Western Front - 1998 November 3

              WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3,1998
VOLUME 106 ISSUE 11
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BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Students march, drum up support
By Matt Williams
The Western Front
Be loud. Be heard.
That was the idea behind
Monday's rain-soaked march
from Red Square to the Federal
Building in Downtown
B e l l i n g h a m .
The rally and march called for
people to vote yes on Initiative
688, the initiative to raise the min­imum
wage, no on Initiative 200,
the initiative to eliminate
Affirmative Action, and no on
Initiative 694, the initiative to
make late-term abortions illegal in
Washington state.
Front/Jesse Kinsman
Corina Schaedler, Sage Cara and Mimi Juarez (above) rally in the rain Monday at the loud
demonstration in opposition to Initiative 200, in favor of Initiative 688 and,in opposition of Initiative ..
694. (Right) Peace Resource Center coordinator Jenni Martin speaks at the rally in Red Square.
Despite the heavy midday
downpour, the marchers' spirits
were high. Fueled by a lead banjo
played by Robert Blake, partici­pants
joined in with any noise-maker;
they could find: a bull­horn,
a drum, an upside-down
bucket used as a drum, kazoos
and, most commonly, a voice.
"(Our main goal) is to get peo­ple
out to vote and to let the peo­ple
of Bellingham know that we
really care," said Jenny Martin,
coordinator of the Peace Resource
Center.
The march and rally were part
of an extended camp-out in Red
Square. Tents first appeared
Sunday evening, and campers will
be packing up Wednesday once
the election results are in, camper
Tele Aadson said.
Linda McCarthy, director of
Planned Parenthood, was the first
of three speakers who opened the
activities shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Monday.
"Sponsors of (1-694) say it's
about 'preventing partial-birth
infanticide' ... It is interesting that
those words don't appear a single
See Students, page 6
E-mail threats target
lnitiative-200 activists
By Tyler Watson
The Western Front
A group of Western students met
with University Police Chief James
Shaw and other Western administra­tors
late last week to discuss safety
concerns after a threatening e-mail
was sent to two students who are
active in opposing Initiative 200.
The e-mail, which was received by
two students last Tuesday, warned
the recipients that they were being
watched and said, "Get the rope, let's
hang this pitiful minority lover." The
message was signed "KKK."
Shaw read the e-mail to a group of
about 40 students at the meeting.
Shaw and University Judicial Officer
Michael Schardein then answered
questions about what police and
administrators were going to do to
protect 1-200 demonstrators as they
prepared for this week's camp-out.
"We do have an (e-mail)" account
that it came from, and we hope to talk
to that person who signed for the
account," Shaw said. "We are taking
this very seriously from the stand­point
that it is absolutely inappropri­ate
behavior. We will be watching
things very closely."
Shaw said University Police are
investigating the e-mail threat as a
crime, but he said he is unsure if the
incident could be prosecuted as such.
"It may or may not come down to a
criminal complaint," Shaw said. "By
the time we're done, we are going to
have to show some intent to go fur­ther
with it. When we get to a final
position, we can make contact with
this individual to find out what in fact
they were intending to do, or even if
the person had said (the threat).
"We will have to make a decision
whether to take it further through the
aiminal justice process or turn it over
to (the Judicial Office)," he said. "It
may not fit the box of a crime, but that
doesn't mean the university isn't
going to take it on."
If University Police decide the case
does not fit the definition of a crime,
Western's Judicial Office could still
take disciplinary action because of a
violation of student conduct codes.
Schardein said this quarter his
office receives about one complaint of
harassment e-mail per week. He said
this recent e-mail has been the worst.
"What we want on this campus is
for everybody to treat each other in a
civil and respectful way," Schardein
said at the meeting last week. "We
want (Western) to be a campus where
people can express their views —
thaf s our goal."
When asked if the e-mail could be
prosecuted as a hate crime, Shaw said,
"It doesn't look like it. If s a technical-ity."
'
See Threatening e-mail, page 3
Locke gives Democrats a lift
By Brooke Hagara
The Western Front
The appearance and orations of Gov. Gary
Locke, Sen. Patty Murray and five local electoral
candidates drew a large crowd to Sehome High
School Auditorium Sunday afternoon.
More than 120 people gathered at this last
Democratic rally before today's election. Local
candidates in attendance included Grethe
Cammermeyer, Kelli Linville, Al Jensen, Georgia
Gardner, and Jeff Morris.
Signs proclaiming "No! Initiative 200," "Make
Work Pay! Yes on 1-688" and "Border to Border
Democrats Working for Our Families" lined the
walls and addressed some of the key issues of
today's election, including adequate education,
smaller class size, minimum wage, environmen­tal
preservation and Social Security's future.
"We need to think about the legacy we are
leaving for our children," Locke said.
"Are we going to be proud when we look back
at the end of the 20th century and the beginning
of the 21st? Are we going to be remembered
well?" he asked. ***
See Democrats, page 5
Today is Election Day. I
Western may require laptops
By Colin E. Howser
The Western Front
Western's Academic Technol­ogy
Committee is investigating
the possibility of advancing the
university to the next strata of the
computer age — requiring stu­dents
to own laptop computers in
order to be admitted to Western.
Les Blackwell, chair of the
Department of Instructional
Technology for Woodring College
of Education and ATC member,
said the investigation is an inquiry
into the feasibility' of students
owning their own laptops before
being admitted to Western or
proving to the university thatthey
have easy access to a computer.
"We have been given a. request
from Larry Delorme, the old
provost, to investigate whether
laptops would provide a better
means of instructing the students
on campus, and would it make it
easier for them to get the material
that they need to know?"
Blackwell said.
The committee is presented
with many issues, good and bad,
when discussing the possibility,
he said.
The benefits are being able to
connect to a system without wait­ing
in line at the computer labs,
instant access to computers, eco-
Front/Ben Stabler
nomic benefits for the university
and competitive computer prices
for students.
"On the other hand, I worry
about the student who doesn't
have a lot of money. How do we
get the same software to every­body?"
Blackwell explained. "We
haven't checked thoroughly with
student financial aid. It would
probably change how students get
student loans. Our networking
system—could it handle all these
laptops hooked on?"
The problems with students
damaging their laptops must play
a part in the decision. "I can't turn
in my homework, because my
computer broke or my dog ate it,"
Blackwell said with a laugh.
Some universities, and first and
secondary schools, throughout
the country are attempting to
See Laptops, page 6