Western Front - 1991 November 5

              fudents discover necessity
of health insurance
Page 5
Cross country runners
qualify for nationals
Page 12
he Western Front
1991/Volume 84, Number 11 please recycle
novation plans loom for Vendor's Row Whatcom county Rainbow common
•.;...• V- • •
Mipli£: »
is
jSs?sStv
I for the V.U. Renovation Project plans to retain
*of Vendor's Row.
i Matthews
renovation of the
food service facility
i—commonly known
U. Renovation Project — is
t forth to the adminis-in
its tenth year of
'Ht*_ V.U. renovation pro-
I five-phase remodeling of
; Viking Union, Viking
I, Viking Food Service, and
f Bookstore.
•proposal is in no way new to
I, but some people have de-
Wilmisconcepuons about
3's effectiveness and fund-r
misconception is what
it) Vendor's Row and the
e quality. It is proposed
i ogre plaza be covered to
Ijttwound center protected
|lngh weather. The reno-f
te plaza is just one step in
poflbe five-phase project,
i plaza stands now it is
Slree-fourths of the year.
By enclosing the area we will be
making the area useful year round,"
project leader Jack Smith said.
Smith also noted that in no way is
Vendor's Row in danger of being
eliminated. On the contrary, Vendor's
Row will be brought out of the ele­ments
of the weather and into an
atmosphere where venders can dis­play
their wares more effectively.
"We want to improve theiT op­tions.
Some vendors may even be
offered a long-term space that is more
secure, more efficient, less congested,
and better for their wares," Smith
said.
Smith, and other members of the
committee, want to keep the "bizarre
and community atmosphere" created
in Vendor's Row.
"The project's major goal is to
put together the buildings aestheti­cally,
and functionally to create a
community center," Smith said.
As noted in the Renovation Out­line
of Need and Rationale, July, 1991.
there is a lack of aesthetic and direc­tional
continuity in what should be
one of themostpublic and community
spaces on campus.
Front file photo
the "bizarre and community
The current plan has withstood
five years of review without objec­tion
to concept and only minor
changes in internal space allocation.
But delays have increased costs.
Inflation, alone, has created an in­crease
of $736,800 to the first phase
of this project since 1985.
Another major misconception
about the project is that the renova­tion
funds will come out of the state
budget. The reality is that the two
have nothing to do with one another.
Smith noted that the project is a
"self-contained funding center."
Funding comes from the $ 10 building
fee during fall registration, housing
and dining proceeds, A.S. activities,
and bookstore revenue.
The state budget and the V.U.
renovation are legally separate from
one another. "Even if we wanted to
use the state's funding we could not,"
Smith said.
The major reasons for this reno­vation
are the "mounting maintenance
costs, relative age of the building, and
the need to serve the number of stu­dents
adequately and better," V.P. of
Internal Affairs Dan Cleator said.
Bellingham candidates
receive endorsement
By Sue Kidd
staff reporter
Members of the Whatcom
County Rainbow Coalition have
endorsed area candidates for today's
election.
The coalition met with several
candidates on Oct. 12, to ask them
questions about issues the coalition
is concerned about.
The coalition is part of a na­tional
organization dedicated to
assuring Americans of economic
justice, peace and human rights.
Local, state and national levels of
the coalition work on providing
platforms for political debate.
James Gillis, coalition secre­tary,
said the coalition "would be
very active in this election. We reg­istered
over 160 voters for the pri­mary
election, and we will be ac­tively
supporting these candidates
who received the Rainbow Coalition
endorsement."
"We sent letters to all candi­dates
about the meeting (to see) if
they wanted our endorsement,"
Anne Atkeson, the coalition politi­cal
action task force chairperson,
said.
The task force is a group within
the coalition that deals exclusively
with electoral activities.
Candidates who attended were
asked a series of questions by the
task force that represents issues the
coalition cares abouL
The task force worked with
several action groups affiliated with
the coalition to develop the ques­tions.
Atkeson said the questions were
pre-determined and the candidates
were asked to Tespond at the meet­ing
"so we knew they (the candi­dates)
had thought of the issues
before."
Atkeson said candidates who
"responded favorably" were en­dorsed.
The first question the candi­dates
were asked was, "What are
your concrete proposals to increase
av ailable affordable housing for low
income and minimum wage earn­ers?"
The Bellingham Whatcom
County Tenants Association, an ac­tion
group affiliated with the
coalition's task force, is involved
with the low income housing issue,
said Atkeson.
Another question candidates
were asked is, "What will you do to
prevent discrimination as racial and
ethnic diversity increases in What­com
County?"
Atkeson said many groups af­filiated
with the task force — like
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) and Hispanic groups in
Whatcom County — are involved
with this issue.
The task force said they felt
candidates seeking their endorse­ment
should be knowledgeable on
the subject of discrimination be­cause
of recent increases in ethnic
diversity.
Vernon Johnson, a political
science professor at Western and
member of the coalition steering
group, said, "Of course ethnic di­versity
must be addressed since
Whatcom County's ethnic diver­sity
is growing."
The final question asked by
the task force was, "What are your
views on the extension of transit
service to outlying areas such as
the Lummi Reservation and the
ferry terminal to Lummi Island?"
Atkeson said the coalition and
Lummi Island citizens formulated
this question because transporta­tion
is of great need and because it
is an issue they wanted the candi­dates
they endorsed to address.
After each candidate re­sponded
to task force questions
there was a half-hour question
session from the audience.
Atkeson said, after the candi­dates
left, all members of the coa­lition,
including task force mem­bers
and members of action groups
working with the coalition, voted
on the endorsements.
A candidate had to be nomi­nated
from the floor before the
coalition could vote. A two-thirds
majority from the general mem­bership
had to be reached, Atkeson
said.
All candidates endorsed were
those in concurrence with the
coalition's ideas, Atkeson added.
The coalition endorsed seven
candidates seeking election: Joy
Keenan for City Council 5th Ward,
KenHendersonforCountyCouncil
District 1, Louise Bjomson for City
Council at Large, Larry Mount for
County Sheriff and Scon Walker
for Port Commissioner.
Three candidates who attended
the meeting were not endorsed for
various reasons, Atkeson said.
They are: Mayor Tim Douglas,
John Corliss, Bellingham City
Council Ward 5 and Myron
Wambold, Bellingham City
Council Ward 1.