Western Front - 1998 May 1

              WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY VOLUME 104 ISSUE 9
FRIDAY
May 1,1998
BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Once, twice, three
times an election
IIIIISII^^
Kitty Calhoun ascends Thalay Saggar in the Indian Himalayas. Andy Setters, the photographer, gave
a presentation Thursday night about the impact climbing has had on his life. See story, page 6
By Katherine Schiffner
The Western Front
When Associated Students
presidential candidate Caleb
Papineau learned of his disquali­fications,
he clenched his hands
and hung his head. Sarah Steves,
the other candidate in the run-off
election, burst into tears.
However, the lengthy cam­paign
is not over yet.
Papineau, who won the April
29 run-off election by nine votes,
was disqualified
by the AS
Elections Board
for failing to com­ply
with sanc­tions
the board
had imposed at
its April 27 meet­ing
after the
board ruled
Papineau violat­ed
the elections
code. Papineau
was also disquali­fied
on a separate
count by the
Associated Students Elections
Coordinator for failing to turn in
his financial statement by 5 p.m.
on April 29.
Papineau said he has not decid­ed
whether or not he will appeal
both decisions.
Due to Papineau's disqualifica­tion,
the election code mandates a
second run-off election, which
will be May 6 in Red Square from
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The election will
determine whether Steves or K.C.
Bodily will become the next AS
president.
The April 29 election did deter-
"I think there
needs to be a
serious
re-evaluation of
the grievance
process."
mine the winner of the AS vice
president of Business and
Operations; Genevieve Panush
won the race with 61.24 percent of
the 921 votes cast.
In the run-off election, Steves
received 49.59 percent of the 1103
votes cast, and Papineau received
50.41 percent of the votes.-Eleven
percent of Western students par­ticipated
in the one-day vote.
"Trying to explain what hap­pened
to the voters is a hard
thing," said Associated Students
E l e c t i o n s
Caleb Papineau
Associated Students
presidential candidate
C o o r d i n a t o r
N i c h o l a s
Harmer, adding
that the necessi­ty
for a third
election is
"unprecedent­ed."
"What can you
say? I know you
all came to the
polls a second
time, but here
we go again,"
Harmer said.
The elections board unani­mously
voted to disqualify
Papineau at Wednesday's meet­ing,
with members Joe Mochnick,
Rachelle Wills, Travis Goodlett,
Heather Quinn, Joel Bruer, board
adviser Kevin Majkut and board
Chair Arionda Feeney present.
Feeney said the board ruled
Papineau had failed to comply
with the sanctions imposed
against him for sending e-mail to
randomly selected students,
which the board had determined
was a violation of the elections
See Grievance, page 3
Committee gives Western passing grade
By Scott Morris
The Western Front
Considering the wide scope of the 17-
member accreditation team's visit to
Western this week, the team's oral report of
its preliminary findings was, by contrast,
short and lacking details.
At the podium Wednesday morning in
the Wilson Library Presentation Room,
Professor Joan Wadlow, chair of the evalua­tion
team that combed the campus Monday
and Tuesday, briefly summarized what
works and what doesn't at Western.
Western received high marks for its com­mitment
to undergraduate education, the
mentoring of new faculty and the atmos­phere
of the campus.
"The three commendations are more
than just good practices," Wadlow said.
"These are outstanding activities that fit
nicely with Western's strategic goal of
The first commendation was particularly
strong, given that under-:
graduate education is
Western's primary concern
"Western Washington
University is commended
for the strength and quality
of its commitment to
undergraduate education,"
Wadlow said. "Faculty
members are available and
accessible to students."
The evaluators commen­dation
also praised
Western's success at inte­grating
the student experi­ence
with life outside the university.
Conversely, Wadlow identified three
things the evaluators found lacking at
"Every faculty
member and
student should pat
themselves on the
back."
Carolyn Dale
Chair of Western's
Accreditation Executive
Committee
Western.
"While individual educational programs
(at Western) have developed their own
assessments that measure
results," Wadlow said,
"Western has no overall
educational assessment of
outcomes at the core and
educational program
level."
Second, the accreditors
said Western is required
to evaluate faculty mem­bers
every three years,
instead of every five
years, as is Western's cur­rent
policy.
And while Western was
applauded for the cooperative relationship
the university has tried to foster with the
city of Bellingham while updating its mas­ter
plan, Wadlow's team urged Western to
complete its master plan as soon as possi­ble.
The team's recommendations did not
mention, however, several things the uni­versity's
self-study identified as problems.
The poor communication between govern­ing
bodies, concerns of the Associated
Students, problems with the Woodring
College-.of Education and inadequate recre­ational
facilities were not addressed by the
team's general comments.
Immediately after her presentation,
Wadlow said it would be premature to
comment on specific details. About the
recreational facilities, Wadlow did say that
the accreditors accepted the university's
explanation in the self-study that academic
priorities came before recreation.
Any questions about the specifics of
See Western, page 3