Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Frequently-Asked-Questions
Q: Why is this called the Whitworth Forum?
A: The Whitworth Forum is a callback to “Forum,” a time when Whitworth students were required to go and attend lectures where experts would lecture on a variety of different topics. Afterward, students would occasionally be led in a discussion.Today, however, there is no better expert on Whitworth University than the students themselves. We are the ones in the best position to provoke and incite discussion. Frankly, Whitworth students have interesting opinions.
Q: Is this blog officially affiliated with Whitworth University in any way whatsoever?
A: No. I hope I made myself clear. It’s only called the Whitworth Forum because it’s composed of Whitworth Students. A lot of times, also, it will deal with Whitworth.
Q: Why start a giant mega Whitworth Group Blog?
A: In the breezy spring of 2007, I noticed several things at Whitworth. First, the way that various groups had “cocooned” themselves within various like minded groups. While hanging out with like minded people is entirely natural, whenever the sodium rock of a different provocative opinion was lobbed into the still waters of their philosophical certainty, things exploded.
Secondly, during my many two-hour long conversations at Saga, I noticed that there were dozens of people of Whitworth who had deep, in-depth, opinions. They were very articulate, intelligent people, with finely honed analysis on a variety of opinions. And yet, the Saga table was the only forum they had to showcase their thoughts.
Finally, I noticed that civilized online debates started to crop up on the comments in Facebook of all places. When Facebook’s the best forum Whitworth has for intellectual discussion, you know there’s a void that needs to be filled.
Q: Is this something the Whitworthian’s running? Or ASWU?
A: None of the above. We want the stress to be on individual’s opinions, not organizations. While the ASWU members and Whitworthian Editors can write for the blog, they do so as purely individuals, not as representatives of their constituency or occupation.
Q: Good Sir! I have been offended by the dreck that some of this blog’s writers have foisted upon us!
A: Wonderful! College is all about being exposed to some truly terrible ideas, having your assumptions stretched like taffy, and being challenged to your very core. Respond in the comment section, or e mail us with your rebuttal, and we’ll post it. I’d encourage that you attack the factual accuracy of the opinion, or the consequences or inherent flaws of such an idea. Simply calling the opinion ‘bad’ or condemning it for breaking a taboo isn’t effective. Merely claiming that you’ve been offended isn’t an argument.
Q: Hey, I’m the best writer in all of the Whitworthosphere! Why haven’t I been asked to write for this here Whitworth Forum blog?
A: When we made our first round draft picks, we must have forgotten you due to an accounting error. And, besides, this isn’t about us choosing you, Samuel-style, with anointing oil and a heavenly chorus and ceremonial armor presented . There are several options you can pursue. Instead, you have two options. It’s pretty simple.
1) Comment on any one of the variety of exciting posts that have already been posted. The comment section is where some of the best debate takes place.
2) Apply to be a writer for the blog.
Q: What should my application look like?
A: An e-mail to an administrator (like, say, Nathaniel Orwiler, Gabrielle Vaughn, Thomas Robinson, Kyle Pflug, Kelly Vincent, or Daniel Walters) saying “Hello, my name is NAME, majoring in insert MAJOR. I can spell correctly, use capital and lower case letters when grammatically necessary, and would like to write interesting posts for the Whitworth Forum. I will try to write about things that others may find interesting, and not the hilarious things your cat did.”
A: No. We would prefer the official writers be all current Whitworth students, though if the students are lagging in production (something about having to produce five two page term. I want people to be able to freely discuss their opinions without having to compete with sharp minded professors or having to worry about being graded for their responses. You are more than welcome to post in the comments, or email us a guest post, and we’ll happily post it up on the main page.
Q: Are there any rules regarding what I can post?
A: Yes, there are several.
Q: Uh, what are they?
A: They are as follows:
- Don’t post personal stories of-what-you-ate-for-breakfast unless there’s some kind of broader point. This is not your personal MySpace crappage. Instead this is a place for observations and opinions about Whitworth,
Spokane, local, national, and international politics, history, sociology, communications, the media, pop culture, etc. - Similarly, don’t post announcements about upcoming ASWC or Student Life events. That’s a quick way to make the blog look like a Whitworth Student email inbox. You can post about upcoming or current Whitworthian news stories, because those provide great jumping off points for discussion.
- Try to avoid profanity and the like. Unless your post is dealing with profanity itself (a.k.a. George Carlin’s “7 dirty words” routine), profanity looks tacky, making the blog look like it’s run by immature college students. (While it may technically be, it shouldn’t look that way.) If you must curse, you can always break out the asterisks. I want my grandmother to be able to read it and still feel comfortable sending me money on my birthday.
Q: Can I post mean-spirited personal attacks?
A: Eh, we’d rather you didn’t. However, we won’t have a policy that says such, as there are too many legitimate topics of discourse that are on that hazy gray line between personal attack and thoughtful criticism. We may be criticizing actions, choices, policies, tendencies, or ways of thinking. If we feel you’ve gone way over the line, we won’t censor you, but we will probably send you an email politely asking you to knock it off. You jerk.
Q: Can I post comments anonymously or post under some clever pseudonym, like Spartacus, or Deep Throat?
A: No. Such comments will be deleted, with minutely few exceptions. Please post with your real name. The whole purpose of this blog is to open up communication and be more transparent. Sniping from a shield of anonymity is just destructive. Toughen up. Be proud of your opinions.
And believe me, if you DO post anonymously, we will figure out who you are. We’re good at that. And we will secretly hold it against you for the rest of your life.
Q. DOOD IVE GOT AN AWSUM BLOG YO CAN I GET IT ON UR BLOGROL YO THANX MAN
A. Sure, since you were so polite as to ask. Generally we put people on the blogroll for a) being awesome b) linking to us or c) asking politely (or amusingly if not politely). If our traffic increases ridiculously those rules might change, but for now, it is what it is.
