3 Things Whitworth Should have Taught You About the World Outside the Pinecone Curtain
Congrats, seniors! Six and a grisly half out of ten of you (65%) will be moving back in with your parents after graduation. Juniors, the clock is ticking. Are you scared?
In the year since I was graduated, I have learned about a trillion times as much about the real world as I learned at Whitworth. So here are three basic tips I’m going to assume they didn’t teach you well enough.
1. Don’t be afraid to ask (for help, for knowledge…)
People will generally like you more if they get to do you a favor. So, ask the career center, professors; counselors. This is self-explanatory, but I didn’t take full advantage of this excellent resource when I was at Whitworth.
Ask your friends: Make it common knowledge on Facebook that you’re looking for a particular kind of work. If your friends, their families, and their families’ connections don’t know anybody looking to hire someone like you, I’ll be surprised. Just don’t beg pathetically or anything.
Ask professionals: Request an interview with a local person who has the job you wish you had. How did they get there? What surprised them along the way? Is it really lonely at the top?
2. Know your strengths: (technology, integrity…)
You are part of Generation Y, and people have assumptions about you.
Some are negative: They think you are not loyal to companies (statistically speaking, you may work 11-14 jobs in your life) and you prefer to ask what your company can do for you; not what you can do for your company.
Some are positive, so know your strengths: They assume you are more tech-savvy than they are (after all, you’ve spent 20,000 hours online already). You can bring new ideas. No more ‘business as usual.’ Stress that you are an ethical person. That is hugely important. These days it’s actually becoming cool to be ethical. So keep your copy of Boondock Saints hidden away.
Don’t believe me about the negative assumptions? Peruse some contributions to Brazen Careerist, the top career site for people our age.
3. Social media is incredibly important to understand. (facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, youtube, flickr, feedburner/google reader…)
Facebook has made recent changes that allow businesses to connect and interact with their fans/followers/potential customers. If you can think of a creative way to make that work for your company, you are a valuable asset.
Twitter is a site you probably don’t understand. If you’re like Daniel Walters and any of a myriad of other people who don’t ‘get it’ yet, don’t feel bad. I can return and write a quick twitter guide, discuss in the comments, or have a facebook conversation about it. I’m happy to advise.
LinkedIn: If you don’t have a professional page on this site (basically an online resume) you’re on a ride into the fail-zone. Get on it!
RSS reader: Check out Feedburner or if you have a Google account, Google Reader. Subscribe to CNN or BBC news, Mashable, The Onion, all your friends’ blogs, Google Alerts for your name etc. The list goes on!
I currently have 49 feeds in my Google Reader. I’d never take the time to visit each site, but with an RSS reader I know any time something new is posted. Then I can read a quick summary and decide whether I want to read the whole thing.
Network, network, network. Join a professional association, find meet ups and events. Stay connected with your college friends. Do these things, O graduate, and leave a comment about how you’re preparing for Life Beyond. Fellow alums – what advice would you add? Did I miss anything?
My Two Cents on “The Vagina Monologues”
First off, I am tremendously proud of Whitworth for finally having the gumption and wherewithal to put on a work like this. I know that we have tried to put on a production of the Vagina Monologues for years, and I am glad that it finally happened. Moreover, I always felt that college should be a time of hearing different perspectives, and tonight exemplified that to a tee.
Second, I am also proud of all of the incredible maturity displayed by all of the performers, and how the play has challenged the way you think about certain issues raised in the play. Well done.
Third, I am hugely impressed with the turnout, for two reasons. Firstly, it was one of those rare times I have actually seen a line snaking around in order to enter a theatre production at Whitworth. Secondly, there were quite a few men in the audience (myself included), and that impressed me. I talked to Jim McPherson a little bit before the start of the show, and he said he had a friend who went to a production of the Vagina Monologues, and he ended up being the only guy in the audience.
As for my thoughts on the play, I think it imbued a sense of community, as cliche as that might sound to us on the Whitworth campus. I think all of us, regardless of our gender, can relate to the overall message of being comfortable in our skins, and being able to be proud of the fact that we recognize sexuality as part of ourselves.
Furthermore, one of the most powerful things for me, was the fact that all of the stories in the play were true. That adds a new dimension to the work, and creates a sense of connection that cannot be ignored. It simply reinforces the whole community aspect that I mentioned earlier.
Lastly, and it was touched upon during the post-play discussion, the subject matter contained in the play isn’t necessarily something that is outwardly expressed here on this campus. Having said that, I hope conversation will either continue, or get started because of what was done tonight.
Anyways, that’s what I have been thinking. What say you?
Just Don’t Censor the Sweatshirts
“So, people get more fired up about sweatshirts than censorship?,” Elizabeth Johnson commented on her own article. “Great.”
She had a point. The article chronicling the administration’s censorship of the intended title for the annual senior art exhibition had received precisely one comment from the Whitworth community in the week it had been posted. Conversely, the article attacking the average Whitworthian’s propensity for wearing sweatshirts to class (also penned by Ms. Johnson) received five comments in its first week and thirteen as of this posting. It also inspired a Letter to the Editor, notable as being the only Letter to the Editor that the Whitworthian has published in 2009.
I won’t even get into the Vagina Monologues incident, which spurred the writing of two Whitworthian articles and an opinions column, but apparently failed to garner any attention from individual students (at least judging from the lack of comments upon said articles/columns).
It is, as a recent In the Loop column stated, “an upsetting trend.” But what I find more upsetting than the administration’s actions is the lack of response from the Whitworth community at large – a community that erupts in outrage when someone makes negative remarks about their everyday attire, but says not a word when the artistic expression of their peers is imperilled! What kind of attitude is this?
One friend who I pestered about the administration’s actions vis-a-vis the senior art exhibit said, “Well, I don’t really care about art. It’s not my [rights to free speech] that are being infringed upon.”
I hate to subcribe to an obvious logical fallacy, in this case the slippery slope argument, but indulge me. In recent years Whitworth has been moving more and more toward a particular image, the image of a hallowed institution of learning. This is fine, but their image apparently does not include seniors who wear wigs and make silly faces for their ID card photos, or advertisements that don’t have a “Whitworth University” stamp on the corner, or students who bedeck the other university in town’s campus with fliers declaring Whitworth’s societal, academic, and athletic superiority (in unapologetically silly terms, of course).
Understandable? Maybe…but the administration’s objections have now cut a little closer to home. No ironic art show titles. No productions of plays that dare to criticize traditional sexual mores.
How many more such decisions will have to be made before students as a whole start taking notice?
GO. VOTE. NOW [PT. TWO].
Ha ha ha…..really though. Vote. The sooner the better.
Same deal as last time, people. I logged into Facebook and typed each candidate’s name into Facebook search. Their first name I made a link to either the picture they’re using to campaign with, or their profile pic. Their last name is a link to whatever picture on their Profile Pictures Page amused or intrigued me most. And after that I quoted an intriguing, amusing, or just plain WHAT?! quote from their “Favorite Quotations” section on Facebook. And after THAT I linked you to any existing Facebook support groups. Only difference: this time it’s the people who became, as the email said, “official candidates through the write-in process.”
Duvall Senator
- Jonathan Deal (We must not look to government to solve our problems. Government is the problem [Ronald Reagan].)
- Peter Pascacio (We’ll go with that [Alex Haley].)
Off Campus Senator
Warren Senator
GO. VOTE. NOW.
…before you forget, ’cause you were busy doing @#!# CORE homework!
OKAY, here’s what I did. I logged into Facebook and typed each candidate’s name into Facebook search. Their first name I made a link to either the picture they’re using to campaign with, or their profile pic (in many cases, both [in one case a Paint interpretation of a particularly evocative campaign poster]). Their last name is a link to whatever picture on their Profile Pictures Page amused or intrigued me most. And after that I quoted an intriguing, amusing, or just plain WHAT?! quote from their “Favorite Quotations” section on Facebook. And after THAT I linked you to any existing Facebook support groups. WHEW.
President
- Tyler Whitney (Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is [[Ghandi])
- Michael Harri (I‘m not weakened by the fears/that you have applied/See I’m now learning in these walls/that You have supplied./Slow, slow down boy./Slow down to/Control [Collective Soul]) The Official Facebook Support Group. The Website.
EVP
- Tyler Hamilton (If at first you don’t suceed, then lower your standards.)
- Charley Brinkman (We cannot all do great things, but we can all do small things with great love [Mother Teresa].)
FVP
- Carl Chan (Spirituality is not religion. Religion divides people. Belief in something unites them.) The Official Facebook Support Group.
Boppell Senator
Mac Senator
- Jesse Prichard
- Stephen Jansons (..when I’m going through the hard times I like to punch dance away life’s problems…) The Official Facebook Support Group.
Ballard Senator
Stewart Senator
- Brittany Roach (life is a series of images that change as they repeat themselves [Andy Warhol]
East Senator
Arend Senator
- Beau Lamb (I feel like I’m in some Greek play, you try to control your fate, but the gods have other plans.)
- Rachel Busick (violence is not the answer [though it is a solution at times]) The Official Facebook Support Group.
Off Campus Senator
- David Kuraya (The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work [Emile Zola].) The Official Facebook Support Group.
Off Campus Rep
- Dan Lewis (The world will never be safe as long as millions live in poverty so the few can live as they wish [Shane Clairborne].) The Official Facebook Support Group.
Race on campus — Our response to GFU
By now most students are aware of what happened last Tuesday on George Fox University’s campus. If you are not, I will save time by simply linking you to this story.
To quote President Bill Robinson’s Friday evening email:
This stunt is not funny. It is abhorrent. It assaults GFU’s commitment to be a more diverse campus. It belittles Act Six students who are trying to engage a dominant culture, in most cases one that is not their culture. It invites angry and inaccurate speculations about people and motives responsible for this. It affronts every student who is different from the mainstream.
I agree with Robinson on all fronts.
Tear Down This Wall, Mr. Schwab
I’m not sure if this is the best place for this, but it is basically the first draft for a piece I am writing. I am interested in hearing your opinions on both the subject, and the piece itself. Thanks. -Brent
There is no wall separating east Mountlake Terrace from west Mountlake Terrace. If there was a wall, the East side would be populated by the Smaller Learning Communities proponents. These would include former principal Mark Baier, former vice principal, and most prominent pro-SLC voice, Steven Gering, and most notably, Bill and Melinda Gates. Yes, the Bill Gates and his wife. The Westside would consist of the SLC opponents, including most students, many parents, and some faculty members. The Smaller learning communities, much like communism looks great on paper. The idea is simple. In the last fifty years, the average high school has grown from 1,000 students to 1,500 students, and research has shown that “smaller schools are safer and more productive because students feel less alienated, more nurtured and more connected to caring adults, and teachers feel that they have more opportunity to get to know and support their students” (Great Source Grants and Funding). So, if you are a large school, like Mountlake Terrace High School with its 1,800 plus students, you use grant money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to divide yourself into smaller “academies” within the school to give each individual school the feel of a smaller school. As a former Mountlake Terrace student who attended the school both before and during the implementation of the SLCs, I can tell you that like communism, in practice, the SLCs are not an effective fix.
Let the Great Experiment Begin!
My friend and I have decided to create our own blog. This is Justin. He is my blog partner in crime. His minor celebrity shouldn’t hurt ( not to mention he is dreeeeamy). I, to the dismay of some, will not cease posting in this forum, but this new blog will be an outlet for things not relevant to this blog (or posts about chacos).
So, in preparation I am beginning a blog training regimen to get into tip-top blogging shape. I figure that with just two of us writing, I should write at least two posts a week. I am going to start by doing a blog a week. I am going to find articles online that somehow relate to Whitworth, college life, higher education, or something along those lines, and then write something about them. Hopefully something insightful, dialogue inciting, or otherwise interesting.
The first story I found is about certified smart guy Lukasz Zyblut who decided to go to Harvard after being accepted to Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, Pennsylvania, Amherst, Cornell, Columbia, Georgetown, NYU, Middlebury, Occidental (does Occidental seem out of place to you?), Richmond, Ohio Wesleyan, DePauw, Carnegie Mellon, and CUNY Hunter. That must have been a tough decision. Which brings me to the subject of this post, what made you decide to come to Whitworth? Furthermore, at what point did you realize you had made the right, or wrong, decision?
I had my decision narrowed down to two choices, Whitworth College as it was known in those days, or Concordia University Portland. I knew I wanted to go to a small school because I would be easily distracted by the social life of a larger state school like WSU or UW. I decided to visit both schools before making my final decision. Concordia was first, and after my visit I was ready to move to Portland. In retrospect I think I was blinded by the huge dorm rooms. All the dorms were new, built in the last 10 years, and had huge rooms with a bathroom between every two rooms. Think Duvall but bigger. I was so sure I even created a facebook page with my CU-P email address ( I still have to log with my now defunct bflyberg@mail2.cu-portland.edu email address). My Whitworth visit was a week later and when I arrived it was early evening in May. The first time I saw the loop lit up in all of its sparkling, shimmering, splendor, I knew CU was not in my future. Baseball, money, and location also played a role in my decision, but the campus was the deal maker for me.
The second night of traditiation was the moment I knew I had made the right choice. I don’t remember what we were doing, but I remember having more fun than I thought humanly possible, and feeling like I was already a part of the Whitworth family. I also remember a lot of free food those first few days. That was nice.
So I ask again, why did you come to Whitworth, and when did you know that it was the right, or wrong, choice?
Blogger-Professors. Blofessors? Proggers?
Update: Fixed some links.
Update: Note – jmcpherson.blogspot.com is, apparently, not the blog you’re looking for.
In a previous post, I mentioned I’d like to see a Whitworth Forum-type blog for professors.
While something as coordinated as the Forum hasn’t yet happened, there are at least a few professors who’ve begun to join the blogwagon. Perhaps the most promising is professor of journalism Jim Mcpherson’s media and politics blog, called, creatively, “James McPherson’s Media and Politics Blog.” The blog’s just starting out, so there’s no telling how it will evolve or whether McPherson will be able to maintain his rate of posting. But for now, there’s an impressive amount of depth and analysis to comb over.
Blogging professors aren’t new. Some of the most popular blogs on the Internet, including Instapundit and the Volokh Conspiracy come from law profs. McPherson’s blog, in particular, deals with religion, media, and politics, three of the most popular topics on the Web. Depending on how lucky he gets with links, and how willing he is to “pimp” pivotal posts on other blogs, it just may become a Web site of moderate popularity.
Blogging professors don’t only help the institution gain prestige — and the respect of other institutions — it allows conversation with students on academic matters to continue outside the four walls of the classroom. A good blog stirs conversation, incites debate, and informs an audience.
Much the same way college should.
95 things I love about Whitworth.
I do a lot of criticizing of Whitworth. I think the school is full of a variety of deep-seeded problems, and I express that opinion regularly. Part of that’s because, well, complaining about what’s wrong often forces changes. Going on and on about good things may make people feel fuzzy inside but usually doesn’t get much done.
But some people look at my screeds against various Whitworth problems and assume that I hate Whitworth. That’s incorrect.
If anything, it’s the opposite. I care deeply about Whitworth. I want it to be successful. That’s why I get so upset when I feel that things are changing for the worse.
It’s just like people criticize the colorization of black and white movies, not because they hate old movies, but because they love them.
But sometimes what I like about Whitworth is lost in the flurry of writings about what I hate about Whitworth.
Hopefully this post will help rectify that situation. I’ve given around 100 things, some huge and overarching and others very small, that I love about Whitworth. Some of these may seem slightly backhanded. Some of the things that I love about Whitworth, you may hate. That’s fine. The comments section has been left wide open for such commentary.
I hereby present, in the tradition of other, similarly-numbered lists, 95 things I love about Whitworth.
1. Teachers that actually teach. At other schools professors often foist off their “pedagogical drudgery on their TAs.” Not so at Whitworth. You’ll never find teachers more engaged and enthusiastic than at Whitworth.
2. The fact that Whitworth’s professors are there for the small school and the personalized environment, not for the cold hard cash and the world prestige. Their commitment, their reason for being there, shows.
3. Whitworth’s small enough that every student, guy or girl, can be a “Big Man on campus.”
4. The way the Whitworth’s lampposts glow in the fog.
5. The twin lunch lady powers of Loretta and Dee.
6. The Sodexho Hot Chocolate machine, which is somehow blessed with the perfect mixture of cocoa and hot water. This isn’t Starbucks hot chocolate sludge, people. This is pure delicious goodness. Now, if they’d only stop taunting me with “Out of Order” signs and just fix the darn thing.
7. The “Angry Pasta” international dish. More like Angry if the cafeteria doesn’t have it pasta.
8. That so many students can feel free to leave their doors unlocked and backpacks unattended. For the most part, Whitworth is a very safe place.
9. Warren Peace.
10. Compared to many Christian colleges, the campus newspaper is free to print stories on any topic. As a result, we get far more engaging discussion. And the occasional story on !!!—->SEX<—!!!