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Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017Volume 181, Issue 7 westernfrontonline.com @TheFrontOnline

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New emergency rules affect manner of campus activityMonique Merrill

The WesTern FronT

An emergency change was made to three chapters in the Washington Administrative Code on Oct. 13, affecting the

use of university facilities, demonstrations, firearms and dangerous weapons.

The changes were made in response to violent dem-onstrations on campuses na-tionwide, Paul Cocke, direc-

tor of communications and marketing, said in an email.

Outside demonstrators will now require a campus community sponsor for a presence in Red Square. A campus community sponsor

may be a university depart-ment, recognized student club, employee group or some other campus backer. Outsiders must also reserve a spot, in Red Square or wher-ever they intend to be, online

or they may be asked to leave.Attorney Doug Shepherd

said the changes to the poli-cies, depending on the time, place and manner in which

Attorney: Board of trustees, in its attempt to dissuade campus violence, may violate free speech

The Vikings were selected as the No. 2 seed in the West Region for the 2017 NCAA Championships. See SPORTS pg. 11 for full story. // Photo by Katie Webber

Women's soccer wins third consecutive GNAC title

Student late night shuttle GPS app release date announcedZoe Deal

The WesTern FronT

A GPS app for Western’s late night shuttle service is in the works, Kay McMur-ren, Student Transportation Program support supervisor, said. It is set to be released Jan. 7.

In partnership with Ride Systems, a transportation technology company, West-ern plans to install the com-pany’s GPS units on their two shuttles. The app provides an online map showing the shut-tle’s movement, location and schedule. This will allow stu-

dents to watch the path of the shuttle and see accurate time of arrival information.

The late night shuttle cur-rently operates two routes. Route A runs clockwise from the Viking Union towards Buchanan Towers and serves Happy Valley as far as 21st Street and Donovan Street; Route B moves counterclock-wise along the same route, but does not go through Hap-py Valley.

The $26.25 quarterly stu-dent transportation fee will not be increased, McMurren said. The addition requires a few thousand dollars in start-

up costs, but will only cost the school $500 per month.

McMurren said the change comes to Western at the right time. Recent voyeurs and break-ins have increased fear in students living both on and off-campus.

“It definitely adds a safety piece for students to be able to see where that bus is and when it’s going to arrive at their stop. It takes the guess work out of it,” McMurren said. “It also provides im-mediate notice if the shuttle service has to be canceled because of road conditions or an emergent situation.”

Though GPS apps became mainstream almost a decade ago, McMurren said that the

transportation program has spent many years waiting for the right moment and doing

Late night student shuttle will be tracked with new app. // Photo by Katie Webber

What's inside...

The future of Title IX at Western.News pg. 3

Recent suspicious ac-tivity on campus and effictiveness of West-ern Alerts.News pg. 4

NASA brings the moon to campus.Features pg. 6-7

Campus club profile: Circle K.Features pg. 8

Should guns be al-lowed on college campuses? Two sides weigh in.OpiNiON pg. 9

Women's rugby team will be facing new competition this sea-son.spOrts pg. 10

see Red SquaRe, page 4

see Shuttle, page 3

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

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2 | ROuNd-up Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT

Editor-in-ChiefAlex Halverson

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News EditorsMelissa McCarthy

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Junior Abby Phelps hits the ball during a 3-1 victory over University of Alaska Anchorage, Thursday, Nov. 2 in Sam Carver Gymnasium. // Photo by Katie Webber

Cops Box

Nov. 5, 1:45 a.m.600 Blk. N. Garden St.

Subject reported damage to his vehicle after two sub-jects threw snowballs at it, scratching the paint.

Nov. 5, 12:09 p.m.1700 Blk. F St.

A subject was reported tres-passing from a business for car-camping in the driveway and stealing electricity.

Nov. 6, 9:38 a.m.2800 Blk. Old Fairhaven Pkwy.

Subject reported being victim of online scam.

Nov. 5, 6:12 a.m.1000 Blk. W. Holly St.Suspect headbutted victim,

causing tooth to be knocked loose.

Nov. 5, 3:44 p.m.3100 Blk. Ferry Ave.Police responded to a civil

dispute over belongings and a dog.

Nov. 6, 4:22 p.m.1300 Blk. Barkley Blvd.

A teenager who was being shown the family’s new car acci-dently put it into drive and drove it straight through the neighbors fence.

Compiled by Jimmy Goulding

Stay tuned...Look for upcoming coverage of these events on our website www.westernfrontonline.com

Jesse Moore on campusWestern alumnus and prior White House em-ployee Jesse Moore will be speaking at the Un-derground Coffeehouse on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. Moore served on both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and has held several different positions in the White House.

Disability & Media with American Hor-ror Story starAmerican Horror Story star Naomi Gross-man will be holding a lecture discussing the representation of disabilities in the media on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. This event will also feature a Q&A with the actress following the lecture.

Veterans DayA Veterans Day ceremony will be held on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 12 p.m. in the Viking Union Multi-Purpose Room. Featured speak-ers include University President Sabah Rand-hawa and veterans Dr. Jeff Carroll, Heather Mueller and Russell Thompson.

Diwali BallThe South Asian Students Association will be hosting a Diwali Ball in the Viking Union Multi-Purpose Room on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Diwali is a Hindu festival tradition-ally celebrated every fall. The Western Front

aims to report accu-rately and ethically. If you notice an er-ror that needs to be corrected, please submit it to west-ernfrontonl ine@gmail.com.

Oct. 31, 11:47 p.m.100 Blk. W. Telegraph Rd.

Oct. 30, 8:00 a.m.100 Blk. W. Holly St.Someone was reported steal-

ing brochures and paperwork from an office.

Female failed to pay cab fare after her Halloween night out.

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT NeWs | 3National changes to Title IX guidelines may affect university protocol

Jimmy GouldingThe WesTern FronT

Sexual assault is a problem on col-lege campuses across the U.S.

Survivors of this crime are left hurt, traumatized and often don’t know what to do next.

On every college campus it is re-quired to have an office of individu-als who can help those assaulted, the Title IX office.

Title IX, passed in 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in educational in-stitutions from kindergarten through higher education and applies to stu-dents, faculty and staff.

Western's Title IX coordinator Sue Guenter-Schlesinger is passionate about Title IX and any law that pro-tects at-risk individuals.

“It's important to know that Title IX covers every aspect of sex discrimi-nation whether it's sexual harass-ment, gender-based discrimination or sexual violence,” Guenter-Schlesinger said.

Secretary of Education Betsy De-Vos announced late September she plans on rolling back Obama-era guidelines of Title IX that help protect

students against sexual violence. These rollbacks include rescind-

ing the “Dear Colleague” letter of 2011 as well as a document commonly re-ferred to as the Q&A document. Both provided new guidelines for schools on how to handle sexual assault.

These possible changes to the Ti-tle IX code have some students con-cerned.

Senior Ali Brenes, the coordina-tor of Planned Parenthood Genera-tions, a group on campus focused on reproductive justice, has put together a campaign in support of Obama-era guidelines.

Participants are composing hand-written postcards addressed to Presi-dent Randhawa voicing why Title IX is important to them.

“With Betsy DeVos rolling back a lot of the Title IX guidelines we re-ally wanted to tell the administration that those aren't our values and we are not comfortable with that,” Brenes said.“We want to see actual action on this issue.”

Once the club has collected 500 let-ters, they plan on dropping them off on President Randhawa’s desk. They are currently halfway to meeting their

goal.The Q&A document, published in

2014 by the Office of Civil Rights, pro-vided extensive guidelines for schools on how to respond to reports of sex-ual violence, including procedural re-quirements under Title IX.

“[It] served as a foundational docu-ment that has allowed us to under-stand how to implement the Title IX program in a way that I feel is very robust. I continue to feel that way,” Guenter-Schlesinger said. “It was more of a blueprint on how to proceed and is survivor-centered and focused on due process for all involved.”

Although these guidelines have been rescinded, schools still have the option to follow much of what was in the 2014 guidelines, and currently Western still is, Guenter-Schlesinger said.

It is uncertain what the future of Title IX will be at Western.

Guenter-Schlesinger said her col-leagues within her field think there will be a question on what the stan-dard of proof is.

The current standard of proof has been and remains preponderance of evidence, which means in a court

case the evidence must show that it is more likely than not that the events did happen.

“I am hoping that the standard of evidence isn't going to be changed in how we deal these issues, but I un-derstand that is one of the things that [the Office of Civil Rights] is looking at changing in their final regulations,” Guenter-Schlesinger said.

Students for Anti-Racist Action has also joined this postcard cam-paign in a move of solidarity between the two clubs.

Junior Kate Rayner Fried, a mem-ber of Students for Anti-Racist Action was one who took part in this cam-paign.

“I think it's a physical way to show solidarity and support for victims of sexual violence and it's really impor-tant to hold ourselves and each other accountable for what goes on on our campus,” Rayner Fried said.

Rayner Fried hopes President Randhawa upholds current Title IX regulations on campus, and that it helps people to begin working to-wards solutions for these issues, she said.

continued from page 1Shuttle

extensive research. Western’s con-tract with Whatcom Transportation Authority expired this year, leaving room to step back and take a look at the numbers.

After receiving the go-ahead from the Alternative Transportation Fee Committee about a week ago, McMur-ren said she contacted Ride Systems to get started.

“It seemed like a worthwhile ven-ture to provide students with some-thing they’re starting to expect now,” she said.

Brad Benne, the Bellair Charters driver supervisor, occasionally takes a turn behind the late night shuttle wheel.

Late on Sunday Nov. 5, Benne filled in on the B route, bringing around 20 students home.

“Anytime you can improve custom-er care utilizing electronic media that everybody’s using, you always win,” Benne said.

McMurren is hoping the app will increase student shuttle use.

“We have seen a slight drop in ridership over the last few years,” McMurren said. “I think that we are getting some competition from Uber, and maybe, over time, students per-ception of service and what they want changes.”

Though the route has received few changes in the shuttle service’s 10 years of operation, many riders come across the bus at random. Because route schedules aren’t posted at stops, students who do not regularly use the

Illustration by Shannon DeLurio

s h u t t l e don't rely on its ser-vices.

Junior A s h l e y Lockett is one stu-dent who regularly uses the shuttle to get home from campus. “A lot of people also don’t know about the shuttle,” she said. “Maybe [having the app] would increase exposure.”

The purpose of the app is to make the shuttle more accessible for stu-dents. McMurren hopes the app will help students feel more comfortable and safe using the shuttle.

“If [students] know where the bus is at all times, there’ll be more people wanting to ride it,” Benne said, “Right

now that’s our bad thing.”Looking forward, McMurren said

the university will continue to assess student wants and needs to figure out how best to serve the student body.

“For now, I think we can serve them better by adding this little piece to what we have,” McMurren said.

Riders must have a valid student ID to use the shuttle, which is run separately from WTA.

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT4 | NeWs

What constitutes an 'imminent threat?'Ray Garcia

The WesTern FronT

Following the recent cases of lewd and suspicious behavior on campus, students have raised concerns over the visible and timely manner of Western Alerts.

Senior Boston Smith is one of the students troubled by the lack of trans-parency.

“I definitely noticed and [have] been in situations in which I made reports about activity,” Smith said. “It really seems like there is a lack of interest in the safety of the students because of it, or the credibility of what the students have to say.”

Western sends alerts based on the concept of imminent threat to health or safety of the campus community, according to an email from Western’s Director of Communications Paul Cocke.

The number of alerts reflects the number of incidents that occur during a given academic year, making it hard to compare the prevalence of alerts from year to year.

“Our practice in sending Western

Students question what causes university to send alerts, why they send them when they do

Alerts is unchanged. We cannot con-trol the number of incidents that may trigger [an alert],” Cocke said.

On Oct. 29, a student entered the women’s restroom in the Ridgeway Kappa residence hall when she found a man crouching in a shower stall. After she ran from the room, another student saw the man quickly leave.

The occurrence happened on Sun-day around 4 a.m., but a Western Alert Advisory was not sent out until 3 p.m. the following day.

The delay caused worry among Western students.

Cocke said the alert was delayed so the university could investigate the incident further to gain a clear under-standing of what happened.

Cocke said this incident was con-cerning, but it was unclear exactly what had happened.

Ridgeway Kappa is a co-ed resi-dence hall. While he was in the wrong bathroom, the man did not threaten the students in any way, Cocke said.

It was not specified in the Western Alert Advisory if the man was a resi-dent in the residence hall.

“If there is someone that is doing

something in an area around campus or there is something that happened so recently, I’d want to know,” Smith said. “There are people that wander into these areas without any knowl-edge that there’s someone perhaps dangerous.”

The operational details of send-ing Western Alerts differ on a case-by-case basis. It depends on what is known soon after the incident. Some-times details are fragmented and re-quire further police investigation, which can cause delays, Cocke said.

Erring on the side of caution, the university issued Western Alert ad-visory about suspicious behavior the next day to campus, he said.

Cocke said based on our knowl-edge of other four-year universities in the state, Western typically sends more alerts than others.

“We also are only a couple of months into this academic year so any comparison to last academic year is premature and misleading,” he said.

Despite there being specific re-quirements needed to warrant an alert, some students want more up-dates of the safety on and around

continued from page 1Red Square

they’re enforced, could potential-ly be a violation of First and Second Amendment rights.

Shepherd’s expertise is in First Amendment rights and was involved in a major free speech case in 1995 in Bellingham. The case, which set a precedent for censorship throughout Washington state, involved an issue of the magazine “Answer Me!” being

distributed in a Bellingham book shop. Because of perceived graphic material, the City of Bellingham cen-sored the distribution but instead had to pay the plaintiffs $1.3 million due to First Amendment violation and in-fliction of emotional distress.

DemonstrationsThough it is university property,

Red Square is considered public land as Western is a public university.

“We don’t have a ‘free speech zone’ per se, but [Red Square] is typically where that happens,” Jennifer Cook, Associated Students student activities adviser, said.

Changes to Western’s policy on demonstrations includes a more in-depth list of disruptions, disturbances and interferences on campus that are not allowed, with an emphasis on keeping Western safe.

“We definitely want to be welcom-ing to outside folks coming on cam-pus. They have the right to say and express how they want to,” Cook said. “When it becomes an issue is when there’s harassment, either by them or from our students harassing them.”

Students and members of the cam-pus community still have access to Red Square and only require a reser-vation if the are borrowing equipment from the Associated Students.

Cocke said any event or speaker in Red Square who is disruptive to Western’s educational mission may be asked to cease the event.

If a situation is deemed potentially threatening to the physical safety of those involved, University Police will intervene, Cook said.

Cook said they do not monitor ac-tivity in Red Square but respond to complaints about speakers or demon-strators and stay informed on planned visits to campus.

“When we know that something is being planned, we get together to kind of proactively make sure that the cam-pus and our students are safe,” Cook said.Ramifications

The introduction to the rules in the demonstration chapter emphasize ac-tive participation in social and politi-cal issues as “contributing to the bet-terment of American society.”

Shepherd believes the importance of free speech comes down to the ac-ceptance of conversations and partici-pation that do not contribute to the betterment of American society.

“It’s when we hear things that we clearly believe are not advancing hu-manity, that’s when we find out if we really believe in free speech,” Shep-herd said. “If we’re willing to listen to what the people are saying, even if we’re not willing to listen, are we will-ing to let them say it?”

Moreover, restrictions on who may use campus and the process of reserv-ing a spot concerns Shepherd.

"The part that indicates that you have to either be a part of the univer-sity or have permission to even come onto the property to speak is difficult, at best. It’s public property,” Shep-herd said.

Cocke assured that the university’s responses are complaint based and

if there is a complaint regarding the time, place and manner of any per-son’s activities anywhere on campus, then the administration responsible for that area will take reasonable steps to enforce the university’s rules and policies.

“If you believe that you’re impacted unconstitutionally by the sentences or paragraphs, the only place to seek re-lief is to go to court,” Shepherd said. “Because power and authority is con-stantly drafting safety rules and regu-lations, or other sentences and para-graphs, that push back against the Constitution and especially the Bill of Rights.”Student perceptions

For some students, the open nature of Red Square is a critical part of the university.

“When I came to Western and did my tour and everything, we walked through Red Square, and they said, ‘This is a free speech square,’ I thought

that was really neat and one of the many reasons I decided to come to Western,” senior Anna Kemper said.

Kemper, the AS local liaison, has been tabling in Red Square for much of her time at Western and has seen plenty of visitors use Red Square to promote their beliefs.

“A lot of the people that come from off-campus can be more bigoted or have these strong opinions that might not vibe really well with some Western students, and usually causes some big discussions and yelling and people's feelings getting hurt,” Kemper said.

Despite the tendency for these in-teractions to become heated, Kemper believes the discussions can be valu-able to campus.

“I think that it’s an important part of what makes Western, Western. And I think that if we start restricting free speech for people coming from off campus, that can undermine our val-ues,” Kemper said.

Under new university policy, those outside the campus community, such as this evangelist preacher, need a sponsor to speak on campus. Red Square is considered public land.// Photo by Tyler Morris

campus. College Factual is a website that

collects statistical data from universi-ties across the nation and ranks them.

Western received an overall crime rating of C+ when they compared re-ported on-campus, city and regional crime against all other schools nation-wide.

The rating for Bellingham’s crime and campus crime is below average. It is unknown how frequently the data is updated.

Freshman Luke Galloway said that he would like to see the university give subscribers an option to receive more or less alerts.

“There are people who really like to know what’s going on with crime in the surrounding areas,” Galloway said. “I know they have the informa-tion about it, it’s just being a matter of getting it out to students.”

Western's University Police homepage provides daily crime logs. The university is also required to publish an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on or before Oct. 1 each year, which can be found on West-ern’s Campus Safety page, Cocke said.

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 NeWs | 5

You are what you post: professionalism in the age of social media

Cutter KilgoreThe WesTern FronT

There’s an old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” when it comes to getting a job.

Some employers caution that, in the age of social media, it’s not what you know but what you post online that may or may not get you hired.

Employers are looking for red flags on social media accounts of potential employees, said Kjendal Hicks, a contract specialist for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Interme-diate Maintenance Facility.

This could include fighting, drinking, hysterical posts and mood swings that equate to a lack of pro-fessionalism, Hicks said.

“I think it’s harmful to students to post things like that, especially on a public website,” Hicks said. “It allows me to weed out candidates that might otherwise have gotten through.”

Senior business major Cole Stark-man said he has personally seen job candidates screened out due to a lack of professionalism.

“In the business world, and espe-cially in finance, everyone needs a LinkedIn, and your LinkedIn needs to be extremely professional,” Stark-man said. “If it’s not professional, your chance of getting a job decreas-es dramatically.”

A 2015 study published in the journal Computers in Human Be-havior concluded that while com-panies emphasize looking at social media when making hiring and fir-ing decisions, most young adults surveyed are opposed or neutral to the practice.

Forty-two percent of participants said that social media should not be used by employers for hiring or fir-ing.

Starkman said employers could be checking online profiles, such as LinkedIn, for anything that might rule out a potential candidate.

“A lot of these companies look for buzzwords, like ‘commitment’ or ‘leadership’ or anything like that,” Starkman said. “And if they don’t find it, they’ll automatically throw you in the trash. I’m sure it has hap-pened to me.”

Prospective employees may need to maintain not only a professional social media profile, but a popular one as well.

Alex Lee, vice president of West-ern’s Financial Management Asso-ciation, said even if a social media profile appears professional, some recruiters are digging deeper, trying to garner information such as how many connections the candidate has.

“You’ve got to be connected,” Lee said. At least 500 or more connec-

tions on LinkedIn will get a candi-date’s foot in the door.

“I was talking with a recruiter [for a job] as a possible financial advis-er,” Lee said.” They said if you’re go-ing to go down that route, your numbers have got to be up.”

Lee believes personal so-cial media is becoming less of a factor in students find-ing employment than it used to be.

“Hiring is all about algorithms,” Lee said. “They used to check your Facebook, but then a lot of com-panies got criticism for that. These days, people aren’t as con-cerned. But if you’re doing something stu-pid, you’re going to get caught for it.”

Not every company uses social media in its hiring processes, but can-didates still might find themselves being evalu-ated online for other rea-sons.

“Our recruitment team might look at Facebook and take your profile pic-ture to upload into your file,” Hicks said. “And even if

[the profile] is private, sometimes you can still find stuff. Anything you don’t want your parents to see, you probably don’t want your employer to see.”

Illustration by Shannon DeLurio

How professionalism in online profiles can impact the likelihood of getting hired and fired

FeaTuResTuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT6 | | 7 Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017

Out of this worldKaeli Hearn

The WesTern FronT

Western students were given the chance to hold rocks from the sur-face of the moon in their hands. Ge-ology professor Ben Paulson wrote a letter to NASA requesting lunar samples, and they were delivered to Western.

The samples were brought into geology classes, such as mineralo-gy, where students spent time look-ing at thin sections of the material, Paulson said.

The loan period is very strict and limited to two weeks. Western had

to meet certain criteria to get the samples, Paulson said.

To be eligible, the institution must have a standard petrographic

microscope with reflected light capability to view the samples and the request for use should be in the interest of the students, ac-cording to NASA.

The samples have to be looked at through a specific microscope, which increases the quality of the image contrast more than other observation techniques. Geolo-gists use what is called a petro-graphic microscope, which has polarizing light in it, to view the samples, Paulson said.

“As the light interacts with the minerals within those rocks, we can learn a lot of information

and identify those minerals,” Paulson said.

Paulson com-pleted his under-graduate work at the University of W i s c o n s i n - E a u Claire and started working at Western back in 2014, he said.

This is the third year Western has loaned the samples from NASA, Paulson said.

According to NASA, petrographic thin section pack-

ages contain 12 polished sections of samples from either the Lunar or Meteorite collections. These are provided to colleges and universi-

ties.“These samples are invaluable.

You would have to go to the moon to get them back. They are essen-tially irreplaceable,” Paulson said.

Paulson brought the samples to Mineralogy 306, junior geology stu-dent Izabella Ogilvie said.

“What was really cool was we got to see all the samples in thin sec-tions, which means the sample is cut into smaller sections on a piece of glass that goes under a micro-

scope,” Ogilvie said. Students learned a geologist

collected these samples from the moon, so it is an example of some of the things students can do as a geologist, Ogilvie said.

Ogilvie said they are lucky to see those kinds of things in the depart-ment because it is a good example of where one can go with geology and how it affects people and life, Ogilvie said.

Junior Xander Reitz was able to

Western geology department receives moon rocks on loan from NASA

see the samples in two of his class-es, astronomy and geology, he said.

“Looking at the soil itself was out of this world. I had never seen anything like it before,” Reitz said. “That is probably the oldest thing I’ll ever hold in my hands.”

The disks sent to Western are composed of lunar material. NASA passes out 180 of these acrylic disks, Paulson said.

Embedded in the disks are six samples of lunar material which

include three rock types and three lunar soils, Paulson said.

One rock type is called basalt. When you look at the moon, the dark spots and craters you see are basalt, Paulson said.

Another material is called anor-thosite, which is the brighter part of the moon, Paulson said.

The other rock type is called breccia. When the moon has im-pacts, such as meteors that hit the surface, the broken material gets

crumbled together, liquefied and turned into the rock brec-cia, Paulson said.

These samples are not like soil on Earth. It is moon dust that has piled up over the past 4.5 billion years, Paulson said.

The samples range from 4.2 to 4.4 billion years old. There is nothing that old on Earth in terms of rocks, Paulson said.

When the astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission went up to the moon to collect these samples, they found a spot of orange which may symbolize some kind of volcanic activity on the moon, Reitz said.

As good as it is to look at the information in textbooks, it is better to have it actu-ally in your hand and look at it with your own eyes, Reitz said. He said it’s a humbling experience given how old the material samples are.

Paulson brought the sam-ples into three different class-es assistant professor Melissa

Rice teaches.Rice finished her Ph.D at Cornell

University in astronomy and now is an assistant professor of planetary science at Western, she said.

Rice worked on the Curiosity rover, a rover designed to explore Mars, Rice said.

“In my classes, since we do not have microscopes, we just passed around the disks with the small rocks embedded in them and got to

look at them in some detail,” Rice said.

In one of Rice’s classes, as they passed around the rocks, she played the transcript of the astronauts dis-covering some of those very rocks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 17 mission, she said.

“It is really neat to be holding a sample of this orange glass found on the moon while listening to the transcript from the early 1970s of these two men discovering the or-ange soil on the moon for the first time,” Rice said.

Rice hopes students understand the moon is a real place where hu-mans have been, she said.

“The profound emotional impact of holding a rock from the moon is much more valuable than the strict educational impact from what we learn from seeing these moon rocks up close,” Rice said.

Paulson tried to request the lu-nar samples during different quar-ters, not just fall quarter, he said.

“That is why it is important for the students to see. Anything that can get students jazzed about sci-ence, into their major and excited about what they are doing, and the lunar rocks do that,” Paulson said.

Paulson will try and get the sam-ples every year based on availability from NASA, he said.

“We are literally bringing the moon down to Earth for our stu-dents,” Rice said.

Mare basalt (left) and anorthosite (right) under microscopic view. // All photos courtesy of Ben Paulson.

These samples are invaluable. You would

have to go to the moon to get them back.

They are essentially irreplaceable.

Ben PaulsonGeology professor

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT 9 | OpiNiONOpposing view

Letter to the EditorTo the editor and editorial board of The Western Front, Several of The Western Front’s recent articles were about campus safety in case of active shooters. Others have been about the safety of the neighborhood from burglars and voyeurs. With the increase in attention given to public safety and the dangers of insecure homes and classrooms, I believe it is time to rethink Western’s weapon policy. Currently, only law enforcement officers, authorized contractors, or permitted members of U.S. govern-ment agencies may carry firearms on campus, according to WAC 516-52-020, which is available to view on Western’s website. I believe that rule should be reexamined with current events in mind and evaluated by pro-fessionals to determine whether or not licensed students should be allowed to carry firearms on campus. If students are to be allowed to carry on campus, proper safety measures should be taken. Mental checks, reg-istry with campus police and demon-stration of firearm handling should be prerequisites for students to carry a weapon. If firearms are still to be restricted, I believe it should be encouraged for students to carry nonlethal self-de-fense measures such as pepper spray or Tasers. These are easy to use, easy to carry and can serve as a deter-rent and defense against burglaries, personal assault or other threats. In any case, self-defense awareness and readiness should be encouraged in order to prevent harm to oneself and one’s property. People may accuse me and other self-defense advocates as alarmists who contribute to a culture of fear on campus. I believe that the news points to a need for readiness and that it is better to over-prepare than to under-prepare. Instead of a culture of fear on campus, I advocate for a culture of empowerment and preparedness.

Sincerely, John Simmons

Our view: allowing concealed weapons on campus invites violence and tragedy

For the most part, college is a time of creative inquiry. College is also — as anyone who has spent some time on a college campus — a time for testing boundaries, trial and error and consuming a lot of al-cohol. So, how exactly does it make sense to introduce firearms into the mix?

According to the Washington Ad-ministrative code on firearms and dangerous weapons on college cam-puses, only persons authorized to carry firearms, such as law enforce-ment or an authorized user from a U.S. government agency, can carry a weapon on campus.

Washington state is in alignment with 22 other states where the deci-sion to allow or ban concealed carry weapons is up to the individual col-lege or university. At Western, even licensed students are not allowed to carry firearms on campus — and this should continue to be the case.

Why? Allowing anyone to walk around campus with a concealed weapon invites tragedy. We know all too well that little can be done once an armed person with the in-tent to kill opens fire on a crowd of scared people.

Mostly recently in August 2016, a law was passed in Texas to allow those who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon on college cam-puses. This hit close to home for students at the University of Texas in Austin, with the law being passed on the 50th anniversary of the UT tower shooting of 1966 in which a former marine sharpshooter shot 46 people from the university clock tower over a period of 90 minutes, killing 14.

Already, lax gun control laws and the influence of the National Rifle Association has made it too easy to access military-style firearms.

Opinions of the Editorial Board

Viking VoicesDo you think the proposal to institute a new jail tax to fund a new jail in Ferndale should be approved?

Payton GuthrieFreshman, computer science

“I don’t really think we need to build any more space in our jails that most likely is

only going to be used to lock up nonviolent drug

offenders.” Compiled by Matthew Tangeman

Rosa Rice-PelepkoSenior, environmental and

social justice

“I don’t think it should be passed because I don’t think our community should look

to expand incarceration.”

Abel Omar MartinezJunior, communications

“If this new jail is going to totally replace the old one, there’s no problem there.

I’m okay with that.”

Nicholle LippJunior, biology

“It just seems unnecessary. Why would you build this re-ally expensive jail for crimes that didn’t even happen, or for these low, petty crimes

that don’t need a jail?”

The Western Front Editorial Board consists of Jordan Carlson, Alex Halverson and McKenna Cardwell.

Mass shootings aren’t the only problem, incidents of gun violence on a daily basis can be the most deadly.

According to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, as of 2017 there have been more than 50,000 total gun violence incidents, of which 13,195 people have died. In terms of defensive use, only 1,728 incidents have been reported. More than 1,700 incidents involved an unintentional shooting.

Sure, allowing guns on cam-puses could help protect against a violent act such as a mass shooting. But introducing more guns to the equation will only contribute to the number of incidents and deaths, in-tentional or not.

Campus-carry advocates say an armed America is a safer America, but studies have actually found that a higher number of firearm laws in a state is associated with lower rates of firearm fatalities.

It definitely should be encour-aged for students to carry nonle-thal self-defense measures such as pepper spray, but these measures should abide by Washington state and university policy.

Self-defense awareness and readiness at Western is a must, but allowing the presence of firearms across campus turns violent en-counters deadly. Keeping guns off college campuses obviously won’t solve the problem, but it won’t con-tinue to contribute to the problem.

Illustration by Shannon DeLurio

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT8 | FeaTuRes

Student volunteering comes full circle

Eliana Ala'ilima-DaleyThe WesTern FronT

Western students are getting in-volved and serving the Bellingham community through the WWU Cir-cle K club. The club is a student-led community service and leadership organization, dedicated to bettering the Bellingham area. Their motto is simple: “Live to serve. Love to serve.”

Circle K is a Kiwanis organization. As of now, there are over 600,000 Kiwanis members in over 80 coun-tries. Throughout the world, Kiwan-is dedicates itself to nearly 150,000 service projects every year. In North America alone, there are approxi-mately 5,000 branches of the club.

Club president Jennifer Hicks said there are a multitude of projects the Circle K club gets involved with.

“We’re all about doing community service projects, whether or not it's helping out with the environment, or helping out older people. We find community service projects our members want to do,” Hicks said.

The branches of Kiwanis range from elementary school through col-lege. In elementary school, the club is called “K-Kids.” In middle school, the club is referred to as “Builders Club.” In high school, it is called “Key Club.” Then, once you reach the university level, the club is known as “Circle K.” As you progress through each of the phases, the name chang-es, but the organization and work at each level remains the same.

One project that Hicks is par-ticularly passionate about is raising money for the less fortunate.

“Sometimes we will do a service project to raise funds for different charities,” Hicks said. “There is a

lot of need in [the Bellingham] com-munity. It’s not feasible to just ask for companies to donate things, it needs to come from a personal level to make sure people are getting what they need.”

Club vice president of service Alexis Muniz said it’s especially im-portant for Western students to give back to their community while they still can.

Muniz has been a part of the Ki-wanis organization since she was in middle school, and she has reaped the benefits of the club over the years. They even awarded her a col-lege scholarship in high school just for being a part of the organization.

“I could give people a million rea-sons,” Muniz said. “It’s heartwarm-ing. It’s a good way to get involved with the community.”

Both Muniz and Hicks agreed they feel like they’ve gained a lot from the club and it’s re-warded them in various ways.

“I’ve gained a lot of leader-ship skills be-ing a member. You have to be able to inter-act with a va-riety of people from different backgrounds,” Hicks said. “I’ve met a lot of good friends through service projects, actu-ally.”

Muniz said the club gives back to the community in tangible ways which members can be proud of.

“I went to a work party last year at a park where we planted all of these trees. I went again this year and I got to see the trees were a little bit bigger,” Muniz said. “It’s really just seeing the lasting impact. You don’t have to be rich to make an impact. It’s proving, to a point, that one person can make a difference in the world.”

Senior Audrey Orem said she has realized the benefits of community service in Bellingham. She thinks the club does a good job of keeping students involved in what’s going on.

“It’s a good way to keep West-ern students involved with the local com-munity,” Orem said.

Hicks said in order to join the Circle K club at West-ern, all new members must attend a meet-ing and pay a due of $20. After doing this, they are officially a part of the club and can start par-

ticipating in various service projects. Meetings are held every Monday at 7:10 p.m. in Academic Instructional Center West 305.

“We are a public funded universi-ty, and since it is a college town, we should be making an impact on the community,” Muniz said. “We have, in some cases, more time than some adults. There’s really no reason we shouldn’t be involved. It’s just a good thing to do.”

Western club aims to help Bellingham through community service

Members of the Circle K club meet on Monday, Nov. 6. // Photo by Tyler Morris

It's not feasible to just ask for companies to

donate things, it needs to come from a personal

level to make sure people are getting what

they need.

Jennifer Hicks Club president

The club provides help throughout the Bellingham area in-cluding projects such as planting trees. // Photo by Tyler Morris

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONTspORTs | 10

Sports roundupAbby Owen

The WesTern FronT

Women’s volleyball is first place in GNAC

The No. 8 Vikings beat both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks this past week at home on Nov. 2 and 4. Against UAA, junior outside hitter Abby Phelps reached the 1,000 kill mark, winning the match in just three sets. Against UAF, senior outside hit-ter Arielle Turner moved into a tie for 16th place in the Western career book with 108 service aces. The team has now won 14 consecutive games. They now play away games against Seattle Pacific on Nov. 9 and against Saint Martin’s on Nov. 11.

Women's soccer takes home GNAC championship, again

The No. 12 Vikings (17-1-0) won its third-straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, after beating Concor-dia in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4. The Vikings received a first-round bye and the No. 2 seed in the West Region of the NCAA II Champion-ships. They will host the first and second rounds of the tourney, and will face the winner of So-noma State (14-4-1) and California Baptist (11-4-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Men’s basketball finishes pre-season with win

Sophomore forward Daulton Hom-mes scored a game-high 23 points in No. 22 Western’s 118-54 exhibition victory over Quest University, Nov. 1, in Sam Carver Gymnasium. Hom-

mes, as well as five oth-ers, scored double fig-ures. The Vikings open the season by hosting the GNAC/PacWest Confer-ence Challange, Nov. 10-11, at Carver Gym. West-ern will play Notre Dame De Namur on Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Then they’ll face Hawai’i Hilo on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Men’s soccer falls short of NCAA playoffs

The men’s soccer team celebrated Senior Night on Nov. 4 against Concor-

dia, but lost 2-1 with all goals scored in the first 17 minutes. They were sched-uled to play Simon Fraser earlier in the week but, due to weather conditions, the game was moved to Nov. 5. With the tie, Simon Fraser is the only GNAC team to make the 2017 NCAA II tour-nament.

Women’s basketball finishes preseason with win

This past week, the women's bas-ketball team beat Corban at home, 86-57, fueled by freshman guard Gracie Castaneda’s game-high 25 points. The program enters the 2017-2018 sea-son with 993 all-time wins. They will play Fresno Pacific on Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m., and Humboldt State on Nov. 11, at 5:30 pm., both in Fresno, California.

A new challenge for women's rugAlexis Edgar

The WesTern FronT

As the dark of night hovers above Robert S. Harrington Field, a team waits in silence. The only sounds disturbing the quiet are the soft scraping of cleats on the turf and the distant hum of the traffic out-side of campus.

They are Western’s women’s rugby team, and they take the game seriously.

The 32-women team practices three days a week for two-hour blocks, more than their male coun-terparts. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the women step onto the pitch ready to learn and im-prove, despite adverse weather con-ditions.

The team’s level of dedication is showing outwardly, as the women’s rugby team crushed the competi-tion last season at the Division II level.

“Last season, we killed it,” senior scrum-half Kayla Adderley said. “We beat everyone in our league. I think nine times out of 10, it was over 100 to 0.”

The rugby team was invited to compete at the Division I level in the Pacific Mountain Regional Con-ference this year, after a dominat-ing 11-0 record last season.

Competition will be stiff, as the women’s rugby team will play other club teams that have partici-pated at the D-I level previously. These teams include University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, Central Washington University and Wash-ington State University.

The PMRC lists Washington State University as a major contender with a strong offense. Last season, WSU scored 142 points, the highest of all five schools competing at the conference. Central Washington

came in at second with 128 points scored, and only five points allowed by opposing teams.

Senior Lauren Heller, the team’s eight-man, is excited for the level change.

“I’m thirsty for competition,” Heller said.

She attributes the players’ feroc-ity and passion as contributing fac-tors for the team’s success.

“There is definitely a standard of come to practice and focus up,” Heller said. “We have a level of in-tensity we try to introduce to new players.”

The intensity felt by Heller reso-nates through the team.

Adderley said Western students should come to the games and wit-ness the intensity for themselves.

“It’s going to be the most ex-

citing match you’ll ever come out and see,” Adderley said. “Rugby is so crazy to watch. There’s tackles left and right and people are flying across the field; you’re just drawn in.”

While the team said their fervor as a whole has helped propel them to the highest division of college rugby, they credit coach Michael Mauger as the greatest influencing factor in their triumph.

Mauger has been coaching the women’s rugby team since April 2016 as a volunteer, per club sport regulations. Although unpaid, Mauger’s dedication and determi-nation to the team is unwavering.

“He’s so passionate about rug-by,” Heller said. “He loves coming to train with us and make us better players.”

As the team approaches their first D-1 game, Mauger said he hopes the skills the women are learning will serve them well in this new division.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the team will behave,” Mauger said. “They overpow-ered every team in the confer-ence last year and this year, maybe, it’s not going to be so easy.”

Heller and Adderley said they are not concerned. They have a secret weapon — senior Sydney Gildersleeve, the other eight-man.

“[Gildersleeve] is super fast,” Heller said. “She ran track in high school and it’s so noticeable on the field. People can’t catch her. She’ll take the ball, grab it and go, and no one can find her because she’s just unbelievably fast.”

Adderley said passion for the sport keeps her and the team progressing and pushing to become better.

“[Rugby] is something you feel in your bones and in your blood,” Adderley said. “You’ll bleed for the sport, and you’re willing to do anything for the team and any-thing for the sport.”

Backs captain Carinna Snider and teammates Darbi Colson and Kris Tsuchiyama agree.

“Love of the game comes from love of the team,” Snider said

Tsuchiyama said the women’s rugby team is a family.

“It’s like dying for the person next to you, knowing you have that support on the field or off the field,” Tsuchiyama said.

The rugby team is getting ready for battle and lacing up their cleats as their first match is scheduled for 10 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, against the Seattle Mudhens.

After a perfect 11-0 record last season, Vikings move from Division II to Division I

Women rugby players stand strong in front of the scoreboard at Harrington field. // Photo courtesy women's rugby

Illustration by Shannon DeLurio

Tuesday, NOV.7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT11 | spORTs

Concordia ended our streak, we ended their title hopes

Eliana Ala'ilima-DaleyThe WesTern FronT

Western women’s soccer ousted Concordia University, 1-0, in double-overtime, to claim its third-straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship on Saturday, Nov. 4, in Portland, Oregon.

What makes the win even sweeter is the Vikings lost their only game of the season, and their GNAC record 39-game win streak, at the hands of Con-cordia only seven days prior to beating them for the championship. The Vi-kings’ championship win broke a Con-cordia 14-game win streak.

Sophomore forward Emily Bunnell said Concordia came into the match riding a hot streak, and they’ve been the best competition the Vikings have faced all year.

“It was super rewarding,” Bunnell said. “Going into double-overtime is one of those situations where we have to stay composed, and we pulled it off.”

Sophomore defender Emily Nelson agreed.

“We really wanted to prove our-selves and show that the score last time didn’t really tell the whole story,” Nelson said. “It’s great to get a little bit of revenge.”

Bunnell said the Vikings need to keep reminding themselves that their style of play is what makes them suc-cessful.

“When we find ourselves playing a different game than we usually do, we have to take a step back and keep our composure and keep our energy up,” Bunnell said.

Nelson said the Viking’s strategy will be to continue to outwork oppo-

nents. She believes this is what makes the team so hard to beat.

“What we really do well is we switch it around the back, make them run, make them get tired and then we can really dominate the game,” Nelson said.

The Vikings secured a first-round bye and a No. 2 seed in the West Re-gion of the NCAA II championships. They will host the first two rounds, and will face the winner of No. 6 seed Cali-fornia Baptist and No. 3 Sonoma State.

The winner moves on to play West-ern in the second round at 1 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 11.

Women's soccer won the GNAC tournament for the third year straight, overtime goal secured 1-0 win

Midfielder Mariah Roggow heads the ball against Concordia. // Photo by Katie Webber

Defender Malia Maack strikes the ball. // Photo by Katie Webber

“We really wanted to prove ourselves and show that the score last time didn't really

tell the whole story.”

Emily NelsonDefender

Western shots: 21

Concordia shots: 10

Western saves: 2

Concordia saves: 5

Western fouls: 12

Concordia fouls: 15

Game StatiSticS

Tuesday, NOV. 7, 2017 | The WesTeRN FRONT12 | spORTs

From the sidelinesOpinions from The Western

Front staff on all things

sports

What is the best sports

movie of all time?

You can hear the words penetrate your bones. You hear them through the tun-nel. “Rudy…Rudy…Rudy...” "Rudy" is the sports film my father showed me, that taught me what a sports film was supposed to be. A story of belief, grit and the success of the underdog. On top of that, it adds an-other chapter into the lega-cy of the Fighting Irish. How could it not be the best sports film ever?

Alex DupileReporter

Samuel BiehnReporter

Conner CelliReporter

Josh DeJongReporter

"The Sandlot" is the great-est sports movie of all time. It was mine and many oth-ers' introduction to the sports world, and it’s a highlight from my child-hood. It has everything from over the top childhood ad-ventures to genuine fun history, what’s not to love?

"Major League" is the clas-sic sports film that shows a team coming together to accomplish a common goal. The owner builds a less-than-average team in hopes they finish in last place so the team can be moved out of Cleveland. The team hears of this plan and starts winning to keep the team in Cleveland. It is a very humorous film making it a classic and a must watch.

The best sports movie ever in my eyes is "Remember the Titans" starring Denzel Washington. This movie takes place in the 1970s and in the beginning this high school football team from Virginia struggles to play together because of the racism within the team. However, as the movie goes on, the camaraderie builds and the team unifies as one to finish with a per-fect season and state cham-pionship. "Remember the Titans" shows how power-ful sports can be. There was great tragedy in this movie along with the divisive elements in the team such as racism, but in the end sports prove that it is an entity that brings peo-ple together.

Infographic by Ben Olson