Western Front - 1999 May 18

              Tuesday, May 18,1999
Western Washington University Volume 108 Issue 14 Bellingham, Washington
Morse's commitment to diversity criticized
By Remy Kissel
THE WESTERN FRONT
A rain-soaked crowd of 30 stu­dents
gathered noon Monday
under the covered steps of Old
Main to publicly argue their
beliefs about Western's lack of
commitment to diversity and
safety on campus.
The group, calling itself
Concerned Students Regarding
Safety and Diversity On Our
Campus, or Concerned Students
at Western, invited representa­tives
from the news community,
distributed press releases and
allowed time for a question-and-answer
session.
The group claimed President
Karen Morse would not sign its
list of demands during its meet­ing
Friday, and refused to grant
members a second meeting.
Additionally, it claimed Morse
single-handedly denied tenure to
two exceedingly qualified faculty
of color, despite other adminis­trators
voting to grant tenure.
The demands, listed on the
group's "Western's. Dirty
Laundry" Web page, include
demands for training, funding
and full-time faculty for the
American Cultural Studies pro­gram,
a review of policies regard­ing
hate crimes and sexual
assault and administrative
accountability for maintaining
these institutions.
Vice President for Student
Affairs Eileen Coughlin said
President Morse would not sign
the list because she didn't have a
scheduled appointment with the
group, which demanded to see
Morse on a day when she was out
See DIVERSITY, page 7
90 more students will
be admitted next year
By Jen True
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western has room for 90
more students next year. The
state Legislature allocated
funding for 310 additional stu­dents;
however, 220 of the
spaces are full due to
increased acceptance, reten­tion
and greater student credit
loads this academic year.
Director of Admissions
Karen Copetas said the
remaining 90 spaces would be
split between new transfers
applying winter and spring
quarters and students return­ing
to Western after taking
quarters off.
The 310 extra spaces stem
from the state Legislature's
decision to enroll 8,700 addi­tional
students to the 33 com­munity
colleges and six state
universities during the 1999-
2001 biennium, said Western's
Registrar Joseph St. Hilaire.
"It's exciting to see that
Western's popularity contin­ues
to grow, but it's kind of
frustrating too because you
wish you could admit, everyone
who wants to come," Copetas
said.
Enrollment for fall 1999 will
closely match the enrollment
of 2,194 last fall quarter,
Copetas said. Western
received 6,401 applicants and
admitted 5,330 for fall quarter.
A majority of the applicants
have applied elsewhere; there­fore,
Copetas said she predicts
between 2,150 and 2,190 will
enroll at Western.
The state Legislature allo­cated
$7,500 in funding for
each new student, Executive
Director for Planning and
Analysis Jack Cooley said.
This funding covers two-thirds
of the student cost;
tuition being the last third. A
proposal was made to reduce
state funding by 20 percent
this biennium, but did not
pass, Cooley said. He said the
university worked hard for the
full amount and is fortunate to
have received it.
"Historically, the program
that has received its portion of
the share is instruction,"
Cooley said. He added funding
for instruction covers all edu­cational
costs, including class-,
room supplies and faculty.
Specific uses for the money
will be reviewed within the
budget process during the next
few weeks, he said.
The GPA criteria for admis­sion
is more competitive for
transfer students applying
See APPLICATIONS, page 8
Hundreds celebrate Spring
Amanda Hashimoto/The Western Front
Red Square was filled with food and fun Saturday.
See story page 6.
Bargain books
Barney Benedictson/The Western Front
Just one of the 250,000 used titles available at Books Northwest.
See story page 10.
Chalking guidelines
being reconsidered
By Jackie Mercurio
THE WESTERN FRONT
Changes to the chalking
guidelines might include indi­vidual
chalking and expansion
of the two designated chalking
areas in Red Square.
The University Services
Council recommended chalk­ing
guidelines, which were
accepted in March by Vice
President for Student Affairs
Eileen Coughlin. The guide­lines
accepted by Coughlin
mirrored the USC's recommen­dation
regarding time, place
and manner. They didn't, how­ever,
include the recommenda­tion
allowing individuals to
chalk.
Coughlin wanted more dis­cussion
regarding individuals'
right to .chalk, so the USC met
May 5. Once again, the USC
recommended individuals be
allowed to chalk.
"We want to make sure that
students who aren't necessari­ly
comfortable standing on the
side of the fountain and yelling
out whatever still have an out­let,"
said Amy Summers USC
See CHALKING, page 7
Locke signs
budget; Western
allocated
$250 million
By Lisa Curdy
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western's wishes have been
granted by Gov. Gary Locke,
who signed the $20.6 billion
state budget for the 1999-2001
biennium Friday.
Of that large pie, Western
will receive more than $251.5
million during the next two
years.
"This is a budget that will
help us maintain quality at the
present level," said Al
Froderberg, vice president for
External Affairs.
Western will receive the
money in two budgets — the
capital budget, which is
responsible for buildings,
maintenance and upgrades,
and the operational budget, a
majority-of which pays the
salaries for staff and faculty.
Included in the $32 million
capital portion of Western's
total allocation is $10.1 million
to build the new Campus
Service Building, which will
house University Police and
the SHAIC. It will be located
near 21st Street and „ Bill
McDonald Parkway where the
C parking lots are now. The
structure is planned to be built
in the next two years.
The remainder of the capital
budget is dedicated to funding
a design for a communications
building, as well as money for
building maintenance, renova­tions
and technology upgrades.
"Overall, this was an
See BUDGET, page 8
IN THIS ISSUE
Outdoor volleyball
at Western
Two-person teams from all
around the northwest con­verged
on Bellingham this
weekend for the fifth-annual
Western Open volleyball
tournament.
Story page 11.
To be a cowboy
Western stu­dent
Cody
West is on
the rodeo cir­cuit
and
looking to
rope and ride
his way to
the top.
Story page 11.
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