Western Front - 2003 July 15

              Treasures in the bay
Birch Bay offers visitors summer
activities outside of Bellingham
See Story, Page 6.
Bocce bonanza
Bellingham residents revive
ancient game.
See Story, Page 9.
TUESDAY, July 15, 2003 The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 126 Issue 4 Bellingham, Washington
Whatcom County
to reap benefits
of 2010 Winter
Olympic games
By Sean Monahan
THE WESTERN FRONT
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games in
Vancouver, B.C., will bring economic ben­efits
to Whatcom County. Regional hotels,
motels, gas stations and restaurants
stand to gain the most from the Olympic
Games, said Pat Rowe, operations direc­tor
for the Bellingham-Whatcom Chamber
of Commerce.
The International Olympic Committee
selected Vancouver as the home of the 2010
Winter Olympics July 2.
Gov. Gary Locke expressed his support
for Canada's successful Olympic bid in a
July 2 press release.
"The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in
Vancouver will allow us to build on a suc­cessful
targeted industry to improve the eco­nomic
health of Washington state and the
region," Locke said in the release. "Working
with our tourism partners, we expect to fur­ther
expand our already strong tourism
industry, which accounts for some1 157,000
jobs and $11 billion in annual revenue."
John Kooper, President of the
Bellingham-Whatcom County Convention
& Visitors Bureau, said it is too early to
estimate how the Winter Olympics will eco­nomically
benefit the region.
"We are now in the stages of gathering
that information," Kooper said.
Kooper said Idaho gained more than
$100 million in economic benefits from Salt
Lake City during the 2002 Winter
Olympics. He said he would look at other
examples, such as the impacts on Montana
during the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
Bellingham City Councilman Grant
Deger emphasized the cooperation between
Bellingham and Vancouver. He said
Bellingham city officials will be working to
keep the border crossing free from gridlock.
Hart Hodges, interim director of
Western's Center for Economics and
Business Research, said data has yet to be
collected concerning the economic bene­fits.
He said the Olympics will have a
See ECONOMY, Page 4
Alleged terrorist charged in court
By Joni Schiffner
THE WESTERN FRONT.
A Federal Grand Jury indicted
Western freshman Paul Douglas Revak
Wednesday on one count of solicitation
to commit a crime of violence and one
count of threatening to use weapons of
mass destruction.
Federal officials arrested Revak June
10 for threatening to bomb the U.S.
Coast Guard station and National Army
Guard facility located at Cherry Point in
Bellingham according %o an FBI press
release.
The U.S. District Court of Western
Washington in Seattle alleged Revak
intended to commit physical force
against a person and property, which was
in direct violation of the law.
Revak tried to recruit another Western
student, who eventually turned him in to
the FBI. The student told the FBI that
Revak was planning a 'revolution'
against the U.S. government. Revak
referred to Osama Bin Ladin, Saddam
Hussein and the boogeyman, declaring
that the government should worry about
him, the student said.
Court documents stated Revak know­ingly
threatened to use a bomb that
would have interrupted foreign trade and
directly affected the interstate property
owned by the United States.
Revak described his plans to an under­cover
FBI agent to bomb the facilities
and inquired how to obtain C-4 explo­sives
and hand grenades. The agent con­tacted
Revak after the student had
reported him to the FBI.
Court documents stated Revak was
arrested while leaving a Bellingham Fred
Meyer's after purchasing a pellet gun.
Revak's parents chose not to com­ment.
The attorneys involved in trying
the case were not immediately available
for comment. FBI officials were also not
available for comment.
Relay raises funds to fight cancer
Natasha Joyner/The Western Front
Bellingham resident Char Malseed, a cancer survivor,
reaches for her own luminary bag at the 16th annual Relay
For Life Saturday afternoon downtown. "It's amazing you
have so many people in common," Malseed said.
Malseed's team, Wildwood Rose Floral, raised $2,000.
By Natasha Joyner
THE WESTERN FRONT
With the sun beaming,
people roaring and music
resonating from the rooftop
of the library building, a
crowd of cancer survivors
wearing purple shirts filled
-the- street--in-- front of
Bellingham City Hall for
the opening ceremony of
the 16th annual Relay For
Life by taking the first lap.
More than 1,500
Whatcom County residents
participated Friday
evening in the American
Cancer Society's signature
annual fund-raising event
downtown.
Seventy-eight teams,
some with as many as 30
members, participated in
the relay. One member
from each team was
required to circle the block
during the 20 hours of the
relay.
"We are doing this to
carry on the tradition of
our family," said Ann-
Marie Wilkerson, a mem­ber
of team Zender and
Friends.
The event raised approx­imately
$221,000 for the
fight against cancer. The
Zender and Friends team
raised the most money for
the event, totaling more
than $12,000. A dinner,
dance and auction earned
the team most of its money.
Second place went to the
team Already Winners, at
just more than $10,000.
Comprised of only sur­vivors,
the team has partic­ipated
in the relay since it
began in Bellingham in
1987.
"Those of us that do par­ticipate
realize how many
people at Western cancer
has affected," said Maggie
Barklind, WWU Spirit
team captain and
Extended Education and
Summer Programs faculty
member. 'That's why we're.
doing this: We are all
touched by people who
have either survived or
died from cancer."
WWU Spirit team mem­bers
raised more than
$3,000 for the fund-raising
campaign.
When colorectal surgeon
Dr. Gordon Klatt ran the
• See RELAY, Page 4
Team of teachers on campus to write science portion of WASL test
By Katie Grimes
THE WESTERN FRONT
Toy cars and bubble gum took over
Western's Science Lecture building last
week when Science Assessment
Specialist Roy Beven and his team
moved in to begin testing a pilot fifth
grade science exam for the Washington
Assessment of Student Learning, bet­ter
known as the WASL test.
"All we are really doing is to see if
kids can make sense of our goofy ques­tions,"
Beven said.
A group of more than 20 educators
from around the country gathered for a
week starting July 7, to write and test
exam scenarios, troubleshoot wording
and brainstorm ways to improve the
test. Since many of the scenarios given
in the exam contain data from every­day
items such as toys and chewing
gum, it was up to Beven's team to test
these items, he said.
"We really get to do the fun stuff,"
Beven said. "Somebody has to test it."
Besides applying items kids are
familiar with to test questions, the dif­ference
between this test and past stan­dardized
science exams is that multiple
choice questions are not the only form
of answer, Beven said. Along with the
traditional "A" through "C" options, stu­dents
will also be asked to explain their
See TEST, Page 4
Katie Grimes/
The Western Front
WASL authors
Brett Oodd, far left,
Dean Sullivan and
Kathy McDaniel
discuss test sce­narios
during a
meeting in the
Science Lecture
Hall. Groups of
science educators
gathered at
Western to write
exam questions for
the fifth grade ver­sion
of the WASL.
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