Western Front - 2009 January 23

              WESTERN ALUMNI ORGANIZE
FOOTBALL PROTEST
THE W
AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SINCE 1970 I W E S T E R N F R 0 N T 0 N L I N E . N ET
Western tuition may spike
Josh Stilts
THE WESTERN FRONT
At a congressional hearing in Olym-pia
on Monday, Western's Associate Vice
President for University Relations Sherry
Burkey suggested that the state legislature
should consider raising the statewide tu­ition
cap of 7 percent.
Burkey said tuition is approximately
40 percent of Western's revenue, and that
the 7 percent tuition increase in the gov­ernor's
budget is something Western can
absorb.
An increase of 7 percent is equal to
about $100 per student, per quarter, but
Western could assist lower income stu­dents
if a larger tuition increase was nec­essary,
she said.
However, Western President Bruce
Shepard said increasing tuition was not
yet an option.
"Our position is to stand by the gov­ernor's
budget," Shepard said. "It would
be premature to go to a [tuition] raise [this
early]."
Western should discuss the option of
increasing the tuition cap if the budget re­quires
further cuts or reductions, Shepard
said.
"[If a tuition cap raise is adopted]
the legislature will have reached into the
pockets of our students to finance other
government services," Shepard said.
Western won't need to make the nec­essary
program cuts or reductions until
mid-April or May, but Shepard said pre­paring
for them is of utmost importance'.
Western Associated Students (AS)
President Erik Lowe wrote a letter detail­ing
the consequences of not adhering to
see BUDGET page 4
Safety an issue on East College Way
Photo by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT
Two cars stop while Western students cross one of four crosswalks along East College Way. Many people are concerned with the road's safety.
Construction poses problems for pedestrians and bicyclists
Will MacBride
THE WESTERN FRONT
With the completion of the Academic
Instruction Center (AIC), Western officials
have begun to focus on the next major on-campus
construction project, the renova­tion
of Miller Hall and the ramifications of
increased traffic on East College Way.
East College Way is one of the few
roads on campus to which, vehicles have
access. The road is also the only vehicle
access to the Communication Facility, En­vironmental
Studies Building and Fine-
Art Building as well as Miller Hall, Fraser
Hall and Old Main.
In the past two years, East College
Way has seen three major accidents in­volving
vehicles.
During the renovation, East College
Way will see an increase in construction
vehicle traffic as well as limited access to
the areas behind the academic buildings.
Since student safety is the number one
concern for Western officials, Facilities
Management devised strategies to curb
pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic
along East College Way during construc­tion,
University Police Chief Randy Steg-meier
said. The renovation to Miller Hall
will take more than a few months -and a
start date for construction has not yet been
scheduled.
Western's Capital Budget Office re­quested
and appropriated design funding
in the 2007-2009 session. Construction
funding was requested for 2009-2011
and Gov. Chris Gregoire recently granted
Western $57.8 million for the project.
During construction, the parking
lot behind Miller Hall, lot 10G, will be
closed and access to the lots behind Old
Main and Fraser Hall will be limited, said
Tim Wynn, director of Facilities Manage­ment.
Those who have permits for lot 10G
will be relocated to a different lot off Oak
Street.
The. parking lot behind the commu
see SAFETY page 5
First of three
vice president
candidates
visits Western
Jeff Twining
THE WESTERN FRONT
Speaking from experience and filled
with enthusiasm, Janice Stroh addressed a
group of approximately 50 Western facul­ty
and. staff in an open forum Thursday as
the first of three finalists for the position
of Vice President for Business and Finan­cial
Affairs.
As a finalist, Stroh distanced herself
from competitors by touting an extensive
background in higher education, including
former vice president positions that dealt
specifically with business and finance, said
Brian Burton, chair of the VP for business
and financial affairs search committee and
dean of the College of Business and Eco­nomics.
"She's been at various types of insti­tutions
all across the board," Burton said.
"She's done this job before; her knowlr
edge of [the job] stood out."
With two more open forums planned,
Burton said the search committee hopes to
have someone hired as soon as possible,
noting that President Shepard makes the
final decision.
"The negotiating process begins
when the search process stops," Burton
said. "Ultimately, the president makes the
decision, similar to the way the provost
search has gone."
The search process began when the
search committee was formed in August
2008. The first deadline for applications
see STROH page 5
Photo by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT
Janice Stroh, one of three finalists for vice
president of business and financial affairs.