Western Front - 1986 May 6

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Vote
AS elections
today and
tomorrow.
Renaissance
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The Western Front
o VOL. 78, NO. 26 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA TUESDAY, MAY 6, 1986
c/:
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Aside from a crowd of more than 107,000, the opening of Expo '86 received a
royal welcome from the Prince and Princess of Wales. Charles and Diana
officially opened the fair, beginning the five-and-a-half-month exposition.
Whitlock drops out,
endorses opponent
By Lori Robinson
•staffreporter
Associated Students presi­dential
candidate Daniel Whi-'
tlock has withdrawn his name
from the election ballot and is
endorsing Terri Echelbarger
for president.
Whitlock withdrew his name
Friday, after the Inter-hall
Council endorsed Echelbarger
for president at its Thursday
meeting.
Whitlock, a Fairhaven resi­dent
adviser, said his campaign
had been planned around the
idea of getting the IHC endor­sement.
After the endorse­ments
were decided, Whitlock
said it was obvious he couldn't
win the campaign if his own
constituents (residence halls)
weren't supporting him.
"Students need the most
qualified candidate, therefore
I'm withdrawing from the race,
and I'm endorsing Terri Echel­barger
for president," Whi­tlock
said. "I'm not the best
candidate."
Echelbarger, upon hearing
of Whitlock's decision, said,
"I'm really surprised; I have a
lot of respect for him. That's a
hard thing to do." She said she
hopes Whitlock will stay
involved with the AS, because
he emphasized an issue she
believes needs to be explored.
"Working with the residence
halls is a positive idea," Echel­barger
said.
De Ann Pullar agreed the
residence halls should have a
large impact on the activities
planned on campus, but she
said most people in the halls
know what's going on around
the school. Her goal is to get
off-campus students more
involved.
Pullar had counted on a run­off
with Echelbarger, so Whit­lock's
withdrawal has prompted
her to reschedule her
campaign.
"It will shorten the process,"
Pullar said, "we'll find the final
results faster this way."
Echelbarger agrees the elec­tion
will be wrapped up
quickly. "There's no possibility
of a run-off, there will be a clear
winner," she said.
Pullar said Whitlock's
endorsement of Echelbarger
may hurt her in the election,
but whomever he endorses is
"his prerogative."
#7 campaign questioned
By Lori Robinson
staff reporter
An open meeting of the Asso­ciated
Students Election Board
was conducted yesterday to dis­cuss
a complaint made by Bill
Freeberg, candidate for position
7, director-at-large, University
Services Council.
Darrell Cox, chair of the Elec­tion
Board, called the hearing in
response to Freeberg's complaint
against Trent Wheatley, also a
candidate for position 7.
Freeberg believes Wheatley
has produced false qualifications
for the position during his cam­paign,
saying he has served an
internship for the job with
Michael James, the current
director-at-large.
'Trent has been misrepresent­ing
himself," Freeberg said about
his use of the term internship.
Freeberg said an internship isn't
available for the position, and
the use of the word is misleading.
"In my opinion I don't think
he can make that claim," Free­berg
said.
"Yes, he has been working
with Michael James, I acknowl­edge
that," he said, but he
believes the work doesn't qualify
as an internship, and reference to
it should be placed in perspective
of the role.
Wheatley said he never said he
had served an internship, but
said he has used the term
"internship-like role" during his
campaign.
"I really don't think I have
misrepresented myself," Whea­tley
said, but he acknowledged,
"(Internship) may not have been
a good choice of words."
James and Wheatley are
roommates.
"Michael was bringing his
work home," Wheatley said, and
the discussions he and James had
about the meetings James
attended are what created Whea-tley's
interest in the position.
"I had the interest, I wanted to
learn more," Wheatley said, so
he began asking questions and
adding input to the issues he had
become familiar with, as a "gen­eral
student, but a little more."
Wheatley said his interaction
with James, as well as the knowl­edge
he received, was the basis
for the term "internship-like
role," and he wished the phrase
hadn't been taken wrong.
Freeberg said Wheatley's
experience should have been
represented for what it was,
training from the current
director-at-large.
"I got training from different
people on the board," Freeberg
said, but he added he didn't use
the informal experience to boost
his own campaign.
Also scheduled for discussion
at the meeting was a complaint
by Freeberg concerning the van­dalism
of many of his campaign
posters around the campus.
"Someone came out and selec­tively
tore down 85 to 90 percent
of my posters," Freeberg said,
complaining not only about his
posters, but of those for other
candidates that have been
vandalized.
Freeberg said the posters may
be annoying, but they are neces­sary
for a campaign on campus.
"They are eyesores, I can see
why students would want to tear
them down," he said, but he
believes the posters are the only
way the candidates can make
themselves known to the
students.
Freeberg said he filed the
complaint to make a general
statement about the problem,
adding the posters do serve a
purpose, and it's not fair to
anyone when the posters are torn
down or vandalized.
Wheatley filed a complaint
about the vandalization of his
election posters as well.
The Election Board hearing
was held to determine if any of
the AS election by-laws were vio­lated.
The board listens to the
complaint, allows for a response
by the candidate and witnesses
and then evaluates if they should
take disciplinary action.
Results of the meeting were
not available by press time.