Western Front - 2001 November 16

              FRIDAY, November 16,2001
Western Washington University Volume 119 Issue 13 Bellingham, Washington
College Republicans rally for war effort ATUS expands
e-mail size to By Helen Hollister
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western student Mike
Swanson said he is tired of seeing
the anti-war activity on campus.
As vice president of Western's
chapter of College Republicans,
he said he felt it was necessary to
show Western students that
many people on campus support
the war on terrorism.
"We know a lot of people have
been upset by Western's anti-war
(demonstrations)," Swanson said.
In response to the anti-war
demonstrations, the College
Republicans staged a "Rally for
America" Tuesday morning in Red
Square near Fisher Fountain.
Jennifer Craze, president of
the College Republicans, said
the club decided to lead the rally
to support America's troops who
are in Afghanistan and also to
support veterans (in honor of
Veterans Day) who have fought
in past wars.
"It was originally supposed to
be held on Sunday, Veterans
Day, but we changed it because
we knew no one would be here,"
Craze said.
The College Republicans
assembled in Red Square armed
with American flags and hand­made
signs with messages
including, "Support our troops"
and "You can't beat around this
Bush," which had a picture of
the U.S. president.
Phil Clark, Western junior and
rally participant, said the most
vocal, visual statements have
been against the war.
"Most people who support the
war feel that they are alone in
that," Clark said. "That is why
we are here, to show them that
they are not alone."
Craze said during Tuesday's
rally the club members received
some negative comments, but said
they were few and far between.
Several students approached
the club members directly and
engaged in heated discussions
concerning the war.
Western senior Mike Sullivan
said while he approved of the idea
of a rally, he opposed the message.
"The fact that you're allowed
to do this is great," Sullivan said.
"That is why we have the First
Amendment. I just don't agree."
Sullivan said he feels the
United States is dropping bombs
on innocent people.
Junior Jeff Kradenpoth
thanked the ralliers as he walked
past the fountain. He said he
thinks people have been afraid to
give support to U.S. troops.
"It's good to see people who are
willing to support them,"
Kradenpoth said. "Serving in the
After-hours pay stations
operational by Monday
Laura Harlos/The Western Front
Western senior Noel Stout said he supports the after-hours
parking meters because they make him ride his bicycle.
By Amber Blondin
THE WESTERN FRONT
After a delay of more than a
month, after-hours and weekend
parking pay stations will be
ready for use Monday.
University Police Chief James
Shaw said the delay occurred
because UP needed to make
sure all university requirements
, met the auditors'standards, and
they needed to run extra tests
with the credit card system to
make sure it was working effi­ciently.
"Any time there is a system
that deals with moneys it
becomes a complex issue," Shaw
said. "This took a long time
because once an issue is taken
care of, another arises and more
people start to get involved."
Many students said they do
not feel the delay was much of
major issue and would rather
have the delay than have seen
the pay stations operational at
the beginning of the quarter, as
was*previously planned.
Western graduate student
Mandi Segars was one who
said she felt this way.
. "I don't think the pay station
should be there in the first
See PARKING, Page 4
Helen Hollister/The Western Front
Western College Republican Casey Craig expresses his
support for America's troops Tuesday in Red Square.
military, with the way society is
these, days, is oftentimes a
thankless job, especially on col­lege
campuses."
Club member. Kim French, who
held a sigjA, during the rjdly, said
she wanted to show herT support
for people who are trying to make
things safe for the United States.
- See RALLY, Page 4
Task force proposes GUR change
By Lisa Mandt
THE WESTERN FRONT
The Academic Coordinating
Commission is investigating the
effectiveness and purpose of
Western's current General
University Requirements system.
"1 want a general education
program that I would be proud of,"
Kris Bulcroft, vice provost for
Undergraduate Education, said. "I
can't say that about ours."
Last May, the ACC recom­mended
a task force be formed to
review Western's GUR system.
• The ACC's goal was to deter­mine
if the current GUR system
satisfies the seven qualities of
the Quality Undergraduate
Experience Report.
The QUE Report defines the
qualities a Western student
should possess after graduating.
"The university doesn't have a
statement saying what Western
wants from the GUR system,"
said Steve Ross, chairman of the
ACC. "That is what the task
force is working to find."
According to Western's faculty
constitution, the ACC is in
charge of all academic pro­grams,
curriculum and the
teaching load.
Ross said the ACC would like
to see 60 hours or less invested
into the GUR system. He said it
is possible to have fewer credits
in all sections and still satisfy
the GURs.
"Seventy-two hours are tied
up in GURs," Ross said. "That is
too many."
Associated Students President
Corey Eichner said students are
clearly frustrated with the num­ber
of credits required for GURs.
This frustration is what the
18-member panel of the ACC is
determined to address.
"Sixty hours is a good number
to shoot for," faculty senate
President Kathleen . Kennedy
said, "but there needs to be lee­way,
sixty can't be a set number."
Kennedy said she under­stands
students may need to
take extra classes to satisfy only
a few credits. She said less
hours, however, would accom­modate
overlapping credits
without taking time away from
the students' majors.
Despite support for the change
in the GUR system, many said
they are concerned about the
origination of the task force.
"The QUE Report was never
endorsedby the faculty or staff,"
Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the QUE was
never formally voted on by stu­dents
and staff. The students
and staff, however^ never had a
chance to agree or disagree with
the qualities.
Eichner said the task force
had to go back to square one at
the beginning of this year
because a new year meant a new
task force.
"I would just like to see some­thing
happen," Eichner said. "I
want this to be a constant move­ment
forward."
Bulcroft said the QUE wasn't
formally voted on because one
can't vote on values. She said
See GUR, Page 4
4 megabytes
By Suzanne Almoslino
THE WESTERN FRONT
Academic Technology and
User Services increased the
maximum size of e-mail mes­sages
that students and faculty
can receive from one megabyte
to four megabytes.
Rick Nichols, ATUS Help
Desk coordinator, said the
change was made primarily for
academic improvement. He
said he doesn't expect many
students will use this much
space, but upgrades are needed
to stay ahead of the students'
technological needs.
One megabyte is about 100 to
150 typed pages, Nichols said.
It is unusual for a text e-mail
to be that large. Primarily, the
increase is for attachments,
Nichols said.
"The higher the resolution (of a
photo), the bigger the file,"
Nichols said. "People might want
to e-mail photos, graphics,
spreadsheets or large databases."
"We haven't had many com­plaints
that students were lim­ited
by their e-mail, but we were
trying to be proactive about it,"
Nichols said.
The upgrade, installed last
month, applies to MyWestern as
well as to the Titan server.
Nichols said. Titan is larger
and faster than last year.
MyWestern is a Web gateway
that is^ designed to allow stu­dents-
easier access to their e-mail.
,'v •. •." •""'-.'•
Eveijfthing written and
received'Vori MyWestern goes
through the Titan server before
it gets on to the Internet,
Nichols said.
Students' inboxes has been
increased to five megabytes to
accommodate the increased
See ATUS, Page 4
IN THIS ISSUE
Viking b-ball
teams jam
Thursday night, the men's
and women's basketball
teams scrimmaged in a
relaxed game before the
start of the season.
jSee story, Page 12.
Three local
bands reviewed
Full Frontal
Assault, The
Mullets and
Short Bus
exposed their
^tunes at local
bars.
See stories, Pages 6-7.
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu http://westernfrontonline.com