Western Front - 2002 April 30

              Danger zone
Western students get kicks from
extreme sports.
See Story, Page 7.
Sailing away
Western's sailing team battles the
wind on Lake Whatcom.
See Story, Page 8.
Western Washington University Volume 121 Issue 8 Bellingham, Washington
Mold may be cause
of employee illness
By Derek Sheppard
THE WESTERN FRONT
Bina Bogati, a peer adviser for
International Programs and
Exchanges, said she began hav­ing
health problems a week
after she began working in High
Street Hall this quarter.
"When I leave (work) some­times
my head is about, to blow,"
Bogati said. "It feels like it's
going to crack in the middle."
Bogati said most people work­ing
in the building have had
health problems, including
headaches, breathing difficulty
and eye irritation, all quarter.
Gayle Shipley, director of
Environmental Health and
Safety at Western said she does
not know exactly why people are
getting sick.
"We know that people are not
feeling well," Shipley said.
"We're working on trying to
make it better in there."
Mold coming into the building
from an open-air crawl space
below the building is the proba­ble
cause for the illnesses,
Shipley said.
A new air circulation system
was installed under the building
Friday that will draw air from
See HEALTH, Page 4
Safeco strips grad of shirt
By Carl Weiseth
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western journalism post-bachelor
Dave. Chesson -was
forced to disrobe in public, orJbe
removed by a sheriff from
Sunday's Mariners game at
Safeco Field.
Chesson, a regular Mariners
fan and season ticket holder,
was wearing a "Yankees Suck"
T-shirt as he wandered the ball­park
with his girlfriend.
Chesson said two security
guards approached him and
demanded that he either remove
his shirt or leave the ballpark.
'We hadn't even gotten to the
pitcher's fence when these two
goons came up and told me I
needed to take the shirt off,"
Chesson said. "I said I'm sorry,
but I'm not going to do that.
There's this little thing called
the Constitution."
The two guards were insistent
that Chesson was in violation of
Safeco Field's official code of
conduct. ,;,, . . , ,..„•'. ..x..,.:
The code states that Safeco
staff will proactively intervene
to support an environment
where guests can enjoy the base­ball
experience free from
obscene or indecent clothing,
according to the Mariners' offi­cial
Web site.
When Chesson persisted in
defense of his First Amendment
rights, a sheriff joined the dis­cussion.
He told Chesson he
could either take off his shirt, or
be escorted from the premises.
"To me it was a flat out viola­tion
of my personal rights,"
Chesson said.
See T-SHIRT, Page 4
Evan Parker/ The Western Front
University Police Officer Jason Karb writes Western student Adam Straney a ticket
Monday near Red Square for riding his skateboard. Karb is one of two officers who went
through a bike certification course recently to enforce pedestrian complaints about on-campus
bicyclists and skateboarders.
Complaints prompt bike patrol additions
By Valerie Bauman
THE WESTERN FRONT
Between January 1 and April
28, University Police issued 20
warnings and nine infractions to
bicyclists on campus, said Cindi
Schwemmin, Western police
records manager.
Officers also issued 29 warn­ings
and 12 infractions to skate­boarders
during this time.
Since spring began, pedestri­ans
have contacted police with
complaints about on-campus
bicyclists and skateboarders.
"We were asked by faculty
senate to be more vigilant of
bikes and skateboards," UP
Chief Jim Shaw said.
To that end, UP put two offi­cers
through a 40-hour bike-offi­cer
certification program last
month.
Western student Sam
Burkhardt said he has been
given many warnings and one
citation for reckless bike riding.
"I think it's a lot of professors
in their offices complaining
(about bike riders)," Burkhardt
said.
Ongoing complaints have
spurred police to take action
against students that violate
campus regulations, said UP
Assistant Chief David Doughty.
"I wouldn't call it a conscious
effort to crack down, so much as
it is a greater opportunity due to
our staffing levels," Doughty
said.
One or two officers patrol on
bicycles everyday. No officers
work bike patrol during the
night shift because of a limited
staff.
See BICYCLES, Page 4
New certification rules will cut athletic training internships
ehrenbacl
Western junior Shane Edwa* Js iiooks up electrical stimu­lation
to the shoulder of junior softball player Amanda
Grant. Changes in the athletic training program next
spring will keep student interns out of the training room.
By Lee Fehrenbacher
THE WESTERN FRONT
Next spring, the athletic
training room will lose all its
student trainers. In response to
new requirements on athletic
training programs, Western will
end its athletic training intern­ship
program.
The National Athletic
Trainer's Association has
increased the requirements to
take the certified trainer's
examination, said Kathleen M.
Knutzen, chairwoman of the
department of physical educa­tion,
health and recreation.
The new requirements are an
effort to standardize the curricu­lum
of athletic training so that
all students will receive a simi­lar
course of study.
All athletic trainers must be
certified through NATA.
Western team physician
Warren Howe said the changes
would bring a new level of pro­fessionalism
to athletic training.
While NATA has longrterm
benefits in mind, the new
requirements have a significant
impact now.
The new curriculum will
require students to complete an
accredited athletic training pro­gram.
This can be done through
an accredited undergraduate
program or an accredited entry-level
master's program.
Internship programs like
Western's will no longer be
accepted as valid accreditation.
Since" Western is not an
accredited program, students.
will now be required to complete
a pre-athletic training program
and then transfer to an accredit­ed
entry-level master's program
before they can take the exam.
"It's kind of frustrating for the
new people coming in because
there are not many accredited
schools to go through, so that
you don't have to do the whole
master's program thing," said
Western junior and student
trainer Karrie Pilgrim.
Pilgrim, along with most of
the other 15 student athletic
trainers, will graduate before
the new requirements go into
effect Dec. 30, 2003.
Student trainees will gradu­ate
and leave an absence of stu­dent
trainers to help in the
training room, said Head Athletic
Trainer Linda Bergen.
Bergen and Lonnie Lyon are
the only certified athletic train­ers
in the athletic training
department,
Howe said one of the big prob­lems
was people feel student
trainers can substitute for certi­fied
athletic trainers. He said
student trainers are still learn­ing,
and need to be supervised in
everything they do.
I -Howe said in theory the
W?M"- See TRAINER, Page 4
For news tips, call (360) 650-3162 or e-mail The, Western Front at wfront@cc.wwu.edu www.westernfrontonline.com Please recycle