Western Front - 2004 April 9

              TARNISH ON THE DOME
Notre Dame alumnus's quip
indicates broader problem.
Sports, Page 11
WRITING ON THE WALL
People should think first before making public
statements on bathroom walls.
Opinions, Page 13
LONG LIVE CHEAP BEER
Sensibly priced suds make a
comeback with students.
Accent, Page 8
Western Washington University, BeHingham, Washington
ISSUE 3
VOLUME 129
FRIDAY
APRIL 9,2004
Students question diagnoses
By Anna Sowa
The Western Front
Western sophomore Karen Martin vis­ited
the Student Health Center this past
spring hoping for relief from her severe
headaches, but she ended up in the St.
Joseph Hospital emergency room one
week later with sinusitis and a develop­ing
case of meningitis.
"My headaches just got worse and
worse after I went (to the health cen­ter),"
Martin said. "The sinus medica­tions
they gave me weren't working,
and a week later I could only lay in my
bed under the covers because I couldn't
stand sunlight."
Dr. Emily Gibson, Student Health
Center medical director, said cases such
as Martin's, in which students are diag­nosed
with more serious illnesses at
another health clinic, are not necessarily
misdiagnoses. Gibson said the health
center receives approximately two com­plaints
from students each quarter.
"Cases of evolving diagnoses are not
unusual situations in any medical prac­tice,"
Gibson said. "If we do a diagnosis
here with clinical suspicion of meningitis,
we refer the patient to the emergency
room for a spinal tap. This is something
we take very seriously."
Western freshman Brian Porada said he
requested a referral to another doctor
after he visited the health center in
December for a neck injury, despite
advice from health center employees.
"I went to the health center after 'a
snowboarding accident at Mount Baker,
Ben Arnold/The Western Front
Western freshman Brian Porada displays his scar Wednesday at his dorm
room in Mathes Hall. Porada had surgery to re-align his spinal cord.
and they said I looked fine," Porada said.
"They told me they had seen worse, and
that some back massages and Ibuprofen
would help me."
Porada said he was skeptical about the
diagnosis, so he requested X-rays. The X-ray
technician at St. Joseph Hospital told
Porada he needed surgery immediately
and that if he had waited two weeks for
treatment, he would have.died.
SEE Center, PAGE 4
Western to plan memorial for Schmitt
By Tara Nelson
The Western Front
Western officials said they plan to cele­brate
the life of Western junior Gideon
Schmitt, who died this past Monday after
falling four stories from his apartment
balcony the previous day.
Those plans, however, will be post­poned
to allow enough time for his family
to attend the events, said Susan Vogelson,
resident district manager for University
Dining Services. His family arranged a
funeral that is scheduled for Saturday at 3
p.m. in Cle Elum.
Schmitt, a 21-year-old industrial-tech­nology
major, was an employee at the
Viking Commons. Managers at the din­ing
hall had recently promoted him to
student manager. He also was active in
Western's student chapter of the Society
of Manufacturing Engineers and
Western's cycling club.
The university has not yet scheduled a
memorial service, but Western officials
plan to meet this morning to discuss
commemorative plans for Schmitt on
campus, Vogelson said.
"It. is too soon for (Western) to get
involved this week," she said. "But I
know that they want to participate in
something here on campus."
University staff members do not want
the event to interfere with the family's
SEE Memorial, PAGE 5
Professor injured
while paragliding
Olney in satisfactory
condition in Seattle
By Caleb Heeringa
The Western Front
An unexpected gust of wind nearly cost
Western marketing professor Thomas Olney
his life this past Friday.
Olney missed his landing while paraglid­ing
near Deming. His wife, Joy Olney, said
that after undergoing two operations this
week, he is in satisfactory condition at
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and is
expected to make a full recovery. He is not
paralyzed, but it may be six months to a year
before he can teach again, his wife said.
Joy Olney said her husband attributes the
crash to a wind shear, a weather event involv­ing
a change in wind speed or direction over
a short distance that can cause aircraft to
quickly lose altitude.
"There was a quick gust of wind that
.brought him downh^derthan.he,expected,"
Joy Olney said. "He's lucky he came out of it
without any head injuries."
Western accounting professor Julie
Lockhart, who has been friends with Tnomas"
Olney for more than 20 years, visited him in
the hospital Tuesday. She said he was in a
surprisingly good mood for having come so
close to death.
"His spirits are good," Lockhart said.
"He still has a sense of humor about the
whole situation."
Terrell Williams, finance and marketing
department chair, who is teaching Thomas
Olney's classes during his absence, said sev­eral
factors may have saved Thomas Olney.
"(In that situation) there were a hundred
ways to die and one way to live," Williams
said. "He was in. good condition and had t
good equipment, which helped him a lot."
The day before the accident, Thomas Olney
had his students do a "goals project." In the
project students listed their goals for the
future and -what they would do if they had
six months left to live, said Jordan Marshall, a
Western senior who is enrolled in one of
Thomas Olney's classes.
SEE Accident, PAGE 5
Secretary of state explains new primary system
By Ben Johnston
The Western Front
Washington state's primary
election system is under con­struction,
and the architect of the
new system discussed the inher­ent
difficulties with a Western
political science class Wednesday
in Wilson Library.
Washington Secretary of
State Sam Reed spoke to
Western political science pro­fessor
Todd Donovan's state
and local government class
about the state's previous blan­ket
primary system, why feder­al
courts found it unconstitu­tional
and what Reed is doing
to create a constitutional pri­mary
election system.
Washington's blanket primary
system allowed citizens to vote
for any candidate, regardless of
party affiliation, which political
party members said denied
them the First Amendment right
of association.
Political party members feared
that allowing Democrats to vote
for Republicans, and vice versa,
would dilute the parties' mes­sages,
Donovan said.
Donovan said Bobbie Egan, a
former Western student and
Reed's communications manag­er,
arranged for Reed to visit and
lecture to the class during his
visit to Western.
"It's more credible if (stu­dents)
hear it (from a legisla­tor),"
Donovan said. "I really
think (Reed) did a good job of
laying out the whole history .of
the litigation of the primary
issue. It's a complicated issue."
During the lecture, Reed dis­cussed
his search for a new form
for Washington's blanket primary
SEE Primary, PAGE 4
Ben Arnold/ The
Western Front
Washington
Secretary of State
Sam Reed speaks
to Western politi­cal
science pro­fessor
Todd
Donovan's local
government class
Wednesday in
Wilson Library.
Reed addressed
the class about
the state's new
primary system.