Western Front - 1980 April 15

              THE Western Front VOL. 72, NO. 21 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY TUESDAY APRIL 15, 1980
High interest rates
stop expansion plan
Students appeal decision
by FRED OBEE
For the second time this quarter,
Western's plans to alleviate over- .
crowding were tabled because of
high interest rates on bond sales.
Plans formulated last quarter to
expand the bookstore, food ser­vices
and the Viking Union have
no chance of being financed in the
near future, VU Director Jack
Smith said Tuesday.
Last week, plans to remodel
Edens Hall were postponed
because of the interest rates on
bond sales.
Smith said bond interest rates
range from 10 percent to 15 per­cent.
If bonds were used at this
time to finance the proposed ex­pansion,
Western would pay three
to four times the original cost of
construction, Smith said.
No definite price has been estab­lished
on the expansion plan, but
Smith estimated the project would
have cost $4 million to $7 million
before adding interest.
A special ad hoc committee
chaired by Smith last quarter
determined that food services, the
bookstore and the Viking Union
are inadequate to serve the stu­dents
currently enrolled at
Western.
Smith said he will now reorgan­ize
the committee and set priorities
for expansion. He said the book­store
and food services probably
will be considered first.
"We will need to come up with a
less grandiose scheme," Smith
said, "and possibly convert some
existing space."
He said he did not know what
areas might be converted at this
time.
Some of the features of the pro­posed
expansion were: doubling
the size of the existing bookstore, a
new theatre, a multi-purpose room
and commercial spaces for the
Viking Union and doubling space
for the Deli, addition of a retail
baked goods shop and expansion
of a la carte dining.
Plans to increase the square
footage of the bookstore and the
Viking Union have been in the
works for more than 10 years.
Several plans have been proposed
and abandoned, Smith said.
In the early 70s, Smith said
Western was planning on an
enrollment of 15,000 by 1975 and
was planning to build a" new
student union facility at the south
end of campus near 21st Street and
South College Way. This idea was
abandoned when it was decided
that enrollment would not reach
the 15,000 mark, and the new facil­ity
would not meet student needs,
Smith said.
A second plan being considered
was to build a multi-story parking
garage with food services between
the Viking Union Annex and the
existing Journalism Building on
Garden Street, Smith said. This
was abandoned when an assess­ment
of the space gained did not
justify the money spent, he added.
by BARBARA JAR VIS
The campus religious groups have appealed the
Feb. 27 U.S. District Court decision upholding West­ern's
recognition policy, Mike Dittman, lead plaintiff,
said Friday. ; -
A notice was filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals on March 21. The court .will decide if the
groups have grounds for an appeal.
Steve Brinn, one of the group's lawyers, said briefs
presenting the reasons for an appeal have not been
filed yet.
• He said the lawyers would probably base the appeal
on Judge Donald Voorhees' interpretation of federal
and state laws regarding freedom of speech and
religion in state institutions:
Greg Sobel, an AS board member, said the board
respects the right of the religious groups to file for an
appeal. He said if the court decides to grant one,
Assistant Attorney General Stuart Allen wilf decide
the course for the board and the school.
Dittman said the groups owe around $13,000 in
legal fees. "All we can do now is raise money and make
the issue more public," he said.
The groups are soliciting donations from churches
and interested people, he said.
They also plan to attract publicity by making
appearances on radio and television and writing to
newspapers, he said.
"In an appeal, the only new development is that a
petition of'amicus curiae'(friends of the court) can be
filed," to support one of the parties to the suit, Brinn
said.
He said he thought an Illinois group, the Center for
Law and Religious Freedom, might file such a
petition.
A spokesman for the center said it does not get
directly involved in such suits except through its
member attorneys.
These members are involved on the appellate level
and probably will file an."amicus curiae," the spokes­man
said.
Viking novice-frosh crewmen stroke their way across Lake Samish in Western's Ninth Annual Regatta,
Saturday. Western placed second in this heat, behind the University of Washington. For more on the
regatta, turn to page 13. (photo by John S. Phillips)
Davis to publish book
Dean follows candidates
by MIKE JUDD
Western has a political junkie in
its midst, James Davis, dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences.
"Some people have skiing for a
hobby," he said. "My hobby is
politics."
Davis recently followed the
campaign trail to New Hampshire
and Illinois, with a brief stopover
in Massachusetts. He observed the
primary process and gathered
information for a book.
His book, an update of a 1967
version, is titled "Presidential
Primaries: The Road to the White
House." A comprehensive study of
the presidential primary process, it
details each state's primary elec­tion
laws, voter turnout statistics
and election returns for presidential
campaigns from 1912 to 1976.
Davis explains in the book how
primary elections are now the main
vehicle to the White House rather
than the national conventions,
which have become mere ratifying
sessions.
Since the first edition of the
book in 1967, some major changes
jhave been made in-the primary
process. The number of state
primaries has increased to 35 from
15 in 1967. At least 75 percent of all
delegates chosen for the national
conventions now are picked in the
primary states. In addition, new
campaign finance laws and other
rule changes have changed drasti-cally
trhie signiticance of the
primaries.
In relating experiences in New
Hampshire, Davis shows his
enthusiasm for politics.
"The most exciting part was the
Bush-rReagan debate," he said.
"The excitement wasn't in the
JAMES DAVIS
debate itself. Those are mostly just
political discussion. But there was
an argument over who would par-ticipate
in the debate," he said.
Apparently, six candidates were
scheduled to appear. Bush balked
at this, however, and would debate
only with Reagan. Reagan chal­lenged
Bush on this, wondering
why all six couldn't participate.
This turned out to be the start of
Bush's downfall.
"He had the momentum going
in," Davis said, "but after that,
things beghan to unravel."
Davis spent his days in New
Hampshire following candidates
Howard Baker, Reagan and
Edward Kennedy. He spent most
of his time following Republican
candidates, not necessarily because
he supports them, but because
"there was no Jimmy Carter, so 1
had to make a choice."
Davis visited the early primary
states because of the action. He
plans to attend the Oregon prim­ary,
and possibly California, alt­hough
he said the -race might be
over by then.
"I find it strange that a state with
as little population as New Hamp­shire
can be so influential," he said.
Many candidates have dropped
out since the early rounds, such as
Baker, California Gov. Jerry
Brown and John Connally. Oth­ers,
like Kennedy, Bush and Illi­nois
Rep. John Anderson now face
uphill battles because of the early
results.
. Some of these candidates may
be better qualified than the leaders,
Davis said. He repeated a state-;-
ment by Robert Dole: "Maybe if I
hadn't attaended to my job in the
senate and been campaigning full
time like some others, (Reagan and
Bush are notable examples) I
would have had a better chance."
Election board urges
write-in campaigns
by CINDY KAUFMAN
Only 13 candidates have filed for the 10 seats in the Associated
Students' election, April 23 and 24.
Bruce Van Glubt, election board chairman, said Friday he hopes
the lack of candidates will activate many more students to enter the
race as write-in candidates. -
The filing deadline was April 10.
As it stands, John James Geary and Greg Sobel are competing for
the presidency. Doug Scott vies with Michael Jardeen for vice
president for internal affairs. Candidates for vice president for
academic affairs are Mark Inslee and Bob Jirka.
Five candidates have no competition as yet.
They are: Ray Griffin, secretary/treasurer; Julie Cline, ser­vices
council representative; Howard Levin, activities council repre­sentative;
Kevin J. Lohman, recreation council, representative; and
Lon Allworth, at-large representative.
Carl Uhlman and Fate Putman compete for the other at-large seat.
"We need to have write-in campaigns," Van Glubt urged. He
stressed that write-in candidates will have the same rights and respon­sibilities
as those who have formally filed, except that their names will
not appear on the ballot or in AS carnpaign literature.
Write-ins will be allowed full participation in any of the 14 forums
scheduled for the next one-and-one-half weeks. Van Glubt said.
The Associated Students will sponsor four public forums this year,
twice as many as last year. One forum was in the Viking Union Lounge
last night. One will be at the Ridgeway Commons Gold Room
tomorrow night at 7 p.m., one at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fairhaven and
one at noon Monday in the VU Lounge
In addition, KUGS radio has scheduled forums at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
daily, April 14-18.
"We want people to go and really needle the candidates on the
issues," Van Glubt said. He said the KUGS forums will feature the
candidates and panels of questioners representing campus organiza­tions,
clubs, and individual interests, and will set aside time for call-in
questions.
Van Glubt invited anyone wanting to participate on the panels to
contact him in his office in VU 221, or to call him at 676-3460. Persons
needing information about conducting write-in campaigns should
also contact Van Glubt.