Western Front - 1985 March 12

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A Front special
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Pfueller runs
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TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1985 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA VOL. 77, NO. 16
Approved
Western gets a WashPIRG .
By Cheri Hoover
Following a lengthy discussion,
Western's Board of Trustees
Thursday authorized the forma­tion
of a chapter of WashPIRG at
Western by next fall.
In doing so, the board also OK'd
a controversial $2 refundable fee
that will be tacked onto tuition
fees at registration.
DANNY KADDEN
A "negative check-off" system
will be used to gather funds for
Western's WashPIRG chapter.
That involves paying the fees at the
time of registration. If students
decide they don't want to pay the
fee to support WashPIRG, how­ever,
a refund will be provided
within two or three weeks after
registration.
Board member Irwin LeCocq
said the $2 fee should be clearly iden­tified
as refundable and not man­datory
for enrollment.
Another board member, Craig
Cole, dissented from the board's'
decision calling the negative
check-off method of gathering fees
a"back door approach."
"I've always supported PIRGs,
but I think everyone should be
straight with the students. I think
it's a back door way of getting
money." he said.
Cole suggested a positive check­off
system, as currently is being
used by the Washington Student
Lobby. With positive check-off, a
student makes a choice at the time
of registration if they wish to pay
the extra $1.
WashPIRG representative
Danny Kadden said WashPIRG
wouldn't survive with positive
check-off because not enough
funds would be raised.
"We've looked into that (posi­tive
check-off). We've found it to
be unworkable at Western," Kad­den
said.
Trustee Martha Choe said she
felt comfortable with the proposal
and the negative check-off system.
"I would like to see it (Wash­PIRG)
try it. I would also like to
see it scrutinized, but to let it stand
or fall on its own merits."
Kadden told the board that if at
. any time a majority of the students
at Western were not supporting the
chapter and were requesting a
refund of their $2 fee, the chapter
would close automatically.
At last month's meeting, the board
delayed action on the establish­ment
of a WashPIRG chapter at
Western because LeCocq and Cole
were absent.
WashPI RG is a student-run and
funded organization set up to work
oh consumer and environmental
issues. The fees are used for
research and publishing costs.
. and a divestiture proposal
By Cheri Hoover
Western's Board of Trustees
Thursday unanimously adopted a
slightly amended policy that for­bids
the investment of university
funds in banks lending money to
South Africa.
Yvonne Ward, member of the
Anti-Apartheid Action Coalition
and Associated Students Secretary
Treasurer, presented a written
rationale to board members in
February outlining reasons for
divestiture.
. Since then, Ward has worked
with Don Sturgill, controller, and
Don Cole, vice president of busi­ness
and financial affairs, to clarify
the proposal, which prohibits uni­versity
investments in banks that
have "direct involvement" with the
Republic of South Africa.
The amended proposal redefines
"direct involvement" to include
"making loans or grants to a
government, its agents or agencies
or business enterprises of a nation
which violates human rights."
A yearly review of university
investments will be conducted,
rather than quarterly reviews, as
was suggested in the original
proposal.
But if a bank holding Western
funds suddenly sent money to
South Africa, this issue would be
discussed at the earliest board
meeting.
Ward said only Rainier Bank,
Trustees Gordon Sandison, (left) Craig Cole and Irwin LeCocq
discuss a divestiture proposal at Thursday's board meeting.
Peoples Bank, First Interstate
Bank, Seafirst and the Bank of
California are large enough to lend
money to South Africa's govern­ment,
and therefore would be the
only banks affected by the divest­ment
policy.
Currently, of the five banks
mentioned, only Seafirst recently
adopted a policy against lending to
the South African government.
None of the five banks currently
has funds invested in South Africa.
At last month's board meeting,
the trustees expressed concern
about not getting the most finan-cial
gains possible from
investments.
But Ward said so few banks are
affected that the money easily can
be made up elsewhere.
"Studies have shown that div­estment
doesn't negatively affect
interest income for institutions,"
Ward said.
Ward said adoption of the
proposal is a positive step toward
bringing attention to the South
African issue and making an
impact on South. African human
rights violations.
"It's real inspiring to see that the
trustees are sensitive to social
issues and student concerns,"
Ward said.
Supporters of the divestiture
plan based their proposal on a
measure passed by The Evergreen
State College on Jan. 9.
Elliott honored as
top store manager
By Don Yates
Bookstore manager George
Elliott has been picked as one of
the nation's outstanding college
store managers by the National
Association of College Stores.
Elliott said he was chosen
because of the bookstore's consist­ent
sales improvement and his
involvement in industry activities.
Approximately 2,600 college
stores are in the association and
five managers were chosen for the
award, Elliott said.
"I was shocked when I found
out," he said. "It's the highlight of
my career."
Elliott praised his staff for their
performance.
"Any manager has to have the
staffing to allow him to do the
things he has to do. They deserve
the award as much as I do," he
said.
Elliott has been in the bookstore
business for 17 years, beginning as
Western's assistant manager in
1968 and becoming general man­ager
in 1971.
GEORGE ELLIOTT
"The operation was basically
bankrupt when 1 took over. There
were no discounts and we were, in
fact, adding to the cost of the mer­chandise,"
he commented.
"We now have the largest dis-
• see ELLIOTT, p. 2