Western Front - 1988 September 19

              The Western Front
VOL. 80, NO. 42 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19,1988
CRUNCH: 500
search for homes
By Timothy K. King
of The Western Front
Pete Kendall
While moving day began Sunday at Western's residence halls about
another 500 students are still suffering the frustrations of the Bellingham
housing shortage.
At least 500 students are combing the
want ads and searching the county in hopes
of finding a home for the 1988-89 school
year at Western.
They are a hard group to count because
while officially 496 students are on the
University Residences waiting list, many are
also looking or may have found a place in
town and other students searching for off-campus
housing are not on the waiting list,
said Kay Rich, director of university resi­dences.
Richard Riehl, director of admissions
said the freshman class size may have played
a part in filling the residence halls, but they
do not account for the shortage of off-cam­pus
housing.
"The irony of this shortage is the total
number of 9,559 students is not much more
than last year," he said.
Rich agreed about freshman filling the
residence halls. "I think the demand (for on-campus
housing) is because almost every
freshman asked to live on-campus," she
said.
Rich says because there was a waiting
list for the past two years, housing officials
were expecting a crunch this year.
"We tried to keep people aware. The
admissions office told people to apply (for
housing) early," she said.
But many students didn't.
"I get calls with people begging for a
place to live. I get dads calling and telling me
their resume. I swore the next one of those I
got, and luckily no one has called since then,
I would ask them, 'is a treasurer of King
county more important than a legislator—
and where does a Boeing vice-president fit
in," she said.
Rich said housing officials will have to
wait until.students have registered to see if
the waiting list can be reduced. In the mean­time
all they can do is refer students to the
off-campus housing office.
Sydney Highet, the coordinator and lone
employee of the off-campus housing office,
said she's had a number of parents call who
are shocked and disappointed.
Highet said the only spaces available are
rooms in a house.
"Since the article in the Bellingham
Herald came out (Sept. 4) we've got a lot of
calls offering rooms. But most of those are
from older people, and the kids don't want to
live with older people.
Highet has been working with off-cam­pus
housing since the start of summer quar­ter
and says it's been getting busier every
day.
"I don't think I've ever been this popu­lar
in my life, "she laughed.
Tim Anderson, a junior transfer from
Vancouver, had been at the off-campus
housing office two days in a row.
"I stayed in a motel last night and spent
all of my cash. Now I'm going without eating
until I find a place," he said.
Anderson said he knew it was difficult
finding housing but didn't think it would be
this difficult. Even so, he remained positive
he would find a place to live.
"I'm sure I will. It's a 4 1/2 hour drive,
I'll stay here until I do."
Lyndi Dowden of the Community Re­source
Center, an organization that deals
with landlord-tenant rights, said the housing
shortage is also making things hard on
people who already have a place to live and
would like to move.
c Mortimer sets high standards for students
By Mary Hanson
of The Western Front
The goal of Western's new president,
Kenneth P. Mortimer, is to make Western
the finest liberal arts college in the United
States.
Student involvement and faculty assess­ment
are important in reaching this goal,
Mortimer said Thursday at a faculty lunch­eon.
The traditional ways universities are
regarded are no longer valid, Mortimer said.
He added that selective admission and a
good reputation do not guarantee a good
education.
"None of these views has anything to say
about what students are learning," he said.
Mortimer was chosen last spring to re­place
President G. Robert Ross, who died
Nov. 4 in a plane crash that also claimed the
lives of Don Cole, vice president of business
and financial affairs, and Jeanene DeLille,
vice president of university advancement
Mortimer believes quality education
occurs when students perform beyond the
average expectation. He told faculty mem­bers
they should encourage students to set
higher goals.
These higher standards should be made
clear to the students.
"I believe the more public the college's
expectations aire, the more positively stu­dents
will respond," he said.
Student involvement is very important,
Mortimer said. Students who set higher
goals for themselves will likely achieve
them, he said.
They also respond positively to infor­mation
about their performance, Mortimer
said.
Faculty should concentrate on teaching
the students what they know, Mortimer said,
instead of worrying about what they don't
know.
Evaluations of faculty performance will
help the administration determine if an in­structor
is being effective.
"We should be interested in how many of
the changes in students can be attributed to
New President Kenneth P. Mor­timer
wants Western to be the
number one liberal arts college in
the country.
the faculty," Mortimer said.
Mortimer's other priorities for this year
include a program to recruit more women
and minorities to Western's faculty. He also
wants to emphasize gender-related issues
such as sexual harassment and create an
environment free of prejudice.
"We should take pride in the fact that we
can be diverse," he said.
One alternative to the enrollment prob­lem
is lifting the lid on the number of stu­dents
admitted to Western, Mortimer said.
"A lot of students want to come here. We
can serve that need (by lifting the lid on
enrollment)," he said.
In addition, Mortimer said a more selec­tive
admissions program will be established
this year, placing an emphasis on academic
performance.
"Admission will not be on a first-come,
first-served basis," he said.
Mortimer is confident these changes
will push Western to the top.
'1 think we've got a very good shot at
being the best of our kind."
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