Western Front - 1987 December 4

              Holiday cheer
Borden boys display
writing skills to Santa
see Accent
Inside
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Basketball
Viking women begin
season with 1-1 record
seepage 10
WESTERN FRONT
VOL. 79, NO. 57 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4,1987
Campus cash
Bank machine slated for VU
By SANDRA TREECE
staff reporter
A bank machine is likely to be
installed in the Viking Union
lobby in February, Western's Fis­cal
Director Mary Carlson said
Wednesday.
A joint student-administration
committee will submit a recom­mendation
to acting Vice Presi­dent
for Business and Financial
Affairs Peter Harris by the end of
next week. If Harris agrees with
the recommendation, bidding will
open to local banks Jan. 22.
Western officials have ap­proached
three area banks, Bel-lingham
National Bank, Whatcom
Educational Credit Union and
U.S. Bank Corporation, parent
company to ONB, with tentative
proposals.
While BNB representatives
expressed no interest in the ven­ture,
Carlson said, WECU and
ONB and other interested parties
are expected to submit proposals
to Western.
Carlson said bidding has been
postponed until next year to give
banks that are busy during the
holiday season the opportunity to
respond and to have Associated
Students representatives present
to review the bids.
If Harris does not agree with
Please see CASH, p.2
DAN TYLER
The grin wreather
Nancy Keith hands a wreath to a shopper at the Holiday Bazzar in the Old Main
Registration Center Thursday. The bazaar continues today until 4 p.m.
Rugby decision final;
team vows to appeal
By JEFF KEELING
staff reporter ~
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Western administrators
delivered a message of woe to the
men's rugby team last month, but
the Warthogs plan to fight for
their club sports status.
After considering an appeal
brought by Western's men's rugby
club, Associated Students Adviser
Jack Smith chose to uphold Club
Sports Adviser Marie Sather's
Nov. 5 decision to suspend the
team.- Smith, however, lightened
the punishment.
Steve Biggs, team president,
said he will appeal to higher uni­versity
officials and the American
Civil Liberties Union.
"Rugby funding comes out of
our money as students, from the
student activities fund, and that's
one reason why it should be up to
us as students to make these kind
of decisions," Biggs said.
Smith sent a memo to Biggs
Nov. 19 stating that the team is
suspended through fall quarter,
1988, and may apply for re­instatement
in winter, 1989.
Biggs appealed Sather's deci­sion
to suspend the club through
the 1988-89 school year. Biggs
claimed article five of the Club
Sport Council's constitution states
authority to suspend teams rests
with the council.
As part of the appeal process,
Smith requested Sather call a
meeting of the council and have
members vote on the issue. The
council met Nov. 17 in a closed
meeting and voted 7-5 in favor of
the suspension.
The constitution states a
three-fourths majority is required
to suspend a team, but Smith's
memo stated that "a 7-5 majority
is a clear indication to the admin­istration
that the above action is
necessary."
Biggs said he plans to appeal
Smith's decision to Saundra
Taylor, vice president for student
affairs. He said he also plans to
contact an area American Civil
Liberties Union representative to
find out more about the validity
of the team's claim that proper
procedure was violated in the de­cision.
He said unless it is specifically
stated that scmeone else has the
power to decide the rugby club's
Please see RUGBY, p.15
DLI hears Western appeal of asbestos violations fine
By ANDREA LIGHTBURNE
staff reporter
The State Department of
Labor and Industries began hear­ing,
Tuesday, Western's appeal of
$3,700 in fines it received in Au­gust
for the handling of asbestos
in Carver Gym.
The DLI will continue to hear
testimony from representatives
from the state department and
trade and custodial union and
Western officials Dec. 17 before
reaching a decision.
The first four violations were
addressed at Tuesday's hearing
and the remainder will be dis­cussed
at the second.
Western was cited for 19
violations of the state's asbestos
removal code for the handling of
asbestos during a floor tile
removal and replacement project.
Workers sanded the existing
tile with burnishing machines
using 20 weight sandpaper. The
tiles contained asbestos and the
sanding broke the encapsulated
asbestos allowing it to be released
into the air.
The state department ordered
the gym closed after it conducted
tests which disclosed high levels of
asbestos. The gym was not closed
immediately but instead remained
open until department investi­gator
Robert Parker threatened
to close the gym with a court or­der.
Western closed the gym and
a professional asbestos removal
company came in and cleaned up
the area.
Western officials thought the
procedure was safe and did not
believe that the sanding would
release the asbestos into the air.
Officials thought the procedure of
closing the gym was confusing.
Three of the fines were clas­sified
as "serious." Management
did not provide proper respirators
for the workers on the project,
failed to inform the custodians
after the work area was identified
as hazardous and allowed them to
continue their regular cleanup
without safety equipment.
Bill Chervenock, campus
union representative, said the
final decision for DLI fine is to be
made by a DLI hearing examiner.
Chervenock, who attended the
hearing, said several violations
may be supported by the examiner
because Western officials knew
tiles contained asbestos before
sanding.