In the Media
STATE lawmakers heading into special session in late November should not aim their budget knives anywhere near higher education.
Our universities and community colleges have endured historic disinvestment by the state Legislature. Since 2008, state support for community and technical colleges has been reduced by 22 percent and state funding for universities shrunk by nearly 50 percent.
Higher tuition offset some cuts. That is balancing the budget on the backs of students. Moreover, despite rising tuition, state-funded aid was cut and fewer students who qualify received State Need Grants.
State government’s biggest restructuring in decades has been under way for months, but the newly merged Enterprise Services agency gets its own identity Monday.
Nearly 1,100 employees from five agencies are part of the consolidation, which combines back-office functions for the state’s bureaucracy. Employees have a new website at www.des.wa.gov, new e-mail addresses and a new mission – but not much else will be readily visible to the public or other government agencies. The consolidations are aimed at saving $18 million over two years.
Western Washington University recently honored several faculty and staff members for faculty leadership, diversity achievement, bridging and community engagement. Classified and professional staff members along with an interdepartmental team also received awards.
The faculty leadership and diversity achievement awards included $1,500 stipends for research, teaching equipment and supplies or professional enhancement. The bridging award recipient received $1,000.
With the summer of 2011 coming to a close, some aspects of the Whatcom County economic picked up.
Residential real estate had a surprising rebound in August, posting the highest number of home and condominium sales in nearly two years. With the BP Cherry Point and Meridian High School construction projects getting under way, Whatcom County permit totals have been robust the past two months.
In the longstanding struggle to curb alcohol abuse among college students, Western Washington University launched two campaigns this year to provide students with accurate, non-judgmental information about alcohol and drugs.
Information about these campaigns should have been included in a Sept. 18 Bellingham Herald article on changes WWU has made since last year's death of freshman Dwight Clark.
When David Wallin was asked by the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe eight years ago to help figure out why the number of mountain goats in the Washington's Cascades was so low, he was puzzled.
"How could mountain goat populations possibly be in trouble?" wondered Wallin, an environmental science professor at Western Washington University.
Most of the alpine environment in the state that makes up mountain goat habitat is protected as national forest, park or wilderness, he said, so how could their numbers be dwindling?
The Western Washington University men's soccer team scored twice in the last five minutes to defeat Saint Martin's University 3-1 Saturday, Oct. 1, on the campus of Whatcom Community College.
The Western Washington University volleyball team beat Simon Fraser University 25-18, 25-11, 25-11 in a Great Northwest Conference matchup between two teams heading in drastically different directions.
Carol Swain, a nationally known political scientist and writer, will give a lecture about religion in the U.S. on Thursday, Oct. 13, at Western Washington University.
Her free, public lecture, "The Undermining of Religious Freedom," starts at 7 p.m. in Arntzen Hall, room 100.
Stephen Prothero, religion professor and author of this year’s Western Reads Book, will discuss religion and American culture during a lecture at Western Washington University on Nov. 15.