Western Front - 1977 November 18

              Western
Western Washington University Vol. 70 No. 16 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18,1977
Students defend Fairhaven at public hearing
by LAURIE DUNHAM
Fairhaven students rallied to
defend their college Tuesday at
a public hearing before the
Fairhaven College Evaluation
Committee.
Though the hearing was pub­licized
as a chance for "mem­bers
of the general University
community" to share informa­tion,
almost all present were
directly connected with Fair­haven.
The committee is gathering
information to make recommen­dations
on Fairhaven's future.
It was appointed at the begin­ning
of the quarter by James
Talbot, vice president for aca­demic
affairs, to examine de­clining
enrollment and related
problems at the college.
"We're searching for an­swers
and we're searching for
questions," committee member
Philip Ager, of the music de­partment,
told the group.
Students present defended
the quality of their education
and attempted to dispel atti­tudes
toward the college they
felt were unfounded. .
"I've attended many univers­ities
and I'd put Fairhaven
classes against any of them,"
Saramae Landers, Fairhaven
Bridge participant, said. "Fair­haven
adheres .to. the,individu­al.
We're known by names, not
by numbers."
Fairhaven has just gone
through a "birth process," she
said. "When you start getting
some problems, when the child
starts breaking dishes, are you
going to throw that child out? If
they need help, let's give it to
them."
Most students said they
found Fairhaven classes more
challenging than Western or
other universities' classes.
"I take as many lessons as I
can at Fairhaven," Huxley
student Martha Bean said. "I
do very well in a traditional
system but I've found Fair­haven
classes motivate me
more. In Western classes you
read a book and regurgitate it.
Here you read a book and think
about it."
A number of out-of-state
students said they came to
Western specifically to attend
Fairhaven.
"A great many Fairhaven
students like "myself have come
a long way to go here," Joseph
Nix, of Mississippi, told the
committee. Another student,
Christina Coiro, said her Ind­iana
home offered access to
such schools as Notre Dame
and Purdue, but Fairhaven
offered what she wanted.
Committee chairman, Paul
Ford, of the education depart­ment,
said Fairhaven's enroll­ment
has dropped substantially
since 1974. Student credit
hours are down from 5,500 to
3,900, he said. The figure
includes those students at the
Center for Urban Studies in
Seattle and Western students
taking Fairhaven classes.
"Fewer students are coming
in to support the program, but
it has the same number of
faculty," he said.
Fairhaven student Stuart
Johnson said Fairhaven's en­rollment
has suffered because
"Fairhaven is not understood in
very fundamental ways by
large sectors of its own parent
institution."
Students said high school
counselors and even Western's
administration "discourage stu­dents
from attending the col­lege.
"Western doesn't allow
Fairhaven classes to count for a
Western major," Fairhaven
student Julie Trojanowski said.
1— ENTER WINTER — The cold crispness of the season is illustrated in this special effect photo l
graph by Front Photo Editor Charles Nacke. More and more down vests are appearing on
campus as the temperature begins to plummet.
Insurance premiums raised
Student employment positions could go
by ANGELO BRUSCAS
Many student jobs are in
danger of termination due to a
$6,000 cutback in funding for
inter-department related activ­ities
(IDA), Dennis Catrell,
chairman of the IDA committee
said Tuesday.
Before 1977, IDA received
$6,513 from athletic event gate
receipts to fund student em­ploye
benefits such as social
security.
This year, however, gate re­ceipts
will be withdrawn to pay
an increase in men's athletic
insurance, Catrell said.
Athletic Director Boyd Long
said the Whatcom County Phy­sicians
increased their insur­ance
premiums from $11,000 to
$20,000 a year just three days
before the school year started.'
"To meet the increase we
had to pull back our gate
receipts from the inter-depart­ment
programs," Long said.
The loss in funding will hurt
student employment if depart­ments
cannot find other means
to pay employe benefits, Catrell
said. The journalism depart­ment
could be hardest hit
because it employs the most
students, Catrell said.
Whatcom County Physicians
Representative Ken Culver
blamed the insurance increase
on inflation and the cost of
athletic insurance claims last
year.
"We lost $6,700 last year on
only a handful of injuries,"
Culver said. "This year we had
to set a more realistic premium
-rate."
Currently, the extent of em­ploye
cutbacks is not known,
Catrell said.
"I hope most of the depart­ments
can make up the loss on
their own," he said.
Inside:
Campus art?
This week, Out to Lunch goes among the
sculpture and gives heart to those who
say, "I don't know art, but I know what I
like." See page 4.
Dome for Viks
Western's football team is playing in the
Kingdome for the District I Championship
game against PLU. For more details, see
paged 13.
Money, honey
Money can't buy Jove, but he can sure
belt out a song. See Michael Navaimski's
review of Eddie Money's debut album on
page 11.
"The courses are very applic­able.
But students are discour­aged
from taking classes be­cause
they can't count for
majors at Western."
Ford told the speakers that
written, copies of their state­ments
should be given to the
committee if they wanted them
considered in the final deliber­ations.
Confidential interviews
with the committee can be
scheduled with Karen Akins in
Old Main 530.
The committee is expected to
make its final recommendations
on Fairhaven in February.
Pub permit
fermenting
once again
by VALERIE VANCE
A second application for a
liquor license on the Western
campus is on its way to the
Washington State Liquor
Board, VU Director Jack Smith,
said.
The application requests
Class A and C licenses, which
would permit drinking on speci­fied
premises only. No carry-out
alcohol would be allowed.
The sale of beer and wine
will be in a restaurant setting,
in the auxiliary room in the VU
coffee shop, between noon and
7 p.m. if the license is approv­ed.
Smith said. The auxiliary
room is the non-smoking section
of the coffee shop.
The first application for the
license was made last Decem­ber,
supervised by Smith. The
request was denied due to
unfavorable response from
Bellingham Mayor Ken Hertz
and community members.
Hertz gave one main objec­tion
to a campus pub in Janu­ary.
He opposed the spread of
taverns in residential districts.
He was quoted in the Jan. 11
Front saying, "I am opposed to
decentralization of taverns or
places that permanently serve
alcoholic beverages, particu­larly
in residential neighbor­hoods."
Hertz said he considered the
university a prime residential
area.
California Saga attorneys
were appointed following the
denial, Smith said. Rather than
appeal the rejection, the coun­sel
suggested Western reapply,
providing additional informa­tion
requested by the Liquor
Board.
Smith said the decision
should be known this January.
The notice of application must
be published in the newspaper,
followed by a 30-day period for
community comment.
If Western's application is
accepted, it will be the first
university or college in the state
to receive a license.
Smith suggested if students
want to help the cause, a letter
should be written to the Liquor
Board expressing the desire for
on-campus drinking.