The QC, Vol. 89, No. 26 • May 8, 2003

              May 8,2003
QUAKER CAMPUS
http://web.whittier.edu/qc
Liberty Bell to serve
as conservative voice
■ PUBLICATION
by Christina Gutierrez
QC News Co-Editor
As one of an increased number
of right-wing publications on college campuses, a group of conservative students, led by Editor-in-
chief senior Jess Craven, published
The Liberty Bell. The group's goal
was to be a self-proclaimed voice of
conservative students.
Craven stated that the paper's
main purpose was to provide a forum for conservative students who
might be intimidated to voice their
opinions on what they perceive to
be a liberal campus. "Let's be honest, we have openly socialist and
Marxist professors at Whittier," he
said. "Whittier College is Los Angeles' tropical oasis for leftist aca-
demia, complete with mud baths
and a massage parlor."
The paper, to be published
monthly, consists of student articles responding to issues ranging
from war protestors to the events
surrounding Bill Simon's speech
made at Los Portales. According to
Craven, the paper was never meant
to provide objective news coverage. He commented, "The Liberty
Bell was not designed to be another
QC. [It] is a forum for conservative
thought." Liberty Bell copy editor
first-year student Josh Barnett expressed hope that the paper will
eventually grow to include both
objective news and conservative
opinion pieces.
Unlike other campus publications, The Liberty Bell is not funded
through student body fees. Craven
stressed that it is entirely independently funded and will never ask for
funding from Publication Board or
any other on-campus organization.
He did comment, however, that
"Shawn Steel has been very good to
The Liberty Bell, and we are eternally grateful."
According to Assistant Professor of Political Science Caroline
Heldman, the paper is comparable
to others that are part of a Newt
Gingrich-advocated project to set
up "conservative student publications on campuses across the nation
using alumni funding." Heldman
stated that the nature ofthe publication and its articles would lead her
to believe that The Liberty Bell is
part of a network of more than 80
right wing-leaning student publications.
Although Craven acknowledged that there are other like-minded publications with similar goals,
he stated that the Whittier publication is not part of any central organization of conservative publications, and indeed that no such organization exists to his knowledge.
See LIBERTY BELL, page 5
Graduating seniors face
average debt of $ 17K
■ SENIORS
by Patrick Holmes
QC Co-News Editor
Seniors graduating this year will
leave Whittier with an average of
$17,125 in student loans from the
government. Accordi ng to Director
of Office of Student Financing Nina
Martinez, this is the average amount
haf students borrow over four years
at Whittier.
This figure does not count money that parents may have borrowed
on behalf of students. Martinez says
that whatever money is left after the
government loans is usually taken
care of by the parents. "It is harder
to come up with an average for
parents," Martinez said. "For this
year there are 141 parents with plus
loans, adding up to $1.5 million in
aid." This amount, when averaged
out, is $ 10,600 in loans per student.
However, not all students had to
take out loans. Senior Ron Campbell said, "I have very little debt
Oh Baby!
No, we're not talking about
Professor Doreen O'Connor
Gomez, we're talkin' about
all of our letters—boo ya!
Opinions, Page 2
because my mommy and daddy paid
my tuition."
Martinez said that the average
student loan at Whittier is consistent with other private schools.
"When you compare us to state
schools like Cal State and the UC
schools those students will borrow
significantly less," Martinez said.
"But their tuition is also much low-
"My mommy and daddy
paid my tuition"
Ron Campbell
Senior
er." She also said that the majority
of students at private institutions
take out loans.
"I have $16,000 in debt, but I
realize that is the cost of getting an
education here," senior Clancy Nelson said.
Some seniors have turned to the
Career Services office to find a way
to pay off their debt. "The most
important advice I give to everyone
is to have a targeted job search,"
Director of Career Services Linda
Ross said. "Many recruiters say 'I'm
not your career counselor; it's up to
you to choose what you can do and
then market yourself to me.'"
Ross stressed the importance of
not waiting until senior year to plan
for after graduation. She explained
that when recruiters look at a pool
of applicants, if there are a few that
have two internships before they
graduate then they will be the first
people the recruiters will consider.
"I don't know exactly what I
am going to do," senior Nicole
Dampeer said. "I am taking a year
off, and will probably waitress while
taking some education classes."
While data is not available for
this year's graduating seniors, a survey conducted by Career Services
ofthe 2002 graduating class showed
that six months after graduating, 61
percent of students had full-time
jobs, 21.1 percent were enrolled in
graduate or professional school and
3.3 percent were unemployed.
Twenty-three percent of the students either had part time or temporary jobs.
HELENA NGO / QC PHOTO EDITOR
Proud parents Associate Professor of Modern Languages
and Literature Doreen O'Connor and Carlos Gomez with
their new baby Aidan Juan Carlos, bom Thursday, May
1 at5:41 a.m. Aidan was bom weighing eight pounds five
ounces. "So far, he had been living up to what his name
means in Irish, 'little fire,'" said O'Conner-Gomez, who
has been teaching at Whittier since 1991 and currently
resides in Hartley House. "Though these are kind of
crazy times, this is truly a magical experience!"
Johnston wins
Nerhood Award
■ TEACHING
by Amy Stice
QC Editor-in-Chief
Associate Professor of Sociology sal Johnston, who won the Nerhood Award forTeachingExcellence
on Tuesday night, said that "while the
award acknowledges good teaching,
it more importantly functions to remind us to continue the long tradition
of teaching excellence at Whittier
College." But the products of students who come out of Johnston's
classes could be reminder enough.
In presenting the award, Interim
Dean of Faculty Charles Adams read
from a list of nominations from students who cite Johnston as the reason
they stayed up all night to write 40-
page papers because they were so
engrossed in the topic, or added a
sociology major to their existing science major because they wanted to
"eat [Johnston's] classes three meals
a day."
It is answers like these, not
bronzed medals, that make Johnston
want to "get up and do it all again
the next day."
"Anyone who said that they
didn't appreciate positive recognition by their peers and their students
would be a liar. They do," Johnston
said. "But what's so gratifying about
[teaching] is that most of the stuff
that's really rewarding is hard to pin
down...It's gratifying to see students who are eager to learn and
understand and then see them graduate and go on to do important and
meaningful work...If I can help
them to be those people and do
those things, then I can feel OK
about what I do for a living."
But Johnston also recognizes
that not every student will be so
affected by her teaching: " 'Teaching' seems to be a bit of a misnomer—at best teachers create opportunities for students to challenge
themselves and find their own
strengths. We don't actually 'make'
people learn; people must want to."
Johnston notes that flexibility
in teaching is key. She pointed to
two major influences in her teach-
See TEACHING, page 5
ISSUE 26 • VOLUME 89
Got SARS?
Neither do we, which is why you
should read our section! It's
chock full of articles guaranteed
not to make you sick...hopefully.
Campus Life, Page 8
End on a High Note
We've got a choice of Web
sites and an x-cellent X-Men
review. But the real beauty's
on the Jeff Buckley page.
A&E, Page 10
The Picks
The annual MVP picks have been
made. Check Sports for the
runners up aad rookies of the year
as well. Congratulations to all.
Sports, Page 16