Western Front - 2000 October 20

              FRIDAY, October 20, 2000
The Western Front
Western Washington University Volume 114 Issue 6 Bellingham, Washington
Measure targets watershed
. Angela D. Smith/The Western Front
Silver Beach resident Jared Harris looks at Wednesday's sunset behind the north shore of Lake Whatcom. Harris says
he has mixed feelings about the ordinance to limit building in the Silver Beach community. Harris said he believes limi­tations
are needed, the lake is still cleaner than it was years ago.
By Ryan Bentz
THE WESTERN FRONT
A task force has created a
draft ordinance to limit develop­ment
in the Silver Beach area of
Lake Whatcom. The group said
the draft ordinance would main­tain
quality drinking water for
65,000 Bellingham residents.
In 1998 Western used 250,000
gallons of water per day, or the
equivalent of 25 Carver
Gymnasium-sized pools. That
was two years ago.
The ordinance stems from an
effort between the City Planning
Commission and the Silver
Beach Citizens' Task Force,
which includes 10 citizens in
addition to three members of the
city council's Watershed
Committee and city
Environmental Planner Chris
Spens. It restricts development
throughout the 538-acre region
at the north end of Lake
Whatcom, in an attempt to
reduce watershed pollution.
Robin Matthews, director of
the Institute for Watershed
Studies at Western, said the
lake definitely has problems.
Matthews, who has studied
Lake Whatcom for 15 years, said
if the lake continues to deterio­rate
at its current rate, it will
become much more difficult and
expensive to repair later.
"The lake is in dire straits
right now," city planner Steve
Sundin said.
The draft of the ordinance
includes provisions to limit the
amount of impervious surface —
paved or covered by buildings —
allowed per lot, density of devel-
See MEASURE, Page 3
Professor lauds ballot
initiatives in elections
By Jennifer Collins
THE WESTERN FRONT
As presidential candidates
debated this year's election
issues, a Western political science
professor proposed a possible
solution to a trend that has
spanned many elections: low
voter turn-out.
At 5 p.m. Tuesday at the
Science Lecture Hall, as part of
the Distinguished Lecture
Series, Todd Donovan heralded
ballot initiatives' benefits as a
way to engage voters' interest
and cause them to vote.
'People see more of what is
going on in politics today, and
they know more," Donovan said.
"Now they know they don't have
much of a say."
Ballot initiatives afford citizens
the ability to have more voice in
the legislative process, Donovan
said.
Donovan's proposal comes as
Washington voters face six initia­tives
in the
upcoming elec­tion.
That is the
highest number
of initiatives
since 1914, when
legislators rati­fied
the right for
Washington citi­zens
to propose
initiatives. Many
states' citizens,
especially on the East Coast, do
not have the right to propose
voter initiatives.
Political science professor
Kenneth Hoover raised the non-
See PROFESSOR, Page 4
Todd
Donovan
ESC speaker pushes
for grassroots activism
By Erin Crumpacker
THE WESTERN FRONT
At noon on Wednesday the
Ethnic Student Center, Robert
Jon Zita Lansang Jr. gave a pre­sentation
on voting and grass­roots
organization.
Lansang is the national coor­dinator
for the Youth and
Democracy project and a mem­ber
of the United States Student
Association.
Lansang, 24, said grassroot
organization is the idea of talk­ing
to people, identifying the
issues that face them and edu­cating,
organizing and mobiliz­ing
them in order for action to
take place.
'The only people who know
what the people want is the peo­ple,"
Lansang said.
Lansang said he believes
grassroot organization is the key
to targeting issues. That is why
he is working on informing
Western's and other college stu­dents
in the nation about the
importance of voting and grass­roots
organization.
Of the top 25 closest congres­sional
races in the country, 11
colleges are within districts
where the races are occurring.
Western is included and is in the
community of one of the top five
political races focused on by
national media.
The U.S.S.A. currently is con­centrating
on students through
Student Vote 2000.
"Student Vote 2000 targets
See ESC, Page 4
Renters,
lawyers
discuss
rights
By Paul Olund
THE WESTERN FRONT
Concerned students met
with lawyers Tuesday night
in Humanities 103 to discuss
tenants' and renters' rights.
Regional attorneys Seth
Fleetwood and Philip Buri
answered questions about
tenant abuse during a work­shop
intended to inform stu­dents
of renters rights.
"It's amazing how little
renters actually know about
tenant law," Buri said.
The workshop, sponsored
by Western's Legal
Information Center, focused
on protecting first-time
renters from unlawful proper­ty
management.
"The three most important
things for a first-time renter
„,are: always know your room­mates,
look at whether "it's
run by the owner or a proper­ty
management firm and
don't sign a lease that is
beyond your means," Buri
said.
Mitra" Pemberton, student
coordinator for the LIC,
helped plan the meeting.
"A majority of students
looking for help are looking
for information about tenant
rights," Pemberton said.
"This is a way we can get
lawyers to give free legal
. advice," Pemberton said.
The LIC, part of the
Associated Students and the
See RENTERS, Page 4
IN THIS ISSUE
Women's rugby
Western's women's rugby
squad, entering its 23rd
year, prepares for
Saturday's game against
UPS with a strong blend of
veterans and rookies.
See story, Page 8.
Dance 'til you drop
In the grand scheme of
things college
students
should buckle
down and
focus on
whafs impor­tant
— party­ing.
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