Western Front - 1981 May 29

              the Western Front
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY VOL. 73, NO. 33 FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1981 AS: another try for invalidation
byABBYHAIGHT
The Associated Students election near­ly
returned to its controversial begin­nings
Tuesday when the AS Board of
Directors split a vote to invalidate the
polling.
The motion to invalidate, introduced
by AS Vice President for External Affairs
Bob Jirka, failed to gain a majority vote
and sank into the AS mire.
Jirka was part of the minority that
voted to uphold the AS election board's
decision to invalidate the polling two
weeks ago. That decision was based on a
complaint filed by three candidates that
the election code was violated when three
polling booths were moved from their
advertised locations.
In a formal statement, the election
board admitted they were in "gross viola­tion"
of their own code, and voided the
election. The AS board overruled that
decision May 18.
Jirka's proposal came after the board
heard two complaints on election pro­cedures
from Jamie Beletz, a write-in
candidate for Position 4.
The motion asked the board to invali­date
the balloting, schedule a new elec­tion
fall quarter, revise the election code
and contract the Whatcom County Audi­tor
to organize and oversee polling.
"The whole election issue has been a
fiasco," Jirka said, adding contracting
with the auditor would ensure a "fair and
impartial" election.
"1 think this body (the AS board) is
afraid to own up to its own inadequa­cies,"
Jirka said. "I think the only fair
tiling to do is invalidate and turn it over
to the auditor."
Although he could not vote on the
issue because of his candidacy, AS Presi­dent
Greg Sobel asked the board to con­sider
whether a new election would be
fair to students.
"You are considering an action that is
much too drastic for the problem," Sobel
said.
Jirka disagreed with a board member's
comment that by invalidating, the AS
board was "burying its head in the sand."
"I don't think we're burying our head
in the sand by overturning. I think we're
Shalhoub victor in AS upset
A runoff election for two Associated Students positions
resulted in one surprise and one predicted win.
Unofficial results late yesterday show Saud Al-Shalhoub
upset Doug Scott for Position 2. Scott, with extensive AS
experience, was predicted to win. Shalhoub received 197 votes
to Scott's 139.
Mark Hatcher outpaced Brian Pickering by more than 20
votes for Position 8.
AS ELECTION
Spring
19811
taking our head out of the sand," Jirka
said.
Martin Smith, who resigned from the
election board on the last day of ballot­ing,
agreed with Jirka.
"If you make a mistake you say 'Oops,
we made a mistake,' and you start all over
again," Smith said.
As they had previously, the board put
the blame on the election code that gov­erns
polling procedures. Most of the
complaints filed with the election board''
were made to protest vagueness in the
code.
When it came down to the vote, the
board was split, 3-3. Besides Sobel, board
member Therese Viator did not vote
because of her involvement with the elec­tion.
Activities Representative Howard
Levin resigned from the board last week
, citing personal reasons.
"I think the Associated Students
Board has no balls," Beletz said after the
decision. He said he might take his grie­vance
to the Board of Trustees, but added
involving the administration in AS
affairs might set a bad precedent.
continued on page two
Ray Foster hugs the jets trying to be the quickest across
Fisher Fountain in Wednesday's innertube race. Tom
Schoelkoft and Traci Gardner of Sigma placed first, com­pleting
two laps in 1:15.08. Organizers from Sigma, who
planned the event, said they hope the race will be sche­duled
monthly, but they predicted much slower times
during the winter when the fountain is drained.
Goltz quits, pursues Senate, business
by MARK CARLSON
State Sen. H. A. "Barney" Goltz
has announced he will resign his
position as university planner early
next year.
Employed at Western for 24
years in a variety of positions, the
Bellingham Democrat also said he
"definitely" will seek a third Senate
term in 1982. But Goltz branded a
Bellingham Herald report indicat­ing
he is considering running for
lieutenant governor in 1984 as
"premature."
H. A. Barney1 Goltz
Because of the Legislature's move
to annual sessions, Goltz said he
was forced to choose between con­tinuing
in Olympia in 1982 and
staying at Western. Serving in the
Legislature next year will conflict
with his busiest time as a university
planner, he said.
Goltz characterized the recently
concluded legislative session as
"frustrating" and "exhausting."
"As a matter of fact, it streng­thened
my resolve to run for ano­ther
term," he said.
The Legislature's turn to the
right represents a "sharp change in
philosophy," Goltz said. Although
he called the consequences of that
change unclear, Goltz speculated
statehouse conservatism will harm
state mental health programs,
among other areas.
"More and more people will not
be given help while they are still on
their feet," he said, "but they will
get help when they are down on
their knees."
Instead of helping mentally dis­turbed
citizens while they are still
in their homes, the state will send
them to institutions, resulting in
overcrowding, Goltz said.
Due to the state legislative redis­ricting
bill, recently signed by Gov.
John Spellman, Goltz will be re­presenting
all of Whatcom County
except south Bellingham during
the next legislative session.
Despite losing this largely De­mocratic
area, which includes the
Western campus, Goltz said he is
"not politically fearful" of redis­ricting.
Pointing to small, rural
communities such as Deming and
Acme, which he called strongly
Democratic, Goltz said he expects
solid support from outside Bell­ingham.
Together with former Western
Registrar Bill O'Neil, Goltz has
begun a planning consultant busi­ness
in Bellingham. Although he
said the venture is "so far non­profit,"
Goltz said he does not plan
on "filing for that provision."
Goltz and O'Neil hope to expand
the business once Goltz retires, he
said.
Government key—Commager
by MITCH EVICH
A powerful and effective national government is the
key to society's future, renowned American historian
Henry Steele Commager said in a speech last Thurs­day
at Western. —/
Commager said a strong national government is
needed to ensure equality of opportunity among all,
and tasolve critical social and economic problems the
states are incapable of working out themselves.
"If they (the national government) can't solve these
problems, our society will end in calamity for its peo­ple,"
he said.
Commager, 78, a professor emeritus at Amherst
College, is a leading expert of American history. His
speech, delivered to an audience of about 300 in Lec­ture
Hall 4, compared predictions made by the French
historian Alexis De Tocqueville about the United
States 150 years ago with what has transpired since.
After studying in the United States for eight months
in 1831, De Tocqueville wrote "Democracy in Amer­ica,"
a critique of the world's first modern democratic
government. The book warns against several dangers
to democracy, some of which are still relevant and
others that are not, Commager said.
One of De Tocqueville's primary fears was the
threat posed by a powerful central government, but
Commager said today it is not government, but rather
the private sector that imperils democracy.
"Throughout this country's history, bigness has not
come from government, it has come from business,"
he said.
The national government has tended not to use its
full constitutional power unless necesary, Commager
added, mentioning government intervention in com­merce
as an example.
"The government didn't use its constitutional power
to regulate commerce until the Interstate Commerce
Act in 1877," he said.
Commager also said it has been the national
government, not the states, that has been responsible
for passing such egalitarian legislation as the granting
of equal rights to minorities, the legalization of labor
unions and the right to a free education.
"Left to the states, these changes would never have
come about," he said.
Commager said he believes the national govern-continued
on page two