Western Front - 2005 November 4

              THE WESTERN FRONT *
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY An independent student newspaper serving the campus community since 1970. ISSUE 14,.VOLUME 135
Mt. Baker Ski Area reopens Tuesday
Early-season snow gives ski area earliest opening in 10 years
BY ANDREW SLEIGHTER
The Western Front
The Mt. Baker Ski Area will open
Tuesday after snowfalls collected 27
inches at the base in the last week,
with forecasts predicting 2 more feet
by Sunday, said Duncan Howat, Mt.
Baker Ski Area general manager.
Due to the recent snowfall, this
year's opening day will be the earliest
in a decade, Howat said. It is also a
chance to make up for a mediocre ski
season last year, Western junior and
skier Dave Gertler said.
"I think it's going to be a lot better
than last year," Gertler said. "A lot
of people throw their hands in the air
and say, 'Global warming has done
us in,' but it's an incongruity. (Bad
seasons) have happened in the past."
Mt. Baker Ski Area spokeswoman
Gwyn Howat said the ski area
decided to extend the deadline for
preseason rates for last year's season-pass
holders from Oct. 31 to Dec. 9,
so customers can wait and see if this
season's conditions are favorable.
The extension is only for season-pass
holders from last year.
The discounted preseason price
for a season pass for a college student
is $506.39. Adult day lift passes are
$37.64 said Sarah Kopke, Mt. Baker
Ski Area marketing assistant.
Duncan Howat said weather
forecasts indicate a snowier season
than last year when the mountain
only received approximately 465.
inches of snow, Kopke said.
Gertler said he made it to the Mt.
Baker Ski Area only twice last year.
"(The lack of snow) was a real
see SNOW, page 5
PHOTO COURTESY OF MT. BAKER SKI AREA
A Mt. Baker Ski Area rescue worker trudges through
snow Sunday at the ski area's H.M. parking lot.
GAS TAX FACES JUDGEMENT TUESDAY
TAYLOR WILLIAMS / THE WESTERN FRONT
Lynden resident Hillary Rockwell, 28, fuels her car Wednesday at a Chevron gas station on Lakeway Drive.
Initiative could repeal gas tax
BY KIRSTEN DUBOIS
The Western Front
Faces cringe throughout Washington
as residents slump into their cars after
filling up their vehicles with more than
$50 of fuel.
With Bellingham gas prices reaching
a high of $3.09 for regular unleaded,
Western students aren't left out of painful
visits to gas pumps.
By voting yes.on Initiative 912 in next
Tuesday's election, Washington residents
could reverse the rising gas prices but
could suffer long-term consequences
such as a lack of funding for state
transportation projects, said Mark Funk,
communications director for the No on
912 campaign.
Washington residents voted against a
9-cent tax increase on motor-vehicle fuel
in 2002. In June, Gov. Christine Gregoire
and the Washington Legislature put into
effect an emergency clause that increased
the tax on gasoline by 9.5 cents.
Initiative 912 could repeal that tax
increase if voters approve it Tuesday.
An emergency clause means the
public does not vote on an issue that
the legislature needs to resolve quickly
because of extreme conditions.
In this case, the clause will gradually
increase the tax during a four-year
period, providing the state with money to
fix congested and unsafe roads, an issue
Gregoire is trying to alleviate during her
time in office, said Kaare Ness, of the Yes
on 912 campaign.
Washington residents paid 28 cents
per gallon in taxes before the emergency
clause. If the clause remains in effect, by
next July drivers will pay an extra 6 cents,
which becomes 8 cents the summer after
that, with a total of 9.5 cents more in
taxes per gallon by the summer of 2008.
This would be the highest gas tax in the
see ELECTION, page 4
Vandals strike
Beta/Gamma
residence halls
BY JULIE WAGGONER
The Western Front
Beta/Gamma's Hall Council has spent as much on
cleaning vandalism and graffiti in the first five weeks
of this quarter as it spent during the entire 2004-2005
school year, said Western sophomore Jake Mailhot,
Beta/Gamma's Hall Council president.
The council has spent approximately $1,000 on
cleanup, money it could have spent on recreational
activities for Beta/Gamma residents such as ski
trips to the Mt. Baker Ski Area.
The most costly incident occurred Sept. 29
when someone emptied a fire extinguisher in
the upper Gamma lounge. Beta/Gamma resident
director Michael Charbonneau said. While the
dust that fire extinguishers contain is not toxic,
the hall councilhad to pay $45.66 an hour for a
hazardous-materials team from Western's facilities
management to clean the lounge because they have
the equipment to clean safely, said Bill Managan,
assistant director of operations for facilities
management. Those who respond to the incident
need respirators to protect them from inhaling the
dust and special vacuums to contain the fine dust.
The council spent approximately $500 to $600 to
clean the lounge.
Western's custodial staff does not have the
equipment, which includes vacuum cleaners strong
enough to remove the extremely fine dust particles
in fire extinguishers, said Gayle Shipley, director
of environmental health and safety at Western.
"I don't think people realize what vandalism
means for them personally," said Western freshman
Rachel Lewis, Beta/Gamma's Residence Hall
Association representative. "I'd like the community
to be more educated about what vandalism is and
what it means for hall council."
Other problems this year include a broken
window in a Beta/Gamma resident advisor's room
the weekend after classes started and students
writing with chalk on the outside of Gamma stacks
four, five and six, Mailhot said.
see GRAFFITI, page 4
FUN FOREST
Ecology plays illustrate the
importance of minimizing human
impact on environment
ACCENT, PAGE 6
HAWAIIAN TRIUMPH
Western senior and golf co-captain
Tim Feenstra wins golf
tournament in Hawaii
SPORTS, PAGE 8
CATHOLIC CONFLICT
Mass media in America
consistently portray Catholic
Church in negative light
OPINIONS, PAGE 10
WEATHER
Saturday: Rainy
Hi: 46 Low: 37
Sunday: Cloudy
Hi: 48 Low: 38
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