Western Front - 2001 May 8

              Western Washington University Volume 116 Issue 10 Bellingham, Washington
Western may cancel labor membership
By Candace Nelson
THE WESTERN FRONT
An * often overlooked
Associated Students club,
Students Against Sweatshops,
recommended to the
International Labor Task Force
Thursday that Western change
its membership from the Fair
Labor Association to the
Worker's Rights Consortium.
Both are organizations that
inspect factories where Western
apparel is manufactured.
The task force of faculty, staff
and students will make a rec­ommendation
to Eileen
Coughlin the vice president for
Student Affairs to maintain
affiliation with the Fair Labor
Association or change to the
Worker's Rights Consortium.
A decision is expected before
the end of the academic year,
committee chair Kunle Ojikutu
said.
People at the meeting who
spoke against the FLA said it
works in secrecy because the
FLA does not make information
public until two years after the
investigation.
"I feel that information
should be made public right
away so we all know what is
going on," WRC supporter Anna
Brandt said.
When asked to comment on
the secrecy of the FLA, Jason
Wares, deputy university liai­son
for the FLA, said, "It is not
true."
Concerned students, SAS
Student lobby referendum
touts support from AS,
critique from president
By Joseph Terrell
THE WESTERN FRONT
This June, Western's board of
trustees will decide whether the
Washington Student Lobby ref­erendum,
which would add 50
cents to students' quarterly
tuition bill, will go into effect.
The referendum, which
received 59 percent support
during the Associated Students
election, said, "Shall the stu­dents
of Western Washington
University propose that the
administration billing system
be changed to allow a 50-cent-per-
quarter fee for the
Washington Student Lobby, a
nonprofit organization, provid­ed
that a mechanism for refund
or waiver be included?"
While the referendum
received unanimous support
among the AS board of direc­tors,
Western President Karen
Morse criticized the proposal
because it would allow outside
groups to charge Western stu­dents
directly.
In 1998, 56 percent of the stu­dents
approved a similar refer­endum
that would have allowed
$2 to be automatically added
unless otherwise noted.
The board of trustees subse­quently
vetoed the measure
because the members said the
billing system needed to be
changed.
The referendum approved by
the students in this year's elec­tion
provided for the change.
The AS board of directors sup­ported
the initiative unani­mously
and saw it as a way to
alleviate the inconsistent fund­ing
of Western's WSL chapter,
said Stacey Valentin, vice presi­dent
for Legislative and
Community Affairs.
'It gives students more of a
chance to help out with
WSL, because it costs
lesSil •::>:] .;\.*,:.:: .... .;•;'••;,••;' -''•:•-•-
Erica Grice
Associated Students
"This would ensure there is
stable funding," Valentin said.
Currently, students who opt
to accept the $2 fee when regis­tering
for classes finance the
WSL.
The approved change would
be optional, Associated
Students Elections Coordinator
Josh Dyck said, because now
the respondent must opt out
instead of opting in.
See WSL, Page 3
A belly dancer struts her stuff during Kappa Karnival Saturday
in Red Square, which included informational booths and games.
Japan Week celebrates culture
Students mingle at the opening ceremonies of Japan Week.
By Paul Nicholas Carlson
THE WESTERN FRONT
To the majority of the crowd,
the Japanese-saturated dialect of
the master of ceremonies was not
a problem. The declaration of
Japan Week's opening ceremony
Monday, delivered in Japanese,
was understood by nearly all in
attendance.
Japan Week, a four-day cele­bration
of the Japanese culture
at Western, kicked off in
Eric Berto/ The Western Front
Arntzen Hall 100 with a series of
short speeches by school admin­istrators
and a speech and skit
contest.
Western President Karen
Morse was among the speakers to
See JAPAN, Page 4
New budget
plans offer
better pay,
new building
By Stephanie Kitchens
THE WESTERN FRONT
Steps toward dealing with the
insufficient faculty payroll and
lack of classrooms have been
taken in the new budget plans.
Vice President for External
Affairs Bob Edie said a pay raise
would be funded by the Senate
budget and House operating
budget.
The Senate's proposed budget
will raise payrolls by 3.71 per­cent
during the first year and
3.1 percent during the second
See BUDGET, Page 3
IN THIS ISSUE
Softball
ends season
While hosting the PacWest
Conference tournament, the
Vikings lost two games to
end the season.
See story, Page 10
Cannabis products
draw fashionites
Models strut Bellingham
runways
demonstrat­ing
the versa­tility
of
organic fabric
at the hemp
fashion show
Saturday.
See story, Page 8
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu http://westernfrontonline.com