Western Front - 2004 July 20

              ISSUE 5
VOLUME 130
DR. HORSE
Riding is the best medicine for
some disabled children.
Accent/Features, Page 6
SAVIN' LIVES
The Arne Hanna Aquatic Center spon­sors
bimonthly life-saving clinics.
Sports, Page 9
NO MORE LOVE
Vhl's series "I love the 90s" is too
soon for fun memories.
Opinions, Page 10
Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
The Western Front TUESDAY
JULY 20, 2004
Military veteran endorses draft
Jamie Clark/The Western Front
Audience members, left, participate in group discussions after a speech on women and homosexu­als
in the military and the possibility of a draft by former military nurse Grethe Cammermeyer.
Former Army nurse also speaks on gays
in the military at Bellingham conference
By Jamie Clark
The Western Front
Whatcom County residents packed a downstairs
meeting room in the Bellingham Public Library on
Thursday to listen to Col. Grethe Cammermeyer, a
former military nurse, speak her opinions about the
possibility of a draft and women and homosexuals in
the military.
The new local organization Streetcorner Forums organ­ized
the event, which is the second in a five-part series
discussing the possibility of a draft in the United States,
said Joan Ging, a board member of Streetcorner Forums.
Cammermeyer said she joined the military in 1961
when she was 19 after she and her family immigrated to
the United States from Oslo, Norway, during the Nazi
occupation. She said she was discharged twice in her
time working for the military before she retired in 1997
— once because she was pregnant and the second time
when she revealed she was a lesbian.
"Ten thousand gays and lesbians have been released
from the military because they are gay," Cammermeyer
said. "These people had skills that the military is asking
unqualified reserves to perform."
Cammermeyer continued her discussion talking
about the possible draft. The two bills that were the
topic of discussion, House of Representatives 163 and
Senate 89, propose that all U.S. citizens, both men and
women, between ages 18 and 26 will serve the nation
for at least a year, Cammermeyer said.
College could not be an excuse to avoid the draft and
people could not flee to Canada, according to the bills.
Cammermeyer said she supports the draft because a
mandatory national service would give many young
people the direction they need in their lives.
"What's wrong with a national service for all youth?"
Cammermeyer said. "Young people could be helping
the homeless, working in nursing homes or working for
the national forest service."
Many audience members questioned whether the
bills could guarantee that anyone who signed up for
national service could not be called to serve in the mili­tary
should a crisis arise.
Even though Cammermeyer said that would not hap­pen,
Rebecca Stanley-Kilpatrick, a part-time instructor
at Bellingham Technical College/said she still has some
doubt.
"Right now my confidence (in the government) is
quite low," she said. "I may be able to appreciate (the
draft proposal) under a more optimistic and honest
government, but not at this time."
SEE Service, PAGE 4
Officials say temporary jail
may not ease overcrowding
By Kadi Matherne
The Western Front
When someone's personal property is vandalized and police
officers catch the individual responsible, societal rules dictate
that the criminal will serve his time in jail and repay his debt to
society. But in Whatcom County, officials often must release pris­oners
before they fully pay the prices of their crimes, officials say.
Whatcom County Jail is at its utmost capacity, said Lt. Greg
DePaul of the jail's administration.
When people are charged with small crimes and sentenced to
a few days in prison, they are not able to get in, DePaul said.
"A girl came the other day to serve her one day of jail time,"
DePaul said. "We had to tell her to come back and do it in a year."
DePaul said the jail adrninistration has to turn people away
four to six times before they can actually get into the facility to
serve their time.
"Even the people who want to get in and get it over with
can't," he said.
When the county built the jail in 1984, nearly 80 percent of the
inmates had committed misdemeanors and 20 percent were
felons, DePaul said, but today the statistics have reversed.
More than 80 percent of inmates now are in on felony charges, he
said. They are top priority for jail space because they are a greater
danger to society inmates booked on lesser charges, he said.
"Arresting agencies are frustrated with the situation because
they can no longer book people who commit misdemeanors,"
DePaul said. "We're too full."
SEE Crowded, PAGE 3
Kadi Matherne/The Western Front
Whatcom County's current jail site, which is filled with
nearly double its intended capacity, will soon have
another facility in town to help house inmates.
Conference speaker accuses U.S. presidents of ignoring the law
Connor Clark-Lindh/The Western Front
Idaho State political science professor David Adler lectures
July 16 at the Ralph Munro seminar on how the Constitution
limits presidential power and how presidents have abused it.
By Connor Clark-Lindh
The Western Front
The unwashed jeans and wrin­kled
T-shirts, worn by the stu­dents,
teachers and community
members gathered in Park's Hall
104, contrasted with the guest
speaker's jet-black slacks,
pressed white shirt and gold-and-
red-striped tie. He started
with a joke about how everyone
was so underdressed before
moving on to a more serious dis­cussion
about the Constitution.
"Presidents have often violated
the Constitution," said David
Adler, keynote speaker at the
weeklong Ralph Munro seminar.
"Presidents do not have the
power under the Constitution to
take the nation to war."
Adler is a professor of political
science at Idaho State University
and a specialist of American his­tory,
said Don Alper, Western
political science professor and
organizer of the seminar.
Adler gave a public lecture
July 16 titled "The United States
Constitution and the Sovereign
Power to Make War in Analytical
and Historical Perspective." The
seminar attracted professionals
from local media, Washington
state senators, a judge and polit­ical
lobbyists to discuss
American politics with K-12
teachers for one week, said Dan
Douthit, program coordinator of
the seminar.
By talking with the people
involved in politics, the teachers
can better understand the U.S.
political system and pass that
understanding down to their
students, Alper said.
Ralph Munro, former
Washington secretary of state
and Western alumnus, donated
money to start the Ralph Munro
Distinguished Professorship in
Civic Education program, which
funded part of the seminar,
when he left office in 2001, said
Sara Weir, chairwoman of
Western's political-science
department.
Western also funded the semi­nar
with money from its civic
education programs and a fee
collected from the participants,
SEE Power, PAGE 3