Western Front - 2003 April 11

              Campus coffeehouse
Music, couches draw loungers to
the Viking Union's underground.
See Story, Page 8.
Making waves
Western physical education classes
teach hands-on water sports.
See Story, Page 11.
FRIDAY, April-119 2003 The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 125 Issue 3 Bellingham, Washington
Cultures clash in overseas study
War exposes anti-American views
By Andy Aley
THE WESTERN FRONT
Western junior Andy
Bennett's opposition to the
war in Iraq eclipsed his
American identity during the
six months he recently spent
studying in Germany and
Spain. Bennett said his polit­ical
views and participation
in anti-war protests made his
stay go much smoother than
it would have had he support­ed
the war.
'T was able to make friends
and actually sought out those
groups," Bennett said. "I was
the American who wasn't the
American. I wasn't the ugly
American. I wasn't the jackass
walking around with a big
American flag draped over his
head."
The war in Iraq is affect­ing
international students at
Western and students from
Western studying abroad in
a variety of ways. Western
students studying abroad
have encountered anti-
American sentiments while
sometimes experiencing and
taking part in massive
protests against the actions
of their government.
"I encountered a very signif­icant
amount of anti-war
protests," Bennett said. "I was
in Valencia February 15, when
there were big worldwide
demonstrations. Out of a town
of 900,000 people, 500,000
showed up to march."
Bennett said that despite
his opposition to the war,
many of the people he met
See OVERSEAS, Page 4
Students camp out in Red Square
By Jennifer Segadelli
THE WESTERN FRONT
Several students involved
in Western's new branch of
Habitat for Humanity spent
the night in Red Square
Wednesday in an attempt to
make students aware of the.
poverty in Whatcom County
and the world. The HFH's
ultimate goal for the sleep-in
is to earn enough money to
build a completely student-funded
house for a family liv­ing
in Whatcom County, said
Alicia Harp, Western's HFH
vice president.
In addition to informing
students about the establish­ment
of Western's HFH
group, members work with
the local affiliate Habitat for
Humanity Whatcom County
to help provide affordable
housing for those in need.
"It started because a worker
at the affiliate wanted to get
campus and community
awareness about housing
needs and the Habitat for
Humanity mission," said
Western freshman Jenni
Cinq-Mars, the Western HFH
secretary.
The "shanty town" in Red
Square, created with tents
and boxes, was the first step
in making students conscious
of the needs of members in the
community, and, according to
Cinq-Mars, this information is
Keith Boiling/The Western Front
The glow of candle-lit paper bags illuminated Red Square Wednesday night in front
of the tents of several students affiliated with Western's branch of Habitat for
Humanity. The Information on the bags described motivations for the campout.
pertinent and necessary in
light of the global situation.
"Amidst a time like the one
we are in, with war in Iraq,
it's important to realize there
are people in our own commu­nity
who still need assis­tance,"
she said.
Western freshman Megan
Elmer, and Western HFH
fund-raiser coordinator, said
she agrees that amid current
confusion, students can easily
have narrow perspectives of
situations around them.
"We forget that we live in
dorms and houses and our
parents probably own a house
or something to live in, and
there are people in our own
community who have noth­ing,"
she said.
Members also said they
want to bring the complexity
of poverty to the forefront in
the minds of Western students
and the Western community.
"I want people to realize
that the issue of poverty is not
See SLEEP-IN, Page 6
Western grads
struggle to find
work tomorrow
By Brad Nehring
THE WESTERN FRONT
Although graduation is traditionally a
time for celebration, said Marcia Lewis,
assistant director of operations at the
Western Career Services Center, recent
trends in the economy and the job market
suggest that a new problem awaits young
people after graduation: lack of jobs.
Every year, the Career Services Center
conducts a survey of all the Western grad­uates
from the previous year. The survey is
used to compile statistics such as average
annual salary and whether students were
able to find employment related to their
major or field of study. """^
These figures tend to reflect the current
job market. Because of the stagnant econo­my,
the figures from the classes of 2001-
2002 were considerably lower than the pre­vious
year, Lewis said.
"The trend we are finding is that it is
more difficult to find jobs," Lewis said.
"This is. directly related to the economy.
Employers are being more cautious; they
are trying to foresee problems in the
future."
As a result, students are not getting the
jobs or the salaries they want, Lewis said.
In the survey of the class of 2000-2001, for
uhe engineering and technology majors,
findings show that 75 percent of those
interviewed found a job related to their
major, with an average salary of $40,048;
for 2001-2002 grads, 67.7 percent found
related jobs, with an average salary of
$37,604.
For students graduating in 2000-2001
from the finance department, 77.3 percent
were able to find related jobs with an aver­age
salary of $32,450; in 2001-2002, 63 per­cent
of students were able to find related
jobs with an average salary of $32,132.
For 2000-2001 graduates from the phys­ical
education/health/recreation depart­ment,
66.7 percent found jobs related to
their major, with an average salary of
$23,250, and in the 2001-2002 class, 62.9
percent found related jobs with an average
salary of $20,300.
Scott Spiegelberg, assistant director of
See JOBS, Page 3
AS board candidates meet, prepare for campaign
By Kevin Bruaw
THE WESTERN FRONT
Candidates running for the
2003-2004 Associated
Students board met Thursday
night in the Viking Union to
. discuss the strict rules for this
year's campaign.
The 15 candidates running for
the seven open positions on next
year's AS board discussed the
harsh campaigning rules, and
coordinators gave detailed
examples of when and where the
candidates can campaign.
Nicole Hall, Western senior
and election coordinator, said
the strictness of the rules stems
from the amount of candidates
who are currently part of the AS
board or have been involved
with AS in the past.
'1 think a lot of the questions
(from the candidates) stem from
that," Hall said.
Candidates said they were
concerned about the rules for
their friends campaigning for
them in classrooms and in resi­dence
halls. According to elec­tion
rules, candidates cannot
campaign in classrooms or go
door to door in residence halls.
Students campaigning for a cer­tain
candidate can have signs
posted in or around their rooms
and they can wear T-shirts that
support a certain candidate.
Candidates wanted to be sure
of election guidelines so they can
See CANDIDATES, Page 4
Kevin Bruaw/
The Western Front
Western junior
Grant Goodall, left,
talks to Western
junior and AS VP
of business opera­tions
Tony Russo
at the Associated
Students candi­date
meeting
Thursday night.
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