Whitman Stories
![Tim Parker takes a photograph](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/TimParker-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 28, 2020
Tim Parker Makes Biology Field Trips Accessible for Online Learning
Under normal circumstances, students in Associate Professor Tim Parker’s Natural History and Ecology lab course participate in weekly, five-hour field trips around eastern Washington. Parker didn’t want his students to miss out on the opportunity to learn in the field now that Whitman College has moved to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. So Parker is bringing the field to them, adapting his field trips and using video and photographs to make the trips accessible to his 22 students.
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![A portrait of Aleksandra Ross](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/AlexandraRoss-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 27, 2020
Whitman Education, Medical Field and Heritage Influence Alumna’s YA Novel
Aleksandra Ross ’14 believes that she wouldn’t have written the same book if it weren’t for her Whitman education. Ross’ first young adult novel will be released April 28, 2020. Titled “Don’t Call the Wolf,” the book is fantasy at a faster pace, Ross said, and is heavily influenced by Polish and Slavic folklore.
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April 26, 2020
Senior Lecturer of Chemistry Deberah Simon's Family Supports Rapid Local Testing for COVID-19
A private donation by the Whitman faculty member and her husband, Dr. Richard Simon, anchored fundraising for the Providence St. Mary Foundation's rollout of the Cepheid GeneXpert platform that, when fully functional, will produce test results in about 45 minutes.
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![A group photo of the members of Whitman's Debate Team.](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/DebateTeam-Nationals-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 25, 2020
Debate Team Duo Takes First in National Competition
Whitman College debate team partners Ava Liponis ’23 and Susanna Williams ’20 had a lot on their minds as they prepared for the novice finals of the National Parliamentary Debate Association’s national championship tour in March, and it wasn’t just how they were going to craft, propose and defend their arguments. Whitman’s team of debaters competing at nationals had just received the news that the college would move all class instruction online due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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April 25, 2020
French Professor Nicole Simek Discusses Maryse Condé's The Belle Créole
Simek, Cushing Eells Professor of Philosophy and Literature and Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures (French) and Interdisciplinary Studies, is a scholar of the French Guadeloupean author's work and legacy.
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![A weeping cherry tree at Whitman College.](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/Cherry-Tree-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 24, 2020
Celebrate Arbor Day with Virtual Tours of Campus Trees
Whitman College holds the designation of Tree Campus USA from the Arbor Day Foundation. What does it take to maintain our campus trees (and our 1:1 student to tree ratio)? Watch the video to see how arborist Kirk Huffey climbs trees on campus to perform maintenance and pruning. You can also enjoy a virtual tour of Whitman's prickly trees, led by Senior Lecturer of Biology Susanne Altermann.
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![A portrait of Sam Geschickter](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2019/December/SamGeschickter_03-thumbnail.jpg)
April 23, 2020
Sam Geschickter '20 Explores Religion and Finances in Thesis
Sam Geschickter '20 brings his philosophical thinking from his religion studies at Whitman into his internship at a local bank. This thinking lead to a senior thesis project on the philosophy of risk-taking in the economy and business. Geschickter spends hours inside Penrose Library researching this subject.
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April 23, 2020
Gap Year Offers German Studies Major Path for Discovery and Growth
Before starting her first year at Whtiman College, Anneke Sherry '22 spent a year traveling the globe and learning more about herself and the world.
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![A combination portrait of Evangelos Sarantinos, left, and Cameron Conner](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/Cameron-Evangelos-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 22, 2020
Two Seniors Receive Prestigious Watson Fellowships
Two Whitman College seniors will have the chance to travel the world and pursue knowledge thanks to awards from the Watson Foundation. Evangelos Sarantinos '20, a biology major from Seattle, Washington, and Cameron Conner '20, a rhetoric and politics double-major from Spokane, Washington, are recipients of the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
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April 17, 2020
Schwa A Capella Performance of 'Distance' by Emily King
Whitman College a cappella group Schwa virtually performs a cover of "Distance" by Emily King. Students submitted recordings from Walla Walla, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, and Breckenridge, Colorado.
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April 17, 2020
Professor of Chemistry Frank Dunnivant Reflects on 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Detailing what he describes as the three phases of climate policy in the U.S., Dunnivant grapples with how capitalism almost destroyed the planet and how it might save it, plus how to hold powerful climate deniers accountable.
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![A trunk full of supplies donated to the fire department](/images/whitman-stories/stories/2020/April/COViD_Donation-Thumbnail.jpg)
April 16, 2020
Whitman Sciences Give Precious Supplies to First Responders
Frontline workers in the medical and emergency response industries are getting a boost in access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand sanitizer thanks to the generosity and expertise of Whitman College faculty, staff and alumni.
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