Western Front - 1989 April 11

              PLAY BALL!
Vikes sweep
doubleheader
page 9
TUESDAY
WEATHER: Sunny
Wednesday, highs 65-
70. Increasing clouds
and cooler Thursday.
YUGOSLAVIAN PIANIST and
Fulbright scholar Nicola Rackov plays
at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Performing
Arts Center.
AMERICA 101
Asians study
Western life
page 5
The Western Front
Institute remains despite dilemma
By Ellis Baker
staff reporter
It is 100-percent certain that the Institute of
Wildlife Toxicology will remain an important
part of Huxley College, Dean John Miles said
last week.
Miles was responding to rumors that the
institute's director, Ron Kendall, will leave
Western for a position at Clemson University.
While Kendall will neither confirm nor
deny the rumors, sources in the institute say the
move is all but certain and that many institute
employees will be leaving with Kendall.
The prospect of anew institute director and
the resulting upheaval is a cause of concern to
many Huxley students, some of whom say the
institute's presence and prominence influenced
their decision to come to Western. Kendall has
been the institute's only director since its for­mal
inception in 1983.
Section leader George Cobb, an analytical
toxicologist, said the institute's strong point
has been teamwork: an interdisciplinary ap­proach
to acomplex, emerging field of science.
The institute, in Miles' words, is the best in
the country. It has gained national prominence
for work in evaluating the effects of toxic
substances — mostly pesticides — on the
environment in general and, specifically, on
wildlife.
In the past five years, the institute has
grown from two employees—Kendall and an
assistant — to a staff of about 75.
The institute supports the research projects
of 10 to 12 graduate students and about 20
undergraduate students each year, and offers
classes in wildlife toxicology.
The growth of the institute is attributed to
Kendall because of his energy, enthusiasm,
hard work and inspiration to other faculty,
Miles said.
Some questions remain about whether the
institute has outgrown the ability of Huxley to
support a specialized, research-oriented pro­gram.
While the faculty of Huxley has supported
the institute and provided what it could in ex­pertise
and moral support, the institute would
be better served at a research institute, Miles
said, adding, "It's not only Huxley (that) i t ' s.
outgrown, it's Western."
The institute's annual budget, $2 million in
1989, is mostly grant-funded, Kendall said.
Among the institute's current projects are
several large, costly pesticide studies funded
by chemical manufacturers. These studies are
flourishing because of federal regulations, which
require new pesticides to be proven environ-
See Institute on page 12
SBi^^^HllilSlllilliliBBi
see Preview on page 3
Tyler Anderson/Western Front
Sunshine and smiles greeted in-coming students, parents and an­other
guest at last Saturday's Western Preview'89.
Group to change
harassment rules
By Kimberly Mellott
staff reporter
Steps are being taken through the
Sexual Harassment Task Force and
the Women's Commission to im­prove
Western's existing policy en
sexual harassment of students and to
help better educate students, staff
and faculty about the problems and
consequences of sexual harassment.
One of the recommendations made
by the task force was to establish the
position of ombudsman/special as­sistant
to the president. This person
would act as an informal mediator
for the complaintants and offer assis­tance
in understanding and defining
their experience.
Other duties of the ombudsman
would be to refer students to counsel­ing
support networks and make regur
lar reports to the president. The
ombudsman would also meet regu­larly
with both the affirmative action
officer and director of student life to
discuss mutual concerns, to develop
training and to evaluate the program.
"Under the existing policy, you
can't'bring a case against someone
unless you give your name," said
Constance Faulkner, Fairhaven Col­lege
professor and task force mem­ber.
"There was a lack of protection
causing students to be afraid to come
forward."
Sexual harassment has been de­fined
by the courts as sex discrimina­tion.
It can be unwelcomed sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors
for rewards such as good grades or
even derogatory remarks about
someone's gender.
Maurice Bryan, chairman of the
task force, added "sexual harassment
can be verbal comments creating a
hostile environment. It's when any­one
is being treated like a sexual
object."
Faulkner said the first two cases
that occurred under the existing pol­icy
went all the way through the
system and exposed a lot of glitches.
Extending education, providing
a support system and coming up with
aprocess by which the institution can
initiate an investigation without a
formal written complaint by a stu­dent
are other recommendations by
the task force.
The task force submitted its final
report in October 1988 to President
Mortimer, who then turned it over to
the Women's Commission to review
and advise him on the recommenda­tions.
"We support the idea of an
ombudsman. The task force's rec­ommendation
deals only with stu­dents.
We suggested he/she work
See Harass on page 3
Shalom Center helps refugees get into Canada
By Christine M. Clark
staff reporter
For the past four and a half years,
the Shalom Center, one of Western's
religious organizations, has been
helping Central American refugees
get into Canada.
The center's program, called
Central American Refugee Assistance
(CARA), has helped more than 500
men, women and children, most of
them from El Salvador, seek politi­cal
asylum in Canada.
Shirley Osterhaus, campus min­ister
for the Roman Catholic Church
said, "For us it's the experience of
working with the refugees, putting
faces to the reality that we've been
hearing a lot about in terms of the war
in El Salvador and Guatemala."
Darcy Utterback, a junior major­ing
in Latin-American studies, has
been a member of CARA for three
years.
'Teople are being tortured and
disappeared and murdered. It's un­just
and unfair. I find it to be my
responsibility and my right to help
these people," Utterback said.
Most political refugees from El
Salvador must go to Canada instead
of the United States.
Osterhaus says the United States
sends $1.5 to 2 million a day to the
military that persecutes anyone hav­ing
anything to do with change. This
is why people must leave their coun­try.
Canada changed its laws con­cerning
acceptance of refugees in
January.
Refugees must show they face
persecution by their government on
account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social
group or political opinion if returned
to their homeland.
CARA assists with housing, food
and legal aid before the refugees are
accepted into Canada.
Osterhaus said, "We take some
risks with some of the things we do,
but I think that all of us feel that
whatever our risks are, it is very little
compared to the risk of their life that
they face.
"We know the U.S. doesn't like
people assisting refugees. One rea­son
we do is.,when we work with
these people and see their faces and
learn their stories first hand, we come
to know what the real situation is in
that country, which our media and
our press doesn't give us.
"Maria," a Honduran woman,
wishes to remain anonymous because
bf.her situation. She is currently
receiving help from CARA.
Maria and her husband were mem­bers
of a student group at the Univer­sity
in San Salvador. Her husband-was
a leader and therefore suspected
by the military of being a revolution­ary.
He was interrogated and beaten
in His home in front of Maria and
their 1-year-old baby. When he was
sent a death warning, he fled the
country and now lives alone in Can­ada,
Maria said.
"If you protest, you're a terror­ist,"
Maria said about how the El
Salvador government views partici­pation.
Maria will be reunited with her
husband in Canada after 22 months
of separation.
The ShalomCenter is not funded
by Western.