Effective next fall, the various student bodies responsible for event programming on campus will undergo a large restructuring. Under the current system, the ASWC Programming Committee and the Campus Activities Board (CAB) work independently of each other to host events for students. A few other small organizations also plan campus events independently, including Coffeehouse, the Arts and Crafts Series and Stevens Gallery. The plan for next year is to merge and incorporate all of these organizations into one body, collectively called the Programming Board, which will centralize the planning and coordination of activities on campus. This new body will be headed by a Program Board Chair, along with a Marketing Manager, a Co-Sponsorship Manager and individual directors for: Cinema Arts, Special Events, Creative Arts, Musical Entertainment, Cultural Events and Lectures. The body will also include a General Board of Volunteers. There are multiple reasons for the changes. Among them are anticipated budget cuts and the departure of Andrea Ramirez, the current Director of Student Activities, a position that will not be filled next year. With less money and fewer staff members, the decision to combine various programming bodies was made in order to distribute responsibilities more efficiently and cut back on overall cost.

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.

Many Whitman students delete the plethora of emails inundating their inboxes, thinking they do not pertain to them; some emails, however, can contribute to a student's life more than they realize. Whitman's Peer Listeners group has been administering a confidential survey about student health at Whitman, asking students about how they're dealing with certain issues like depression, stress, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, discrimination, ideals and resources.

Throughout this semester, Whitties have benefitted from a Saturday morning ski bus to the Bluewood ski area, a service made possible by left over ASWC funds from previous years. To take advantage of this opportunity, all one has to do is find the sign-up list in the OP office, write their name down, and show up at 8:30 am on Saturday. This seemingly simple task, however, has proven difficult for many. Many students sign up for the ski bus and then fail to attend. Whether this is a result of late Friday nights, poor memory, or plain apathy, one thing is clear: signing up for the ski bus does not entail a lot of commitment.