Western Front - 2004 March 9

              MEN'S HOOPS ENDS
Chilling loss to Fairbanks
ices playoff hopes.
Spprts, Page 10
BUSH'S BAD ADS
The misuse of images from
Sept. 11 should cease.
Opinions, Page 14
SHROOOOMIN'
Mushrooms give eaters
one big trip.
Features, Page 8
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
ISSUE 16
VOLUME 128
TUESDAY
MARCH 9, 2004
Study abroad
on the decline
after Sept. 11
By Kaitlin King
The Western Front
The number of students who
chose to study abroad this year is
lower than previous years. The
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the
war in Iraq are the likely causes,
said Liz Partolan-Fray, Western
International Programs and
Exchanges director.
Partolan-Fray said many of
the students who applied to
study abroad this year withdrew
their applications after the
United States began the war in
Iraq. The most likely reason was
fear of anti-American sentiments
in other countries, she said.
"It has taken about two years
for us to see a real change,in
numbers," said Richard Bruce,
International Programs and
Exchanges adviser. "But we've
definitely seen smaller numbers
in international students coming
to Western to study and stu­dents
studying overseas since
September 11."
In the '01-'02 school year, 446
students applied to study abroad
SEE Abroad, PAGE 6
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Valves slow
progress in
new building
By Bryan Sharick
The Western Front
The fall 2004 opening date for the
Communications Facility remains on
schedule despite problems with valves
that control inside temperatures, director
of Facilities Management Tim Wynn said.
Approximately 120 of the 300 or more
valves worked incorrectly, Wynn said.
The valves control the balancing of heat
in the building, making sure that it is
equally distributed, Wynn said.
"Western felt Hoffman Company mis-sized
the valves and made it impossible
to balance the building," Wynn said.
"Western put Hoffman on notice that we
thought the valves were incorrect."
Hoffman Company is the general con­tractor
in charge of constructing the
Communications Facility, Wynn said.
Hoffman subcontracted other aspects of
construction, such as electrical, he said.
"Before this problem, Hoffman had dis-ag'feiedffche^
size was; Mcbfrewct arid wanted
Western to pay for the additional $100,000
to replace the valves," Wynn said. "We
could.-jfibt balance the building, and now
Hoffman owes Western the replacement
of the valves."
: SEE Facility, PAGE 6
BP announces pairing
with Huxley students
By Aaron Apple
The Western Front
The BP Cherry Point Refinery in
Blaine will award a graduate student
from the Huxley College of the
Environment with a $10,000
Graduate Assistantship in
Sustainability this spring.
The award will support the stu­dent,
who will work with BP Cherry
Point Environmental Staff to ecolog­ically
restore part of its property
north of Grandview Road in Blaine,
refinery public affairs director
Michael Abendoff said.
"(The project) coincides and com­pliments
the restoration of Terrell
Creek," Abendoff said. "We have a
mile of creek that runs through the
area. We have planted native shrubs
and bushes that provide shade for
the salmon."
BP is one of the world's largest
gas, oil and energy businesses.
Abendoff said BP managers want
to transform the area back to its orig­inal
ecological function. Some of it
was flattened farmland, and BP
would like to see it become wetlands
again, he said.
"They are looking for a student
who is interested especially in envi­ronmental
planning or landscape
ecology, maybe even a geography stu­dent
who would be interested in plan­ning
the. project," said John Rybczyk,
assistant professor at Huxley and
wetland ecology specialist.
Rybczyk said the next student
could be an environmental sciences
major who would participate in the
restoration and building of the wet­lands.
They also would monitor the
area to see if the project was success­ful
in returning the area to its original,
healthy function, he said.
BP is restoring the area because of
a mitigation project that it is
required to do, Rybczyk said. BP
wants to build a power plant on
some wetlands, and for every acre it
destroys, it has to restore three times
that amount, he said.
Huxley Dean Bradley Smith said
BP has employed interns from
Huxley for a number of years since
the college requires students to com­plete
an internship. BP also has hired
Huxley graduates in the past.
Smith said that because of paper­work,
assigning a graduate student
to the BP assistantship this past fall
did to work out.
"We have new grad students
applying in the spring, and we will
match up their interests with what
BP wants," Smith said.
State House honors professor
By Krissy Gochnour
The Western Front
Western engineering professor Michael Seal
became part of Washington state history for his
contributions to the automobile industry.
The Washington State House of Representatives
honored the director of the Vehicle Research
Institute on Thursday for his 33 years of dedica­tion
to building economically efficient vehicles.
Featured near the steps of the capital during
the proceedings was the Viking 29, the first nat­ural-
gas and electric-cell powered hybrid vehi­cle
in the world, one of 36 automobiles that Seal
and the students at the VRI designed.
The VRI focuses on the design and production
of vehicles—particularly automobiles — of low
emissions and high fuel efficiency. It also
explores the use of renewable fuels, such as bio-methane,
propane and alcohol to power the
engines of the vehicles, Seal said.
"It's fun — I enjoy it>" Seal said. "Not every­one
gets to wake up every morning and say, 'Oh
boy, I get to go to work.'"
The VRI program is one of the country's lead­ing
academic programs pertaining to automo­biles,
said Arlan Norman, dean of the College of
Science and Technology. It has won various
awards in competitions, including the 1990
World Solar Challenge, the 1991 California
Clean Air Race and the 1994 Disneyland Clean
Air Road Rally and Tour de Sol races in New
England, Norman said.
In 1985, Subaru contracted the VRI to design a
16-valve engine, which it used in the Subaru
Legacy until 1998. The institute also has worked
with DaimlerChrysler AG and Mazda.
"(Seal) has made some real advances in
automobile engine designs," Norman said.
Seal began teaching at Western in the late
'60s when former Western president Charles J.
Flora initiated the formation of the VRI in
1971.
"I went to see the president and asked if we
SEE Seal, PAGE 6
Ben Arnold/The Western Front
Western junior Steven Augustine discusses a
turbocharger for his car with professor
Michael Seal at the Vehicle Research Institute.
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