The QC, Vol. 93, No. 04 • September 28, 2006

              The Voice of Whittier College Since 1914
Quaker Campus
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Issue 4 - Volume 93
QC@WHITTIER.EDU
MASON FELDMAN / QC PHOTOGRAPHER
Candidates for freshman class president gave speeches in the Stauffer Lounge
on Monday, Sept. 25. Clockwise from top right, first-year students Violet Ruiz, Dan
Schniedwind, Alex Tallarida and Paul Swesey. Along with speeches, candidates were
given the chance to ask their opponents questions.
Amanda Hope receives
Pickering Fellowship
Priya Punatar
QC Staff Writer
Junior Amanda Hope, a
political science major, has received the Thomas R. Pickering
Undergraduate Foreign Affairs
Fellowship, valued at about
$200,000.
She received this award
because of her academic success, community involvement
and interest in working in the
foreign sector. Hope was one
of 20 recipients from across the
nation.
The goal of the Pickering
award, given by the Woodrow
Wilson National Fellowship
Foundation and funded by the
State Department, is to attract
people from diverse ethnic, racial
and social backgrounds, who
can represent the U.S. abroad
and have an interest in pursuing
a career with the U.S. Foreign
Service.
The Foreign Affairs Fellowship is an eight and a half year
program. This award will cover
all of Hope's tuition and room and
board for her junior and senior
years of college and the first year
of her graduate study.
Additionally, she will participate in two summer internships
with the State Department: one
in the United States and the other
abroad. Hope must also commit
to pursuing a master's degree in
international studies at one of the
graduate schools participating
in the program. Following the
completion of her graduate study
program, Hope will commit four
and a half years to working as a
Foreign Service Officer. During
this time she will work as a U.S.
diplomat in foriegn embassy. Although she does not get to choose
where she is placed, she said she
would like to work in either South
Africa or Latin America.
When asked why she wants
to work as a Foreign Service Officer, Hope said, "I do not want
a boring job, and I know that I
want to travel." She also said that
while at a leadership conference,
she met several Foreign Service
officials who influenced her decision. She said, "I saw what kind
of people they were, they really
seemed to love their jobs."
Since being chosen to be a
Pickering Fellow, Hope has had
to undergo several clearances in
order to prove her capability of
working for the Foreign Service.
Not only has she had to endure
medical tests, but investigators
have come to Whittier to perform
various security clearances. In-
see PICKERING, page 5
Candidates for
COR debate
Justin Velasco
QC News Editor
Four candidates for freshman
class president outlined their plans
for an auidence in the Stuaffer
Main Lounge on Monday Sept. 25.
During the debate, they discussed
fundrasing, events and increasing
school spirit.
Elections for freshman class
council, Members at Large and Off-
Campus Representatives positions
will be held from Tuesday, Sept. 26
through Thursday, Sept. 28. Results
will be available Thursday, Sept.
28 at 4 p.m.
Candidates suggested a number
of ideas for the freshman class.
First-year student Dan Schniedwind proposed having cable
installed in the dorm rooms, and
said that Whittier College students
pay a lot for room and board; more
than other colleges.
Schniedwind's second plan is
to reduce the drinking penalties,
explaining that last year's policy
was more severe. "I'm not saying
drinking is okay," Schniedwind
said. "I'm saying that if you mess
up once your punishment shouldn 't
be as harsh."
First-year student Violet Ruiz
pointed out her three main goals:
to ignite class spirit, gather more
resources for COR, and represent
the freshmen student body. Her
plan is to host more class activities
that will bring students together
and help fundraise. "My main
mission is to truly represent your
voice in COR not only to help our
class have a greater voice in the
functions that we have at Whittier
College, but also for the college
as a whole," Ruiz said. "I will be
a voting member in COR and as a
voting member I will help improve
some of the activities."
First-year student Alex Tallarida said he was unsure of what
he plans to accomplish, but hopes
to find out through ideas from the
see ELECTIONS, page 4
Plagiarism policies
altered for clarity
Justin Velasco
QC News Editor
Students thinking about plagiarizing their first papers of the semester
should take a look at the revised
plagiarism policy, which includes
alterations to the process and penalization of plagiarists, as well as the
definitions of what plagiarism is. The
Academic Standing Commitee made
the alterations to provide a clearer
understanding of the policy and its
penalities. The policy can be found in
student handbooks.
One of the major changes to the
policy included altering the wording
of the "Process" section, which di-
cusses whether faculty should report
plagiarism to the Dean of Students. The
new policy states that faculty members
"must" report plagiarism, rather than
before, when it said "should."
The policy also contains a range
of penalties faculty can administer,
such as failing the student or just the
paper. A new rule was also created that
says that a student with a minimum of
two flagrant violations, or three total
violations, must go before the hearing
board. Clarification was also added to
the definitions of what plagiarism is.
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Devin Iimoto spear-headed the changes as Chair of the Academic Standing
Committee. "The stimulation for the
change in the policy mostly arose out
of faculty discontent with how the
previous policy was being applied,"
Iimoto said. "Some faculty felt that
the penalties were being distributed
see PLAGIARISM, page 5
CORRECTION
Acaption in last week's issue
gave Tony Strickland the wrong
title. He is an Assemblyman, not
a Congressman, and graduated in
'93, not '83.
MEET AND GREET
Societies welcome prospective
new members with fun and
games.
Campus Life, Page 7
CHINESE ACROBATS
Miso flexible. Wait - that's a
Japanese reference. Anyway, check
out this performance.
A&E, Page 11