Western Front - 1984 February 10

              Escort service
A taxi would cost AS less
By Jeff Kramer
During a three-month period
beginning last November, the
Associated Students paid $1,084
to escort 145 Western students.
According to figures provided
by Director of Public Safety R.G.
Peterson, the average cost to the
Associated Students for each
escort was $7.48, excluding
transportation expenses.
When transportation costs are
added, the average cost per
escort is about $8, AS Vice Presi­dent
for Activities Kevin Lohman
said.
"It certainly could be cheaper
for us to provide taxi rides home,"
he observed. "For $8, a cab would
take us five miles from campus."
At Tuesday's AS Board of Direc­tors
meeting, Lohman suggested
the board contract the services of
Superior Cab Co. in Bellingham to
perform the escorts.
Superior's cab fare to any point
one mile from Western is $2,80.
Western's escort service, which
is staffed by three student
employees who make $4 an hour,
serves a six block radius around
campus.
The service operates from 6
p.m. to midnight at which time
Public Safety personnel perform
the service at no cost to the Asso­ciated
Students.
The statistics, released to AS
President Dana Grant on Jan. 23,
show the Associated Students
spending $964 for escort salaries.
Another $120 went to campus
police for training the escorts.
"The cost didn't surprise me
that much," Grant said yesterday,
but he admitted he is looking for a
cheaper approach.
He predicted the program will
become cost-effective" once more
students start taking advantage of
it.
He also said expenses would go
down during the upcoming
months when the escort service
is reduced because of the extra
daylight.
But Lohman, who said one
escort is being requested for
every two hours of operation,
stressed that the Associated Stu­dents
needs to find a more effi­cient
alternative to the current
system.
"What I envision is these peo­ple,
(escorts) sitting there reading
their books," he said.
The AS board currently is con­sidering
two proposed changes
to the service; including Loh-man's
suggestion that taxi cabs
be used.
Another proposal came from
the Kung Fu Club, which has
offered to provide escorts for half
the cost of what the Associated
Students currently is paying.
For a look at the Kung Fu club's
plan to provide escort service, see
Page 3. WESTERN FRONT
Friday, February 10, 1984 Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash. Vol.76, No. 10
Parking permit fees
hiked for next year
By Claire Swedberg
The Parking and Transportation Com­mittee
recommended Friday that fee
increases of more than 100 percent for
peripheral parking lots take effect in
September.
The committee also recommended res­ident
and general lot fees be hiked about 30
percent.
Motorcycle permits will remain the
same.
The fee increase is needed to pay for
maintenance af existing lots and for con­struction
of new ones, Dorothy Telles,
parking manager, said.
Telles explained Parking and Transpor­tation
expenses have risen in the past
three years, but revenuesv.have not. . _ _
P lot permits will rise to $i2 per quarter
from the current $5. Permits for an aca­demic
year will go up to $30 from $13. Year­long
permits will rise to $40 from $16.
The recommendation calls for year-long
G and C lot permits to go up to $85 from
$66. An academic year permit will jump to
$75 from $60 and quarterly permits will rise
to $26 from $20.
Motorcycle permits will stay at $18 per
year, $17 per academic year and $6 per
quarter.
Parking and Transportation also plans
to issue P lot permits that can be used in
any Plot, instead of being restricted to one
lot. This is expected to allow the number of
permits sold to be more than actual spots
are available. The reasoning is not all per­mit
holders will be using the lots at the
same time.
Parking and Transportation now is
considering building more lots to meet
the increased demand for spots. Areas
being considered include the tennis
courts behind Carver Gym, the Jand.-.
'between Ttidgeway ho'usii^
and two lots on 21st St. west of the athletic
fields.
It also was announced that expansion of
the Art/Technology building will result in
a loss of parking spaces in lots 16,17 and 31
G.
House approves bill
to test new teachers Whooaah, boy! Bellingham biker Chris Wallin, 19, pops an expected wheelie off a brick
wall Wednesday afternoon in the Fairhaven complex- Photo by Shelley McKedy
By Shelley McKedy
Prospective teachers will have to pass a
basic skills test to attain certification,
according to a bill approved earlier this
week by the state House of
Representatives.
Its prime sponsor, Rep. Pat McMullen
(D - Sedro Woolley), said amended House
Bill 1344 is designed to give teachers "pro­fessional
status."
"Most professionals—doctors, lawyers,
accountants—have to pass a test to prove
that they are competent before they may
practice their profession. Teachers are
professionals, too," he said.
The measure is part of a 15-bill excel­lence
in education package introduced to
the Legislature earlier this year and now
awaits debate before the Senate next week.
"We probably won't be able to identify
outstanding teachers with this (the bill),
but we definitely will be able to weed out
the incompetents," McMullen predicted.
In addition to the test, the bill requires
letters of recommendation and additional
coursework prior to certification.
A pilot program for student teaching
would also be implemented, allowing 150
veteran instructors to receive a stipend
and up to three hours of graduate credit
for supervising student teachers in the
classroom.
A study recommended by the Washing­ton
Education Association will be con­ducted
as well to determine whether
graduate study is necessary for prospec­tive
teachers.
Another proposed change in the state's
educational framework stresses speciali­zation
whereas school districts-could only
assign teachers in their area of expertise.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction,
however, may waive this special circumT
stances, McMullen said.
The competency test itself will cover
basic levels in math, English, reading and
writing. Specifics of the testing have notyet
been decided upon by the state superin­tendent
for instruction.
Opponents of the bill, including Rep.
Ron Taylor (R-Spokane), argued that law­makers
should await further study before
taking any action.
If passed by the Senate, the bill will go
into effect right away, McMullen said. The
pilot teaching program would start in
September.
Practicing teachers are "looking back
and wishing they had additional training,"
Superintendent for Public Instruction
Legislative Liason Judy Hartmann said.
"The teachers of Washington state are
interested in looking at a program that
would have more preparation."
"We think we have a good system—that
doesn't mean it can't be improved," she
said.
Sex Info Center
Media blitz! hits
By Pat Bulmer
At 9 a.m. Wednesday a reporter from
NBC in New York called.
That was followed by calls from KOMO
radio, KIRO radio, and Playboy magazine,
among others.
The Seattle Times phoned Thursday.
Shortly after a BCTV camera crew from
Vancouver dropped in.
They were all after the same story—a val-entine'sweekcampaign
in which the Associat­ed
Students Sex Information Office is hand­ing
out valentine cards with optional prophylac­tics
attached.
Dale Hicks of BCTV said he read about
the campaign in a Vancouver newspaper.
Carlton Smith of The Times told office
staffer Michelle Ballou he read about it in
USA Today.
The Sex Info Office is being swamped
with calls and all the reaction has been
positive, Ballou said.
The prophylactics are being requested
so much the office may have to go and buy
more.
The first 100 condoms were purchased
by the centerfor$24 from Planned Parenthood.
"It's a human interest story," a BCTV
sound man said. "It's humorous."
Ballou said the office never expected the
kind of national attention it is receiving.
The only negative reaction to the cam­paign,
she said, was a Front editorial. But
she added the Front's coverage of the pro­phylactic
campaign appears to have brought
the program to the attention of the national
press.
Office Coordinator Bob Hughes said the
valentine's campaign, like last quarter's
posters of Wally and Beaver discussing "it,"
is an attempt to get a "message out by
using humor.
• See MEDIA page 7
Afraid to die?
Slide show draws
a crowd/2
Watershed
Huxley study
extended/6
Mask maker
Indian expert tours
third grade/13
•