Western Front - 1998 May 29

              •
wUBSUmmk
g | Viag
^ft^^^B
^Hi^^^^^^^B
BB^^^^^^g
IB11
tflHk
i§iii
^^^^^^H
WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY VOLUME 204 ISSUE 26
FRIDAY
May 29, 1998
BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Students slam
Initiative 200
By Matt Williams
The Western Front
In Wednesday's midday downpour, students marched
to protest what they see as the pitfalls of eliminating
affirmative action in Washington state.
The march, which was sponsored by the Associated
Students club Students for Civil Rights, also involved an
information table set up at the edge of Red Square in
front of Miller Hall. The desk supplied voter registration
forms and literature regarding Initiative 200, an initiative
aimed at eliminating of affirmative action.
If passed, 1-200 will end affirmative action programs in
Washington state employment, education and contract­ing,
according to a Students for Civil Rights press
release,.
"(The initiative) is going to keep benefits for veterans
... and people over 40. They're just eliminating the same
benefits for women and people of color," said Jesse
Salomon, vice president for Legislative and Community
Affairs. "Obviously, if they were to end (affirmative
action) on principle they would eliminate it all, but
they're not."
The march began shortly after noon at Fisher Fountain
during poor weather, which ruined some of the
marchers' signs and soaked everyone involved; however
it didn't seem to bother many of the marchers.
The marchers chanted, calling for equal access and
diversity, as they wove their way through the rain-thinned
crowd of students.
"Do not demonstrate your ignorance. Vote no on
Initiative 200," shouted Jenny Martin, a Western junior
and march participant.
"This is just the first step to raise awareness," said
Melanie Mayock, Students for Civil Rights member. "We
are living in a deeply racist and sexist society — these
things don't just disappear overnight."
"I try to keep up, but it's amazing that I haven't heard
anything about this," said Eric Carr, Western senior.
Initiative 200 reads, "The state shall not discriminate
against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual
or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or
national origin in the operation of public employment,
education, or public contracting."
According to literature against 1-200, the initiative is
deceptive.
"The language of Initiative 200 is nearly identical to
that of California Proposition 209," anti-initiative litera­ture
states.
Wednesday's activities provided an open forum for
debate about the issue of affirmative action.
We are the champions
See 1-200, page 6
Front/Tim Klein
The 1998 NAIA Women's Fastpitch National Champions are all smiles upon returning home from Tulsa,
Okla., where the Vikings went undefeated in bringing home Western athletics' first ever national championship.
By Erin Becker and David Kearns
The Western Front
For the first and only time in 61 years, a Western sports
team has taken home an NAIA championship title.
The 1998 Western fastpitch team redefined the term
"Cinderella team" by winning the 18th annual NAIA
National Championship last weekend in Broken Arrow,
Okla.
The unseeded Vikings, the last team to receive an at-large
berth, swept through the 16-team tournament, sur­prising
everyone with a 5-0 tournament record.
"The tournament was real exciting, almost like being in
a dream," second baseman Coni Posey said. "Each game
we played as if it was the last game of our season."
Western defeated arch-rival Simon Fraser University
with a score of5-l, in the title contest of the tournament.
"I was really nervous to play against Oklahoma City
University, but when we met Simon Fraser on the field, it
was like returning to our normal season," pitcher Alison
Haukaas said. "It was like coming home, and all of my ner­vousness
was gone."
Western played Simon Fraser a total of 10 times, losing
six regular-season games, but winning two regular-season
games and two tournament games in Oklahoma.
Outfielder Sonya Joseph was named the tournament
MVP. Joseph drove in the game-winning run against four-time
defending national champion Oklahoma City. Her
two-out double assured Western's win in the third-round
victory. Joseph also made sparkling defensive plays in the
title game.
"Going to nationals ... we were on a mission, and we
completed our mission by bringing home a national cham­pionship,"
Joseph said. "We played with extreme intensity
and heart; ... When school gets out, I'm going to
See No. 1, page 12
Conference examines binational environmental management
Two other conference stories
appear on page 3
By Shane Powell
The Western Front
The settlers of this area drew a boundary
line across the inland sea many years ago,
creating the border between Canada and the
United States. However, according to a
report created by the Puget Sound Water
Quality Authority, "Waters obey natural
boundaries rather than political ones, and
the two nations share these waters and the
creatures that inhabit them."
Western hosted an international confer­ence
addressing environmental manage­ment,
issues and concerns in Puget Sound
and the Georgia
Basin called Shared
W a t e r s / S h a r ed
S t e w a r d s h i p ,
Wednesday and
Thursday.
Sponsored by the
Center for
Canadian-American
Studies and Huxley
Environmental studies, the
"We have to
educate people and get
the system to change."
Speakers addressed issues for the entire two
days, keeping the Viking Union Main
Lounge filled with participants and audi­ence
members.
C o n f e r e n c e
C o o r d i n a t o r
Jennifer Joseph said
the conference was
an effort to catalyze
c o m m u n i c a t i on
between the
increasing number
Jean Melious
Huxley assistant professor
College of of people in this area.
conference "In our area we have two sovereign
included 37 speakers from Canada, the nations as well as a number of first nations
United States and tribal governments, and tribes. They all include multiple layers
of agencies with different jurisdictions that
are overlapping," Joseph said. "This confer­ence
is trying to examine if people are talk­ing
to each other or not, and how to remedy
communication problems and other barriers
for environmental management in this
region."
The conference program stated, "The goal
of this conference is to examine constraints
and opportunities facing all of the partici­pants
..."
"This is the first time this conference has
taken place and, even though many of them
have met before, if s the first time all of the
participants here have come together," said
See Conference, page 3