Western Front - 2005 February 8

              TH
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2
ISSUE 9
VOLUME 132
,N WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY • BELLINGHAM, WASH. • WESTERNFRONTONLINE.COM
Western gets green light for power
BY BLAIR WILSON
The Western Front
Western soon will become the second public school in the
nation and the first in Washington state to start the switch
to renewable energy, said Nausheen Mohamedali, Western
senior and Students for Renewable Energy member.
On Friday, Western's board of trustees passed a motion to
use renewable energy on Western's campus. The switch to
renewable energy is scheduled to start Sept. 21, the first day
of classes fall quarter, said Tim Wynn, director of facilities
management for Western.
The trustees' vote follows an initiative passed by 84.7
percent of students in spring 2004, said Associated Students
president Rachel Zommick.
"Western students are at the forefront with all eyes on us.
We are at the front of an important environmental issue,"
said Eileen Coughlin, vice president for student affairs and
academic support services.
Following this vote, the board of trustees will vote again
in August to determine the fee students will be charged,
starting fall quarter 2005. The student initiative requested
that the fee not exceed $19 per year, which the board of
trustees approved. The fee will be included with tuition
charges, said Western junior and member of the Students
for Renewable Energy Erica Althans-Schmidt.
Members of Students for Renewable Energy were
overjoyed by the unanimous agreement by the board to the
renewable energy motion.
"I feel amazed, I'm thrilled, I'm glad it happened within
two yean> and before I graduate," Mohamedali said.
Students forRenewable Energy, comprising approximately
20 active members, has been working to educate the student
body about renewable energy since it originally became an
AS club in spring 2003. Students for Renewable Energy also
worked with the administration and the AS to formulate the
spring 2004 initiative, Althans-Schmidt said.
"We are very excited. We're very proud of the students
at Western," said John Warner, board of trustees chairman.
"They are doing the right thing and using their education
see ENERGY, page 6
Downtown's watchful eye
Police chief says security cameras ensure safety
BY MARISSA HAESHMAN
The Western Front
Bellingham's new security cameras will
deter crime downtown and ensure safety for
residents and business owners, Bellingham.
Police Chief Randall Carroll said.
As of Jan. 14, all 10 surveillance cameras the
police department bought were installed and
operating, said Clark Williams, Bellingham
transportation manager. Installation of the
cameras began this past summer, he said.
The security cameras are mounted on traffic
light poles in most of the main intersections in
Bellingham from Magnolia to Chestnut Streets
and from State to Commercial streets, Carroll
said.
The cameras are not recording and are not
regularly monitored, Carroll said. The police
department monitors the cameras if recurring
problems arise in an area that requires extra
attention, he said/
"The cameras are not there to invade your
privacy but are there to protect everyone
downtown," said Holly Barbo, co-owner of
Barbo Furniture on Cornwall Avenue.
Not everyone agrees the cameras were
installed with the protection of Bellingham
residents in mind.
"The (American Civil Liberties. Union) is
very suspicious of any plan to install cameras,"
said Daniel Larner, a Fairhaven College
professor and member of the Washington
State ACLU board of directors, "In general,
the yield in safety and law enforcement from
surveillance systems is a long way from being
worth the cost in money, time and in the price
we all pay when we lose our anonymity and
hence a piece of our liberty."
The police department purchased the cameras
in response to a petition filed by downtown
merchants with the Bellingham City Council
last year, Carroll said.
Barbo was one of the organizers of the
petition.
"A lot of people talked about getting cameras,
but nobody had the time to get anything
started," Barbo said. "I took the time to make
sure it got done."
Barbo said she received signatures from^^lj
people walking the streets downtown —
customers, visitors from out of town, business
owners and students. Barbo did encounter some
people who felt cameras installed downtown
would infringe on their right to privacy, she
said.
"People have to understand that you are
not entitled to privacy on a city street," Barbo
saii'l.
A majority of the people Barbo spoke to
said they did not feel like they had any reason
to feel their privacy would be invaded by the
cameras on the street, she said. .;
"If you're downtown minding your own
see CAMERA, page 6
Western junior forward Tyler Amaya dunks on Saint Martin's College in
Students, community build amphitheater near Fairhaven
Courtesy of Casey Hons
Students involved with the Outback Amphithe­ater
project designed this rendering of what
the actual amphitheater will look like.
BY TREVOR SWEDBERG
The Western Front
Western students and community
members are working together to build an
amphitheater behind the Fairhaven dorms.
Volunteers have planned and designed
the structure for the past four months and
organizers estimate the project will be
completed in another four to five months,
Western sophomore and project foreman
Casey Hons said.
The student-driven • Outback
Amphitheater will be certified by
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design. Certification is a voluntary,
consensus-based national standard for
developing high-performance, sustainable
buildings. The semi-permanent structure
also has a permaculture design — in
other words; it is being designed with .the
environment in mind.
'The materials are almost all
environmentally friendly," Hons said.
'We're using sustainably harvested cedar
from the Evergreen Ecoforestry, who
practice selective cutting."
Organizers were inspired to build the
structure after a series of stages were
torn down from the same spot because of
dilapidation and problems with building
codes.
'There have been four stages in the
past," Hons said. 'This is the fifth and final
one."
When completed, the amphitheater will
be a community-events venue, said Gabe
Shulman, a Western graduate and the
project initiator.
'It will hold concerts, theater, dance,
seminars, workshops and even outdoor
movies," Shulman said.
The venue will be equipped with
electricity as well.
'Within a year there will be solar panels
to power mics and the lighting, "Hons said.
'There will even be a drop-down sail so
movies can be projected as well."
Progress is slow because the project is
volunteer-driven and people only work
when they can find the time. Organizers,
however, think activity will pick up soon,
see FAIRHAVEN, page 5
._.Jss«i' «sSs*Si
PADDLING MAN
Paraplegic guides kayaking
excursion despite paralysis.
FEATURES, PAGE 7
HIHHHHBBi
Legislation should ban use of hand­held
cell phones while Oil the road.
PEDALING MEN
Western cyclists practice for
the season.
SPORTS, PAGE 11