Western Front - 2001 December 4

              TUESDAY, December 4, 2001
Front Western Washington University Volume 119 Issue 17 Bellingham, Washington
Sexual Awareness Center celebrates World AIDS Day
By Suzanne Alnur lino
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western student Libby
Solursh, a volunteer for the
m< Sexual Awareness Center, said
she feels observing World AIDS
Day and passing out ribbons are
both very important in the fight
against AIDS.
"My dad died of AIDS in 1984,
when I was 12," Solursh said.
I "He was diagnosed when I was
3, but they didn't tell me until I
was 9.
"He got really sick a year
before he died, and I was next to
him when he died," Solursh said.
"We were close, and it really
I meant a lot to me.
"I stood in Red Square all day
and handed out ribbons, and
people took them and starting
asking questions," she said.
"We can stop this if everyone
knows about the risks and
takes^ precautions to protect
* themselves."
Solursh was one of many stu­dents
who gathered in Red
Square Friday to observe World
AIDS Day and raise awareness
about the disease.
Community members gath-
* ered in downtown Bellingham
Saturday for an AIDS walk and
candlelight vigil to remember
those the disease has already
claimed.
World AIDS day began in
1988.
According to Aware, an
Evergreen AIDS Foundation
publication, its purpose was to
bring messages of hope, compas­sion,
solidarity and understand­ing
about ADDS to every country
in the world.
Joanna Johnston, coordinator
of the SAC, staffed a booth in
Red Square Friday, handing out
free condoms, AIDS statistics,
prevention information and red
ribbons, which symbolize AIDS
awareness and compassion.
The main purpose of the booth
was to teach students that "edu­cation
is the first step in pre­venting
STDs and unwanted
pregnancies, and it's such an
easy thing to do," Johnston said.
"We haven't had any negative
response, but I've been really
surprised at the number of peo­ple
who have said 'no' to a rib­bon,
or said 'Oh, I'm already
aware of AIDS,"' Johnston said.
Heidi Schiller, a Sexual
Awareness Center volunteer,
said she can understand why
some people would not take a
ribbon.
"Sometimes I think a ribbon
doesn't signify enough of the
problem, and I think people rec­ognize
that," Schiller said.
Sarah Aronson, SAC assis­tant
coordinator; distributed rib-
Students pleased with
decreasing gas prices
Josh Haupt/The Western Front
Christy Sims, visiting from Texas, pumps gas at a 76 gas
station on Samish Way. Unleaded gaxs costs $1.35.
By Courtney Howard
THE WESTERN FRONT
The days of hunting for the
lowest gas price may not be over,
but lowered gas prices help ease
the strain on students' budgets.
'According to the Energy
^Information Administration
(EIA), the national average price
for regular unleaded gasoline is
currently $1,127, down four
cents from last week.
According to the American
Automobile Association Media
Site for Retail Gasoline Prices,
Washington state's average is
currently $1,368, down two
cents from a month ago, but still
among the nation's highest
prices.
Gas prices have fallen due to
the law of supply and demand,
Western economics professor
John Rogers said.
"Supply of gas has generally
gone up just a little bit because
OPEC (Oranization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries) was threat-
SeeGAS, Page 6
Annie Johnson/The Western Front
Volunteers from the Sexual Awareness Center hand out
free condoms, AIDS information and ribbons to a student.
bons during popular passing
times.
"Ribbons help people to think
about what can be done (about
AIDS)," Aronson said. "In a cou­ple
of years, half of Africa's, pop­ulation
will be infected."
"As a child, some of my par-ents
friends died of AIDS, so I
See AIDS, Page 4
Faculty, staff responses to
proposed changes negative
By Emily Steel
THE WESTERN FRONT
The University Planning
Council met Wednesday to dis­cuss
responses to the surveys
distributed to faculty and staff
regarding the suggested acade­mic
structural changes at
Western.
According to the survey
results, the general 'opinion
regarding possible changes
tends to be "cautious and/or
negative."
"It's on the horizon," said UPC
chairman John Richardson
about when the study will be
completed. "Time on this is a few
weeks minimum."
The UPC, which includes 15
members, compiled the survey
that was conducted online this
quarter with the cooperation of
Provost Andrew Bodman.
Western consultants recently
proposed three academic struc­tural
changes for Western to
review.
The structural recommenda­tions
are to establish two col­leges
out of the current College
of Arts and Sciences. The pro­posal
would be to create a
University College, dealing pri­marily
with students in their
first or second year at Western, •
and a College of Applied Science
and Technology, which would
include five departments
presently in the College of Arts
and Sciences.
The purpose of the survey was
to acquire a broad view of the
opinions of faculty and staff
regarding the possible structur-:-
al change at Western.
An estimated 518 faculty
and 225 administrative staff
received the survey and a total
of 363 surveys were completed
by 264 faculty and 99 adminis­trative
staff.
The survey results highlight­ed
six areas of interest including
familiarity with the issue, satis­faction
with the current pro­gram
organization and the
importance of reorganization,
perceived problems that may
come from reorganization per­ceived
problems that may call
for reorganization and assess­ments
of proposed options, _
Secondly, the results indicated
the general opinion strongly
divided between "the immediacy
of one's own work and unit and
the more distant realms of the
university mission arid the edu­cation
of students at Western." i
Lastly, the results indicated
how the potential change will be
achieved and its impact is
dependent upon faculty rank,
staff/administration status and
the amount of time one has been
at Western.
The survey results showed the
longer one has been at Western,
the more pleased they were with
the current organization.
Responders from the College
See COLLEGES, Page 4
$437,000 aid
grant to help
end violence
By Jessica Herring
THE WESTERN FRONT
Though women should take
precaution when on campus,
they can rest assured that
both Western officials and stu­dents
are taking steps to pre­vent
violence against women
at Western.
Western has violence preven­tion
groups as well as services
for those who have experienced
violence.
Pat Fabiano, program direc­tor
of Prevention and Wellness
Services, petitioned the
Department of Justice in 1999
for a grant designed to end vio­lence
against women. Western
received $499,484 in 1999 from
the grant, Fabiano said. •-
A second grant provided
Western with $437,000 in 2001.
"Back in 1999, the Department
of Justice, responding to a whole
movement in the country around
violence against women on col­lege
campuses... made a very big
decision to make monies avail­able
to college campuses,"
Fabiano said.
The money received in 1999
was used to create the Crime
and Sexual Assault Support
Services (CASAS) and Men's
Violence Prevention Project
(MVPP), Fabiano said.
It also added funds to
Environmental Health and
Safety.
The second grant will main­tain
the existing programs and
create a part-time police liaison,
Fabiano said.
University Police Chief Jim
Shaw said he will appoint an
existing officer into the liaison
position in January or February,
though he does not see the posi­tion
as being fully effective until
See WOMEN, Page 6
IN THIS ISSUI
Vikings fight through
careless play
Forward Mike Palm led the
Vikings with 16 points and
13 rebounds, as the 3-2
Vikings defeated Evergreen
State College 93-79.
See storyj Page 10.
Local panhandler
shares his story
Bob Hall
explains his
travels
through
Bellingham
and his woes
as a peddler.
See story, Page 9.
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu http://westernfrontonline.com