Western Front - 2003 September 26

              ISSUE 2
VOLUME 127
SEEING BLUE
Dodger closer takes on
league for Cy Young award.
Sports, Page 9
OLD
BREWS
View old bars.
Accent, PageS
LOCAL BARS
Stumble around the
seven-day guide to the
Bellingham scene.
Accent, Page 6
SCORES
Seawolves 1
Vikings 2
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington ;—
The Western Front FRIDAY
SEPT. 26,2003
Revak pleads Daycare center to get grant aid
guilty to lesser
charges in
federal deal i
BY IAN ALEXANDER
The Western Front ^ ,/.
Former Western student Paul
Douglas Revak pleaded guilty to a less^-
er crime of attempted receipt of explo­sives
Sept. 19 in federal court in Seattle.
The plea bargain Revak accepted car­ries
a maximum sentence of 10 years,
although it is likely he will receive only
12 to 16 months, said Tim Lohrass,
Revak's assistant defense attorney.
"Both sides were in agreement that
this plea was appropriate to the conduct
committed," he said. "This is a lot more
appropriate charge for what the circum­stances
were."
Federal agents arrested Revak June
10 and indicted him for solicitation-of
another student to commit a crime arid
threats to use weapons of mass
destruction.
It is unlikely Revak will receive the'
maximum sentence because this is his
first offense, Assistant U.S. Attorney
Andrew Hamilton said.
Hamilton said Revak will not be able
to own weapons or break any laws as a
part of his supervised release; any vio­lations
could result in more jail
time. Hamilton also said Revak will
need to check in with a parole officer.
"If you go to trial and lose, you can
get eight to 10 years," Lohrass said.
"You always maintain your innocence
SEE Charges, PAGE 4
JUSTIN MCCAUGHAN/THE WESTERN FRONT
Carina Robinson helps her daughter, Sierra Robinson, with a piece of cake at the
Child Development Center. The center recently received a $7,000 grant.
$7,000 grant largest
in center's history
B Y JENNY ZUVELA
The Western Front
Western senior Martin Coonen juggles a dou­ble
major in biology and anthropology while
caring for his 21/2-year-old daughter.
This is his third year at Western and his first yeaf
sending his daughter to Western's Child
Development Center, a daycare facility located on
campus. Although he works part-time while going
to school, he says child care still is expensive.
"It's almost not worth working when you
have to pay for child care," Coonen said. "My
wife also works, and we have a lot of loans,
too."
Coonen is one of two students to receive a
child care grant at Western from the Norcliffe
Foundation, a private organization that donates
money to non-profit organizations in the Puget
Sound region.
The $7,000 donation — the center's largest
donation in 30 years — will fund child care for
Western students who are parents.
Goonen's daughter will attend child care 22
hours each week this quarter; the grant will
cover 10 hours.
"It will make it more affordable to have her in
child care," Coonen said. "When you have a
kid, whatever you can get helps."
Jules McLeland, director of the Child
Development Center, said 70 percent of the 57
children at the center have parents who are stu­dents.
The rest are children of faculty and staff.
"I would estimate that over half (of student-parents)
need financial aid," McLeland said.
. Financial aid comes from federal funds, private
SEE Aid, PAGE 4
Level III sex offender molests boy after seeking help
JOSHUA FEJERAN/ "* . they foundno victim.
THE WESTERN FRONT
Jimmy Johnson, a
homeless man from
Las Vegas, lives in
a makeshift camp
where Level III sex
offender Rory
Woodell lived until
he was arrested
last week after
molesting an 8-
year-old boy.
BYANNA.SOWA
The Western Front-
Nearly a month after Rory
Woodell cried wolf, Bellingham
Police allege that the registered
Level HI sex offender re-offended.
"(Woodell is charged with)
inappropriately touching a
young male in a house he was
staying at," Bellingham Police
Lt. Craige Ambrose said.
Police arrested Woodell Sept.
19 after he left the scene and
charged him with first-degree
child molestation.
City Prosecutor Royce
Buckingham said Woodell, 29,
is in custody at the Whatcom
County Jail ort $50,000 bail. A
judge will set a trial date at his
indictment today.
Woodell confessed Aug. 25
to the department of correc­tions
that he molested a 6-
year-old boy, Ambrose said.
Police investigated the claim
Sept. 11 and determined the
confession to be false when
Williams College psychology
professor Saul Kassin, said a
false confession may still be a
sign of guilt.
"Sometimes the goal is to
protect a friend or relative,"
Kassin wrote in his 1991
research study, "Confessions:
Psychological and Forensic
Aspects." "Other possible
motives include a pathological
SEE Deviant, PAGE 4
np»Front
Western considers
using online match­making
service for
dorm roommates.
News, Page 3
Columnist dismisses
claims of true tragedy
Sept. 11 shifts attention
away from atrocities.
Opinions, Page 10
$12 million grant to benefit state schools
B Y SARAH A. FREEMAN
The Western Front
Western's science department received a $12 million
grant to. implement new science curricula, improve pro­grams
and encourage science education at all grade levels.
The North Cascades and Olympic Partnership will join
26 school districts and five higher education institutions
in Washington to share the money during the next five
years. Western is the lead partner and in charge of the
grant, according to the grant proposal.
"We put together a really powerful force," said
Stephanie Salzman, dean of Woodring College of
Education. "The grand vision is for not only Western's sci­ence
and education department to see benefits, but from
elementary school age through teachers themselves."
Participating schools will use the grant money to recruit
teachers in science education, redesign the curriculum and
provide professional development and opportunities for
current teachers, Salzman said. This is the largest grant
Western has ever received, she said.
Salzman said Western's Science department will offer new
general university requirements to the undergraduate and
graduate programs in the science department. Schools will
SEE Grant, PAGE 4