Western Front - 1998 October 30

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WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30,1998
VOLUME 206 ISSUE 10 BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
George Gerschwin remembered
Front/Erin Fredrichs
Leon Bates plays piano at "Gershwin By Requesf'We^
was accompanied by Bass-Baritone Benjamin Matthews and Soprano Sebrbneite Barnes. vfh^ trio has per­formed
in more than 150 concerts and will tour dozens of states for its 10th season. The concert was part of
the Performing Arts Center Series, which includes eight events throughout the year.
Minimum-wage hike gets support
By Matt Williams
The Western Front
A meager crowd of 17 trickled into
Wilson Library Presentation Room at 7
p.m. Thursday night for an Initiative 688
speech.
The presentation, sponsored by Cesar
Chavez Student Organization for Labor
Solidarity and the Peace Resource Center,
featured President of the Whatcom Labor
Council David Warren and Community
Organizer for United Farm Workers of
America, AFI-QO Anne Atkeson.
"The workers in this country are just
getting screwed," Warren said, setting
the atmosphere for the evening.
1-688 aims to raise Washington state's
hourly minimum wage from $4.90 to
$5.70 in 1999 and again to $6.50 in 2000.
The minimum wage would, from 2000
on, be linked with the Consumer Price
Index, which measures the cost of living,
Warren said, meaning that the minimum
wage will rise in unison with the cost of
living.
"The whole nation is watching us,"
Warren said.
This is the first time anyone has tried
linking the minimum wage and the CPI,
he added. -'-, •
The opposition to 1-688 comes from the
Restaurant Association and the
Independent Business Federation. Small
business owners and restaurateurs claim
that 1-688 will indirectly hurt workers by
raising inflation and causing layoffs,
Warren said.
Warren disagreed.
"Business is extremely shortsighted. If
you can pay (workers) more, they will be
able to put more into the economy," he
said.
According to literature provided at the
presentation, the Washington state mini­mum
wage is $4.90 per hour, and the fed­eral
minirnum wage — applying to busi­nesses
that sell products outside of the
state — is $5.15 per hour.
"Washington state has the lowest min­imum
wage of' the. entire west coast,"
Atkeson said.
Visuals displayed during the program
stated that between 1980 and 1995, mini­mum
wage increased 37 percent while
the CPI increased 85 percent and execu­tive
pay increased 499 percent.
Minimum wage earners do the real
work in this country, said Jenny Martin,
coordinator of the Peace Resource
Center.
"If everyone earning minimum wage
called a strike, this country would be
screwed," Martin said.
'If d come to a screeching halt in 15
minutes," Warren added.
1-688 will be on the ballots this Tuesday
and absentee ballots must be postmarked
before Election Day.
Newt receives
mixed welcome
By Mia Penta
and Arvid Hokanson
The Western Front
Republicans greeted Newt Gingrich Tuesday night
at Bellingham's North wood Hall with a hearty chant
of "Newt, Newt, Newt ... " while a small but vocal
group of protesters braved the rain, chanting "Stop
Republican war on the family."
Gingrich's fund-raising trip to Bellingham pulled
in more than $12,500 for 2nd Congressional District
Rep. Jack Metcalf, who is in a tightly contested race
with Democratic opponent Grethe Cammermeyer.
Gingrich and Metcalf attended a private reception
and charity benefit at the Best Western Heritage Inn
before the campaign fund-raising stop, bringing in
$7,500 for the Skagit Community Action Council and
Whatcom Opportunity Council.
Nearly 500 people attended the Metcalf fundraiser,
including most of the Whatcom County Republican
candidates for state offices.
Gingrich entertained the crowd for about 25 min­utes,
admitting at one point that his Wife Marianne
owns a shirt that proclaims her "speaker of the
Gingrich house."
He spoke about politics, too, claiming Republican
victories for accomplishments
such as the balanced-budget
agreement and overhaul of
the Internal Revenue Service
and welfare.
"Do you believe that if the
Democrats had stayed in con­trol
that we would have balr
anced the budget?" Gingrich
asked.
The audience responded
with a resounding "No!"
Throughout his speech,
Gingrich stressed traditional
Republican values, including
cutting taxes.
"No one should have to pay more than 25 percent
of their income in state, federal and local taxes com­bined,"
he said.
Western student Justin McKay came to see Gingrich
and Metcalf because of their support of lower taxes
and benefits for veterans. The event was McKay's
first political rally.
"I'm here for the experience. You never get the
whole speech — just snippets on TV," McKay said.
Gingrich also called for modernization of govern­ment
technology, which he claimed will bring effi­ciency
to government offices, and a funding increase
for the war on drugs.
See Gingrich, page 3
Gingrich
University presidents vow to fight alcohol
ByNickHaney
The Western Front
Several presidents of Washington state universities and
government officials gathered in Olympia Wednesday for a
ceremony declaring their commitment to combat alcohol
abuse among college students.
The signing was attended by state university presidents
from Western, Central, Eastern, Washington State,
University of Washington and Evergreen State.
Representatives from the backbone of the new program —
the Primary Prevention and Wellness Center — also attend­ed.
Western President Karen Morse hosted the signing of a
document that was created to address problems caused by
the "inappropriate, unhealthy and illegal use of alcohol and
other drugs by students," according to the Prevention and
Wellness mission statement.
Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen joined Morse and uni­versity
representatives in a day-long meeting sharing ideas
and practiced theories in controlling campus drinking.
After the official signing at the Legislative Building in
Olympia, attendees were invited to a luncheon to gather
and discuss effective abuse-prevejjtion practices.
They came together in the state capital not to approve and
support a fight against drinking, but to be "vocal,
visible,and visionary" in their efforts to help students make
and sustain individual decisions about their own alcohol
and drug abuse.
"We view it as a public health issue rather than a legal
issue," said Patricia Fabiano, director of the Primary
Prevention and Wellness Center at Western.
Fabiano said the center is absolutely not involved with
the recent police crack-down on college parties. She said the
message the police department is giving the public is that
Western's community is a bunch of uncontrollable drinkers.
The Prevention and Wellness center puts its focus on the
flipside of .a crackdown.
Fabiano said the center is more interested in students'
progress in classes and prevention of causing harm to them­selves.
Western started its campaign almost a year ago; it focus­es
on students' awareness of their own drinking habits as
well as common misconceptions about their peers' drinking
tendencies.
Last year, the center was awarded a two-year $271,816
grant from the United States Department of Education for
comprehensive alcohol and drug prevention projects. ,
Since the grant was awarded, the center has noted a
change in student behavior.
See Alcohol, page 5