Western Front - 2003 October 31

              DRESSED FOR SUC
Intramural football team uses
outrageous costumes to
# psyche-out opponents.
Sports, Page 9
SPOOKS AND SOUNDS
Local bars and organizations
celebrate Halloween with
live music, contests and dances.
Accent* Page7 "',"/•'.
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington • — '•— • , ,
ISSUE 12
VOLUME 127
FRIDAY
OCT. 31, 2003
• Businesses finance mayoral election
BY ROB MORRELL
The Western Front
Bellingham residents have until Nov. 4
to make their decision in the mayoral
^ election, but large businesses and spe-
^ cial-interest groups already have cast
their votes through campaign donations.
"We gave money to Brett Bonner
because we're frustrated with the
bureaucracy and arrogant attitude at
City Hall," Jacaranda Corp. Owner Ken
^ hnus said.
Jacaranda is a real estate company with
major holdings in the Bellingham area.
According to Public Disclosure
Commission documents, during this
year's campaign, Mayor Mark
Asmundson received $42,297 compared
to Bonner's $54,427.
Bonner's campaign attracted heavy
support from real estate groups.
According to PDC records, Jacaranda
donated $7,000 and the Washington
Association of Realtors gave his cam­paign
$5,000.
Bonner said he credits his popularity
among real estate groups to his plans for
economic revitalization in Bellingham.
He said those who gave to his cam­paign
support his plan to encourage
small-business growth and stimulate
the job market in Bellingham.
"Donors give money because they
believe in people," Bonner said.
•" Asmundson, on the other hand, has
received support from construction
companies, several of which have, in the
past, received contracts to do city work.
SEE Money, PAGE 4
City aims to restore creek salmon
B Y PORFIRIO PENA
The Western Front
As spawning season begins,
many Bellingham residents will
spend their weekends at local parks
to see thousands of salmon swim­ming
upstream, continuing the life
cycle of the species.
Earlier this week, the City of
Bellingham launched the Salmon
Watchers program in collaboration:
— with- -the Nooksak Salmon
Enhancement ""Project- and the
Washington Conservation f^rps, a
volunteer group organized through
the Washington State Department of
Ecology.
By educating the public oh ways to
approach the salmon without dis­turbing
them, the program helps pre­serve
the salmon-spawning habitats.
"A lot of people don't know about
proper viewing procedures," NSEP
Executive Director Wendy Sherrer
said. "During this time of year,
salmon are pretty territorial."
When people wade in the streams
and allow their dogs to swim in the
water, they interfere with the salmon
spawning habitats, crushing their
eggs and frightening them away, she
said.
"If people disturb the salmon,
they keep them from spawning and
reduce the chance of them returning
to the same stream the next year,"
said Renee LaCroix, environmental
coordinator for the City of
Bellingham.
Corps Crew Supervisor Michael
Koenen said when he saw the fish on SHARA B. SMITH/THE WESTERN FRONT
the fish ladder for the first time, he \ group of fishermen cast their lines in Whatcom Creek at Maritime Heritage Center
realized he wanted to start working hoping to catch salmon as they swim upstream. Each year, thousands of salmon
to help the salmon. return to Whatcom Creek to spawn. The Salmon Watchers program teaches
SEE Salmon, PAGE 4 Bellingham residents how to respect spawning salmon by avoiding contact with fish.
Daughter of U.S.
presidential
candidate visits
B Y MATT BUCHER
The Western Front
Vanessa Kerry said her father, Massachusetts
Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful John
Kerry, had two words for her when she decided to
take time off from Harvard Medical School to tour
the country and promote his campaign: "no way."
"He tried to talk me out of quitting school," she
said. "But I had read my dad's policies, and I just
told him, 'i think you're the best candidate.' "
Kerry spoke Thursday at Western as part of her
father's nationwide campus tour.
While Kerry admitted she shied away from poli­tics
in the past because of hex father's legacy, she
said the Bush administration's actions during the
past three years compelled her to speak out.
"What's happened hasn't made us safer; it hasn't
helped the environment; and the economy isn't any
better," she said. "What's happening now Will be
doing damage well into the future."
Kerry said her father voted for the resolution that
led to the U.S. military action in Iraq, a common criti­cism
by his opponents. She: cpntended;rhowever, that
the resolution said the United States would try every
diplomatic solution before waging war.
"He did not support Bush 'm the way he went to
war," she said. "He met with people at the (United
Nations) and pushed the president to continue
diplomacy."
Kerry said a concrete, workable plan is needed in
Ira'q. She said her father would not send any more
troops to Iraq, but at this point, he thinks the United
States needs to stay in contrdl of security while a
true Iraqi government is put into power.
The conflict in Iraq developed because of the
United States' dependence on oil, Kerry said, and
that dependence On oil is airiajor factor in the degra­dation
of the environment. ' •.'
'£Fhe environment is one] of my father's biggest
issues," she said. "Renewable energy and working
toward independence from oil are two of his main
goals."
Kerry said her father would like to develop a
hydrogen-based economy for the future. She said
hydrogen cars' — such as those proposed by
President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union
Address — could lead to clean energy and less
dependence on foreign oil.
Vehicle Research Institute director Michael Seal
said dependence on hydrogen energy is not the best
option because energy must be used in order to make
clean energy. He said hybrid cars, such as those made
at the VRI, are the best answer at this time.
"(Hybrid cars are) the short-term answer," he
said. "The Japanese have figured that out and are
SEE Election, PAGE 4
Xjp.pront
Community honors
victims of domestic
violence.
News, Page 3
College Republicans
travel to California
for conference.
News, Page 3
Wes^roFi"bii£
www. westefhf ronton] ine.com ^
Gas theft decrease may not last
B Y RACHEL FOMON
The Western Front
Although gas thefts are not a
current problem in the commu­nity,
they may increase this
spring.
Gas thefts tend to rise through­out
the nation when the price of
gas increases and people become
angry, said Jeff Lenard, director-of
communications for the
National " Association of
Convenience Stores.
Gas prices tend to increase
approximately 25 cents to 35
cents in the spring as gas com­panies
switch to more expensive
summer-blend fuels, Lenard
said.
"Guaranteed, this spring,
when prices go up again, so will
the amount of gas thefts,"
Lenard said.
SEE Gas, PAGE 4
RACHEL
FOMON/
THE
WESTERN
FRONT
Western
a 1 u m
D r e w
Wilkens
pre-pays
for gas.