Western Front - 2009 April 24

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MICHAEL VANDERBYL
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Friday, April 24, 2009
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
Shepard hires new provost
Nicholas Johnson
THE WESTERN FRONT
After conducting a second search,
Western ^president-Bruce 'Shepard an­nounced,
the hiring of Catherine Riordan
as Western's provost and vice president
for Academic Affairs Tuesday following
nearly two weeks of deliberation.
"Catherine was my first choice," Shep­ard
said. "Early on, I indicated to her that
she was,the person I wanted fpr the job."
After four toonths. 0f narrp^ing- down
the pool of 170 applicants, conducting
neutral-site interviews in Seattle and con^-.
sidering campus-community comments,
Western's Provost' and Vice President
for Academic Affairs Search' Committee"
presented Shepard with threefinal^can­didates:
Michael Zimmerman, Catherine
Riordan and Gerard Voland:
. ' S h e p a r d began calling the finalists
i^dfer^rices and, talking with colleagues
iiarourid campus on April 9;
^; "Twas delighted-when I heard the
inews,^ Riordan said. "I could tell this
would be a very "positive step "for me, and.
lam looking forward to moving to Bell-ingham."
.-"'.' • . _ . . ..
During her last seven years as vice
provost at Central Michigan University,
Riordan,:;said she has gained experience
with university-wide strategic and aca­demic
planning.; She also held the posi­tion
of ^sistant vice president for curricu­lum
and^assessment.
Heflhusband, Philip Thompson, is
currently an associate professor of eco­nomics
;|tCentfal Michigan and may seek
a faculty position in Western's economics
department in: the fall, committee chair
Craig Dunn said.
After failing to impress the search
committee at her first interview, during
the first search, Riordan was given a sec­ond
chance to answer the question "what
are you passionate about?" Riordan dem­onstrated
she was just as strong in person
as she was on paper and convinced the
committee of her qualifications in that
see PROVOST page 3
State passes
bill to expand
same-sex
couple rights
Lisa Carrougher
THE WESTERN FRONT :
On April 18, the Washington state
Legislature passed^ Senate Bill _ 5688,
which opens up new opportunities and
benefits for the state's same-sex domestic
partners.
Introduced by Sen. Ed Murray, D-Se-attle,
on Jan. 28, the bill was brought forth
after California passed Proposition 8.
Because of the bill, Western students
have been affected by. the recent changes
within the state, said Western senior Pat­rick
English, a Queers and Allies for Ac­tivism
member. . '
"It is important for students to be
aware of the climate in the state and how
recently things are playing out and rights
are being granted," English said. "West­ern's
campus is a school that embraces di­versity,
but that doesn't always translate to
the state atlarge."
The bill is defined in writing as the
expansion of- rights and responsibilities
for state-registered domestic partners.
The bill passed in the Senate March 10,
with a 62-35 vote, and later in the House
on April 15. Gov. Christine Gregoire said
she would sign the bill into the state law.
According to the bill, domestic part-,
ners will now be able to share the same
rights as opposite-sex marriage partners;
however, they would not be defined as
married partners.
Same-sex partners will have the right
to take sick leave to care for a domestic
partner, the right to wages and benefits
when a partner is injured and the right to
see STATE BILL page 3
AS elections polls to open Monday
Kendell Mercer
• THE WESTERN FRONT
Candidates for the Associated Stu­dents
(AS) vice president of academics
affairs, activities and students life dis­cussed
their platforms about alternative
transportation, budget cuts and creating a
more fluid relationship between students
and administration at Tuesday's forum in
Fraser Hall.
Students will be able to vote online
beginning at midnight April 27 and end­ing
at 2 p;m May 1. Polling stations in Red
Square and on south campus will be open
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the first and last
day of elections.
VP of Academic Affairs
Ramon Rinonos-Diaz
, ,M Western senior Ramon Ririonos-Diaz
has been a member of the University Din­ing
Services Committee since his fresh­man
year. He is involved with the Ethnic
Student Center and several of its clubs and
has also served as an orientation .student
adviser.
Rinonos-Diaz said, if elected, he
would like to generate more awareness
among students about Academic Affairs
and the services it has to offer.
"We need to educate students about
our academic decisions so they can be a
part of the conversation," Rinonos-Diaz
said.
With budget cuts eliminating academ­ic
support services available for students
next year, Rinonos-Diaz. said one of his
main goals is to enable students to still
see ELECTIONS page 4