The QC, Vol. 85, No. 06 • October 15, 1998

              WHITTIER
COLLEGE
uaker
October 15,1998
ampus
C   O   L   L   E G   E
Eye Candy
G   E.	
The new Mendenhall art exhibit
entitled "Sweet" uses candy in ways
Brach's never intended. Explore the
dark side of dark chocolate and find
out why this particular display
needed warning signs.
SPORT
■ Death,
Leopards
The Poets defeat
La Verne's formidable football
team, putting them
in a tie for first in
SCIAC.
The Voice Of The Campus Since 1914
OPINION    TOPIC
Game
Should the College release the names
of lawbreakers to the community?
CAM
■ Let's Do
Lunch
Meet the people
behind the conveyor belt—the
staff of the Campus Inn.
Hate E-mail Sparks Sociology Professor to Strike
■ HARASSMENT
by Liz Valsamis
QC News Editor
A racially charged e-mail directed at Assistant Professor of
Sociology Zhidong Hao prompted him to take a half-day strike on
Monday afternoon, Oct. 12, as a
statement to the Whittier College
community that such attacks
should not be tolerated.
Besides containing racial
slurs, the e-mail—sent on Friday,
Oct. 9—issued an onslaught of
profanity thrown together with
other insults that was sent to not
only Hao, but his entire Introduction to Sociology class as well. Its
origin has been pinpointed as the
Psychology Research Lab in the
Stauffer Science Center. While
the e-mail's author remains unknown, Hao has determined that
the e-mail account—belonging to
freshman Kelly Khinarian—was
broken into by an unidentified individual. If the individual is discovered, he or she faces probation
and possible expulsion from the
College, depending on his or her
prior dicipline record, according
to Dean of Students Susan Allen.
Dean of Faculty and Provost
Rich Millman stated, in a public
Quickmail to the College
community,"When we find out
who the author is, we will take
disciplinary action aggressively
in accordance with the College
disciplinary policy."
However, according to Allen,
the College has run out of leads.
"We followed up with the [psychology lab] monitors and followed up with the young woman
whose e-mail account was used,
and we are going to continue to
pursue those avenues," she said.
In a public e-mail, Hao said,
"The person has not only insulted
me because of my race, but also
insulted all my sociology classes,
and all my former and future stu-
Zhidong Hao
dents."
The Introduction to Sociology class is utilizing e-mail as a
way to amplify class discussion.
It was through this class debate
that the e-mail was sent. According to Khinarian, she did not close
out of her account properly, leaving her account vulnerable to misuse.
"I felt exploited having my
name going throughout school,
and have people actually believe
that I had written it," Khinarian
said."I feel guilty because of all
the commotion the school had to
go through."
In the Introduction of Sociology class's Monday, Oct. 12 session, Hao, accompanied by other
members ofthe Whittier administration and faculty, addressed the
class on the issue.
Professor of Sociology Les
Howard read Hao's letter regarding the e-mail. The floor was then
opened and students, faculty and
administrators discussed the matter.
"The e-mail offended us, too,
not only professor Hao," freshman Nick Friel said."None of us
in me sociology class thought it
was funny. It took away from the
way we were communicating and
learning in class. We are uncomfortable using our e-mail now."
The class also issued a statement on the issue, delcaring then-
support for Hao. [Seepage 4]
Senior Sociology major
Daniel Ybarra, Jr., who also attended the session, commented,
"I don't promote what the person
did. The note in itself brought the
realism into what I would consider a safe environment: the College
community. It allows students to
grab hold ofthe particular type of
situation and to discuss it in an
open forum."
Ybarra sent Hao an e-mail
expressing his condolences over
the incident with the hope of restoring balance.
Howard said,"The punishing
might be a route for the restoration of balance, but not the only
route. The main thing is how we
build a community which is based
on our respect for our own and
each other's sacredness."
Hao commented, "I want to
end this as soon as I can, but
certainly I would like the community to have some kind of awareness ofthe problem that we have,
and to do everything to prevent
this from happening again, so that
the College will be a more hospitable place."
Ash Engineers Rise in Endowment  Retention Rate Increases
■ ENDOWMENT
by Anna Neese
QC Managing Editor
When President James L. Ash,
Jr. recently announced that he will
be leaving the College at the end
of this acadenic year, he cited one
ofhis reasons as having achieved
all of the financial goals of the
Board of Trustees. Whittier College has tripled the endowment
since Ash came to the campus ten
years ago, from $17 million to
$52.4 million as of June 30.
news
you can use
■ January Interim
Registration
Registration for the January
Interim will begin on Monday, Oct. 19 to Oct. 30. For
further information, contact
the Registrar's Office, located in Mendenhall, at Ext.
4067.
President James L. Ash, Jr.
The Capital Campaign, which
was officially launched in October, 1996, has been a concentrated
effort by a board made up of members of the administration, trustees and volunteers to increase the
endowment significantly over a
three year period. "The goal ofthe
Campaign is to reach $70 million,
and we have raised $51 million of
that as of Oct. 30 of this year,"
Executive Director for Development Jonathan Meer said. The $51
million raised from the Campaign
has supplemented the $52.4 million that the College had at the
beginning ofthe Campaign.
Although the Campaign
Board is convinced that the goal
will be reached, the Advancement
office will continue to fundraise.
Vice President for Advancement
Joe Zanetta said,"Our goal is $70
million for the Campaign, but
when the Campaign is successful, and it will be, we need to push
that number to $100 million."
Zanetta worked closely with
Ash and Campaign Chairman Richard Deihl ('49). "Deihl is the
chief person who provides leadership for the campaign and also
has secured funds for our major
gifts," he said.
Meer, who has helped secure
funds for the G.T.E. Language
Lab and George Allen Fitness
Center, is working on securing
the funds for the all-weather track.
He explained the endowment as
"a giant nest egg. It is invested for
the long term. We hope that the
principal ofthe endowment is never spent. We only want to spend a
portion ofthe interest."
Ash was instrumental in
launching the Campaign, accord-
Sec ENDOWMENT, page 6
Freshman Retention has Improved For the
First Time in Six Yam
Whittier has always struggled with fluctuating retention
rates, but when only 68% of 1996's freshmen returned,
it was the lowest total in years. This year, however, the
freshman retention rate climbed four points, reversing an
unbroken six year decline. It is possible that ihe array of
new programs, policies and philosophies have started to
pay off for Whittier.
See artfeie on page 6
ISSUE 6 • VOLUME 85