Western Front - 1994 April 8

              Breaking away
Residents take first step toward
seccession from Whatcom County.
News — Page 4
Portland band begi
assault on moshing masses
Accent — Page 6
STIES
masses. ^r
'My, oh my!]
The Mariners begin
their campaign for an
American League West title!
Sports — Page 10
The Western Front
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FRIDAY — APRIL 8,1994 VOLUME 88, ISSUE 2
Smoke detectors fail to work in Old Main
By Chris Geer
and Nick Davis
Front reporters
Many have accused those who
inhabit the hallowed halls of Old
Main of being insensitive. While
this may not be true of all the
administrators, it is true of the
smoke detection system.
Smoke generated from an
overheating elevator motor forced
the evacuation of Old Main on
April 5. But it was not strong
enough to trip the alarm system
that activates closure of the fire
safety doors.
The smoke originated in the
basement of the elevator shaft and
spread upwards spilling into the
first and fourth floors as the eleva­tor
doors opened.
"The motor overheated. As it
did so, it gave off a strong odor,
but very little smoke. And it only
did this while the elevator was in
use," said Peter Harris, director of
the physical plant.
"I saved Old Main," joked
Anne Eskridge, assistant director
of Residence Life. She smelled
smoke on the first floor while
waiting to use the elevator. Shortly
How safe is Western?
Part one of a three-part series
after 3 p.m., Eskridge ran into the
Testing Center to call 911 and
instructed Tristan Hughes, art
employee of the Testing Center,
to pull a fire alarm.
Harris said the smoke detec­tors
might have been state-of-the-art
when they were installed 20
years ago, but are much less sen­sitive
than today's newer detec­tors.
The way the smoke was
emitted intermittently, in combi­nation
with the old smoke detec­tors,,
caused the safety doors to
remain open.
"Obviously we are not happy
with the sensitivity of the smoke
detectors. If we were, we wouldn' t
have spent $390,000 for an up­grade
(proposal) for Old Main
and the Performing Arts Center,"
Harris said.
"We hope the Board of Trust­ees
will award the contract next
week (April 14). That's pretty
timely, but we didn't plan it that
Front/Steve Dunkelberger
Firemen rush up the stairs of Old Main to bring a multitude of fans to ventilate the smoke.
way. ... We've known for some
time we' ve wanted to put in a new
alarm system," Harris said.
Thin wisps of smoke stream­ing
from the top of the elevator
shaft on the southern end of the
95-year-old administration
building caused the Bellingham
Fire Department to bring in sev­eral
ventilation fans. Old Main
workers were kept away from their
offices for almost an hour.
Workers and students milled
around outside while fire crews
ventilated the building.
The accumulation of smoke
coincided with the flux of stu­dents
going to and from their
classes around 3 p.m.
Two Western maintenance
workers were stuck in a mechani­cal
room on the fifth floor during
the evacuation.
See Fire, page 3
Changing lives for Mason inhabitants Education
By Hilary Parker
Front reporter
Two months after the arson
fire in Bellingham's historic Ma­son
building, steps are being taken
to try the two arson suspects —
and the building's former occu­pants
are working to get their
businesses back up to speed.
The Jan. 28 arson gutted the
upper floor of the 86-year-old
Mason building and heavily
damaged the ground floor.
The fire displaced Northwest
Youth Services, Aladdin's An­tiques,
Allen Signs Horn Shop
and Northern Sales.
Two teens, 17 and 14-years-old,
were arrested as suspects in
the arson case, and in connection
with a crime spree in the down­town
area.
Recently, the younger boy
pleaded guilty to the charges and
was returned to his residence in
Snohomish County for hearings,
said Gary Wood, Whatcom
County Juvenile Court director.
The 17-year-old is waiting for
his deposition hearing on April
Front/Vanassa Blackburn
No longer home to the many businesses which it used to house
the Mason building is now a boarded up hulk.
11. This hearing will determine
whether the juvenile will be tried
as an adult.
The businesses housed in the
Mason Building are making
headway after the fire.
Northwest Youth Services
occupied the upper floor of the
building and lost hundreds of files
in the fire.
"It's very slow," said Execu­tive
Director Michael Tyers, in
regard to replacing the files.
"Many will have to be replaced
over time. We've lost more than
20 years of business history."
Tyers estimated the fire did
$90,000 to $100,000 worth of
damage to the office.
Aladdin's Antiques owner
Walter Robinson said he doesn't
have an exact figure for his losses
but that the damage done is not
just in dollars and cents.
"I don't have a real solid num­ber,"
he said. "In physical things
— inventory, display and sup­plies
— I'd say $20,000. Plus
being out of work for a couple of
months." At the moment,
Robinson is working to open his
new shop in the basement of the
Old Town Antique Mall in May.
This new site will be perma­nent
for the shop.
Another permanent change
will be the absence of Northern
Sales in Bellingham.
The surplus store will rely on
its Mount Vernon location, and
losses are estimated to be in the
seven-figure range.
revamped
by 2000
By Michele Anderson
Front reporter
Imagine walking into an ac­counting
class and hearing the
professor say you will be doing
Bill Gates' taxes instead of a lec­ture.
The professor says Mr. Gates
wants to pay as little as possible.
Would you know what to do?
This is just one example of a
growing movement to make edu­cation
more applicable to real-life
situations.
Western Washington Univer­sity
will examine several progres­sive
teaching methods in an up­coming
conference on April 30,
including performance-based
education, alternative assessment
methods, the role of teachers,
parents and the community in the
new methods and
multiculturalism.
See Learning, page 3