Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Volume 148, Issue 10

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

VIKINGS DEFEAT RIVAL BEFORE TOURNAMENT RAINS OUT

PAGE 8,9

Andrea Davis-GonzalezTHE WESTERN FRONT

Students riding their bicycles or skateboards through walk zones could be issued a citation for not dismounting, but University Police is more likely to re-spond to a complaint rather than actively patrol the area.

Students said they were unaware of the bicycling and skateboarding Washing-ton Administrative Codes (WAC)—which were revised July 2009—that apply to Western.

One code designates areas on campus called walk zones where bicycles, skate-boards and other sustainable forms of transportation cannot be used between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Walk zones on campus include Red Square, Vendors Row and the area be-tween the engineering technology build-ing and the north side of Carver Gym, ac-cording to the codes.

Since no police offi cer is assigned to specifi cally patrol the walk zones on campus, university police enforces these

Transportation regulations go unnoticed

see SAFETY page 5

photo by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT

Ariana Scott, 10, swims through pumpkins in the deep end of the pool at Arne Hanna Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon trying to decide which one she likes best. This was Scott's second year attending the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool.

Students gain edge in job marketDigitalportfolioallowsemployerstoquicklyviewapplicantqualifications

Samantha OberholzerTHE WESTERN FRONT

Students fretting about landing a job after graduation just got a new tool to add to their arsenal.

Last Tuesday at the Fall Family Open House, the Western Leadership Advan-tage (WLA) and Career Services Center launched a new electronic portfolio and profi le program available to all Western students.

The new electronic tool will help stu-dents develop and present their résumés using a Web site that shows work they have done throughout their educational career.

The electronic portfolio program is funded by the Alumni Association, parent donations and the Western Leadership Ad-vantage and Career Service Center Bud-gets.

Next year the Associated Students Board will fund the program, Western leadership development specialist Joanne DeMark said.

“[The e-folios] are great for students looking for jobs and internships,” Luis Ibarra, a WLA graduate assistant, said.

Any student with a Western e-mail account can create an electronic portfolio,

Ibarra said. Students can put the Web address of

their e-folio on their résumé with the rest of their contact information, allowing the employer to view students’ accomplish-ments.

DeMark said the company this pro-gram is organized through, OptimalRe-sume, also offers helpful tech support.

DeMark began researching possible

electronic portfolio companies last sum-mer.

DeMark and WLA graduate assis-tants studied leadership e-folio programs across the U.S.

DeMark said they also talked to stu-

Original artwork by Jacob Zarnecki

See story on page 5

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

see E-FOLIO page 2

PAGE 16

BUDGET BOOZE,FRUGAL FOODS

Bike and skateboard rules not enforced

THE WESTERN FRONT ONLINEwww.westernfrontonline.net

VIEW THE WOMEN'S SOCCER SLIDESHOW ONLINE

Western freshman Jesse Wherry cuts past students on his longboard on campus.

The western Front

News2 | Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

Cops Box

University Police

Oct. 23• A 25-year-old woman

was arrested on suspicion of second degree theft at Buchanan Towers at 9:19 a.m. She was cited then released.

• A 20-year-old man was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant under suspicion of reckless driving.

Oct. 24• Police responded to a tight-

rope activity violation out-side the SMATE building at 6:19 p.m. No damage to the trees was reported.

Bellingham Police

Oct. 23• A 20-year-old man was

arrested in connection with a stolen sandwich from the Haggen at the 2900 block of Woburn Street. He was issued a lifetime trespass warning from the business.

Oct. 24• A male was arrested

Saturday after police responded to a suicidal subject complaint. He is suspected of threatening to kill police and was booked at the Whatcom County Jail.

Cops Box compiled by Alan Crow

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In the Oct. 23 news article titled "Loved ones reflect on a life lost," it should have said that Michael Grimes died Oct. 14.In the Oct. 23 sports article titled "Thunderstruck," the next home match was incor-rectly stated. The women's volleyball team will play Seattle Pacific University on Saturday, Oct. 31.

CORRECTIONS

dents, faculty and staff in other depart-ments outside the leadership department to see how they would use the e-folios.

The career center also did research this summer. They were searching for a program that would allow students to cre-ate an online résumé, she said. The career center and WLA came together to find a company that could offer both an e-folio and an e-résumé.

While researching various e-folio companies, DeMark used a detailed set of criteria which included a Web site that uses various forms of media and user-friendly software. The software allows students to scan documents, upload infor-mation and link their e-folio and profile to social networking sites.

“The company is very responsive,”

DeMark said. The program allows an opportunity

for self-reflection and it is helpful for stu-dents to learn and articulate their skills, said Amy Appleton, a WLA graduate as-sistant.

“The e-folios can be used for [a stu-dent’s] discipline, major or a specific class,” Appleton said.

The profiles help convey a student’s leadership skills clearly, DeMark said.

WLA and the Career Services Center are working together to let students know about the e-folio program. They plan on holding workshops and classes to teach résumé selection and workshops for creat-ing a profile using the Web site. Dates are currently being established.

“E-folios will give [students] a com-petitive advantage because it’s really new,” Ibarra said. “It’s a fun experience to reflect and look back [at your work].”

E-FOLIO: Program gives users an advanced way to display work

from 1

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

Junior Ryan Askey bunnyhops over caution signs in Red Square on Monday. “Red Square has a good density of stuff to ride,” Askey said. “But if you get caught you get a $15 ticket.”

NEWS | 3westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • October 27, 2009

The Western Front: What issues most affect Western students?Catherine Chambers: We continue to have issues with our drinking water, there are issues related with renters in our com-munity and domestics partnerships. Ref-erendum 71, which is important to many students, is an issue. As well as I-1033, which limits property taxes and would se-riously impact education and its funding through the state.

WF: Why should students come to vote?CC: Students should come to vote be-cause they live in this community. What gets decided at the city level impacts them. At state level there is of course the initiative and the referendum. It also sets a lifetime pattern for participating in the government and participating in the com-munity.

WF: How might the city’s promotion of infill and residential growth affect student renters in the sixth ward?CC: Having low-cost units for a student is very important. Lack of affordable housing continues to be an issue in our community. If there are homeowners put-ting out smaller houses that can provide more affordable housing for students, it’s

very important. Infill also creates issues in the neighborhoods. We have to continue to work together to solve what problems come up. The campus coalition is a great partner to our community and hopefully we can continue to build on that to create more dialogue and relationships within the neighborhood.

WF: Many students care about Lake Whatcom’s protection and retaining its recreational use for the future. What role can Western students play in assisting the city with this issue?CC: There are a lot of ways that West-ern already participates and can con-tinue to participate. In terms of our environmental education at Western, they provide a lot of research, intern-ships and volunteers. They understand the scientific explanations for what is happening at the lake. Western students can also provide volunteer hours; one of the most important things is keep-ing the streams clear. As we head into winter and things begin to runoff and those stream ducts get clogged, West-ern students can really participate with groups that are really actively keeping the runoff from going into the lake by keeping those clear.

The Western Front: What issues most affect Western students?Michael Lilliquist: Probably right now there is a lot of talk about property manag-ers and rental houses. Most blame it on the students, oh those students they have too many cars or are too noisy and create the problems. There is a push—and I agree with it—for better oversight for landlords. I’m assuming 99 percent of Western stu-dents are renters and this will affect them, particularly if they rent off campus and try to share a house with a lot of people, but that often violates local zoning codes. You can’t put too many people in a single fam-ily house in a single family neighborhood.

WF: Why should students come to vote?ML: You are going to be living in this world for what, 68-74 years? I think you will find that if things aren’t done well they have long-term consequences and undoing them is very hard...You should care because you will be living with these decisions for a long time and good deci-sions are something we can celebrate and enjoy for a long time.

WF: How might the city’s promotion of infill and residential growth affect student renters in the sixth ward?ML: One of the things we are trying to do is infill, which is putting more people into an area that is already developed. You do this by putting ‘accessory dwell-ing units,’ like the house over the garage

or add-on houses in the back. These are relatively inexpensive places and prob-ably very popular with students. If these are allowed, then that’s more opportuni-ties for students to live in a neighborhood rather than an apartment building or on campus. If we don’t allow them then we will have more and more of the housing squeeze that we already have. Bellingham is unusual, or like most college towns, in that about half of the people are all rent-ers. Unless [Western students] all want to live in apartments, the infill housing types will be of great interest to them.

WF: Many students care about Lake Whatcom’s protection and retaining its recreational use for the future. What role can Western students play in assisting the city with this issue?ML: First, get educated yourself. Then look at the bad news, the recreational abil-ity of Lake Whatcom is maybe something we cannot keep long term. Because that’s our drinking water and recreating on our drinking water isn’t always good. The problem with our lake is that it is being pol-luted with phosphorus. It is washed down from our housing, from our yards or from streams. If you are stirring up that soil, then you are contributing phosphorus to the lake. There probably are ways to use the lake recreationally; say for example docks that go over the dirt and probably only hand launched boats. Educate yourself, and then go out and educate other people.

To help students understand issues in the upcoming Nov. 3 elections, The Western Front sits down with candidates running for the city council position representing the sixth ward, where many Western students live.

A candid conversation with city council candidates

Michael Lilliquist

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Chelsea KennedyTHE WESTERN FRONT

4 | NEWS Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

Caleb HuttonTHE WESTERN FRONT

Western’s Associated Students (AS) was unable to fill 19 work study positions this year due to a lack of funding.

An extensive review of the work study program by Western’s Student Employment Center revealed many posi-tions were being paid for with state funds when they should have been paid for with federal funds. The state of Wash-ington provides approximately twice the funds provided by federal funding for the work study program.

When the error was discovered, the AS was told it would not be able to af-ford new hires. Each applicant was sent a regret letter. Brian Conner, AS personnel director, said it was not easy to tell quali-fied applicants they would not be hired.

“When you’re at the soup kitchen and you get up to the counter and there’s no more soup, even though the front door is open and they’re open, what are you going to do?” he said.

The funding mix-up was caused by a misunderstanding of the difference be-tween peer advisers and program assistants.

Students who work as AS coordina-tors for walk-in resource and outreach programs, such as the Women’s Center or the Drug Information Center, are consid-ered peer advisers. Funding for peer ad-vising jobs comes from the state.

Students who work as assistants to AS staff—for example, an assistant to a peer adviser—are considered program support staff. They receive federal fund-ing, which is used up more quickly.

Before the review, all AS work study students were mistakenly filed as peer ad-visers, so they all received state funding. Now only AS work study positions that clearly provide peer advising services can receive state funding.

Caryn Regimbal, Student Employ-

ment Center manager, said demand for federal work study positions exceeds available funding every year.

The level of federal funding for work study has stayed the same since 2005, while the level of state funding has gradu-ally risen since 2002. But neither has kept up with Washington’s rising minimum wage, so Western now offers 185 fewer work study awards than it did in 2002.

“It used to be that work study hir-ing was more casual, and by more casual I mean we didn’t have an extremely en-forced and streamlined applications pro-cess,” Conner said. “It’s a big change that really stinks, but it’s an ethical change made for the better.”

Some of the jobs affected include En-vironmental Center office manager, AS Pro-ductions publicity assistant and eight posi-

tions at Fairhaven College’s Outback Farm.“Now we’re more understaffed than

we need to be, and I’m spread more thin than I should be,” said Matia Jones, gar-den coordinator at the Outback Farm.

Because the application process for work study has become more rigorous, students now need to be fully qualified and submit a complete resume to be con-sidered for application, Conner said.

The Outback Farm was hit hardest by the lack of funding, but Jones said she has been able to sidestep some of the setbacks by getting support from Fairhaven College.

“The Outback is maybe one-third AS and two-thirds Fairhaven, so as much as possible I go through Fairhaven,” Jones said. “It’s way less litigious and way less bureaucratic. It’s way less [of] a waste of my time.”

Jones said funding shortfalls mean the Outback has to rely more on volunteer work.

Although students returning to work study are guaranteed to get their jobs back as long as they still have financial need, some of Jones’ returning workers had to go through a great deal of paperwork be-fore they were hired again for this year, she said.

All of the students who were not hired for the 19 AS positions were new applicants to the Outback.

Caryn Regimbal, manager of the Stu-dent Employment Center, said the AS posi-tions still could be filled eventually—either by shifting around funds within the AS or by getting more government funding.

Conner said he disagrees with the state’s decision to not fund certain jobs because they are supposedly not in the di-rect interest of the state.

“How do you tell someone that they can’t have a job because the state says that isn’t what they want to see people doing?” he said.

ASfailstofill19 work study positions due to low funds

Student employment dwindles

Outback Farm garden coordinator Matia Jones has been putting in extra hours to make up for eight Outback jobs the AS could not afford. On top of being a full-time student, she said she works 30 hours per week at the Outback but only gets paid for 15 hours of work.

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

Work Study: University-provided part-time jobs that allow students to work and continue their studies

Keegan ProsserTHE WESTERN FRONT

Wrapped in towels, with goggles strapped tightly around their swim caps, Bellingham residents of all ages formed a line outside the aquatic center Saturday evening.

But rather than awaiting a swim les-son or weekly aerobics class, these rosy-cheeked guests, with event wristbands on, sought something not often found in a pool—pumpkins.

The Pumpkin Patch in the Pool is an annual event that has taken place at the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center, 1114 Potter St., for the past 10 years.

The event gives par-ticipants the chance to find their Halloween dec-orations without braving the weather.

Participants paid $5 to take a swim through the 200 pumpkins bobbing on the surface and eventually choose one to take home.

Guests who wanted to swim

among the pumpkins but not actually take one home paid the regular aquatic center fee of $4 for adults and $3 for children.

Lance Romo, event coordinator for the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool, said more than anything, the event is meant to get the community interested in the aquatic center and the programs it offers.

Raynell and Edward Wurtz, Belling-ham residents and frequent visitors to the aquatic center, have brought their daugh-ter Maddie, 9, to the pumpkin patch event for three years now.

“Maddie has been taking swim les-sons at the aquatic center since she

was really little,” said Raynell Wurtz, as Mad-

die climbed carefully from the pool, lumpy

orange pumpkin in hand.

The Wurtzs said they like to bring Maddie be-cause she has fun swimming and

playing with her friends.

“[Haggen] used to only give us 100 pumpkins,

but the last couple of years we have run out,” Romo said. “So this year we asked if they could do 200, and they were more than willing to do that.”

Dan Moore, who recently moved to Bellingham with his girlfriend, brought his 2-year-old and 4-year old nephews to the aquatic center.

“We were looking through one of those weekend magazines to find some-thing fun for the boys to do while they were visiting us,” Moore said.

His two nephews struggled to drag their pumpkins from the water to the final resting place near Moore’s feet.

After finding their pumpkin, attend-ees gathered around a yellow bucket to bob for apples.

One by one, children submerged their heads in the cold water, their squeals of excitement muted by the presence of an apple now clenched in their teeth.

Bellingham resident Cierra Grimsted, 18, came to the event with her friend Tay-lor DeHaven, 14, to join in the festivities. While neither of them was there to get a pumpkin, Cierra’s brother Nicholas, 9, was.

All funds raised by the Pumpkin Patch in the Pool event go toward pro-

grams being run at the aquatic center—including swim lessons, the swim team, Adapted Aquatics and the Leader in Train-ing program.

NEWS | 5westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • October 27, 2009

regulations when people call in with com-plaints, Smith said.

However, Sustainable Transportation Program Manager Carol Berry said she is working to inform the Western communi-ty about these rules with positive enforce-ment.

So far, the program has created bro-chures and posted information on its Web site.

Joining forces with the Bellingham Bicycle Gang and the Outdoor Center, Sustainable Transportation set up a tent with an information table in Red Square Oct. 20. Available information included brochures about the Whatcom Transit Au-thority, bike safety and local and state bike laws.

“We all want to be responsible hu-man beings,” Berry said. “It’s really easy to make all the little differences that we can.”

The Sustainable Transportation Pro-gram also has a bike bell campaign that

encourages cyclists to be courteous to pedestrians when they are approaching, warning them with their voice or a bike bell. The program received grants from

the state to pay for the bike bells.“We make a conscious effort to be out

in the field,” she said. “Our call load and other reported safety issues dictate how

static we can be in one spot at a time and dedicate our efforts to this one issue.”

Western junior Chelsea Thorkildsen said a friend told her about the revised regulations, but she did not think they were effective. She said she often sees people riding through walk zones, with the exception of a few who were walking their bikes.

Thorkildsen said she finds it incon-siderate when cyclists speed and weave through crowds in areas such as the walk-way outside Carver Gym. She said she gets nervous when walking to class and a cyclist speeds past her, nearly crashing into her.

SAFETY: Program encourages campus safety with public information from 1

photo by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT

Kids pick pumpkins from public pool

photo illustration by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT

Western junior Chris Zens writes 9-year-old Austyn Brown's name on the pumpkin she picked from the pool.

“It’s like bobbing for apples, except bobbing for pump-kins.”

Austyn BrownParticipant

The Sustainable Transportation Program is encouraging safety on campus. One of the ways safety is being encouraged is through bike bells used to alert pedestrians.

"We all want to be responsible human beings. It's really easy to make all the little differences that we can."

Carol Berry,Sustainable TransportationProgram Manager

Lindsey OttaTHE WESTERN FRONT

No, they will not stick to a refrigera-tor, but magnetized leaves are proving a promising new way to study the amount of pollution in cities.

Western geology professor Bernie Housen found that tree leaves collect ma-terials in car exhaust, which can allow researchers to determine an area’s pollution levels. The pollutants on the leaves can be detected

and measured using a magnetic fi eld. “This way of measuring through

leaves is cheaper and more effective,” he said. “We are able to measure the distri-bution of pollution over areas with the ef-fects of traffi c.”

Housen has based his experiment off studies conducted in Germany and Italy.

Luigi Jovane, a research associate in Western's geology department,

said the results yielded in those areas were skewed because of

the dust from Piscinas' Desert in Italy and the amount of factories

present in Germany. In comparison to Germany and Italy,

Jovane said Bellingham is a well-sized city to conduct the experiment in because it is small and has normal urban activity, with no abnormal outside infl uences.

“Our dream is to understand the amount of pollution in a single place,” Jovane said.

Jovane has worked with Housen on the project since they started collecting samples May 15.

Housen received funding from West-ern’s Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center a couple of years ago, but because of problems with the budget, he was not able to begin until this year.

Western senior Sadie Belica worked with Housen and collected maple tree leaves from six trees along High Street and Indian Street, and then took a microscopic picture of the particles on the leaf and measured their size.

Housen and Jovane collected leaf samples from Whatcom Park and valleys around Mount Baker to use as a control for the experiment.

“This way we can discern which is natural dust and which amount is caused by traffi c,” Jovane said.

Leaves were also taken from trees on Roeder Avenue, where there is heavy locomotive travel and Meridian Street where more than 30,000 cars travel each day, Housen said.

“We put the samples in a machine called the Vibrating Sample Magnetom-eter,” Housen said. “We take a piece of the leaf and put the sample into a gelatin sample tube, similar to a pill.”

The machine gradually applies a strong magnetic fi eld to the sample, and the magnetic particles trapped on the leaf are measured.

Housen said the sampling process can take less than a minute for a strong sample or three to four hours if the sample is weak.

Their results found leaves on Indian Street were more magnetic than those on

High Street where there is no bus route. A growing concern involves the health

risks with an abundance of exhaust in the air. “The test is helpful for cities putting

in bike routes on bus routes,” he said. “Those people are physically active and breathing in small particles, which puts them at a higher risk for health problems.”

The Environmental Protection Agen-cy has established standards for each city for the size of small particles that fl oat around in the air.

When inhaled, the smallest particles can reach the deepest parts of the lungs and can cause health issues over time.

Housen said Bellingham is on the lower side for magnetic concentration, but hopes this research can help bikers and pedestrians alter their route if they nor-mally take a route near the bus line.

6 | NEWS Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

Professor fi nds pollutants in leaves

A microscopic photo, taken with a scanning electron microscope, shows small magnetic particles from pollution on a maple leaf. The fi gures next to the particles measure the di-ameter, which is no more than a few microns across and small enough to become trapped in the lungs.

microscopic photo courtesy of Sadie Belica

In search of magnetism

Dr. Luigi Jovane traveled to Southern Brazil in summer 2009, where he found meteorites that may contain unique magnetic material not found on earth. He is currently running sample experiments in the Paleo-magnetism lab at Western. This winter he will travel to Australia to take samples of more than one hundred corals to study climate change and geomagnetic variation.

Student DJs keep the crowds dancingKayley Richards

THE WESTERN FRONT

Music has the power to make or break a party or night at a club, and disc jockeys are often the ones who wield that power. With an extensive knowledge of music and the ability to spin and mix just the right songs for the crowd at hand, a DJ is largely responsible for keeping the party atmosphere going.

But pleasing a crowd is not always easy, said Western senior and DJ Casey Proud.

At his most recent gig DJ-ing for Late Night at the Wade King Student Recreation Center, Proud got a request for a Miley Cyrus song. He decided to play a mashup with Miley Cyrus instrumentals and Jay-Z lyrics. It did not go over well with the crowd.

“It didn’t take half the song for people to leave the dance floor,” Proud said. “People were like, ‘What the hell? I could have heard this on the Disney Channel.’”

Proud has been a DJ for two years and taught himself through online tutorials and advice from DJs on Internet forums. Purchasing the expensive DJ equipment was a step Proud did not take lightly.

“I had worked a lot the summer before [I started DJ-ing], and made a bunch of money, but as a college student, I was worried about spending that much money on a hobby,”

Proud said. “But my roommate at the time said, ‘You’re young; if this is what you want to do, this is the time to do it.’ So I did.”

Proud bought his turntables, mixer and needles for $900. Initially, he purchased his music in the form of vi-nyl records, but at about $10 per song, Proud quickly dis-covered more affordable options.

“Now I have a system that is digitally integrated with my computer, which is a standard DJ setup nowadays,” he

said. “I can connect my computer to my mixer and turn-tables and just play MP3s, and it emulates the sound of real vinyl.”

Western senior and DJ Rafael Zuniga uses a similar setup. Zuniga, also known as DJ Rafattack, said equip-ment can get extremely expensive—a quality mixer alone can cost more than $1600.

“I started DJ-ing my senior year in high school, but I took a break for a while,” Zuniga said. “It’s really expen-sive, and I had to save some money before I got back into it.”

Zuniga and Proud said people tend to have miscon-ceptions about DJs and the work they do.

“My mom thought all DJs do drugs,” Zuniga said. “And a lot of people think all DJs are cocky and stuck-up. That’s not true.”

The biggest misconception people have about DJ-ing is that it is easy, Proud said.

“Some people think that all you have to do is push a button or plug in an iPod,” he said. “A good DJ has to pick the right tracks and mix them with skill. You have to be able to guage the crowd, predict what people want to hear and then interact with them. It’s not easy.”

Developing the instinct for what crowds want to hear is an ongoing learning process that often comes with a few setbacks, Proud said.

“There are times when you’ll try something new and think, ‘maybe they’ll like it,’ and then 90 percent of the people there aren’t into it,” Proud said. “That’s like heart-break. But then you just have to move on.”

But when the DJ picks a song that clicks with the crowd, the results are immediate and rewarding.

“People will start moving along [with the music], and you can see it in their faces that they’re happy,” Zuniga said.

Self-promotion is key for young DJs who do not have regular gigs.

Western senior Brian Lohr, also known as DJ Psyph-ris, has been DJ-ing for four years and has a Web site, Twitter account and business cards. Lohr DJs at house parties, Western events and Word, a downtown Belling-ham clothing store.

Western senior Cooper Eaton, who goes by the names DJ Coop and DJ Coupe1, said it can be difficult for a DJ under 21 to find jobs. He got his first paid gig in France.

“I was interning at a radio station in London, and I

got invited to DJ at a ragtime club in Toulouse,” Eaton said. “That’s how hard it is to get paying gigs when you’re not 21—I had to go all the way to France to find one.”

Eaton now DJs at house parties and clubs. He also DJs on KUGS from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Lohr said balancing his work as a DJ with his respon-sibilities as a college student is difficult at times.

“[DJ-ing] is so much fun, but between taking 16 credits and working 19 hours a week, it can be really hard to find time for it,” he said. “Right now it’s not even a part-time job; it’s just something I love to do, and if it works out, I want to keep doing it.”

Eaton is a studio art major with a specific focus on music production and turntablism, the art of creating music using a DJ mixer and turntables.

“DJ-ing is my life,” he said. “If anything, my other responsibilities have trouble balancing with it.”

"There are times when you'll try something new and think, 'maybe they'll like it,' and 90 percent of the people aren't into it. That's like heartbreak. But then you just have to move on."

Casey Proud,Western senior

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

Western senior Rafael Zuniga, known as DJ Rafattack, has been DJ-ing since high school.

ARTs & liFe | 7Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

Rod LotterTHE WESTERN FRONT

I don’t know about you, but when I have just endured three grueling hours of professors droning on and on, all I want to do is sip on a stiff drink. So, when the hands on the clock strike 4 p.m. I am more than willing to take a seat in a dimly lit bar and enjoy the classic tradition known as “happy hour,” which oddly enough is usually three or four hours long.

Nonetheless, after a hard day of “work,” there is noth-ing better than fillingmy tummywith greasy fried foodswhile simultaneously harming my liver with ice-cold beers and liquor-heavy beverages.

photos by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT

TOP: Erin Clancy makes The Scarlett and Flamenco drinks for happy hour on Oct. 17 at The Temple Bar. Clancy has worked at The Temple Bar for three years. RIGHT: Western senior Simran Manhas (right) chats with senior Charisma Yaranon (left) while enjoying their Big Mamas, Jalapenos' specialty margarita, Tuesday evening. LEFT: An order of Nimbus sliders makes for a great way to kick off an evening.

8 | arTS & LiFE Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

A guide to local drink joints for the thrifty lush

photos by Hailey Tucker THE WESTERN FRONT

TOP: Erin Clancy makes The Scarlett and Flamenco drinks for happy hour on Oct. 17 at The Temple Bar. Clancy has worked at The Temple Bar for three years. RIGHT: Western senior Simran Manhas (right) chats with senior Charisma Yaranon (left) while enjoying their Big Mamas, Jalapenos' specialty margarita, Tuesday evening. LEFT: An order of Nimbus sliders makes for a great way to kick off an evening.

TOP: Shea Isley works on a crossword puzzle while enjoying a beer at the full bar in Cap's Tuesday. BOT-TOM: Western seniors Kevin Nansel and Melissa Wy-att share a pitcher of beer at the Quarterback Oct. 19.

arTS & LiFE | 9westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • October 27, 2009

10 | arTS & LiFE Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

Talithia TaitanoTHE WESTERN FRONT

Thousands of comic books in white boxes were brought from around the Pacific Northwest to the Hamp-ton Inn’s Fox Hall for Bellingham's first ComiCon com-ics convention Saturday.

The event gave fans an opportunity to meet the art-ists, talk to them about their work and get their favorite comic book signed by them. It was also a chance to pur-chase harder-to-find comic books.

Exhibitors brought in comic books from different time periods and different countries such as Japan and Korea. The comics ranged in price with some as low as 25 cents per comic and as high as $1,000.

Randy Emberlin, inker for popular comic publish-ers such as Dark Horse and Marvel comics, laid out his recent work, old sketches and offered to do commission work on the spot.

Eric Burris, an Oregon-based organizer for the event, said ComiCon is a great way to be exposed to unknown artists.

“You've got some of the most talented people here that come to the show that work for major companies,” he said.

Burris has hosted comic book conventions for 25 years. He said after the previous organizers for the con-vention moved away after the second comic convention in 2008, he wanted to keep it going. He said he chose Bellingham because he enjoys how supportive it is for all types of art.

Western alumnus Bob Smith has been inking, or drawing, for Archie comics for the past 11 years. Posted behind him at the convention were various covers of Archie comics promoting an upcoming storyline he has been working on where Archie finally gets married.

photos by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

TOP RIGHT: Comic book collector and deal-er Steve Sibra stands in front of his booth at the Bellingham ComiCon in Fox Hall. Sibra said he has collected comics since he was a child in the 1960s. "I dropped out of law school and now I sell comic books and I'm much happier," Sibra said.

ABOVE: Figurines of popular comic book characters were just one of several ex-hibits at Bellingham's recent ComiCon.

Bellingham resident Tami Maricle works on a sketch of "Sergeant Kat," at ComiCon. Maride said she is a hobbyist comic artist now, but is try-ing to gain exposure and make a living out of it.

TOP LEFT: Vintage comic books sold for as little as $1 at the Bellingham ComiCon comics convention in Fox Hall of the Hampton Inn on Saturday.

arTS & LiFE | 11westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • October 27, 2009

On-campus events“Horrorfest,” three nights of scary movies 7 p.m. Viking Union room 552 Cloverfield—Tuesday,Oct.27,$1 TheOrphanage—Wednesday,Oct.28,$1 28DaysLater—Thursday,Oct.29,$1

Halloween Thriller Dance8p.m.-11p.m.,Friday,Oct.30VUMulti-purposeroom,Free

Rocky Horror Picture Show FridayOct.30,midnightFraserHallroom4$2withacostume,$3without

Off-campus haunted houses Scream Fair Haunted HousesOct.29,30and31Thursday6:30p.m.-9:30p.m.,FridayandSaturday,6:30p.m.-10:30p.m.LyndenFairgrounds(1775FrontStreet)$15forthreehouses,allages

Halloween Haunted HouseSaturday,Oct.316p.m.-9p.m.HorizonMiddleSchool(2671ThorntonRoad)Students$2,Families$7

Halloween Part 1: The Countdown RumorsCabaretFriday,Oct.30,$3coverafter9p.m.DJQbnzastartingat10p.m.

Buildstrong Hallow’s Eve PartyWildBuffaloFriday,Oct.30,$5coverFeaturingKoreIonz,ProjectLionheartandtheProductionists

Boundary Bay Brewery & BistroSaturday,Oct.31,doorsopenat10p.m.$6coverFeaturingSugarSugarSugar,DogShredder,LozenandThePasties

Glow and Bob’s Burgers & BrewSaturday,Oct.31,doorsopenat10p.m.$5coverforboth

Halloween ShowTheNightlightLoungeSaturday,Oct.31,doorsopenat8p.m.$8coverFeaturingBlackEyes&NeckTiesandTheCheeps

Nightlife

Pumpkin Patches Cloud Mountain Farm (6909GoodwinRoad,Everson)Stoney Ridge Farm (2092VanDykRoad,Everson)

Lindsey OttaTHE WESTERN FRONT

Taxi CompaniesCity Cab(360)738-8294Yellow Cab(360)733-8294WWU Late Night Shuttle willaddanadditionalbustofollowits regular one on Halloweennighttodoublecapacity.

OpiNiON12 | Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

The pumpkins are being gutted, sug-ary goods collected and props picked out. It’s Halloween time, but before the sugar highs and hangovers start, a couple basic tips should be touched on so your Hal-loween does not turn into a cliché horror movie.

First off, costumes need to have a sort of functionality. For those who choose to dress up with a fair bit of skin showing, take a coat with you. Bellingham’s weath-er is not the kindest to the underdressed this time of year, and hypothermia is most definitely not sexy.

Those dressing in all black need to exercise some caution when out and about. No one wants to be rocking a sweet, all-black Darth Vader or vampire costume and then have to dive out of the way of oncoming traffic because they’re

practically invisible. Some simple solutions are available

for this. Have something bright with you, like a prop or part of your costume.

Those going as Lords of the Sith can carry a illuminated lightsaber, for instance, and those Edward Cullen-wannabes can smear on some glitter to truly get in char-acter. Tell all the ladies you have the skin of a killer; see how that works out in the real world.

Speaking of good costumes, it’s never a bad idea to get creative and cre-ate your own. It will probably be cheaper then grabbing something from a store. A homemade costume would be an expres-sion of your individuality as opposed to a corporate tie-in for a movie, or someone’s idea of what a generic vampire or zombie should look like.

For those who live off campus and may have a younger crowd stopping by to fill up on candy corn and Snickers, be-have. Bellingham residents probably have

a low enough opinion of college students without those students going out of their way to terrify their children. Avoid giving children Halloween phobias, whenever possible.

Finally, exercise common sense when going out Halloween night. Don’t go by yourself; go with people who you know and trust and avoid sketchy parties and es-tablishments.

Also, trust your instincts that have been honed by years of bad horror films. Stay out of haunted graveyards, check your candy for razors and avoid that one really tall guy with a bad mask and a butcher knife.

Other than that, have fun and be safe.

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

Be smart and safe this Halloween:avoid those horror movie clichés

Ben Woodard THE WESTERN FRONT

The presence of advertisements has increased exponentially all over the world, especially over the last century with the uptake of broadcast television, film and the Internet. As potential consumers, we are bombarded with flashy ads, sucking us in to buy services and products.

But other ads are out with a differ-ent intent, maybe not by selling products directly, but surely to increase profit mar-gins.

Nearly every Western student is fa-miliar with this in the form of ever-pres-ent fliers strategically passed out at bottle-necked sections of campus.

Ah, yes. The all-familiar pink, red and neon green sheets of carbon-printed paper, thousands of them handed out ev-ery month.

I know that unless you stay confined to Fairhaven or walk obliviously to class, you have seen the fliers. On the ground, in people’s hands, in computer labs, in classrooms and pinned to bushes around campus. I know you can relate.

Each morning your walk may start at the bus stop at the Viking Union and end at the Communication Facility.

You walk past the The Man Who Used to Hunt Cougars for Bounty sculp-ture across from the library and plan to turn right into Red Square.

All is well until you see the first clus-ter of flier distributors standing in the heavy traffic walkway between the library and the Humanities Building. “Good morning,” they say while clutching stacks of fliers.

You may politely decline, or kindly take one and read about a “well-paying” summer job opportunity.

Now in the middle of Red Square with the fountain on your right, you can see more of them. Four more flier dis-tributors stand at the stairs leading out of

Fliers create irritation and wastethe square by Bond Hall, again clutching stacks of fliers.

This time, your patience may be run-ning low. You might take another flier out of awkwardness, but most likely you tell them you already have one. Of course they are still persistent, shoving the neon green flier into your chest.

Just past the stairs, group number three. Same fliers. Same tactics. Same sit-uation. You probably don’t take one this time.

In this case, third time is not a charm. Nor is the fourth encounter at the stairs by Arntzen Hall.

Not only are these confrontations a nuisance, but they are also detrimental to the environment.

A few weeks ago, Student Painters passed out fliers promoting their compa-ny, which employs students for contract painting over the summer. The next day, they did it again: the same fliers, just a dif-ferent color of paper.

Of the thousands of fliers passed out during the year, some are recycled, some sent to the landfill and some are dropped on the ground.

And that’s one campus out of hun-dreds nationwide.

Should this kind of wasteful solici-tation be allowed at Western? Maybe we should boycott these companies.

Maybe they should stick to spam-ming Craigslist to save paper, or set up a publicity booth in Red Square to pro-mote jobs, instead of directly contacting students who are on their way to class.

Most employers attend Western’s career fairs to contact students. The companies passing out fliers can attend the same fairs and reach the same stu-dents.

Less wasteful and friendlier adver-tising strategies are available to these companies, and it’s in their best inter-ests to be socially and environmentally responsible.

Cartoon by Jacob Zarnecki

Viking VoicesOpinions from around campus

Why do you think stem cell research should or should not be pursued in the United States?

Compiled by Willy Delius

Marissa Dimick Junior

"It should be pursued as long as research is being done that can be used

in beneficial ways."

Don Cheyette Junior

"The pros are a lot greater than the cons. By doing that research we should be able,

in time, to cure cancer."

Chris SladekFreshman

"Like anything there's advantages and disadvantages. As long as the advantages

outweigh the disadvantages, we should pursue it."

Chelsea JannSophomore

"It might be controversial on how it happens but the thing is they're trying to make things better for people. It's one of those things that if they're trying to do

good, they might as well do it."

spORTs | 13Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

See more online at www.westernfrontonline.net

Andrew MitchellTHE WESTERN FRONT

In the first competitive action of the year for the Western men’s basketball team, the white squad defeated the blue squad 78-67 in the 17th annual blue/white men’s intrasquad game at Carver gymna-sium on Saturday.

Western senior guard Morris Ander-son scored a game-high 22 points for the white team, and Western senior center Zach Bruce added 20 points for the white team.

Bruce and Anderson scored a com-bined 29 of the white team's 50 points dur-ing the second half, as they pulled away late from a close, back-and-forth style game.

“It is only the first preseason game, but there is a lot of pride that goes into this event. Nobody wants to lose to any-

body else on this team,” Anderson said. “I think we saw a few things we need to work on, but overall I think everybody will be ready when the season starts.”

The men’s team was split into the two equal squads for the event, and head coach Brad Jackson had the day off from coach-ing duties on the floor. Assistant coach Tony Dominguez led the blue squad and assistant coach Rob Visser was given con-trol of the white squad.

The game did not count toward the Vikings' record, but carried the conse-quence for the losing players of having to cook dinner for the winning players at the team dinner after the game.

“I wanted to win for pride mostly, but I also did not want to lose and have to serve those guys dinner,” Anderson said. “Having them serve us is going to be pretty sweet.”

The white team jumped out the gates

quickly and opened up an early lead of 14-6 halfway through the first half, but the blue team closed the gap and took the lead 19-16 with approximately six minutes left in the half.

The game’s final lead change came when the white team took the lead 22-21 on a layup by Anderson with three min-utes to go in the first half. The white team had the lead 28-25 at halftime after two free throws by Western senior Andrew Ready as time expired.

Both teams shot less than 35 percent for the half, were only combined for just over 50 percent shooting from the free-throw line, and neither team was able to make a three-pointer.

Anderson led the white team with seven points, and Bruce and Ready both added six points for the white team as well.

Western senior Michael Duty and

sophomore Cameron Severson led the blue team with seven points each, but ev-ery player had at least a point for the blue team in the first half.

“We were trying to give every player some time on the floor in this game, be-cause we are still trying to figure out our lineup: the number one guy through the last guy,” Dominguez said.

The blue team was led in scoring by Western senior Derrick Webb, who had 17 of his 19 points in the second half to lead all scoring in the second half. Duty added 11 points to give him a total of 18 for the game to go along with his game-high 10 rebounds.

“We have to be ready when the sea-son starts this week, so we were all play-ing hard,” Duty said. “Everybody was putting it on the line today, because we are all fighting for our spot in the lineup and the amount of playing time we will get.”

Civil war in Carver Gym: blue vs. white

Andrew MitchellTHE WESTERN FRONT

Western men’s and women’s basketball teams threw down high-flying dunks, knocked down three-pointers and showed the Western faithful a glimpse of what they have in store this season at the 23rd annual Viking Jam at Carver Gymnasium on Thursday.

The night was an official kick-off of the basketball season and included highlights such as Western senior Morris Anderson defending his slam dunk title from last year, pinpoint shooting by the women’s team as they de-feated the men’s team in the three-point shootout, and several fan participation events that got the crowd excited for the upcoming season.

“We want to show the fans what we have been work-ing on in practice, and it was also a chance to get out in front of a large crowd for the first time this season,” West-ern senior guard Derrick Webb said. “But we also get to show a little bit of our personality out there too. All the players have really great personalities, and this event brought those out tonight.”

The night began with player introductions, with each member of the men's and women’s teams throwing T-shirts to the fans. The first focus of the night was on the fans, who got involved in the Viking Jam through a raffle, a donut-eating contest and a “shoot from your seat” con-test.The women’s team started off the basketball teams’ portion of the festivities with a scrimmage, which was much more relaxed than a real season or preseason game. Western senior forward Jessica Summers was the leading scorer of the scrimmage with 10 points.

The men then took the floor with their own scrim-mage. Western seniors Zach Bruce and Anderson pro-

vided some highlights during the scrimmage with their passing and dunks, but no player dominated the scoring during the game.

“We wanted to give the fans a precursor of what we have to offer this season in a relaxed atmosphere,” head coach Brad Jackson said. “The guys enjoy performing in front of the fans. We had a lot of fun out there tonight.”

The highlight of the night for the women’s team was the three-point shootout between the men’s and the women’s teams. The Viking fans cheered as the women’s team beat the men’s team 54-43 in the shootout. Western sophomore forward Kristin Schramm led the way for the women’s team with 14 three-pointers in her 30-second round, and Western freshman guard Corinn Waltrip hit 11 threes.

“This was hands down the best part of the night for us as a team,” said freshman forward Erika Ramstead. “Beating the boys team that bad feels pretty sweet, and is something we will not let the guys forget for years to come.”

The Viking Jam concluded with the men’s team dunk contest, the main event of the evening. Anderson brought the house down as he defended his dunk title from last year with four dunks that all received perfect scores from the four judges of the event.

“There was a lot of adrenaline going through me while I was doing those dunks, and I wanted to do some-thing that would make the fans get up and cheer,” Ander-son said. “I wanted to go out there and do it again like last year. I like the big stage of the contest.”

The field for the dunk contest included Anderson and Webb, as well as Western seniors Michael Duty and Andrew Ready and sophomore Rory Blanche. Webb and Anderson qualified for the final round of the contest by

both doing creative alley-oop style dunks. Webb bounced the ball off the shot clock above the basket and dunked it, and Anderson threw a behind-the-back pass to himself off the backboard and threw down a powerful dunk.

Anderson defeated Webb in the final round of the dunk contest with an under-the-legs dunk while wear-ing white sunglasses and a dunk where he threw the ball in the air, took off his jersey, caught the ball in mid-air, and slammed it home, making the Western fans erupt for the loudest crowd reaction of the night.

“Morris relishes this type of moment, where he can show the fans just how talented he is,” Jackson said. “He al-ways seems to rise to the occasion in every one of those moments.”

Viking Jam slams it homeWestern senior center Zach Bruce dunks the ball during the blue/white intrasquad game Saturday in Carver Gym. photos by Alex Roberts THE WESTERN FRONT

Senior Morris Anderson dons a pair of sunglasses before completing a between-the-legs dunk in the dunk contest of the Viking Jam in Carver Gym Thursday Oct. 22.

14 | SpOrTS Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

Elizabeth HansenTHE WESTERN FRONT

Western’s men’s cross country team sprinted to victory as they took their third title in four years at the ninth annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday in Yakima.

The Vikings four top runners placed among the top 10, each finishing within 27 seconds of one another, beating defending champions University of Alaska Anchor-age.

“Our guys did so well, it was unbe-lievable,” Western junior Sarah Porter said. “I have never screamed so loud in my life. Having our top four within the top 10 was incredible.”

Not to be outdone by the men, the women, led by Porter’s second place fin-ish, placed third behind Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific University.

“The whole team did very well,” head coach Pee Wee Halsell said. “It was a great team effort. Our top five for both the men and the women closed the gap between our number one and number five runners, which is what you want to see.”

Porter and Western junior Bennett Grimes led the Vikings by placing second in the men's and women’s races respec-tively.

Grimes finished the 8-kilometer race with a time of 25 minutes, 5 seconds and said the race started out at a faster pace than previous races.

“We went through the first mile in [4 minutes, 34 seconds],” Grimes said. “Alaska Anchorage went out early to the one and two position with Jordan [Well-ing] right up there with them.”

Grimes said he and Western senior Anthony Tomsich worked together most of the race in passing Alaska Anchorage sophomore Alfred Kangogo.

“The whole race I just tried to keep

my rhythm,” Grimes said. “I ended up reeling Jordan in and then we worked to-gether for the last half mile of the race.”

Tomsich came in sixth place with a time of 25 minutes, 14 seconds, and West-ern junior Blake Medhaug came in ninth approximately 15 seconds later.

Porter came in with a time of 21 minutes, 13 seconds in the women’s 6-ki-lometer race, just 10 seconds behind de-fending national champion Seattle Pacific senior Jessica Pixler.

“It’s coming, one of these days I’m going to beat her; it was just not today,” Porter said. “We both ran under her previ-ous course time for the year before.”

Western sophomore Lauren Breihof also finished within the top 10 for the Vi-kings, placing ninth with a time of 22 min-utes, 37 seconds.

“My personal goal for this race was the top 10,” Breihof said. “I am happy with my finish. It’s a tough course to run on because it is a slow course and all grass.”

Western senior Courtney Olsen, freshman Emily Wallen and sophomore Sierra Brisky rounded out the Vikings women’s top five placing 12th, 20th and 21st, respectively.

Halsell said after Saturday’s perfor-mance by the women, he believes they are moving up on both Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage.

“I’m looking forward to regionals; both teams are looking strong and sharp-ening up well,” Halsell said. “It’s exciting

to see them closing in on other teams.” Welling said he attributes the success

at the championship to the strength and depth of the Vikings team.

“It was a pretty windy day and we are a strength team, so I think that worked to our advantage,” Welling said. “We are prepared for any type of course, being in the hilly terrain of Bellingham and run-ning in all weather conditions.”

With GNAC meets out of the way, the Vikings now begin to prepare for the NCAA II West Regional in two weeks.

“We back off on our mileage per

week,” Halsell said. “That way we can keep the gas in the tank for regionals and nationals.”

Grimes said with the tough work be-hind them, the Vikings’ main goal is to stay healthy for regionals.

“Our team is ready to go for region-als,” Grimes said. “If we ran like we did today at regionals, we should easily quali-fy for nationals.”

The NCAA II West Regional will be held on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadow in San Fran-cisco.

Western junior Bennett Grimes finished in second place at the ninth annual GNAC Cham-pionships, a mere 15 seconds behind the gold.

photocourtesyJordanStead/WWUAthletics

Vikings take conference

Next stop: Regionals Nov. 7 in San Francisco

“We are prepared for any type of course, being in the hilly terrain of Bellingham and running in all weather conditions.”

Jordan Welling,Western junior

SpOrTS | 15westernfrontonline.net | Tuesday • October 27, 2009

Jeremy SmithTHE WESTERN FRONT

Chaos, Western’s women’s ultimate Frisbee team, is out to prove how much better the team can be this year than in the past. They want to show that they are ready to go to nationals.

Chaos began its training season the fi rst week of classes and is working on teaching new teammates the basics of the game to help them become better players.

“We fi nally have players with experi-ence,” Western senior and Chaos co-cap-tain Alyssa Weatherford said. “Most of our opponents have lost their experienced players because they graduated.”

She said she believes in her team's passion, one of the driving forces of the team’s achievements for the past two years. She said she hopes this year the team will have enough players so they can form a B-team for Chaos as a way to get newer teammates playing in matches.

Chaos’ season gets into full swing during winter quarter with more tourna-ments and heavier travel schedules in the spring.

Weatherford leads Chaos this year as a co-captain. This is her fi fth and fi nal year on the team because she will be graduat-ing at the end of the academic year.

Weatherford has watched the team grow and become a national contender in the Northwest region; as of May 29, the team was ranked 19th in the college di-vision, according to the Ultimate Players Association Web site.

For now, she teaches the team to work together and better their skills through various drills to increase coordination and throwing abilities.

Two years ago, Chaos made it to the regional tournament. They almost quali-fi ed for nationals but lost to the University

of Oregon.Western’s region of teams is a dif-

fi cult group, Weatherford said. The Uni-versity of Oregon, the University of Washington, Stanford University and the University of British Columbia are some of the top teams in the nation and are all Chaos’ opponents.

Western senior and Chaos co-captain Britney Waterman said she expects every-one to try hard to learn something new but to still have fun. Waterman began playing for the team only last year.

She said she kept playing and prac-ticing because she loved working with the team, and now she is one of the captains.

“[This year] the girls are all hard-working and committed,” she said. “They’re all fun.”

Weatherford and Waterman are lead-

ing the team practices in the off-season while the coaches are preoccupied playing for teams in Seattle.

“We’re working on building a solid base so Chaos will continue in the fu-ture,” Chaos co-coach Jinney Eun said. “So we’re excited to build on the skills from last year. Chaos is in one of the hard-est regions for a women’s team. They’re a great team. They are all enthusiastic, talented athletes who are passionate and hard-working.”

All work and no play can take away from the joy many athletes have for sports, so the team often dresses up in costumes for trips, wearing outrageous outfi ts or a great deal of pink, Eun said.

The team practices on Thursdays, Sat-urdays and Mondays on either the Wade King Student Recreation Center turf fi eld

or one of the Fairhaven fi elds, Weather-ford said. Watching the team practice, the environment appears fun and lighthearted.

There is an equal share of laugh-ing and focus as the team warms up and scrimmages.

Matches are the same way. Because there are no referees in ultimate Frisbee, players have to keep tabs on each other to make sure that there is no cheating on the fi eld. The lack of a referee is one of the reasons why people think ultimate Frisbee is not a mainstream sport, but without ref-erees it is actually harder to cheat; every-one calls each other out on cheating.

A referee might miss someone cheat-ing but a player knows when someone is cheating, Weatherford said.

Despite the occasional cheating, players usually have fun.

“You can bond with your opponents and form off-fi eld friendships with other teams and players,” she said.

One of her best friends plays for the University of Washington team.

She said she always covers her, while remaining competitive for Western.

Weatherford said she hopes to pass on her leadership role to keep the team alive, but when teammates such as Price are having as much fun as they are, it could be hard to stop this team from continuing on.

“It’s fun to play competitively with a great group of girls,” Price said.

The Chaos is building

Western senior and Chaos co-captain Britney Waterman (right) breaks down a cutting drill for the team at practice Monday on the upper Fairhaven fi eld. In ultimate Frisbee, cutting is a way to break free when guarded in order to catch the disc that involves a sudden change in direction.

photo by Jeremy Smith THE WESTERN FRONT

Western senior Duffy Tichenor works on perfecting her forehand throw at a Chaos practice on Monday. After warming up, the team practices their forehand and backhand throws before beginning their drills. Chaos is Western's women's ultimate Frisbee team.

Women's ultimate Frisbee team aims to expand with a possible B-team

addition and new members

Upcoming Tournaments

Nov. 7-8 in Corvallis, Ore.Nov. 21-22 in Burlington

photo by Jeremy Smith THE WESTERN FRONT

16 | SpOrTS Tuesday • October 27, 2009 | The Western Front

Caleb HuttonTHE WESTERN FRONT

The rain held off just long enough for the Vikings men’s lacrosse team to finish their preseason round robin tournament Sunday afternoon at the Wade King Stu-dent Recreation Center.

The Vikings won their first game 9-4 against division rival Central Washington University, continiung on to lose to Simon Fraser University, 4-14.

The Vikings are coming off a previ-ous season overall record of 6-5, but they finished 4-0 in their division and placed at the top of the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League for Division II schools.

Western senior and team president Adam Extine said beating Central Wash-ington felt good. The Vikings controlled the ball for most of the game and kept it near their opponent's goal. The few goals scored by Central came on breakaway shots that slipped through the defense.

The second game, however, was a weaker showing for the Vikings.

“That was kind of a bloodbath,” Ex-tine said. “[Simon Fraser University] is just a really good team.”

Western graduate student and head coach Avram Feld said playing against Simon Fraser is difficult because they are one of the top-ranked teams in the divi-sion, but it gives a clear indication of how the Vikings are coming along.

“Playing a team like Simon Fraser shows us exactly what we need to work on,” Feld said. “They’re good enough that it shows where we’re strong and it also shows where we’re weak.”

The Vikings allowed six unanswered goals from Simon Fraser during the sec-ond game. Feld said the Vikings will have to improve their defense before the regular season officially starts on Jan. 29, when they will play at home against the University of Washington.

Western junior and midfielder Cam-eron Frazier said the Vikings retained most of their players from last year, and they should be strong enough to face a big school like UW when the season starts.

“I think our chemistry is just going to get better and better,” Frazier said. “We’ll

be ready for them.”Feld said the team has been putting

in extra work this fall, and he expects it to pay off when it counts.

Three more games were scheduled for Sunday’s tournament, but Pacific Lu-theran University was unable to make it to Bellingham. This may have been a bless-

ing in disguise: Feld said his players were starting to get tired by the end of the sec-ond game.

If Pacific Lutheran had played in the tournament, the weather would have be-come an issue. Sunday was overcast and it rained lightly throughout the Vikings’ second game. Feld said he would rather have the team play in the rain than in cold weather.

“If you didn’t want to play lacrosse in the rain, you wouldn’t be playing in Wash-ington,” he said.

Even in the rain, an extra game might not have bothered everyone.

“I’m dying for the start of the sea-son,” Frazier said. “Every game we play, I’m excited to play another one.”

“If you didn't want to play lacrosse in the rain, you wouldn't be playing in Washington.”

Avram Feld,Lacrosse head coach

Vikings 1-1 at preseason tourneyWestern resultsRound 1WWU:9,CWU:4Round 2WWU:4,SFU:14

photo by Rhys Logan THE WESTERN FRONT

Western sophomore Kian Farahani, right, breaks away from Central Washington University defender Kellen Gallacher at the Wade King field Saturday.