Western Front - 1999 October 29

              FRIDAY, October 29,1999
The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 110 Issue 10 Bellingham, Washington
Lippi-Green
files claim
against
Western
By Kristen Hawley
THE WESTERN FRONT
Former Western English pro­fessor
Rosina Lippi-Green filed
a tort claim against the univer­sity
Oct. 15 with the Office of
Risk Management in Olympia.
When a tort claim is filed
with the ORM, the state of
Washington hires an investiga­tor
to look into claims made by
the accusing party, then the
defendant has the opportunity
to settle out of court.
In this case, an investigator
will research Lippi-Green's
claims, and if Western chooses
not to settle within 60 days,
Lippi-Green can file a lawsuit in
Whatcom County.
In the lawsuit, which Lippi-
Green attached to the claim
filed in Olympia, eight current
and former Western faculty are
named as defendants, including
Emmerson and Peter Elich,
dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences.
In the claim, Lippi-Green said
a memorandum written by for­mer
English Department Chair
Richard Emmerson in August
damaged her reputation to the
point that she can no longer
seek employment as a professor.
"They're saying I'm not a suit­able
teacher, period," she said.
Emmerson wrote the memo in
response to a request from
Lippi-Green and two other pro­fessors
to teach a month-long
creative writing program in
Siena, Italy, in August 2000.
See LIPPI-GREEN, page 5
ALF: background check
By Sharon Armbruster
"THE WESTERN FRONT
The Animal Liberation Front,
which took responsibility for
breaking into Miller Hall
Saturday night, stealing
research animals and destroy­ing
research and property, has
a 20-year history of direct
action.
"The two main goals are to
liberate animals from labs or
places of abuse or to release
animals into the wild and to
cause as much economic dam­age
as possible through use of
non-violent property destruc­tion,"
said David Barbarash,
spokesman for the North
American Animal Liberation
Front Supporters Group.
The North American ALF
Supporters Group is a separate
organization from the ALF,
according to its Web page. Its
goal is to support the work of
the ALF by all lawful means
possible and to educate the
public as to the need and ratio­nale
of direct action.
"The immediate . goal is to
take animals out of the situa­tion
arid place them in loving
homes," Barbarash said.
"ALF is considered a domes­tic
terrorist group because of
Images courtesy of ALF via KIRO-TV Seattle
In still images taken from a self-made video by the ALF of
the raid, members spray paint "Thanks for the keys" on
the wall of an office where keys were found, pet two of the
four stolen lab rabbits and take a rabbit out of its cage to
put in a duffel bag for transport.
what they do and the reasons
they do it," said Ray Lauer, FBI
special agent spokesman. •
"Bear in mind that ALF does ,
everything from spray paint­ing,
to setting animals free, to
destroying research," Lauer
said.
With the use of property
.^destruction, the ALF hopes to
'"'make'Tit impossible for the spe-'
See ALF, page 3
Students still feeling effects of ALF raid
By Laura Mecca
THE WESTERN FRONT
The Animal Liberation Front's
raid resulted in more than steal­ing
rats and rabbits, and causing
$5,000 in property damage.
The group's actions also
destroyed more than one acade­mic
quarter of research, leaving
psychology 404 students with
empty cages and incomplete
notebooks.
"Students are the big losers
here," said Ronald Kleinknecht,
chair of the Psychology
Department. "You've got to think
of it as an attack on them, rather
then on us."
Student experiments were
underway when the ALF broke
into the basement of Miller Hall
and took four rabbits and 37
rats.
The course is the final major
requirement for graduation. The
senior seminar that gives stu­dents
an opportunity to train
rats operant conditioning is at a
standstill. This experiment, also
known as Skinner's box, condi­tions
the rats to push on a lever
that will give them food.
Ric Burd, a senior psychology
major, had his rat, "Sparky,"
stolen from the lab.
"All the experiments were per­fectly
harmless," Burd said. "He
See STUDENTS, page 4
The Western Front
is continuing to
cover the criminal
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Dean of College of Arts
and Sciences resigns,
term ends Jan. 1, 2000
A.S. board unites in
opposition against 1-695
By Kristin Bigsby
THE WESTERN FRONT
Peter Elich announced his
resignation Oct. 25 as dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences.
His resignation will be effec­tive
Jan. 1, 2000.
Elich, permanent dean of the
college since 1984, discussed
plans last year with Provost
Andrew Bodman to resign at the
end of this academic year. After
receiving news that the search
for a new dean had been post­poned,
Elich sent in his letter of
resignation.
"I was unable to stay longer
than this year because of my
own personal plans," Elich said.
"If I were to stay until a perma­nent
dean was appointed, it
might be another year or two. I
chose not to do that because I
was prepared to leave."
Bodman said he reluctantly
accepted Elich's resignation.
"My response accepts his deci­sion,
with regret, and pays trib­ute
to his long and distinguished
service at Western," Bodman
said in a letter Oct. 22
addressed to the chairs of the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Elich said his resignation is a
positive move for him, calling it
a "carefully considered personal
decision."
He requested to work as a pro­fessor
of psychology at Western
for the next three years, ending
See DEAN, page 5-
By Liam House-Doyle
THE WESTERN FRONT
Students' transportation was
the concerning issue Oct. 20
when the
A s s o c i a t e d
Students Board
of Directors
brought to
action a resolu­tion
to oppose
Initiative 695.
The decision,
6 in favor,
0 against and
1 abstaining, was based on rec­ommendations
from the
Legislative and Community
Affairs Council, said David
Toyer, A.S. vice president for
Legislative and Community
Victor Cox
Affairs.
"We don't think (1-695) is in
the best interest of students,"
Toyer said.
After receiving feedback
from students, reviewing the
initiative and discussing how it
would harm students, the
Board took its opposing stance.
If voters pass 1-695, trans­portation
will receive major
funding cuts.
"And that's a given," said
Victor Cox, A.S. president.
"Students don't buy expen­sive
cars ... they use trans­portation,"
Cox said. "It's a rich
person's tax."
The closure of bus routes
would negatively affect some
students.
"This is one of our worries,"
Toyer said.
IN THIS ISSUE
Senior soccer f oward
leader in goals
Senior soccer forward,
Julia Goodlett, the team's
leader in goals and points,
is profiled as her Western
career comes to a close.
See story, page 9.
Art raises money for
breast cancer
Breast can­cer
art show,
Reaching for
the Light,
displayed at
the Blue
Horse
Gallery.
See story, page 7.
FROM OM i\t
http:/ /wcsternfront.wwu.edu