The western FrontTuesday, November 24, 2009 Volume 148, Issue 18

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SINCE 1970 | WESTERNFRONTONLINE.NET

PAGE 6,7

WARTHOGS COME UP SHORT IN UW MATCH

PAGE 10

State audits Nord

Doug Nord, director of Western's Center for International Studies.

photo courtesy of University Communications

Ben WoodardTHE WESTERN FRONT

Washington state auditors are inves-tigating Doug Nord, the executive direc-tor of the Center for International Studies, after an anonymous whistleblower tipped off the Washington State Auditor's Offi ce. This marks the fi rst state audit and third overall audit of Nord and his programs since 2005.

The state investigation began June 18, 2009, said Mindy Chambers, commu-nications director for the State Auditor's Offi ce.

According to a letter from the State Auditor's Offi ce to the anonymous whis-tleblower—whose anonymity is protected under state law—the offi ce is investigat-ing Nord’s compliance with state travel regulations and whether he is using his position to secure time off without sub-mitting forms for proper accounting of his time away from the offi ce.

Nord denied any comment beyond an e-mail statement made on Sunday, Nov. 22.

see AUDIT page 5

Western program director under state investigation on suspicion of misuse of university resources

Chris WoodTHE WESTERN FRONT

Preparations for Western’s 2011-13 budget have begun with the Nov. 15 re-lease of draft assessments of each college and department. The assessments are now available for public comment.

The assessments analyze the strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats of each college of Western and will be taken into further consideration when the Wash-ington state budget is fi nalized.

Seventeen draft analyses are posted on Western’s planning and budget offi ce Web site.

“At budget cut time, we’ll know what’s least important to the core mis-sion,” said Western President Bruce Shepard at the Nov. 18 meeting of West-ern’s University Planning and Resources Council.

Western is preparing for a 2 percent

cut in funding, totaling approximately $950,000, Shepard said at the council meeting.

“It’s a very murky crystal ball,” Shepard said.

No specifi c budget proposals are on the analyses because the budget forecast from the state has yet to be fi nalized, said Brian Burton, dean of Western’s College of Business and Economics.

Western’s budget proposals are to be fi nalized in late February 2010 in order to be ready for public comment in March 2010, Burton said.

“I think our situation in [the Col-lege of Business and Economics] has not changed much from last year,” Burton said. “Except that we have more clarity on what the budget looks like.”

Burton said a key challenge for the College of Business and Economics is

Colleges anticipate 2011 budget cuts

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

see BUDGET page 2

Police release murder victim identity

Sakeus BanksonTHE WESTERN FRONT

The man shot and killed Friday night has been identifi ed as 43-year-old Bellingham resident Bry-an Marriott, according to a statement issued by the Bellingham Police Department on Monday.

Around 11:15 p.m. Friday night, witnesses called 911 after hearing an argument between

people in two cars at the intersection of Ivy Street and North Garden Street end with a gunshot, said Lt. Steve Felmley of the Bellingham Police De-partment. After the shot, witnesses said a vehicle peeled out and fl ed north on North Garden Street. Some witnesses said they saw a second vehicle leave as well.

According to Lt. Felmley, this is the fi rst homi-cide in Bellingham this year.

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

Western President Bruce Shepard speaks to members of Western's University Plan-ning and Resources Council on Thursday, Nov. 19.

B'HAM BUSINESS CONVERTS CLUNKERS, CLASSICS

Detective Sgt. Mike Johnston and an offi cer who requested not to be identifi ed, searched a car implicated in a shooting homicide on North Garden Street late Friday night, Nov. 20.

News2 | Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

the chance of more budget cuts. If cuts do happen, Burton said the college will have to look at how they organize and teach classes.

To face that challenge, the college would look into finding ways of teach-ing its classes more efficiently, while at the same time providing the same level of quality in education, Burton said.

Another college that has completed a draft analysis is Fairhaven College, and one of its initiatives involves enroll-ing a requisite of minority students, said Fairhaven dean Roger Gilman.

Gilman said recruiting trips to fur-ther minority and diversity enrollment in Fairhaven College have been scaled back due to the 2009-11 budget cuts.

“The first round of cuts were painful, as they are going to be in the second round of cuts because now we’re cutting around the bone,” Gilman said.

Fairhaven College has dealt with the budget cuts by putting in minimum class sizes and increasing the maximum class size to whatever the room can hold, Gil-man said.

Gilman said Western should strategi-cally plan its budget cuts by finding where Western’s strengths lie, rather than just spreading the cuts around equally.

“We cut our operating budget in half the last time, so there’s not much to cut there,” Gilman said.

Another of Fairhaven College’s ini-tiatives involves the placement of more of its students into upper-division classes around Western by negotiating with the other colleges to accept Fairhaven classes as substitutes for prerequisites, Gilman said.

The current budget cycle’s cuts have limited the number of seats available for Fairhaven students, Gilman said

Fairhaven’s analysis was compiled by the faculty during a staff retreat; facul-ty members listed what they thought were strengths and challenges of the college, Gilman said.

Western’s Woodring College of Edu-

cation compiled its analysis by forming the Woodring Leadership Council, which is made up of department and program heads, said Michael Henniger, associate dean of Woodring College of Education.

“[The analysis] was a collaborative effort,” Henniger said. “I am satisfied with the results.”

Woodring is faring decently with the budget cuts of the current cycle, Henniger said.

In order to keep the same level of education with a lower budget, Henniger said Woodring is diversifying its income. It has sought additional funds from the state for programs that provide teachers for high-demand areas, Henniger said.

Henniger said the college has also re-quested additional funds for its Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program.

Henniger said the college plans to seek private donor funding in order to keep it a leader in education and human services.

Western Libraries has also submitted a draft analysis, and one of its challenges is space for the collection of material and for the plans it has for student use of the library facilities, said Western Libraries dean Christopher Cox.

“We don’t have enough space to ac-commodate all of our print collection in a way that’s coherent so that students can actually get through the building and find what they need,” Cox said.

A remodel of Wilson Library, which has been delayed since 1998, is listed as a challenge, Cox said.

Cox said Western Libraries had a li-

brary space consultant come in to assess what could be done with the existing space.

Getting grants for remodeling Wilson Library is difficult, Cox said.

“Funding furniture is not exactly sexy for granting associations,” Cox said.

Another challenge for Western Li-braries is providing materials for graduate students, who want access to academic journals, Cox said.

Prices for subscriptions for these aca-demic journals go up approximately 7 per-cent to 10 percent each year, Cox said.

“We want our library to be everyone’s library,” Cox said.

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The Western Front is published twice weekly in the fall, winter, and spring quarters and once a week in the summer session. The Western Front is the official newspaper of Western Washington University, published by the Student Publications Council and is mainly supported by advertising. Opinions and stories in the newspaper have no connection with advertising. News content is determined by student editors. Staff reporters are involved in a course in the department of journalism, but any student en-rolled at Western may offer stories to the editors. Members of the Western community are entitled to a single free copy of each issue of the Western Front.

Cops Box

University Police

Nov. 20• At 11:32 a.m., university

police responded to the theft of shrubs in south campus.

Nov. 22 • At 9:59 p.m., university

police arrested an 18-year-old man under suspicion of marijuana possession, pos-session of drug parapher-nalia and tampering with a fire alarm.

Bellingham Police

Nov. 21• At 4:23 a.m., police

responded to a bomb threat directed at a busi-ness on the 200 block of North Samish Way. The store manager received an anonymous phone call tell-ing him he had four min-utes to leave the building. Police found nothing upon arrival at the store.

Nov. 22• At 2:50 a.m., Police

responded to an alarm coming from a building on the 1800 block of Franklin Street. No signs of entry were found, but a bird was found flying inside the building.

Cops Box compiled by Christopher Wood

BUDGET: Proposals will be released Feb. 2010from 1

Western senior Laura Reed warms up for Western's Symphony Orchestra performance in a packed Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center on Monday.

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

“The first round of cuts were painful, as they are going to be in the second round of cuts because now we’re cutting around the bone.”

Roger Gilman,Fairhaven Dean

NEWS | 3westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • November 24, 2009

A career of investigation:Renee Davies

THE WESTERN FRONT

Amy Goodman, award-winning investigative journalist and host of the daily TV news and radio program “Democ-racy Now!” will speak at Western at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, in the Performing Arts Center.

“Democracy Now!” is aired on more than 800 public radio and television stations around the world.

Goodman will speak about her new book, “Breaking the Sound Barrier,” released in October. The book is a collection of her weekly columns from the past three years.

Tickets for the event are free but must be picked up from the box office located in the Performing Arts Center.

Tell me about your book. Let’s start with the title, “Breaking the Sound

Barrier.” Tell me what you mean by that.

"The idea is that in the current media how rarely barriers are broken down to get real information. I mean the networks, the cable channels are brought to you by weapons manufacturers, by health insurers, by big farmers, by banks and economic institutions that are the very companies that the debates are around…we need a media that’s not brought to you by the insurance industry or the weapons manufacturers; we need a media that’s brought to you by journalists and artists. That’s how we break the sound barrier."

You have sometimes been called a crusader. Do you think of yourself as having a mission or a calling?

"I think of journalism as more than a job. I do think of it as a mission, a mission to get out the truth, or the many truths, of people expressing their experiences, not just repeating the standard wisdom that is never usually that wise. The early reporting of the heart of the story, understanding not from the trigger end of the gun, like embedded reporters in the frontlines of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but from the target end, from Iraqi hospitals, Afghan communities in the case of war, people who lack health care in the case of health care today. Learning from people who experience domestic or foreign policy first hand and the havoc that is wreaked in their lives. And then, what they’re doing about it."

How did you first get involved with the work that you are doing now, and what would you recommend to someone who would like to follow a similar path?

"I’ve been involved in journalism since I was a kid—my junior high and high school paper. Then it was holding the principal accountable; now it’s just a larger stage. I would just recommend that students get involved and active in your local newspaper, blog or radio station or whatever you might do on the Internet."

After everything that you have seen and exposed to the public, how do you maintain hope for a better world?

"I maintain that hope because of the people I’ve covered. They inspire me. Whether it is people of East Timor believing someday they would be free—which they have become—or the people of Haiti, who have been through so many coups, believing in democracy, or students in California who are committed to affordable education and are fighting for their basic right to education. I’m inspired by people who resist, who fight back, who warp together across the political spectrum for a better world." Photo courtesy of democracynow.org

a journalist's view of the media

4 | NEWS Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

Alan CrowTHE WESTERN FRONT

Western’s First-Year Experience classes are in danger of being completely cut because of their high cost and the uni-versity's current budget problems.

First-Year Experience classes are only available fall quarter to freshmen, and due to the cost of the class, First-Year classes may be cut next fall, said Steven VanderStaay, Western's vice provost for undergraduate education.

The classes are smaller than standard general university requirement classes, so students can receive more attention and help, VanderStaay said.

VanderStaay said he teaches First-Year Experience English 238—Society through its Literature: Love and Long-ing—to a class of 18 students, primarily freshmen. He teaches for free, on top of performing his administrative duties as vice provost.

VanderStaay said he is studying the effectiveness of First-Year classes in or-der to determine if they should be kept at Western, because they cost more than an ordinary class would. He said it is cheaper for instructors to teach one large class instead of many smaller classes, but stu-dents are likely to learn more in smaller classes.

“Students get their largest classes their first year, and that's the year research tells us when a small class matters most,” VanderStaay said. “What we want to do is to provide a strong transition into college

life.”He said during the past 20 years, re-

search has been done to see what improves graduation rates. Research indicated a key component to improving graduation rates is a supportive transition from high school to college.

First-Year Interest Groups (FIG) are another way for first-year students to ease their transition into a college setting. Stu-dents take two related GUR classes and one two-credit seminar where they meet with other students in those GUR classes.

VanderStaay said First-Year pro-grams in general have proven successful in improving graduation and retention rates in the past, though he said First-Year

classes have not proven to be as effective as interest groups—which is why FIGs are not at risk of being cut.

VanderStaay said First-Year classes are more rigorous than other classes, but students are less likely to fail. He said the small class size allows for him to keep tabs on student's progress and help indi-viduals when needed.

Western freshman Nicole Kaul said VanderStaay’s class is definitely differ-ent from high school, but it helps with the transition.

VanderStaay said no one has failed his class, despite the increased amount of work and expectations.

“We have a fair amount of work,

but he keeps it interesting,” said Western freshman Leah Flegenheimer, who takes his class from VanderStaay.

VanderStaay said one way univer-sities First-Year classes are assessed by the state is by looking through gradua-tion and retention rates of the university. He said Western's rates are relatively high compared to other universities around the state.

The rates could be even higher if freshmen were more engaged, Vander-Staay said. He said studies have shown freshmen are more likely to return for a second year if they are engaged both aca-demically and socially within the first six weeks of college. First-Year classes do this, he said.

VanderStaay said Western seniors are more satisfied with faculty interac-tion than many other West Coast univer-sities, but freshmen are less satisfied be-cause they get stuck in the largest classes. That is part of why he brought his class to his house for dinner Thursday, Nov. 19, VanderStaay said.

The students talked about ideas for final essays while they enjoyed a home-cooked meal.

VanderStaay said Western faculty are generally strong supporters of First-Year classes because they make the students more accountable.

Some universities have first-year pro-grams that are more supportive, but the faculty at Western prefers to keep them rigorously academic, VanderStaay said.

“[First-year classes are] the gold stan-dard. It is what you get at a private college that costs $50,000 a year,” he said.

Freshman classes face elimination

Steven VanderStaay, Western's vice provost for undergraduate education, lectures on Nov. 19 to the 18 students in his English 238 class-Society through its Literature: Love and Longing.

“I like being in the small classes and just knowing that everyone, when we first got there, was going through the same process I was.”

“It’s really relaxed and ev-eryone is in the same situa-tion, so that’s good.”

“[First-Year] classes offer just kind of a nice transition from high school to college. The classes are a little bit small-er, but it’s also taught like a college class, so the transi-tion just feels smoother."

“I like the class so far, because it puts out inter-esting topics and lots of students interact… the teachers help more.”

Teran Vo Nina Maas Corey Sliter Liam Reed

Western freshmen discuss their experiences with First-Year classes

Photos and answers compiled by Anna Atkinson THE WESTERN FRONT

Photo by Alan Crow THE WESTERN FRONT

NEWS | 5westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • November 24, 2009

“As you are aware, this matter is under review and, as such, it would not be appropriate for me to offer my views at this point,” Nord said in an e-mail. “Nor is it appropriate or professional that you should be presenting an in-complete report at this time. I would be pleased to discuss the whole matter with you once this review process has been completed.”

Western hired Nord on Dec. 1, 2007, as the executive director of the Center for International Studies. This position must be renewed each year. Nord’s second term ends Dec. 1, 2009.

Western conducted an internal au-dit in 2008, which was released Jan. 8, 2009, in a 10-page report. The report ad-dresses complaints from three Western employees about Nord allegedly misus-ing university financial and employee resources, being extensively absent from campus and not properly reporting time away.

Nord’s previous employer, Wright State University in Ohio, conducted a similar audit when Nord was the execu-tive director of Wright State’s University Center for International Education. After the audit was released in mid-2005, and with strong encouragement from Wright State’s provost, Nord resigned as execu-tive director, according to a follow-up re-port to Wright State’s audit.

Ann Carlson, former special assis-tant to Nord, said she brought concerns

to Western’s administration over Nord’s extensive absences, questionable travel expenditures and suspected improper al-location of budget money.

“During the four months I worked for Dr. Nord, I—along with other em-ployees—became concerned when we ob-served what we believed were breaches of the state ethics laws,” Carlson said.

She said her intentions were not to catalyze a witch hunt but only to come forward with concerns about possible un-ethical actions of a state employee.

“I think the university is going to be better for having done some self-exami-nation and a little housecleaning, instead of sweeping these concerns under the rug and then hoping nobody trips over them,” she said.

After Carlson and her colleagues ex-pressed their concerns to the administra-tion, she was terminated from Western in late 2008. Carlson declined to comment

regarding the terms of her termination.Former Provost Dennis Murphy, who

served as Western's provost during West-ern's internal audit, declined to comment about the past audits and current state au-dit of Nord.

Western’s audit approximates Nord was absent from campus 48 percent of his available time between his hiring on Dec. 1, 2007, and Oct. 24, 2008, for a total of 109 days. Half of that time was properly approved by the Provost’s Office in accordance with the university’s travel regulations. The other half, approximately 53 days, was spent performing research, planning and attending a conference, and moving from Ohio to Bellingham, accord-ing to Western’s audit.

For all of these absences, Nord failed to report his time away to the timekeep-ing payroll system. Nord’s move from Ohio to Bellingham took 88 university-paid work hours from Dec. 18, 2007 to Jan. 4, 2008. According to Western’s au-dit, neither former Provost Murphy nor former Western President Karen Morse made any verbal agreements with Nord about using university-paid time and re-sources to move.

However, Ed Vajda, director for East Asian studies at the center, said Nord is en-hancing the center’s visibility in his trav-els. Since January 2009, Vajda said he has worked with Nord on a number of projects, including a trip to Mongolia and Japan.

“From my perspective, he’s doing ex-actly what he’s supposed to be doing, and he’s doing it pretty economically,” Vajda

said. “And I don’t think he’s using money except for things that absolutely need to be done.”

Vajda said he and Nord co-authored a grant worth $175,000. Vajda said Nord wrote most of it because of his past ex-perience securing grants for international programs. In October 2009, the center received the U.S. Department of Educa-tion’s grant.

At Wright State, Nord attained a num-ber of grants. However, according to the Wright State internal audit, Nord charged incorrect accounts for grant expenditures. When Wright State’s audit was released, Nord corrected his mistakes. Also, the audit reports Nord reimbursed the university for trips to Carlsbad, California and Alaska.

According to the audit follow-up re-port, much of the Wright State University Center for International Education policy was revamped by its new director, Mi-chelle Streeter-Ferarri, to ensure grant, expenditure and travel compliance by all international center employees.

Western Provost Catherine Riordan said she could not comment on current in-vestigations regarding Nord or on specific actions taken against the center.

“I will be paying attention to what comes out of this state auditor’s report. And if there is anything that they identify, I’ll try and respond to it,” Riordan said.

“I’m not necessarily expecting—nor would want—any kind of critical feed-back, but I could tell you, if there is le-gitimate criticism, we’ll respond appro-priately.”

AUDIT: Wright State provost strongly encouraged Nord to resign

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

July 21, 2005Wright State audit released

January 1, 2006Doug Nord steps down as executive director for the University Center for International Education at Wright State

March 31, 2006Wright State audit update

December 1, 2007Hired by WWU as Center for International Studies executive director

January 8, 2009WWU internal audit released

January 1, 2008Officially resigned from Wright State

October 13, 2008Three WWU whistleblowers come forward to Western’s internal audit office

June 18, 2009State audit investigation begins

infographic by Alex Roberts THE WESTERN FRONT

from 1

“I think the university is going to be better for having done some self-examination and a little housecleaning, instead of sweep-ing these concerns under the rug and then hoping nobody trips over them.”

Ann Carlson,Former special assistant to Doug Nord

A history of audits: Nord investigated in three cases since 2005

Making the electric conversion

ARTs & LiFe6 | Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

photo by Sakeus Bankson THE WESTERN FRONT

Mac and Mac Electric owner Eddie Pankow poses next to his 1976 Volkswagen Beetle conversion. Pankow converted the Beetle in August of 2007 and uses it to commute from his home in Blaine. His gas bill went from $500 a month with his gasoline Jeep Cherokee to almost nothing with the Beetle, he said.

Sakeus BanksonTHE WESTERN FRONT

Nestled in a row of what look like miniature, four-wheeled spaceships, the 1976 Volkswagen Beetle looks strangely ordinary. Its burnt gold paint job is a stark con-trast to the iPod-white and glowing blue of the futuristic little vehicles surrounding it. The unusual company makes the Volkswagen look blatantly normal.

But a suspicious yellow power cord pours out of the gas tank of the Volkswagen. A look inside the rear compart-ment reveals a mess of wires and thick red cables connect-ing mysterious black boxes. In the center of it all is a shiny red and black cylinder, slightly bigger than a football.

But this is no automotive Frankenstein's monster. This is the poster car for Mac and Mac Electric, a Bellingham-based company that converts existing gasoline cars into practical, zero-emission electric ones, offering a nearly painless gasoline alternative.

With the recent spikes in gas prices and the boom-ing green movement, electric vehicles have started to gain more notoriety. They release zero emissions, are cheap to run—as little as $0.03 a mile versus a Toyota Prius’ $0.13 a mile—and require little maintenance. They charge in a few hours with a simple household outlet and are silent and easy to drive.

The most common production electric vehicles cur-rently on the market are Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV), small light vehicles designed for short-range com-

muting. NEVs, however, cost close to $20,000, are limited by law to 25 miles per hour and have a maximum range of 30 to 50 miles.

Mac and Mac’s conversions can hit speeds of nearly 90 miles per hour and go as far as 200 miles on a charge. And Eddie Pankow, the owner of Mac and Mac Electric, said even though production electric vehicles are far cheaper to run and much bet-ter for the environment than gasoline, they still require using resources and energy to build.

“NEVs and hybrids are great, but they’re still new ve-hicles,” Pankow said. “Why not recycle a car that’s already been built that’s going to end up in the junkyard? It’s the re-use thing.”

Pankow took over the business in 2005, but Mac and Mac Electric has been around since 1947. The company, made up of four electricians and a bookkeeper, specializes in electric motors; or as Pankow puts it, they work on any-thing electrical that moves. But it was only a year and a half ago, in August of 2007, that they converted the Beetle and decided to offer auto conversions.

Pankow said he has been thinking about doing con-versions since 1995, when he was going to school at the Coast Guard Electrical School in Yorktown, Va., and General Motors began making their short-lived but much-loved EV1 electric vehicle. But it was his commute to work and high gas prices that convinced him to make it a reality.

“A year and a half ago, back in July, gas was five bucks a gallon, and I drive 24 miles to work because I live in

Blaine,” Pankow said. “So in July I spent like $500 dol-lars in gas driving my Jeep Cherokee. So I wanted to find a solution to that. Essentially I don’t even have a gas bill anymore.”

Mac and Mac charge $10,000 to do a basic conversion, which takes approximately a month to complete. The actual cost of parts and labor is closer to $15,000, but Pankow said he has been offering the lower price to make them as affordable as possible and promote them in the community. A self-conversion, on the other hand, takes $7,000, a little bit of electrical know-how and anywhere from a month to years to complete.

“You need a little bit of electrical skills, but it’s pretty simple,” Pankow said. “And you need a little bit of metal-working skills—it doesn’t hurt if you can weld or know someone who does.”

Greg Aanes, owner of Greg Aanes Furniture on Queen Street, completely converted a used Ford Escort into an electric car and uses it as his own commuter ve-hicle. Aanes, who has geared his furniture company to be as environmentally friendly as possible, made the conver-sion for environmental reasons. With global warming and the rapid consumption of fossil fuels, he said it just made sense.

“It was a pretty obvious thing to me, and anyone who thinks about it would feel the same way,” he said.

Electric vehicles, even Mac and Mac’s conversions, have their downsides, the most prominent being their batteries. Their limited range is an immediate turn-off

Local business turns gas-guzzlers into battery-powered clean machines at a discount

Making the electric conversion

ARTs & LiFe westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | 7

Roger Pearson loves cars. He is the owner of Auto-B-Craft, an auto-body repair shop at 1000 State St. It was an interest in the tech-nology of electric vehicles—as well as environmental concerns—that led him to build his own. Using an old, wrecked 1993 Ford Festiva, Pearson spent a year converting the car with a fi nal cost—not including labor— of approximately $7,000. The Festiva can hit speeds up to 65 miles per hour and has a range of approximately 25 miles. He bought most of his parts from Mac and Mac Electric and worked closely with owner Eddie Pankow. It is meticulously built, with a dark blue paint job and an engine compartment so clean and organized that it would make NASA proud.

Electric cars were in production as early as the 1830s. Pear-son said at one point there were more electric cars than gasoline cars in the U.S.—even President Woodrow Wilson drove one. But due to efforts by the oil companies, the idea of building elec-tric vehicles (EVs) was almost forgotten. Now, he said, they are starting to be rediscovered.

“Companies have been working on building gasoline cars for over 100 years,” he said. “If electric cars had that much attention for that long, we’d be there.”

Pearson said the convenience of gasoline cars makes them hard to resist, since plugging in an electric vehicle in the rain or snow is not an appealing aspect to some, nor are the limits on range and drivability. But with convenience and performance comes pollution. EVs such as the Tesla Roadster, though expensive, he said, prove electric’s potential. He said he thinks that with time technologies will improve and costs will drop until the price differences between electric and gasoline cars reduce.

“There’s a lot of things, a lot of diffi culties,” Pearson said. “But it’s the beginning. You’ve got to begin someplace.“

A Festiva reborn

photo by Sakeus Bankson THE WESTERN FRONT

photo by Sakeus Bankson THE WESTERN FRONT

Electric motors sit on a shelf in the front offi ce of Mac and Mac Electric. These motors, slightly bigger than a foot-ball, are the type used in the company’s conversions.

Roger Pearson stands next to his 1993 Ford Festiva conversion in his shop on North State Street. The car, which cost him $7,000 and took him a year of occasional work to build, has 12 Lead Acid batteries (the same type that power golf carts) and weighs 2,380 pounds.

Cost of operating per mile

Cost of 11,601-mile driveNumber of miles Pankow's Jeep drove in 2006

1996 Jeep Cherokee converted to electric

$.03

$358.03$2,578.91

$.13

$.25

Toyota Prius

Nissan Sentra

1976 VW Beetleconverted to electric

1996 Jeep Cherokee 2006 gas prices

By the numbers

for people, even though Pankow said most people do not drive long distances under normal circumstances. Plug-ging the cars in and waiting for them to charge—which can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 8 hours—is also a hassle, as well as their limited carrying capacity. The heavier the vehicle, the more batteries are needed to sus-tain range and top speed. But as Aanes said, there is often pain with progress.

“There may be drawbacks to them,” he said. “But there are drawbacks to any change.”

Despite their downsides, Pankow said he sees a huge value in making electric vehicles, especially in an environ-mentally conscious community such as Bellingham. He said there are at least a dozen electric vehicles in Bellingham, but that number is quickly growing. As more electric vehicles hit the road, interest will only grow. Within the past week, Mac and Mac has had one customer looking to convert a Geo Metro and another looking to make modifi cations to an elec-tric truck.

For right now, Pankow said Mac and Mac is plenty busy.

photo by Sakeus Bankson THE WESTERN FRONT

Eddie Pankow's 1976 Volkswagen Beetle and a 2009 Zenn EV charge outside Mac and Mac Electric Nov. 20. Pankow converted the Beetle to run on battery power in 2007. He recently switched the batteries in the Beetle from Lead Acid (the same type that power golf carts) to Nickel Metal Hydride (the same type used in the Toyota Prius), dropping the weight by 600 pounds and in-creasing the top speed to 85 miles per hour and the range to approximately 200 miles. Because the two-seat Zenn is classifi ed as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle, by law it cannot exceed speeds of 25 miles per hour and has a range of approximately 40 miles.

Old car keeps up with new commuter

8 | arTS & liFE Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

Samantha OberholzerTHE WESTERN FRONT

Submarines are famous for their large turbines and torpedoes. But these submarines have no engines or weap-onry; instead they have pedals and awards to their names.

The pedaling motion of the racer inside the hull pow-ers the submarines.

Western seniors and members of Western's Human-Powered Submarine team Damon Call and Bobby Panerio are designing a brand new submarine.

Panerio has participated on the team for two years. Call joined the team this fall. Nikki Larson, assistant pro-fessor at Western and adviser for the Human-Powered Sub-marine team, started the team in 2005.

Every year there is a Human-Powered Submarine race (HPS) either in San Diego or at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Md. The location of the race alternates between the two places each year, Larson said. In 2010, the race will take place in San Diego.

Human-powered submarines will race competition in four categories: one person with a propeller, one person with-out a propeller, two people with a propeller and two people without a propeller.

Call and Panerio are working on the design for a sin-gle-person submarine shell, or hull, with a propeller. The hull will be approximately 10 to 12 feet in length, and it will be constructed with carbon fiber and foam.

“The hulls are by far the hardest thing to construct,” Panerio said. “You have to manufacture a mold before you can manufacture the hull itself.”

The designing should take the shortest amount of time, and all of winter quarter is dedicated to the manufacturing of the submarine, Call said.

In the past, teams have designed their submarine ei-ther wholly or partly from scratch. This year, however, the team is interested in designing something that can be used for future teams.

While the design from previous years helps guide the students as they create a new submarine, they often manu-facture a completely new hull every other year to use for both races.

Panerio and Call said they are hoping future team members can construct a better hull by tweaking and fine-tuning the hull they are currently designing.

“We’re designing [the submarine] so next year’s team can focus on doing new things with the sub they have al-ready,” Panerio said.

The human-powered submarine races take place in a pool and are run time-trial style.

“It doesn’t matter if you go straight, you’re just trying to get to the other side of the pool basically,” Panerio said.

The races start with a “run-up” style in which the racer in the submarine starts pedaling to the starting line. The time starts when the submarine crosses the line. Subma-rines race one at a time and use as many trials as it takes to

reach the team's goal time. Approximately 15 other teams will be racing against

Western.Teams from the University of Washington, University

of British Columbia and Everett Community College also participate in human-powered submarine races.

This year the team is planning on recruiting members from the Western cycling team to race in the submarine, Panerio said.

The team tests their design by practicing in a pool four to five times a week during spring quarter.

In past years they began practicing in the Carver Gym pool, and then they graduated to practicing in Lake What-com with many other safety divers, Larson said.

Western did not participate in a race that took place in Maryland earlier this year because there were too few people on the team.

“It was hard to get going because there just wasn’t enough man power,” Panerio said.

However, the team placed second at the spring race in 2008 in San Diego, behind a team from Quebec who completed the race nearly twice as fast as West-ern, Call said.

The races are open to teams from all over the world

and of any age group. They are not exclusively for col-legiate teams.

“Sometimes there are father-son teams,” Panerio said.The Western Human-Powered Submarine team relies

on donations from companies and fundraising.“Right now we’re looking at $15,000 [in materials]

when it’s all said and done,” Call said about the cost of the submarine.

In past years, companies have given the team an open tab for materials. But this year it seems a little more dif-ficult.

“The economy sucks right now so companies can’t help us like they used to,” Panerio said. “I know we’re ap-plying for some grants.”

The Human-Powered Submarine team is open to stu-dents from all majors, Larson said.

The team is always looking for people to help with things such as fundraising and accounting, Call said.

Panerio said he feels the most important part about participating in the races is the experience that can be gained from being there.

“Since we have a new team and none of the members have raced before, there’s a pretty steep learning curve,” he said.

Last year's drawing of a human-powered submarine shows two figures lying flat, pedaling the submarine. The operators breathe using an air tank and are able to look out through the glass casing on the top and front. The text explains the parts and mechanics of the submarine. The new one-man submarine is being designed and constructed this academic year and will race against other universities' designs in spring 2010.

The scuttlebutt about Western's submarines Students design, build one- and two-person human-powered subs for San Diegos's 2010 race

photo courtesy of Damon Call

OpiNiON | 9Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

During this recession, students at Western might feel overwhelmed by paying their bills, searching for jobs and staying afloat financially. It is easy for stu-dents to lose track of the fact that there are people in the community who are less for-tunate than them who they can help.

Bellingham has 1,328 homeless people, according to Whatcom County’s Health Department January 2009 count. Washington state’s figures put the home-less population for the state at 22,827.

These are people who don’t have the luxury of worrying about getting the classes they need to graduate or scroung-ing up the money for another round of textbooks. They contend with finding a warm place to spend the night, whether that be a public park bench or a Dumpster in an alley. They struggle to find food and other basic necessities.

Students who believe they can do

nothing to assist those who are homeless are wrong. There are many opportunities to volunteer at homeless shelters around Bellingham, but a new program is offering a unique option to help.

The House 2 Home Network is a vir-tual furniture bank operated by the What-com Volunteer Center. According to the center’s Web site, a virtual furniture bank cuts out the cost of renting warehouse space by operating entirely through an on-line database.

People who were recently home-less and are currently in housing through Whatcom County programs such as the Opportunity Council can request furni-ture through the database. Their request is matched to a specific donor and a specific piece of furniture. Volunteers will then pick up the furniture from the donor’s home and deliver it.

Western students who find themselves moving to a new apartment or graduates leaving the city should reconsider setting their unwanted furniture on the curb with a free sign and instead contact the House 2

Home Network. Those looking to unload their bed frames, mattresses, couches, chairs, desks, tables and pots and pans can donate them, as long as the items are in reasonably good condition.

The network is a great way to give something to people who move into a new home owning nothing. The recently home-less have little in the way of resources and comforts. Their transition back to housing can be made easier by helping them ob-tain furniture, which lets them spend time and energy on finding a job as opposed to tracking down a bed to sleep in.

Those interested in either donating furniture to the online database or volun-teering to help pick up and move furniture should visit the Whatcom Volunteer Cen-ter’s Web site at whatcomvolunteer.org and click on the “programs” tab to learn more.

The Editorial Board is comprised of Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Rice, Managing Editor Audrey Dubois-Boutet and Opin-ion Editor Tristan Hiegler.

FrontlineOpinions of the Editorial Board

Students, help the homeless by donating some old furniture

Lindsey Otta THE WESTERN FRONT

One aspect of Western that sets us apart from other universities in our state is our lack of a Greek system. Could many of the large houses along North Garden and High Street be remains of old fra-ternity or sorority houses? A visit to the university archives and records center re-vealed that Western has never had a Greek system.

Student life and activities at Western exist successfully without a social Greek system. There are many other resources and activities to do, besides stressing about rush, parties and philanthropy hours.

If Western students decided to add a Greek system in the near future, I believe the atmosphere at our university would change drastically, for the worse.

It would attract an entirely different student population and change the dynam-ic of our school.

Western is known for its arts, educa-tion programs and passion for the envi-ronment. We don’t need a Greek system to define our school.

When Western transformed from be-ing the State Normal School to Western Washington College of Education, many fraternities and sororities approached our school hoping to organize a branch in Bellingham.

Greek houses originally became in-terested because there was now a four-year college instead of a Normal school that simply trained teachers.

A committee on fraternities and so-rorities was formed in 1936 to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of in-troducing social and honorary fraterni-

ties and sororities as well as clubs bearing Greek letters.

Advantages presented in the minutes of the discussion of the 1936 committee included “providing closely knit face-to-face groups” and that a Greek system would give “opportunity for social direc-tion and leadership.”

Yet, the disadvantages and practical problems outweighed the advantages. The committee worried fraternities and sorori-ties at Western would create “social snob-bishness,” and they saw no real need for such a system in our school.

However this does not mean that so-rorities and fraternities are permanently banned from Western. If enough students become interested in forming a Greek sys-tem, the topic will be opened and students will vote on the issue.

The last time a student vote was con-ducted was in the spring of 1982. The As-sociated Students ballot at the time asked, “Do you wish to see the formation of fra-ternities and sororities on Western’s cam-pus?” The results showed that Western students were opposed to the idea.

The image and concept of the Greek system has changed drastically over the years. In the 1940s, fraternities and sorori-ties were mainly based around academics and a formal social structure. Today, peo-ple might think of scenes from “Animal House.”

Coming from a high school graduat-ing class of 36, I thought about finding a school that had a Greek system. The thought of a smaller community within a larger one really intrigued me.

After visiting Western, I found that even though there was no Greek system, I felt that the smaller community I was searching for still existed.

Nov. 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), established to protect and promote the well-being of children throughout the world.

Shamefully, the United States is not a signatory to this landmark treaty, which became international law in 1990. We share that ignominious status with just one other country: Somalia.

The CRC helps guide policies that address children’s needs while encourag-ing development of their own voice and skills. Inconceivably, this sensible and ethical direction has been obstructed by a tiny number of people who rail against the United Nations or advocate unbridled parental rights to determine and do what is in their children’s best interests.

The time is long overdue for us to join the 193 countries that have recog-nized, through ratification, that a healthy and vibrant childhood is both a national and a global priority.

Children are our future, but they are also our present. Please urge the U.S. Senate to support ratification of the CRC, and back up this public affirmation of children by giving priority to children and to programs of health and education.

James LouckyWestern anthropology professor

Letters to the editor The United States needs to do its part to protect children around the world

Greek system not an ideal fit for Western

Viking VoicesOpinions from around campus

What do you think are the best alternatives to gasoline-fueled cars?

Compiled by Andrew Lang

James Wadkins Junior

"The best alternative to gasoline is electric because it's a totally

renewable resource."

Kye FreemanSophomore

"I think one of the best alternatives to gasoline-fueled cars is walking, because

that is the natural way to go."

Chris Burdick Junior

"A good alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles such as cars, in my view, is

walking. It is good for the soul, it's good meditation and it gets the mind free."

Madeleine EckmanSenior

"One word: bikes."

spORTs10 | Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

Willy DeliusTHE WESTERN FRONT

The Western men’s rugby team, the Warthogs, fell 12-10 to the University of Washington in a friendly match Saturday afternoon on the Wade King Student Rec-reation Center turf field.

“We played hard, and had a lot of opportunities against a good UW team,” Western assistant coach Craig Brown said.

The loss drops Western’s record to 2-3 this fall, after last weekend’s 40-0 loss in Surrey, B.C., to Surrey Senior Men’s Club. It completes the fall portion of Western's season.

The Warthogs participate in Division II of the Pacific Northwest Rugby Union Collegiate (PNWRU), while the Huskies play higher up, competing in Division I.

“They’re a nationally ranked Divi-sion-I team, and we’re a Division-II team

so if you consider that, we played well,” Western head coach Corky Foster said.

Foster said he was proud of the way the team played with composure and ex-ecuted what has been taught during prac-tice.

Each team scored two trys in the 12-10 decision, worth five points each. Ul-timately it was UW’s successful conver-sion—a two-point kick similar to a point after touchdown in football—that secured the win for the Huskies.

Foster said Western’s inability to make a conversion was the difference in the game. Conversions are kicks taken parallel to the spot that the ball crossed the goal line. This means a try in the middle of the field makes for an easier conver-sion because the kick is taken closer to the goalposts.

The Warthogs were led offensively by players Jason Wagner and Gavri Gross-

man, each tallying one try.Western senior and team president

Brian Jensen said the location of the Wart-hog's trys versus UW’s trys made a sub-stantial difference.

“We couldn’t convert after any of our trys because most of them were scored way on the outside and were really dif-ficult kicks,” Jensen said. “[UW’s] were more makeable kicks, closer to the cen-ter.”

The Warthogs have plans to move up to Division I next year to compete against the best teams in the nation.

“Because we are intending to move up, this game was a good test to see where we fit,” Brown said.

However, the loss did not sit well with the Warthogs, Brown said.

“We had more opportunities than they did today,” Brown said. “We just could not finish.”

The game against UW was one the Warthogs looked forward to on the sched-ule, team vice president Matt Colleen said.

“A lot of people know each other from both teams,” Colleen said. “We’ve played them every year that I’ve been here, and it is always a good match.”

Jensen said the win is UW’s third straight win over Western. Despite the game’s friendly status, Jensen said losing still hurts.

Brown said approximately 300 peo-ple showed up on the turf field to root for the Warthogs.

Jensen, dislocated his shoulder dur-ing the match. A few other Warthogs sus-tained injuries as well.

“It was hard-fought; we took a little hurt out there today,” Jensen said.

Brown said they are implementing a strength and conditioning program for the next six weeks to keep the team’s fitness up.

“We are trying to be more organized with our plays this year,” Jensen said. “We are going to keep working hard and improving. We want to try to come back stronger with our fundamentals.”

Foster said the results of Saturday's match looked promising for the team's Division-I goals next year.

“We thought we could play with these people,” Foster said. “Now we know ob-viously we can.”

The Warthogs will not be on the pitch again until Feb. 6, when they face Chuck-anut Bay Club in the George Crittenden Memorial Cup in Bellingham.

For exclusive coverage of the latest

men's basketball,women's basketballand cross country

events, plus a powerlifting slideshow,

check outwesternfrontonline.net

UW narrowly defeats WesternDivision-II Warthogs plan to move up to Division I next year; Huskies give Western a taste of what's to come

Western junior fly half Gavri Grossman tackles a UW opponent during Saturday's match at the Wade King Student Recreation Center.photo by Alex Roberts THE WESTERN FRONT

SportS | 11westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • November 24, 2009

Jordan SteadTHE WESTERN FRONT

Some of Western’s strongest students gathered Saturday for a Western Strong-man Club powerlifting competition at the Wade King Student Recreation Center.

More than 90 people watched as 27 men and women competed for the top three powerlifting spots.

The competition consisted of three challenges: squatting, benching and dead-lifting. Lifters were allowed three at-tempts for each of the three events. The best score of each event was tallied and then divided by each lifter's body weight to determine the lifter’s final score.

Western senior Brandon Ferderer came in first overall with 6.355, four-

thousandths of a point ahead of second-place winner Western sophomore Pat-rick Castelli's 6.351. Western senior Dan Zeller took third with 6.334.

Western Strongman Club found-ers senior Chris Lee and junior Jake Re-nouard promoted the event online and through word of mouth weeks ahead of the competition.

“Overall, I thought the competition was phenomenal,” Lee said. “A lot more people came out to support than I had ex-pected; there were lots of great competi-tors and good people in general here.”

Al Dawson, a judge at the competi-tion and owner of the Elite Underground Gym, said Saturday’s strongman event was more relaxed than the strict competi-tions he is used to seeing—and more fun

to watch.“All the training and hard work these

guys go through is like building up a bank account, and today is when they get to make a withdrawal,” Dawson said. “[This competition] was a great opportunity to get your feet wet in lifting, and for some people to possibly find a new interest.”

The competition was sponsored by Quicksupps.com, a nutritional supple-ment Web site started by Western junior Eric Jensen and his older brother Cameron Jensen.

Competitors—most decked out in QuickSupps gear—took their turn, huffing hard and wiping sweat from their brow.

Squatting was the first challenge of the day. Supporting a barbell with their shoulders, competitors had to complete a

squat where their hips were as low as their knees, then return to standing position.

Benching required competitors to lie on their backs, lower the weighted bar to their chest, and back up to full arm exten-sion. Lee locked in 590 pounds during deadlifts, which concluded the event as the third leg of the competition.

Each competitor was required to stand flat-footed, knees as wide as their shoulders, and hoist a weighted bar from the floor to a certain height, then set it back down.

While several lifters have individual events in the future, the Western Strong-man Club is organizing more club events for spring, including a possible competi-tion against Central Washington Univer-sity, Lee said.

Raising the Bar

LEFT: Western senior Chris Lee struggles against 595 pounds of weight in the third round of the squatting challenge Saturday during the powerlifting event in the Wade King Student Rec-reation Center. RIGHT: Western senior Dan Zeller performs a squat during the first leg of the competition—the squat. Zeller finished third overall in the powerlifting event.

More than 90 people attended the powerlifting event Saturday at the Wade King Student Recreation Center. Twenty-seven combined men and women competed.photo by Jordan Stead THE WESTERN FRONT

photos by Jordan Stead THE WESTERN FRONT

12 | SportS Tuesday • November 24, 2009 | The Western Front

Jeremy SmithTHE WESTERN FRONT

The wind blew and the temperature remained approximately 40 degrees as Chaos, the Western women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, took to the fields at Skagit River Park in Burlington this past week-end. Chaos joined 15 other women’s teams from schools around the region for the Sundodger Ultimate Frisbee tourna-ment.

Chaos was split into two teams at the start of this year’s tournament. The X squad was led by Western senior Liesel Schilperoort, and the Y squad was led by Western senior and Chaos co-captain Brit-ney Waterman.

The Y squad ended the tournament with a win-loss record of 2-3 for the week-end. The X squad ended with a 0-5 record. For Chaos’ final game of the tournament, the two squads combined into one team to take on Whitworth University but fell just short of a victory with the final score 10-9.

Rather than wearing traditional jer-

seys or team uniforms, the women on Chaos wore pink outfits.

Western senior and Chaos co-captain Alyssa Weatherford said the team wears pink in the fall as a way to honor the his-tory of the Ultimate Frisbee team. Pink skirts were a part of the team uniforms when she began playing on Western’s team in 2005 but have since been replaced by traditional uniforms.

While not as wet as the Oregon Mid-fall Games, the cold of the Sundodger

tournament took its toll on the muscles of several Chaos players. Western sopho-more Rachel Bellamy said she suffered a possible cramp in her right leg in the first day of play, taking her out of play for the remainder of the tournament.

Rain on the second day made the fields muddy, causing players to slip and slide all over the field, some times a ben-efit and other times a disadvantage.

Confusion arose as the championship bracket games began because tournament

officials and teams were unable to keep track of who played whom.

“The tournament started out more organized,” Western freshman Sarah Knudsen said. “They have food and mer-chandise and stuff so I expected more or-ganization than this.”

Waterman said she is impressed with the ability of Chaos’ players to improve since the beginning of the quarter, and this tournament was proof of their improve-ment since the start of the quarter.

Chaotictourneyfor ChaosWind, rain and disorganization mar Sundodger event

Western freshman Jessica Jeffrey (right) tries to fake out a Whitworth defender before making a pass at the final game Sunday afternoon.photo by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT