Princeton Review chooses Whitman again as a “Best Value” college

Whitman is one of only 170 schools nationwide selected for inclusion (again) in The Princeton Review’s 2009 edition of America’s Best Value Colleges. Selection is based on a wide range of criteria, including tuition and financial aid figures reported by the colleges, as well as the results of some 120,000 interviews with current students.

Watch e-mail for contact data request

Per President Bridges' memo earlier this week, staff and faculty will receive a request from WCTS that will enable you to voluntarily submit your most current contact information, which will be loaded into the college's new campus-wide emergency notification system. If you'd like to get a head start on ensuring that your information is in the system, click here.

Log in using your regular Whitman username and password. Then simply fill in the data. It should take you less than one minute to complete; be sure to click complete when you are finished

“Goal Sunday” bests snow storm

Tony Cabasco, dean of admission and financial aid, and Marilyn Ponti, assistant director of financial aid services, help seniors and their parents fill out the FAFSA

Six Whitman staff members from admission and financial aid services ventured out into the snow storm Sunday, Jan. 27, to help high school seniors and their parents navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Varga Fox, director of financial aid services; Tony Cabasco, dean of admission and financial aid; Kevin Dyerly, director of admission; Tyson Harlow, financial aid assistant; Victoria Lidzbarski, admission officer; and Marilyn Ponti, assistant director of financial aid services, joined a dozen other volunteers from Walla Walla Community College and Walla Walla University on the WWCC campus for the workshop “Goal Sunday.”

“We had 32 students with parents and three parents without their child attend the event,” said Fox. “I was ecstatic with the turnout; everyone in attendance was able to complete their FAFSA.”

Whitman Focus the Nation events attract media attention

KVEW Television reporter Bryan Flores records Don Snow, senior lecturer of environmental studies and humanities, who presented “In the Absence of a Sensible Energy Policy” to a packed house in Reid Campus Center Young Ballroom. His talk was one of the events organized by the Whitman Campus Climate Challenge as lead-up to Thursday’s national teach-in Focus the Nation, designed to engage million of students, citizens, political leaders and decision makers about global warming solutions.

Faculty Profile: Mark Beck
Associate Professor of Physics and Garrett Fellow

• Name: Mark Beck
• Department: Physics
• Birthplace: Alexandria, Va.
• Education: Ph.D., Optics, University of Rochester
• Years at Whitman: 12
• Courses: Energy and the Environment, 20th Century Physics, Quantum Mechanics
• Favorite book/film/music/play/art/etc: Books by Neal Stephenson; Film: Casablanca; Music: 80s college radio and the Grateful Dead.
• Favorite sculpture on campus: The rocks on pillars on Cordiner side lawn.
• Best travel experience: Hawaii on my honeymoon; Spain with my family.
• Interests/pleasures: Brewing beer, hiking, backpacking, riding my bike.
• Recent accomplishment: Published a paper on electromagnetic field correlations in the Journal of the Optical Society of America.
• What people don't know about me: I was the captain of my cross-country and track teams in high school.
• Why I teach: When I teach I learn new things, or at the very least look at old things in new ways.
• Favorite aspect of Whitman: The people. I like my students and my colleagues. I also like living in Walla Walla.
• What I've learned here: The liberal arts are alive and well. I suppose I knew that before I got here, but it's been reinforced at Whitman.
• Quote: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." — Benjamin Franklin

Faculty Accomplishments

Nicole Simek, assistant professor of French language and literature and of general studies, recently published a study of contemporary French language author Maryse Condé titled “Eating Well, Reading Well: Maryse Condé and the Ethics of Interpretation.” Simek explores Condé’s commitment to using literature as an ethical critique while rejecting it as a means of imparting specific moral values to the reader. She also studies the French author’s approach to literature as a “critical reworking of aesthetic models and modes of interpretation.” In her book, Simek focuses on “four dominant problematics” in Condé’s work – history and globalization, intertextuality and reception, trauma and subjectivity, and community and ethics – in several of Condé’s works. Her analysis attempts to illuminate how Condé’s approach challenges the reader with the “problematic, yet pragmatic, need to read well.”

Coming Events
Admission to all events is free unless otherwise indicated.

Tuesday, Feb. 5
Film: Jackson Katz’ “Tough Guise” film shows at 7:30 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium. Katz is internationally recognized for his ground-breaking work in gender violence prevention education with men and boys, particularly in respect to the sports and military cultures.

Wednesday, Feb. 6
Recital: Kaley Eaton, sophomore voice recital in Kimball Theatre, Hunter Conservatory, at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6-Sunday, Feb. 10
Theatre: Harper Joy Theatre presents the annual One-Act Play Contest at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The three one-act plays by student authors will be in competition for first place – the audiences will vote. Tickets and reservations are available at the box office, x5180, open 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Thursday, Feb. 7
Humor: John Moe ’90 on “Politics, Writing & Radio Humor” at 4 p.m. in Kimball Theatre, Hunter Conservatory. Moe is best known to humor fans as one of the writers of the award-winning highbrow humor Web site McSweeneys.net. He is also a commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered" and a regular contributor to the nationwide public radio program "Weekend America." He has written his first book, "Conservatize Me."

Thursday, Feb. 7
Visiting Educator in Race and Ethnic Studies: "Skin Lighteners as Transnational Technology and Commodity" will be presented by Lynn Thomas, associate professor of African History at the University of Washington, at 6 p.m. in Olin 157. She will present a talk about cosmetics and skin lighteners used in South Africa which originated in the United States.

Thursday, Feb. 7
Lecture: Jackson Katz will present a lecture on "Tough Guise" at 7:30 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium. Katz is internationally recognized for his ground-breaking work in gender violence prevention education with men and boys, particularly in sports and the military cultures.

Thursday, Feb. 7
Lecture: Gary Rollefson, associate professor of anthropology will present “A Glimpse Behind the Tent-Flap” in Kimball Theatre, Hunter Conservatory, at 8 p.m. Sponsored by the Walla Walla Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America.

Friday, Feb. 8, and Sunday, Feb. 10
Film: "The Situation" (Haas 2006, USA), in Kimball Theatre, Hunter Conservatory, at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 8
Workshop: Jackson Katz, a nationally recognized educator in the prevention of gender violence, will offer a workshop for men only, "More than a Few Good Men: Strategies for Inspiring Men to be Allies in Gender Violence Prevention" from 9 to 10:15 a.m. in the Young Ballroom, Reid Campus Center. Space is limited to 100; to reserve a space contact Barbara Maxwell at maxwelba@whitman.edu or 527-5208.

Friday, Feb. 8
Concert: Whitman College Composers' Concert at 7:30 p.m. in Chism Recital Hall, Hall of Music, featuring the students of John David Earnest.

Monday, Feb. 11
Lecture: "Islamic Science: Beyond Ritual Formulations" presented by Jamil Ragap, Canada Research Chair, McGill University, at 7:30 p.m. in Olin 130.

The Fountain is published by the Office of Communications. Send news to Editor Lenel Parish at thefountain@whitman.edu. Photos are accepted. Submissions are due by Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the following week's issue. Editorial Assistant: Marcy Manker ’10. Managing editor: Lana Brown. Director of Communications: Ruth Wardwell. Online: www.whitman.edu/fountain