Western Front - 1969 November 25

              Trailer residents
protest rent policy
DON DEMARCO
staff reporter
All is not well in Hidden
V a l l e y V i l l a g e , the
college-owned and operated
mobile home site for women
students.
More than one-half of the
222 residents have signed a
petition requesting that the
c o l l e g e and housing
administration improve living
and study conditions and lower
the quarterly rent.
The petition, given to Housing
Director Gerald Brock yesterday,
states that living conditions in
the site have been gradually
declining since the start of Fall
quarter.
Some of the main points in
the petition:
u—It is too far for individual
women students to walk to the
campus library after dark.
"-With six residents per
trailer, the studying conditions
are less than desirable due to the
noise and schedules of other
roommates.
"—One bathroom for six
women is not enough.
When asked if Fairhaven
would be ready for use by
winter quarter, Brock said he
was "optimistic."
In addition to the problems
of over-crowding, the petition
fired a broadside at the housing
administration's rental policies.
"It is felt by the undersigned
that the rental formulas used by
the housing office to compute
the quarterly student rental fee
for each individual student are
not consistent with sound
business principles."
Rental fees are computed on
the basis of whether or not the
tenant is a Western or Fairhaven
student, whether or not the
Fairhaven student has a meal
ticket and whether or not
crowded living conditions exist.
Crowded living conditions are
defined by the housing office as
any trailer having more than
four occupants.
The residents of Hidden
Valley Village are currently
paying from $501 to $801.60
(approximately) per quarter per
trailer in -rental fees, depending
on the number of occupants.
The rent fee is different each
quarter. The fees, listed in the
college catalog, are: Fall, $167;
Winter, $138; Spring, $112.
Those who signed the petition
also felt that in comparison with
other college-sponsored housing,
the tenants of the mobile homes
had to pay more rent per person
than students living in the
residence halls ($119 per
quarter) and college-sponsored
one and two-bedroom
the
The unfortunately crowded conditions of the trailers is evident in this bathroom scene.
—photo by walker
apartments ($90-$130 per
quarter).
A meeting of 40 mobile home
residents was held on Nov. 12 to
discuss their housing problems.
A decision was made to petition
t h e c o l l e g e housing
administration and "request"
that changes be made in existing
policies.
In a recent interview, Brock
said that the crowded conditions
were caused by dormitory
construction falling behind
schedule for Fairhaven College,
one of Western's new satellite
colleges.
Because the dormitories
weren't ready for occupancy,
there were more students in
need of housing than Brock's
o f f i c e could initially
accommodate.
As a result, students were
shuffled around and stacked
temporarily into any available
space.
The following requests were
submitted to the administration :
1. Either a separate study
facility be moved in (i.e. several
double-wide mobile homes
equipped with individual study
booths), or
2. A shuttle-bus system to
ferry women students from the
trailers to the campus library
and return after dark.
3. The lowering of the rent to
a fixed fee for each quarter, with
no discount to hide the actual
costs. The suggested fee should
run no higher than $120 per
quarter per student for each
academic quarter in the school
year. It is felt that this figure is
closer to the cost of living index
than the current inflationary
rental fees now charged.
4. Any amount over the $120
figure should be rebated to the
students enrolled Fall quarter
1969 as soon as possible.
At press time, the housing
administration has not made a
statement concerning a reaction
to the petition. western front
Vol. LXII no. 16 Western Washington State College Bellingham, Washington 98225 Tuesday, Nov. 25, 1969 10c
AS claims partial victory from demands
JOHN STOLPE
exchange editor
Student government leaders
are claiming a partial victory in
their recent three-fold barrage of
demands to the college
administration.
President Charles Flora
answered the AS demands
through a statement read by
Dean of Men Ray Romine at a
student-called assembly Nov. 18.
For a detailed summary of
the AS demands and President
Flora's answer, see page 3 of
today's issue.
Flora agreed to allow student
representation at all Board of
Trustees meetings, provided the
board agrees, and to allow
student-spawned additions to
the board's meeting agendas.
Additionally, Flora said that
a designated level of student fees
will be used as the funding basis
for the Associated Students.
Flora refused to even discuss
the third demand calling for the
resignation of Chris Karp,
student activities director, and
the power to hire, fire and set
salaries for all Viking Union
professional advisors.
"I do not believe in pilloring
an individual's position and
performance in a public
meeting," Flora explained in his
statement.
He has commissioned Dean of
Students C.W. (Bill) McDonald
to investigate both matters and
report to him by Dec. 12.
Student government leaders
weren't satisfied with Flora's
answer to their last demand and
promptly circulated fact sheets
supporting their stand against
Karp last week.
The AS legislature has
abruptly dropped its public
attack on Karp following
widespread criticism of their
tactics.
The main target of the AS
legislature is now to gain control
of the hiring and firing of their
professional advisory staff, of
which Karp is a member.
In a special AS legislature
meeting last Thursday,
McDonald said that he was
"quite displeased" with the
involvement of personalities in
their demands.
McDonald was referring to
the demand for Karp's
resignation and the circulation
of the fact sheet which followed.
Erik Nelsen, a legislator from
Fairhaven College, spoke for
most of the student legislature
when he said:
"We're sorry for the
personalities involved, but we
weren't irresponsible when we
made the decision to include
them."
Several legislators, led by
graduate student Dale Gruver,
unsuccessfully attempted to
amend the demand to delete all
reference to Karp.
F r i d a y , John Ward,
administrative assistant to the
AS president, said that Flora's
stand on the first two demands
were significant.
"Now we can carry out more
newer and complex programs
knowing that we can finance
them and now we can have a
more truly representative
member on the Board of
Trustees," Ward told the
Western Front.
Ward said that negotiations
are underway to gain ground on
their third, unsatisfied demand.
"If we are successful in
gaining fiscal control of our
advisory staff, we will have
advisors who would be advocates
for the students, rather than the
administration," Ward said.
He added that advisors are
also administrators and that they
have a definite "conflict of
interest."
Western to build
apartment housing
New apartment construction planned for next Fall provides new concepts in college housing.
Western's housing system is
tentatively planning to provide
apartment-style housing for 528
students for Fall, 1970.
The Board of Trustees
recently signed a letter of intent
to build 132 two-bedroom units
on a 7.5 acre site along College
Parkway close to Sehome High
School.
There will be 894 square feet
available in each unit, which will
house four students, Gerald
Brock, director of housing, said.
Housing for married students
in the complex is also being
considered.
At a price tag of $1,848,000
the cost will be about $3,500 per
bed, a low cost as compared to
other construction on campus.
A recreation building planned
in the area will provide an
assortment of facilities.
The buildings will probably be
three stories high, and will have
private kitchens and bathrooms.
No definite policies
concerning managing the area
have been determined but Brock
indicated they will.;probably be
treated as private residences, with
a minimum of control.
^MatBaHas^M!^IBI^*Vi^!amBS9ie»mBmmue