The QC, Vol. 88, No. 06 • October 11, 2001

              The Voice Of Whittier College Since 1914
October 11,2001
QUAKER CAMPUS
web.whittier.edu/qc
ELIZABETH BOHR / QC ASST. PHOTO EDITOR
Flying objects spotted on Upper Quad
Senior Evan Gramley participates in the Ultimate Frisbee Tournament
sponsored by the Freshman Class Council on Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Gramley'steam, the Hippie Kids, was defeated by the Bleacher Boys in
the first round. See story in Campus Life, page 7.
Bon Appetit inspected
Changes to be made in the
Campus Inn and The Spot will be
minor; rats not mentioned in Health
Department report.
by Rebecca Wolf
QC Managing Editor
The Health Department inspected the
Campus Inn and The Spot on Friday, Oct. 5,
citing painting, patching and cleaning infractions.
The Health Department report cited four
items that need to be changed in The Spot and
seven items that need to be changed in the
C.L, including repairing sections ofthe floors
and .ceilings worn from use. The report also
said that some walls need to be wiped down
to remove material that had splashed on to
them.
Director of Food Services Dave Adkins
said that the violations were more like "fix-it
tickets than moving violations." According
Freedom vs. Safety
After terrorist attacks, students ask:
what'price is too high for security?
to Adkins, the two facilities do not receive
letter grades, because they are private institutions. Adkins said that the marks were not
serious and that if on a letter system, the C.I.
and The Spot would still be considered
grade "A."
Adkins called the Health Department
to inspect the school after the C.I. rat infestation for "peace of mind for the customers."
The report did not mention the rats, but
Adkins said that inspector was aware ofthe
problem and found no reason to investigate
further.
In an effort to clarify Director of
Food Services Dave Adkins' quote in
last week's "Rats invade campus facilities," the Quaker Campus provided
erroneous information. The quote
should have read "I'm 90% assured the
issue [on a scale of 100] has gone from
100 to 10."
Retention increases
as students, College
match well overall
RETENTION
by Rose Ochoa
QCAsst. News Editor
"Picking a school is not like video dating," Dean of Enrollment Urmi Kar said,
explaining the mutual selecting process conducted between the Office of Enrollment and
a prospective student. With the sophomore
retention rate at 83% and the overall student
body rate at 80.9% (compared to a national
average of 43%, according to Kar), Whittier
College's retention rate, compared to 68% in
1997, means that more and more well-prepared and well-matched students are attending the College and are satisfied with it, according to the preliminary retention rates for
2000-2001.
The College focuses on three crucial issues in retaining students: academic difficulty, financial difficulty and environmental concerns, which can range from pregnancy to the
death of a loved one to general dissatisfaction.
Whittier is taking many strides towards keeping controllable factors to a minimum. One
example is using the financial aide program's
$25 million as intelligently as possible and
having need-blind admissions. Another is sup
plying students with the learning resources
and support, giving them opportunities to
participate and fill leadership roles on campus and reaching out to the Academic Review
Committee. Furthermore, the College has
emphasized a higher level of "customer service" through the institution. "The more we
can train our staff, the better the students
interactions," Dean of Students Dave Leonard said. Kar echoed that "the College
takes its operational issues very, very seriously," and added that "it doesn't mean we
can change all of those things in one magical
swoop."
"We use a multi-pronged approach, and I
think that's the right one," Kar said as she
described the interconnected network of the
Office of Enrollment, Residential Life and
Academic Affairs. The Office of Enrollment
works to ensure that incoming students are
correctly paired with the College. From there,
the first-years transition to Academic Affairs,
dealing with the curricular life, and Residential Life, dealing with co-curricular life—
namely student activities, student housing
and student organizations.
Keeping the triangle offices—Residen-
tialLife, Academic Affairs andEnrollment—
See RETENTION, page 6
Police, Fire Dept.
respond to
Stauffer alarm
A student suspected of setting off
the warning escaped from
Campus Safety's custody. He
could face a fine or prison.
by Mario Neavez
QC Photo Editor
Tampering of a fire extinguisher in
Stauffer Residence Hall triggered a false
fire alarm early Tuesday Oct 9. Campus
Safety, with aid of the Whittier Police Department (W.P.D.) and Whittier Fire Department (W.F.D), responded to the fire
alarm.
According to the Campus Safety report,
Campus Safety Officer Demetra Kimble-
Ross responded to the scene from the Plat-
ner/Johnson area at 2:34 a.m. after observing what she thought to be smoke escaping
from the southwest side of Stauffer. Kimble-
Ross reported that as she approached Stauffer
a group of people ran away from the scene.
Kimble-Ross continued to investigate the
smoke, while Stauffer Resident Advisors
evacuated residents from the building.
W.P.D. and W.F.D. arrived at the scene soon
after and started an investigation. They
determined that the fire alarm was triggered
by a fire extinguisher, not a fire.
See FIRE, page 6
ISSUE 6 • VOLUME 88
Opinions, Page 3
Scholars everywhere
Read about this year's nominees
for Rhodes, Marchall, Mitchell and
Gates Scholarships.
Campus Life, Page 8
After Eden...
Adam and Eve did yoga on an
escalator.
A&E, Page 10
Bring it on
fe;
Why don't more people attend
athletic games? Our Sports
Editor takes a guess.
Sports, Page 16