Western Front - 2001 May 22

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Western Washington University Volume 116 Issue 14 Bellingham, Washington
Citizens rally for public space council
pits park
protest
By Hollie Joy Brown
THE WESTERN FRONT
Early Saturday morning a
group of about 40 people from
the group People for Public
Space began to dig up cement
and place flowerbeds in the
abandoned, city-owned, sunken
lot at the corner of Railroad
Avenue and Holly Street.
At about midnight Sunday
the Bellingham Police began
arresting people from the group.
By late Sunday evening, 28 peo­ple
were arrested and cited for
- second degree trespassing.
Bellingham Police Lt. Dae
Jamison said people were com­ing
out of the bars and making
catcalls early in the morning
when the arrests started.
"It was a formula for disas­ter,""
he said. -
Throughout Saturday and
into the night, protesters played
dijeridoo music, danced, painted
and chalked the cement walls of
"the pit," hoping to convince the
Bellingham City Council to turn
"the pit" into a community gar­den,
a town plaza/hall or a park,
instead of selling it for commer­cial
use, as planned.
By 9 a.m. Monday, police
blocked citizens' views by
putting plywood on the fence
that barricaded the perimeter of
"the pit." Supporters of the pro­testers
threw in food and water
from outside the fence.
Seven people remained in the
then police-blocked "pit"
Monday evening.
One man remained suspend­ed
from a rope 35 feet from the
ground that spanned 100 feet
from wall to wall.
Another man hung near the top
of a 20-foot metal tripod.
At the base of the tripod, five
people sat on mattresses con­nected
to each other by chaining
their hands together inside
See PIT, Page 4
Chris Fuller/ The Western Front
Suspended from the top of the parking garage next door to the Bank of America on
Railroad Avenue, a community activist paints the cement wall of the garage in an attempt
to convince the Bellingham City Council to turn "the pit" into a community garden.
VanDyk hard on Bush Administration
By Stephanie Kitchens
THE WESTERN FRONT
Political veteran Ted VanDyk spoke to a
tame group of students Monday about one
of America's current, most controversial
topics: the Bush Administration.
He talked about an issue the American
public is always paying attention to — gov­ernment
after an election, and how the new
administration is doing on its proposed
policies.
He said 11 percent of the administra­tion's
500 policies such as trade, missile
defense and social security reform have so
far been completed.
About half are expected to be completed
by Labor Day and possibly two-thirds by
January 2002.
"It is to President Bush's credit that he
has moved as far forward as he has without
his administrative team complete,"
VanDyk said.
He said Bush's promised tax cut will be
See VANDYK, Page 3
Politician
Ted
VanDyk
iscusses
the state
of the
current
presiden­tial
adminis­tration's
policy
positions.
Robert
Gara/ The
Western
Front
Public
phone toll
50 cents
By Tara Blakeman
THE WESTERN FRONT
Before cell phones and prepaid
phone cards, people relied on the
pay phone. Western student Zach
Zenovich said 25 cents was all he
needed to stay connected with
people around him, but when the
cost of a call from a pay phone
went up to 35 cents, he opted for
prepaid phone cards.
Now Qwest pay phones will
cost 50 cents, which could be
enough of an increase to make
everyone carry a cell phone or
phone card, Zenovich said.
See PHONE, Page 5
By Robert Gara Jr.
THE WESTERN FRONT
Community activist Burke
Mulvany asked Bellingham City
Council member Terry
Bornemann at an open forum yes­terday
if he would consider listen­ing
to the voices and ideas of the
protesters hanging on platforms
at the empty development site,
"the pit," located on the corner of
Holly Street and Railroad Avenue.
The site was occupied Saturday
by protesters, who hope that their
efforts turn the vacant lot into a
community park, rather than a
commercial plaza supported by
the city. Park advocates said they
want to gain respect, mutual con­cern
and an equal chance from the
City Council.
"Out of concern and the well-being
for the protesters' safety,
would you consider sincerely lis­tening
to them?" Mulvany
inquired. "That is all that they
ask."
Bornemann said he would be
willing to speak and listen to ideas .
expressed by protesters, but he
could not go as a representative of
the City Council
This was the beginning of a
heated battle at the council meet­ing.
Protesters crowded last
night's council chambers, and
council members asked communi­ty
members not seated to leave
the room to remain in compliance
with fire safety codes, fueling the
discussion's hypothetical fire.
Speakers were given three min­utes
each during the 15-minute
public comment period to voice
opinions for the future of the
vacant lot. Consensus from those
See COUNCIL, Page 5
IN THIS ISSUE
Women's Varsity 8
crew team qualifies
The women's varsity eight
crew team qualified for
nationals in Georgia start­ing
May 24.
See story, Page 10.
AIDS patients find
home in Bellingham
Richard Marcou resides
with five
other people
at the Sean
Humphrey
House, a
managed
care facility
for people
living with AIDS.
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