Western Front - 2001 October 23

              TUESDAY, October 23,2001
Western Washington University Volume 119 Issue 7 Bellingham, Washington
Patriotic T-shirt spurns complaint from prof
By Sasha Benko
THE WESTERN FRONT "
A recent complaint made by
Western Professor Linda Smeins
forced the Associated Students
Bookstore to reconsider the place­ment
of a patriotic T-shirt sold in
the store's primary display.
The T-shirt, which read
"These colors don't run," placed
above an image of the American
flag, was on display at the front
of the store.
Free flags donated by The
Bellingham Herald, American
flag stickers and other patriotic
memorabilia were displayed
,with the T-shirts.
The shirts began selling right
before school started Sept. 26.
The shirts provide students
with "ways to contribute them­selves
and show pride in their
nation," said Linda Beckman,
division director of Budget and
Administration of Student
Affairs.
For each shirt sold, $1 goes to
the Red Cross.
Approximately 123 shirts
have been sold already.
The shirts "were selling before
they got out of the box," said Tana
Richins, assistant manager at the
bookstore.
Candace Nelson/ The Western Front
T-shirts that read, "These colors don't run" are on display in the front section of the AS
Bookstore. The shirts will move to the rear of the store due to a professor complaint.
Last Wednesday, Smeins, a
teacher of visual culture at
Fairhaven College, made a
phone call to the bookstore
demanding they take down the
display.
"I was concerned with the
very prominent display of the T-shirts
in question because of the
context in which they were
placed," Smeins said. "A univer­sity
is a place of inquiry where
we as students, faculty and staff
are involved in asking questions
from multiple perspectives."
The word "color" represents
the colors of our flag: red, white
and blue, not .the color our skin,
Whatcom charities lose donations;
majority of funds go to East Coast
Quoc Tran/The Western Front
Maureen Enegren, executive director of the American Red
Cross Whatcom County chapter, displays a penny-drive
donations raised for Sept. 11 victims.
sure yet what will happen."
By Marissa Bisnar
THE WESTERN FRONT
Local nonprofit organizations
in Bellingham are facing
decreased funds after the Sept.
11 attacks, including the
American Red Cross Whatcom
County chapter.
"There is a definite correlation
between the economy and fund
raising," said Mark Larson,
president of the United Way of
Whatcom County. "We are not
Typically, in major disasters
people go above and beyond
their usual donations, meaning
they will continue to give to
their local churches and organi­zations,
as well as to disaster
relief such as the American Red
Cross, Larson said.
The bigger issue is that if the
economy goes down, fund raising
will be greatly affected, Larson
said.
The United Way serves as an
umbrella organization that raises
money for 27 local health and
human service programs that
meet essential needs, including
the American Red Cross and Boys
and Girls Club of Whatcom
County.
The United Way's financial
campaign is year-round, but its
public campaign started the
beginning of September through
the end of October, Larson said.
'We will probably be losing
some programs this year,"
Larson said. "We are in the
active stage (of the financial
campaign) right now, and we
won't know exact figures until
about two to three months."
This year's goal is $1.7 mil­lion,
reduced from last year's
goal of $2 million, due to the sta­tus
of Georgia-Pacific West, Inc.,
Alcoa Intalco Corp. and the
overall economy of Whatcom
County, Larson said..
Larson said nonprofit organi­zations
will be financially
impacted the most during this
time, and it is important that
the community support them.
He said he has heard ticket
sales are lower this year for fund
raising among individual orga­nizations,
due to donations
being sent east.
"Don't forget local needs,"
Larson said.
Shelly Parsons, public support
director for the American Red
Cross Whatcom County chapter,
said people think the American
See CHARITIES, Page 4
Richins said.
The shirts were intended to
"encourage free and open
inquiry and discussion, not to
take a stance," Beckman said.
Steve Moor, AS Bookstore
employee and Western student,
said he disagrees.
See T-SHIRT, Page 4
INS database to
store info about
foreign students
By Anna Rimer
THE WESTERN FRONT
The University of Washington
will be the first school in the
Northwest to electronically send
information to the government
regarding foreign students, fol­lowing
the newly enforced law by
Congress.
The information goes to a
database monitored by the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization
Service and includes personal
and academic information.
"It is a law, and we are going
to have to follow it," said Karen
Copetas, Western's director of
Admissions when Western will
implement the law.
Congress originally passed
the monitoring law in 1996 after
the government heightened
security due to the first World
Trade Center bombing.
Concerns arose after one of
the terrorists entered the
United States using a student
visa.
After Sept. 11, Congress
again became concerned.
To offset the cost of the new
database, foreign students will
be billed a $95 fee.
In a letter Western President
Karen Morse drafted to
Washington Senators Patty
Murray and Maria Cantwell,
Morse said Western supports
the electronic tracking of foreign
~ See UW, Page 4
Western student
assaulted on
W. College Dr.
By Helen Hollister
THE WESTERN FRONT
University Police are investi­gating
a reported sexual assault
that occurred on campus Friday
morning, UP Chief James Shaw
said.
An 18-year-old. female
Western student was walking
along West College Drive
around midnight when an
unknown man approached her,
greeted her and walked past
her, Shaw said.
Shaw said the suspect then
grabbed her from behind and
dragged her into a nearby wood­ed
area where he partially pulled
his pants down and made an
attempt to force her to touch his
genitals.
He took her pants down and
put his hands on her.
The suspect ran from the
scene after a car drove by.
The student described the
suspect as a young, white male
who weighed about 190 pounds
and was six feet tall.
She said he was wearing a
fleece jacket, blue jeans and a
white baseball cap.
The student then went to a
friend's dorm room on the
Ridge.
After being encouraged to
report the incident, she called
the UP at approximately 1 a.m.,
Shaw said.
Corporal David Garcia and
officers Bianca Graves and
Chris Davis came to the resi­dence
hall and escorted the stu­dent
to St. Joseph Hospital.
She had minor injuries that
did not require medical atten­tion,
Shaw said.
The police searched the area
early Friday morning and were
See ASSAULT, Page 4
IN THIS ISSUE
Vikings cut down
Lumberjacks
Western defeats Humboldt
State University Saturday
with quarterback Scott
Mitchell setting new
school records.
See story, Page 10.
Ragin' Cajun
Mardi Gras and New
Orleans
come to
town at
Bellingham's
Bite of New
Orleans
Cafe.
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