Western Front - 2003 March 4

              Playing for pride
Western battles Central for rivalry
bragging rights on Wednesday.
See Story, Page 9.
Interactive smoking
Web site created to advocate
smokers' rights on campus.
See Story, Page 7.
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 124 Issue 14 Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham residents protest Iraq war
Global mictions
focd Reactions
By Keith Boiling
THE WESTERN FRONT
Although the act of war is not
productive, rebuilding from the
aftermath of armed combat can
solve problems, Bellingham res­ident
Bob Luitweiki, 84, said.
He was one of the 250 anti­war
supporters gathered Friday
at the weekly Whatcom Peace
Vigil outside the Federal
Building at the intersection of
Cornwall Avenue and West
Magnolia Street to protest the
potential war with Iraq.
This intersection has been the
location of protests since 1967
when Bellingham residents
Rosemary and Howard Harris
began using the location for silent
vigils to protest the Vietnam War.
Howard Harris still regularly
attends the Friday night vigils,
said Jamie K Donaldson, coordi­nator
of the Whatcom Peace and
Justice Center.
Since Sept. 11, local residents
take to the intersection for
weekly peace vigils. The num-
"bef-of people attending the vig­ils
has been rising, and the
crowd on Friday was one of the
largest turnouts in years,
Donaldson said.
X_"People got over their fears
and have come out in record
numbers to voice their opinions,"
Donaldson said.
Many of the protesters said
they have been coming to the
Peace Vigils for years and are
very adamant about solving con­flicts
with nonviolent solutions.
Luitweiki, who was imprisoned
for two years after refusing to
serve in World War II, said he
believes the United States has no
reason.to fight a war with Iraq.
"The First World War was to
end all wars, the Second World
War was to save democracy,"
Luitweiki said. "But I don't
know what the slogan will be for
this war, maybe 'Keep our cars
running.'"
Approximately 50 Western
students and faculty attended
the protest.
"(Protesting) is partially a
right, but it's also a civil duty to
come out and show your: sup­port,"
Western senior Melissa
Whitman said. "More people
shguld get put and express their •
beliefs and stop being so"* a p a ^
thetic. I think people are ^sthT
unaware of what is going oil a t '
the global level."
Even the young protesters did
not support President Bush's
policy on war.
"I just don't like fighting,"
Max Evans, 6, said. "I think we
should go to the president and
say 'No war."' •_
See PROTEST, Page 4
Keith Boiling/The Western Front
Bellingham resident Anna Evans holds her daughter Lucy
Evans, 4, at the weekly Whatcom Peace Vigil on Friday. A crowd
of 250 people gathered last week at the Federal Building.
Standoff near
1-5 ends with
man's arrest
By Abiah Weaver
THE WESTERN FRONT
A three-hour standoff ended
last night when the Whatcom
County Sheriff's Department
apprehended a man suspected of
shooting at a deputy earlier, in
the afternoon just off Interstate
5 near South Lake Samish.
Ronald Hannan, a 64-year-old
Bellingham resident, surrendered
hours after allegedly firing a
handgun at an officer investigat­ing
a damaged motor home at
approximately 3 p.m., said Jeff
Parks, Whatcom County Sheriff's
Department chief. The deputy
was not harmed by the gunfire.
"The deputy heard shots and
saw branches moving," Parks
said. "The suspect then retreat­ed
to his residence. We tried to
get in contact with him, but he
was on the phone with a relative
for a long time."
I ; ^ e p u t ^
hehd Hannah".vwhien.he ?left his
residence on Pacific Highway
later in the evening, but when he
refused to cooperate, they barri­caded
Nulle Road, east of 1-5 near
Exit 242.
After Hannan drove over the
tire spikes, Parks said Hannan
See ARREST, Page 3
Bush's proposed budget polarizes debate of political parties
^usA
^ E c o n o m i c
P o l i c y
By Krystal Ann Miller
THE WESTERN FRONT
President Bush recently
unveiled a new budget propos­ing
more than $1 trillion in tax
cuts at the risk of enlarging the
deficit and cutting funding to
several domestic programs.
One of the areas affected by the
new budget is local law enforce­ment.
Democrats and republicans
are split on the new budget's long-and
short-term effects.
Keeping the streets safe
Lt. Craige Ambrose of the
Bellingham Police Department
said some cities, including
Bellingham, may no longer
receive Community Oriented
Policing Services grants. COPS
grants, which the Clinton
administration started in 1995,
were used to fund specific pro­grams
for police departments
and to recruit and train new
police officers for up to three
years. COPS grants were also
used to fund programs that
place officers on bikes and in
schools.
"We have some officers tied
into the COPS grants," Ambrose
said. "But that doesn't mean
that the officers will go away
when the grant is up."
Ambrose said the BPD will
keep the same number of offi­cers,
but other police depart­ments
around the nation could
be preparing for layoffs.
He also said the BPD treated
the COPS grants as temporary
funding, giving the government
time .to prepare to take over the
costs of employing the new offi­cers
when the grant expired.
"Hopefully departments out
there did not put themselves in
the position where they would
experience big losses," he said.
Political consequences
The tax cuts proposed in the
$2.23 trillion budget would
increase the projected $199 bil­lion
deficit to more than $300
billion. When the federal gov­ernment
spends more money
than it generates through tax
revenue and is then funded by
borrowing from financial mar­kets,
it creates a deficit.
Western economics professor
Julie Hansen said a deficit does
not necessarily bring disaster
for the country's economy.
"Deficits may be a good thing
if it's part of an economic recov­ery,"
Hansen said. "By increas­ing
government spending and/or
decreasing taxes, it's a means of
stimulating the economy."
Within the new budget, Bush
has ordered income tax cuts
with a focus on a plan to end
See BUDGET, Page 4
Sodexho sales tax higher than competing stores
Keith Boiling/The Western Front
Western senior and student manager
Jessica Chudek gives change to a
customer in the Viking Union last month.
By Sarah Loehndorf
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western students, faculty and staff
pay more for food in campus stores than
they would in local grocery stores
because of Sodexho's sales tax policy.
Any business that sells food is
required to differentiate between items
sold in its store with sales tax when it
reports its profits to the state, accord­ing
to Washington Administrative
Code. If a business chooses not to sepa­rate
the costs, it is required to charge
the 8.2 percent sales tax on all items.
Sodexho has chosen to charge sales tax
on all food items bought with cash in
its retail stores on campus.
"They're not breaking any laws," said
Mike Gowrylow, communications man­ager
for the Washington State
Department of Revenue. "It means that
people who shop at on-campus stores
will be paying sales tax on items that
they wouldn't be if they bought it off
campus."
. Nori Yamashita, general manager of
Western Dining Services, said the. way
he interprets the tax code, Sodexho is
required to charge sales tax oft all cash
sales of food items.
Tve been here for 14 years, and we
have always collected tax on all cash retail
items," Yamashita said. "We are looking at
the tax code to see how it applies-to what
we do on campus. There is some vague­ness
that we need to clear up."
Gowrylow said Washington voters
passed an initiative in the '70s that
exempted food from sales tax. Taxable
food includes carbonated beverages, bot­tled
water and food that is prepared with
a food handler's permit, such as sub
sandwiches. Most food on the shelves of
grocery stores is not taxed.
"On the face, this is fairly unusual
because more businesses segregate sales
between items subject to sales tax,"
Gowrylow said. "They charge when they
should and don't charge when they
See TAXES, Page 4
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