Western Front - 1985 December 6

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WESTERN FRONT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1985 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA VOL. 77, NO. 57
Vote on lounge
ends in 4-4 tie
Infant use now
up to director
By Jackie Soler
It took three sessions of dis­cussion,
a Fairhaven forum and
several amendments before the
Committee on Housing and Din­ing
voted on whether to give
Fairhaven Stack 12 lounge space
to the Western Center for Early
Learning.
The decision made at Wed­nesday's
meeting ended in a 4-4
tie.
Keith Guy, director of univer­sity
residences, said he will take
the committee's decision and his
own recommendation to Joan
Sherwood, vice president for
student affairs, for further action
on the proposal.
Guy said he has the decision­making
power now, but the deci­sion
may go to Sherwood if there
is disagreement about his
recommendation.
"I couldn't tell right now what
my recommendation will be,"
Guy said Thursday.
The Western Center for Early
Learning requested temporary
use of Fairhaven Stack 12 lounge
because their current space in
Parks Hall is poorly lighted, has
no running water and is too small
for the handicapped children in
the program, Stephanie Kozick,
co-director of the Early Learning
center, said at the committee's
Nov. 20 meeting.
At Wednesday's meeting,
Sheryl Mullen, an Associated
Students representative to the
committee, submitted a proposal
to grant the infant program use
of the Stack 12 lounge during
winter quarter, from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. Monday and Wednesday
and from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to
4 p.m. Tuesday.
The final proposal will include
a rental amendment, set by Guy,
and will require the Early Learn­ing
center to submit twice-monthly
progress reports on its
search for new space.
"We'll look like the bad guys if
they can't find a new place at the
end of winter quarter," said
Kerry Krueger, Nash Hall resi­dent
director and hall staff repre­sentative
to the committee.
"We'll be the good guys now"
if the space is granted, Mullen
said. "If by the end of winter
quarter anew space has not been
found, it won't be (the commit­tee's)
fault," Mullen said.
Murray Larsen, Fairhaven
resident director, and Dan
Adolphson, Fairhaven activities
coordinator, presented the
results of a survey given to Fair^
haven residents Tuesday even­ing.
The survey followed a forum
that informed residents of both
sides of the space usage request.
Of the 46 residents who com­pleted
surveys at the end of the
forum, 87 percent strongly dis­agree
that the Western Center for
Early Learning be allowed to use
Stack 12 lounge during the day
on Monday, Tuesday and Wed-
• see DECISION, p. 4
Group may ask
for waiver on rule
By David Wasson
WashPIRG members say they
are prepared to ask Western's
Board of Trustees for a big favor
if fewer than 50 percent of regis­tering
students contribute to the
campus activist group winter
quarter.
Failing to attract 50 percent
for two consecutive quarters will
terminate the group's fee-collecting
contract with Western.
The group received 42 percent
fall quarter.
Preliminary contribution fig­ures
for winter quarter will be
tabulated in mid-December.
The group will ask the Board
of Trustees to waive the require­ment
if fewer than half the stu­dents
contribute for winter.
"We want to make sure the
group stays on campus for at
least one year," said Ken Lax-ague,
Western WashPIRG staff
member. "We feel the original
intent of the Board of Trustees
(when it approved the contract
last Spring) was to let the group
operate (on campus) at least one
year."
Gordan Sandison, chairman
of Western's Board of Trustees,
was unavailable for comment
Thursday.
The Washington Public Inter­est
Research Group is a student
consumer advocacy organiza­tion
with chapters also at the
University of Washington and
the Evergreen State College.
Laxague said he believes the
group did not receive 50 percent
fall quarter because more than
one-third of Western students
were new and had never before
heard of WashPIRG.
Residents talk about
toddlers using lounge
By Jackie Soler
Fairhaven residents had a
"town meeting" Tuesday night
and voiced their opinions on
making Fairhaven Stack 12
lounge available to the Western
Center for Early Learning, an
academic program helping han­dicapped
children up to age
.three.
"We're not trying to take over
your space," Stefanie Kozick,
education department instructor
and Early Learning co-director,
told the audience. "We're asking,
'Will you share your space with
us?'"
Kozick asked the Committee
on Housing and Dining for tem­porary
use of the lounge until
another location could be found.
The infant program has used
Parks Hall 32 since it began in
September.
Tuesday's forum in the Fair­haven
lounge began with 10-
minute presentations from each
side. Kozick and Mike Seilo,
speech pathology and audiology
department chairman, spoke for
the Early Learning program.
Murray Larsen, Fairhaven resi­dent
director and Dan Adolph­son,
Fairhaven activities coordi­nator,
represented Fairhaven
residents.
Questions and statements
were taken from the panel and
the audience. The forum con­cluded
with a survey that asked
residents their opinions.
"I'm very much for the pro­gram,"
Larsen said. "What I dis­like
is the idea of the program
being put into student space."
Adolphson agreed. "Western
is lucky to have a program for
handicapped kids."
Precedent of the decision con­cerned
Kay Rich, director of
Residence Life, and Larsen and
Adolphson.
"If Fairhaven gives up the
stack 12 lounge, it will be a signal
to other university departments
that 'Fairhaven has space—come
on down and get yours,'"
Adolphson said.
"And that may mean program
cuts for residents and create
demands we can't fulfill," he
said.
Demands for residential pro­gramming
space already exists,
Larsen claims. He said many
groups use Fairhaven space, and
with a higher number of resi­dents
than ever before, "a lot
more bodies are coming through
these buildings," he said.
Lounges in stacks 1,2, 10 and
11 now are used by the confer­ence
center and the Associated
Students Day Care, creating a
demand for the other lounges,
claim opponents of the program
moving to Fairhaven.
Lounges are the students' liv­ing
rooms and serve as neutral
territory, Rich said. Protecting
that territory has been her goal
for the past five years.
"We're trying to reclaim
lounge space in the residence
halls," Rich said. "The request
comes at a time when we're going
in the other direction."
Kozick said she researched
areas in Miller Hall and the
home economics department as
program sites, but was turned
down.
"I'm on a space mission," she
said.
During her mission, Kozick
found the Stack 12 lounge in
• see TODDLERS, p. 2