Western Front - 1997 January 10

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Friday,
Jan;10,1997
Volume 99
Issue 1*
WESTERN FRONT Western Washington University Bellingham, Washington
Last chance for bike dismount
By Kristen T. Paulson
The Western Front
University Police have begun
handing informational pamphlets
to those violating the new bicycle
dismount policy; soon, those
pamphlets will become tickets.
Bikes have not been banned
from campus, despite what many
had feared. The new policy
requires bicyclists to dismount
for the period 15 minutes before
the hour to 15 minutes after, in
designated areas. The major dif­ference
between this policy and
the previous is that this policy
will be enforced.
The new policy is backed by
law; those caught breaking them
could receive trespassing tickets.
The University Police, however,
plan to deal with students differ­ently.
Non-students will receive
citations, while^tuderits-wllFfitir^
mally be turned over to the Office
of Student Affairs. This does not
mean that student violators won't
be punished; just that they may be
Red areas denote dismount zones
-^tmished^differently.
"You could end up being
kicked out of school for repeated
violations," said Chief of
"(The new rule) is not entirely
without teeth."
"Unless we have a problem,
we're not going to go out and be
University Police Doug Gill, really mean," Gill said.
Front/ Amy Sievertsen
Rather than focus on citing
people for infractions, the
University Police, as well as the
Public Safety Assistants (green-coats),
are focusing on education See B i k e s , page 6
for the first two weeks. They have
been handing out brochures con­taining
the rules to bicyclists and
leaving them on bikes. "So far,
the response has been really posi­tive,"
Gill said. "We're trying to
be the good guys, not bad guy's."
The previous policy required
students to dismount and walk
their bikes 10 minutes prior to
each hour in designated areas.
"Essentially, that policy was
never effectively advertised or
enforced," said Health and Safety
Committee student representative
Greg Kuhn.
The current policy will remain
in effect until June, at which point
vice president for business and
financial affairs, George Pierce,
will decide if the policy is effec­tive.
If students ignore the dis­mount
policy or if there are many
more accidents or close calls,
Pierce could change it to the more
restrictive policy. Bicyclists
would then be required to dis-
Board dismisses professor
Omar Castaneda plans state court appeal
By Jacob Henifin
The Western Front
The Board of Trustees unani­mously
voted to terminate the
formerly-suspended professor
Omar Castaneda Dec. 16, against
the faculty grievance committee's
recommendation. Castafieda's
attorney contends the action vio­lates
federal law.
The Board of Trustees is the
final appellate body of Western.
Castafieda's attorney, Robert
Butler, and Castaneda intend to
bring a new case of action in fed­eral
district court in Seattle. They
will litigate the federal issue of
wrongful termination for conduct
unrelated to employment, the
failure to secure due process and
a lapse in certain procedural
aspects.
"We will seek an appropriate
remedy ... continued employ­ment,
return of tenure and mone­tary
damages for lost opportunity
and future economic harm,"
Butler said.
"The university's position is
sound and will withstand court
scrutiny very well ... The claims
are without merit," said Wendy
Bohlke, the assistant attorney
general representing Western.
Castaneda was suspended fol­lowing
an October 1995 arrest in
Ferndale for possession of heroin
and methamphetamines.
Castaneda admitted to using
drugs that evening; however, the
court determined that police ille­gally
stopped Castaneda and the
subsequent search and seizure
were illegal. The charges were
dropped and the case dismissed.
At the time of the arrest, he was
on professional leave working on
an instructional book for fiction
writing.
Provost Larry De Lorme
assembled an ad-hoc select facul­ty
committee in April 1996 to
consider what sanctions should
placed on Castaneda. The 3-2 rul­ing
recommended a one-quarter
suspension without pay and a let­ter
of censure placed in his file
and*published in the faculty pub­lication
FAST. The two dissenters
said no sanctions should be
imposed. The decision, which
procedure dictates should have
been given to De Lorme, was
inadvertently sent to President
Karen Morse. None of the
Administration availed them­selves
for comment.
"Morse jumped in when she
should have known it was not for
her," Butler said. "This was quite
objectionable ... There is a signif­icant
procedural failure to have
Morse party (to the issue) at this
point," he said.
"By getting the decision, the
president was put in a bad posi­tion
to scrutinize," Bohlke said.
The decision to terminate or
retain Castaneda was De
Lorme's. The president counseled
Castaneda to resign and receive a
favorable letter of recommenda­tion.
Butler said Morse told
Castaneda in May she consulted
the board and that they backed
her decision. If Morse influenced
the board, then due process was
denied to Castaneda.
"From the beginning, the result
was set," Butler said. "We just
had to jump through the hoop to
be axed."
"That does not have any factu­al
basis," said Charlotte Chalker,
board chairwoman. "She contact- •
ed us to advise us that she termi­nated
an employee," she said.
"The president testified that she
informed the board that she made
a decision and the board support­ed
her decision to make a deci­sion,"
Bohlke said.
See Castaneda, page 4
off the recall hook
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