Western Front - 2000 October 6

              FRIDAY, October 6, 2000
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 114 Issue 2 Bellingham, Washington
Big weekend for cops: 98 MIPs
By Jen True
THE WESTERN FRONT
Bellingham Police^ Depart­ment's
Party Patrol made 105
alcohol-related citations last
weekend. About 90 minor-in-pos-session
tickets were handed out,
while the remaining citations
were for furnishing alcohol to
minors and disorderly conduct,
Lt. Dae Jameson said.
"It is a lot of tickets, but it is
normal for this time of year,"
Jameson said. "Although it
seemed to erupt very quickly,
there were three very large par­ties."
University Police Sgt. John
Brown said eight MEP citations
were made on campus the week­end.
Both Brown and Jameson said
trends in the number of tickets
throughout the year show a high
learning curveat the beginning of
fall quarter.
"Freshmen coming in thinking,
1 am finally away from Mom and
Dad. I can do anything I want,"'
Jameson said. They don't realize
that they have moved from the
town where their Mom and Dad
live to a town where other Moms
See MIP, Page 3
Rally calls attention to local hate crime
Lynden Middle School A.S.B.
By Jackie Martin
THE WESTERN FRONT
A hate note to an American
Indian scrawled with a swastika.
A message on a car ordered the
owner to return to Africa.
This isn't the deep south in the
1960s. •
Daniel j . Peters/ The Western Front
officers Brandon White and Tanya Castellon were among those who gathered against hate.
This is Whatcom County today.
An estimated 150 people,
including Western students, gath­ered
Wednesday at -7 p.m. at the
Ferndale City Council parking lot
Wednesday to stand in unity
against hate. The candlelight
vigil was organized in response to
the threatening hate note handed
to Angela Jefferson on Sept. 12 in
front of Ferndale High School.
The note called Lummis "sav­ages"
and was scrawled with a
swastika.
Jefferson, a 14-year-old
Ferndale High School student and
Lummi tribal member, was one of
nine community members who
spoke to the gathering
Wednesday night. Jefferson
addressed the crowd with a poem
she wrote.
'Today I came across a person
who could not see past the color of
my skin," the poem began. ,
<cWhen I went home that night,
See HATE, Page 4
Enrollment surge
crowds freshmen
Western 'explored many options' before
assigning triple-occupancy rooms
By Laura Mecca
THE WESTERN FRONT
Because of an unexpected
increase in the number of stu­dents
enrolled at Western this
fall, 450 students now live with
three students in rooms that
previously housed two stu­dents.
These students are living in
Nash, Edens North, Kappa,
Alpha, Delta, Sigma, Omega
and Buchanan Towers dorms.
"We explored many options
and then narrowed them down
to the ones that seemed most
workable and would result in
our not having to turn away
students," University Resi­dences
Director Kay Rich said.
"We didn't want to have to
tell new freshmen 'We're sorry,
we can't house you.'"
Rich said interior designers
examined several rooms across
campus to determine which
ones would be most suited to
house three students.
Western received 334 more
freshmen this fall than last fall,
Rich said.
Western freshman Kim
Houkal said she feels that
space is too tight in her triple.
"We have one mini-fridge for
three people, there is no room
See HOUSING, Page 4
Angela D. Smith/The Western Front
Alisa Tobin types away on her computer as her room­mates,
Kim Houkal (left) and Nicky Lavoie (right), read
during an average evening in their Nash Hall dorm room.
Salary key
in budget
proposal
By Jennifer Collins
THE WESTERN FRONT
A decade-long history of
below-average faculty
salaries at Western ' is the
major focus of the new oper­ating
budget proposal
released in September.
If Washington's legislature
ratifies the budget next July,
Western's faculty will see 10
percent increases in its
salaries oVer the next two
years.
"Competitive salaries are
a priority in the competitive
national market [for univer­sity
professors]," said
Provost Andrew Bodman.
Bodman also said the
salary increases will come
from state funds and will not
affect students' tuition.
Attention to salaries is a
state trend, according to The
Seattle Times, which report­ed
the University of
Washington and Washington
State University are pursu­ing
faculty salary raises of
similar proportion in their
budget proposals. _ •..-;...
Without competitive sal­aries,
many departments
will continue to see prospec­tive
and current faculty look­ing
at other universities that
can offer them better
salaries, said James Hearne
of the computer science
department.
Herane said he experi­enced
"tremendous difficul­ty"
filling faculty positions in
his department.
The dynamic nature of the
technology field makes
salaries in Computer
Sciences even more competi­tive,
Hearne said. He also
See BUDGET, Page 3
IN THIS ISSUE
Punt, Pass, Kick
Western's men's rugby
team prepares for battle at a
Canadian tournament this
weekend. Meet this year's
Warthogs.
See story, Page 9.
Burritos, Beer and
Art
Casa Que Pasa frequenters
can now
appreciate
art work
during a
local art
exhibit
through Oct.
29.
See story, Page 6.
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu http://westernfront.wwu.edu