Western Front - 1984 April 17

              WESTERN FRONT PLEASE RECYCLE
Tuesday, April 17,1984
Ross
lauds
Tech
moves
By Ron Judd
New technology programs at
Western received a pledge ol
support from President G. Robert
Ross Saturday at a "Technology at
Western" conference on campus.
Ross told a crowd of about 100
students, parents, faculty and
industry offi .6 he hoped the
tech department "will continue
to be thoughtful and initiating in
studying your programs and
enriching your curriculum, and
that if you're ever accused of any­thing,
it will be because you're
pushing forward rather than
maintaining the status quo.
"I want to assure you and the
rest of the faculty and students
that you will have my interest and
support in that kind of endeavor
and activity,'' he added.
Ross cited a National Science
Foundation report that said train­ing
of scientists, technicians and
engineers should be recast to
meet the needs of industry rather
than the academic community,
and thaY those needs could only"
be met by adopting a multi-discipline
university approach.
"I don't know of any better
framework for this program...and
the students here, to conduct
their activities and their thoughts
than within (this) framework,"
Ross said.
Tech Director Paul Rainey
apologized to the crowd for the
conference invitations that said
three new engineering tech pro­grams
"will be added soon."
"These plans are just that," he
said. "I guess in my zeal...it
should have said we plan to get
into those areas. (The plans) have
to be approved on campus and in
Olympia."
Rainey also said he hoped that
by the next time the visitors are
See TECH, page 2
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash. Vol. 76, No. 22
The nearly complete Indian Street fire station mixes a touch of the old with a touch of the new.
Indian's 'incredible'fire
station almost ready
By Cheri Hoover =*"
The Indian Street fire station, scheduled for com
pletion the beginning of next month, offers an"in
Gredibie*diff©ren©e-"in - wori4ng--a«d^ii-ving -condi­tions"
from the former fire house, Mike Leigh,
assistant fire chief, said.
Although originally it was hoped the station
would be completed in December 1983, problems
with the contractor delayed completion.
: The station is located so firefighters can provide a
four-minute response to a good portion of fires that
may occur near Western.
The station also serves the downtown area, an
area where larger fires are more likely to occur, he
said.
The station was designed by Zervas, Taysi, John­son
and Christensen Architects in Bellingham. The
design of the new station, which may seem a bit
unusual, was the copy of an existing house that was
torn down to build the new station, Johnson said.
"We mimicked an old house because before the
demolition of two blocks across the street, we were
designing it to be as residential as possible," John­son
said.
The new station will house 12 people 24 hours a
day.
The two-story, 87,000 square-foot building has a
large kitchen, dining area, lounge, sound-proof
study room, locker room and showers.
,J .,TJie. "dorm" rooms ..for..^sleepingr^ are -multi­purpose
because the beds can fold into the walls,
and the rooms can then be used for meetings.
The station also has a small shop used for filling
oxygen bottles and a high-pressure compression
room for filling the air bottles the firemen carry on
their backs for breathing.
These rooms are placed as far away from the
living area as possible because of safety and noise,
Johnson said.
The station will house a 100-foot aerial ladder
truck, two pumper trucks, two aid vehicles and a
regular fire truck.
The clock tower, visible from outside the station,
serves as a place to dry the fire hoses.
The building is also about 15 percent solar-heated
to cut down on power bills.
"In this day and age, that (15 percent) is a lot,"
Johnson said.
The old building, built in the early 1900s, had
been condemned, and at one time housed a horse-drawn
pumper.
Three candidates seek AS presidential post
By Pat Bulmer
Three candi­dates
have an­nounced
their
intention to seek
the top post in the
Associated Stu­dents.
AS Legislative
Liaison Majken Ryherd, Vice Pres­ident
for Internal Affairs Bruce
Keith and Ron Warren, the per­son
Keith defeated for his current
job, will run for the president's
job.
Ryherd said she will empha­size
her legislative experience in
the campaign, calling for the AS to
work with Western's administra­tion
and the Washington Student
Lobby in legislative lobbying
efforts.
Keith said his campaign will
center around student pro­gramming
and services and
improving student relations with
Western's faculty and admin­istration.
Warren said he will offer pro­posals
to "make a Western degree
mean more." One of these pro­posals
will be to raise admission
standards, he said.
AS elections are scheduled for
May 8 and 9. Filing for candidacy
began Friday and will continue
until April 26.
Budget issues affecting West­ern
will arise in the Legislature
next year, Ryherd said. "Western
needs money appropriated fairly
for its programs," she said, calling
on students, faculty and the
administration to work together
in lobbying efforts.
The AS also should work "very
closely" with the WSL. The two
groups need to avoid duplicating
each other's efforts, she said.
"The AS should have a presi­dent
who can tell legislators what
Western needs. Legislators will
appreciate student input," she
said.
Ryherd also said "more diplo­macy"
and behind-the-scenes
negotiations with Western's
administration is needed if the AS
is to get Western's support for
such programs as daycare
expansion.
She said she doesn't want to
create issues during the cam­paign,
but will take stands on
those that are raised, rejecting
the approach used last year by
current President Dana Grant
who offered no campaign
promises.
Keith criticized Western's
decision to merge the Dean of
Students and Vice President for
Student Affairs offices. Western is
" cutting student representation in
the administration, he argued.
Either that representation should
be increased or other administra­tion
posts should be cut along
with those affecting students, he
said.
Keith also called on students to
speak out for improving services
and programs. "We should make
students aware they control sev­eral
facilities and services at
Western, not the faculty, not the
(AS) advisers, not the admin­istration."
He said he supports expanding
the AS daycare to include a
toddler program, but not an
infant-care program. Daycare,
however, should not be
expanded at all costs. "It needs to
be proportionate to the number it
represents," Keith said.
Keith praised the way the AS
Board of Directors studied the
proposed Clash concert before
determining its costs was too
high. "It's important to bring
good programming to campus,
but we have to realize the univer­sity
isn't a place to house big
programs."
Warren called himself "fairly
conservative," and advocated
raising admission standards to
bring enrollment down to the
Legislature-mandated level of
8,250 students.
He said Western's athletic pro­grams
should be self-supporting.
Warren favors the use of AS body
cards, which students would
purchase for admission to
• See AS, page 2
No-keg
policy
blasted
Calling the no-keg proposal
"vague" and "unnecessary,"
Inter-Hall Council members
voted 15 to 1 against the pro­posed
policy Thursday night.
The proposal goes to the Hous­ing
and Dining Committee today,
where it will be voted on after
hearing recommendations from
IHC, Associated Students board
members and residence hall
staff.
The proposed policy calls for a
ban on kegs, keg quantities and
other large quantities of alcoholic
beverages in the residence halls
and ^university-owned apart­ments:.
Proponents of the policy
say it will curb excessive noise,
vandalism, injury, under age
drinking and other behavioral
problems associated with large
keg parties.
Ruth Norton, IHC president,
said IHC members saw many
problems with the proposed pol­icy,
including vague wording in
the written policy, an increase in
drunken driving and a possible
drop in students living in univer­sity
housing. They also feel the
existing rules are sufficient when
enforced, she said, and they con­sider
this a negative approach
and they would like to find a
•.more-positive approach to prob­lem
solving.
She also said IHC members
resented Western being repeat­edly
compared to the University
of Washington, where the resi­dence
halls have an effective no-keg
policy, arguing that Western
has a very different atmosphere
because Western doesn't have a
Greek system where kegs are
allowed like the UW does.
Nash Hall representative
Darren Hansen, who voted
against the proposal, echoed this
opinion and added that members
of Nash Hall Council don't think
• See IHC, page 2
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