Western Front - 2003 October 17

              HOLE IN WON
Vikes drive Canadians
home in three-way match.
Sports, Page 12
TRAPPED
Bush should not
cage endangered
species*
Opinions, Page 13
ART FOR COUCH POTATOES
Exhibit pairs inflatable
furniture with local art.
Features, Page 8
SCORES
Redhawks 4
Vikings 2
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
ISSUE 8
VOLUME 127
FRIDAY
OCT.17, 2003
AS approves anti-Patriot Act measure
BY ANNA SOWA
The Western Front
In a recent vote, the Associated Students
expressed opposition to sections of the USA
Patriot Act they said violate student liberties.
Earlier this month, Western Freedom
Alliance President Brian Wokich asked the
AS board of directors to vote on his resolu­tion
opposing sections of the Patriot Act he
said endanger students' privacy and security.
Wokich finally won his battle when the AS
Board passed the resolution 4-2-1 on Tuesday.
"I think Western made a stand for liberty, and
that makes me happy," Wokich said. "It means
that if students get involved with student gov­ernment,
(things can be accomplished)."
Wokich said he began working on the
resolution Sept. 11, 2002. He now plans to
educate Western students about the Patriot
Act because he believes students must
unite and take action to defend their rights.
"(The Patriot Act) allows blanket war­rants
to search student records," Wokich
said. "But (the government) doesn't
have to notify the student that this is
happening. It is unreasonable search
and seizure."
The sections opposed include governmen­tal
actions reducing judicial supervision of
telephone and Internet surveillance on cam­pus
as well as granting the FBI access to
medical, mental health, financial and educa­tional
records without having to show evi­dence
of a crime.
The WFA resolution also opposes the U.S.
government granting the FBI the power to
compel libraries and bookstores to produce
circulation or book-purchase records of their
SEE Act, PAGE 5
School
district
cancels
DAM.
BY RACHEL FOMON
The Western.Front
The Bellingham School District
no longer offers the Drug Abuse
Resistance Education program
because the city and the school
could not support the program in
the wake of budget cuts,
Bellingham Police Department Lt.
Mark Gill said.
"Ifs unfortunate, and I think
we'll look back and see what kind
of effect it had," said Chris Lease,
school resource officer at Sehome
High School.
According to the D.A.R.E. Web
site, it is a collaborative program in
which law enforcement and local
schools join to educate students
about the personal and social con­sequences
of substance abuse and
violence.
In the past, the Bellingham
School District supplied $145,000
to pay salaries for D.A.R.E. offi­cers,
but it had to cut its funding
for the 2004 budget by 50 percent,
said Bellingham Police
Department Chief Randy Carroll.
The City of Bellingham con­tributed
$531,000 for the program..
The city had to make a 7 percent
cut in every department in the city,
SEE Drugs, PAGE 6
Fallen tree damages 5 cars
ERIC BERTO/THE WESTERN FRONT
Western freshman Sarah Baughn's Buick Somerset rests beneath a fallen Maple tree Thursday.
BYERICBERTO
The Western Front
Western sophomore David Gundersen will not
be going home this weekend.
That is because a big leaf maple tree crashed down
the hill above Parking lot 3R Thursday morning,
tearing through two cars and damaging three others.
"I think ifs going to require more than a buff
job," Gundersen said.
The tree broke the rear windshield of his beige
Mazda Protege and smashed in the passenger
side of the car.
The high amount of rain, combined with winds
gusting to 40 mph, caused the tree to fall, said
Don Boyd, program specialist for the Whatcom
County Sheriff's Department division of emer­gency
management.
The falling tree completely destroyed Western
freshman Sarah Baughn's Buick Somerset, which
was a gift from her grandmother. She said she was
speechless when she saw her car for the first time
"They called me this morning and said a tree
had fallen down and that my car was damaged,"
she said. "When I saw my car, I couldn't believe
it. The whole roof was totally caved in."
At 9:30 a.m., the tree fell from a short distance
SEE Tree, PAGE 5
State high
court visits
Western to
hear cases
BY RACHEL FOMON
The Western Front
The Washington State Supreme
Court visited Western Wednesday and
Thursday to hear court cases and
interact with students.
Since most cases are heard in
Olympia, the justices try to visit some­where
in the region, such as a campus
or courthouse, once per term, Chief
Justice Gerry L. Alexander said.
"It's an effort to bring the court closer
to the people/' he said.
Upon their arrival at Western
Wednesday, the justices toured the
campus. Students then had an oppor­tunity
to meet with the justices and
discuss concerns and issues over a
brown bag lunch sponsored by stu­dents
and'admirustranori'.''
"There were some issues I wanted
to come clear with, like immigration,
and I wanted to see some kind of rep­resentation,"
Western senior
Sochantha Meng. "They are open-minded,
unlike I used to think."
After lunch, the justices spoke to
classes and had a panel discussion in
the skybridge. They also taught a sem­inar
on continuing legal education to
members of the Whatcom County Bar
Association.
The justices had an open-court ses­sion
in Old Main Theatre Thursday.
The first case was State of
Washington v. Charles R. Downing.
Downing, convicted of first-degree
child molestation, claimed the court
should have granted his request for a
continuance for expert testimony after
the prosecuting attorney introduced
the alleged victim to Downing's other
alleged victims.
Whatcom County Deputy
Prosecutor Royce Buckingham said he
predicts most of the justices will rule in
the prosecution's favor.
In the case of the State of Washington
v. Alvin Eugene Willis, the court must
decide if Willis, convicted of two counts
SEE Court, PAGE 5
•T7rOot
Intalco remains open
at the expense of
200 jobs.
News, Page 3
BPD assists South
Australia police in
graffiti investigation.
News, Page 6
For news tips, call 060) 650-3162 or e-mail The
iiiiiii^
Sex offender struggles to find home
BY KEVIN BRUAW
The Western Front
Not all registered sex offenders
in Bellingham find a home after
leaving jail because family mem­bers
and other people close to them
often do not accept them. Some,
such as Bruce Elliot Bell, wander
the streets night after night, looking
for shelter.
Bell, a registered Level'HI sex
offender, has been a transient for
13 years since being released from
jail. He said he tried numerous
times to find a permanent place to
live, but at the end of each day, a
wooded camp along Squalicum
Creek was all he could find.
Bell said he sleeps in a tent in a
camp with other transients. He
cooks his food at the camp over an
open flame, and when he saves
enough money working tempo-
SEE Bell, PAGE 6
KEVIN
BRUAW/THE
WESTERN
FRONT
Transient
sex offender
Bruce Elliot
Bell rests on
the front
porch at his
son's house.