Western Front - 1985 November 12

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WESTERN FRONT
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1985 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELL1NGHAM, WA VOL. 77, NO. 5 J ,
Summer session
Cut in funding
reconsidered
Tuition hike
decision could
be reversed
By Elizabeth Parker
OLYMPIA^-The controver­sial
decision to cut summer-session
funding to state universi­ties
is being reconsidered, the
Washington State Senate Com­mittee
on Education said.
At a public hearing Friday,
chairman of the Education
Committee Marcus Gaspard (D-Puyallup),
said the senate will
be rethinking its decision about
summer funding after hearing
testimony from all state
universities.
Peggy Schamerhom, a North
Thurston County special-education
teacher who .testified
at the hearing, said with the
salary she receives as a teacher it
would be very difficult to make
enough money while trying to
finish her fifth year at a regional
university. That is because tui­tion
at regional universities will
be $50 per credit for undergrad­uates
and $67 per credit for
graduate students.
Teachers in Washington pub­lic
schools (grades K through 12)
are required to complete an addi­tional
45 credits after receiving
their teaching certificate. Most
of them attend the state's
regional universities.
Gaspard said the state has
been concerned about quality
• See TUITION, p. 12
WashPIRG
contract may
be terminated
By Erin Earles
WashPIRG (Washington Pub­lic
Interest Research Group) may
have its contract with Western
terminated as soon as next
quarter.
Presently, WashPIRG is
allowed, by a written contract
with Western, to collect money
by using a negative check-off fee
system.
But if fewer than 50 percent of
the students support WashPIRG
for two consecutive quarters by
indicating on their registration
forms they will pay $2, the con­tract
will be terminated. The nega­tive
check-off question then will be
taken off the registration form.
The negative check-off question
asks if a student would not like to
support WashPIRG with a $2
contribution. Students not wish­ing
to support WashPIRG must
check the box next to the question.
If a student does not check the
box, the $2 contribution is auto­matically
added to his or her tui­tion
fees.
The Washington Student
Lobby has a similar negative
check-off system on the registra­tion
form, asking for a $1
contribution.
At fall quarter registration only
44 percent of Western students
contributed their $2 to Wash­PIRG.
If 50 percent or more of the
students don't support Wash­PIRG
at winter quarter registra­tion,
the group's contract will be
terminated.
If the contract is terminated,
a referendum reinstating Wash­PIRG
could be added the the
Associated Students election bal­lot
during spring quarter. If 50
percent or more of the students
vote on the on the referendum that
they want WashPIRG back, the
contract would be extended and
the group could resume using the
negative check-off question on the
registration form the following
quarter.
Ken Laxague, Western's
coordinator for WashPIRG,
said he believed the lack of sup­port
was because WashPIRG
was included with other fees,
including health insurance,
which works on a positive check­off
system. He said this may have
been confusing and that many
students didn't even know about
WashPIRG.
Laxague said he. spoke with
. Western registrar Eugene Omey
and controller Don Sturgill
about getting the WashPIRG
question set apart from the
others.
The question couldn't be set
apart in time for this quarter's reg­istration,
however, but an expla­nation
of WashPIRG was added
on an additional sheet of paper.
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WSU gives WSL
conditional support
By David Wasson
Conditional support for a
foundering Washington Student
Lobby came from Pullman last
week.
Students there voted to revali­date
a contract that affiliates
Washington State University
with the state-wide lobbying
group, WSL members confirmed.
But for continued affiliation,
the state organization must
adopt administrative restructur­ing
proposals from WSU stu­dents,
said WSL Vice-Chairman
Starla Story.
Actual proposals have not
been written yet, she said. "We're
forming a committee to discuss
(restructuring) and we expect to
hold hearings next semester,"
Story said.
Last month, the state organi­zation
gave $1,000 to WSL
members at Washington's
second-largest university to hold
and promote the revalidation
election.
More than 16,000 students
attend WSU. Story said only 600
voted. Conditional revalidation
was approved by 85 percent. The
remaining votes were split
between non-conditional revali­dation
and severing all ties to the
state group.
Story said the most dissatis­faction
with the state group has
come from disorganization at the
state level. She speculated the
restructuring proposal probably
would include contracting
administration of the group with
a professional management
corporation.
The management corporation
would be responsible for the
group's daily business affairs and
hiring an executive director.
That possiblity already has
been discussed among state WS L
members but was met with oppo­sition
primarily from Western
representatives.
Western WSL members blame
the state organization's recent
ineffectiveness on a burgeoning
state group bureaucracy. A
management corporation, they
said, would only serve to increase
the size of that, bureaucracy.
Revalidation of WSL con­tracts
at each state university is
required every three years. West­ern
students voted last year to
revalidate Western's contract.
The stability of WSL has
become questionable in the past
three weeks.
At the state organization's
meeting in Ellensburg last month
it became apparent the group is
near collapse.
Western and Central Wash­ington
University WSL members
openly expressed dissatisfaction
with the state organization. Both
schools hi:ve threatened to with­draw
from t!ie organization.
Both schools also have formed
task forces to rwestigate con­tinued
affiliation with the state
group.
Additionally, Western has
frozen all WSL funds, nearly
$11,000, that normally are for­warded
to the state organization.
Business records at the state
level are a shambles, a Seattle
accountant has said. The Inter­nal
Revenue Service is demand­ing
$9,000. And records of 218
checks are missing.
Former WSL Executive
Director Jack Howard resigned
three weeks ago. The four-year-old
group has seen three execu­tive
directors, two in the past six
months.
Currently the state group is
being operated by an interim
executive director.
The next meeting of the state
group has been scheduled for
Nov. 17 in Ellensburg.
Members are expected to dis­cuss
the possibility of contract­ing
services with a management
corporation. The group also is
scheduled io discuss lobbying
strategies for the ;pcoming legis­lative
session.