The QC, Vol. 88, No. 11 • November 15, 2001

              The Voice Of Whittier College Since 1914
November 15,2001
QUAKER CAMPUS
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//web.whittier.edu/qc
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AMY STICE/QC EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Junior Presidential candidate Mario Neavez, seniors Brian Kistler and Jeff Cleveland and
junior Presidential candidate Jess Craven at the presidential debate on Wednesday, Nov.
15 in the Lower Quad. The debate, attended by approximately 30 students, provided a
forum for candidates for the COR President and Vice-President to outline their platforms.
Presidential debate
tackles campus issues
ELECTION
by Meredith Wallis
QC Copy Editor
Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates for the Council
of Representatives (COR) all
voiced similar goals regarding improving safety on campus, improving communication between
students and the administration
and increasing COR's receptivity
to student input, at the debate on
Wednesday, Nov. 14.
The differences lay in the details. Safety on campus was the
most thoroughly discussed issue.
Junior presidential candidate Jess
Craven and junior Vice Presidential candidate Armilla Staley, who
For Your Information
Because ofthe Thanksgiving holiday, the QC will not print an
issue next week. In related news,
The Campus Inn and The Spot
will be open and in full operation
through lunch on Wednesday,
Nov. 21. They will reopen on
Monday, Nov. 26.	
are running on a common platform,
advocated the formation of a student committee to review campus
safety and emphasized the need for
more lighting and call boxes. Junior
Vice Presidential candidate Carrie
Stone advocated the implementation of a "Tipsy Taxi" program to
provide rides home to students who
have been drinking off campus.
Pressing student concerns with
the administration was also a popular issue. Junior Presidential candidate Mario Neavez stressed his commitment to advocate on behalf of
students with administrators, particularly in regards to issues involving societies. Stone stated that as a
member of the COR Safety Committee, she was already working
with administrators such as Director of Human Resources Jan Merideth and Director of Student Activities Barnaby Peake in bringing call
boxes to campus. Craven stated that
he is presently discussing the creation of a peer mediation board between students and administrators
with Dean of Students Dave Leonard.
Regarding increasing communication between COR and the stu
dent body, Staley expressed a desire to make the COR internal budget "more transparent" by using
the COR Web site. Craven also
stressed his role in helping develop the COR Web site this semester, and emphasized its role as an
outlet for student feedback about
COR.
Stone and Neavez emphasized
the importance of the Executive
Council consulting the students and
the legislative body of COR before
setting the internal budget, not afterward, as was the case this year.
Craven, currently the COR Secretary and thus a member of the
Executive Council, defended the
Council's decision. Craven stated
that the Executive Council's agenda was based on previous years'
COR surveys, and criticized the
administration's "hampering" of
the Executive Council' s implementation of their agenda. "The Executive Council sets priorities," he
said. "Those are the issues we
wanted to get through this semester. I'd like to see one student who
didn't want our goals."
See ELECTION, page 6
Suspicious letter
proved harmless
MAIL
by Kiril Kolev
For the Quaker Campus
A suspicious letter received at
the College mailroom on Monday,
Oct. 22, was initially considered to
be a biological weapon threat by the
postal staff but was later deemed
safe. The person on duty noticed a
package with no return address. The
text on the envelope was illegibly
written and almost impossible to
read. Alarmed by the mysterious
piece of mail, the worker contacted
Campus Safety.
Security officials reacted immediately in order to avoid any possible
threat. After a thorough analysis the
officers managed to decipher the
names of the recipients. The letter
was apparently sent to some former
members of the Biology Department.
Two ofthe recipients -Professors of
B iology Inez Hull and Louis James—
are no longer alive. This increased
suspiciousness even more.
Assistant Chief of Campus Safety John Lewis opened the piece of
mail with gloves and a mask to avoid
any potential hazardous exposure.
What he found inside, however, was
only a letter written in a similar man
ner - the sentences were scattered all
over the sheet and were difficult to
read.
"It was a judgment call. Someone had to open this letter and see
what was inside," Lewis said. The
people from the security office could
not explain the purpose of the letter
but did not find any threat whatsoever and decided to end the case. They
presume that the letter was sent by a
former student who sustained a brain
injury or has another type of brain-
related disease. Lewis pointed out
that the mailroom staff is experienced enough to easily recognize
suspicious mail and examine it when
needed.
Because of the nationwide concerns about any possible anthrax
threats, the College administration
distributed a special handout that
explains what constitutes a "suspicious parcel." Students are advised
to contact Campus Safety whenever
they receive letters or parcels that are
from someone that i s unfamiliar, have
no return address, contain misspelled
words, or have excessive tape or
string.
There have been seventeen accidents reported to Campus Safety
around the mailroom area since the
beginning of the year. One of them
included an empty vodka bottle sent
through the mail.
College evaluation
team listens to
students' opinions
WASC
By Lindsey Brengle
QC Asst. News Editor
Students repeatedly referred to
the College's sense of community
in an informal question and answer session attended by nine students held by the WASC Committee [the Western Association of
Schools and Colleges] on Wednesday, Nov. 14. The Committee, currently residing in Johnson House,
is made up of faculty and administrative representatives from
school such as University of Cal
ifornia Davis, University of Arizona and Allegheny College in
Pennsylvania and is evaluating
Whittier College as a part of a
regular accreditation process.
Several students mentioned
that their favorite part about the
College is the community. One
student mentioned that he enjoys
the fact that he "saw other people
on a regular basis and knows their
names."
In their effort to hear firsthand opinions directly from students, the WASC Committee began with simple questions like
See WASC, page 5
ISSUE 11 • VOLUME 88
Who's it gonna be?
The candidates for ASWC
President square off in
hardcore Q&A.
Opinions, Page 3
For love of the game
Bowling just doesn't get enough
play. Neither do we.
Campus Life, Page 8
Down the river
Screenwriter Kathleen Lohr
decries the necessity of selling
art in TV-land.
A&E, Page 10
Splish splash
Water polo ends the season in
second place after battling it out
in the SCIAC championships.
Sports, Page 14