Western Front - 2005 March 4

              FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2005
ESTERN FRONT
ASHINGTON UNIVERSITY • BELLINGHAM, WASH. • WESTERNFRONTONLINE.COM
ISSUE 15
VOLUME 132
A soldier's homecoming
'•*"" Photo courtesy of the Allen family
Western junior Ryan Allen holds his 7-month-old son Noah at Fort Lewis on Feb. 23 after Allen's return from mili­tary
service in Saudi Arabia.
Western student returns from Middle East tour of duty
Editor's Note: This is the fourth in
a series of stories examining the
effects of war on Bellingham and
Whatcom County residents.
BY KATHRYN BREMZE
The Western Front
Anticipation and excitement soared on
Feb. 23 as Western junior Ryan Allen's
family — including his wife Sarah Allen
and their 7-month-old son Noah Allen
— waitec' for Ryan to return from his tour
of duty in Saudi Arabia.
The auditorium at Fort Lewis was
packed with family members, friends,
spouses and children holding flags and
banners as they waited to embrace loved
ones from Bellingham's*National Guard
unit, Charlie Company 898th Engineer
Battalion.
"We were all anxious and excited to
give him hugs and kisses, but I couldn't
wait to just say, 'Welcome home son,' "
said Ryan's father, Bill Allen.
Ryai/ has been a member of the Army
National Guard for the past three-and-a-half
years. He joined after high-school
graduation for some extra college money
and to continue his grandfather's and
father's family tradition of serving in the
see ALLEN, page 6
AS permits
banning men
from retreat
BY BLAIR WILSON
The Western Front
The Associated Students board of directors voted at
its Wednesday -meeting to allow the AS club Women
in the Woods to restrict its spring retreat to women
only.
"The retreat's goal is to create a safe space where
women can explore issues of leadership together,"
said Lisa Rosenberg, AS activities coordinator and
program adviser.
Women in the Woods is an AS club open to everyone,
not just women! The club was established to give
women an opportunity to experience the outdoors and
to create a space for them to gain confidence, club
member Angie Bates said.
"There is a real value sometimes to have just a group
of women or men come together," said Tony Russo,
AS vice president for Business and Operations.
The board put together program standards last year
to regulate the management of AS staff, programs and
activities. The AS runs programs that are open to all
students and that are not allowed to discriminate on
the basis of" age, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sex,
according to AS policies and procedures. Events
needing to limit their attendance to a specific group in
order to meet the goals of the program, however, are
allowed to do so if the group receives approval from
the AS board of directors.
When situations such as this arise, the Program
Management Council evaluates the situation and
decides if it should be brought to the board. In this case,
the council decided to create a subcommittee of four
members to decide if the Women in the Woods retreat
should be brought to the board, Rosenberg said.
see WOMEN, page 6
Initative could create
universal bus pass
BY MARK REIMERS
The Western Front
An initiative to create a universal-student
bus pass was the center
of discussion as approximately
30 Western students and faculty
gathered in the Science Lecture
Hall Wednesday to voice their
opinions about Western's
transportation issues.
The forum was the third in
a series organized by students
enrolled in a campus planning
studio class that Huxley College
of the Environment offers every
winter.
Gene Myers, associate professor
of environmental studies and this
quarter's teacher of the campus
planning studio, said students work
in groups to analyze and work
on solutions to campus planning
and management issues. This
quarter's topic was transportation,
and students put together focus
groups, a student survey and the
three transportation forums.
"It's been a great way for
students to contribute directly
to the campus," Myers said. "At
the same time, they have to learn
a whole lot to do what they're
doing."
Alanna Ahern, Associated
Students vice president for Campus
and Community Affairs and the
event's moderator, said the forum's
function was to gather student ideas
and opinions and to educate them
about the transportation situation
at Western and the universal bus
pass initiative.
If students pass the initiative
see FORUM, page 6
Parrots invited to championship
BY LAUREN ALLAIN
The Western Front
As many Western students
will begin to battle spring quarter
midterm blues on April 26, 10
members of the Dead Parrots
Society will be performing at the
Super Cage Match Championship
at the Chicago Improv Festival.
The Dead Parrots Society is an
Associated Students club composed
of Western students who perform
improvised comedy on campus and
in the community.
In Seattle on Feb. 20, the
society performed in-Cage Match,
a competition between two local
improv troupes. Each troupe was
given 25 minutes to perform, said
Dave Stratton, artistic director of
the club and Western 2004 graduate.
The winner of this competition
would be invited to perform at
Super Cage Match Championship.
The audience not only participates
LAUREN ALLAIN/The Western Front
Western senior TJ Acena, center, plays a golden-leaved tree for
fellow improvisers — from left to right — junior Kenny Davis,
alumni Dave Stratton, and seniors Noah Martin and Jon Hilden.
by suggesting topics to base the
performance on, but audience
members vote afterward for the
team they felt performed the best,
Stratton said.
The win in Seattle advances the
club to perform twice at the Chicago
Improv Festival, once in the Super
see PARROTS, page 5
ROCK WITH RED LOVE IS E ^ SENIOR MOMENTS
Vendetta Red will perform
tonight with other Seattle
and Bellingham bands.
ACCENT, PAGE 8
Groups are right to contest Spokane :
School District's decision to ban a gay
Western prepares to say goodbye
to stellar senior players.
SPORTS, PAGE 11