Western Front - 1985 February 26

              HHHH
Telephone pole'
holds her own
in the middle
/5
WESTERN FRONT
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1985 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA VOL. 77, NO. 12
Western senior duo
takes 2nd in debate
By J. Thomas Bauer
A Western debate duo took
second place last weekend at the
William 0. Douglas Invitational
Tournament, attended by 22 uni­versities
and colleges from six
western states.
The Western Senior pairings
team.of Jeff Parcher and Jim Han­son
took second in CEDA (Cross
Examination Debate Association)
debate, losing in the final round to
a Pacific Lutheran University
team.
Debators in the tournament
argued whether "the U.S. is justi­fied
in providing military support
to non-democratic nations."
Parcher and Hanson won the
CEDA debate at the Western
Speech tournament in Fresno,
Calif., at the beginning of the
month.
PLU argued the affirmative in
the final round of debate.
They defended the resolution
by stating Pakistan, a non-democratic
nation, should be sup­ported
because the Soviet Union is
a threat to Pakistan and thus a
threat to the Indian Ocean and the
Persian Gulf.
• Western attacked the resolution
by stating that support to Pakistan
alientated India, thus increasing
the chance of war between the two
countries. They also stated that
support would increase the "rich-poor
gap" in Pakistan.
Western lost the final round 2-1.
They advanced to the final round
by beating Lewis and Clark Col-
• see DEBATE, p. 12
m^^w^MM^MSM "LAUR'JEGGL'E'i
Toxic wells
Whatcom County soil and water infested with detested pesticides
By Elizabeth Parker
In January, 1984, a powerful
agricultural pesticide. Ethylene
Dibromide (EDB), was found in
drinking water in Skagit County.
Soon after, it also was discovered
that this powerful carcinogen (a
cancer-causing agent) was present
in drinking water in agricultural
areas of Whatcom County.
These findings prompted Hux­ley
College to initiate the Toxic
Substances Research Center to test
the county's drinking water.
"This is a critically important
matter in terms of public health,"
Huxley Dean Richard Mayer said.
"I'm concerned about what people
are drinking. I think of children,
what is going into the milk, soup
and water they drink."
Mayer said the college hopes to
start its research this summer.
Mayer said that the early tests
that were done on. farm wells in
Whatcom County showed EDB at
100 times the acceptable level set
by the Environmental Protection
Agency.
"But no one really knows what
an acceptable level is," Mayer said.
EDB is particularly dangerous
because it moves through the soil,
where it is used to kill nematodes
(a small worm-like pest that dam­ages
potatoes and other crops that
are harvested for their roots), and
into the drinking water.
Mayer said EDB is used widely
in Whatcom County.
"EDB behaves a lot like DDT
(another powerful pesticide that is
a carcinogen) in that it has a long
half-life," he said.
Half-life is the amount of time it
takes for a substance to break
down halfway to a harmless form.
Mayer said EDBan'd DDT each
have a half-life of about 20 years.
So it takes 20 years to break down
half of the chemical that is in the
environment, he said.
"In a sense, these chemicals can
stay around for hundreds of years
in trace amounts and they may be
harmful until they are fully broken
down," he said.
The research center will work
closely with the Whatcom County
Department of Health, the state
Department of Social and Health
Services, the soil Conservation
Service, and the Whatcom
Chamber of Commerce and Indus­try,
he said.
"It's just a matter of time until
we find chemicals that will only kill
the pests and that will be harmless
to the rest of the environment,"
Mayer said. "It's an important
goal, but we're not there yet."
most vi»cl i l l lti ! !i»!m s
By Ann Evans
;;.;:ra pe| occur teq^i^&^S^M^M
0~;Page;^^
BpuhiicjSaf^
^T^arn:^
:
;; Count^aRapeg^eJi
•japWg^unre^
:VCl''Onty-';tm^
.re por ted;:Hb5;a ^
•heara^ourit;":;:;;S-\^ PAM ESTES
IHayMp^
|^itK|thel;as sa^tg^^tl^^^ujii-^^
fE|ie£said^
^^(^^0i$r^^i$at:^drr0,aT qiind•' ttft£;; >:
^ n p t & ! ^
f&n£|vbme^^
llfAt^
;iicj.y:pc^^
; ;re|ort^t||a;f c^eis^^t^it^ik
/'aslaulti^Ip^^
•Mopi:;0' ^s§®i|knfeai^fmfet"Hpd;^pf
6pera iipni ^tes-saidi^ft^v.;
^ • T H e ^ •
hyrnpusi yet the jepprt>rnay give
policeisbm? useful-inform
iriV prevehiirig; future";;rapes; In
orderto ^^rp^ebute^Hp^yef/'a
report musjbe filed
iJnesSviyigtiiiij^^-:^
| | r ^ i | s ^ g | ^ i | | p | I ^ | ^ ^ ^ @ ^ | f
^ ^ ^ i M I | | ^ i ^ | | | n ^ | | ^ v ^ | | ! ^ ^ i
l l r l ^ i i i i i ^ ^ a l ^ i l ^ i i ^ ^ ^^
;f||At^^
HptferitpvH
iitim-and'e^
f££i|p!rjrc^
i also; available L A a a ^ p ^ ^ i ^ y i ^ :
Jtimsrtp":!^
iciPrlfo^
:^: ;>A:;tliree^^
; being;; bffered invpiying: basic
i n f o r ^
assaultv;; the psychpipgy and
strategies of prevention ; a n^
•:p1fiy$icai:.'self-deferis^
ThecbstisSIO per perspn. For
more information call the Crisis