Western Front - 1978 May 9

              WESTERN FRONT
GUR requirements undergo re-examination
Vol. 70, No. 46
Tuesday, May 9,1978
by BILL McNEILL
Western is following a na­tional
trend and taking a close
look at its general university
requirements (GUR) this year.
Following Harvard's recent
proposal to change its general
education requirements, which
have been in effect since 1945,
some other U.S. colleges and
universities are looking at GUR
changes. Some have changed
their requirements already.
The University of California at
Housing given
rate increase
by ANGELO BRUSCAS
Housing and Dining was
given the go ahead on a five
percent rate increase for next
year by the Board of Trustees
at its meeting Thursday.
The increase will amount to
approximately $70 for students
living in dormitories, Don Cole,
vice president for business and
financial affairs, told the trus­tees.
For the school year, students
will now pay $1,546 for a
double room and 20 meals per
week.
Cole said even with the
increase, Western would still
have the second lowest rate in
the state. Eastern Washington
University currently has the
lowest rate — $1,307 for a room
and 19 meals per week.
In other business, the board
passed governance proposal 3
and heard a progress report on
Fairhaven.
The governance proposal,
submitted by University Presi­dent
Paul Olscamp, attempts to
restructure and simplify the
governance procedure at West­ern
by disbanding the All-Uni­versity
Senate.
The proposal had been be­fore
the board for four months
and was the subject of much
controversy prior to Thursday's
meeting. The proposal, how­ever,
passed unanimously with
little discussion. [See related
story, page 2.]
Concerning Fairhaven, Dean
Philip Ager told the board he
felt "a certain optimism about
the future" of the college.
Ager listed a series of pro­jects
underway to meet re­quirements
imposed by West­ern's
administration in March.
The requirements are aimed at
restructuring and cutting costs
at Fairhaven.
Ager said a core curriculum
was approved by the Academic
Coordinating Commission and
guidelines for Independent
Study Programs were accept­ed.
In addition, he told the
board that spring quarter en­rollment
improved slightly and
staff positions were reduced to
nine.
"There's a renewed empha­sis
on the teaching and learning
process," Ager said.
The trustees also were in­formed
of capital budget and
building priorities for the next
six years by H.A. "Barney"
Goltz, director of planning. One
oi the top priorities is renova­tion
of Edens Hall to house the
College of Business and Econ-
Dmics.
Berkeley has recently changed
its requirements, as has the
University of Washington.
Washington State University
has a council streamlining its
GURs.
"We are seeing a reaction (in
education] to programs adopt­ed
in the '60s," Hugh Fleet­wood,
chairman of Western's
General University Require­ment
committee said.
He said real changes on the
national level began in the past
year or two. He indicated col­leges
and universities feel their
graduates are not well-round­ed.
Fleetwood said many uni­versities
think a more coherent
and structured college experi­ence
is needed.
"Academics are troubled by
the lack of basic student skills
(among graduates)," he said.
James Talbot, vice president
for academic affairs, said the
general university require­ments
"lack focus." He said in
order to determine which
courses should be included in
the GUR's, the committee will
have to re-examine Western's
overall educational goals.
"The general credit require­ments
are too much of a smor­gasbord,"
he said.
While the general feeling in
higher education is more struc­ture
is needed, officials predict
few requirements will be
changed at Western in the near
future.
Carol Mather of the Regis­trar's
Office said only a few
minor additions and deletions
will be from required courses
for next year. She said every
department must define its
required courses and this
amounts to a lengthy process.
Fleetwood said when the en­tire
review process is com­pleted
in eight or nine months,
his committee is unlikely to
propose any major changes.
"It is likely that the GUR
committee will simply refine
and clarify the requirements in
the catalog," he said.
Fleetwood added students
generally lack interest in these
potential changes. He said in
all the meetings of his commit-
Continued on page 7
FINISHING STRONG — Two runners finish Sunday's Norman
Bright Road Run. The two races, five miles and seven and a half
miles, attracted 315 participants. The run was in honor of
Bright, a member of Western's hall of fame and one of the top
age-group runners in the Northwest. See sports for stories and
other pictures.
Initiative 351 could lower drinking age to 19
by KATHY JOHNSON
Two Western students are
sponsoring a petition drive to
put Initiative 351, a law lower­ing
the legal drinking age in
Washington to 19, on the No­vember
ballot.
Todd Herron and Greg Web-ley
are working in conjunction
with Total Rights in Action
Committee (TRAC), a student-based
organization whose
headquarters are at Gonzaga
University in Spokane.
The official ballot title of the
initiative reads, "Shall the age
at which persons may purchase
consume or sell alcoholic bev­erages
be lowered from 21 to 19
years?"
The petition requires 126,000
voter signatures by June 30 for
voter registration, Herron
said. TRAC's signature goal in
this campaign area, all of
Whatcom County and the
Skagit Valley, is 20,000 signa­tures.
The last major attempt to
lower the drinking age was in
1973, when a group of students
lobbied to get a bill into the
legislature. The lobby was suc­cessful,
the House and Senate
passed the bill and the gover­nor
signed it. The bill was chal­lenged,
however, to be put on
the November ballot, requiring
approval by a 60 percent ma­jority.
A 50.76 percent "no"
vote defeated the initiative.
Herron said 19 year olds
have all other rights that 21
year olds have, and therefore
should be granted the right to
legally buy, sell and consume
alcoholic beverages.
He said TRAC believes the
drinking age should be 19
rather than 18.
"Although 18 year olds have
the same legal responsibility as
19 year olds, their responsibil­ity
for themselves increases
greatly when they graduate
from high school and take the
leap into college, a career plan
or just moving away from
home," Herron said.
TRAC wants to keep liquor
out of the high schools, he said,
because of potential abuse.
Minnesota changed its law
from an 18 year old legal drink­ing
age limit to 19 years be­cause
of problems in the
schools, and some Montana
groups currently are campaign­ing
to raise the legal drinking
age limit from 18 to 19 for the
same reason, Herron said.
Herron and Webley dan to
raise money for their campaign
by soliciting taverns, private
donations and other interest
groups that will benefit from
the change.
"Right now, the main thing is
to get people organized," Her­ron
said.
Webley said he contacted
some authorities last week for
official support from the What­com
Democratic convention
Saturday at the Bellingham
Holiday Inn, but was too late to
find a delegate to sponsor the
initiative or gather sufficient
support.
Inside
Folklore and more
Folklores and old traditions are still very much alive today. See
page 11.