Western Front - 2004 March 5

              ANCHORAGE AWAY
Western men's basketball
keeps playoffs in its picture
Sports, Page 8
FOR PHYSIQUE SAKE
Restaurants should serve
healthier meals to children.
Opinions, Page 10
THE RETURN OF THE CHRIST
"The Passion" incites
emotional reactions
Accent, Page 7
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
ISSUE 15
VOLUME 128 The Western Front FRIDAY
MARCH 5, 2004
Unionized faculty advises Western
Student forum tackles censorship, USA Patriot Act
Ben Amold/The Westerri'Frbrit
Barbara. Bowen, professor of English at City University of New York, fields questions from
Western's faculty Thursday afternoon concerning the possibility of a faculty union.
Huxley dean
assumes lead
of U.N. group
By Kelseyanne Johnson
The Western Front
An international council
named Huxley College of the
Environment Dean Bradley
Smith the president of the
largest environmental organiza­tion
in the world Monday.
Smith will now lead the
International Union for
Conservation of Nature, which
advises the United Nations on
environmental policy.
The union focuses on biologi­cal
and ecological conservation
efforts, Huxley associate profes­sor
John McLaughlin said.
The union is trying to recruit
more universities to form a net­work
of students and conserva­tion
experts to share and access
information, said. Keith
Wheeler, director of the
Conservation Learning
Network for the union.
At the end of March, Smith
will travel to China to meet
with deans about the union,
Wheeler said.
"When you sit down at a
table with 10 different cultures,
10 different nationalities and 10
different perspectives and come
to common grounds, it's a
rush," Smith said.
SEE Dean, PAGE 4
By Rob Morrell
The Western Front .
The United Faculty of
Western Washington assembled
a panel of professors and union
leaders from throughout the
nation who participated in a
public forum addressing
Western's ongoing faculty
unionization process Thursday
in the Viking Union.
"These people are experts in
" successful union activities from
across the nation," said Steven
Garfinkle, a member of the organ­izing
committee" and Western his­tory
professor. "The question has
been, 'Could we provide evidence
of successful union activities?'
That is what this panel is for."
University representatives
across the country , .from Temple
i-University '; in -Philadelphia to
California State University,
attended the forum. They began
by addressing the potential rela­tionship
between a union and the
existing Faculty Senate.
Garfinkle said the senate's lim-
•• itedr strength facilitated the cre­ation
of a union with the power to
collectively bargain a contract. A
union would have the power of a
unified faculty behind it, he said,
in turn forcing the administration
to respect professors' interests.
"The faculty senate is only
advisory," he said. "A union gives
the faculty the ability to hold the
university's feet to the fire."
John Travis, a political science
professor at Humboldt State
University and president of the
California Faculty Association,
said it was important for unions
to work closely with the senate.
"There is.no fast, hard line
dividing the responsibility of the
academic senate and the union,"
Travis _said. "It's important to
establish a working relationship
with the academic senate because
there's nothing that management
and aciministrators like more than
to play us against each other."
Travis said the senate and
union worked together on issues
such as curriculum and workload
decisions at his university.
Barbara Bowen, president of
the Professional Staff Congress
and English professor at City
University of New York, spoke
about the potential accountability
SEE Union PAGE 4
By Sarah Getchman
The Western Front
While many Western students believe the
government should not be allowed to
infringe on academic freedoms, others feel
that a certain amount of censorship is neces­sary
to maintain a community where no per­son
feels unsafe, intimidated or offended.
The Western Diversity Task Force
brought students together in a civil debate
forum Tuesday night to discuss how cen­sorship
and the USA Patriot Act affect the
Western community.
"(Students are) afraid of what could hap­pen
to their civil liberties/^ said Rachel
Zommick, Associated Students vice presi­dent
of legislative and community affairs.
Zommick and Western senior Andrew Hu, a
member, of the Western debate team,
expressed alternate opinions and perspectives.
Government censorship at Western
"There are certain instances where some­thing
is offensive enough that it ought to be
censored in the interest of the students," Hu
said.
This was the case when several students
complained about a display at Western's
annual Vagina Carnival that showed a
woman's bare breast, Hu said.
The university requested that the objec­tionable,
material be removed or censored,
he said. Event staff removed the display
and the university planned to impose new
guidelines for next year's Vagina Carnival.
Students think of Western as a school that
promotes intellectual and creative freedoms,
Zommick said.
Intalco donates thousands,
assists regional businesses
"Once you start restricting, it becomes
the mentality," Zommick said. "The AS
doesn't want to deter clubs and organiza­tions
from bringing up controversial issues
or events."
If the government chooses to censor
materials at Western, it should do so in rela­tion
to the time, place and manner of the
specific material, not the content, Hu said.
The university must use these practical
implementations of censorship to retain its
reputation and support, he said.
This past year, university officials asked fac­ulty
members to remove "No Iraq War" signs
from their office windows, Hu said. The
request was legitimate because Western
employees work for the government on public
property, which they should not use to express
personal political views, he said.
SEE Censorship, PAGE 4
By Amanda Woolley
The Western Front
The businesses of Sumas will
receive an extra boost this year,
thanks to Alcoa Intalco Works in
Ferndale, which donated to
Western Washington's Small
Business Development Center.
Intalco donated approximately
$9,400 to the city of Sumas on
Tuesday. The donation comes from
Intalco's Business and Community
Partnership Program, which gives
part of the revenues back to the
communities where Intalco and
Bonneville Power Administration
employees live. This is the second
and final year of the program.
Intalco donated approximately
$1.75 million this year and in 2002
to the program, Intalco public rela­tions
spokeswoman Ricki
Thompson said.
"It was great for the allocation
because of the five years of work
we have been doing with the city
of Sumas/' Center Director Tom
Dorr said. "We are thankful for the
recognition from the City Council
for the strong partnership we have
created."
The center provides businesses
SEE Sumas, PAGE 4
Amanda Woolley/The Western Front
Western's Small Business Development Center received
$7,500 from Inalco on Tuesday, amove that cemented local
business partnerships, says Tom Dorr, director of the center.
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