Western Front - 2006 May 19

              THE WESTERNSFRONT
PACES
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FRIDAY MAY 19, 2006 ISSUE 15, VOLUME 137
Dorms tuned in to
Comcast next year
BY ABBY VINCENT
The Western Front
Comcast will provide additional digital
cable and high-speed Internet to all residence
halls beginning this fall and for the next seven
years.
Western and Comcast signed the seven-year
agreement May 1, Comcast representative
Steve Kipp said.
With the expanded services, students will
be able to purchase extended cable, digital
cable, high-definition television and high­speed
Internet from Comcast, said Kurt Willis,
associate director of Western's University
Residences. Prices range from approximately
$50 each month for basic cable to $100 each
month for expanded digital cable, he said.
Students can have the basic cable available
at no extra charge, or they can purchase a
subscription from Comcast for more channels.
"Western wouldn't be involved in the
billings," Willis said. "It's between you and
Comcast."
Comcast provides all dormitories with
basic cable at no extra charge and the Internet
company FiberCloud provides Internet
service, which uses one server for Western's
dormitories, Willis said.
The rest of the university uses the state-sponsored
Internet company K-20, Willis said.
Any Internet service's speed depends on
how many individuals are on a network at one
see INTERNET, page 4
Trustees form sculpture
budget after 50 years
BY JESSICA HARBERT
The Western Front
For the first time in its 50-year history,
Western's outdoor sculpture collection is
one month away from receiving funding for
maintenance, the collection's curator Sarah
Clark-Langager said.
The funding will come from the university
budget and will go annually to the outdoor
sculpture collection, Clark-Langager said.
"I'm absolutely thrilled we finally have
our very own maintenance budget," Clark-
Langager said.
If Western's Board of Trustees approves
funding in their June 9 meeting, facilities
management will try to repair the steam
sculpture located between the Communications
Facility and Fairhaven College, in September,
said Tim Wynn, Western's Director of Facilities
Management.
If approved, the new funding will be
available at the beginning of July, Wynn said.
On July 21,1998, University Police received
a report that a boy suffered second- and third-degree
burns while playing on artist Robert
Morris' steam sculpture, located on the lawn
between the Communications Facility and
Fairhaven College.
Vandals exposed the sculpture's dangerous
steam pipe that caused the burns and it has not
operated since, Wynn said. Western doesn't
have a permanent maintenance budget for the
campus' outdoor sculpture collection, he said.
Maintenance funding came from facilities
management's budget, Wynn said. When
facilities management received a request to
repair a sculpture, deciding which part of its
budget would supply funding presented a
challenge, Wynn said.
"Taking care of a sculpture collection is
like maintaining a car, house or yard," Clark-see
FUNDING, page 4
TAYLOR WILLIAMS / THE WESTERN FRONT
Political science professor Vernon Johnson teaches students in his African
Political Systems class Thursday outside Arntzen Hall on the "Log Ramps"
sculpture by Lloyd Hamrol. A pending budget change would provide money for
maintenance of Western's outdoor sculpture collection.
LEADER OF THE BOAT
Western senior captain leads
women's crew team to 2006
national championships.
SPORTS, PAGE 12
POLARIZING VIEWS
Controversial activist, Ward
Churchill, speaks at annual
peace conference on campus.
NEWS, PAGE 6
Viking car endures
PHOTO COURTESY OF CRAIG SMITH
Western's Viking 41 competes in a maneuverability contest in the
2006 Society of Automotive Engineers Mini Baja West, an international
competition May 13 in Washougal. The team placed 11th out of 84
teams.
Western's team places 11th
at international competition
BY NICOLE LANPHEAR
The Western Front
Western's Vehicle Research Institute
SAE Mini Baja Team placed 11th
out of 84 at the 2006 Mini Baja West
international competition May 11
through May 13 in Washougal. Western
has competed in the event for seven
years.
Teams' cars receive points for
durability, speed and maneuverability.
The team also won the Polaris
Innovative Suspension Award and a
$500 sponsorship for the second year in
a row because of the car's suspension.
The event featured cars from around
the country, including the University of
Iowa and Michigan State University and
from Japan, India and Canada.
Western finished the competition's
10 events, which ranged from rock
crawling, where the car slowly drives
over boulders, to test suspension and
mobility, hill climbing, acceleration
tests and the final four-hour endurance
race. Western was one of only 22 of the
84 cars finished the endurance race.
The team brought six toolboxes,
spare suspension parts and welders
to quickly repair the car in case of
accidents, Western senior Jake Parks
said.
A Mini Baja car is a golf-cart-sized
car competitors build from scratch for
high endurance races.
see BAJA, page 5
CHAINED TO LAYNE
Alice in Chains reunion would be
ill-conceived without a singer of
Layne Staley's caliber.
OPINIONS, PAGE 16
WEATHER
Saturday: Rain
Hi: 62 Low: 46
Sunday: Rain
Hi: 65 Low: 47
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