Western Front - 1999 July 14

              WEDNESDAY, The Western Front
Western Washington University Volume 109 Issue 4 Bellingham, Washington
U.S. Supreme Court examines S&A fees
By Alex P. Hennesy
THE WESTERN FRONT
Funding for programs ranging
from sports to student government
may be in jeopardy depending on
the outcome of a case to be heard
by the U.S. Supreme Court in its
next term.
The Supreme Court is expected
to make a decision on the constitu­tionality
of mandatory student
activity fees collected from stu­dents
at nearly all public colleges
and universities in the country.
The money from such fees, col­lected
from student tuition, is used
to fund nearly all student-related
services and activities.
Programs funded by Services and
Activities fees include varsity and
intramural sports, student govern­ment,
clubs, publications, concerts
and student housing and dining.
In a case brought against the
University of Wisconsin last
August, a federal appeals court
ruled that S&A fees violated the
First Amendment rights of stu­dents
who did not wish their
money to go to groups with ideo­logical,
political or religious beliefs
they did not agree with. The
Supreme Court will determine if
that ruling was correct.
Previous rulings in similar cases
at the University of Oregon and
Lane Community College in
Oregon found S&A fees were
acceptable because they added to a
college's ability to provide an open
forum for campus speech by fund­ing
diverse activities and groups.
"Campuses try to offer opportu­nities
to as many groups as possi­ble,"
said David Toyer, Associated
Students vice president for
Legislative and Community
See COURT, page 2
Machine mends creek;
Murray assesses damage
Daniel Peters/The Western Front
The four-legged Spyder agitates contaminated soil sediments at a b e n d in Whatcom Creek.
Taft seminar discusses U.S. government
By Jennifer Sutton
THE WESTERN FRONT
What do Washington State
Supreme Court Justice Gerry
Alexander, former governor Mike
Lowry, Secretary of State Ralph
Munro and Jeff Koenings of
Washington Department of Fish
and Wildlife have in common?
Besides being involved in politics,
they are treating teachers to dis­cussions
at Western's 11th annu­al
Taft Seminar.
Beginning Sunday evening and
continuing through Friday.
Twenty-five teachers from the
Pacific Northwest and one from
Kansas will receive hands-on
training and participate in lively
discussions about how the politi­cal
process works from an insid­er's
perspective.
"The thrust of the seminar is to
learn from the people actually
involved with politics," said Don
Alper, director of Canadian-
American studies.
The seminar gives teachers a
chance to meet lobbyists, poll­sters,
government officials and
senators to convey a realistic por-
See TAFT, page 3
By Jaime Martin
THE WESTERN FRONT
Friday was intended to be a
celebration and dedication of
Salmon Park by Sen. Patty
Murray, D-Wash., instead, it
was an opportunity for her to
view the destruction along
Whatcom Creek.
Wearing jeans and a T-shirt,
Murray traveled to the blast
zone in Ruby, one of four trol­leys
operating in Bellingham,
along with Mayor Mark
Asmundson, public works and
parks representatives and
other citizens.
Asmundson said to Murray
that vapors rose 10 to 15 feet
off the creek.
Murray said she was amazed
at how close homes were to the
blast zone.
"Stupidly, admittedly, we
have allowed zoning too close,"
Asmundson said.
On-scene emergency coordi­nator
of the United States
Environmental Protection
Agency Thor Cutler explained
the unusual spider mechanism
used on the creek.
This spider is actually a
machine similar to a trackhoe.
It "walks" down the creek turn-
WTA changes bus schedule
By Christi Croft
THE WESTERN FRONT
Some students might have to
establish another mean of
transportation to campus for
the next academic year.
Whatcom Transportation
Authority is proposing schedule
changes for some of
Bellingham's bus routes. The
shifts are scheduled to begin
December 12, 1999. A public
hearing will be at 6:30 tonight
at the Whatcom County
Courthouse Council Chambers
for people who want to voice
their comments in person.
The schedule changes were
initiated through the WTA
planning department and were
based on customer comments,
said Steve Klaniecki, manager
of marketing and customer
information.
"Customers were asking for
more service and frequency,
mostly in the eastern part of.
Bellingham, near Sudden
Valley," Klaniecki said.
Nine routes will be affected
due to the proposed changes.
Klaniecki said because of
WTA's stagnant income, no
routes will be added and bus
fare will not be increased;
routes will be realigned. R i ck
Nicholson, transportation ser-vices
specialist for WTA, said
See WTA, page 3
Chris Fuller/The Western Front
Steve Klaniecki, left, and Rick Nicholson, right, look over
the planned new bus routes. ^
Overpass
stops traffic
By Alex P. Hennesy
THE WESTERN FRONT
The headaches of construction
at Samish Way overpass* will
lead to the relief of traffic pains
when the project ends in
October.
The project to rebuild the
bridge that allows Samish Way
to cross over 1-5 began in
January. The city undertook the
$6 million federal- and state-funded
project because the exist­ing
bridge was in need of serious
repairs, said Joe/Rutan, project
engineer for /the City of
Bellingham.
' I t needed maintenance, seis­mic
work and it didn't meet the
minimum height requirement,"
Rutan said.
The new bridge will remedy
See SAMISH, page 3
ing sediments to release
trapped gasoline, Cutler said.
It's a manned machine that has
metal legs to walk on instead of
tracks or wheels.
"We want to agitate the soils,
but not tear up the creek,"
Cutler said. "Mother Nature
does the best work."
Cutler explained every part
of the creek has been segment­ed
by terrain and the needs of
individual sections are being
a d d r e s s e d ,
Cutler said.
"It's truly an
incredible, dev­astating
pic­ture,"
Murray
said after view­ing
the damage
at the blast
zone. Patty Murray
Next, Ruby
took its passengers to Salmon
Park.
Bruce Barbour, an environ­mental
specialist with the
department of ecology,
explained the intent of Salmon
Park.
"We wanted to create a place
where salmon and people can
thrive," Barbour said. "This
community made a commit-
See MURRAY, page 3
IN THIS ISSUE
Students toss Frisbees
in tourneys
F r i s b e e
golf and
u l t i m a t e
Frisbee are
the two
f e a t u r e d
events in the
u p c o m i n g
tourneys July 24 - 25.
See story page 7.
Brewing for the beer
Local brewers concoct
hops, grains and yeast in
pursuit of the ultimate
beer.
See story page 5.
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