Western Front - 2002 July 16

              The longest road
For many of the STFs 7,100
riders, 'it's just enough to finish.'
See Story, Page 7.
An emotional walk
Bellingham citizens raise money
for cancer research.
See Story, Page 4.
TUESDAY, Jul? 16, 2002' The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 122 Issue 4 Bellingham, Washington
Western, WTA
plan Haggard
bus shelter
By Soraya Abi-Farah
THE WESTERN FRONT
Construction on a new north­bound
bus shelter in front of
Haggard Hall could begin as
early as fall quarter, said Tim
Wynn, Western director of
Facilities Management.
The Whatcom Transportation
Authority Board of Directors
contributed $40,000 to Western
for building the new bus shelter.
The shelter will help alleviate
the congestion currently cen­tered
around the Viking Union
stop, Wynn said.
"It is just not a safe situation
to have that mix of buses, bicy­cles,
service vehicles and pedes­trians,"
said Rick Gordon, WTA
director of Service and
Development.
Gordon said the existing VU
shelter and stop is the second
highest boarding area for the
WTA. On rainy days,, during
high traffic times, some stu­dents
are stuck in an area
beyond the coverage of the
shelter.
Wynn said many students feel
it is too dark and unsafe to wait
for the evening buses there.
"It's almost like a dark cave,"
Gordon said.
Barbera Alten, an architect
hired by Western to design the
shelter, started working on the
plans for the new shelter in
December. The structure will be
built out of steel and will have
glass shields from all sides to
protect bus riders from the wind.
"It was designed to protect
from inclimate weather," Alten
said.
The area of the bus shelter
will cover 500 square feet and
include a dual-faced clock,
benches, vandal resistant
lighting, a bus route map and a
See BUS, Page 3
Loiterers slow renovation, official says
Community debates bench
installation on Railroad Ave
Alaina C. Dunn/ The Western Front
These three teens are among the many loiterers who
gather near Railroad Avenue by the Horseshoe Cafe.
By Andrea Jasinek
THE WESTERN FRONT
Whatcom Community College
student Carly McMacken
perched precariously on a con­crete
flower planter as she kept
a watchful eye on traffic.
"The cops ride by every few
minutes," McMacken said.
McMacken, like the dozens of
people who frequent the corner
of Railroad Avenue and Holly
Street, said she fears being
caught sitting or leaning on
planters before 9 p.m., an
offense punishable by law with
a $100 ticket. But, she said,
there is nowhere else to sit.
Bellingham City Councilman
Gene Knutson said the down­town
loitering problem has got­ten
worse in the past few years
as more people realize the cor­ner's
social and drug-acquiring
potential. -
The corner is slowing the
progress of the city's new down­town
renovation plan, which aims
to inject new life into downtown
Bellingham, Knutson said.
As part of the plan, benches
designed by local artists were to
be installed in different areas
downtown, said Office of
Community and Neighborhood
Development Manager Steve
Price.
"There's a scarcity of conve­nient,
interesting places to sit,"
Price said.
The plan to make downtown
friendlier is actually causing
tension, Knutson said.
"What I hear from people is
that they don't want it (benches)
at all," he said. "Benches that
had been installed downtown
only added to the problem (of
loitering)."
Despite the controversy, the
benches are still in the process
of being created, Price said.
"We're just holding up on the
Railroad corner until there's
some resolution with the (loiter­ing)
issues," he said.
He said the dissenting voice
is a mere whisper in compari­son
to the shouts of support he
has heard.
"There are only a couple of
people saying they don't want
benches downtown," Price said.
"The community wants to fix the
pedestrian atmosphere and
make it more friendly."
McMacken said she has been
frequenting the block for over
a year.
See LOITERERS, Page 3
Munro seminar: Educators learn about politics
By Nicole Langendorf er
THE WESTERN FRONT
Jerri Patten, a teacher at
Longview High School, came to
Western's Ralph Munro
Seminar for Teachers to learn
more about how the nation's
government will influence her
students.
"If the goal of civic education
is to get kids to be active citi­zens,
they have to know what is
going on and who they can talk
to," she said.
Patten will begin teaching his­tory
to high school sophomores
and juniors in the fall and is cur­rently
an English teacher.
"I want to give the students the
best understanding of the politi­cal
process that I can," she said. "I
think that hearing it straight
from the horse's mouth will hope­fully
make it easier."
The Ralph Munro seminar con­nects
legislators, state agency
directors, local government offi­cials,
party leaders, journalists
and Western faculty members
with high school teachers for an
in-depth look into the nation's
political system.
"The seminar is structured so
that they (teachers) are primari­ly
interacting with practitioners
in the political system," said
Donald Alper, Western political
science professor.
Alper said he believes by
interacting with political lead­ers,
the teachers will benefit
from meeting and talking with
those in charge of the social and
economic programs they teach to
their students.
See MUNRO, Page 3
Samish Twin Drive-in to be demolished
By Peter Malcolm
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western graduate student
Kevin Kindelberger said he has
fond memories of going to the
drive-in when he was six.
"I would always fall asleep
before the second movie, but I
always had a good time," he said.
Kindelberger and other drive-in
fans in Bellingham will have
to find a new place to watch a
movie under the stars because
the Samish Twin Drive-In,
Whatcom County's lone
remaining drive-in, is closed
and set to be demolished.
The owner, Sterling Realty
Organization, has decided to
tear down the buildings and
keep the lot vacant for future
development because of finan­cial
problems, property manager
Jason Horning said.
Horning said the drive-in has
not been profitable for several
years.
"Even on nights when we
were full, we would still lose
money," he said. "It just didn't
make any financial sense to
keep the place running."
Horning said Sterling leased
the company in the past two
years to Darryl Bratt of Oak
Harbor.
Bratt said he struggled with
the same problems Sterling did
— not generating enough rev­enue
to compensate for the labor
costs, production costs and an
increasingly high property value.
"It's hard to operate a drive-in
in a city the size of Bellingham,"
he said. "The property value is
simply much higher than the
income."
Bratt said he had an advan­tage
over other would-be owners
because he had help from his
mother and father. They came in
See DRIVE-IN, Page 3
Alaina C. Dunn/ The Western Front
Weeds clog the concrete of the Samish Twin Drive-ln.
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