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This media course provides a brief overview of the ways in whichU.S.media policy undermines the ability of U.S. journalism to meet theneeds of our democratic republic, instead cause it to become anantidemocratic force. It will explore the nature of U.S. media policydebates and the myths that undermine meaningful public participation inthose debates.Theidea behind the Faculty GUR Group is that faculty -- as well asstudents -- need to sustain their general education. With this in mind,the Faculty GUR Group was formed to bring together faculty fromdifferent departments across the university in a learning communitythat will seek to enhance each participant's general education byrelying on each other's domain of expertise.

The Western Gallery will present artist Geraldine Ondrizek's "The Sound of Cells Dividing" as its first major exhibition of the 2009-2010 academic year. The exhibit will be on display from Sept. 28 through Nov. 25."The Sound of Cells Dividing" will exhibit Ondrizek's recent film "Cellular" and its corresponding set of drawings of a blastocyst, a multiple-cell embryo, as well as her "Sound Wall" installation, which was created for the Center for Art and Technology (CAMAC) and housed in a 17th century monastery in France. "Sound Wall" will be recreated for the Western Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition, Ondrizek will offer a lecture about her work on Wednesday, Oct. 21. For information on the time and location of her lecture, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu or call (360) 650-3900.Both the lecture and the exhibition are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Wednesdays, when the gallery is open until 8 p.m., and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Live music and poetry readings frequently are presented in the Gallery on Wednesday evenings. For more event details, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu/.

Winter Advising & Registration is Western's orientation, advising, and registration assistance program for new winter 2010 students.Participants will meet with helpful academic advisers, receive course registration information, become familiar with important campus resources and make connections with other WWU students.Transfer students may attend on Nov. 6, Nov. 13 or Jan. 4. Freshmen must attend on Jan. 4. Post-baccalaureate students should contact Academic Advising at (360) 650-3850 or advising@wwu.edu to schedule an individual advising appointment.Advance reservations are required. For complete program details and to reserve your space online, visit http://www.nssfo.wwu.edu/.

Hey lurkers! Have any of you heard of the new park that just opened in Birch Bay? It’s called Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve, and it is beautiful.

 

I went on a little adventure there today with a friend, and it was probably the most gorgeous park I’ve been to in the county. I’m almost afraid to blog about it because it’s so peaceful and pristine. You know the epic forests in films like Lord of the Rings — the kind that metal bands like to take black and white photographs of to use for album covers? Imagine a little slice of a forest like that tenderly woven into the landscape of a lovely corner of Birch Bay, complete with a conveniently paved trail and absolutely stunning lookout points.  At the end of the (quite short) trail, hikers can take a brief trek down to the tidal flats below, which I cannot recommend enough!

This was the perfect adventure for a sunny autumn afternoon, and an ideal trail for those who want to be enveloped by nature’s enchantments without having to commit to a session of hardcore hiking (I include myself in that category, though I enjoy a good hike sometimes). The water below was clear and magnificent, perfectly reflecting a fiery sunset… this is the stuff dreams are made of, lurkers.

 

So you may be wondering, “How do I get there if it’s all the way out in Blaine?” The easiest way to is carpool to the convenient parking area and go from there. If you want to get there using alternative transit, WTA’s Bus 55 can drop you off a few miles from the park. It’s probably best to bike out from there, but it could be a really lovely walk if you’re up for it! If you’re 55-ing it, you’ll want to go early in the day to have enough time to explore before the bus stops running. More specific directions can be found at the park’s homepage.

All I have to say is, thank you Whatcom County Parks Department for my new favorite adventure destination!

One thing that continually irks me is the ridiculousness of the 21 year-old drinking age. Shit, even Canada knows better than that! Rethinking the current drinking age is something that has come up but hasn't (yet) received national attention. A few hundred college presidents have signed a statement saying, essentially, that the current system isn't working and that it needs to be revisited. Check out the Amethyst Initiative and ChooseResponsibility.org.




So I took a few minutes and came up with a few points (originally posted here) that I feel are pretty valid:


The argument that "18yr olds can't make smart decisions to save their lives" is not valid from a civil rights standpoint.

If we're taking 18 as the legal age of "adulthood" where one is legally responsible for his or her own actions then the current drinking age is a blatant violation of the rights of 18-20yr olds. How can we logically deny rights to minors when they are still required to hold complete legal autonomy and responsibility?


The thought that "underagers just want to lower the drinking age so they can binge drink" is ridiculous.
Another Western student wrote: "How many poeple ... are thinking they want to be legally able to go buy a beer once in a while. Most [minors] want it to be legal so they can kill brain cells." Uh. Lies? It would be incredibly easy for me, as a minor, to get a half-gallon of hard alcohol, head out to a party on Friday, start chugging, and not remember what happened when I woke up Saturday morning. In fact, I bet you can find a thousand or so underage Bellinghamsters that do this weekly. 
The shitty thing? I can binge drink easy. If I want to have a drink with dinner at a restaurant then I'm S.O.L.
The only reason I personally want the drinking age lowered is so that I can have a pint of micro-brew at Boundary Bay along with my grilled portabellos.


"Lowering the drinking age would increase consumption of alcohol in the 18-20yr old population" might be true...

...but any increase would be in the form of responsible, public drinking like going out to a bar or having an alcoholic drink at a restaurant (both activities that can be easily supervised and controlled, unlike underage partying). The level of "party drinking" or binge drinking in minors is already pretty high and minors know how and where to get alcohol from. Making it easy for minors to obtain alcohol won't increase binge drinking, they/we already seem to do a good amount of that.




In the college setting, especially on-campus, the problems of the drinking age are only magnified.

Even after the first few weeks underage students learn that drinking on campus will get them in some deep s**t. Does this enforcement of the drinking age reduce consumption in minors like it is intended to? Hell no. It just throws them into riskier and more dangerous settings! Minors leave campus, go to parties where binge drinking (5+ drinks in a night) in encouraged, if not required. Returning to campus at the end of the night, instead of staying the night in a possibly risky setting, can STILL get students in trouble since public universities are still required to uphold and enforce state and federal laws. The result? Students are encouraged to sleep off-campus in (possibly) unfamiliar and relatively unsafe locations. Who is this supposed to benefit, again?

Myth: Letting minors drink is encouraging dangerous behavior.

Another student wrote, "I don't even understand why all you teenagers are so anxious to start drinking. Don't they teach you about the dangers of drinking in high school... While you’re at it, why don't you have unprotected sex with many partners so you can have the responsibility of caring for a child and dealing with STD's if you think your so f***ing grown up." This made me laugh and might be the worst argument for keeping the 21yr drinking age. It is not the governments job to "protect" the population from themselves. This argument suggests that we outlaw unprotected sex, criminalize the smoking of tobacco, reenact prohibition, enforce mandatory mass-transit to keep bad drivers off the road so they can't kill themselves, and require a 10pm bedtime so that nobody suffers from unhealthy sleep deprivation. Anyone over 18 is legally an adult and SHOULD NOT be withheld any rights given to the 'of-age' population.


I am definitely open to counter arguments, here. I do feel that 18 is kind of young as I think it will have the trickle-effect and increase availability of alcohol to high schoolers, but on the other hand I strongly believe that the civil rights of the 18-20yr old population are being blatantly violated. Your thoughts?

One thing that continually irks me is the ridiculousness of the 21 year-old drinking age. Shit, even Canada knows better than that! Rethinking the current drinking age is something that has come up but hasn't (yet) received national attention. A few hundred college presidents have signed a statement saying, essentially, that the current system isn't working and that it needs to be revisited. Check out the Amethyst Initiative and ChooseResponsibility.org.




So I took a few minutes and came up with a few points (originally posted here) that I feel are pretty valid:


The argument that "18yr olds can't make smart decisions to save their lives" is not valid from a civil rights standpoint.

If we're taking 18 as the legal age of "adulthood" where one is legally responsible for his or her own actions then the current drinking age is a blatant violation of the rights of 18-20yr olds. How can we logically deny rights to minors when they are still required to hold complete legal autonomy and responsibility?


The thought that "underagers just want to lower the drinking age so they can binge drink" is ridiculous.
Another Western student wrote: "How many poeple ... are thinking they want to be legally able to go buy a beer once in a while. Most [minors] want it to be legal so they can kill brain cells." Uh. Lies? It would be incredibly easy for me, as a minor, to get a half-gallon of hard alcohol, head out to a party on Friday, start chugging, and not remember what happened when I woke up Saturday morning. In fact, I bet you can find a thousand or so underage Bellinghamsters that do this weekly. 
The shitty thing? I can binge drink easy. If I want to have a drink with dinner at a restaurant then I'm S.O.L.
The only reason I personally want the drinking age lowered is so that I can have a pint of micro-brew at Boundary Bay along with my grilled portabellos.


"Lowering the drinking age would increase consumption of alcohol in the 18-20yr old population" might be true...

...but any increase would be in the form of responsible, public drinking like going out to a bar or having an alcoholic drink at a restaurant (both activities that can be easily supervised and controlled, unlike underage partying). The level of "party drinking" or binge drinking in minors is already pretty high and minors know how and where to get alcohol from. Making it easy for minors to obtain alcohol won't increase binge drinking, they/we already seem to do a good amount of that.




In the college setting, especially on-campus, the problems of the drinking age are only magnified.

Even after the first few weeks underage students learn that drinking on campus will get them in some deep s**t. Does this enforcement of the drinking age reduce consumption in minors like it is intended to? Hell no. It just throws them into riskier and more dangerous settings! Minors leave campus, go to parties where binge drinking (5+ drinks in a night) in encouraged, if not required. Returning to campus at the end of the night, instead of staying the night in a possibly risky setting, can STILL get students in trouble since public universities are still required to uphold and enforce state and federal laws. The result? Students are encouraged to sleep off-campus in (possibly) unfamiliar and relatively unsafe locations. Who is this supposed to benefit, again?

Myth: Letting minors drink is encouraging dangerous behavior.

Another student wrote, "I don't even understand why all you teenagers are so anxious to start drinking. Don't they teach you about the dangers of drinking in high school... While you’re at it, why don't you have unprotected sex with many partners so you can have the responsibility of caring for a child and dealing with STD's if you think your so f***ing grown up." This made me laugh and might be the worst argument for keeping the 21yr drinking age. It is not the governments job to "protect" the population from themselves. This argument suggests that we outlaw unprotected sex, criminalize the smoking of tobacco, reenact prohibition, enforce mandatory mass-transit to keep bad drivers off the road so they can't kill themselves, and require a 10pm bedtime so that nobody suffers from unhealthy sleep deprivation. Anyone over 18 is legally an adult and SHOULD NOT be withheld any rights given to the 'of-age' population.


I am definitely open to counter arguments, here. I do feel that 18 is kind of young as I think it will have the trickle-effect and increase availability of alcohol to high schoolers, but on the other hand I strongly believe that the civil rights of the 18-20yr old population are being blatantly violated. Your thoughts?

When I sold my 1980 Datsun 210 hatchback to Christopher Monfort in the summer of 2008, everything went as normal....

Mt. Baker Ski Area officially began its 2009-10 season Thursday with prime weather conditions

Imagine the start of your day, it is just like any other day.Alongside your backpack is an oxygen tank to...

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen led the discussion as state's Olympic task force chair

Every Sunday, thousands of football fanatics become one with their couch. With their eyes fixated on the television screens,...

A year’s worth of sweaty palms and barbaric yelps will come to a head Monday at Poetrynight’s first Grand Slam.

WWU's Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) and Center for Canadian American Studies will host "Immigration Reform: What's at Stake for the Northern Border." Immigration has become an issue of border security as well as an issue of human rights and economic competitiveness. This symposium will focus on the recently released report of the Council on Foreign Relations' (CFR) Independent Task Force on Immigration Reform, its recommendations for changing U.S. immigration policy, and how immigration policies and practices apply to Canada-U.S. border security. Presenters at the symposium are:· Margaret Stock, professor, U.S. Military Academy at West Point and BPRI visiting fellow. · Edward Alden, Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information about the Nov. 12 symposium, contact BPRI Director Don Alper at (360) 650-4675.

The Western Gallery will present artist Geraldine Ondrizek's "The Sound of Cells Dividing" as its first major exhibition of the 2009-2010 academic year. The exhibit will be on display from Sept. 28 through Nov. 25."The Sound of Cells Dividing" will exhibit Ondrizek's recent film "Cellular" and its corresponding set of drawings of a blastocyst, a multiple-cell embryo, as well as her "Sound Wall" installation, which was created for the Center for Art and Technology (CAMAC) and housed in a 17th century monastery in France. "Sound Wall" will be recreated for the Western Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition, Ondrizek will offer a lecture about her work on Wednesday, Oct. 21. For information on the time and location of her lecture, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu or call (360) 650-3900.Both the lecture and the exhibition are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Wednesdays, when the gallery is open until 8 p.m., and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Live music and poetry readings frequently are presented in the Gallery on Wednesday evenings. For more event details, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu/.

Malalai Joya, Afghan Woman Activist and Parliamentarian "A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman Who Dares to Speak Out" Thursday, November 12, noon, Arntzen 100 On a U.S. tour, Malalai Joya speaks of "A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of the Afghan Woman Who Dares to Speak Out" (2009). Her book provides a true picture of young Afghans going through the occupation, the troubles of refugee camps and the feelings of these people towards those warlords who are once again ruling and not giving chance to the new generation to come forward and control their destiny. Reviews: "The youngest and most famous of all the women in the Afghan parliament...a powerful symbol of change" Guardian. . "A fascinating account of Afghanistan's political reality" "Malalai Joya has been compared to Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi" - Irish Times. "A courageous female MP" - The Times. "[Has] spoken her mind as few Afghan women dare to do" - New York Times.

The Western Gallery will present artist Geraldine Ondrizek's "The Sound of Cells Dividing" as its first major exhibition of the 2009-2010 academic year. The exhibit will be on display from Sept. 28 through Nov. 25."The Sound of Cells Dividing" will exhibit Ondrizek's recent film "Cellular" and its corresponding set of drawings of a blastocyst, a multiple-cell embryo, as well as her "Sound Wall" installation, which was created for the Center for Art and Technology (CAMAC) and housed in a 17th century monastery in France. "Sound Wall" will be recreated for the Western Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition, Ondrizek will offer a lecture about her work on Wednesday, Oct. 21. For information on the time and location of her lecture, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu or call (360) 650-3900.Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except Wednesdays, when the gallery is open until 8 p.m., and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Live music and poetry readings frequently are presented in the Gallery on Wednesday evenings. For more event details, visit http://westerngallery.wwu.edu/.