Western Front - 2003 May 30

              Huffing gas
'Cow rock' band Gas Huffer still
kicks at the 3B Tavern.
See Story, Page 6.
Freshman phenom
Tim Feenstra successful in first
season as a Viking.
See Story, Page 12.
FRIDAY, May 305 2003 The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 125 Issue 16 Bellingham, Washington
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On-campus
parking rates
may increase
By Abiah Weaver
THE WESTERN FRONT
To offset Western's unpredictable and
increasing transportation costs and to fund
future projects,. faculty, staff and students
may have to adjust to an increase in parking
permit rates next year, said Dale Monroe,
chairman of the Transportation Plarining
Initiatives Task Force.
Members of the
task force gathered:
Thursday for a pub-he
forum to answer
questions and hear
the concerns of
Western faculty,
staff and students
about proposed rate
increases scheduled
to begin fall 2003.
"The rates are
proposed to go up a
minimum of 27 per­cent
within the next
two years," said
Cathy Cameron, fis­cal
officer of busi­ness
and financial affairs. "The rates will
increase 3 percent each year after that
according to the plan."
The Transportation Business Plan pro­posed
by the task force suggests a 10 to 15
percent increase next year for permits to
park in G, R, C and 12A lots, resulting in a
$5 to $9 increase per quarter. Carpool and
vanpool permits will increase between 46 to
100 percent next fall, according to the plan.
The carpool permit requires two or more
registered students or employees to use the
same vehicle and currently costs $45 per
quarter for employees and $41 per quarter
for students. The proposed increase would
raise the cost to $66 per quarter for employ­ees
and $61 per quarter for students.
Vanpool permits currently cost $33 per
quarter but will cost $66 if the proposed plan
is approved by the President's Council next
month.
"The (Parking Fees Issues) committee's
logic was that the number of people in the
vehicle is more, and if you charge them
the same as a commuter then they are
See PARKING, Page 3
Fight erupts at speaker protest
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County official assaults
Western sophomore
By Tara Nelson
THE WESTERN FRONT
Two Bellingham residents assaulted
two Western students last Friday at the
Mount Baker Theatre while the students
protested a lecture by right-wing author
and conservative icon Ann Coulter.
Coulter, a former columnist for
National Review Online and author of
the book "Slander: Liberal Lies About the
American Right," was invited to speak at
the theater as part of a fund-raising
event for the. Whatcom County
Affordable Housing Council, a business
lobby group for the county's Building
Industry Association.
Coulter was greeted by 80 to 100 peo­ple
gathered in front of the theater,
banging on homemade drums with
sticks and shouting "boo" and "shame on
you bigots."
Scott Allen Hume, 31, Bellingham res­ident
and vice chairman of the Whatcom
County Chamber of Commerce board of
directors, walked through the crowd on
his way into the theater, a group of
approximately five people held signs and
heckled him. Hume then turned and
punched nearby Western sophomore
Trey Avery in the face and pushed
another man whose identity is not known.
Bellingham Police arrested Hume on
suspicion of fourth-degree assault, Lt.
Craige Ambrose said.
Avery said, however, not all of the the­ater
patrons reacted negatively to the
protest.
"I had several conversations with
Tara Nelson /The Western Front
Whatcom County official Scott Allen Hume, 31, of Bellingham, left, draws a
reaction from the crowd after punching Western sophomore Trey Avery, rear,
left, in the face. Hume was arrested on suspicion of fourth-degree assault.
people who were going in and most of
them were very receptive," he said. "It
was a small minority who felt threat­ened
by our presence, and they
responded with violence."
Western sophomore Mary Beth Quinn
was videotaping the event when she said
she was pushed by a different man.
Quinn said the man approached her and
See THEATER, Page 4
Student technology fees to fund 14 projects
By Christine Roka
THE WESTERN FRONT
Mouth hairs of a bullet ant
appear similar to a field of
sharp-edged needles under the
500 x magnification of a scan­ning
electron microscope, a
$150,000 device Western is in
the process of purchasing.
Student technology fees and
foundation grants support the
purchase, according to the
Student Technology Fee
Committee's final recom­mended
project list.
"We support classroom
activities," Cancilla said.
"(Western) is going to get their
money's worth."
Out of 33 proposed projects,
the Student Technology Fee
Committee selected 14 to
implement, said Jerry Boles,
Western vice provost for infor­mation
and telecommunica­tions.
Another scientific
device, the gamma ray spec­troscope,
was also among the
• 14 technology fee projects.
John Rybczyk, of the Huxley
College of the Environment,
said the spectroscope is used to
chronologically date recent soil
or sediment layers. The device
is useful to students studying
materials by producing data
with relatively little effort,
providing answers that would
otherwise cost thousands,
Rybczyk said.
The outdated SEM micro­scope
Western currently houses
that Georgia Pacific donated is
equivalent to a computer from
the '80s, said Devon Cancilla,
Western director of Scientific
Technical Services.
The new SEM will have
state-of-the-art features
including online access to view
See FEE, Page 4
Broadcast club airs new late night talk, comedy show
Jordan Lindstrom/
The Western Front
Mons Lee, left,
and Nick
Jennes,
members of
Western Live's
house band
Liquidessence,
tune up before
the show.
By Jordan Lindstrom
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western senior and Western
Live co-host Paul Danke said
some things in life are impossi­ble
to picture until you have
seen them take place — such as
butt-jumping.
Stunt-performing world com­petition
jump ropers are one of
the acts the Western Television
Broadcasting Club featured on
its new late-night show
Western Live. Filmed at 8 p.m.
every Tuesday at the Hotel
Bellwether, the talk show
includes guest performers,
interesting people from the
Western community and audi­ence
interaction.
"It's a pretty free structure,"
Danke said. "We decided to do a
late night talk show mainly
because the format lends itself
to showcasing guests and enter­tainment."
Danke said one of the main
focuses of Western Live is to
relate the show to Western stu­dents
and make it entertaining.
"We write jokes relevant to
our age group, and we've had
students from (Western) clubs
and local musical guests,"
Danke said.
Western junior and Western
Live host Brent Ayres said the
show tries to incorporate peo­ple
from the area who might
be newsworthy but always
See TELEVISION, 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