In the Media

The look of Sunday's editorial page might surprise readers, but the message is familiar and important.

The state of Washington's education system — and by system, we mean the ways we educate our citizens from birth through graduate school — is imperiled. State decision-makers over the years have prioritized many things over this core function of government, which underpins our economy and quality of life.

The presidents of Washington's three largest universities said Friday that President Barack Obama should be talking to state governments about college tuition, not complaining to them.

University of Washington President Mike Young said he's annoyed with Obama, who said Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., that if universities don't give students a break, the federal government is going to start taking money away.

Young called that "nonsense on stilts."

Forward Rory Blanche scored a game-high 19 points as nationally ranked Western Washington University pulled away in the final 10 minutes to defeat Simon Fraser University 86-75 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball contest Saturday, Jan. 28, at WWU.
The Vikings, ranked No.18 in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll, improved to 18-3 overall with their fifth consecutive victory. WWU, which is 10-1 at home, remains atop the GNAC standings at 9-1.

Guard Kristin Schramm scored a team-high 14 points as Western Washington University survived a see-saw battle to defeat Simon Fraser University, 70-61, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest Saturday, Jan. 28, in Burnaby, B.C.
Forward Trishi Williams added 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Vikings, who improved to 13-5 overall and 7-3 in the GNAC.

While Whatcom County residents have noted the impact of Canadian shoppers in recent years, traffic numbers indicate 2011 was the first year of significant change.
Last year 14.2 million people traveled southbound across Whatcom County's five border crossings, a 19.9 percent increase compared to 2010, according to data collected by Western Washington University's Center for Economics and Business Research. That's the highest one-year total since 2000, when 14.8 million people traveled southbound into Whatcom County.

Ashland High basketball fans who recall watching Rory Blanche slither past defenders, rise up and drain jump shots from all over the court during the 2006-07 season would hardly recognize him today.

Now a muscle-bound 6-foot-6, 205-pound power forward for NCAA Division II Western Washington, Blanche leads the Vikings in both points (16.0 per game) and rebounds (7.3), and scored 16 points in Wednesday's key win over rival Central Washington to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career. With the victory, the 22nd-ranked Vikings grabbed sole possession of first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with 10 games left in the regular season.

Job seekers looking for ways to connect directly with employers are invited to attend Western Washington University's Winter Career Fair, which will take place 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9 in the Viking Union Multi-purpose Room.
Admission to the fair is free. Sponsored by WWU's Career Services Center, the Winter Career Fair is a major recruiting event that allows students and the general public to meet with hiring managers from a wide range of employers, including private-sector companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies, according to a news release.

If Democrats and moderate Republicans want extra help on a $1 billion jobs plan, House Republican Leader Richard DeBolt is naming his price: cooperation on bills that soften Washington’s state land-use rules and soften requirements for utilities to buy green power. DeBolt also wants state permits issued for projects in 90 days.

Republican lawmakers Wednesday decried what they say is slow action on progress to close a $1 billion budget gap.

In a meeting with reporters, House and Senate GOP leaders said too much time has been spent on hot-button issues from gay marriage to plastic-bag bans to abolishing the death penalty. The legislative session is nearly a quarter of the way complete and there is no timeline on when a draft budget will be circulated, they said.

"I do not want to get to the end of the 60-day session potentially looking at a special session and then just wasting more taxpayer dollars," said Sen. Janea Holmquist Newbry, R-Moses Lake. "So let's get to work."

PRESIDENT Obama cast welcome prominence on the challenge of college affordability in his State of the Union speech, but the threat to withhold federal funding from institutions that don't rein in tuition is misdirected.

"Let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down," Obama said Tuesday.

Unfortunately, his remarks incorrectly conflate rising tuition with higher education's overhead. Here are the facts: Universities' costs are not increasing. State support is declining, rapidly, and the funding is being replaced by tuition.