Western Front - 1995 April 18

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1 Local groups rush to save Lake Samish's
-, wildlife from Interstate 5's fuel spill.
I
News — Page 4
Don't leave campus without this guide to
Bellingham's bookstores, parks and more. II[)JII!!J|I
Features — Pages 7-9
The Western Front
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY TUESDAY — APRIL 18,1995 VOLUME 92, ISSUE 5
Bill to have sobering effect on dorms
Drinking
in dorms
Part one
of a two-part
series
Photo illustration by Wendy Gross
'Ban Lite,' a bill recently passed by the Senate, will attempt to cut down on the
amount of on-campus alcohol and drug consumption at Western.
By Kavita Makhijani
Front reporter
The Washington State Senate passed a
bill last month requiring all public universi­ties
to set aside dormitories or floors of
dorms as alcohol-free zones.
According to the bill,
the goal is to "ensure that
the vast majority of students
without drug or liquor
problems are provided with
a living environment that is
safe and conducive to the
pursuit of higher education."
The Senate approved the partial ban,
dubbed "Ban Lite," after students and uni­versity
administrators opposed the original
bill banning alcohol from all on-campus
housing.
Western currently has four substance-free
floors in Nash Hall and one in Edens
South. Additional areas will be provided in
Mathes Hall and Fairhaven for the 1995-96
school year.
With these additions, the substance-free
areas will house about 400 students.
Pat Fabiano, associate director of the
Wellness Center, said, "We either anticipated
the direction of the Washington Legislature
or we were a step ahead of them... but while
other schools may be scrambling to do this,
ours is well in operation."
Counseling, Health and Wellness Ser­vices
worked with University Residences to
establish the substance-free housing in 1993.
In spring 1993, the Office of Institu­tional
Assessment and Testing conducted a
random survey of Western students to find
patterns of drug and alcohol consumption".
"Our survey research definitely shows
that at least a quarter of our students prefer
not to drink, and 41 percent... drink at what
we consider low to moderate consumption
rates, which would be one to three drinks per
weekend night," Fabiano said.
However, the survey also found 31.1
percent of the respondents reported binge
drinking to a level of potential alcohol poi­soning
(seven or more drinks at one sitting).
Fabiano said that while many schools
have programs that focus on the students
who drink, Western's focus "is on the non-drinking
or the low-drinking group to try to
empower them to cre­ate
adifferent campus."
Kay Rich, director
of University Resi­dences,
said she thinks
the move toward the
current legislation
came about because
students are not willing to confront their
roommates or friends whose drinking both­ers
them.
According to the bill, "each public insti­tution
shall have ... a process for reporting
violations and complaints of liquor and illegal
drug use."
Rich said students are currently able to
fill out incident reports, though most do not.
"We should be learning how to express
our needs to the people around us," she said.
"I know it's difficult, but what's frus­trating
from my perspective ... is to have
students complaining to the Legislature and
yet unwilling to confront the problem them­selves."
Another section that was changed from
the original bill states "each public institution
shall have...aprocess forreporting violations
and complaints if liquor and illegal drug
use."
Rich said, "this is one area where I don't
think legislators (are aware) that, as adults,
your private space is respected."
"Staff can't come into your room and
check out to see if you have alcohol. We
can't — it's illegal. So we can't just vigor­ously
enforce this, but I think we do enforce
(alcohol policies), including sanctioning
students."
Even though alcohol is illegal for stu­dents
under 21, in the current substance-free
See Ban, page 4
Former student sentenced to 90 years
By Kristine Donahoe
Front reporter
"I'm glad the bitch is dead — I
hope she felt some pain when she
died," Wayne E. Burkins said, while
being held for sentencing, after
being charged with firs- degree rape
and murder.
Burkins, 34, admitted to
shooting Donna L. Anderson of
Bellingham after the two met at a
bar and left together. Anderson's
remains were found late last June
near Mirror Lake at the south end
of Lake Whatcom, after having
been missing since the end of
April 1994.
Whatcom County prosecutor
Dave McEachran sought an ex­ceptional
sentence for the rape and
murder charges yesterday, claim­ing
the crimes were committed with
unusual cruelty and no visible re­morse.
A convicted criminal with
zero felony charges faces a sen­tencing
range of 78-102 months
for rape and 240-321 months for
murder.
Judge Steve Mura sentenced
Burkins to 90 years in jail, more
than the prosecutor was seeking.
"The defendant in this case se­lected
victims that had been con­suming
alcholic beverages and
further intoxicated them by sup­plying
marjiuana to smoke. The
defendant took steps to make them
more vulnerable than they other­wise
would have been," Mura said.
See Trial, page 2
Front/Wendy Gross
Donna Anderson's sister and brother, Tammy Earle and Michael
Shone, embrace after their sister's murderer is sentenced.