#19 About Whittier College (www.whittier.edu0 written 8-9-11

As part of my ongoing struggle to infiltrate the intelligentsia, I wrote Whitter College (W.C.), amongst other colleges and universities (Us), asking them about their faculty & student orgs. The fact that their sports teams are named "Poets" after (after abolitionist poet John Greenleaf Whittier) and that the author of an excellent essay (i.e. Martin H. Pritikin, "Is Prison Increasing Crime?" 2008 Wisconsin Law Review 1049) is a law professor at the affiliated Whittier Law School were what caused me to pick W.C. from the dozens of other C's & U's I'm curious about.
Several weeks later I received W.C.'s current catalog, a couple of handbooks, a list of student org's, their 2011 Literary Review (I'll be posting a blog reviewing this in the future for now I'll just say it's too bad W.C. doesn't offer it for sale to the public), and a friendly and informative cover-letter from W.C. counselor David C Laine
Why am I impressed enough to write about W.C.?
Readers, I am a nerd.
Yep. I'm confident, tough, but a nerd. I've always loved learning stuff, love thinking, & am cool with spending hours studying texts that'd put the average football fan in a coma. Other than <.M.A., boxing, or (of course) woman's volleyball, tennis, and gymnastics, I don't get into sports. I always get 30-plus of the questions on "Jeopardy" right, usually at least 40. I'm tall, skinny (don't worry girlies, daddy's very muscular), and wear glasses. I'm a freakin' nerd!
Anyone got a prob' w/ that? Only coll dummies, ha!
So, I dig worthy mental competitors. I crave their company, so I can go Sylar ("Heroes") on 'em. A college with "poets" as their teams name gotta have some nerd pride, right?
I was right. Check out their forenoted web-site & see for yourself, and consider those W.C. stats:
*1,800+ students on a residential campus
* 67% of applicants are admitted
* Located in So' Cal., close to LA
* very welcoming, friendly atmosphere
* motto is "Amor Eruditonis, Lux, Poesis, Veritas, Pax." I believe it translates to "Love of Learning, Prosperity, Poetry, Truth, Peace"
* 70% of W.C. students receive some type of college-funded grant. Pages 14-18 of their catalog lists their endowments & scholarships. Page 2 of their catalog gives this overview:
Whittier College is a residential four-year liberal arts institution that prepares students from diverse backgrounds to excel in a complex global society. Through challenging, interactive courses, taught by accomplished professors, students learn to make connections across disciplines, understand cultural perspectives, and integrate learning with practical application. Inspired by our Quaker heritage, a Whittier education equips students to be active citizens and effective communicators who embrace diversity and act with integrity.
Being a prison abolitionist, a poet, a lyricist, and an advocate for social justice, I have these qualities in common with the namesake of W.C. thus I'm partial. But, like the partiality for roses and strawberries, by bias is justifiable!
Founded in 1887 by Quakes, although non-sectarian, W.C. retains "the social values associated with [their] Quaker heritage - freedom of conscience, integrity, internationalism, listening to others and building consensus..." (W.C. catalog p.8). Prison administrators should have such qualities!
W.C. has a distinguished faculty, published & winning awards in their fields. Each 1st year student is assigned a faculty member as their mentor. Like Oxford & Cambridge (& Hogwarts :) ), each residence hall is affiliated with a "Faculty Master," who hosts "scholarly lectures, dinners, musical performances... trips to museum, galleries, theaters, and concerts in Southern California." (W.C. catalog p. 27)
They are serious about writing at W.C., as page 53 of their catalog explains:
At Whittier College, each student learns to think critically and write effectively. Because the need to communicate clearly is essential in every discipline, faculty from every department share responsibility for improving students' writing abilities. For these reasons, the faculty has constructed a writing program that spans four years..."
And they have so much more!
Readers, I wanna get naked, runs around that campus, & absorb its essence! The only weird thing about W.C. is that former President Nixon went there. But he was a two-term (almost) president, and, heck, I'm a crook. Ol' Tricky Dick has a scholarship there, which makes some amends.
So, cats & kittens, check out W.C. if you feel my brain pain. Tell'em I said "hi" & wish I could attend.
As always, feel free to dispute me if ya think I'm wrong.
Hugs & kisses
Nate

Convict Crosswords, crossword puzzles using prison lingo. Dated 8-9-11
Across
1. The place disobedient prisoners are housed
2. Dangerous group of prisoners, abbey.
3. Prisoners' slang for prison cell
4. A prisoner who submits to his status
5. AKA, the death penalty
6. Prisoner's slang for one's record
7. A con way to make money
8. Prisoner's slang for friend/ally
9. What all cons want
10. Prison officials' label for prisoner
11. Prison Store
12. Homemade prison wine
13. A prisoner's roommate
14. Con's term for worthless, annoying prisoner
15. The person someone committed a crime with
16. Term for prison staff, from G. Orewell book
17. A prisoner's homemade weapon
17 1/2. A secret snitch.

Down
18. Temporary release from custody
19. A restraining device
20. US Constitutional Amendment that prohibits abuse of prisoners
21. Prisoners' term for prison
22. Slang for life sentence
23. Governor's or President's forgiveness
24. A prisoner who reject the status imposed on him by the state.
25. A prisoner who submits to homosexual sex acts.
26. Covered in tattoos
27. "Razor ________" - around prisons
28. AKA a tier tender
29. Slang for psych meds
30. Evidence that's exonerated many, abbrv.
31. A term for mental illess caused by being housed in supermaxes and control units

Note: All punctuation marks and spaces ar excluded in the answers. Only letters go in the boxes. Anyone may copy and publish this, as long as they name me as the author and cite my URLs as the source.
Answers posted on entry #21
[see crossword puzzle]

Answers to Convict Crosswords, Entry #20, & mumblings
Dated Aug. 9, 2011

One of the most amusing and irritating experiences I had when I first went to jail at age 18 was trying to play Monopoly with other prisoners. It was futile. Everyone, even me, was filching bills from the bank.
"Hey guys, its not real money," I said, trying to reason with those shiney-eyed crooks, all young & poor-white trash, like me.
Of course I was being hypocritical. It defeated the whole purpose of my cheating for them to cheat too!
Moral of the story is nobody likes a cheater, especially another cheater. So, please don't read these answers until you're done w/ the crossword puzzle or give up. Here goes:
Across:
1. hole (i.e. punitive segregation)
2. STG (i.e. security-threat group0
3. box
4. inmate
5. capital punishment
6. jacket
7. hustle
8. homie
9. freedom
10. offender
11. canteen
12. hooch
13. cellie
14. bug
15. co-defendant
16. pig
17. shank
17 1/2. confidential informant

DOWN
18. furlough
19. handcuff
20. eighth
21. beast
22. 1-ball (as in "draggin" an 1-ball)
23. pardon
24. convict
25. punk
26. sleeved up
27. wire
28. swamper (they mop the tier, swamp)
29. skittles
30. D.N.A.
31. seg. psychosis