Western Front - 1998 October 13

              WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13,1998
VOLUME 206 ISSUE 5 BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Rally blasts jail term
Front/Jesse Kinsman
Derek Wilson (left) was the main speaker at the International Indigenous
People's Day march and gathering.
By Colin E. Howser
The Western Front
About 150 people attended the
Internationa? Indigenous People's Day
march and gathering for Leonard Peltier
Sunday at the Peace Arch in Blaine. The pro­testers
allege Peltier was wrongfully impris-
Front/Jesse Kinsman
Pete Sanchez plays the
American Indian National
Anthem at the rally Sunday.
oned on a murder conviction 22 years ago.
Fifty members of the rally marched from
a Blaine city park to Peace Arch Park at the
Canada-U.S. border. Marchers who assem­bled
at the Peace Arch were from both coun­tries
and of every race and age, holding up
signs and chanting for a common goal —
Peltier's Freedom.
Peltier, a Native American from the
Chippewa and Lakota Nations, was an
activist for the American Indian Movement.
He and other AIM members were sum­moned
to Oglala, S.D/s Pine Ridge reserva­tion,
to assist and protect local tribes from
the FBI and local political enemies.
On June 16, 1975, two FBI agents had a
gun fight involving AIM activists and local
Native Americans. The agents and one
Native American were killed in the battle.
The government attempted to convict
two AIM activists for the murders, but a
jury found them not guilty. Peltier was
apprehended during the trial in Canada,
extradited to the United States and given
two life sentences upon conviction. No one
stood trial for the Native American killed in
the gunfight
See Peltier, page 5
Logging in Lake
Whatcom watershed
draws citizen input
By Darcy Spann
The Western Front
Sudden Valley resident
Jamie Berg presented
Washington Public Lands
Commissioner Jennifer
. Belcher with a pile of initia­tives
protesting the sale of a
portion of the Lake
Whatcom Watershed to be
used for clear-cut forestry.
She spoke at a forum last
night attended by a stand­ing-
room-only crowd of
more than 300 at the
Whatcom County
Courthouse.
The controversial Austin
Flats timber sale has
sparked a debate between
the Department of Natural
Resources and residents of
.Whatcom County.'s Sudden
Valley neighborhood.
As director of the DNR,
Belcher said, "My commit­ment
is that I'll be honest
with you." She then said
that she can't always do
what the public would like
her to do.. ;
Beicher listened to argu­ments
from various sources,
including Sudden Valley
residents, fisheries biolo­gists
and 40th District State
Rep. Jeff Morris, concerning
the plans currently under­way
for approval of the sale
of 14,000 acres of timber to
be logged.
Sedimentation in streams
affecting the life of the
Kokanee salmon and cut­throat
trout in Austin Creek
and Bellingham's water sup­ply
were among the debated
issues addressed by Bill
Wallace, Northwest region
manager of the DNR, who
met with opposition from
many audience members.
Following Wallace's
overview of the issues at
hand, Whatcom County
Executive Pete Kremen
invited members of the
audience to voice their opin­ions
to Belcher, who said
according to Washington
state law, forestry practices
must not only accommodate
public use, protect cultural
resources, maintain func­tional
ecosystems and meet
other social expectations,
but generate revenue for
county and state use as well.
"Unless a lot of extra care
is taken, we are going to
totally lose Austin Creek,"
said Jim Johnston, biologist
for the Washington state
Department of Fisheries and
Wildlife.
As a result, native stocks
in two hatcheries within the
Lake Whatcom Watershed
will be threatened, he said.
Forest ecologist David
Wall said, "The value of the
timber is very, very low
compared to the value of the
water resources within the
watershed."
His sentiment echoed the
fear voiced by many audi­ence
members — if clear-cut
forestry is practiced within
the Austin Creek Flats, resi­dents
of Sudden Valley and
surrounding areas may
experience a decrease in the
quality of their drinking
water.
Berg, who represented the
residents of Sudden Valley,
said, "What we are asking
for tonight is your personal
involvement in regards to
one of our most precious
resources — Lake Whatcom."
She asked for leadership and
guidance in helping protect
the. municipal water supply
for future generations.
"What we have to look at
is what is important for this
county and the state," said
Whatcom County Council
member Barbara Brenner.
To keep from further dam­aging
our natural resources,
Brenner suggested if the
state is willing to work with
the county and citizens of
Whatcom county, another
solution could be found to
remedy the problem, such as
a land swap with neighbor­ing
residents of the Austin
Creek Flat to prevent the
sale of timber to the logging
industry.
Public concern at the
meeting centered around the
idea that pure water is an
endangered commodity and
treatment of a watershed
forest area should be held to
a higher standard than treat-
See Water, page 5
^^iM^^Mr&^M^
By Matt Williams
The Western Front
A reported verbal harassment of a female
student may have been racially motivated,
University Police Chief James Shaw said.
The woman who filed the report said a
large group of males directed racial and
sexual comments toward her at approxi­mately
9 p.m. Sept. 29 in front of the
Environmental Studies Building.
The report, however, was not made to
university police until Oct., 2 at 2:22 p;m.
The woman stated that she believed the
offending males may have been Western
football players, Shaw said.
The timing and proximity pf the incident
coincided with players being excused from
a study table that lasted from 7 to 9 p.m.,
Football Coach Rob Smith said.
According to Shaw, the police expedient­ly
followed u p o n the complaint and con­tacted
the football coach.
"We informed the team, if it was some of
them, that this sort of behavior is riot con­doned
or tolerated," Smith said.
The woman is satisfied with this resolu­tion
and wishes for no further action
regarding the matter, Shaw said.
Western Judicial Officer Michael
Schardein said his office is looking into the
incident; Shaw said the judicial office and
university police will work together.
As it would be difficult to determine
which players, if any, were involved, no
punishment is planned, Shaw said.