Western Front - 1969 October 14

              "western front
Vol. LXI1 no. 10 Western Washington State College Bellingham, Washington 98225 Tuesday, Oct. 14, 1969 10c
Legislature axes
Lakewood project
The AS legislature has
dumped a college offer to bond
and build a $400,000
r e c r e a t i o n a l facility at
Lakewood, the student-owned
property on Lake Whatcom.
The student legislators
slammed the door on the
three-year-old improvement
project when the college asked
the Associated Students to sign
over the deed to the lakeside
acreage for bonding purposes.
A few of the legislators feared
that student control over the
Lakewood property would go
out the window along with the
deed.
John Ward, administrative
assistant to the AS president,
told Tuesday's legislature
meeting that the students should
keep the property in view of
rising land values and develop
the property themselves.
Rejection of the college offer
was received with mixed
reactions by officials on campus
last week.
John Miles, Viking Union
program director, called the AS
legistature decision "tragic''
Miles said that thousands had
already been spent on the
$400,000 student-originated
improvement project in its
architectural and schematic
stages.
"If the deed had been signed
over, construction on the faculty
might have been underway
within several months," Miles
said.
Under Phase I of the drafted
project, a lodge would have been
built housing a full-time
caretaker's quarters, a lab for the
Freshwater Institute, and
student lounge areas.
AS President Al Doan told
The Western Front that the
project was so old that students
might want something else on
the property and "maybe
nothing at all."
It is common knowledge that
several student clubs which use
the lakeside property want to
retain its retreat-like qualities.
Current facilities at
Lakewood include a couple of
old cabins, docks, barbeque pits
and a crowded boathouse built
in 1964.
Improvements on Lakewood, student-owned property on Lake Whatcom, have been halted due to a lack
of funds. -photo by kelly
Miles told The Front that
Lakewood will soon lose its
primitive surroundings since the
Sudden Valley housing
development owns property to
within two feet of the
boathouse.
Joe Nusbaum, college
business manager, said that he
viewed the student legislature
rejection with little concern.
He emphasized that the
college has always looked upon
Lakewood as a student facility
and that never has there been
intentions to use the land for
anything other than recreation.
The inclusion of a lab for the
Freshwater Institute on the
proposed improvement plans
was strictly a student idea.
If the students choose to
further develop Lakewood, they
will have to devise new means
for funding the project.
AS President Al Doan said
that possible revenue from the
proposed faculty-student pub
could enable the Associated
Students to legally bond
property.
"We just haven't decided
what we want to do with the
Lakewood acreage at this time,"
Doan said.
"I'm sure we'll have to
approach the student body to
explore the best possible
avenues."
Tomorrow's moratorium activities announced
The Vietnam Moratorium,
affecting college campuses and
businesses across the nation, will
jolt Western and the Bellingham
community tomorrow.
At Western "the main
emphasis is to get students not
to go to class," Dr. Bernard
Weiner, Free University
Co-ordinator, said.
W e s t e r n ' s moratorium
committee also hopes to involve
Bellingham businessmen in the
"moratorium on business-as-usual.
Last Friday volunteers
a p p r o a c h e d Bellingham
businessmen in an attempt to
persuade them to close their
businesses for tomorrow's
moratorium.
Many faculty members are
c o - o p e r a t i n g with the
m o r a t o r i um committee's
suggestions.
Some instructors are
participating in encouraging
their students to participate in
"the informational and protest
activities on campus."
Others, who will hold class,
hopefully will discuss the war
issues.
Many faculty members have
signed a statement supporting "a
full and speedy withdrawal of
American troops" from
Vietnam, which appears on page
six of this issue.
Copies of the faculty
endorsement are being sent to
President Nixon and Senators
Magnuson and Jackson.
Five Northwest Colleges will
suspend classes, including Seattle
Pacific College, Fort Wright
College, Pacific Lutheran
University, and Whitworth
College and its allied school for
women.
"In Seattle, peace supporters
will march to the downtown
Westlake Mall after a rally at the
Public Library Plaza. Names of
Washington servicemen killed in
the war will be read," the
Bellingham Herald reported last
Friday.
The U n i v e r s i t y of
Washington is planning a
candlelight parade for tonight.
At Western, a full day of
activities has been announced by
George Hartwell, activities
commissioner.
9 a . m . to 12:30
p.m.: Leaflets and petitions will
be given to volunteers in the VU
Lounge (many more volunteers
are needed) and individuals will
be assigned to city-zoning
sections for community work. A
final schedule of events will be
announced at this time.
10 a.m. - 12:30 pjn.: The
Student American Civil Liberties
Union chapter will conduct a
draft teach-in, VU Lounge.
1 pjn.: The rally will begin
with the "Rationale for a
Vietnam Moratorium," by Dr.
Bernard Weiner, master of
ceremonies, VU Lounge.
Al Doan, AS president, will
address the student body.
SDS may make a statement at
this time, and some Vietnam
Veterans may give a testimonial
against the war.
1:30 pjn.: Poet Robert Sund,
a clergyman from Lynden, will
give some poetry readings, VU
Lounge.
2 pjn.: Two Vietnam films
will be shown, VU Lounge. The
government's view of the
Vietnam situation is A Nation
Builds Under Fire, starring John
Wayne, Music Auditorium.
The anti-war view, entitled
Vietnam Dialogue, featuring
David Schoenbrun, of the
American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC), will follow.
3 p.m.: Ken Kirkpatrick,
regional director of the AFSC,
will be the keynote speaker with
"Vietnam: The Crucial Issues,"
Red Square (Music Auditorium
if weather is bad).
Later in the evening a
candlelight parade from the
college to the Federal Building
will be held, providing a parade
permit is granted this morning.
People are being asked to
write a letter urging American
withdrawal of troops from
Vietnam, and to bring it to the
Federal Building. A protest or
silent vigil will be held there.
I n response to the
moratorium Academic Dean
Robert Brown said in a note to
faculty members:
"Since many students will be
attending the events noted
above, instructors are reminded
of the class attendance
statement on page 30 of the
catalogue, 'Class attendance is
required at the discretion of the
instructor.'
"In answer to many inquiries,
I have interpreted this statement
as indicating that decisions
about the relative merits of
formal as opposed to extramural
instruction are clearly the
responsibility of the individual
instructor."
Trustees approve College of Ethnic Studies
The Board of Trustees
unanimously approved giving the
program of ethnic studies college
status last Thursday.
Now the College of Ethnic
Studies (CES), the new College
will join Fairhaven and Huxley
Colleges under Western's cluster
college concept.
At last month's meeting of the
.Board,, a program .of. ethnic..
studies was approved, but the
Trustees dissapproved a motion
to make it the third cluster
college.
Virtually a college except for
the name, the program status of
the new College was decided on
at that meeting, obstensibly
because it was believed that a
college would foster segregation
and cause, student unrest.
With President Flora and
many other members of the
college community backing the
college proposal, the first
d e c i s i o n caused great
disappointment.
The Trustees had considered
the proposal since their last
meeting, and after examining the
concept, decided to give it
college status.
The program for the 1969-70
academic year will involve 50
freshmen and a faculty of four.
Field experiences, work study
programs, seminars and tutorials
will be included in the College.
By the 1971-72 academic
year, the curriculum is scheduled
to be developed and staff
increased to permit enrollment
of a maximum of 400 students.
The upper limit was made on
enrollment to permit the
greatest amount of flexibility in
organization.
Any Western student may
enroll in a CES course, as an
elective or toward a minor in
ethnic studies.
Courses, leading to a degree in
ethnic studies will also be
offered.