’t mean that incidents like these do not deserve front page coverage in the Pioneer, nor are these kinds of incidents completely unique to this campus. Several students complained of being sexually or physically harassed by Walla Walla community members at DragFest last week. Reports come in almost weekly of racial and sexual slurs being shouted at students from passing cars.

There’s another side to all of this, of course.

On April 20, Whitman students and Walla Walla community members gathered on the tennis courts to hold a freestyle rap battle for the second week in a row. According to students who attended, Whitman security asked the students to leave and shut off lights on the courts, warning that the rap battle would be shut down anywhere it was attempted on campus. Many saw these actions as blatant attempts to exile non-Whitman students.

Clearly, there’s a problem here. Whitman at times is so disconnected from the Walla Walla community that the result can be dangerous.

We don’t need protection from the Walla Walla community; we need conversation. The Whitman administration and students alike have a responsibility to not only treat this community with respect, but to make efforts to bridge the growing gap between “Whitties” and “townies.”

There have been efforts. Dozens of Whitman students tutor and mentor local children through America Reads/ Counts and the Whitman Mentorship Program. Local theater companies like the Little Theatre of Walla Walla and the Walla Walla Community College Theatre have seen a few Whitman student performers within the past year. President George Bridges has reportedly sent letters to community members inviting them to talk to him about any concerns they may have with Whitman.

But more must be done. First and foremost, we as a community of Whitman students must raise awareness about hate crimes on and off campus. Regardless of perpetrator or victim, hate crimes are unacceptable. Period. Students need to educate themselves about what constitutes a hate crime, how often hate crimes still occur and what can be done about it.
By running lengthy stories about hate crimes on campus, the Pioneer is not trying to cultivate an atmosphere of fear; we are trying to inform Whitman students of the kinds of things they deserve: and need to: know. If Whitman students are starting to feel unsafe about the environment they live in, then something has to be done about it.