Western Washington University Western CEDAR

Klipsun Magazine Western Student Publications

3-1985

Klipsun Magazine, 1985, Volume 16, Issue 04 - March

Shaun McClurken Western Washington University

Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine

Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the Journalism Studies Commons

Recommended Citation McClurken, Shaun, "Klipsun Magazine, 1985, Volume 16, Issue 04 - March" (1985). Klipsun Magazine. 81. https://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/81

This Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Student Publications at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in Klipsun Magazine by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected].

“KUpsun” is a Lummi Indian word meaning ‘'beautiful sunset”

2 March 1985 March 1985 Volume 16, Number 4 Copyright® 1985 by Klipsun

iiiliii mmrnmmmmm

^'

fc-' f V f \ mm^ /

\-

•:•, / .

DOGBUSTING can be heart­ i >.f breaking. Page 20.

4 RIGHTS Is magazine banning a useful means of social change? 18 LAURA KALPAKIAN Novelist Laura Kalpakian, Western’s Student government faces the Penthouse issue. By Diane writer-in-residence, nurtures the literary arts. By Laura Dietz. Boynton

8 NURSiNG HOME Living life’s end in an institution: Activities 20 DOG CATCHER A Bellingham dog catcher battles a thick- Director Janet Hunicutt helps fill the final days. By Lori netted, villainous stereotype. By Ken Gibson. Mayfieid. 23 UFO Skeptical or not, Lummi Island residents still speculate 11 BULK FOOD Turn-of-the-century style shopping is popping about the night the orange-and-white fireball skimmed and up in supermarket bulk foods. By Lynn Hersman. then sank in their waters. By Leanna Bradshaw.

14 TIM DOUGLAS Western’s one-time dean of students takes on 26 SINKING BUSINESS Despite stiff competition and a resta- City Hall, this time as mayor. By Jeff Braimes. raunt that’s slowly sinking into landfill. Bob Whittaker still spends 80 hours each week preparing and selling his Halibut ’n’ chips. By Carol MacPherson.

KLIPSUN 3

Pornography, Violence and the First Amendment

By DIANE DIETZ

N AN EFFORT TO “EDUCATE” is considered approoriate activity.” it out of the back shop. students, the Associated Students Harris said he isn’t surprised by the board’s In Washington, groups have concentrated IBoard of Directors suspended sales of action. “The more conservative eras always their efforts on sexually explicit magazines. Penthouse magazine at the student book­produce more attempts at censorship.” Last spring, the Kirkland-based Together store last quarter. In a recent Associated Press report, Against Pornography succeeded in convinc­ “A magazine like Penthouse promotes Robert Doyle, assistant to the director of the ing Albertson’s to cease sales of Playboy, violence and degredation as normal sexual Office of Intellectual Freedom, said the Penthouse and Hustler. behavior,” A.S. Secretary/Treasurer number of challenges to publications (not all In August, the University of Washington’s Yvonne Ward said. resulting in bannings) had held steady at bookstore removed Gallery, Playgirl, Pent­ The ban isn’t an isolated event. Nation­ about 300 a year for several years, but last house and Playboy from its racks. ally, groups are looking at attitudes and year more than 900 challenges were reported challenging publicationsthey see as promot­ to the American Library Association. “And ing objectionable attitudes. it looks like that trend will continue,” Doyle The action at Western began when Tim Lyle Harris, a member of the Washington said. Baker, coordinator of the Peace Resource Coalition Against Censorship, said, “It’s a Claudia McCain, Bellingham library Center, asked the A.S. Board to remove more conservative climate than it has been in director, said she has seen no increases in Penthouse from the bookstore because of 10 years, and there is a heightened awareness book challenges in the last year, but the the December 1984 issue. of attitudes in society.’’ library does not subscribe to Penthouse, The issue had an exquisitely In a similar vein, Eldon Mahoney, sociol­ Playboy oxPlaygirl. They don’t, she said, photographed, four-page spread featuring ogy professor and author of the textbook because the issues are quickly taken from the women bound by rough ropes; women Human Sexuality, said, “We’re in a gener­ library and not returned. In fact, she said, naked, and crumpled corpse-like across sea­ ally conservative era where prohibition, cen­ when she worked at the Longview library, scape rocks; and clothed women hanging by sorship and dictation of conservative values the issues were so popular they seldom made rope from trees.

KLIPSUN 5 Grant said the board’s action was“cmotion- will be a victim of attempted or completed explicit material are the ones most in al, reactionary.” He said he didn’t realize it rape. Twenty-five percent of all college-age danger of being inclined to aggressive behav­ at the time, but “some board members were men have attempted or completed a rape, ior as a result of viewing it. riding on the emotional appeal that night. and those are probably conservative Even though Mahoney is concerned They thought they might be able to get all estimates.” about the extent of sexual violence, and he issues containing pornography ban­ Whether pornography encourages vio­ acknowledges a link between sexually ned.” lence against women is not clear. “It depends explicit material and aggression, he isn’t in Grant said he thinks it’s the board's duty on which expert you hire,” Sgt. David favor of restricting the material. to “take on issues greater than our campus,” MacDonald of the Bellingham Police “The blaming of sexually explicit ma­ and Ward and Ryherd “feel it’s alright to use Department said. terial for the problem, and it is a serious their positions to make a statement,” but, he He said the types of pornographyfound in problem, is a cheap shot. Pornography is said, “most of the board members would be the possession of people who have commit­ easy to attack, and because it’s sleazy, it’s offended if they were told they were acting ted sex crimes is “not the Penthouse and the easy to get other people to agree with you. like the Moral Majority.” Playboy, not the run-of-the-mill stuff.” But, if we are really serious, we’d deal with Ward affirmed she believes it is the Carlotta Jarratt, a detective who investi­ the roots of the issue of how males are social­ board’s job to consider pornography. She gates sex crimes for the Bellingham Police ized in American society. They are socialized said: “We’re taking care of our own little Department, said, however, “1 can’t show to be rapists by instilling the male role—that corner right here—let’s clean up our own you research but I can’t help but think if you emphasis on control, power, success, goals; area.” show violence like that (in Penthouse) it and the idea that males have rights of sexual Ryherd said even if Baker hadn’t present­ encourages it, though perhaps not in healthy access to women.” ed the Penthouse issue, the board would people. A healthy mind will just be thor­ Restriction would further have a negative have eventually discussed removing the oughly disgusted. side effect, he predicted, explaining that magazines. Mahoney said, “There’s no evidence at all unlike ever before in America’s pater­ “I knew the issue would come up because that viewing sexually explicit material pred­ nal society, “erotica has made female sexual­ we were going to bring it up,” Ryherd said. isposes one to sexual violence.” ity okay.” Ryherd and Ward had attended a U.S. Stu­ In an unusual move, board members Restricting it now “clearly tells women dent’s Association conference this brought the issue up that night. “It wasn’t your sexuality as defined in traditional summer, at which pornography on even on the adgenda,” Dana Grant, A.S. American society is dirty, bad, nasty, but college campuses was considered, and they Director of Communications said. “It hap­ what it doesn’t do is clearly communicate to came back determined to do something men that the objectification and abuse of about the pornography here, Ryherd said. pened so quickly.” The board suspended Penthouse sales immediately, and scheduled women is inappropriate.” The two women say they object to Pent­ public hearings. But two members of the house dind Playboy iorivjo reasons: Because board. Ward and A.S. President Majken And he does not trust the judgment of the magazines promote violence toward Ryherd, say theyare in favor of permanently censors. “It amazes me that we can’t distin­ women and degrade women. They say it’s a banning Penthouse from the bookstore, and guish erotica from sexually explicit material civil rights issue. perhaps Playboy and Playgirl also. that abuses women . . . It’s a strange society "'Penthouse presents a clear and present where if you show a woman’s breast, it’s danger to the women of this campus. It’s Exposure has two outcomes. Both are X-rated, but if you cut it off, it’s PG.” saying dead women are sexy,” Ward main­ anticipated by general behavioral principles; But, he said, he doesn’t expect Penthouse tained. either can be a response to a variety of stimuli. to continue themes of violence against Ryherd said, “Any time one person hurts women. “It simplv doesn’t sell. another person you’re taking away some­ First, exposure tends to “disinhibit” peo­ ple. It lowers inhibitions toward the de­ “It was run in December’s issue because body’s right to live without pain. Penthouse understands that you can sell “If the violence against women can be picted activity. “People are more likely after viewing taboo activities to engage in a taboo people something that’s a little weird, a little reduced or stopped by restricting porn­ different—the layout had titillation value— ography, then that’s more important than activity,” Mahoney explained. Other things that lower inhibitions, such as it’s the same reason we slow down to see an some man going and getting off on porn­ auto accident. But it’s easy to satiate people ographic movies.” alcohol or being in a strange place (Vietnam studies show), can result in violence, he said. quickly with that stuff,” Mahoney said. Mahoney confirmed violence Second, sexually explicit material “in­ At Western, Doug Frazier, A.S. book­ against women is a serious problem, back­ creases the propensitv to violence if it dis­ store general book department manager, ing up his assertion with a series of startling gusts you and it decreases your propensity said he ordered Penthouse, Playboy and statistics: “There are three and one-half mil­ to violence if it turns you on,” Mahoney Plav2irl because thev are amone the five lion rapes per year in the U.S., and that’s said. What this means, he said, is people who top-sellers on university campuses nation­ only of women. Eighty percent of all women are most offended by sexually wide. Before the ban he sold about 15 conies

6 March 1985 per month. “About the same number of circulation of over 16 million, and in 1979 “Social movements against most every­ people are buying Newsweek as are buying they had brought in over $500 million in thing come about when a segment of society Pent house,'' he said. profit.” sees that a lifestyle they value is being threa- Frazier said that when he was first Mahoney said people buy sexually expli­ tened. (Now), we see this in Reagan’s re- f approached to remove the magazine he cit magazines because “it makes most people election,” he said. refused. “I didn’t want to remove them feel good, it turns them on and it’s pleasing, Mahoney predicts the conservative ^ because there is a demand for them on and we tend to repeat those activities that movement will disintegrate by the end of the £ campus.” make us feel good.” decade. Conservative leaders such as Jerry | He said it is his observation that the mag­ People who crusade against it aren’t cru­ Falwell “want the general public to swallow azines feature only a small proportion of sading against the material. They are crusad­ the entire package, and they don’t know photographs compared to total content, and ing against what it symbolizes: “The destruc­ when to shut up, so they alienate people, and “if people want to see those pictures, they tion of a way of life they value,” he said. eventually they throw the rascals out.” can spend the same money and see more of Crusades in American society have raged But until then, he does not favor restric­ it,” in more hard-core magazines. cyclically since the 1800s. “Liberal trends tion of sexually explicit material, “one of the “Soft” sex material, however, sells. In his bring about conservative trends. The 1960s prices you pay for living in a free society is Human Sexuality text, Mahoney and ’70s pushed the liberal views, until having things in your presence that disgust wrote: “The softcore magazine market in the someone said, ‘Look folks, we’re on the you. United States is substantial. In 1981, the 10 brink of Rome!’ And the movement starts ■ KLIPSUN best-selling magazines had a total monthly back.

Who’s to Say What’s Obscene? I m Whenever a publication is removed from The Supreme Court has had great frustra­ Penthouse, taken as a whole, obscene. the shelf on the basis of content, a host of tion in defining obscenity. Between 1957 and Howard Harris, vice-president of the '4 legal questions arise. Publication is pro­ 1968 the court decided 13 obscenity cases, Whatcom County American Civil Li- tected by the First Amendment: “Congress and issued 54 separate opinions in those berties Union, isn’t excited about the ban. I shall make no law... abridging the freedom cases. The A.S. is a “private institution doing it on of speech, or the press .... ” In 1973, in Millervs. California,X\\tco\xti their own. They have a perfect right not to sell The Supreme Court, however, has established a three-part test for determining it.” he said. - ruled that obscenity is not protected by the whether something is obscene. According The statewide American Civil Liberties Constitution. The question, then, is what to the Miller test, a jury must decide: Union of Washington, however, protested can be legally restricted, or what is legally ■ First, would the average person, applying University of Washington’s book store, issu­ obscene? contemporary community standards, find ing statements including: In 1948, the Ohio Court of Common Pleas that the material, taken as a whole, appeals “The implications ot the growing eager- ' wrote, “Obscenity is not a legal term. It can­ to the prurient interest? ness in society to limit the availability of not be defined so that it will mean the same ■ Second, does the work depict or describe, what others can read and see is troubling, to all people, all the time everywhere. Obs­ in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct even though it is by individuals, even though cenity is very much a figment of the specifically defined by applicable state lav/s? it is constitutionally protected, and even imagination—an indefinable something in ■ Third, does the work, taken as a whole, though it IS for the laudable goal of elimina­ the minds of some and not in the minds of lack serious literary, artistic, political or tion of sexism. But one must consider what others, and it is not the same in the minds of scientific value? the next step will be—will another group ask the people of every clime and country, nor Lyle Harris said he doesn’t think Penthouse stores to remove Ms. magazine for its sup­ the same today as it was yesterday and will would meet the court’s definition of obscen­ port of abortion rights, or to remove books be tomorrow.” ity. “For a long time Penthouse carried sto­ with unpopular political views? Eldon Mahoney, sociology professor and ries that were of social and intellectual value “If only publications that offend no one author of Human Sexuality, said porno­ and under the laws of this state, a publica­ were on sale, the bookstores would be graphy, or as the court calls it, obsen- tion can’t be identified as obscene without empty. The values of free speech must apply ity, IS hard to define. “Pornography is what evaluation of the entire magazine,” he said. not only to what we like to read, hear and turns you on, erotica is what turns me on.” Mahoney, who informally samples stu­ see, but also to those we abhor.” m It’s a legal morass: “It’s taking subjective dent’s attitudes in his human sexuality class, i ii S ; is s; i ssiiiiSiiWiiiiiiWiwi;* evaluations and codifying them into law.” said the students here would not consider '4',>>. /'H '' -X

KLIPSUN 7 Each morning at 10, Janet Kupka leads the residents through iimbering

Story by Lori Mayfield Photos by John Klicker

ANET KUPKA AND HER THREE- residents sitting, most in wheelchairs, reach F YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO person activities staff are charged with and bend. collect Social Security, the chances keeping alive the minds in the bodies of Kupka begins the exercise session by tell­ are one in five you’ll be spending at theJ 137 residents of Seaborne Park Care ing them the day’s date. Echoes of the date least some of it in one of the nation’s 17,000 Center. bounce across the room. Her voice is raised nursing homes. Sehome residents depend on Kupka to so everyone can hear. She keeps a cheerful One-and-a-half million Americans did in keep their minds and bodies active. It isn’t note in her voice as she leads the exercises, 1980. Their average length of stay was 2.4 always easy. The patients are here because often encouraging observers to join in. But years. they can no longer function in the outside many still just watch. “Few, if any, will leave: Only 20 percent will world. Some may be alert but unable to care After exercise session, it’s time for a return home. Some will be transferred to for themselves; others aren’t able to hold a break. Most residents sit quietly, watching hopitals, but the vast majority will die in the conversation, she said. Kupka and her staff serve coffee. nursing home,” Moss Halamandaris wrote Kupka must plan activities to stimulate all The next activities are an awareness group in his book Too Old, Too Sick, Too Bad. the varied awareness levels. Many of the for the less aware residents and a women’s Only half of nursing home residents can tasks seem child-like, but are designed to social group called “R and R” for the more walk; a little more than half are mentally keep the residents in touch with reality. aware. impared; more than a third can’t control Although some of her methods seem at an The residents in the awareness group have their bladders, he wrote. elementary level, “they need to be treated as little memory, so they are asked such simple Not only are they sick and immobile, most adults. It’s hard sometimes because many of questions as: “What is your name?” “What are alone. “More than 60 percent have no them act like children. But these people have day is it?” “What season is it?” As Kupka visitors at all,” Halamandaris found in his given up everything—their homes and their enters, her assistant activities director is ask­ 14-year study, beginning when he was a control over their lives. My staff and I try to ing a woman what her favorite poem is. She member of the Senate Committee on Aging. give them a choice or ask their opinion whe­ doesn’t understand, so he repeats himself. Sick, immobile and alone, the question is: never we can,” Kupka said, her big, brown She can’t remember one. He asks another What are these people doing besides eating, eyes intense. woman. She asks him to read one her father sleeping and waiting to die?B Exercises are done each morning to keep used to read to her. The woman next to her is old muscles stretched and supple. All the grunting loudly as she changes the clothes on

iliiiiiiiiiiiiii 8 March 1985 iiiiiiiii Janet keeps residents Involved In the community with such projects as volunteering time to fold The Safety Book. her doll. The first woman now is singing and sense of helplessness in her eyes. bouncing her fingers across the table as the aide begins to read. Kupka leans to go on “I get real satisfaction when I see some­ about her duties. one who is confused and I can help them,” Her next stop is in the “Sehome Room” Kupka said. and ‘‘R and R.” This is a session where “Some of them forget where their room is patients get together to talk about a subject or that they just had lunch. When I take to see what they can remember. Today’s sub­ them to their room or remind them they just ject is games they played as children. had lunch, it’s wonderful to see the look of One woman remembers “Run Sheep appreciation in their faces. That’s what gives Run,” but forgets how it was played. They me satisfaction in my job. all remember tag and hide-and-go-seek. “It’s important to encourage the positive Another woman said, “1 remember there here. There are definitely times when you’re used to be hopscotch squares drawn on the pulling your hair out, but you just have to sidewalks everywhere. You don’t see that take a step back and look at the situation. anymore.” “The burnout rate in this kind of job is But “R and R” comes to an end and it’s very high. You’re giving all daylong. You’re time for lunch. As the group gets ready to constantly reassuring and directing. 1 always leave, another activities person reminds manage to get my reserve back. I try to make them next week it will be “Name That Tune an effort to do things that give me satisfac­ Day.” They all express approval. tion, such as going to conferences and work­ One woman said, “That will be fun, but shops. I love getting new ideas — you know, don’t play any rock and roll.” something fresh so that it doesn’t become a Another said, “Rock and roll isn’t music. routine. It’s a beat with a bunch of loud noises with “Sometimes, it’s hard to keep a few of it.” them busy. As soon as we finish one thing, Throughout the “R and R” session, a resi­ they’re ready to start something else,” she dent keeps saying, “I don’t know where to chuckles, revealing a row of straight white go. I don’t know how to get home.” She is teeth. told she’ll be going to lunch soon and she is For less active members, coffee socials Kupka said she has had no special training home. She tries to get out of her wheelchair, are a chance to be In the company of for her job. She has a bachelor’s degree in but she is belted in. She looks around with a others. home economics and has taken several

KUPSUN 9 “To work in a place like this you have to be flexible. It’s kinda like being a juggler.” — Janet Kupka, activities director

Maude Burchette displays some of the baked goods with which the Sehome Park courses irt recreation, activities group raised more than $100 benefiting the Statue of Liberty. ‘*TheyVe trying to make things more pro* fessional by creating a program for a their time, as do 15 senior citizens, she said. ""Some days this place doesn’t seem like a degree,’’ she said, ‘"But nursing homes don’t ‘"To work in a place like this you have to nursing home. There’s so much going on. I pay very much, so it is hard to get trained be flexible. It’s kinda like being a juggler, swear we walk miles in one day running up people,” You need to be patient and understanding. and down these halls. When I go home, 1 fix Kupka tries to keep herself posted on new “You have to learn to accept what goes on dinner and then usually I’m so tired I fall developments by attending conferences and here as part of life. There’s a lot of disability, asleep,” she explained, rolling her eyes, workshops. She also reads as much litera­ pain, confusion and death, “But,” she said, "’you get a lot back from ture on the subject as she can. ""There’s highs and lows. 1 imagine it the residents. It’s worth it when they say Volunteers play a big role in her success. happens in every job. You will experience "thank you.’ There’s a lot of love in a place They help give the residents individual attem periods when you get tired, but something like this,” tion. Nearly 80 Western students donate BULK FOOD Old-time Drystores Revisited BIERY

GALEN

Courtesy The early-century approach.

By LYNN HERSMAN

KLIPSUN 11 eet tap out a staccato product after product that television has beat along the boardwalk, dust shown you that you desperately need. curling from the hooves of passing “All we had were small stores,” Mary said, horses.F A large wooden sign announces “The snuggling her feet deeper into Corner Grocery.” shaggy blue slippers. “Packaged goods were Sunlight spatters across the glass a luxury item.” windows as you step through the door into the long, narrow room. In the dusky inte­ The corner grocery may have disap­ rior, the men, smelling faintly of whiskey peared and the modern supermarket risen to and sending up blue wisps of cigar smoke, take its place, but an element of the corner gather around the pot-bellied woodstove. grocery has found its way back into the The aroma of spices mix with the fra­ industry. At least seven local grocery stores grant cheeses with a dash of kerosene from have installed bulk food sections. the flickering lanterns that push the shadows Ernie Ens, in charge of the bulk food pro­ into dimmer corners. gram at Associated Grocers, points out, On the oiled plank floor, worn velvety by “Bulk foods has been around forever, usu­ the feet of shoppers, sits a glass counter ally asa section of health food items. It’sjust aglow with spiral all-day suckers; jars of been upgraded into a department. Canada stick candy; the reds, yellows and greens of went away from health foods into a full­ the jaw breakers; and chocolate with wal­ blown department, pushing it as savings.” nuts atop. Ens said Associated Grocers always is In front of a long counter covered with looking for new ways to top its competition. [produce sits a row of sawed hickory barrels: “Basically we just went and copied Canada’s slats held together by steel bands. department,” Ens said. A drop of vinegar splatters from a spigot The average cost to a store installing bulk on the front of one barrel. Beside it sit bar­ food is $10,000, Ens said. Ennen’s Mark & rels of sugar, flour and lard; be­ Pak decided to install bulk food because it tween these stand five-pound bags of salt. was the growing trend and it increases sales, Dried beans, macaroni, rice, and cereal Brian Thompson, department manager, flank the dried fruits wrinkling together in said. Steve Pake of Ferndale Mark & Pak yet another barrel. Above the kegs of peanut said the store put in the department “to Mix averaged about 60 cents cheaper in butter and sauerkraut are smaller barrels match competition and to give people the bulk, but C&H sugar varied from no savings concealing coffee and crackers. Arrayed on choice.” in bulk to a savings of seven cents. the counter itself are five-gallon glass jugs of The choice seems to be what people have pickles bobbing up and down. been waiting for. As before, its pays to shop around Canned goods and packaged items reach “The minute we filled the barrels people before you buy. The buys, however, will across the wall behind the counter, wanted in to buy. It was instant success,” never be as good as the ones Mike German spread from floor to ceiling. The clerk, clad Thompson said. got back in 1920. A pound of coffee was 15 in a white shirt and heavy tan apron, moves a Many people believe bulk buying offers cents, a five-pound bag of salt went for 25 ladder back and forth across the wall as he them quality at a cheaper price. cents, and sugar was six cents a pound. A fills an order for the woman at the counter. “A lot of people feel it’s an economy 50-pound bag of flour was only 69 cents. “I used to buy crackers for my mother, move,” mused Mary German’s husband, Savings is not the only thing that makes they were bigger, you know. We didn’t buy Mike, 83 years furrowed across his brow as someone a bulk shopper. The ability to buy them by the pound. She used to send me for he sat rocking, thick hands clasped across just the amount needed makes cooking eas­ 25 cents worth, that was a lot back then, a the front of his striped bib overalls. “I’ve ier for single people or couples. Most of the whole big bag,” recalled Mary German, 72, checked and some of their prices are higher,” bulk shoppers do fall into the single or cou­ her round face smiling from behind silver he said. ple category. glasses that reflect the strands of gray in her Each store said its bins were filled with “Most of them, I would say, are college curly white hair. name brand products: Mission pasta, Nalley age and elderly; (senior citizens) can buy just Grocery stores have changed considerably chips, Brachs candies, and C&H sugars to the amount they need and the college kids since Mary shopped in them as a little girl. name a few. Laurie Ryan of Fred Meyer’s want munchies,” Thompson said as he They gleam, like the smiles of toothpaste avoids the loss of label identification by dumped birdseed into a barrel marked “No commercials, under their comparing packaged prices to bulk prices on Sampling.” fluorescent lighting. The permanence of display chalkboards to show the savings. Ryanalso said a lot of her business comes wood has disappeared, replaced by If shoppers buy less expensive brands, from college students’ snack foods. “I have shelves where row upon row of packaged such as Wetern Family or My-Te Fine, bulk to fill the Doritoes every day,” she said. goods compete for attention. food may be more expensive. When compar­ From the wide variety of spices, baking While you roll your metal shopping ing bulk foods to their packaged counter­ items, coffee, candy, cereals, cookies, and basket up and down the aisles, you begin parts, bulk prices tend to be lower or the snacks, most shoppers agree the snack items humming advertising jingles passing same. For instance. Carnation Instant Cocoa catch their eye most often.

12 March 1985 mfum

spout, eliminating customer contact with the merchandise. Because of a shortage of these types of bins, the health department allowed the stores until Jan. 1, 1985, to comply. Ens claims the bins are not in short supply and health officials stopped the action because they don’t know what they’re doing. Chudek said after allowing a 30-day grace period the health department began enforcement. Items not likely to flow through a gravity-feed system, such as coo­ kies and sticky candies, have been excluded.

Concern about health was one of the reasons bulk food became packaged the first time around. The 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requires foods to be pure, wholesome, safe to eat, honestly and infor­ matively labeled and produced under sani­ tary conditions. All this required standard­ ized processing procedures. Businesses also realized they could ex­ pand their shares of the market through advertising: By influencing the consumer to buy certain brands, they could sell their goods directly instead of to a wholesale company that distributed everything as generic goods. Instead of selling flour to the consumer, they could sell Gold Medal Flour as the best brand. These old pitfalls may have been avoid­ Brian Thompson, center, Ennens Mark & Pak department manager, sits with Ken ed for the new bulk food industry. Products Donovan in the store’s shimmering new buik food department. are still processed under standardized condi­ tions, but simply packaged in larger quanti­ ties. It has also expanded markets for the “I end up buying junk food,” Chuck Rey­ Health issues rules and regulations for oper­ businesses, allowing them to sell goods either nolds, an Ennen’s shopper said. “I buy too ation of bulk food departments. by brand name orto the shopper looking for much and it never gets eaten.” “We can come up with all kinds of possi­ bulk economy. But the question of whether One major concern is the freshness of ble problems,” said Paul Chudek, from Bel­ bulk is permanent or just a passing fad still the unpackaged products. All the stores lingham/Whatcom County District remains open. have false-bottom barrels to make them Department of Public Health, an agencv Local store owners agree bulk food has appear to hold more than they actually do. that is responsible for enforcing the regu­ been here long enough to prove this time it Department managers also order new pro­ lations. “Tampering with the food, other will be permanent. duct between two and four times each week. people’s hands in your food—but it’s the “If all the stores keep new items coming in, “I order three times each week. Every same in the produce department or a salad the departments clean, and good other item is filled every time I order,” bar. There are actually very few hazards standards, it will stay,” Karen Winney of Thompson said. “We go through 200 involved. It’s the perception of the people in Cost Cutter Market predicted. Ens thinks pounds of coffee per week.” the community.” bulk food is permanent but says it will defi­ Mary German doesn’t shop the modern The regulations are created by the state nitely evolve. bulk foods, though she admits she enjoys the with consultation from the grocery industry. “Health food will take over from the sta­ smells. Most of the regulations deal with how the ples; and bulk food will end up snack items “Oh, the spices, that’s what I love, to go departments are to be set up and run, such as and health food. Staples will go along the through and smell the cinnamon and the requiring an attendant at all times to clean, wayside,” Ens said. cloves,” Mary said. But she worries about answer questions, enforce no smoking poli­ Mary German declares stores will have to people dipping their hands into the bins. cies and discourage tampering. find a better way to handle it if they expect it When she bought her crackers, in the early Ens claimed, however, the health depart­ to stay. 1900s, only the clerk was allowed to scoop ment has been unfair to grocers. In a recent “I get frustrated messing around with all into the barrels and fill the paper sacks. series of regulations, the health department those bags and scoops,” she said. “Some people are skeptical that way with has required all stores to place items not Indeed, shoppers and their dollars will anything. It has been only a minimal prob­ cooked prior to eating in gravity-feed bins. have the final say. lem,” Thompson said. The state Board of These bins allow the product to flow down a ■ KLIPSUN

KLIPSUN 13 T’S REAL WEIRD, BECAUSE not behind, the massive desk. Comments I you sit on their shoulders, and flow candidly and conversationally and, as I because they’ve got this loose hide on weekdays, he prefers to answer to Tim. and all these muscles, you feel like you’re As the second of h^ four years in office going about five different directions.” Big begins, Douglas’ obvious excitement about grin. - his job tfas not dimmed. His attitude is An in-depth account of an elephant ride is dilated with an enthusiasm not unlike that of not something usually expected of the a high school freshman flipping his first Big mayor of a city Bellingham’s size, but Tim Douglas is absurdly at ease with his descrip­ *i love the work,” he said, ”It’s just the tion of the ordeal that took place at the greatest job— I can’t imagine anyone being Blaine Centennial last year. It is Sunday, and more challenged or more excited about their his giggle has full reign of an empty city hall, work than I feel.” ‘it's really an experience.” Douglas, 41, was elected in November Leaning back in his chair, hands clasped 1983, defeating Haines Faye by a ratio of behind his head, Douglas seems comfortable about 70.’30. At the time he was elected, he having shed his mayoral skin for the week­ was the dean of students at Western and also n end. Jogging sl^cs and cotton trousers president of the city council. He retained "have growfl over the w^eary business suit, and both positions until actually taking office he is stationed in a modest chair in front of. January 1984.

Story by Jeff Braimes m

■*<> ■/'i

c^&i:i One of Douglas’ main thrusts during the tors in a friendly, smooth-running system. campaign was that of a collective lightening But perhaps the most effective action the of the attitudes at city hall. It was the com­ mayor has taken toward a warmer city hall plaint of more than a few (Douglas included) atmosphere is simply setting a good that the attitude of city hall employees was example. one of near-hostility during the previous “Tim is a very enthusiastic person,” City administration, and the public was seeing Attorney Bruce Disend said. “He’s very local government through a resentful jaun­ team-oriented, and has encouraged his diced eye. department heads to communicate more Immediately upon taking office, Douglas freely and more often. It’s like a football called a meeting of all city employees during coach that has a good attitude—it rubs off which he introduced himself to his new crew on the and “established a tone and set some goals/’ “I told them that I wanted them to provide While emphasi/ing this goal during his the best quality service possible for the peo­ campaign, however, Douglas was criticized ple,” he said. by former mayor Ken Hertz for being naive In addition, Douglas engineered a *^bout the complicated nature of a govern­ number of workshops and has continued mental bureaucracy like city hall. How, evaluating his department heads, stressing Hertz wanted to know, can anyone teach 600 “openness and feedback” as important fac­ people to be courteous?

Photos by John Klicker

KLIPSUN 15 “I think Tim tends not to be as forthright But for all his hand shaking and public Usually you have to go to someplace the size as neccessary,” Hertz said. “As mayor, you relating Douglas is still quick to get down to of Spokane, for example, to find somebody must speak out and let people know where the nature of the mayor’s job—hard work. that’s taken an existing downtown and made you stand and Tim is just a bit over-anxious “It’s hard to find enough time to make it it even better by preserving it. Usually in to please everyone involved. You just can’t all work,” he said. “You have to have a good smaller communities that doesn’t happen, so please everyone, and you’ll end up losing in balance, but you also have to know when to it’s a real pioneering challenge here.” the end and accomplishing nothing if you get down to business.” However, with Bellingham growing in all try.” Last year packed a powerful business areas, the problem of stalled retail develop­ The validity of the critique, coming from punch for Douglas—one that was accom­ ment is one that must be dealt with. the man who ran Bellingham for eight years, panied by a barrage of elusive rabbit “I think what we’re faced with,” Douglas is something Douglas has come slowly to punches that slowed progress. said, “is the reality that you can’t just pre­ grips with during his first year in office—but The most devastating surprise blow dealt serve downtown as it is. The market is large; he declares that he’s not through trying. the mayor during the year was an insanely it needs more retail. Obviously if the prob­ Douglas reflected: “I think in my first year high rate of department head turnover. Six lem can’t be solved downtown, then the the reality of the fact that you can’t make major elements in the Douglas machine city’s going to have to do something else.” everybody happy has become more clear to ceased to exist in their positions for various “Something else” has already begun to me. I think you do the best you can, and I reasons, leaving Bellingham’s chief execu­ happen in the form of the proposed Belles think that it’s still a worthy goal to seek—to tive scrambling for new help during a time Fair shopping center near Interstate 5 and try to find a solution to a problem that satis­ when he, himself, was not on the firmest of Meridian Street. fies as many of the parties as much as ground. The driving force behind development of possible.” The most shattering of the disappearances the mall is the Trillium Corporation, of was that of City Attorney Pat Brock, who which Ken Hertz is, ironically, vice presi­ Popular public support is something was replaced by Disend in 1984. dent. Hertz said the mall will occupy a 70- Douglas values highly and strives for “The city attorney is very important,” acre site and will consist of five new major actively. Much of the mayor’s emphasis lies Douglas said, “because all of the ordinances retail stores accompanied by 100 small shops. in getting out and actually participating in need to be reviewed by him. It’s also a very “it will be similar to Southcenter (Mall in Bellingham, and he enjoys operating in a important advisory type of position, both to public eye small enough for constant per­ me and the council. I had worked with Bruce Tukwilla),” he said. sonal interaction. before, in the prosecutor’s office, and I think However, Trillium is facing zoning res­ “There’s very little anonimity in local he had the most mature, kind of calm triction problems with the land for the pro­ government,” he said, “and that’s nice in that approach, which is very important.” posed site. The land, according to Hertz, is you hear a lot from people, and you feel a Another major change took place in the presently unzoned federal land that must be part of the community. And I really feel that fire department, where Jay Gunsauls took rezoned for commercial use before construc­ the fact that I’m bald makes a difference,”he over for resigning Gary Hedberg. tion can begin. added with a smile, “because it limits the In addition, the heads of the planning, number of people that look just like you.” personnel, informational services and Even Douglas’ wife Joanne is relatively finance departments left city hall for four reachable member of the community. She different reasons, leaving Douglas treading owns and operates the Sugar Plum Tree air and thinking fast. Gift Shop in Bellingham Mall. But with all this happening at the begin­ “Once in a while someone will wander in ning of his term, Douglas saw the vacancies and make a comment about roads or some­ as the ideal time for reorganization. thing, but not very often,” she said. “This was obviously the opportunity (for One thing Joanne misses from “before” is reorganization), because I was new, but I spending time with her husband. still had a chance to see what was going on “I don’t see him very often,” she admitted. before. I’ve also got some sense of things that “Tim puts a lot of himself into his job, and ought to get done, and I’ve been able to use that can mean 14 or 15 hours a day.” opportunities and make some of my own to Near the edge of the mayor’s desk a tiny do some reorganizing.” Mickey Mouse is in danger of having his He created one new agency, the planning miniature dune buggy rolled by a menacing and economic development department, pile of opened letters from miscellaneously which is essentially a combination of the old concerned citizens. planning and community development “Here’s one,” Douglas said, selecting a departments. letter, “from a middle-school kid who’d like to A large new agency, to be called adminis­ trative services, will cover all the ground see some entertainment rides and miniature golf course. Here’s another from a group of vacated by the disintegrated communica­ Canadian senior citizens.” tions, personnel, purchasing and motor pool When no letters are left to open, the Dan­ departments. A head for this new depart­ ish Brother Banquet or the Fleet Reserve ment was to be named this month. Association would always be thrilled to have the mayor in attendance. Even the Seattle Another strictly business phenomenon Mariners beckoned last August, and Dou­ demanding much of Douglas’ time in var­ ious guises is the issue of retail growth in glas was honored with the traditional first pitch on Bellingham Night at the Kingdome. Bellingham. Most participants in the controversy are “It was terrible,” Douglas reminisced. in favor of it, but that’s about as far as the “I’m gonna practice next year. The only first love affair goes. The main question is where pitch I’ve ever seen was what the President the growth will occur—downtown or in does, and he stands in the seats and just regional malls further from the heart of the kinda lobs a pitch down. But here you get city. out on the pitcher’s mound and the catcher “I think one of the things that makes Bel­ sits there, and my God, it looks like it’s lingham really unique,” Douglas said, “is the forever to the catcher!” fact that we do have an existing downtown.

16 March 1985 Another issue being heavily promoted by the mayor’s office is that of tourism. Dou­ glas would not only like to see Bellingham grow commercially, but would also like to see it become the major tourist-attracting spot between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. In September, Douglas submitted a com­ prehensive proposal for tourism and visitor development to the city council. The plan included improvements to waterfront attractions, general beautifications, better freeway markers and luring of conventions. The implementation of these improve­ ments has been influenced by the approach of Expo ’86, which will get underway in Vancouver, B.C. next year. The event is expected to flood Bellingham and Whatcom County with thousands of extra tourists passing through on their way to the World’s Fair. In addition to the positive preparations for Expo ’86, the Bellingham Police Department will be beefed up. A supplemen­ tal unit of police reserves will be added to the force during a time when Bellingham will be saturated with visitors. The reserves will handle matters such as traffic control in order to free regular officers to complete more pressing law enforcement tasks. One of the major problems that haunted Douglas throughout 1984, and that prom­ Nephew Todd races against time, stuffing grapes into Douglas’ mouth for Mount ises to continue its reign of terror in ’85, is Baker Chili Eruption contest. that of solid waste. Bellingham has run out of acceptable systems for disposing of its garbage, and the high costs of instituting a new system are seriously hampering his attempts at a solution. Bellingham currently employs two methods by which garbage is disposed of— both demanding immediate redesign. The land fills, says Douglas, “are an environmental mess,” and the incinerators are at the end of their effective use periods. “Solid waste is the biggest public works problem today everywhere,” Douglas said. The extreme costs, the environmental impli­ cations and the extreme-long-term nature of new systems make solid waste disposal a very difficult issue, to which solutions come slowly. The city is at a point now, Douglas explained, where it is ready to open bidding to private companies. Whoever can provide the most environmentally and economically sound offer will get the call, but no answer is expected for quite some time.

The phone rings. Douglas moves to the rear of the desk and lifts the receiver off one of the two phones. “Mayor’s office...Oh, hello Dennis...yes ...yes...” The call is regarding the closure of Lake Padden due to a dangerously thin layer of ice. It is beginning to thaw. Douglas mostly listens, reflecting both mentally and physi­ cally into the glossy panelling of the high- ceilinged office. “Uh-huh...yes...OK...Well, I’ll check and see and get back to you...Are you at home?...Alright...Thanks for calling.” Even on Sunday in jogging shoes, a may­ After presenting an official proclamation, Douglas accepts a balloon bouquet from or’s work is never done. Bellingham vocational-technical students. ■ KLIPSUN

KLIPSUN 17 LAURA KALPAKIAN Fiction Finds a Friend at Western

By LAURA BOYNTON

CC\MkM RITING A BOOK IS LIKE serious about it and intended to be \K\m giving birth to a child,” West- published.” W W ern’s writer-in-residence Laura “One decides not to become a writer: one Kalpakian mused. “It is born, it is yours, you Mother always said it was my decides to sit down and writeT^ Kalpakian raise it. You must send it away eventually sister-in-law Kitty would be con­ firmly maintains. and it is no longer yours. demned by Heaven for her van­ Kalpakian eventually did drag the shop­ “The period of time between finishing a ping bag out from under the desk to publish novel and publication (three years for These ity. Mother always said if Kitty two Gothic novels under the pseudonym Latter Days is so long that the initial got to heaven first, she’d be on Carenna Jane Grey. But in order to do it, the excitement is lost.” the lookout for you just to see nurturing of those around her was essential. Kalpakian bounced in her chair slightly, Kalpakian is the divorced mother of two giving the impression of a child who has just what you was wearing and how small children and says that the support and been offered a present, then relaxed, as she could criticize it. Kitty wasn’t help of her family has been invaluable. though she had been told it will be a long the only vain one. You can’t have “They are part of my career. My mother discusses my career as ‘we.’ My father time in coming — days, months, maybe even people telling you your whole life years. looked after my children to give me the free­ Kalpakian is an eloquent, animated, that you’re beautiful and not dom necessary to write.” young-looking woman. Her brown eyes, have little seeds of vanity planted Kalpakian dedicated her book Beggars warm and attentive, crease pleasantly at the and Choosers to her mother and sister and corners when she smiles. She reels off words in you, though I fought it and I These Latter Days to her father. at a lively pace and smoke curls from her haven’t been beautiful for fifty Perhaps her strong sense of family is the ever-present cigarette as she recalls the years so that makes it easier. (Age reason Kalpakian describes herself as loving beginning of her writing career. people and being endlessly fascinated by “I only did the necessary writing in school. never made no difference to them. Her specialty, she believes, is creating High school journalism was the only writing Kitty. She always thought she characters whom she meets as “they come class I ever took. I started off writing short was a nineteen-year-old belle billowing out of the typewriter.” She likes to stories. I was depressed at not seeing any of when two nineteen-year-old put ordinary people into extraordinary my stories published and was drinking wine situations. with a friend one afternoon. She said ‘Why belles would have fit inside her Kalpakian describes a vivid dream she not write a piece of trash, Laura?’ So I clothes.) I was beautiful once. once had wherein a bus pulled up in front of started a Gothic ... I discovered I could There wasn’t no one more beauti­ her house and many people spilled out into write long narrative. I put that manuscript in her yard. a shopping bag under the desk and began my ful than me in my wedding dress “I wasn’t in the least dismayed to see all first novel Beggars and Choosers. on my wedding day. That won­ these people. I went up to them and asked Kalpakian was attending the University of derful day. That was the happiest ‘Have you come here to be characters?’ And California in San Diego at this time and she they said, ‘Yes, we have.’ So, I met about a took a quarter off to write Beggars and day of my life. third of them. It’s like a sign that my talent Choosers: “I told every one I was studying lies in creating characters. It’s best to heed for exams. The literary department was a -“These Latter Days" dreams like that, don’t you think?” very comepetitive one; writing literary criti­ by Laura Kalpakian While many writers and teachers maintain cism was acceptable, writing novels was not that creative writing, or the art of fiction — they were very much elitist. When I fin­ writing, cannot be taught—that is, you can’t ished the novel I knew it was good, so good teach imagination, or insight into human that I told people what I had been doing. behavior—instructors can give suggestions They snickered into their beer. Three on sharpening and controlling attributes a months later I had the enviable position of writer may already possess. A course in crea­ telling them it was published. tive writing, as well as the chance to interact “The first time 1 sat down to write 1 was with other writers, other imaginative minds.

18 March 1985 i Novelist and Western writer-in-residence Laura Kalpakian sits ready to aid students in deveioping their inborn creative writing taients. can only serve to further the creative pro­ from the English department, has been holds. One reason Kalpakian states for cess. This is the impetus behind Western’s appointed to seek a permanent writer-in- desiring the permanent job is the financial writer-in-residence program. residence. The English department plans to security it would offer to a single mother of Robert Huff, of the English department, continue the visiting writers program, two children. links the beginnings of the writer-in­ though on a reduced scale. “People ought to be apprehensive about residence program to the Vietnam war. Huff speculates on the decline in interest, going into an artistic career. It’s very risky. I “In the Sixties and Seventies there was a tying it to the recession: “People are appre­ 'would shudder... draw my last breath if my great demand for creative writing classes hensive about their financial well-being. sons announced they wanted to pursue an and an interest in getting masters degrees in They’re interested in practical training for a artistic career.” creative writing, poetry and fiction. Vietnam highly competitive world—business, eco­ Another push to land a permanent job instilled a political awareness and a concern nomics, computer science. They can’t take a Kalpakian cites is that of loneliness. with conflict and violent events. People felt a chance on an artistic career that’s always “The writer leads a miserably lonely life,” need for imaginative expression of these been and may always be chancy.” she says seriously, drawing her brows feelings. But Huff goes on to stress that as people together, “and I am a social creature, not a “Also, the nation was, at this point, more become used to their technologized world, solitary creature.” politically affluent than it had been. There the interest in imaginative writing will pick Kalpakian is caught in a common were more jobs and people were not con­ up again. dilemma. Writers need solitude to produce, stantly preoccupied with providing a living. Twenty-five writers are under considera­ but if they isolate themselves, they are cut off There was a demand on the part of the stu­ tion for the permanent position and their from those very experiences and people that dents for a visiting writer—to instruct creative applications are to be reviewed in February spark and feed the imagination. writing. I believe Annie Dillard was among by members of the English department. But even in her haven at Western she’s the first visiting writers. She came to Bel­ Among the possibles are the Canadian wri­ hard on herself. She quotes from F. Scott lingham and liked it here, so she stayed for a ter Clarke Blaise; former writer-in-residence Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night: “All the while as Western’s writer-in-residence.” Kelly Cherry; Douglas Unger; and the pres­ best people in the world are hard on Dr. Douglas Park, department chairman, ent writer-in-residence, Laura Kalpakian. themselves.” remembers Lynda Schor as being the first Kalpakian saw the position—for the per­ “That’s true of me. I am critical and some visiting writer-in-residence. She came in the manent writer in residence—advertised in of my students think I’m too hard on them. fall of 1980, a little late perhaps, in response an Associated Writing Programs publica­ But no harder than I am on myself. I am not to demands made in the ’60s and ’70s, but tion that aids writers in landing teaching- interested in students that are not serious Western isn’t usually in the avant-garde. related jobs. She applied for the position at about writing.” BKLIPSUN Now, a five member committee, selected the same time she applied for the job she now J

KLIPSUN 19 /1TCHER An Unpopular Animal Lover

By KEN GIBSON

FFICER ELEANOR DOTY IS EN “You know what the best thing about the is trying to get her ball away from her. route to an address near Pinewood, snow is?” she asks with a smile. “It leaves dog “They don’t see us getting up at 3 a.m. to just east of Sudden Valley. She is re­ tracks.” go out and pick up the dog that has been hit sponding to a routine 10-12. Two suspects Eleanor Doty, a tall, dark-haired, 33- on the freeway—after we’ve repeatedly had been apprehended trespassing in the year-old woman, with clear blue eyes and a warned the owner not to let his dog run loose yard of a local resident, and are being held in contagious smile, is one of three animal con­ at night.” protective custody by the property owner. trol officers employed by the Whatcom About a mile from her destination the Humane Society. The traffic is heavier as Doty enters the familiar voice of the dispatcher becomes Doty began working for the humane city limits. “When I’m driving I usually try audible through the crackling squelch of the society in 1973. She worked two years part- not to look into the windows of on-coming CB radio. “We have a dog problem on Cot­ time while attending Western, and became a cars, because I get to many one-fingered tonwood. Victim bitten. Owner of dog full-time animal control officer in 1975. It waves,” Doty says. harassing victim. BPD is sending an officer, was her love for animals that originally As Doty turns up Cottonwood she sees and would like us to have an officer there as attracted her to the humane society. the Bellingham police car, its red light flick­ soon as possible.” “I’ve always claimed that my mother was ering in the fog. The officer is out of his car, Doty U-turns her white 1984 Chevy bitten by a horsefly when she was carrying talking to a young man. A woman and a pickup, which carries a custom animal me,” Doty says. child are standing nearby. transport unit in its small bed, and begins When she’s not out on patrol for the When she arrives on the scene, Doty can the 10-mile trek back to town, humane society, Doty is home tending her see that the young man still is suffering the “These are the times I feel a little frustrated 12 Arabian horses, three cats, two dogs and after-effects of an acute adrenalin rush. He about this job. Tm just a little ways from a goat. She’s a part-time horse trainer and talks fast. He tells her that he was walking completing this assignment and then 1 have also trains dogs for search and rescue duty. down the street, minding his own business, to turn around and go take care of some­ Doty feels that many people have a nega­ when two large dogs attacked him. He iden­ thing else. Then, later I have to come all the tive image of animal control officers. “Peo­ tifies the two assailants as a Saint Bernard wav back out here.” ple see us going into someone’s yard and and a German shepherd. He says they bit at The roads are still icy from the previous picking up a dog and most people automati­ his leg, ripped one of his gloves off, ana week’s snow, and as she carefully traverses cally think we’re some kind of villains. What ripped the arm of his coat. He shows her a the country highway, Doty is met with an they don’t see is the other side. They don’t small puncture wound in his right forearm. occasional blanket of afternoon fog. She see the little girl whose face gets marred up, The owner of the dogs stands by looking glances out at the snow-covered landscape. because some dog running loose in the park troubled and confused, describing to Doty

20 March 1985 how she just let the dogs out to go to the bathroom. She admits the dogs have bitten people before, tearfully explaining they are her husband’s dogs, and she never wanted them in the first place. Doty writes the woman a citation and instructs her to have her husband contact the humane society when he gets home. Doty warns the woman that dog bites can end up in lawsuits. Doty doesn’t pick up the dogs, but advises her not to let them out of the house again. Back in the truck, Doty begins the long trip back to Sudden Valley. “You know that Saint Bernards are the number one dog biters in the United States?” Doty says as she maneuvers the Chevy pickup into the light southbound traffic on Interstate 5. “Everyone seems to think German shepherds and Dobermans are tops in dog biting. They’re not.” Doty says most dogs are “fear biters;” they bite because they are injured or scared. The solution is to make the animal comfortable so it doesn’t become a “fear biter.” “Very few dogs are directly aggressive. Often times you can tell a nasty dog to sit and he will. Then you put a leash on him and walk him away.” Animal Control Officer Eleanor Doty transports an injured canine between the Doty said she occasionally has been bitten veterinarian’s office and the city pound. by dogs in the line of duty, but adds that in some instances pet owners can be more

KLIPSUN 21 Doty and a Bellingham Police officer interview a man attacked by a Saint Bernard and a German Shepard. Soon after, Doty cited the dogs’ owner. vicious than the animals. On rare occasions The owner isn’t home, so Doty leaves her operating table and injected with a lethal She has been physically attacked by pet card. She then loads the unsuspecting pup dose of sodium pentobarbital. owners. She said one time a man grabbed into one of the smaller cages on the side of Once he’s dead, his carcass will be dumped her wrists and squeezed them until she was the truck. into one of the blue oil drums kept in the forced to release his dog. The rest of the afternoon is spent stop­ refrigeration unit located in the back of the “Verbiage is important in dealing with a pet ping at a number of residences to inform pet animal shelter. It will lie there with other owner. If I come on like gang busters, people owners of various complaints against their rotting carcasses until the truck from the can get defensive real quick because it’s animals. She also stops at Columbia grade rendering plant comes by to pick it up. The usually an emotional situation. But I’d say school to pick up a dead cat. carcasses will be processed and the by­ 99 percent of the time I don’t have trouble products will eventually become ingredients with people when I go out on a complaint.” Returning to the humane society, Doty in fertilizer or animal feed. transfers her three “prisoners” from the Arriving at the crime scene near Sudden Last year the Whatcom Humane truck into individual, cement-floored cages. Society received 4,150 animals, about half Valley, Doty finds a man standing near a She puts the pit bulls in a cage together. blue pickup, with the two suspects chained picked up as strays and half brought in by ^ They look relatively calm, as if they’d been their owners. Of the total, 556 were up inside the truck bed. They turn out to be a here before. pair of pit bulls. adopted, 2,987 were euthanized, and 607 The puppy, an obvious first offender, is were retrieved by their owners. The man informs Doty that the animals scared. He whimpers and cries. have been trespassing on his property, that it “Unfortunately, the public, at this After filling out her reports, Doty walks point, has not tried to eliminate myjob thor­ has happened before, and that he is tired of back to the isolation cage area. Animals kept it. oughly,” Doty says. “I have a lot of job in this area are either vicious or in poor security. I know that’s an awful thing to say, Doty loads the animals into one of the health. Only two of the cages are occupied: larger of the four cages in the back of her but everybody, whether intentionally or not, One by an aging, black cocker spaniel with lets their dogs run at large at one time or truck. She then radios the dispatcher and distemper; the other by a middle-aged mutt. asks her to call the owner of the two dogs another. and tell him they have been impounded. The mutt looks as if he is a con­ “As long as people live this close together glomeration of every breed of dog that ever there will always be a conflict with the After arriving back in town, Doty’s next existed. He is brown, black, red, grey, and neighbor’s dog. I’ll always have a job and stop is on the southside. Someone has com­ has white spots randomly tatooed over his there will always be animal control plained that a neighbor has been letting his body. From one angle he looks like a boxer, problems. golden retriever puppy run loose in the from another more like a beagle. “At least it might be nice if people quit neighborhood. As Doty pulls into the dead­ “Tomorrow is his last day,” Doty says. thinking of animal control officers as some­ end street, the puppy, which has been play­ “His owner brought him in here. He said he’s thing evil.” She hesitates. “We’re not very ing in someone else’s yard, spots the truck. vicious. Nobody wants him anymore.” well loved I guess. I’ve always wanted to He merrily bounces across five of his neigh­ The mutt doesn’t look vicious. wear a little button that says, ‘Dog catchers bor’s front lawns and enthusiastically greets Tomorrow, he will be taken from his cage, need love too.’” Doty in his owner’s driveway. laid on a small, rectangular, stainless steel ■ KLIPSUN

—______

22 March 1985 MATTHEE

IMBERT

What Splashed Down Off Lummi Island?

* is % ■ By LEANNA BRADSHAW

* * \ ^

,^C-;-^,-y^*»' .’,,, -/■ ' -^>-*' '»“’<»'

KLIPSUN 23

.>..t.ifeL.l!_ijs “i.*.?. ....*....i".»__ Ai... V n orange and white fire- refused to leave the dock until the group told ball, trailing sparks, surprised two him what they were diving for. fishermen aboard the Steeva Ten at “I thought they were crazy. I didn’t believe 3:35A a.m. July 27, 1984. The UFO plunged it either,” Papetti said. Behind a pair of bifo­ into the ocean between Lummi and Eliza cal glasses, his brown eyes were wide and islands. unblinking. “After that first trip, I didn’t The impact sent water splashing 100 feet think it was crazy any more.” into the air, and the object continued to spew sparks. The fishermen steered the boat to the The expedition swept the splashdown site, where they saw air bubbles rising to the area. And on the second pass, the Diane’s water’s surface but found no debris. depth finder indicated an object 10 feet high Steeva Ten’s Captain Richard Hartman and 30 feet wide sitting on the ocean floor. immediately reported the incident, including Papetti anchored the boat within 20 feet of the above details, to the U.S. Coast Guard. the object. “Something happened,” Rich Rogala, Walker made the first dive. He took a officer in charge of the U.S. Coast Guard spotlight but left an underwater video station in Bellingham, said. “The people we camera on deck. He reported seeing a metal, talked to were very convincing.” Hartman gold-colored, satellite-shaped dish with a and his crew member spoke with intensity clasp on one end. and conviction, he explained. Richard Burke, Walker’s partner in Eme­ The Coast Guard sent a boat out to inves­ rald Marine Service, dove next. His visibil­ tigate at 3:55 a.m. “We were concerned that ity was limited when the spotlight bulb it may have been an aircraft. That’s basically burned out. Burke reported having just why we responded,” Rogala said. enough light to see the teacup-shaped object Coast Guard crew members also saw a he stood on but could not make out a color. light flash over Carter Point on Lummi “He was hollering (into his helmet Island at 4:15 a.m. The crew attempted to intercom) it was a UFO and had an oval­ measure the altitude, but the light was not shaped hatch,” Papetti said, gesturing with visible long enough to catch a reading. The his hands. “He tried to take some pictures, Coast Guard swept the scene for two hours but they just turned out black.” but found no object or debris. When Burke returned to the Diane, his Geiger counter readings taken at 11 a.m. dry-suit boots had red film on them. “To me showed no evidence of radiation in the air or it looked like some kind of rust, sort of the along the shore around Carter Point. The reddish color stainless steel turns when it’s equipment was not sensitive enough to burned,” Papetti said. detect radiation on the ocean floor, 140 feet Burke took a sample of the film to the below the surface, Rogala admitted. University of Washington for tests, but lab Bellingham’s Coast Guard station has not results did not reveal what the substance been informed of any further government was. The sample had been placed in a plastic investigations of the Lummi Island UFO, bag and left in Burke’s coat pocket all night. to return within a foot of the object. Rogala said. “If the government had any real Papetti said he suggested the diver take the On the way back to Squalicum Marina, a interest in it, they would have done some­ film to Western for immediate analysis. power struggle broke out and group thing by now.” He also said the object had no sea growth members asked Walker to leave the expedi­ The Coast Guard received no reports of on it, an unusual occurrence for something tion. Papetti discovered the divers were missing planes or of space junk crashing in which has been in the ocean for five months. unable to pay him the charter fee. the area. Meteor activity in the western The divers were promised funds for the skies, however, was reported at the time. expedition but have never received any “It probably was a meteorite. It seems to “It’s not a crock of bullshit,” Papetti money, Papetti explained. He agreed to take me, right now, to be the logical explana­ said. His thick, calloused fingers slapped the the group out again for a share of any profits tion,” Rogala said. “But it would be fantastic top of the galley table to emphasize his received for the recovery of the object. if they did find something out of the ordinary.” point. “I saw (the object) on my meters. The Everybody wants a story, but nobody diver stood on it. I saw the red on his boots.” volunteers to help pay for the search, the Five months after the UFO splashed The Diane has $75,000 of monitoring Diane’s 5-foot-5-inch skipper said. down, a group of divers from Emerald equipment in its wheel house. The depth Reporters and photographers from all Marine Service in Seattle decided to launch finder includes a view screen showing across the nation have contacted expedition an expedition to locate and raise the object colored graphics of the ocean floor’s members for interviews. Dec. 29. shape and depth as well as indicating where A lawyer advised the group only to grant Freezing temperatures and strong winds fish and other masses are located. photo rights to the highest bidder because forced the divers to reschedule the expedi­ “Whatever (the object) was, it was some­ the photographer probably would make a tion for Dec. 30. The group waited almost thing that didn’t belong there,” Papetti said. lot of money. “Everybody wants the first half a year to dive because of organizational His salt-and-pepper hair barely picture,” Papetti added. “And the guy who problems and because the Coast Guard stuck out from under a billed cap. “Accord­ takes the picture would get the money—him refused to permit a search until its own ing to that object, there could be a damn and us.” investigation was complete, diver and group good possibility that they’re (UFOs) flying A representative from The Fund for UFO organizer John Walker told The Bellingham around.” Research in Mount Rainier, Md., tele­ Herald. Papetti suggested the divers leave a buoy phoned to warn the group about the possi­ Rogala said the Coast Guard never dis­ to mark the location of the object. But the bility of the object being explosive, radioac­ couraged anyone from searching for the divers were afraid someone would take the tive, or having unknown harmful properties. object but did warn people about strong object and asked Papetti if he could find the He suggested that if the expedition members currents. location again without one. tried to raise the object, they use plenty of The divers made plans to charter local Another of Diane’s monitors charts every , towline. fisherman Dominic Papetti’s 58-foot limited foot of the ocean with specific numerals. “Whatever the hell it is, we’re lucky it hit seiner Diane for $500 a day. Papetti said he These Loren C numbers would allow Papetti the water and not the town. It may have

24 March 1985 have mixed views about the Lummi Island UFO. Leah Revey, a Lummi Point resident, sat in a small fishing boat and held half of a plastic detergent bottle in her hand. Her black, shoulder-length hair fell across her dark cheeks as she bent to scoop pebbles, shells and seaweed out of the boat’s bottom. “I stayed up for two nights after I heard about it because I was afraid to go to sleep— afraid to wake up and have an alien looking at me,” Revey said. Fifteen-year-old Mark Stidham stepped off a school bus and waited to board the ferry that would take him to his home on Lummi Island. “I think it’s a figment of their imagina­ tion,” Stidham said. He brushed his fingers through his woolly, dishwater-blond hair. “It’s convenient that the divers’ spotlight didn’t work when they went down to take pictures. If there really was something, I think the Navy brought in a submarine and pulled it out of there.” Western junior Cameron McRorie said, “I figure there’s got to be some other forms of life out there. I don’t know if it’s intelli­ gent, but it’s a big universe out there.” McRorie adjusted the windshield wiper on his van, the stereo volume turned up. He watched for the Lummi Island Ferry, his link to a job at the Islander grocery store. With a little more skepticism, McRorie mentioned, “It’s kind of strange that they (the divers) didn’t leave a marker or buoy or anything.” He glanced out toward Lummi Island, its silhouette made fuzzy by a dense fog. “It makes me wonder if they really saw Dominic Papetti, captain of the Diane, was skeptical when first approached by a anthing or if it was just for publicity.” party of Seattle divers on a UFO hunt. Now he is sure he is involved in something Doug Likely, manager of Fisherman’s unusual — and he wants very much to find out what. Cove Marina on Lummi Point, ran a sponge down the length of a yellow-orange MG and killed a couple dozen people,” Papetti said. that object isn’t there any more. then rinsed off the suds with a garden hose. “The divers risk their lives every time they go “Somebody had to have come and got it “I don’t doubt that something hit the down. that Sunday night (Dec. 30). It’s a possibility water. But I think there’s probably an expla­ “If there was nothing there, I wouldn’t be that the diver’s jumping on the object jarred nation for it other than UFO,” Likely said as going back any more.” Papetti pays his min­ it loose, and the tide carried it away. But I he carefully wiped road grime off a wheel. imum operational crew, one man besides think somebody got it. “It’s such a widely traveled section of water himself, $100 a day and spends about $160 a “It makes me mad. If it was a UFO, how that someone is likely to find just about any­ day for fuel. come it all of a sudden disappeared after so thing on the bottom.” When Burke took the sample of red film many months of being at the same location?” Lummi Point resident Nadine Wilbur to Seattle, he got a compressor to provide an Rogala said, “I’ve talked to a couple of says she believes space travelers exist. “I unlimited supply of air for the next dive. “If them (divers) personally. I got the impres­ think they are more intelligent—that they we had compressors the first day, we would sion that they weren’t as sure of what they think just like a computer.” She dug the toe have had the thing,” Papetti said. “We saw as the paper seems to let on they were.” of her tan, leather boot into the pebbled wouldn’t have been limited of air.” Papetti’s wife Bonnie said, “It could have beach as she talked with her friend Revey. Papetti took the remaining expedition been picked up already by NOAA (National Donald Jones, part owner of Fisherman’s members back to the site Dec. 31. This time Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Cove Marina, said, “I think it’s fake.” An the Diane's depth finder did not detect the the Coast Guard or the Navy. Or it’s still expression of disgust altered the lines in his object. Burke and another diver from Eme­ there and something is keeping us from find­ time-and-weather-worn face. “If something rald Marine Service, J.R. Hoirup, searched ing it—a large school of fish or it’s moved or were really out there, the U.S. government an area 150 feet around the boat with no something has moved it. would be out there investigating.” luck. “The only thing that bothers us is if the “You have to keep an open mind,” marina Still optimistic, the group made another government found it, we wish they would let service manager Kirk Casey said. “I imagine trek to the scene Jan. 4. Again the depth us know so we wouldn’t continue spending if there was something down there, there finder could not pick up the 10-foot by 30- money and time. My husband is not going to would be some sort of cover-up.” His hand foot mass. give up.” disappeared into the outboard engine he was Papetti radioed a fellow fisherman with a Papetti said, “Before I get it out of my working on. sonar on his boat. The sonar, which pro­ system. I’m going to go out with my (fishing) “I just think it was some kind of warning vided a color video image, also did not spot nets. Even if it’s a piece of tin. I’ll be satisfied. to say, ‘We’ll be coming soon.’ It must mean the object. At least I’ll have found something.” something,” Revey said. “What do you “With sonar, you can see everything for think?” 400 feet around,” Papetti said. “I’m positive People living and working in the area ■ KLIPSUN

t KLIPSUN 25 is.c.W'fN'^'*^'^' viv\'.-rt K Ker\ "tr o W> change a thing..,l can’t fix anything. I just keep up the basic utilities and keep it clean. m^m * ■i Even to repaint is a waste of money.” And it is money, or rather its lack, that is Mac fWcrson Whittaker’s problem. While the restaurant lAf LOCAL SUPER- half of the business is thriving, the fish mfl# markets take a bite out of Bob market is losing its customers to Pictvfes W W Whittaker’s fish market business^ supermarkets. The wo..\i wc the shop itself is slowly being swallowed by Market sales have decreased by more than the garbage fill it was built on. 60 percent since he has had to contend with k ticker The Shrimp Shack, a combination fish the seafood sold at Haggen’s and Hayden’s market and restaurant, located at 514 W, supermarkets, Whittaker reported. Holly, sits on 30 feet of old sanitary fill. “You have two large markets on either “The pilings were not driven deep enough side of the business district that feature sea­ to support the building. As time goes on, food very well... are people going to get in we’re sinking into the fill,” Whittaker said. their cars and waste the gas to come here?” The aquamarine walls give the Shrimp Even an increase in advertising and charg­ Shack a true ocean atmosphere, as does the ing prices lower than the supermarkets has 350-pound battleship grey shark hanging not lured Whittaker’s customers back. over the market counter. “Supermarkets and malls are the way The sinking building creates a concave today .. . It’s almost a crime to come down lense visual effect: It bows in the middle, here and open up, sales have decreased so causing the floor to slope toward the center much. I’m a victim of changing times.” as small brown tables and seaweed green While he tries to predict how much and plastic chairs lean accordingly. The coffee how quickly an item might sell, Whittaker counter slants toward five stools like a might throw out 20 pounds of spoiled fish a community drafting table. week. When the building was first built 30 years ago, the front door was level with the street, Whittaker knows what he must do to but as the Shrimp Shack began to fold and offset these losses. sink, the door was raised and first a porch “If 1 want to make a living at this. I’ve got was added, then steps, Whittaker said. A to close the market and run a restaurant. window that broke due to the shifting also “I should’ve closed a year ago but I don’t had to be replaced. know how to wind down. I’ll take one last No,i'Vs not O.TN WWslon: But Whittaker is through spending money stab at ads and see if people will come in.” trying to save the sinking Shack. Besides being unprofitable, the market is ‘A hundred thousand dollars wouldn’t physically demanding for Whittaker, who

26 March 1985

----- : w Owner Bob Whittaker Won’t Give Up the Shack

said the work is “laboriously monotonous. 1 pack 800 pounds of ice into that fish case; it’s a helluva way to start Monday morning. So what Whittaker would like to do is close the market, demolish the existing retired people, families, tradesmen, and bus­ building and build a new restaurant. inessmen, but not college or high school stu­ For two years Whittaker has worked with dents, Whittaker said. He added he has to an architect on the possibility of rebuilding, throw out an occasional drunk, but this was but still doesn’t know if it can happen. not a problem. “I might not stand a chance in hell to Whittaker, 56, and his wife Verga put in rebuild. Restaurants don’t have a reputation about 80 hours a week at the Shrimp Shack. for success. I have to think about finances, Verga works behind the counter of the appraisals, debts and projections.” market, keeps the books and fills in when a if he can’t afford to rebuild, Whittaker cook is sick. will sell his valuable downtown property. Whittaker also works behind the counter But for now, he’d rather think about keeping and “drinks coffee all day long. I spot things '-MM his Shrimp Shack in business. going on in the kitchen; wander around. I try “A nice fish ’n’ chip house is all I’m asking to refrain from sitting with friends when they for.” come in . . . unless they call me over.” In a new restaurant, Whittaker would like But the Shrimp Shack is host to more than to increase seating to 85 or 90 from the pres­ just loyal patrons; it has been broken into ent 50. He wouldn’t change the menu. eight times, with five different doors for The Shrimp Shack is known for its house intruders to choose from. speciality, “halibut ’n’ chips,” regular fish-n- In January, Whittaker had $2,700 worth chips, and salmon smoked on the premises of Australian lobsters stolen from his with dry alder. In a new restaurant, Whit­ freezer, the lock broken by bolt cutters. The taker would like his customers to be able to thieves will probably sell the lobsters to res­ watch this process. taurants, he speculated. Whittaker said the restaurant has a loyal But Bob Whittaker isn’t complaining; he following of regulars who “know exactly seems to take everything in stride. With his what they want. Over 50 percent buy the sea blue eyes laughing in the face of changing same item every time. An older couple times, thieves, supermarkets, and a hungry *TKe SK't'xtn^ SK^c.k \s comes in five days a week for halibut and garbage fill, Whittaker doesn’t appear ready coleslaw. to desert his sinking Shrimp. The Shrimp Shack is most frequented by ■ KLIPSUN ■

^■1 KUPSUN 27 Something fishy is going on here. Page 26.