Western Washington University Western CEDAR

Klipsun Magazine Western Student Publications

1-1997

Klipsun Magazine, 1997, Volume 27, Issue 02 - January

Collin Coyne Western Washington University

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Recommended Citation Coyne, Collin, "Klipsun Magazine, 1997, Volume 27, Issue 02 - January" (1997). Klipsun Magazine. 176. https://cedar.wwu.edu/klipsun_magazine/176

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EDITOR collin coyne The golden Buddha on the cover of your MANAGING EDITOR jennifer hayes copy of Klipsun does not necessarily appear LAYOUT COORDINATOR wendy gross courtesy of divine intervention. STORY EDITORS brian olson If God appeared in the Klipsun office while josie Stroud tim klein we were trying to select stories for an issue, PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR ILLUSTRATOR angela santos we'd probably tell him (or her) to leave the box of pizza and keep the change. Fortunately we have some people on staff who are more STAFF WRITERS conscientious about the concept. Leaders of various religions shared their Courtney bertsch Christopher butterfield views on the Divinity with Martina and jill carnell erica christensen justin coyne lisa diaz Quincy, authors of our story about god. The naomi dillon joanne fry descriptions these people gave were similar in quincy banson jacob henifin a few ways, but more importantly, they out­ daniel hiestand erin north lined a personal relationship each of them shares Stephanie moore annie pierce with his or her god ... or God, or goddess, or kevin rus amy scribner sathya sieu linnea shapiro gods or whatever. Anyway, you may read the amy stering martina willems-pfarr line about this story in the contents page and shane wolters biyan woodward think it s about how some religion is going to save you or how you can open yourself to the world s various religions and make yourself a ADVISOR Carolyn dale better person ... not so, not us, not here. PHOTOGRAPHY CONSULTANT ann yow The story is about god, not a religion. A reli­ BUSINESS MANAGER teari brown gion is a set of rituals assigned to one set of beliefs. God is your personal explanation of the world surrounding you and your place in Klipsun is a student publication it. By this rationale, your god isn't exactly like distributed free of charge twice per anyone else's, and you learn more about the quarter. Klipsun is not a Greek concept of god when you compare definitions. word meaning, “'Damn' is not Gods last name." It is really a Lummi A college campus is a marketplace of ideas word that means “beautiful sunset." that fosters this kind of exchange, rather than Klipsun magazine is printed on 50 supressing your views, ^u can suggest that percent recycled paper, 10 percent god is in the trees, or god is nothing, or god is post-consumer waste. If you don't a state of being ... or God, or goddess, or read this issue cover to cover, then gods, or whatever. recycle it, we'll tell the Planet. Because your view of god is unique, and ©January 1997 so is the intellectual environment you're in, Special thanks goes out to Laurie we feel it is important to exchange descrip­ Rossman, Ann ^w, Margaret tions of god like people have done in this issue Loudon, Ron Bailey, Dave Ellison, of Klipsun. Roy Teeter, the print plant staff and also Bill O'Neil for continually fix­ Enjoy your stroll on the path to enlighten­ ing the computers we use to build ment. And thank you for reading. this thing.

Collin Coyne, editor ON THE COVER: This statue of \^irochana Buddha stands at Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple in DEDICAnON: Redmond, Wish. Photo by Tim Klein The ^taff would like to d^icate this issue to our friend and adi^isor, Professor Carolyn Dale. This winter, Carolyn, BACK COVER: oi^erseerof more than d^irty issues, wUl be spending her first Tes*la Coil (tes' b koil) n, 1. Bug zapper of the gods. quarter away from Klipsun intwoyears. Vli thank Carolyn Photo courtesy Arthur Aubrey for her immeasurahle contribution to Klipsun and to ^ucatmg each of M in the cf making good nw^aziiM. portrait moving pictures 4 Hunter Mann takes the will-show-films-for-food approach to seeing Smalltown, USA. Story by Jacob Henifin. o OB L I €l artistic energy 8 Early electricity discoveries find modern purpose in the art of performance. Story by Justin Coyne.

Atthe the Bellinghamart of Academy defending of Self Defense, Gojo-Ryuself is the canvas for a 12 community of martial artists. Story by Amy Scribner. di o ctive : divine discourse 16 God means something different to everybody. Followers take turns describing th^ Leader Story by Quincy Hanson and Martina Willems-Pfarr. 21 democracy or theocracy? For state and nation, Christianity is part of the low1 despite voices of the h(jretics Story by Kevin Rus.

22 Adeyoted visit to Westminster to AbbeyGod Monastery shows a “good life” without excesses. Story by Linnea Shapiro. pi ctora 6 livingPeople coping within Aids colorfind a rare shade of caring at Bellingham’s Sean Humphrey House. 26 Photography essay by Timothy Klein. Written by Erica Christensen. expositi just wasted energy? 30 me Junior Writing Exam is muscled between students and their registration. This amplifies the continuing question, “What’s the JWE for, anyway?” Commentary by Jill Carnell. Hunter Mann'± traveli Cinema reintroduced in examines tne dust Photos courtesy Tle sun broke the horizon like a seed 'No," flatly stated the 30-ish mayor of Sumatra. audding orange as Hunter Manns “Well, you do tonight," announced Hunter persuasively. leart steadily beat ^in rhy^m with “Cool. I will go on ahead and spread the word," said the iis legs. The nights rain began to mayor, “we could use a good laugh; all our hay bales are soak­ ev^orate from tan wheat bubble ing wet." b ana asphalt warmed beneath Hunter Two hundred pounds of 16mm film, a 16mm projector, exten­ Manns tires. sion cords and a folding screen were dragged through the mud in the trailer. It more resembled an awkward fishing lure lazily The shadow of his bike and trailer was cast long into the wiggling back and forth than the utility wagon that it was. ditch, rolling over the uneven terrain like a blanket in the wind. Hunter pumped through the mud, anticipating Sumatra to be Abandoned gas stations slouched while weeds brushed against like the many towns he had passed through while scouting loca­ their sun-bleached pine boards. A warm moist breeze swayed tions for film and commercials. Little towns that, in Garrison and rattled corroded tin Coca-Cola signs. Keillor s words, time forgot. Towns where theaters withered and The pavement ended. The last night's rain turned the road to died while attention turned to video and television. Towns Sumatra, Montana into a muddy vein. It was as if the mud where vacant marquees read “Closed Forever." respired steam in the humid June morning. “I want to take films to the forgotten populace of the The approaching white Mercedes sedan appeared to float in American outback. I tell (the residents of small towns) I show the mist, until it neared Hunter and the mud rolling off in braids things like Charlie Chaplin, Mickey Mouse and ‘Wild Wheels,' was seen and heard. A rugged, yet friendly face filled the win­ a crazy film about art cars. They trust me not to show Earth dow and asked, "Whats in the trailer?" First! or pro-abortion films," Hunter explains. This is not pro­ '‘Movies ... Got a theater?" rejoined Hunter. paganda. It's fun. portrait rural.America to.the Silver Screen. Mann kickea up along the roaa. of Hunter Mann

Initially, it wasn’t fun that inspired Hunter to ride across the He also needed to find himself by leaving the broken coal lonely plains and into the hills showing films to theater-deprived community of Roslyn, ^\hshington—a town that was once con­ communities. It was something thicker and more tangible that sidered for the capitol when the territory was becoming a state. slipped away. He needed to leave the quaint brick buildings that surged with Before the Cascades slowly diminish into the rolling plains of the new vigor and vitality of Holljrwood production cash. the ^kima River \hlley some 2,000 feet above the sea, a sentinel “I needed to re-find myself and at the same time have a pur­ of pines cradles a small town that was once thought to be Alaska. pose,’ ’ he says. It was there, six years ago, where a broken heart set Mann upon Purpose may have eluded Hunter through his earlier years. his journey. Before “Love” left his good heart in lonely darkness. He was born four years after James Dean became an icon with­ Hunter Mann was a grip on the television series “Northern out a cause. The next 16 years saw Hunter the boy growing and Exposure.” learning, playing and bleeding on the calm western shores of Love was an actress Hunter adored. Times were sweet until Lake Whatcom with his six s iblings. the big Hollywood unions came and pushed them all out. A dis­ While at Sehome High School, he crashed classes at Western placed grip saw his heart displaced as well. In what Hunter Washington University and Fairhaven College. “I would skip, so thinks is misguided inspiration. Love rolled onto the Western I could hang in a more intellectually stimulating and creatively landscape in Hunter Mann’s cowboy truck without Hunter inspiring environment,” says Hunter. “It was Fairhaven’s more Mann. After seeing “Thelma and Louise,” she left to look for hippier times and Western’s more Bohemian days.” herself somewhere in the Southwest. “Hunter did not get high grades,” explains his high school “She became a stripper to, in her own words, ‘exploit men.’ I English teacher. Bill Gardner, “but he was very engaging. He don’t quite understand that,” laments Hunter in a longing, con­ was one of my favorites...not an angry young man. He was fused voice. always delightful and fun; everyone enjoyed being with Hunter. It didn't matter if they were con­ Gypsy ingenuity, which is not to say the greatness of the Silver Screen," he says. servative or liberal or whatever. thievery, helped carry Hunter through Highway 12, Montana: narrow lanes, "Hunter didn't last long. He was the first tour of Highway Cinema in no shoulder, bike shops every 300 miles a vagabond, a nomad. He went 1993. and health food every 900. hitchhiking down to Seattle one He left Bellingham with $42 after Ben When Hunter pulled his hybrid day and just kept going," Gardner and Jerry—of ice cream fame—retracted Specialized Crossroads bicycle up ardu­ says with fond reminiscence. their promise to sponsor his trip. ‘T real­ ous inclines, past roadkills and the occa­ Tedious Sehome High and its 'D' ized the show must go on," recounts sional beer can dancing with the wind, grades were abandoned for a stab down Hunter as he sips peppermint tea. "I had the effort of the ascent was readily all the stuff. There was no expressed in time. At 2 mph, a 22-mile reason not to go. A lack of stretch would take 11 hours. money is no excuse not to "The big reward is the personal satis­ do something. If it was, I faction of getting to the top and the spir­ would have gone nowhere. itual reward of the downhill ride. My top Money doesn't mean free­ speed so far is 62 mph," he says. He dom," he adds, "just ask would usually average between 40 and any millionaire you know." 50 mph on the descents. Hunter has never pan­ "People ask me, 'Well gee! Do you handled or given blood, have good brakes?' and I say, ‘Well, I but he does windows. A don't know, I have never had to use squeegee, window cleaner them, but I assume they are good," and towels, packed in with Hunter quips. a dozen or so films and After ascents and descents. Hunter other essentials, bought was again bangin' with the mayor, but bread along the highway. this time in Ingomar, Montana where mayor Bill Seward resides in the Jersey- Hunter Mann in a gypsy camp in Sausalito, 1980 Many of the windows in lily Cafe and Bar. He sleeps on a pool Sumatra were now boarded table. south in Berkeley, California. After up. The people had four movie houses, Since his wife left him, he hasn't slept enrolling in high school there, he found two hotels, a hardware store and hope in in his Frank Lloyd Wright house in more various types of stimulation—and the the American dream. After the than 30 years. She couldn't bear the coveted 'A s. The fact that he was dating Depression hit, the first thing to go, peace and quiet of the country. a social-living teacher at the high school along with most of the people, were the Hunter spent five days in this town granted him no favoritism in grading. He movie houses. Sumatra used to have 3,000 where CB radio frequencies puddle- was never in her class, and the things she people. Now there were merely five. jump from ranch to ranch for lack of taught him were not letter graded. The mayor with the wet hay and mud- phones and brought folks from all around. Following his social-living education, stippled Mercedes drove into town and "He had this little dolly cart with him. He until he became involved in film. Hunter gave the word like a paper boy the news. stopped here and showed us some real worked very little—and lived a lot—on Ingenuity and muscle were utilized to old movies that people really enjoyed," Mexican beaches. There he developed create a venue for theater-less Sumatra. Seward says before a throaty cough culture and language skills and honed the Two rusted, old pickups were pushed cut him off. "...ended up staying subtleties of wave physics on a surf together out on Main Street. A soft cot­ a week; he did some painting—the win­ board. ton sheet spanned the cabs. The projec­ dow frames in the bar. He was a real "For me, bangin' in Mexico was equiv­ tor beamed the image through the warm present person." alent to following the Dead—eventually night, cutting through the darkness. The It was here, in Ingomar, where you get tired and need to grow," he says. children sitting on the pickups could Hunter, a self-proclaimed 90 percent During that same time. Hunter lived nearly touch Chaplin as he orchestrated vegetarian, was forced to eat large w with Italian gypsies in Southern his impish antics. amounts of flesh. Contrary to the experi­ California. They worked the area flea "^u can imagine this old man looking ences of some, he didn't become ill, but markets selling fake Native American at Charlie Chaplin up on the screen and experienced a different, more compelling artifacts. The pieces were newly made to hearing him say this was the last movie change in himself. appear authentic. he saw in his town. It's pretty emotional "If you eat beef three times a day for a "\Ve sold them to greedy collectors to see this old cowboy, who's in his eight­ month you will develop racist and sexist who thought they were buying stolen ies, with a tear streaming down his leath­ tendencies," he says.When questioned if museum pieces. The prices were high ery, worked cheek, " Hunter says with a he honestly believed that, he responds: enough that they believed it," Hunter grace that must have nearly equaled that "Absolutely ... Because I tried it once. I says. tender moment. ate steak three times a day for five days The gypsies taught Hunter a lot about This was the first time Sumatra had and at the end of it I was thinking differ­ survival: how to live well and play as seen movies in nearly 65 years. ently. I also had desires to chew tobacco. hard as you work, how to survive com­ "No matter how many thousands of I think you are absorbing all the terror fortably pursuing wealth—not riches— hours of television, especially satellite the cows go through," he explains, and how to be satisfied with minimal TV and video tapes people have seen, it adding impatiently, "look, if you don't subsistence. cannot possibly equal the magic of seeing understand me, you have to listen to portrait “Cows With Guns,” or whatever its “They had a macaroni and cheese and cheese feast. This time with cut called.” potluck for me. I never knew there were up carrots, hot dogs and relish all The cows in Ingomar didn't have guns, so many different recipes, ” reminisces mixed together—it was a pretty because had they, it is a fair assumption Hunter as he slips into a drawl. “I like good salad and it is vegetarian,” they wouldn’t have been slaughtered and the ohne weth theh hawt dawg railish in remarks Hunter, licking his lips set on a plate with a baked potato. But it, reel gud ... and the canned peas ... ” sarcastically. before Hunter left, he would have a gun. Maybe the creamy goodness of cre­ In the community hall, where Atop a horse, with three shots of Jack ative Italian-American cuisine moved the screen was set up below a basketball Daniels caressing his throat, he gnawed Hunter to conclude that tour in the more hoop. Hunter showed an old National on a tobacco plug, a 12-gauge Browning populous Minneapolis/St. Paul metroplex. Geographic film with Jane Goodall and hefted in hand. For a month he showed the films in a a bunch of mischievous chimps. The honorary cowboy initiation wasn’t plethora of venues: artists’ lofts, art gal­ Hunter overdubbed the banal British the most difficult rite of passage—it was leries, a gay bowling alley, a plant store, narration with reggae and ska. to discharge the shotgun without falling art classes—even to some punk rock bike After the film, the sheriff-and-mayor off the horse or swallowing the plug. messengers living in a drafty warehouse. asked Hunter what kind of music were “Hey, don’t judge a man by the color Highway Cinema shows movies to those chimps so happy about. of his neck,” Hunter proudly slurs. everyone regardless of agenda or “It is called reggae,” Hunter answered. “He nearly fell off. Anybody who fools ideology. With a look of horror, the sheriff-and- around with horses long enough ends up The post office in a small Northeastern mayor clarified, “M)u don’t mean homo! ” getting hurt,” Seward chides. “They say Idaho community flew not old gloiy, but “No, not gay, ” responded Hunter, the highway is the most dangerous place, the old confederate flag in its orange and “reggae. It’s pop music from Jamaica. ” but I am not so damn sure. ” blue defiance. The sheriff’s pickup sat on “Ain’t that where they got all them col­ And Bill knows danger. He took part the edge of the road. He may have been ored folks?” in seven assault landings on small islands in the South Pacific. He doesn’t care to recount the nasty memories, but can only can irnagme this old man looking , remark in dismissive regret, “we were at .Charlie Chaphn up on the screen, and just kids, it got pretty bloody.” hearing him say tpis was the last movie he Hunter travels with his own screen and the ability to set up his cinema any­ saw m mstown.__ _ Its p;*etty qmo.tipn.al to s where electricity is nearby. The Silver this old cowboy,,owboy, ,who------s, tn his eighties, wi Screen has ghttered in many bams, bars and a tear streaming down his leathery, or taverns, churches and school gymnasiums. chee Why out in God-knows-where North Dakota—known as Marmouth—Hunter lit an old opera house that hadn’t seen light or electricity since Lawrence Wblk whistlin’ Dixie inside. “V^ll did you like it?” and his band were stalled there in 1968 The empty, partially crushed Coors “Loved it,” admitted the sheriff. while their bus was being repaired. cans the sheriff threw out the open win­ “Not that I am interested, but where An excited vibration brought up dust dow clanged dully on the asphalt. could a guy get this kinda’ music?” in the abandoned Victorian opera house. Hunter made his way around the small Hunter dubbed him a copy before he The 8 p.m. show started promptly at 8:20 collection of cans and asked if he could left. amidst the smell of popcorn and cheap speak to the mayor. The next morning, while the sun sim­ cigarettes. Hay bales and car parts had to “I am the mayor,” the sheriff said mered on the mountainous horizon, the be removed from the vaudeville-purple between pulls on the beer and the twang­ sheriff was again sitting in his truck theater seats. ing country music. drinking beer, but today he was listening Tired, red velvet curtains hung in tat­ Hunter explained to the man that he to Bob Marley and the Vh^ilers. tered shreds while swallows nestled in desired to show free movies to the people As Hunter rolled past with a parting the corners of the beams overhead. in town. wave, he heard the rich lyric “could you Johnny Cash’s smooth-as-a-lathered- The mayor, who also owned much of be loved? ” as he headed east into horse’s-haunch voice sang “Fulsom the property and stores in town, was Montana. Prison Blues ” dubbed into the Hop-a- reluctant to let Hunter paint the night “In some ways Highway Cinema is a long Cassidy cowboy movie. Children with his light—“he thinks I am an Earth vehicle for bridging gaps in small towns, rocked on their grandparents’ knees First! er, or one of them tree huggers, ” or linking other small towns,” Hunter while the film flickered on the screen. Hunter explains. says. With the wind on his lycra-skinned His attitude turned when Hunter told Over the thousands of miles and hun­ backside. Hunter left Marmouth. He him he would show, if allowed, Betty dreds of shows he has shown. Hunter ended up in Minnesota, where his first Boop. “His eyes lit up like a child’s on has this to say: show was in a small 202-person town— Christmas morning and he agreed to “If the only thing that is changed on Bellingham, Minnesota. show them,” Hunter says, shaking disbe­ my journey is to get a racist sheriff into There the mayor—yes a mayor again— lief from his head. Marley, I have accomplished a great also ran the gas station. “A real nice cat,” Most of the town’s 62 people showed thing.” Hunter remarks. up. “And there was yet another macaroni applied science Justin Coyne uncoib the mmd of Nikola TeoLa and oho wo how hio inoentiono have enlightened today 0 artioto

The band hammers out frantic instrumental music as the crowd sways in the red lights and summer heat of Bellingham s 3B Tavern. The performance is more than music, more than just a firsthand version of the custom space-rock sounds of JVlan...or Astro-JMan? heard over the years on a string of seven-inch vinyl albums. The crowd trembles, tries to keep time to the scrambling sounds and stares wide-eyed at the array on stage before them. The bands four members are cos­ tumed, of course, in NASA cast-offs and homemade space apparatus. Televisions, buzzing blue with snow, are scattered around them on trays and racks. Behind them, two screens show documentary footage of moon walks and rocket launches. And when the band is done^—when the fever pitch of the music disintegrates into the chaos of feedback reflected in dead TV screens—the musicians are replaced by a large device of coiled copper and insulators: the final performer. The lights dim and the exhausted faces, expectant in the dark, are lit up suddenly with blue light and amazement. The coil sprays a shower of blue lightning bolts in a circle around it, buzzing and snapping to threaten the flinching crowd. It is pyrotech­ nics without fire, a display of technology that brings the harnessed beast of electricity, pulsing always around us, out into the open. It is showmanship. The coil is neither exotic nor state of the art. It is an invention more than a century old, the Tesla Coil, one device in a lifetime of inventions by visionary Nikola Tesla.

\59iSQQD could make the earth “split open like an apple." Tesla envisioned a In the years since Teslas death, if his world linked by six great results have not been repeated they have control towers that would at least been emulated. His practical deliver radio, television, work carries on in engineering, his wireless telephone, and patents finding new uses all the time, but wireless electrical power Teslas showmanship, too, has created a —a world where ships legacy. and planes would be Dale Travous, builder of the Man...or radio-controlled and war Astro-Man? (MOAM?) Tesla Coil, has would be a thing for worked with a handful of artists who unmanned machines. carry out wild and dangerous experi­ The wildest aspects of ments for the sake of enjoyment rather Teslas work, though, than science. are not in his visions of Adapting the idea of Teslas high-fre­ the future. quency halo, for instance, Travous They are the secret worked with Jim Rose Circus Sideshow experiments of his early performer Tim the Torture King to make life; experiments even a device that would produce a similar modern scientists have field—this time trying to make it arc trouble reproducing. between a series of h3q)odermic needles English journalist puncturing the performers skin. Chauncey McGovern An artist by training, Travous came described a trip to around to electronics first as painting Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1856, Teslas New York laboratory in the subjects, then through antique science Tesla came to America at the age of 28 to British magazine Peardond: ''A tall, thin magazines. His first Tesla Coil came work in the workshop of Thomas young man waLkd up to you, and by merely from an article titled “Build Your Own Edison. From then until his death in dnapping hid fingerd created indtantaneoudly a Tesla Coil" in a '60s issue of Popular 1943, he established himself as a thinker, ball of Leaping red flame, and holdd it calmly in Electronicd. His present coil has come a visionary and sometimes a dreamer, hid handd. Ad you gaze you are durprided to dee through the ten years of learning and moving back and forth between the dis­ it doed not burn hid fingerd. He letd it fall upon experimenting since then. ciplines of his contemporaries, Edison hid clothing, on hid hair, into your lap, and Travous' work with Tesla Coils has led and Albert Einstein. f inally, putd the ball of flame into a wooden him to similar projects over the years. Tesla was a man ahead of his time, and box. You are amazed to dee that nowhere doed One such project is “the shrinker," a he suffered for it. Despite a huge body the flame leave the dlightedt trace, and you rub device that uses high-powered magnetic of useful inventions, he struggled your eyed to make dure you are not odleep. " fields to compress metallic objects—most throughout his lifetime for the fame and Tesla often showcased this phenome­ often coins. fortune needed to bring his ideas into non, and even today no one can explain “I got these 40,000-volt capacitors," he explained. “They belonged to a defense use. it. McGovern s tour of the lab, in which His inventions cover a broad spectrum he was accompanied by writer Mark contractor, and the scrap dealer didn't of uses, but among the most revolution­ Twain, continued as the room was flood­ even really want them." ary are alternating current (AC)—the ed with light. Those capacitors became the building 110 volts of power that come from light The two writers wandered around the blocks for the shrinker, which originally sockets—and radio. For the latter, he room, but could not find any source for used them to store 80,000 volts of elec­ rnvented transmitters, receivers and the light. tricity to be dumped, in a matter of even methods of radio control. To this day, no one has duplicated this microseconds, into the coin of your Although these inventions are a part of effect, though Tesla once performed it choice. modern daily life, they seemed wild to for hundreds at a lecture in Paris. “I've got this quarter about the size of a the people of Teslas time. Radio and AC Teslas amazing tricks did not end there. lima bean," MO AM? guitarist Robert are among his milder inventions. He stood on a charged plate before his Delburo said. “And you can still read the He spoke of television in 1915. In 1917 guests, bringing the charge up to two heads and tails on each end." he outlined the concepts of radar, a tool million volts. Eventually one of the shrinker's capac­ not developed by the military until The inventor was surrounded by a halo itors exploded, halving the power so it World War II. of electricity, his limbs marked by now shrinks coins to about two-thirds As an old man, he spoke of interplane­ tongues of flame. their original size. In addition to their tary ships, cosmic communication and At high frequencies, he explained work together on the MOAM? Tesla “teleforce rays,“ which he said could be (while passing the display off as a mere Coil, Travous and Delburo are currently used to make a force field around the parlor trick), the electricity would run working on another version of the United States to melt enemy planes at a over the surface of his skin rather than shrinker. distance of 250 miles. He also believed through his body. “Basically we'll be able to take your that, through mechanical resonance, he Ratt Out of the Cellar CD and smash it applied science Photo courte,ty of Arthur Aubrey “ was unexplainable him might molten would once," like 50,000 killed,"' Coil's shrinker's Arthur us 'Someone at but seen ing and abandoned to jects this microwave the presents unlike it into Delburo Safely “ Tesla's Delburo's

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soft their echoing THE vaulted DEFENDING d 3k TP hey^and and line up with partners, using spray, are no longer considered the final word each oth|r as braces for arm-stretching. in self-protection. For years, women have Grimaces^ cover pink-splotched cheeks of grasped their keychains of mace in dark park­ squirminj^ 12 year olds, determined-looking ing garages or when walking alone, feeling con­ college^tudents, middle-aged and senior men fident in their supreme safety. The Nashville V^omen. The class totals about 40 this Police Department’s extensive web site on self- evening, and spans at least a 60-year age defense states, “They [sprays] don’t always bracket. work. They don’t work on all people or people The calisthenics end and students bow to the who are insane, extremely mad or drugged.” Shomen wall at the front of the room, which Phil Messina, president of Modern ^Vh.rrior consists of a 2-foot building sculpture and two Defensive Tactics Institute, recently testified in jade-colored animal sculp­ a court case in which a tures. It is not a religious police officer was killed thing; rather, its a wall of by his assailant after the respect dedicated to the chemical spray failed to founder of Goju-Ifyu, the subdue the attacker. martial art taught at the Incidents such as these Bellingham Academy of suggest an alternative is Self Defense. needed. Enrollment in such classes is up, as self- X ou possess more defense is becoming an power and ability to increasingly popular con­ defend yourself than you cept—and not just among had previously thought, ” women. In 1990, the says the literature for the Federal Crime Awareness Academy. and Campus Security Act “Every student here was passed, requiring col­ learns that,” says leges and universities Sammons. His academy receiving federal funding is all about strength— to publish annual reports women and men study of crime on campus. his technique, he says, to Western’s University increase their mental Police web site now lists confidence as much as all crimes reported and all Nick Kolby concentrates on his form. their physical ability. arrests made for each year. Students say they In 1995, campus police received reports of two don’t know Sammons’ age, but estimate he’s in rapes and nine assaults, one of which was his fifties. Whatever his age, he is in excellent aggravated. Availability of statistics such as shape. His hair is a pale yellow, with a hint of these may have helped boost awareness that a gray, and his white karate clothes show a trim can of pepper spray may not be the best frame underneath. He is a sixth-degree black weapon in case of an attack. belt—tenth is the highest level—in Goju-^u, “People need to have the knowledge to pro­ making him one of the highest-ranked in tect themselves,” says Duane Sammons, who Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Kyokai, the national has been the chief instructor at the Bellingham organization. Academy of Self Defense for more than 20 years. Goju-Ifyu is only one of many forms of Protective devices, such as mace and pepper karate now being taught as self-defense tools. iv HEN PERFORMING THEMOVES, STUDENTS LOOK

AS MUCH LIKE WELL-TViAlNED DANCERS AS LETHAL WEAPONS.

Ed Essex (left) and Duane Sammons demonstrate movements from a kata.

It was tlweloped in Okinawa in 1917 by Cbojun Miyagi, vigorous calisthenics warm-up. It is the attitude. a martial ^ts expert. Common people in Okinawa weren't *Abu have to be willing to fight the enemy," Sammons eapons, so he developed Goju-I^u as a weapon says. “It's called ‘the fighting spirit.'" the weapon—Goju means “empty-handed." It is The second most important thing, he says, is spiritual cnaracterized by its soft, circular motions; however, this balance. doesn't make it any less powerful. “My philosophy is that by the time you're in a fighting “A lot of the techniques are derived from animal fight­ situation, talking time is done. It didn't work. So we teach ing," Sammons says. “They are more efficient fighters respect and spirit. We teach character to identify the situ­ than humans." One move, for example, is called “cobra ation. Are you going to be a victim or not? " he says. hand," because the arm works like a snake to attack the Sammons' dojo (gym of students) practices as if each assailant's face. sparring session between two students were a true attack­ The moves are taught in “katas," sets of movements that, ing situation. when strung together, result in a fluid series. When per­ According to the literature, the message here is, “^u forming the moves, students look as much like well-trained must be prepared to defend yourself fully—with an all-out dancers as lethal weapons. Katas are the building blocks counterattack." Although again, Sammons stresses that of self-defense. attitude and balance are the crucial elements. He's a bit “It's like learning the words before you talk," Sammons hesitant to talk about specific fighting techniques, since says. The most important thing in self-defense, he says, is spirit is the focus at his dojo. not the katas, nor the strength achieved through the If he did have to name a tried and true technique.

ways&means Jv' ' »v' *• ^ ' ^J- ■< =% ^ Wftg

"My mind is now mens favor a ki< stronger than my body. knees. If ^ guy can't And the self-control I've stand, kef can't very gotten here—I didn't well know my body could do e beginning self- all this. " defense course has It was Fourth of July a eight lessons consist­ few years ago when she ing of theoretical situ­ understood her new­ ations and possible found strength. reactions. One sce­ "I was on a cruise ship nario reads, “^ur in the bay, and these assailant punches at teenagers were crowding Ed Essex practices with other students during an open gym session. your head. me at the railing, pushing "Vbu are too close me aside. I knew I was together to strike with the palm-heel, ^u keep close and not going to let them bump me I just focused and didn't counter with an upward elbow strike to move. I think they could see it. the chin." "I remember, earlier in my training, waking up in the "Fighting never stands still," reminds Sammons. middle of the night. The actual knowledge that I could use this terrified me," she says. Pat Jorgensen is 53, and she's outrunning, outkicking She stops and watches the other black belts on the pol­ and outsweating the students half her age. ished wood floor, their faces serious, their poses crisp She's tiny—probably only 5'2"—and quick to smile. and concise. But while she performs katas, her face is one of concen­ The younger students learn in a corner of the room with tration and focus. She's suddenly someone you wouldn't another instructor, their bare feet purple on the cold want to meet in a dark alley. yellow wood. Jorgensen started training 14 years ago. Jorgensen tells the fable of the black belt. A black belt, "I brought my 12-year-old son in and watched for six the highest degree in karate, will eventually turn white, the months before I joined in," she says. "I was raised in the beginning color. days when females were prim and proper. It [training] was She touches her own belt, frayed white at the edges. A years of undoing cultural stuff. I actually had to learn how white belt will eventually turn black from use. A black to make a fist." belt, she says, never really knows anything. Her son has moved on to other interests, but Jorgensen There's always more learning to do. She runs to the has now been a black belt for five years. She says the ben­ center of the floor, bows to the Shomen, and assumes efits of training go beyond the physical. a pose. KLip.mnITim Klein Buddhist DIVINE

monk dimension&perspective

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''In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...” Or was it Buddha? Or maybe the Goddess? Religions of the world have wrestled with this question for centuries. People of faith vary in their views on who created the planet they live on, and who they look to for guidance. The names they use may differ significantly. Some people refer to a male god, while others worship a goddess. Some have many gods; others have only one. Even within their own religions, followers often dis­ agree. One follower, therefore, cannot represent an entire religion; individuals must develop their own faiths. However, despite the differences between individuals and their faiths, on closer examination one may find more similarities than differences.

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tion, render God capturable. In Liebowitz illustrates his god Klein other words, you cannot articu­ as a sculpture with many faces late the experience of God to represent the many aspects through human language or of what God means to him. human thought or human Wiccan Priest Don Joseph also artistry. That as soon as I say sees a multifaceted god; he pic­ what God is, I have, therefore, tures a dual god-goddess. limited—through a picture, Mystical music follows through description—that which Joseph, high priest of Our is unlimited. Lady of the Mist Church, as he "Aghhhhhh, witchcraft! Oh my ""And in that limited portrait, walks toward the draped and dec­ God!" There's that word again— whether it"s a verbal portrait or orated storefront of Pendragons in my god. It was a fearful thing. whatever, I have precluded a Renton. The front third of the Its amazing how it hit me, but vast terrain or way of appre­ store is a mini-reception area it s strange how it hit me because hending and understanding the with wooden chairs and a bench, I really wasn't Christian. I wasn't deity. To bring us down to earth, a coffee maker and various anything really. I was a cop. I if I said God is love, what am I announcements and pamphlets learned the church of the streets, saying? I"m saying that God is on Wiccan religion, commonly and that was it. Anyway, these not kindness. God is not com­ known as witchcraft. Joseph talks people weren't what I thought passion. God is not anger on about his own beliefs and makes they were. I thought that they occasion. In other words, if I himself comfortable on the bench. were Satanists, and I realized experience God only in one way. He leans back and tells his story. later on that was a Christian word and a Christian devil. don't believe in Satan. He's their devil, not ours. got enough trouble," he laughs, ""but the Oddi Liebowitz thing that we realized, that I realized, was that I was starting to think differently. My whole Joseph was working as a world was changing at the time." police officer in New ^rk City He tries to dispel the common when he first encountered Wicca. myths that surround his beliefs. ""Back in the year they invented ""The Craft has never been rope, 1963," he says jokingly. ""I involved in hurting people—any­ was a police officer at the time," he thing," Joseph says. ""Even the continues. ""The people that I had charge of our Goddess is "Do then I"m probably going to be met in my social gatherings were what thou wilt and harm none." much more limited."" just wonderful, kind people. That's our witch's creed. That's Even though the concept of We would all meet at the Cafe it. But people over the years God is infinite to Liebowitz, he is ^\hh, in New ^rk in the Village, say you want to burn a baby or KLip^unlTim Klein t/r, witchcraft. with we we worship worship Wicca the We're when ue and ple another something priest there and the our female oring, fact. the priestess, about, do happens, hands, other faith, says. ship quite magic," Goddess, It's

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D emocracy Or Theocracy?

Kevin Rus explores whether religion has a prayer in government

first 11 chapters of Genesis," she said. I hroughout American history, the United States I government (federal and state) has passed many Congress is also misusing scripture for their own political gain, she said. I laws with a rehgious premise behind them. The 104th Congress recently used religious “Whenever the Bible is used to oppress any beliefs in the passing of “The Defense of Marriage group of people, it clearly is not God s word Act," or DOMA, which said states do not have to because God's word is liberating," Osterhaus acknowledge marriages of same-sex couples carried said. out in other states. Many students at Western and W^hatcom Sen. Robert C. Byrd, while arguing for the bill, said, Community College did not agree with “I say to my colleagues, let us take our stand. The time Osterhaus. In an informal survey, more than 40 is now. The subject is relevant. Let us defend the oldest Western students and more than 10 WCC stu­ institution, the institution of marriage between male dents were asked the question: Do you think and female as set forth in the Holy Bible." religion has a place in government? Results While some may agree with DOMA, and some found that 30 out of more than 50 students may not, it raises a question. Does religion, in any believed religion had no place in government, form, whether it is to back a law or ban certain prac­ and more than 20 students felt religion should be tices, have a place in our government? allowed. Some states believe it does. According to South Josh Zahnow, 19, a student at WCC, was Carolinas constitution, one cannot hold office if he unsure about religion's role in government. or she does not believe in the “existence of the “I don't know, " he said. “Religion has always Supreme Being." In Wisconsin, being unfaithful in been in government. So I can't say, because I a marriage is punishable with a maximum two years don't know what it is like to live without it." in prison and a $10,000 fine. John Williams, 22, another student at WCC, “I believe in a separation of church and state," said asserted, “Yes it does (belong), since that's what Shirley Osterhaus, the Cathohc campus minister for our government was founded on." Western. Laura Herzig, 19, a Western student, had a “The Senators should not come in with their Bibles. different opinion. They are representing the people, and the people they “The government doesn't have the right to say represent are not all Christians," she explained. one religion is right and one is wrong," she said. In some cases, people use the Bible as an excuse “That's why we have freedom of religion. Using to advance their own agendas, said Osterhaus. For religion as justification is forcing religion upon instance, during the Civil Rights Movement, the us, denying us our freedom." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to fight against One can see, many opinions exist for many many people who used scripture from the Bible to reasons. But while some students may agree that oppress blacks, Osterhaus indicated. religion has a place in government and some may Today, many white supremacist groups use “reli­ not, and while a religious leader sees no place for gious ideology" to justify their actions, Osterhaus it, no easy answers will come anytime soon. The added. “It is their interpretation of scripture. question will have to remain unsolved for now. in omnibus gloruicetnr Deiu Regula Santi Benedicti

Linnea Shapiro finds the rare and extraordinary when she visits a secluded monastery in the hills of Mission, B.C.

Photos by Tim Klein

dimension&perspective Father Boniface eople can never predetermine the experience they will have when actively participating in a his character were comforting and I Father Boniface about the histo­ different culture. The monks started to feel more at ease. ry of the abbey. of Westminster Abbey, who Everyday, Father Boniface, as He spoke with his eyes looking are from the St. Benedict well as the other monks, wake at down and all 10 fingertips connected 4:55 a.m. when the first bell rings in an A-frame formation. Father (Christian) order, provided from the tower. At 5:10 another Boniface said he has lived at the me an opportunity to view a bell rings for morning praise. At monastery since it was built. world radically different 6:30 the tower chimes its bells for The property on which the from my own. morning mass. The boys who monastery is located was pur­ attend school, the brothers of the chased in 1943. "It was Japanese monastery, and the monks all gath­ property at the time, very primitive er in the chapel at the the last bell. and old. The war was coming and Throughout the day, the monks At 7:10 breakfast is served. The supplies were short," Father showed me the ultimate achieve­ school boys eat in one room Boniface said, "yet, we had met ment of a man s life is his enduring while the monks eat in another. church law requirements with our impact on the human race. financial stability The solemnity of the and the number of building and the people who monks in the semi­ lived in it filled my mind nary. By January with a kind of thoughtful­ 1953, we had raised ness; a sort of melancholy to the full stature of The stone building looked an abbey." old, in stark contrast to the Building began newer, more modern interior. on th e monas­ The Westminster Abbey tery in 1946, and Monastery in Mission, by Christmas Eve British Columbia, sits high 1954, the monks on a hill landscaped by had moved in. After many tall firs, narrow hand­ they built their home, made gravel paths, and the they began to feel monks’ cemetery. more stable. I was first greeted by Father Boniface Father Boniface Aicher. recalled, "Before all Close to my height of 5 feet 2 the building started, inches, this monk in his late The separation between the groups we took the founding cross, plotted 70s stared straight into my eyes. is a way to honor the monks. it, and then began to build. It was He appeared to be at peace. His I arrived after breakfast, but very powerful to me." black robe, or caculla, was thick before midday prayer, to tour the As I sat in Father Bonifaces and heavy, which made it look as if monastery. I conversed with office, I could hear bells ringing, it kept him warm as we walked which indicated it was from the vistors’ lounge to his 11:50 a.m. The bells office in the library. To my reminded residents of amazement, two computers sat the monastery they in the corner. Technology had 10 minutes to touches everyone, I thought gather their thoughts to myself. before midday prayer Father Boniface noticed me in the chapel. I waited staring at the religious painting while Father Boniface hanging on the wall. closed down the "There is something deeply library. spiritual about El Greco (a I entered the Spanish painter), almost mys­ chapel, which had tical," he said. His words and been recently finished

9v i The Mon astery

after 30 years of construction (lack chapel made the chanting intense, and of my situation, we exchanged of finances prevented it from being the fact that I was the only female in names, and "Mel" offered to give me finished before 1982). The decor the monastery made the experience a tour. Mel was studying to be a was magnificent. Latin words were even more overwhelming. priest. He had been attending the After the prayer, everyone sat monastery since he was in eighth down. The dimming of the lights grade, and he was now in his first indicated it was time for personal year of college. He wore blue-tinted prayer. Each monk, brother and glasses, which matched his sweat­ student prayed on his own, shirt, yet his pants seemed to be part departed one by one, and bowed of a uniform. at the altar as he left. After "Students live here," he stated. "I everyone was gone, the chapel have eight years left. High school was locked. subjects are chosen for you. It has to With time to spare before a do with preparation for the priest­ meeting with Father Boniface, I hood. Math, English, science, decided to take a walk to reflect French, Latin and physical educa­ on my experiences of the last few tion are studied everyday Monday engraved in the main door. Later I hours at the monastery. I thought, through Friday. " met a monk who explained what the “Wdw! Monks give up too much of The monks are the teachers, words meant. The Latin was trans­ society." However, as the day pro­ and as Father Boniface stated, lated by the monk as ‘'Enter He gressed, I realized the monks gained "Teaching is one of the many ways Ble ssed of the Lord. ' more than many living in day-to- we serve the community. I think A hand-sized stone bowl, which day society. that the boys keep me young. Not held the holy water, was the first After my walk. Father Boniface all monasteries have schools, but thing I saw when I opened the large and I met over a cup of coffee and our motto is to pray and work." oak doors. The stone bowl was an slightly stale sugar cookies. As meal Fourteen boys were admitted this arm's length from the door. I time approached, he explained I year after background checks and touched it, but I felt quite ignorant could not eat with the monks I.O. testing. Almost everyone who because I didn't know how to carry because monks, students and visi­ applies is chosen. out the prayer. I sat down in the tors eat meals separately. As I sat Mel gave me a tour through the pews and watched students as alone, I pondered why no women eating hall, computer labs, new gym young as 12 and monks as old as 80 were permitted as residents in the and the classrooms. The classrooms file in. Everyone walked straight to monastery. Father Boniface told were all decorated about the same. the altar in the middle of the chapel me later the separation is to Eight old wooden chair desks were and bowed down on one knee. The ensure undistracted attention to scattered in rows. An old piano was altar was made of marble and the th e service of God. pushed against the wall. The chalk­ huge candles positioned on it sym­ As I waited for Father Boniface to board was marked with a few Latin bolized the Holy. finish lunch, I Engravings surrounded the inte­ decided to walk rior. The Angel Gabriel with a rose aroun d the in his hand was engraved in stone on monastery. I the wall. The windows in the chapel found myself were filled with stained glass—the on a pathway colors of red and yellow represented that led to the south and the blues and greens classrooms and represented the north. dormitories of Everyone rose together. With the students. their heads bowed, they began to A young chant. It was in Latin, yet Father man, about 18, Boniface chanted in English. His stopped and and their voices embraced one asked me if I another, and it sounded as if they was lost. I had one voice. The echoes in the informed him

dimen sion&perspective The Bell Tower

ph rases from the previous class. first evaluation. I will meet with “My main goal is to serve the family The curtains were a TOs orange, and one of the monks and he’ll tell me if and God,” he said. pictures of Jesus hung on the wall. something is seriously wrong. This We chatted for awhile and I asked is how they weed out the ones that through our conversation, I Mel if stu­ aren’t qualified or smart enough.” learned the monastery was not dents could We ended our walk at the BeU self-sufficient. have any Tower. Mel briefly described how “It’s hard to be self-sufficient in free time. Father Bede Re3molds helped found this day,” said Brother Maurus “The col­ the monastery. After Father Bede’s with a smile. lege guys, if wife died of cancer, he buried her Nearing the end of my visit, I they are under the tower and then decided to wanted to see the Rare Book going down­ become a monk and a priest. He lived Room. Father Boniface unlocked town, need to be 98 years old. the door and I entered a small to tell them Mel had given me more than an room about eight-feet by eight- (the monks) hour of his “free” time. I thanked him feet. The oldest book dated back to let them for the interview, and we parted. I to 1540 A.D., and I couldn’t help know where continued my quest for a deeper but think about its history and t h e y r e understanding of this lovely place. who read it. The book was written going, ” he in Latin, on answered. very thin “Tbu know if you’re going down­ paper. I town too much they might tell you picked up no. It’s all in moderation. The high another huge school kids can go downtown on book, which Saturday afternoons and grades was bound eight through ten can go home on the with rusted weekends. And other than that we all metal and go home for three-day weekends aged ivory. about once a month,” he said. Father On our walk, I was introduced Boniface to Father Peter. I was surprised by pointed out how young he looked. Father a few of the Boniface described him as a mas­ blackened ter in philosophy and that he and charred worked well with his hands. books. Father Peter invited me into his I came upon Brother Maurus “When one of the first monaster­ office. It was cozy. The rugs on the DeKlerk, a man from the ies burnt down in the 1800s, some floor gave off a warmth. They Netherlands. His main duties of these books were salvaged,” were thick, almost fur-like. I held were to study, garden the corn Boniface said. both my hands in his, and I felt at and beans, and keep his faith. I left the Rare Book Room and home and secure. After our talk, he “I have been here for only 40 felt fortunate that I had seen and gave me a book filled with sketches of years,” he laughed, his accent clear. read books from the monks’ past. Jesus and his followers. After viewing the room. Father After the visit with Boniface walked me to my car. Father Peter, Mel and I “I expect to see you again, ” he continued our tour. Mel said. I had been thinking the talked about his classes and same thing. evaluations. As a first-year As I drove slowly down the college student, he will be road that would lead me from going through an evaluation one society to another, I noticed in the spring. a weathered wooden sign by the He hesitated, then re­ side of the road. It said RAX, sponded, “This will be my which in Latin means “peace. ”

9v the AIDS virus Patrick, Kathy and Ron—the three residents

The Sean Humphrey House is a non-profit organization, which opened in January of1996 to house persons Using with HIV or AIDS. It was created to proside Low-cost housing in a family- Photos by Tim Klein oriented setting for people during their illnesses. The house was named for a 30-year-old Written by Erica Christensen Bellingham man who died from AIDS in 1992. He Used his last months with the best asailable medical care and insurance coserage, but realized not esery person Using with this disease was that fortunate. Sean was surrounded by family and friends who losed him, but he knew that there were many people trying to deal with HIV or AIDS on their own. His last wish was to establish a place for these people as an alternatise to hospitalization. pictoral Kathy

Kathy, 47, found out in July she has AIDS. She was working on a dock in Santa Rosa, Calif, when she almost fell in. Kathy was rushed to the hospital, where she stayed a week before she knew what was wrong with her. At first doctors thought she had suffered a stroke or had come down with pneumonia. Kathy also suffers from progressive multifocal leukoencephalopa- thy, or PML. This is a serious and chronic disease of the brain which can occur long after infection of the HIV virus. On Oct. 12 she got married to her long time boyfriend, Randy. She just visited him in California. He also has AIDS and hopes to move to Bellingham when he gets enough money.

''I love the taste of a cigarette. They cut me off everything else... sex, booze—111 be damned if they cut me off my cigarettes. '

Kathy playfully blows cigarette smoke into a friends' face while sneaking a smoke in the Humphrey House bathroom. loioio ic\ Ron

I Ron, 37, found out in 1985 that he woo HIV positive. He I duicoi>ered in April that he had Kapodid darcoma, a type of dkin cancer people get with compromided immune dydtemd. He i I moved into the Sean Humphrey Houde m Augudt. Bedided dealing with AIDS, Ron id aldo chemically dependent and had duffered from depreddion for about the ladt 10 yeard. He attendd Alcoholicd Anonymoud and Narcoticd Anonymoud meetingd a few timed a week and id getting to know a lot of people in Bellingham.

i

''Well, I don't feel like getting out of bed." (explaining what it is like on his worst day)

I I

''I have a whole slew of diagnoses/'

pictoral Patrick. -<

Patrick, 47, wcu involved in the San Francisco club scene during the early ’80s. He studied forestry at Santa Rosa Comunity College. He originally grew up in Seattle, but his family still lives in San Francisco. Patrick plans on leaving the Sean Humphrey House in August. He wakes up at 4 a.m. to go walking everyday.

u That s why I do early walks, because there is no activity. ft

DEDICATED TO THE WOBYOF ^ HUMBHmY '2 > r 'Tt makes you tranquil, (after taking medica­ tion)

1962-1992 ic\ NECESSARY

{LT\ REPARATIO

UST ASTED NERGY?

JILL CARNELL ISNT THE FIRST TO GRIPE ABOUT THE JWE. IF THE ADMINISTRATION READS THIS, SHE MAY BE THE LAST.

I ts 2 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5. I stand huddled in a test—in which we had to find the grammatical errors in the tight group of friends, trying to stay warm in the bitter given sentences. But this test has an added bonus: you're autumn wind that seems to be passing through me and beat­ given a one-page typed essay that must be summarized in less ing against the walls of Fraser Hall. than one handwritten page. We are at the end of a line of 20 people, all huddled into Yeah, I admit it was my own fault. I should have taken the small groups, shivering in the cold. JWE last year. But I didn't. I was lazy. I put it off. I said, Everyone s hands shake as they clutch manila envelopes “Hey, I can take it next year. No problem." desperately to their chests, in hopes that the layer of papers But then I got the letter. will block out the chill. It seems that all 11,039 students at Western—art majors, “We could be inside, sipping vanilla lattes and complaining history majors, physics majors, recreation majors, chemistry about men, I tell my friend Sarah, leaning over to shout in majors and journalism majors—are required to take the same her ear because the wind is making such a loud noise. test to determine if they are competent enough to find But instead we are outside—cold, hungry, waiting. 40 grammatical errors and write a summary of some I got the letter in mid-October. “Dear Jill,” it read. “Tbu pointless essay. are required to take the JWE by winter quarter 1997 or But who really needs to take the test? On a good day, I can you 11 never see another class as long as you live." find 40 grammatical errors lying around in the street. I don't Oops. need a test for that. Yes, “oops" was echoed across Bellingham last quarter But what about the summary? Raise your hand if you feel when seniors received notice that those who had not passed confident to spit out a summary of some inane essay. the JWE by the time they received 135 credits would be Okay, I’ll make it easier— raise your hand if you know blocked from registering. what a summary is. The policy, which goes into effect spring 1997, requires I don t see why its important to know how to write a sum- students to have not only taken, but passed the JWE. mary. Isn t creativity valued more in writing than your ability The JWE reminds me of the tests we had to take in ele­ to restate another writer's point? mentary school—the CAT test, the DOG test, the WHY Summarizing is a good skill to have, but students should be

exposition We sift through the manuals—"Living With Adjectives, tested on their ability to come up with original statement^ "Nouns, Verbs and the Conjunctions That Join Them and That’s what’s important in the real world. "101 Wavs to Kill Yourself When You Don t Pass the JWE. And as for the grammatical section, it’s just as easy to guess The grammar study sheet fists several sample questions: which bubble to fill in than to really know what s wrong with 1) Find the error in this sentence: Thelma and Louise, a sentence. Instead of giving us questions like tbis: Western students, jumped to their deaths from the third floor 1) Find the error in the following sentence: 1$ gonna kill of Wilson Library when they find out that they did not pass meslef if’n I don’t pass this 'ere test. the JWE." or this: "Well, that’s easy! ” said Sftrah. "It should be when Ihcy 2) Find the error in the following sentence: Although the I’ound otil ihnl they ()n) not t,, long-term effects are unknown, it has been scientilic^dly 1 sighed. "Sarah," I said, "you’ll never pass the JWE dyou proven, by John S. Smart, Ph.D., and Ellen R. Bright, answer the real questions like that! The answer is obviously Ph.D., both respected psychologists on Westerns faculty, that they should have jumped from the lifth lloor ot the that failing to pass or "win” the Junior Writing Exam can library. ’The third lloor isn’t high enough. They wouldn t die. indeed cause depression and/or suicidal tendencies in post­ "Oh." . adolescent human beings. What would these non-writers do without me to help them out? Maybe we should get questions like this: So why does the JWE exist? Barbara Sylvester, director of the Writing Center, says that the faculty at Western insist­ 1) Write a grammatically correct sentence including but ed on some sort of screening instrument for upper-division not limited to the following words or phrases: sled dog, tele­ writing classes. "Professors weren’t prepared to teach basic phone, eating, birthday card, source, calendar, listed, English in upper-division writing classes, she said. Thelma, Louise. And I agree with that. 1 don’t think an instructor of any After you’ve passed the JWE, you are allowed the distinct 300- or 400-level class should spend half ot each class period honor of being able to take the "writing intensive” course that explaining the basics. But why do people who are majoring you have to take to graduate. Classes in many departments-- in math or physics have to take a class thats this advanced? Comm 220, Research xMethods in Communication; Biology The university could still require that everyone take a writ­ 490, Principles of Organic Evolution; and Music 343, ing or English class, but it shouldn’t have to be writing inten- History of Music 1750-1900-are designated "writing intensive” and all Western students must take one before sive. Students who need help with basic English should have to graduation. take a class that helps them learn these skills. Instead, they For some students, this is the only writing class they 11 take struggle to get passing JWE scores-which, when you think after fulfilling their GURs. For people like me, it’s an addi­ about it, can be based as much on luck as on skill—and then tional burden to a major—Journalism/Pubhc Relations—that struggle to pass the writing-intensive class. is already writing intensive. Last quarter, for example, 1 took Come on, now. Aren’t we taking classes to learn-not to Journalism 304, Reporting, where we wrote at least one in- show them what we know already? depth article each week. I also took Journalism 314, Western The good news: Sarah, Adam and I all passed the test. Front staff—in that class I wrote about 10 articles. If those Sarah, in fact, felt that it was too simple. "It was really pathet­ classes aren’t writing intensive, I don’t know what is. And ic considering all of the hype,” she said. "I thought it was vet, thev have not been labeled writing intensive by the really elementary. If they’re going to have something like university. that, it should at least be a little more difficult.” Many students are upset that they are required to pass the Yeah, I passed. So I can identify a misplaced modifier, JWE to Fulfill a graduation requirement. "1 think the JWE something I’ve been able to do since the fifth grade. But I is pointless because we have to take a writing intensive asked Adam—who has now taken the test twice—to identify course anyway," said Adam Porad, a junior physics/computer the error in the following sentence which, I swear, is taken science major. "They don’t make you pass a math test before directly from a local television commercial: thev let you take math. The University just lets you "...and Channel XX are asking you to enter our prize fail math. ” drawing. If chosen, we will give you a great prize. It’s 2:45, and the ehd of the line, which has now reached He couldn’t find the error, but since he passed the JWE, Fischer Fountain, and is beginning to curve, snakehke, he gets to take a writing-intensive course, where the toward Miller Hall. Sarah is getting worried ^ibout the test. tor doesn’t want to take the time to teach him whatsp^ "Here,” 1 said, ripping open a $2 study packet that 1 bor­ wrong with that sentence. rowed from another friend m line. Try this.

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