Western Front - 2002 December 3

              Men's B-ball blowout
Vikings go 3-0 for the week, including
sweeping Thanksgiving tournament.
See Story, Page 10.
Recycled business
Blue Moon Vintage Clothing owner
gives back to community.
See Story, Page 9.
Western Washington University Volume 123 Issue 19 Bellingham, Washington
Fire, soot damage Fair haven building
Early morning fire attributed to
clothes dryer on second floor
Peter Louras/ The Western Front.
Director of Facilities Management Tim Wynn, the first administrator to arrive after fire
fighters extinguished the fire, examines the charred remains of the Fairhaven kitchen area.
Fire forces out studerttS/ facuity
BY MICHAEL BAAB
& SAMUEL CHAYAVICHTTSILP
"... ;.A fire charred the Fairhaven
v College administration build-pdng,
effectively barring students
f^and-faculty from classes, offices
. ' a nd the cafeteria.
'/£ The fire started at 2:43 a.m.
, on Nov. 26 in the laundry room
of the kitchen, where a clothes
dryer used to clean cafeteria
staff uniforms probably started
the fire, Bellingham Fire
Department Assistant Chief Bill
Boyd said. '.• 'V" v .;>-•'••
- The scorched building houses
Fairhaven College offices," class­-
rooms ahdi t h e dining hall 'for
;Fairha"v.eri; - and, Buchanan
"Towers'residents! The hiuilding
, will! reopen when it passes:
>^health-codes. : :-,;;^;:; jv
Western officials have, not
assessed the damage to the
building but will attempt to pro­vide
a preliminary estimate
later ~ this week, Director of
Facilities Management Tim
Wynn said.
"Our first concern is taking
care of the students," Wynn said.
"We have over 580 students and
. faculty that eat at the cafeteria
each day. We would like to make
room for the students on the first
floor of the Fairhaven main
building, but that will have to
wait until we can make sure the
first floor is clean."
Boyd said the fire started on
th.e second floor, but smoke
traveled up the ventilation sys­tem
and activated the third-floor,
alarms. The second floor
sustained more damage than
the third, but both floors are
SeeiEIREv Page 4
BY BRENDAN MCLAUGHLIN
December is not usually barbe­cue
season, but Western junior
and Sodexho chef Yannick
Lawson spent his Monday shift
flipping burgers outside because
of a fire that closed the
Fairhaven dining hall.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26, a fire
scarred the Fairhaven College
Administration Building. Exte­nsive
smoke damage and air
contamination forced the school
to close the building, Facilities
Management Planning Man­ager
Ed Simpson said.
"We have to replace the duct
system," he said. "This could
mean we have to remove some
ceilings."
The situation has proved
frustrating for professors ; and.
students, who are unable to
access their offices and course
materials during the last week
of the quarter.
The closure signals changes
for Sodexho and Fairhaven
College, both of which have relo-.
cated since the fire. For at least
this week, college classes are'
meeting in Fairhaven dormitory
lounges, and Sodexho is operate
ing out of the Fairhaven College
main lounge.
"Try to imagine having your
home burned," Fairhaven pro­fessor
Marie Eaton said. "All my
books are in there, and all my
student papers. I do not even
know where to tell students to
meet me." Or ''*-''•".'.''
Fairhaven junior Stefen Paige
said all Fairhaven students
have to fill out -self-evaluations
at the end of the quarter but are,
unable to get the forms because
of the fire:.'.. ',•,.- •".'•••"' ••"'•:'- -•.''
. "I have all this stuff to do, and
it is all up there,".he said, point-.
ingto the third floor of the build­ing.
"I have journal readings to
write about, and now I cannot do
i t : " : . . e ; . :•; ••" ••'•'•_"•;_•;7: •; ••
Despite two signs. hung on
doors of the college directing
students to the appropriate,
dorm ;. building,: Fairhaven
juniors Ennis Johnson and Eiin;
Shin-Lee said they were'con-fused
about where their classes:'
See RELOCATE, Page 4
Brendan McLaughlin/ The Western Front
Fairhaven professor Kathryn Anderson teaches her senior
seminar class in a Fairhaven dormitory lounge.
Joke draws attention of
human rights activists
BY BRANDON ROSAGE
When Western sophomore Ali
Kirby and her friends decided to
cover Indian Street signs
around campus with makeshift
paper signs reading "Native
American Street," they had no
idea it would catch the attention
of. Bellingham human rights
activists.
"We did it because we thought
it would be funny," Kirby said. 'T
really doubt Indian Street was
intended to be a derogatory
name."
The sign alterations have
been part of many attempts to
rename streets, mountains and
creeks in the area, Whatcom
Human Rights Task Force
chairwoman Lisa Fox said.
People have complained about
Indian Street in the past, but
this is the first time she recalls
anything being done to alter the
sign, she said.
Fox said she and other human
rights activists in the state are
fighting to rename Squaw Bay in
the San Juan Islands and Squaw
Creek in Eastern Washington
because^many American Indians
See STREET, Page 4
UP increases seatbelt enforcement
BY ANNIE BILLINGTON
Western junior Alyssa
Jennings was injured in a car
accident in 1999. She said she
had her seatbelt on and only
suffered from internal bruising
after she collided with the
steering wheel.
"I went straight through the
intersection, and this guy T-boned
me," Jennings said. "If I
was not wearing a seatbelt, I
would have been thrown
through the windshield or hit
the windshield and had major
head trauma."
Washington has the highest
rate of seatbelt use in the nation..
Ninety-three percent of Wash­ington
drivers and passengers
regularly wear seatbelts, accord­ing
to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Achriinistration.
The Washington State Traffic
Commission approached Univ­ersity
Police with a grant that
will allow officers to implement
seatbelt and drunken driving
enforcement, effective Nov. 18,
2002 through Jan. 1, 2003.
College campuses across the
state have been encouraged to
participate in the enforcement
grant because statistics show
that young adults are at high
risk for traffic accidents, UP
Sgt. Connie Satter said.
The $3,000 grant will pay for
80 hours of overtime for UP offi­cers
to ticket drunk drivers and
motorists not wearing seatbelts
around Western's campus,
Satter said.
The grant is part of the "Click
It or Ticket" campaign that
began in Washington in May,
Satter said. The campaign made
seatbelt use a "primary" law in
Washington, allowing officers to
pull over motorists for the sole
reason of not wearing a seatbelt,
she said.
According to the National
Highway Traffic Safety Admin­istration,
young, novice drivers
have low seatbelt use and high
crash rates.
UP issued 22 tickets for failure
See SEATBELT, Page 4
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