Western Front - 1986 February 14

              AS blasts WashPIRG referendum
* Activist group
^abandon ques
is urged to
tionable efforts
i3*-
**—*' By the Front staff
. A spur-of-the-moment refer­endum
this week by the
-Washington Public Interest
Research Group sparked charges
^ 0 o f potential "rigging" from the
•"l^sAssociated Students Board of
^^.-Pirectors Wednesday night.
*"***•- Board members condemned
•^""^.the referendum and encouraged
the troubled student-activist
^ ^ r o u p to abandon its current
^ J f f o r t s . WashPIRG should
><—""jittempt another referendum
«M^,j>pring quarter, board members
.^Ladvised, when a neutral election
w ~ ' 3 o r n r m U e e could add credibility
J3***-*) the results.
f^T'T" "If they're going to hold a ref-
.|V*'"Brendum and they're going to do
it under circumstances that
create allegations of rigging,
under secret conditions, we're
(AS Board) acting in an ironic
situation of having to be a con­sumer
advocate against a group
that's supposed to be a consumer
advocate group," said AS Vice
President for Internal Affairs
George Sidles. "I think we're
talking about a joke that's being
passed off as a referendum."
WashPIRG members decided
earlier this week to sponsor a ref­erendum
in last-minute efforts to
salvage the group's fee-collecting
contract for spring quarter. The
contract recently was suspended
after the group failed to meet
minimum contribution require­ments
fall and winter quarter.
WashPIRG members asked
Western's Board of Trustees last
Thursday to kill the minimum
contribution clause so the group
could collect donations from
spring registration. Trustees
tabled the proposal until next
month, snuffing the group's fee-collection
chances. WashPIRG
U
I think we're talking
about a joke that's
being passed off as
a referendum.
—George Sidles
99
stands to lose $3,000 to $4,000.
Spring registration begins
Feb. 24.
WashPIRG members hope a
successful referendum will per­suade
university administrators
to reinstate their fee-collecting
contract. A successful referen­dum
for the group would be
attracting greater than 50 per­cent
support among students
who vote.
At Wednesday's AS Board
meeting, local WashPIRG chair
Erin Hughes said she hopes
about 1,000 students will vote, a
figure she considers acceptable.
No figure for how many students
voted Wednesday was available.
About 8,300 students attend
Western.
"You say you're giving the
students a choice as to whether to
support WashPIRG or not,"said
AS Director of Communications
Paul Clark. "I've got a statement
to make. Two students said they
were hustled to the voting booth,
I mean hustled in the worst sense
of the word. That really sparked
a question in me if the board
could support something like
that."
Group members claim the
"overnight" referendum is justi­fied
because their contract with
Western indicates such an elec­tion
is required when the agree­ment
is suspended.
But Western's Assistant
Attorney General Wendy Bohlke
said Wednesday she believes
such .a referendum probably
should follow established AS
election guidelines.
According to AS by-laws, spe­cial
elections like WashPIRG's
require 14 days prior notice.
WashPIRG offered none.
WashPIRG's Wednesday and
Thursday referendum was, how­ever,
publicized with flyers
posted on those days containing
AS Vice President for External
A Hairs DeAnn Pullar's picture
and a statement of her support
lor the group. Her AS title was
•~Sce REFERENDUM, p. 2
The Western Fr
VOL. 78. NO. 9 WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 14, 1986
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Measles-thwarting serum
sought by students here
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More than 100 vaccinations
for a sometimes-deadly strain of
measles diagnosed at Western
this quarter have been given,
university health officials said.
Aside from the first case, diag­nosed
earlier this month,, no
other "hard" measles cases have
been confirmed here. Director of
Student Health Services Jennifer
Roy said. Two possible cases,
however, were sent to the Public
Health Office Tuesday.
Hard measles killed three Illi­nois
college students in 1983 and
hospitalized 13 others last year in
Boston, state health officials
said.
Hard measles primarily
attacks college age students, Roy
said, because most young adults
were too young when they were
vaccinated for the serum to
work.
Roy said Health Services will
not be sponsoring a Health Fair
this quarter because the staff is
needed to care for the large
amount of ill students. Officials
expect about 100 more students
to request vaccinations in the
near future.
Western's health office ran out
of the measles vaccine Wednes­day,
but had a supply delivered
later the same day, Roy said.
"Getting the serum hasn't been
difficult," she said, "but it may
become more difficult."
Hard measles is an airborn
disease, she said, and people can
get the germs by walking into a
room 30 minutes after someone
with the virus has left.
A person with hard measles
can carry and spread the disease
for up to four days before exhib­iting
the rash symptoms familiar
to the strain.
Hard measles should not be
confused with the less severe
German measles. Roy said. .
Roy said the Health Services
office makes a "clinical judg­ment"
regarding a possible
measles victim, then refers the
person to the Public Health
Office. Persons with suspected
cases of hard measles usually
have a rash that starts on their
face and a fever of more than 99
degrees Fahrenheit.
Roy would not release any
information about the Western
student diagnosed with the
strain.
The treatment for measles is to
get bed rest for about a week,
Roy said.
Conditions connected with
measles include cough, corza
(cold symptons), conjunctivitis
(may make eyes more sensitive to
light), fever and a rash that usu­ally
starts on the face.
Not many folks know the Alpha-Beta Cube, nextto Wilson Library, has crawling room inside.