Western Front - 1994 February 15

              February 15,1994/Volume 87, Number 10 Western Washington University please recycle
Luck, planning needed to overcome budget cuts, graduate in four years
Part two of a two-part series.
By Justin Osmer
staff reporter
Graduating from Western in four years
is not an easy task.
Budget cuts have made classes tougher
to get into and caused students to take seven
years or more to graduate with a "four-year"
degree.
Students who have a desire to get out in
four years have to push themselves aca­demically,
while those who realize it will
take more than four years can take things at
their own pace and get involved at the
university.
"I was fortunate enough to have my
goals set from the get-go," Craig Johnson
said.
Johnson is in his fourth year at Western
and looks to be graduating this spring with
an accounting degree.
"I was able to consolidate my GUR's
and prerequisites for my major starting fall
quarter, my freshman year," Johnson said.
This quarter, Johnson is taking 18 cred­its
and next quarter he plans on taking 19 in
order to graduate.
"I averaged about 16 credits a quarter,"
Johnson said.
Johnson, like many other college stu­dents,
must work to help pay for college.
Johnson works two different jobs totaling
approximately 30 hours a week — along
with taking 18 credits.
One of Johnson's jobs is working as a
Bellingham Police officer and he said his
work hasn't held him back much.
"School is a formality, I've already
started my career," Johnson said.
While school is a formality for some, it
also offers an opportunity to take advantage
of available resources.
Jon Davidson is a Human Resource
Management major and is looking to
graduate this spring after five years.
"I am using Western to gain practical
experience in my field of study," Davidson
said.
Davidson works in the Student Support
Services, which has given him a chance to
see what his future career may hold.
"It would've been ideal to graduate in
four years, but I feel my other experiences
have been j ust as—if not more—valuable
than my degree," he said.
Davidson worked for financial reasons
and to gain experience.
"The job market is so tough now; it's
important to get experience," he said.
Experience is an important part of an
education and fifth year senior Sena
Rohrback believes she is going to be able to
use her education far into the future.
"I really enjoy my major because I
know I'll be using these skills later in my
field of work," Rohrback said. "I know
people who get out in four years, but never
use their major," she said.
Rohrback is an industrial design major
and has a sixth year at Western ahead of her.
"Everyone assumes they'll be out in
four years, but that isn' t a reality anymore,"
Rohrback said.
Rohrback's original plan was to gradu­ate
in four years; however, she had trouble
deciding on a major.
"I took GUR' s, trying to figure out what
I liked, but I couldn't find anything I really
wanted until my junior year," Rohrback
said.
Rohrback has been able to spend some
time getting involved in the university and
really enjoys what she's doing, she said.
The longer a student stays at Western,
the more knowledgeable they become of
how Western works.
"I know where to go and where to look
after being here seven years," Jeff Nyman
See Graduate, page 5
Commission
for Women
seeks change
By Joanna Cerar
staff reporter
Women are making positive
changes at Western through their
involvement with the Commission
for Women.
Officially recognized in 1988,
the commission serves as an ad­visory
group to the university's
president.
"(The commission's) goal was
always to be inclusive of different
ages, people of color and the many
voices on campus," said Connie
Copeland, associate to the vice
president for student affairs and
an original member of the group.
Before the commission, uni­versity
women met informally to
discuss conditions at the school,
said Fairhaven professor Connie
Faulkner, another original mem­ber
of the group.
Faulkner's involvement with
women's issues stems from her
personal experiences. She once
lost a teaching assistantship be­cause
her husband also had one.
He was allowed to keep his.
Also, an all-university senate
meeting a number of years ago
was "really radicalizing" for her.
"One of the first issues was
daycare," she said. "Many of the
men on the senate didn't recog-
See Women, page 5
Photo by Cassandra Burdsal
Dozens of students dance with their dates at the Picadilly Dance, Feb. 11, in celebration of Valentine's Day.
City Council passes revamped teen curfew ordinance
By Eric Munson
Issues and Opinions editor
It's 10 p.m., do you know
where the kids are? If the police
do, it could cost parents $250.
Last night, the Bellingham
City Council gave the final read­ing
of their amendment to the
"Juvenile Curfew and Parental
Responsibility Ordinance."
As the curfew stands now, the
parents of any juvenile 15 years
old or younger found in the cen­tral
business district after 10 p.m.
to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thurs­day
and 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday
and Saturday will be subject to the
maximum of a $250 fine.
"Instead of putting a young
person in jail, we are having the
parents be responsible," said
Mayor Tim Douglas in an earlier
interview with The Western Front.
On the first offense, police
will send a written notice to the
offender's parents and instruct the
juvenile to go home. On the sec­ond
offense, police will issue a
citation to the juvenile's parents
and may either take the juvenile to
jail or place them in the custody of
their guardian.
Council member Don Gischer
voted against the amendment,
saying he thought it should be
presented at the community
hearing on March 14.
Council member Pat Rowe,
who was sworn in at the meeting
to represent the fifth ward, ab­stained
from voting.
"I don't feel up to speed on the
curfew," Rowe said.
All other council members
present — Gene Knutzen, Bob
Hall, Bruce Ayers and Louise
Bjornson — voted in favor of the
amendment.
During the meeting, council
memberBob Hall said he felt $250
was an excessive amount for
parents.
"I have been a parent," Hall
said. "Sometimes it's not possible
to know where they are.... I didn't
want to say it in the meeting, but
the people who have too little
control over their offspring won't
be able to pay it."
WHAT'S INSIDE: News: 20-year revolution in student attitudes — page 6
Features: Dreams arid nightmares —pages 10-11 ,
Sports: Vikings clinch home-court advantage — page 12