Western Front - 2002 February 15

              The Western Front
Western Washington University Volume 120 Issue 10 Bellingham, Washington
Music, food usher in Chinese New Year
By Marissa Bisnar
THE WESTERN FRONT
The year of the snake gave way
to the year of the horse Monday
night as community members and
students celebrated the Chinese
New Year in the Viking Union.
The event, coordinated by
Western's Chinese Student
Association, included dinner,
martial arts demonstrations and
music, among other activities.
Western sophomore. Nikki
Lac, CSA founder and president,
said the association gives stu­dents
from different back­grounds
an opportunity to learn
from each other.
"At Western, there are
Americanized Chinese students
and very cultured Chinese stu­dents,"
she said. "The purpose of
the association is to bring us
both together."
This was the CSA's first
planned event of the year, arid
they hope to have an even bigger
celebration next year, CSA
member Andrew Hu said.
"We've been gaining momen­tum
this year," Hu said. "The
purpose of the club is to create a
lot of awareness. Now there is a
place where you can go if you're
Chinese or interested in Chinese
culture."
A tea tasting table was a pop­ular
attraction, drawing much
of the crowd to taste authentic
Oolong, jasmine, pouchong and
lung ching teas.
"You can combine the different
teas to suit your own tastes
also," CSA member Nathan
Gaan said.
Western Chinese 101 student
Allison Chan said she is away from
her family and the event was a
good experience because her family
celebrates the new year differently.
The Chinese singers that per­formed
at the celebration were
one aspect Chan said she was
not familiar with.
"It's very different from main­land
China because they (the
singers) wear very heavy make­up,"
Chan said.
Fellow Chinese 101 student
Kristine Inaba said her favorite
parts of the event were listening
to music, learning how to write
her name in Chinese and "of
course, the food."
Inaba said it was interesting
to experience another culture's
celebration of the new year.
"Two years ago, I went to
Japan through Western's
exchange program," Inaba said.
"We went to Chinatown and
they had dragons going in and
out of the stores for good luck.
Many people celebrated by going
to the temples as well."
Several members,of.Western's
Jie Dai Martial Arts club also put
on a crowd-pleasing performance,
See CELEBRATION, Page 4
Abstinence
different for
Western
students
Student injured by tree branch will not sue Western
By Matt Black
THE WESTERN FRONT
The family of Western fresh­man
Natalie Woods has decided
not to pursue legal action for the
Oct. 10 accident, in which Woods
was hit on the head by a falling
tree branch.
"There has been no lawsuit
filed to my knowledge," said
Wendy Bohlke, Western's assis­tant
attorney general.
Bohlke said Woods' family
could file suit up to three years
after the incident occurred.
Woods had no comment on the
situation.
Woods was hit by the 20-foot-long
branch blown down during a
windstorm while walking outside
the biology building. She suffered
a fractured skull and a broken
nose as a result of the accident.
Her family considered filing a
lawsuit against Western to cover
her medical costs.
Gene Wright, Manager of
Western's Outdoor-Fleet
Maintenance Services, called
the accident a "freak deal."
In his 31 years at Western,
Wright said it was the only time
he could remember a student
being injured by a fallen branch.
Wright said because it was a
Group voices concern about Sodexho's prison involvement
Alaina Dunn/ The Western Front
Western Environmental Watch members Cassandra Howe,
junior (left) and Gwen Heisterkamp, senior (center), speak
with sophomore Nellie Nutt (far right) about dining services.
By Derek Sheppard
THE WESTERN FRONT
Representatives from Western
Environmental Watch presented
information Thursday in Red
Square about Sodexho and the
other two companies bidding for
dining service contracts next
year.
Western senior and WEW
member, Gwen Heisterkamp
said she wants to raise aware­ness
about dining contractors
Sodexho, Aramark and
Chartwells.
Heisterkamp said she is con­cerned
that Sodexho has ties to
prisons in Australia and the
United Kingdom.
"I don't want to be putting my
money into something that's
supporting private prisons,"
Heisterkamp said.
Dining services general man­ager
Nori Yamashita said when
Marriott and Sodexho merged,
university dining services
became affiliated with Sodexho's
involvement in prison services.
Yamashita said student con­cerns
were one of the reasons
Sodexho sold all stock in
Corrections Corporation of
America, which helped operate
private prisons in the United
States.
In a press release, Sodexho
Alliance Chairman Pierre
Bellon said, "We have now
determined that our CCA
investment is no longer in line
with our strategic objectives and
is in conflict with our policy."
According to the press release,
Sodexho only provides services to
democratic countries in which
the death penalty is illegal, has
rehabilitative programs and does
not own any prison. Sodexho also
will not provide services requir­ing
employees to carry guns.
"There is debate over whether
(helping operate prisons) is good
or bad, Director of University
See SODEXHO, Page 4
Stacey Gorgen/ The Western Front
Participant Crystal Shaw sings in the opening celebration S
of the Chinese New Year Monday night. This year is repre­sented
by the horse.
live limb, there was no way any­one
could have known the
branch was going to fall.
Western's maintenance work­ers
have continued the policy of
removing dead and hanging
branches from trees in" front of
Old Main and Wilson Library.
"We take safety matters real
serious," Wright said. "If we get
a call (about a branch) we
respond immediately."
THE WESTERN
FRONT SEXUAL
LIFESTYLE
SERIES
By Richard Bean,
Amber Blondin,
Hollie Joy Brown and
Laura Thoren
Western junior Dustin
Terpening, 21, has made the
decision not to have sex until
marriage. Although he is in a
long-distance relationship,
every day he and his girlfriend
are faced with the challenge of
keeping sex out of their three-year
relationship.
"Having a girlfriend for three
years, you can't tell me you are
not going to get close to some­body,"
Terpening said, "It's hard,
but if you are committed, you
can make it."
Staying a virgin is a difficult
choice to make, he said.
"It means not having sexual
-intercourse when everything
bombarding the senses says
that it is OK," he said.
"I am the same as everyone
else," Terpening said.
Terpening is one of nearly half
of Western students surveyed by
the Western Front who said they
are currently abstinent.
During the week of Feb. 4, the
Front distributed surveys in
Western classes and to students
at the Viking Union. The non-random,
non-scientific survey
included 376 completed surveys.
More females, 218, took the sur­vey
than males, 154.
Forty-seven percent of the
students surveyed said they
See ABSTINENCE, Page 6
N THIS ISSUE
Western Men's and
Women's Basketball
Western centers Mike Palm
and Jenn McGillivray lead
their respective teams
towards the post-season.
See stories page 10.
Abigail Grush comes
to Western
Abigail Grush kicks off the
Underground
Coffeehouse's
2002 season.
The Chicago
native's band,
"Phantom
Beat," will
play Feb. 20.
See story page 8.
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