Western Front - 2003 October 7

              Radios go
back in
time.
CONFLICT IN IRAQ
In-depth look at the pros and
cons of the conflict in Iraq.
Features, Page 7 Opinions, Page 15
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
YOURS
Grandma's letters
home dispel myths.
Features, Page 8
ISSUE 5
VOLUME 127
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The Western Front TUESDAY
OCT. 7,2003
Record crowd watches loss
Victory eludes
Western again
as errors prove
costly against
Central
After squandering a 14-7 lead
late in the first half, the Vikings
coughed up the ball several times
and lost to the Central
Washington University Wildcats
Saturday at Seahawks Stadium.
Western senior quarterback Josh
s S h i m e k
Full Coverage: threw four
Game coverage i n t e r c e p -
, . _, _ tions, one of
begins on Page which was
10 in Sports. returned for
a touch-
~ ' down, in the
Vikings'29-20 loss.
Western's offense outgained
Central and the Viking defense
held the Wildcats in check for
much of the game.
Mistakes on offense and spe­cial
teams proved to be too much
for the Vikings to overcome in
front of a Washington small-col­lege
record crowd of 16392.
v •''•' '''•'- .'-.."•..••:• ;';-Jqs^AFEJERAN/THE:WESTERN .FRONT
Western senior middle linebacker Lann Olson (33) stuffs Central junior running back Emilio Iniguez
short of the goal line early in the Vikings' 29-20 loss Saturday at Seahawks Stadium in Seattle.
Voters to decide on Medic One levy
BY ROB MORRELL
The Western Front
When Whatcom County vot­ers
head to the polls Nov. 4, one
of the important decisions they
will make will be whether to
support the emergency medical
service levy.
If passed, the levy would
secure six years of funding for
Whatcom Medic One, a county-wide
emergency response pro­gram,
and provide money for
activating a fifth ambulance. If
the levy fails, the Bellingham
City Council will be forced to
fund the program through gen­eral
funds.
"If the levy doesn't pass, we
will.have to cut more city jobs,"
Bellingham Mayor Mark
Asmundson said.
The levy would impose a prop­erty
tax of 38.5 cents on every
$1,000 of assessed property value.
The owner of a $175,000 home
would see his or her annual prop­erty
taxes increase by $67.37.
The levy is projected to gener­ate
$5.4 million for the county in
the first year, according to fig­ures
from Marvin Wayne, direc­tor
of Emergency Medical
Services for Bellingham and
Whatcom County.
At an Oct. 1 public forum,
Bellingham resident and
Committee of Public Safety
member Nick Kaiser argued that
the levy was unnecessary and
Medic One was over-funded and
inefficient.
"This is an exceedingly large
tax increase to fund what is
SEE EMS, PAGE 3
ROB MORRELL/THE WESTERN FRONT
Bellingham Fire Department Cpt. Rob Stevenson says the success
of the EMS levy is imperative for him and his coworkers.
Ferndale
athlete
had prior
injuries
B Y JENNY ZUVELA
The Western Front .
Ferndale High School football
player Josh Richard said he may
have had a concussion before he
suffered a serious head injury in
a game Sept. 26.
He underwent emergency
surgery that night to remove a
blood clot, said Tim Richard, his
father and Ferndale's assistant
football coach.
"I thought I might have had a
small concussion," said Richard,
a 6-foot-l-inch, 190 pound tight
end and outside linebacker. "I
don't know if it transferred (to
the Sept. 26 game)."
His father confirmed that his
son had a. headache that would
not go away.
During a game one week ear­lier,
Richard was injured on a
play. Tim Richard said his son
had a large bruise on his leg
after that game.
"The thing we were worried
about was his leg," Tim Richard
said. "He was working with the
trainer daily."
Richard said he had a
headache the morning following
the Sept. 19 game against
Heritage High School. He took
Tylenol and mentioned the pain
to his father and the team's
trainer, he said.
"He had no other signs of a
concussion," Tim Richard said. "If
we would have thought he had a
concussion, he wouldn't have
played. We definitely sit those
kids out and make sure they have
a doctor's approval to play."
Andrew Goss, Ferndale High
School's head athletic trainer, said
he evaluated Richard for a concus­sion
the Monday after the game
when Richard mentioned he had a
headache. He saw no other signs
of a concussion, Goss said.
SEE Injured, PAGE 3
Viking fans support
losing cause in
Seattle.
Sports, Page 11
Woodring College
undergoes
restructuring.
News, Page 6
McNeil Island offers solace for offenders
'JOINING
SOCIETY
BY RACHEL FOMON
The Western Front
Sex offenders on McNeil Island may never be
able to go to shopping, visit family or take a walk
by themselves again for the rest of their lives.
The island, which is across the water from
Steilacoom, 13 miles south west of Tacoma, is
4,400 acres and accessible only by boat or heli­copter.
Among the facility's population are five
of the most dangerous male sex offenders from
Whatcom County.
"They are the most violent sexual predators in
the state," said Corrina McElfish, public informa­tion
officer at McNeil Island.
Three different facilities exist on McNeil
Island. The McNeil Island Corrections Center
houses 1,100 medium- and long-term mini­mum
custody inmates. The Special
Commitment Center is located inside the
prison walls, and the Secure Community
Transition Facility is located two miles away,
said Steve Williams, spokesman for the
SEE Health, PAGE 6
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