Western Front - 2004 January 13

              Vikings feast on Wolves
Western men defeat
Western Oregon 86-71.
ISSUE 2
VOLUME 128
BUSH ON MARS?
With troops in the Middle East, attention
is turned toward the stars.
Opinions, Page 14
HIP-HOP HOO
Western's dance team draws
half-time crowds.
Sports, Page 10
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
Features, Page 8
The Western Front TUESDAY
JAN. 13, 2004
New shuttle offers campus rides
, Ben Arnold/The Western Front
Ernie Judge, driving coordinator for Airporter Shuttle, drives down Bill McDonald
Parkway toward Campus Services. Airporter Shuttle is providing a pilot shuttle pro­gram
around campus to improve transportation to and from Western.
By Ben Arnold
The Western Front
This quarter, Airporter Shuttle, a
division through contract with
Western, is providing an alternative
to driving to campus for faculty and
students. It plans to do this by intro­ducing
a daytime shuttle program,
which will run on a trial basis from
. Old Main to the Administrative;
Services buildings on 32nd Street.
Carol Berry, alternative trans­portation
coordinator for Western,
said faculty and students have been
asking for alternatives to driving to
campus for years.
Many students who work on cam­pus
have a difficult time getting to
work on time, Berry said. Faculty
members are in support of the shut­tle
for. their own reasons as well as
getting students to campus on time,
she said.
"(Airporter Shuttle) is in the busi­ness
of getting people where they
need to go quickly," Berry said.
"They have the shuttles, and the
expert drivers to do this."
Through Airporter Shuttle,
Western is in contract with a profes­sional
shuttle company, rather than
taking money from the university's
capital budget to purchase vehicles
and hire drivers, Berry said.
"We look at it as an opportunity to
be a part of the transportation solu­tion
to the community," said Larry
Wickkiser, president of Wickkiser
International and owner of
Airporter Shuttle. "At some point
you have to look at an alternative to
single occupancy vehicles."
Berry said that during its pilot
program, me shuttle.service will be
free. It's too soon for speculation on
costs for faculty and-students to use
if it were permanently implemented:
"We don't know how it's going to
work best," she said. "The way to
find out is to try. (the pilot pro­gram)."
During the three-month pilot pro­gram
the shuttles will make six
stops: the Administrative Services
buildings on 32nd Street, the
Facilities Management buildings on
24th Street, the Campus Services
Building, the Wade King Student
Recreation"- Center," • ' the
Communications Building parking
lot and behind Old Main near Fraser
Hall. .
Shuttles follow the route from 7
a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students and faculty should not
have to wait longer than 12 to 15
minutes between shuttles.
University graduation
trends indicate fifth year
By Zoe Fraley
The Western Front
Generally, it takes four years
for. a .college, student to rec'eivea
bachelor's" degree. In recent
years, however, the time it takes
Western and University of
Washington students to gradu­ate
is stretching to five and six
years.
Heidi Mair, supervisor of
graduation and academic
records for the UW, said many
factors can extend a student's
time in college.
Students now spend, more
time on activities that occupy
their, time -outside of" school.
Conflicts between work and
school often affect academic
schedules, causing students to
take fewer credits affecting
their classroom performance.
With tuition increasing each
year, more students have to worry
about finances. The longer a stu­dent
remains in school, the heav-
SEE Graduation PAGE 6
Summer tuition to increase
Out-tf-state students' rates to cfeange tka nost
By Lauren Miller
The Western Front
The members of Western's board of trustees
approved a tuition increase for the 2004 summer
session Dec. 12.
Resident undergraduates will pay $116 per
credit this year, while resident graduate students
will pay $163 per credit, as opposed to last year,
when undergraduates paid $107.90 and graduates
paid $160.
"It is a reluctant acceptance," Associated
Students President Paul Graves said. "The sum­mer
session tuition is over the cost of instruction,
so if it has to increase, then it kind of has to."
The greatest tuition^increase, will-be-for- out-of-state
students./Undergraduates will pay $126 per
credit arid graduate students $173 per credit. This
adds up to $18.10 increase for undergraduates
arid a $13 increase for graduate students.
Western will reduce the nonresident enrollment
fee, however, to $50, rather than the $100 charged
in 2003, which will offset the increase.
According to this proposal, though, summer
school is self-supporting, and no faculty will
receive general salary increases. The cost of
instruction, which includes the promotion and
tenure of faculty and the growing cost for sup-
SEE Summer PAGE 6
Student requests approval for Fairhaven newspaper
By Lauren Miller
The Western Front
Western junior Dylan Bergeson said
he plans to give Western another voice
in the next few quarters by creating a
Fairhaven College newspaper.
Bergeson is a student at Fairhaven
College with a concentration in inter­national
journalism.
"An official ; Fairhaven newspaper
will act as a foriim for students to dis­cuss
and challenge each others'
views," Bergeson said.
Some students said they also were
interested in reading a second perspec­tive.
"I think it's great to get their view­point
out," Western sophomore Jenna
Colyar-Cooper said. "Just having
another voice on things can be helpful.
Another paper with another point of
view could provide more information
than having one paper with one point
.of view." "
Bergeson has worked as a journalist
before. He said he worked on The
Logos, Lower Columbia College's news­paper,
as a reporter, in every editorial
position and as editor in chief in winter
quarter 2003.
Bergeson said he would like to see
the newspaper open lines of communi­cation
in Fairhaven.
According to the proposal, "Aside
from the occasional discussion poster,
there is no effective avenue for a gener­al
open dialogue among students out­side
of the classroom."
Bergeson said he also would like to
see the newspaper create an open dia­logue
between Fairhaven College and
SEE Newspaper PAGE 6
Ben Arnold/The Western Front
Dylan Bergeson studies in his room. Bergeson
plans to start a FairhaVen newspaper.