Western Front - 2003 February 21

              Vikes outshoot Wolves
Burrell scores a career-high 26 to
keep Vikings in playoff race.
See S t o r y , P a g e 11.
Powerful percussion
Yeke Yeke performs African
drumming at the Wild Buffalo
See Story, P a g e 8.
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 124 Issue 11 Bellingham, Washington
Changing the face of abstinence
Wslxs *
'Reproductive
Health Policy
By Abiah Weaver
THE WESTERN FRONT
Remaining a virgin is no
longer a social taboo, said
Carol Thomas, executive
director of the Whatcom
County Pregnancy Center.
An emerging social trend
shows that a significant number
of people are choosing to remain
abstinent after high school as a
result of abstinence-based sexu­al
health education, she said.
"Two trends are simultaneous­ly
emerging," Thomas said.
"One, there are more people
remaining virgins,. making the
choice to abstain from sexual
intercourse until marriage. And
there are a growing number of
people who have had sex- that
are choosing to start over and
become secondary virgins."
Thomas said the political
support of abstinence has dra­matically
influenced the num­ber
of people choosing the
lifestyle.
Just months after taking
office, President Bush increased
funding of sexual health educa­tion
programs teaching absti­nence
as the only method to pre­vent
unwanted pregnancies and
sexually transmitted diseases.
Bush allocated $33 million in
additional funding this year,
. bringing the total to $135 mil­lion
for abstinence-only educa­tion
as opposed to comprehen­sive
sexual education.
"Comprehensive sex education
sounds like a good thing,"
Thomas said. "But when you
actually break it down and tell
parents what their children are
being exposed to, most "parents
reject it."
The Bush administration dis­approves
of the traditional sexu­al
education, which includes
lessons on preventing pregnancy
and sexually transmitted dis­eases
by using condoms and
birth control, said Emily Gibson,
Western's director of medical
services.
According to a study conduct­ed
by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
released in September 2002, the
number of high school students
abstaining from, sexual > i n t e r ­course
rose by approximately 16
percent bfet#een 1991 and 2001.
In 1991, approximately 51 per­cent
of female high school stu­dents
had engaged in sexual
intercourse. In 2001, the number
fell to approximately 43 percent.
The study showed a similar
decline in male high school-stu­dents'
sexual activity.
College campuses nationwide
See SEX, Page 6
Helen HoUister/The Western Front
Western seniors Kyle and Jessica Winter sing worship songs
in their living room. Although they were sexually active in
high school, they later chose to remain abstinent until their
marriage, as a commitment to their Christian faith.
Post-recession
economy still
yields few jobs
By Joe Mack
THE WESTERN FRONT
Although the economic reces­sion
ended in 2002, many
Western graduates can expect
job-search difficulties to continue,
said Hart Hodges, director of the
Center for Economic and
Business Research.
"Usually after a recession
comes job growth," Hodges said,
"but here, there is very, very lit­tle,
meaning it's a tough job
market."
Hodges described the recovery
period as "the jobless recovery"
and said graduates with high-tech
and engineering degrees
may find employment opportuni­ties
scarcer because manufactur­ing
industries were hit especial­ly
hard during the recession.
"What's unusual is (recession)
usually hits blue-collar and part-time
workers hardest, but a lot of
",peo|>le that have been laid off are
well-educated," Hodges said.
Al Pollard, recruiting manager
for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, the
nation's highest recruiter of col­lege
graduates, said one reason
students have difficulty finding
jobs is because companies often
rehire more qualified people who
were let go during the recession.
See JOBS, Page 4
Shoplifting plagues Bellingham retailers, businesses
Thieves sell stolen goods
on reservations for drugs
ByAndyAley
THE WESTERN FRONT
A drug problem on the Lummi
Reservation is causing tribe members to
shoplift in Bellingham and sell the
stolen goods at discount prices to reser­vation
residents, said Gary James,
Lummi Island Police chief.
Witnesses have reported individuals
selling clothes, food and other stolen
items from the trunks of cars on' reserva­tions,
James said.
"It's connected to a drug problem plagu­ing
the community," he said. "It was
crack-cocaine, now it's illegal use of prer
scription drugs coming out of Canada."
Bellingham merchants filed 927
shoplifting reports in 2002 and 925 in
2001, said Lt. Craige Ambrose of the
Bellingham Police Department.
Shoplifting is a gross misdemeanor and
punishable by up to a year in jail and a.
$1,000 fine if the merchandise taken is
worth less than $250, he said.
Prosecutors can charge professional
or repeat shoplifters with a class B
felony, said Mae Setter, Whatcom
County chief criminal deputy. prosecu­tor..
Stores can also file civil charges and
recover damages up to $1,000.
Shoplifting costs Washington merchants
$60 million per year, according to
Washington Crime Prevention
Association documents.
James said many people on the reserva­tion
steal because the reward is greater
than the risk. Tribal authorities prosecute
tribe members caught selling stolen mer­chandise,
even if it was stolen from
Bellingham, Setter said.
Individuals prosecuted on the reserva-^
tion for shoplifting face a fine and up to a
year in jail if convicted, but usually the
consequences amount to a slap on the
wrist, James said.
James said Lummi police have a'difficult
See THEFT, Page 4
AS reinvents the Bigfoot's Bistro
Annie Johnson/The Western Front
Western senior Mike O'Donnell plays pool in Bigfoot's Bistro.
O'Donnell said he plays pool in the bistro almost every day.
By Annie Johnson
THE WESTERN FRONT
The Underground Coffeehouse
Series has been nomadic since
1994, housing shows in any avail­able
space, which usually is the
Viking Union multipurpose
room. Beginning next quarter,
however, it will have a permar
nent home on the third floor of
theVU.
The Associated Students and
the VU decided to close
Bigfoot's Bistro and reopen it
as the new Underground
Coffeehouse. The taskforce
decided to convert the bistro
into the coffeehouse because
the bistro was losing money.
Russo said the bistro survives
on a $10,000 subsidy from the
VU, but yearly operation costs
nearly $14,000.
Beginning next quarter AS
Productions and the ASP
Underground Coffeehouse will
have an open microphone night
and two nights of live music
each week.
"It will be similar to Stuart's
(Coffeehouse)," said Tony
Russo, AS vice president for
business and operations. "A cof­feehouse
by day, open mic and
acoustic music by night."
The AS Activities Council,
interim VU Director Kay Rich
and Jim Schuster, VU Associate
Director of Operations, approved
the change.
"(The change) will pay for
itself," Rich said. "We'd like to
cover costs."
With the new name comes a
face-lift. The bistro will close
during the week of March 10
and reopen the first week of
spring quarter. All but one of
the five pool tables will be gone,
replaced with comfortable
couches and more friendly seat-ing,
Russo said.
See BISTRO, Page 4
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