Western Front - 2003 April 29

              Wise survivor
Former WWII POW discusses
Iraq, concentration camp
See Story, Page 6.
Closing time
Shuksan Slopestyle competition
concludes Baker's season.
See Story, Page 8.
TUESDAY, April 29, 2003 The Western Front Western Washington University Volume 125 Issue 8 Bellingham, Washington
ATUS may
crack down on
free on-campus
file-sharing
service
By Kevin Bruaw
THE WESTERN FRONT
Using file-sharing networks such as
Western's student-run Direct Connect is
considered illegal by record companies and
distribution corporations, but more than
600 students log on each day.
Larry Gilbert, director of Academic and
Technology and Users Services, said
record or movie companies contact
Western more than 10 times per month
about copyright violators.
According to www.musicunited.org, a
group of music industry representatives,
distributing copyrighted music and movies
is as illegal as stealing a CD from a store.
Direct Connect, Western's on-campus
file-sharing hub where students can down­load
music and movies, averages 10,000
transfers per day, said Direct Connect
administrator "Rocket," speaking under
anonymity because of legal reasons. Rocket
said he has been the Direct Connect
administrator for three weeks.
"I decided to run (Direct Connect) for the
enjoyment of community, and I have the
means and knowledge to run it," he said.
Rocket said students enjoy the fast
downloading speeds Direct Connect
offers, and the program puts less stress
on the administration's internet.
Because it gives students access to a
local area network to share files, the
school's system has more free space and
allows the administration to have more
breathing room, Rocket said.
Without Direct Connect, residents would
have to use legal- off-campus sites such as
KAZAA and Morpheus to share files.
KAZAA and Morpheus are permitted
because they implement paid advertising.
'If everyone had to go off campus to get files,
the internet connection would be too slow to
even do simple Web browsing," he said.
Gilbert said little academic value exists in
students' ability to use file sharing pro­grams.
ATUS does not monitor file sharing
on campus, but it reviews cases of students
See CONNECT, Page 4
Male student attacked at anti-violence march
By Ben Arnold
THE WESTERN FRONT
During Take Back the Night
on April 17, an event promot­ing
awareness of violence
against women, Western
sophomore Jeff Smith, said he
was attacked while he was
protesting the march.
While the marching women
and men passed the Beta and
Gamma residence halls in the
Ridgeway complex, a member
of the march assaulted Smith,
a resident of Beta, while he
held out his hand, showing a
thumbs down,
"I wasn't calling them
names or provoking them in
any way," Smith said. "I just
had one thumb down."
Smith said he heard that
members of the march last
year yelled at and verbally
attacked some men during the
march, so he thought it was
appropriate to protest.
"I Was giving a silent protest
to the protest," Smith said.
Bellingham Police Lt.
Craige Ambrose, confirmed
Smith's statement.
"(The attacker) took offense
to (his negative gesture) and
took it to a physical level,"
Ambrose said.
The Bellingham Police
Department has not released
any further information, and
Ambrose said the incident is
still under investigation.
Laramie Smith, Western
resource outreach programs
director, did not see the attack
but participated in the march
on the walk through the
Ridgeway complex.
"What I came upon was not
a silent protest," Laramie
Smith said. "It was very rude
and very disrespectful."
Fairhaven opens Village Green
Torhil Dunham /The Western Front
Bellingham resident Tip Johnson, dressed as Fairhaven founder Dirty
Dan Harris, stands next to a newly unveiled statue of Harris at the
Fairhaven Village Green dedication ceremony Saturday.
By Torhil Dunham
THE WESTERN FRONT
Despite looming gray clouds in the
morning, hundreds of people attended
the Fairhaven Village Green dedication
ceremony from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Saturday behind Village Books. The
afternoon sun brought large crowds of
people to a day filled with history and
entertainment.
Two years ago, a group of nine private
citizens decided to renovate the
^fairhaven Green— a grassy plot behind
^.Village Books. Brian Griffinv a member
. o f the: Fairhaven Village Green
Committee, was master of ceremonies
for the day. He was dressed to portray an
elderly "Dirty Dan" Harris, the founder
of Fairhaven, complete with a bowler
hat, vest and fake mustache. Griffin said
he estimated that 3,500 people attended
the event throughout the day.
"We implored the architect with the
task ,of designing a European market
square," Griffin said.
The committee asked the City of
Bellingham for $350,000 to fund the pro­ject,
Griffin said. Private donators con­tributed
another $300,000. The commit­tee
sold engraved bricks, paving stones
and benches to raise funds, he said.
John Stewart, an architect with
Stewart King Architects in Bellingham,
designed the park. Griffin said they did
the job for free.
"This was the first and only design we
saw," he said.
The lawn remains in the center of the
park, and wooden awnings surround the
outer square, which will be used as stalls
for vendors when needed. The farmer's
market will begin in June on the green
See PARK, Page 4
Court permits Blaine factory to make hemp products
Andy Aley/The
Western Front
Nature s Path
manufacturing
plant in Blaine
has produced
hemp granola
and waffles
since 2000.
By Andy Aley
THE WESTERN FRONT
A stay issued by the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals will tem­porarily
allow manufacturers,
retailers and consumers to con­tinue
making, selling and eating
foods containing hemp products.
The stay, granted after the
Hemp Industries Association filed
a motion in the court, prevents
two new U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency rules from taking effect
until the court can review them.
The DEA designed the rules,
which would have taken effect
April 21, to clarify which sub­stances
are legal and illegal
under the Controlled Substances
Act of 1970, DEA representative
Will Glaspy said. The rules clas­sify
any products that contain
tetrahydracannibinol, or THC, as
illegal if they are intended for
consumption, Glaspy said. THC
is the primary psychoactive
chemical in marijuana.
'THC is a controlled sub­stance,"
Glaspy said. "So the act
that was passed by Congress does
not say a specific amount of THC
is illegal; it says that THC is ille­gal.
Therefore, any product that
would cause THC to enter the
body would be ah illegal product."
While THC is a Schedule One
Controlled Substance, listed
with drugs such as heroin and
Phencyclidine (PCP), organic
food manufacturers and retailers
See HEMP, Page 4
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