Western Front - 2005 January 14

              THE WESTERN FRONT ISSUE 3
VOLUME I 32
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2005 • WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY • BELLINGHAM, WASH. • WESTERNFRONTONLINE.COM
Football player arrested in drug investigation
BY BRITTANY GREENFIELD
AND LAUREN ALLATN
The Western Front
Western junior and defensive end
Joey Joshua was arrested on campus
Tuesday on suspicion of the delivery
of marijuana, said Chief Deputy
Jeff Parks of the Whatcom County
Sheriff's Office.
Parks said the Northwest
Regional Drug Task Force, which
operates through the Sheriffs
Office, conducted a two-month
investigation and arrested Joshua on
probable cause based on two counts
of delivery of marij uana.
Joshua confirmed that Nov. 17 and
Nov. 30 were the dates Whatcom
sheriffs allege he sold the drugs to
undercover task-force officers. He
declined to comment further on the
matter.
"Just so people know, I'm innocent
until proven guilty," he said.
Western football coach Rob Smith
said he has had no similar problems
with Joshua in the past but that there
would be grounds for dismissal from
the team if Joshua were convicted.
"We're extremely disappointed,
and we'll deal with it appropriately,"
Smith said.
University Police Chief Jim Shaw
said his officers had been working
in conjunction with officers from the
task force. He said UP transported
Joshua from campus to the Whatcom
County Jail Tuesday.
Joshua was booked into the jail
at 11:50 a.m. Tuesday but was
later released on his own personal
recognizance. Jail officials said a
court date was set for 9:30 a.m. on
Jan. 21.
Sgt. Kevin Hester of the task
force said that Joshua, if convicted,
could receive a maximum sentence
of five years in jail and a $5,000
fine for each charge of delivery. He
said he was doubtful Joshua would
get the full sentence. The amount
of marijuana Joshua is on suspicion
of selling to officers in November
totaled approximately . one-half
pound, Hester said.
"He was cooperative and had no
drugs on him at the time that he was
arrested," Hester said.
He said other individuals were
involved in selling to the undercover
task-force officers, but he refused
to comment further. Portions of the
investigation are ongoing, he said.
Joshua was a second-team Great
Northwest Athletic Conference all-star
last season. He played in all 10
games and made 43 tackles.
Courtesy of the athletic
department
If convicted, Joshua
could face 10 years in
jail and a $10,000 fine.
Port to make decision on waterfront
BY STEFANI HARREY
The Western Front
The final decision on the
Georgia-Pacific West Inc.
property transfer will take place
on Tuesday. After months of
planning and meetings, the
commissioners at the Port of
Bellingham will vote on whether
or not they want to acquire the
land.
If the commissioners decide
to approve the acquisition,
the port will own the G-P
plant and land in exchange' for
cleaning up contamination in
the 137-acre waterfront site,-
said Wendy Steffensen of the
Whatcom County advocacy
conservation group RE Sources
for Sustainable Communities.
TheprocessbeganinJune2004,
after G-P officials first contacted
the port about the transfer of
property in late 2003, according
to port archives. Since June, the
port staff has worked to create
a purchase-and-sale agreement
and insurance contracts. That
information has been presented
to the public during six public
forums that have taken place
since November, according to
the archives.
"It has been a long, difficult,
AMANDA WOOLLEY/The Western Front
On Tuesday, the Port of Bellingham will make its final decision about whether to aquire the
G-P waterfront land.
complex and arduous task to
arrive even where we are now,"
port commissioner Douglas
Smith said.
The land the port is working to
acquire is the former site of the
G-P pulp and chemical
operations. The port will
redevelop the area for
residences, offices, shops and
parks, according to the final
proposed agreement announced
at the public hearing Tuesday.
Smith said the deal is still.
a work in progress, but the
commissioners are pleased with
how things have progressed so
far.
The agreement also outlined
part of the deal concerning the
company's waste-water treatment
lagoon, which the port may turn
see PORT, page 4
Grant cuts
may affect
120 students
BY MICHELLE ACOSTA
The Western Front
Western students may see a reduction in
Pell Grant money beginning next fall.
Clara Capron, director of Financial
Aid at Western, said the U.S. Department
of Education updated the federal needs
analysis, a formula that is used to help
determine eligibility of financial aid for all
federal programs. Based on tax data updated
by Congress, the new formula shows more
low-income families have enough income
available, thus allowing more money to pay
for college, Capron said.
Kris Betker, communications director of
the Higher Education Coordinating Board,
said the amount of undergraduate students
using the Pell Grant to attend Western has
increased by about 50 to 100 students each
year. During the '03- '04 academic year,
2,849 Western undergraduate students
received a total of $6.9 million from Pell
Grants, Betker said.
Capron said the change will reduce Pell
Grant funding to Western students by about
2 to 3 percent. Approximately 120 out of
2,996 Western students who would have
see GRANTS, page 4
Bellingham bars distribute free chewing-tobacco samples
BY ANDREW SLEIGHTER
The Western Front
U.S. Smokeless Tobacco is distributing
free samples of chewing tobacco in Whatcom
County bars and restaurants, even though the
practice is illegal in some parts of the state
ofWashington.
According to the King County Board of
Health, giving free samples of any tobacco
product in King County was banned in
1991.
Ten distribution dates are scheduled for
January and will be held at five different bars
in Blaine, Ferndale and Bellingham, said Jon
Schwartz, a media representative for U.S.
Smokeless Tobacco. At the promotions, two
representatives of U.S. Smokeless Tobacco
give out half-cans of Copenhagen, Skoal or
Rooster along with t-shirts to people in bars.
To get the cans a person has to fill out a form
identifying his or her age, tobacco history
and brand preference.
State Republican Sen. Bob Oke, who
represents parts of Pierce and Kitsap counties,
is proposing bill 5048, which would create a
statewide ban on free samples of tobacco.
Michelle Lewis, Oke's senior legislative
aide, said the bill is going to committee
Monday morning and they are optimistic it
will become law.
Lewis said the issue came to Oke five
years ago when parents complained about
their children coming home from the Gorge
with free tobacco products.
"It just doesn't make sense to be handing
out a deadly product," Lewis said.
Dr. Chris Covert-Bowlds is a member
of Healthy Indoor Air for All Washington,
a coalition to prohibit smoking in all
workplaces. Covert-Bowlds said he believes
handing out free samples of tobacco
products is irresponsible and a threat to
public health. -
-"It's trying to addict people to a product
by allowing free sampling," Covert-Bowlds
said.
Tobacco companies, by law, are no longer
able to market to anyone younger than
18. Covert-Bowlds said he believes these
handouts are a way for U.S. Smokeless to
get around that.
"The average age people start chewing
see CHEW, page 4
SMOOSH IT
Seattle pre-teens will rock
out to a crowd in pajamas.
ACCENT, PAGE 6
scrutinized in j o u r n a l
MOVIN' ON UP
Western women extend
winning streak to 12.
SPORTS, PAGE 8