Western Front - 1984 March 6

              WFfiTFMlV FRONT
Tuesday, March 6, 1984 Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash. Vol.76, No. 16
Noxious fiberglass lab fumes
prompt closure, legal threat
By Shelley McKedy
Members of the Geology
department, Huxley College and
the Watershed Studies Institute
have accused adminstrators of
ignoring complaints about
health-threatening fiberglass
fumes in the Environmental Stu­dies
Building, and one professor
has threatened to sue the univer­sity
if the matter is not dealt with
immediately.
Complaints about the fumes
prompted a temporary shut­down
of the Vehicle Research
Institute lab, where fiberglass is
use'd in manufacturing the exper­imental
Viking cars.
Tech chairman Paul Rainey has
called a meeting for 2 p.m. today
in ES 240 to discuss the problem.
The fiberglass fumes circulate
in ducts throughout the Envir­onmental
Studies complex by
means of the building's ventila­tion
system, said Western Direc­tor
of Public Safety Bob Peterson.
He added that lab fumes piped
directly out the roof of Environ­mental
Studies through a backup
ventilation system are thought to
reenter the complex through the
main system under certain wind
conditions.
Styrene the culprit?
Fiberglass dust is treated as a
"nuisance compound" in state
and federal regulations said John
Funderburk, an industrial hygen-ist
with the State Department of
Labor and Industry in Seattle.
Funderburk, however, said sty­rene,
a resin component, can act
as a depressant on the central
nervous system and is consi­dered
unsafe at a concentration
of 100 parts per million over an
Peter Elich
calls to
decentralize
By Paul Engbrecht
Peter Elich, vying for a perman­ent
position as Dean of the Col­lege
of Arts and Sciences, told a
small group of faculty members
that academic diversity has been
a paramount matter during his
one-year stint as acting dean, and
he said they can expect "a few
good years ahead."
Elich's confident statements
Thursday initiated a schedule of
interviews and open sessions
which also include out-of-state
candidates, John Gamble of Pen­nsylvania
State University and Irv­ing
Buchen of California State
University.
"The college of Arts and Scien­ces
is the core and heart of the
University around which all pro­grams
develop," said Elich, cur­rently
serving as the acting dean
of the college.
He said a number of tenured
faculty in the college who are
slated for early retirement will be
See ELICH, page 2
eight hour period. An odor can be
detected at a level as low as .1
parts per million, he said.
Funderburk said studies cur­rently
being reviewed by the
National Institute for Occupa­tional
Safety and Health show
genetic damage to those exposed
to 100 ppm for an extended
period.
The results indicate "a cause
for concern of cancer" and the
federal government's Occupa­tional
Safety and Health Adminis­tration
is trying to lower the
acceptable level to 50 ppm Fund
er, burk' said,
Headaches, nausea
Ned Brown, chairman of the
Geology department and Patty
Combs administrative secretary
for geology, both said students,
Don Easterbrook
faculty and staff regularly com­plain
of sore throats, congestion,
headaches and nausea caused by
the pungent fumes.
Rainey chose to shut down the
lab Feb. 27. Five days before that,
Rainey received a memo from
geology professor Don Easter­brook,
outlining Easterbrook's
concerns about health hazards
caused by the fumes.
In a Feb. 22 memo sent to Uni­versity
Safety Officer Walt Sprin­ger,
and also released to several
other administrators, Easter­brook
wrote: "These toxic fiber­glass
operations are a clear health
hazard... I have incurred a
chronic health problem, such
that I cannot continue to carry
out my teaching and research
commitments under these
adverse conditions. Because I am
unwilling to further jeopardize
my health...I must advise you that
if fiberglassing activities are not
terminated immediately, I see no
recourse but to file a legal suit
against WWU for damages to my
health."
Lawsuit 'last resort'
In an interview last Friday,
however, Easterbrook, 49,
stressed that legal proceedings
would be a "last /resort" and
would occur only after a com­plaint
had been filed with the
Department of Labor and Indus­tries,
Division of Industrial Safety
and Health and if the fibergalss-ing
still was continuing.
Under state law employees
protected by workman's com­pensation
insurance have the'
right to file a complaint with the
nearest State Department of
Labor Industries, Division of
Industrial Safety and Health
Office, to request an inspecton if
they believe unsafe and unhealth-ful
conditions exist in their work­place.
If conditions are determined to
be in violation the state can
require corrective action.' in cases
where conditions meet standards
a recommendation usually is
provided.
In the memo, Easterbrook
listed his medical problems as
"difficulty in breathing, bad head
congestions, sore throat and
headaches." Those ailments
twice last week forced him to
leave work in mid-day Easter­brook
said. Easterbrook, however,
conceded that he does not have
medical documentation to prove
fiberglass fumes are the cause of
his health problems.
VRI Director Michael Seal, who
returned on Sunday from two
weeks in Geneva, Switzerland,
where he represented the United
States at a vehicle design confer­ence,
said he planned to
promptly research the issue.
"I do know there's been a lot of
illness at Western and I don't
think it's all because of fiberglass,
he said.
Lab technicians are required to
wear respirators while fiberglass­ing.
Two vehicles currently are
being constructed in the lab. One
• See FUMES, page 3
CPE accepts Western's defense
By Margaret Carlson
OLYMPIA—A decision by the
Council for Postsecondary Edu­cation
to keep Western's master's
of speech communication pro­gram
was triggered by the con­vincing
defense of the communi­cation
department and graduate
school.
The CPE staff previously had-proposed
that the council
recommend to Western's Board
of Trustees the program be ter­minated
at the end of this aca­demic
year.
But Larry Richardson, vice-chairman
of communication,
responded directly to state­ments
in the CPE report. West­ern's
master's of speech com­munication
is not duplicative
because Western offers concen­trations
in topics not offered
anywhere in the state, he told the
panel.
The CPE also stated that certi­fication
beyond the baccalau­reate
is not required for most
communication-related posi­tions,
but Richardson argued that
for many,' the MA in speech is a
job requirement, not an option.
In additon, Richardson shot
down the CPE staffs claim that
graduate students from other
departments could fill in as
speech teaching assistants. He
pointed out that speech teaching
assistants are specifically trained
for the job. Without the services of
graduate students, 31 sections of
speech 101 and 205 would not be
taught, he said after the meeting.
At Thursday's meeting, the CPE
also voted to recommend the
continuation of Western's mas­ter's
of theater program and the
termination of the master's
degree in industrial arts educa­tion
and the undergraduate
dance degree. Western made its
own decision to eliminate the lat­ter
two programs earlier this
quarter.
Western delegates were met
with almost no opposition from
the council. But councilmember
Allison Cowles expressed con­cern
over the exploitation of
speech graduate students as
teaching assistants.
"The longer you keep a TA, the
better they are," she said.
Richardson pointed out an insti­tutional
policy that limits the
teaching assistant time to two
years.
Richardson was less than half­way
through his testimony when
the council voted to continue the
program.
"I admit I was pessimistic,"
Richardson said after the
meeting.
Dan Rothwell, a Western
speech professor who also
attended the meeting, said he
became optimistic about the
chances of Western's program
when the CPE accepted a
recommendation from its staff to
ditch Central Washington Uni­versity's
bachelor's of speech
communication degree earlier in
the meeting.
Councilmember Michael Coan
said he was not surprised by the
decision.
"They (Richardson and Kelly)
• See SPEECH, page 2
Larry Richardson successfully defended Western's master's of
speech communication degree in front of the CPE. President G.
Robert Ross, left, is an advisor to the council.
Shannon Point
awaits housing / 6
Will the PIRGs come
to Western? / 7
Gonzaga knocks Vikes
out of playoffs / 8
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