Western Front - 2007 October 23

              ISSUE 8 • VOL 143
FRONT
NEWS
Rocket Donuts
impacts student
bakery jobs
page 3
ART a LIFE
Western
graduate's
artwork
published
page 12
SPORTS > > • •
Men's cross
country team
wins conference
championship
page16
OPINION
Columnist:
Western needs
designated
smoking areas
page18
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY
iir
THURSDAY
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54°
HIGH
39°
LOW
51°
HIGH
36°
10W
Source: National Weather Service
The Western Front WesternFrontOnline.net • Western Washington University
TUESDAY
OCT. 23,2007
Western creates emergency plan
Public Information and Emergency Response system will alert students through cell phones
Isabeile Dills
THE WESTERN FRONT
Open those books, take out a
piece of paper and turn on those
cellphones.
It may be hard to imagine
a professor saying this, but
with Western's new emergency
notification system, having a cell
phone on in class could save lives.
Western's new Public
Information and Emergency
Response system (PIER) will alert
students in an emergency using
text messages, e-mail, voice or
text-to-voice, which allows text to
be converted to speech.
To receive an alert on a cell
phone, students have to log on to
Web4U and enter their cell phone
numbers. Because the system is
still new, the sign up rate is low,
said John Lawson, vice provost for
information technology and chief
information officer.
The way in which a message
is sent will depend upon the nature
of the emergency, he said. If
there'were a campus shooter, for
example, a text message would be
the quickest way to reach everyone
at once. But in a less threatening
situation such as a snow day,
people would be notified only
through e-mail, he said.
Western issued alerts last
spring for a cougar sighting in
Sehome Arboretum and a report
of a man carrying an assault rifle
into a medical building a few
blocks from campus, though it
turned out to be a prosthetic leg. In
these cases, which both occurred
in May 2007, e-mails and an
announcement on Western's
homepage were issued. With the
new system, students could receive
an immediate alert, Lawson said.
In addition to the technology
update, Western is installing
"Big Ole," a loud steam whistle,
which would issue a warning
alarm in an emergency, Lawson
said. Following the steam whistle
alarm, students would receive a
text message with instructions.
Students may be instructed to
stay inside the building or to
see EMERGENCY page 9 •
Viking football loses Battle in Seattle
Central: 24
Western: 7
Western senior middle
linebacker Shane Simmons
reacts to the 24-7 loss
to Central Washington
University Oct. 20,
Western's third-straight
Battle in Seattle defeat.
Simmons made nine
tackles in the game and
forced one fumble.
For the full story,
see page 15.
photo by Jon Bergman THE WESTERN FRONT
Vehicle Research
Institute meets
with Technology
Alliance Group
Shana Keen
THE WESTERN FRONT
With gas prices skyrocketing
to more than $3 per gallon, the
idea of $2 per gallon fuel beckoned
community members to Western's
Vehicle Research Institute
(VRI) Director Eric Leonhardt's
presentation Oct. 19 in downtown
Bellingham.
Western's award winning VRI
opened its doors to the Technology
Alliance Group for Northwest
Washington (TAG) after Leonhardt
presented the institute's biomethane
for transportation program. The
group of technology enthusiasts
meets to keep each other up to date
with the newest technology. They
invited Leonhardt to share his and
his students' work.
Peter Longwood of
Bellingham said he attended the
meeting to get an inside look at
the institute. He has kept track of
the institute and past VRI director
see VRI page 9 •
Western completes accreditation report
Nary Truman
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western is requesting public
review and feedback for the first
draft of its accreditation study
report, which was completed Oct.
Every 10 years, Western
undergoes an evaluation by
the -Northwest Commission
on Colleges and Universities
(NWCCU) to determine whether
it meets certain standards, said
Kris Bulcroft, vice provost for
academic affairs. Western does
a self-study of its strengths and
weaknesses, and creates a report
for the NWCCU to review, she
said.
Accreditation is the oldest
and best-known seal of higher
education quality, Bulcroft said. If
a university loses its accreditation
status, the diplomas that students
receive for their time and hard
work are worthless in the
professional world, Bulcroft said.
Associate professor of English,
Brenda Miller said she doesn't
believe anyone needs to worry
much about Western's status.
Bulcroft and Miller are
in charge of putting the report
together, and have been working
on it since March 2006, said Annie
Jansen, Associated Students vice
president for academic affairs.
They are asking for students,
faculty and community members
to review the report and provide
any comments or concerns by Oct.
31.
Miller said student input
is encouraged because they are
looking for student quotes to add
to the study.
The NWCCU is an agency
responsible for accrediting all the
colleges and universities in the
Northwest, Bulcroft said. It does
this by visiting universities and
collecting information that exhibits
the university's quality.
The report is comprised of
two volumes. The first includes the
nine standards of accreditation.
The second volume contains all
the appendices to the first volume,
which include tables, charts and
other graphic elements that show
research supporting the first
volume's reports.
Institutional mission and
goals, the first standard addressed,
sets the foundation for the entire
report, Miller said.
"The mission is the center hub,
and everything we do from how
we garden to what kind of degree
programs we have all comes back
to the mission," she said.
The second standard is a basic
overview of Western's educational
programs and their effectiveness.
see ACCREDITATION page 8 1 *