The Daily of the University of Washington - Latest News

American Dependence Day: nationalizing health care is not the answer

Thomas Cloud — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It is “Dependence Day” now in the United States. We are actively and enthusiastically creating an all-encompassing nanny state, following the lead of our charismatic president. I am certainly not going to place all the blame on Barack Obama; it was the American people who elected him, after all. But I am left wondering whether or not this is still the “America” of the “American Dream.”

It is very hard for me to see our great country as a nation still primarily composed of hard-working entrepreneurs when it seems like all we care about is milking each other’s wallets of as much “excess” income as possible. We are relentlessly pursuing a path where it is not how well you can serve one another that determines success, but instead how politically connected you are. General Electric is the model company for receiving government subsidies. We have chosen equality over liberty.

To borrow the words of my father, this is the age of the politics of envy. Take nationalizing health care, for instance. It is extremely obvious that this will contribute to stagnation in our quality of life. If the empirical evidence is not enough for you, take a basic microeconomics class.

In Microeconomics, by Jeffrey M. Perloff, I found a subsection on national health care in two other nations. “In Britain and Canada, taxes pay for public-health care,” the book reads. “However, taxes do not cover the full cost of medical care. To contain costs, providers ration health care, in part by having patients wait for treatment.”

They wait a long time, by the way. It can take as long as 80 weeks to get an MRI in Britain’s public system, while it only takes two weeks to get it done privately in the United States. Theirs is the system we are trying to emulate.

Arguments that the United States has already entered some dark age of health care and that it will only get worse unless we create a national system are both fallacious and sub-par. Yes, U.S. health care can improve, but through deregulation, not socialization. But it is an appeal to panic and fear and a request to fall into the arms of the state for protection that we hear most often.

Productivity will decline if we further regulate health care. How can we possibly be a nation of achievers if we are taxed in such a way that the wealthy, the entrepreneurs and the creative are penalized while we subsidize mediocrity by increasing benefits to the unemployed to the degree it becomes a reward to be so?

Surely we have moved beyond the simple necessity of keeping people from destitution and starvation, and into the realm of severe income leveling because it is a moral crime to have more than someone else. It is sad that I have to argue in terms of efficiency and productivity when the moral problems are so much greater than the economic ones and intimately interwoven with them.

Do we truly want to be a society where the government picks the winners and losers? Do we want to be a society where the party in power rewards its favored branches of industry with generous amounts of taxpayer cash for failing to be responsible? Is that what we, as Americans, wish to be?

Fiscal crises are real. Inflation is real. Irresponsible credit expansion is real. Debt is real. It will take time for us to realize this again. Just as we cannot wave a magic wand to wipe away the UW’s budget cuts, we cannot raise each other’s salaries through punitive taxation, regulation and bureaucratization.

Reach columnist Thomas Cloud at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Car prowls flare, disturbing video shot on campus

Lexie Krell — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

From super-glued locks to missing laptops, this weekly crime blotter aims to inform readers about offenses on and surrounding campus. While in-depth articles may be written about specific incidents, this column provides a brief overview of recent crimes that impact the UW community.

Thursday, June 25

Officers responded to a report that the lock to a door in Mueller Hall had been super-glued. A specialist repaired the lock with solvent, and the estimated damage is $75.

A complainant reported that an Ethernet switch used to transfer data between systems was stolen from the Atmospheric Sciences-Geophysics Building. The individual discovered that the item had been stolen when the computer systems stopped working. The door to the building is generally secured after-hours but was unlocked following the incident.

Friday, June 26

An individual returned to the E16 parking lot after a trip to The Center for Urban Horticulture to find his vehicle’s passenger window smashed and his backpack missing from the front seat. There are no suspects at this time.

Authorities responded to the victim of a car prowl in the E1 parking lot who discovered that his laptop and electrical tools had been stolen from the passenger seat of his vehicle at an estimated loss of $1,600.

Officers received a report that a backpack with a metro bus driver uniform, bus keys and photo ID card was stolen from a vehicle with a shattered driver side window in the E1 parking lot. The estimated loss is $425, and attempts to obtain fingerprints were unsuccessful.

A victim of car prowl in the E1 parking lot reported that someone stole an emergency pack with glow markers and flares. Officers observed that a rear driver side window had been shattered and were not able to obtain fingerprints. The estimated loss is $300.

Authorities responded to the Magnuson Health Sciences Building to investigate a report of stolen money. Two victims lost $10 each from their desk drawers when an unknown suspect took the cash.

Monday, June 29

Authorities received a report that a laptop was stolen from the board room at the Husky Softball Stadium. The victim left the computer in the room for roughly one week and returned to find that it was missing. The estimated loss is $1,000.

Tuesday, June 30

An individual reported a stolen laptop after he returned to his desk in a laboratory in the Magnuson Health Sciences Building to find his computer missing. The victim did not lock the doors before leaving the lab, and the estimated loss is $300.

Thursday, July 2

Officers received copies of videos of young women filmed on campus. The videos contain images of women from below and behind their skirts as they walked in Red Square, by the statue of George Washington, in the Quad, on a city bus, in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and in Smith Hall. Several of the videos were taken from underneath a desk in the library. The Snohomish County Sheriff sent the videos to the UW Police Department (UWPD) after responding to a report of child pornography on the suspect’s laptop. Authorities were unable to identify anyone in the videos.

Two male suspects robbed a coffee shop at 4:27 p.m. in the area of Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and 52nd Street Northeast. The individuals fled down 52nd Street Northeast and were seen heading westbound from Northeast Campus Parkway and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast shortly thereafter. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects.

Friday, July 3

Resident advisers on duty evacuated students from Terry Hall after an alarm was activated on the first floor. The Seattle Fire Department determined that the alarm came from the 1101 Café after the sprinkler system extinguished a fire in two large containers of dirty rags. No damage was caused to the area.

Sunday, July 5

Officers found two individuals sleeping on the porch of Eagleson Hall during a routine check. The suspects were contacted and appeared to be camping in the area. Authorities trespassed the individuals, and the suspects left the area without further confrontation.

The UWPD provides the information for this column.

Reach Arts Editor Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.

Dinner and dessert in Capitol Hill

Carolyn Yuen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Dining on the go

If you are looking for quick and adventurous dining this summer, Marination Mobile is a fun food stop you can’t afford to miss. Once you’re there though, you’ll be able to afford plenty.

This food truck features Hawaiian and Korean cuisine at recession-friendly prices. Nothing is more than $5.

Marination Mobile opened a couple of weeks ago and has been quite a hit in the area. When I visited, the food was cooked fresh and served hot with a rather short wait, but a line quickly formed behind me as the restaurant opened. It serves customers at various locations and times as posted on Twitter, and the food has sold out in less than two hours in the past.

I have always wanted to try taco trucks but was turned away by reports that called them “roach coaches.” However, Marination Mobile gleamed in its navy blue paint and steel and looked very clean inside as well, putting fears of germs to rest.

Marination Mobile is known for its saucy Korean meats with a Hawaiian kick. They offer foods like kimchi kalua pork quesadillas and SPAM musubi.

I tried their kalbi beef and miso ginger chicken soft corn tacos, topped with their signature tangy slaw. The food tasted fresh, with the right amount of spice and marinade. I also had a SPAM slider; Marination Mobile grinds the SPAM into a seasoned meatloaf-like patty, topped with coleslaw, that melted in my mouth. For the main entrée, I ordered the kimchi rice bowl served with a sunny-side-up egg and a choice of meat or tofu.

It was a tasty blend of a spicy and slightly sour punch from the kimchi, a traditional Korean pickled cabbage, and the savory marinade of the meat.

Marination Mobile is definitely a delicious and affordable place to dine if it happens to roll through Capitol Hill the next time you’re exploring the area.

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Old-school dessert

Summer is finally here, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is school (even for those enrolled in summer quarter), but an exception can be made for Old School Frozen Custard, which opened its second location in Capitol Hill last month.

The décor of the shop put me back into the good ole days, as historic photos of local high schools hang on the lime green walls, and the menu is written in chalk on a blackboard.

Even the names of the signature sundaes are reminiscent of earlier times, such as The Principal’s Office, which is made up of five scoops of fresh frozen custard, three mix-ins, a homemade fudge brownie, banana halves, sliced almonds, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

I tried The Recess, made with three scoops of fresh vanilla frozen custard with Reese’s cups, warm caramel and hot fudge. I remembered recess in elementary school being like heaven, and this sundae represented its name very well.

I also sampled The Playground, which has two scoops of fresh chocolate frozen custard, Oreo cookies and gummy worms. Fond memories of worm dirt dessert cupws from class parties came flooding back with every bite.

The consistency of frozen custard is much creamier than ice cream because it is made with egg yolks. At Old School, the frozen custard is prepared fresh daily and is served 18 to 20 degrees warmer than ice cream, giving it a rich, smooth taste.

If you are looking for an alternative to ice cream and frozen yogurt this summer, the silky texture of frozen custard may just make it the new teacher’s pet.

Reach reporter Carolyn Yuen at arts@dailyuw.com.

Editorial cartoon and rants and raves

Ryan Rosendal, Various — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Rants-

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a 20-year-old woman were found dead July 4 in McNair’s Nashville condo in what police are calling a homicide.

More than 150 people have died in ethnic strife and violence in the politically tense, western Xinjiang region of China earlier this week; some 20,000 police, firefighters and soldiers have been deployed to restore order.

Raves-

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to increase nuclear-arms controls, aiming to reduce their stockpiles by roughly a third by the end of this year.

Just minutes after Dariel Firpo graduated from the New York City Police Academy, he intervened on behalf of a 79-year-old man who was being robbed, arresting the would-be mugger.

The Entertainer

Lexie Krell — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Wednesday, July 8

Noon to 1:30 p.m. — Vicci Martinez

Occidental Square — This folk rock, indie and acoustic performer will serenade the public as part of the 2009 Out to Lunch Concert Series in downtown Seattle.

downtownsummer.com/otl

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Thursday, July 9

10:30 a.m. — Kaleta: African Masked Dance

Seattle Public Library — This West African performance is free and includes stories and drumming from Gansango Music and Dance in the Microsoft Auditorium.

downtownsummer.com/events

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Friday, July 10

7 p.m. — Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

Seattle Center — This student performance from The Young Shakespeare Workshop will take place on the lawn south of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Additional performances at various locations will run until August 16.

youngshakespeare.org

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Saturday, July 11

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — U-District Seattle Summer Streets

The Ave — The local farmer’s market will have basketball, food tasting, sidewalk chalk, community booths and live music as part of the Seattle Summer Streets celebration.

seattlecan.org/summerstreets

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Sunday, July 12

11 a.m. — Chinatown-International District Summer Festival 2009

Hing Hay Park — Art, dragon dances, food and taiko drumming are all part of this free Seafair event that represents the largest Pan-Asian street festival in the Pacific Northwest and runs from July 11-12. Parking may be difficult due to large crowds.

cidbia.org

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Monday, July 13

7 p.m., 9 p.m. — Objectified

Northwest Film Forum — This documentary explores the individuals behind mass-produced objects and how the products relate to the environment, the economy and the world. The film runs from July 10 to July 16. Tickets are $6 to $9.

nwfilmforum.org

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Tuesday, July 14

11 a.m. to noon — Tai Chi

Seattle Center, Mural Amphitheatre — Each Tuesday, these free classes teach an ancient Chinese exercise that helps release stress and improve well-being and health.

seattlecenter.com/events

Former swing-shift custodians settle into new daytime positions

Eric Staples — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Salvador Castillo stood in a crowd of other former swing-shift custodians on Monday, all gathered around a single clock-in station on the south UW campus — many still sleepy eyed, and some having gotten no sleep at all the night prior.

After 16 years of working the swing shift — from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. — it was the first time Castillo and many other custodians at the clock-in station had punched in at 4:45 a.m. to start work.

“I didn’t sleep,” Castillo said. “It’s real hard to adjust, but maybe in a month I will. I don’t know.”

On Monday, 35 former swing-shift custodians began their first day on the day shift, leaving 50 custodians — 25 with the highest seniority and 25 with the strongest hardship cases — remaining on the swing shift.

After more than three months of custodial protests to keep their shifts and a drawn-out negotiation process between swing-shift custodians and custodial management, the changes have taken place.

“It’s been a very difficult three months,” said James Stephen Wilson, a UW swing-shift custodian. “For many of us, it’s the most chaotic and heart wrenching [three months] that we’ve had to endure.”

While Gene Woodard, director of UW Custodial Services, said that, under the circumstances, this presents a win-win to both custodians and custodial management, he has had to make tough decisions to get to this final compromise.

“It’s been the most challenging time of my career,” Woodard said. “I really feel for those 17 people that were laid off and as of today are without a job. We’ve worked extra hard to give those folks resources and tools to find other employment.”

With the 35 custodians moving to daytime shifts, all upper campus shifts will be moved to the daytime. Buildings which had previously been cleaned on the swing shift — Physics-Astronomy Building, Loew Building, More Hall — will now be cleaned on the day shift.

Despite complaints from custodial staff that this move — along with the 17 custodians that had been laid off and worked their last day on Monday — would deter them from keeping buildings clean, Woodard said they’ve worked closely with each building to ensure the quality of cleaning won’t drop.

“We have work management software with every space we service along with the floor plan and the square footage,” Woodard said. “We understand how each of the buildings are used [and] made priorities [such as] restrooms, public areas and classrooms.”

While Wilson is safe now on the swing shift with 30 years as an employee, he acknowledges that the future is still uncertain.

“The agreement for us to be on the night shift is through June 30, 2010. But, if there should be further budget cuts, [management] said nothing is certain,” he said. “We’re thankful to be on the night shift now, but there are no guarantees.”

Woodard agreed that while 50 custodians will be keeping their shift, the future is still uncertain for even those employees.

“We’re still in the midst of changes,” Woodard said. “We’re now worried about the future budget and meeting our budget, and our projections for cost savings. If they’re off, I have concerns about the future, but for now, we’ve reduced [work areas] from 11 to eight.”

Reach News Editor Eric Staples at

news@dailyuw.com.

Give the Honduran coup a chance: let’s not rush to judge this nation’s political process

Russ Wung — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It’s another day, and another Latin American coup.

Or, is it really? If there is anything odd about the latest military coup in Honduras, it is the very legality of it.

We know, but often forget, that totalitarian rulers — Mao and Hitler among them — gain power through the support of the common people, whether by hook or crook.

Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya attempted to use a tried-and-true tactic of populist strongmen, calling a referendum to rewrite the constitution to allow him to stay in office. Tellingly, he had the ballots shipped from Venezuela, the home of Hugo Chávez, a renowned expert in rewriting constitutions.

The Supreme Court of Honduras declared the vote unconstitutional — the president cannot initiate a constitutional rewrite — and ordered the military, which administers elections, not to conduct it.

If this doesn’t sound fishy yet, this is what happened next: Zelaya fired the head of the Honduran military and, with a crowd of his supporters, broke into the base where the ballots were kept and started handing them out.

With that context in mind, it is not quite so alarming that Zelaya woke up the morning of the referendum to find soldiers in his room ordering him out of the country at gunpoint. The Honduran court has since said it ordered the arrest in light of Zelaya’s disregard for its authority and the nation’s laws.

Zelaya has since been consorting with all manner of unsavory Latin American leaders: Hugo Chávez, the Castro brothers, Daniel Ortega and Cristina Kirchner. They represent what he would have become had it not been for the dedication of the Honduran judiciary and military following the country’s constitution.

Self-styled students of international relations might whine that the proper legal avenue for dealing with Zelaya’s abuse of office should have been impeachment. But mob rule has a momentum of its own, and the rule of law is brittle. In some countries, perhaps it is necessary for the army to stand between a leader and his supporters to prevent them from overturning the law of the land: their constitution. Turkey is a notable example where the military has served, more or less honorably, as the last line of defense for the republic.

Constitutions and supreme courts exist to perform this function: to restrain leaders and majorities. They are extraordinarily difficult to amend for that very reason. Simply having a majority of the populace vote in favor of changing a constitution is not enough. So whether the referendum would have passed is utterly irrelevant, although it is clear many Hondurans don’t miss Zelaya.

If most militaries in Latin America abuse their role in the political system, it appears that, in this case, the army of Honduras has acted to defend the integrity of the republic against a charismatic leader who would use the will of the mob to seize power. We may find the means distasteful, but for the leaders of democracies to join the likes of Chávez and Castro in denouncing the coup is an absurd, shallow spectacle.

The court and the Honduran military have the law unambiguously on their side — there is no disputing that the president of Honduras does not have the power to call constitutional referendums.

In this case, we should remember President Coolidge’s admonition: “One with the law is a majority.” Those lining up against Zelaya are not one, but thousands, and the world’s governments should not hasten to condemn them.

Reach columnist Russ Wung at opinion@dailyuw.com.

I-90 closure smoother than expected

Eric Staples — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) closed the I-90 floating bridge July 5 to replace 20-year-old cracked expansion joints, which engineers believe pose a potential safety risk. This began a two-week construction period that WSDOT thought would call heavy backups, but WSDOT reports that traffic congestion has gone more smoothly than was expected.

“Most people are listening to WSDOT’s advice and taking alternative routes, as well as traveling outside of peak [traffic] times,” said WSDOT spokesperson Sandy Lam.

Morning peak times are from 7 to 11, and afternoon peak times are from 3 to 7. During these hours, delays could add 30 minutes to an hour to normal commute times.

Drivers can follow alternate routes, connecting to I-5 north or I-405 south, or use the Gov. Albert D. Rossellini Bridge — Evergreen Point on SR-520.

Lam said that while the commute on the express lanes has been better than expected, the recent traffic is not representative of normal travel times because of the Fourth of July weekend.

Reach News Editor Eric Staples at

news@dailyuw.com.

Letter to the editor

Various — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In response to “UW Iranian-Americans respond to recent political turmpol in Iran,” by Michael Truong, July 1:

I, along with my colleagues at the Freedom Socialist Party national office in the University District, stand in solidarity with the courageous Iranian youth, women, workers, trade unionists and intellectuals who took to the streets and engaged in work stoppages to challenge the repressive Islamic regime, using the recent presidential elections as their starting point.

For the majority of Iranian voters, the election was a choice between the bad and the worst. In a theocracy such as Iran, the ultimate power and legitimacy of the regime rests not with the people, but with the clerics. Any vote or governmental decision can be overturned by the supreme spiritual leader and the 12-man Guardian Council, which pre-approves all candidates and has blessed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s ostensible victory.

However, the president’s main challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who supposedly represents a “reformist faction” within the ruling regime, ordered the execution of thousands of progressives as prime minister and should be on trial for mass murder. The conflict between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi is a sign of a deep rift among warring factions at the highest levels of government that is being fought in the open and can no longer be resolved internally. This deep division is the result of years of economic and political crises since the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

In this context, it does not go far enough to demand a new, “clean” presidential election. What is needed is an entirely new, secular regime where democratic rights are respected, including those of national minorities — one in which stoning is outlawed, persecution of women, young people and homosexuals who do not conform to the fundamentalist worldview is banned, the right of unionists to strike is protected, freedom of thought and political affiliation are encouraged, and the vast wealth of the country is in the hands of the working people who create it and not a free-trade elite.

The days of the Islamic regime are numbered. If not this year, sometime in the near future it will be overthrown by Iranian workers of all nationalities and both sexes, just as they overthrew the despised Shah in 1979. Women played a vanguard role in that revolution only to be violently repressed by the Islamic extremists who seized control of the anti-Shah movement. For 30 years, women have suffered as second-class citizens, but today, they are proudly once again to be in the vanguard of the movement for democratic freedoms. We hail their courage and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.

We are sickened by the reign of terror that has been unleashed against protesters since the polls closed. We denounce the murder, brutal beatings and mass arrests of demonstrators and call on the government to put down its truncheons and lower its guns, disarm the Basiji militia and order the police and Revolutionary Guards to respect the rights of free speech and assembly. Members of the militia and other armed forces that are killing and maiming protestors must be tried for their crimes.

The dangers confronting Iranian working people are real. The protest movement must move — sooner rather than later — beyond the “reforms” of Mousavi and reject any compromises offered by fake lovers of democracy in imperialist ruling circles. What is needed is a revolutionary party capable of leading the inspiring struggle for a new, free socialist Iran.

Frederick Hyde

UW Law School, JD, 1975;

Civil rights attorney, and Freedom Socialist Party national committee member

Seattle, Wash.

Othello: Performance illuminates range of human nature

Sara Grimes — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

After a highly praised run in New York, the Theatre for a New Audience is bringing Shakespeare’s Othello to Seattle. The Shakespearean troupe, hailing from New York City’s off-Broadway scene, uses the tiny but versatile setting furnished by the Intiman Theatre at Seattle Center to maximum advantage in its thoughtful portrayal of one of the playwright’s most gripping tragedies.

Othello is fundamentally a story about the fragility of life: Even a profound love that transcends prejudice can be destroyed with something as trivial as a handkerchief.

Iago is perhaps Shakespeare’s most cunning villain. He is able to disguise the most devious deceptions in a cloak of honesty. He plays confidant to Othello, a general of the armies of Venice and a Christian Moor, even as he poisons him with lies.

However, it is between Iago and Othello’s wives, Emilia and Desdemona, in turn, that true friendship exists. One of the most compelling scenes in the play is Emilia’s monologue championing equality between men and women. The play is neither lacking in suspense nor deprived of music. The unfortunate climax is made all the more tragic by Desdemona’s mournful singing.

Characters dart down the aisles and address the viewers, fully incorporating the theater audience into the action. The actors skillfully shift from earnestness to levity in a moment.

On a simply set stage where minimalism is key, Shakespeare’s shrewd humor is able to shine through in all its brilliant subtlety. It is understatement that reigns supreme here, often eliciting fits of laughter from the audience.

This expert dramatization is due largely to the rising talent of director Arin Arbus, who demonstrates a deep understanding of Shakespeare’s stylistic nuances through the ease with which the story progresses on stage.

The performance captures Shakespeare’s work in all its profundity. Whether it’s the way John Campion (Iago), whom Shakespeare buffs might recognize from the Campbell Scott version of Hamlet, gestures menacingly and oozes sarcasm; the way Sean Patrick Thomas (Othello), best known for his starring role alongside Julia Stiles in Save the Last Dance, is reduced from exuberant pride to crumpled agony; or the way Elisabeth Waterston (Desdemona) epitomizes goodness in the very quiver of her voice, every detail is honed, every syllable refined.

When the play reaches its dreadful conclusion, it evokes pity with a fusion of adept acting and direction that allows the work to illuminate human nature and destiny in all its tragic glory.

Reach reporter Sara Grimes at arts@dailyuw.com.

Taking the weight off classes

Michael Truong — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Most college students are used to the burden of lugging giant books around campus in weighed-down backpacks.

But next school year, approximately 150 UW students — 60 graduate students in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) along with 90 master’s of business administration (MBA) candidates in the Technology Management MBA program— will be spared those academic payloads through participation in the Kindle pilot program, where each student will receive an electronic reading device that is able to store entire textbooks as a digital file.

“There is a huge benefit to not having to carry 30 pounds of textbooks,” said Edward Lazowska, chair of the CSE department. “Our graduate students are literally printing over 1,000 pages of required reading from the Web and probably re-printing duplicate copies many of those pages.”

The UW is one of seven other universities nationwide to help give Amazon.com important feedback about students’ experience with the electronic reading device.

“Amazon is interested in putting books into classes through the Kindle DX in a test involving a small number of academic programs,” Lazowska said. “[It’s] to see what kinds of changes they need to make to make this device better.”

UW professors participating in the program are curious to see if the device will impact the way students study and interact with course material.

“The Kindle DX has the capacity for input on the side of any information in Amazon’s kindle format,” said CSE professor Dan Grossman.

Grossman will utilize the device this fall when teaching graduate CSE classes.

“My understanding is the Kindle DX has the ability to write in margins and highlight passages,” Grossman said. “Students will also be able to search and upload the information. It combines the advantages of taking notes on paper with taking notes on a computer.”

Since the pilot program is designed for Amazon.com to attain feedback about the Kindle’s use in the academic setting, university professors aren’t shy to spot areas where the Kindle may not have reached its full potential.

“The Kindle doesn’t have the best keyboard, so we’ll see if note taking and collaboration take off,” Lazowska said.

Observers will be able to judge the performance of the device across academic disciplines and within individual disciplines with device-using sections compared to non-device using sections.

The UW CSE department traditionally provides computing equipment to its incoming graduate students. In 2007, incoming students received a desktop computer and in 2008, incoming students received a laptop computer. This year’s incoming class will receive the Kindle DX instead of a computer.

“I was worried there would be some complaints from this year’s grad students,” Lazowska said. “But our students handled it well; they were envious but not grumpy. It’s part of moving forward.”

The financial arrangement between the UW and Amazon.com is confidential, but university officials have arranged for students to keep the devices, valued at $489 at Amazon.com. Students will be encouraged to use the device for their own personal reading in addition to holding their course material.

University officials predict Kindle DX users will pay less for textbooks. Electronic books eliminate additional costs such as inventory and transportations costs associated with bookstore markups.

Lazowska said the process of converting books into electronic books is a time-consuming process. The Kindle DX pilot program will allow Amazon to focus on converting the reading material required for the seven participating schools while it receives feedback on its device.

“The big value is having the content when you need it,” Lazowska said. “It will only get better when more and more academic content becomes available.”

Reach reporter Michael Truong at news@dailyuw.com

Welcome to the globalized fruit stand: to save the planet, say goodbye to every fruit you know

Matthew Jackson — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Ordinarily, Trader Joe’s is my favorite grocer — the home of obscure organics and the best prices available on orchids — an excellent faux-Hawaiian alternative to other stores.

I love T.J.’s as an aficionado of cuisine, I can find ingredients and products that are sold nowhere else — and those which can be purchased elsewhere are always a better value at T.J.’s. Their store brands of bottled salad dressings and sauces are high enough quality that food snobs like me are willing to use them instead of making our own mayonnaise or gyoza dipping sauce. Even during a weekday morning, when patrons must battle one another in one of the most unpleasant co-mingling experiences I know of besides Costco in the mid-afternoon, the struggle is worth it to get exotic cheeses while retaining enough money for rent.

Last week, in anticipation of entertaining guests two nights in a row, I made an expedition to T.J.’s, shopping list in hand.

Finding my sought items, including tortellini, pecans and gorgonzola, I also found excellent fresh produce and bought what turned out to be the best strawberries I’ve known for years. I was disappointed that T.J.’s does not stock quarts of heavy cream, so I was reduced to buying four half-pints of a small, locally produced organic cream — but for the record, this, along with the chicken-friendly organic eggs, made a better crème brulée than Lucerne ever could.

By the time I was ready to check out, I probably carried products representing exports from at least three different countries — and even the locally produced cream came in four individual cardboard cartons and was a study in over-packaging. I did manage to not buy an orchid — an impressive feat for me — but they, along with many of the other cut flowers and potted plants, are shipped here from Hawaii.

As I stood in the checkout line, my foul attitude from being boxed in and berated by women of a certain age at the cheese counter quickly melted to indignant environmental guilt.

The lady in front of me was chatting in feverish animation with the checkout clerk about how the strawberries were so terrible to buy, given that they were not actually organic or grown in Washington. They concluded, though, that occasional indulgence in non-eco-conscious purchases could be overlooked — they then discussed how “special” the texture was of something else the environmentally friendly shopper had selected.

When it came my turn, I felt guilty for not shopping based on my carbon impact, and that made me think of the rug I bought at Urban Outfitters from India — and the tropical fish I have that are shipped overnight from who-knows-where before they get to a pet store — and the amazing diversity of countries-of-origin represented in my closet and dresser.

Part of living in a globalized society is the access we have to such diversity of merchandise, and at excellent prices — you would not believe the deal I got on that rug.

However, the cost associated with this access goes beyond dollars saved or spent. Being part of both a globalized society and environmentally conscious population is a conundrum: With which side do you truly belong, regardless of your feelings on the subject?

I would like to consider myself at least mildly environmentally aware: I have my own canvas totes and walk pretty much anywhere I need to get. I use the library and have three trash cans under my sink that I have labeled, in English and French, “garbage,” “paper, plastic and metal” and “glass” for recycling purposes.

But what does this matter if I will also make impulse buys of houseplants grown cheaply in bulk in Mexico or Hawaii just for the American consumer? And does the environmental benefit of my totes get canceled out because I buy imported rugs, curtains and table clothes from India or Pakistan?

Developing an understanding of the global cost of these goods is essential in today’s day and age. Take the time to look at the items you buy and become familiar with the impact they — and you, as a consumer — make on the planet. I’ll probably still buy strawberries but will also make an effort to understand and improve my consumerism.

Reach columnist Matt Jackson at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Pillow Talk

Parisa Sadrzadeh — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:04:19 -0700

I would like to first start off by thanking you, the readers, for giving me an entertaining bunch of comments, stories and suggestions to get my ideas rolling. So, with inspiration overflowing, I’m going to begin from the end rather than the beginning for my first exploration into sex and relationships.

What does this mean? Well, the end in this case is the climax — better known as an orgasm. As we enjoy the random pleasures and fits of ecstasy that summer activities and hot weather bring, it’s time to provide some insight into this ecstatic aspect of sex.

I’ll start with a common misconception: Women are supposed to have better orgasms than men, right? Not necessarily. Jena Pincott, the author of an intriguing book titled Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?, debunked this myth by comparing orgasms to joy in general: “There is no such thing as male joy and female joy. … It’s how you get to the climax and how you feel afterward where a woman and man are likely to differ.”

Pincott bases this idea on a study done at the UW in the ’70s where UW psychologists asked about 50 male and female students to write a description, without mentioning genitalia, of how an orgasm felt to them. A panel of 70 male and female gynecologists, obstetricians and medical students reviewed the descriptions to determine the sex of the writer. One description read, as quoted in Pincott’s book, “An enormous buildup of tension, anxiety, strain followed by a period of total oblivion to sensation, then a tremendous expulsion of the buildup with a feeling of wonderfulness and relief.”

Believe it or not, the panel wasn’t able to determine the sexes. So, all of women’s extra-special nerves do not seem to add much to the final destination in comparison to men — even if the trek there seems to go down two completely different pleasurable paths.

But, let’s not be too technical here: Even though there are many biological and emotional similarities in orgasms, many of us can attest to substantial differences. For one thing, women can have multiple orgasms, and amazingly, some even have orgasms that last up to two whole minutes. In orgasm time, that’s pretty fantastic! Men, in general, have orgasms of about 17 seconds at most.

A female friend was reluctant to admit that she is not quite sure if she’s had an orgasm before or not, and I’m sure she’s not alone in this uncertainty. On the other hand, a male colleague compared the sensation of an orgasm to the punch of the high alcohol content of a shot of Bacardi 151 and Chartreuse. As Pincott puts it: “Some compare the sensation of male orgasm to sneezing and the female orgasm to shivering.”

Now, you can decide if a sneeze is better than a shiver, but either sex is sure to take each orgasm as a sensational, roller-coaster ride of euphoric pleasure — even if it lasts as long as, well, a sneeze.

So, with this newfound knowledge, I hand off the sexual baton to you, and you can put this theory to test. The Daily’s suggestion box is open for you to continue dishing out your thoughts and experiences regarding this, or any interesting fact about sex and the sometimes complicated, sometimes effortless relationships that accompany it.

Reach Copy Chief Parisa Sadrzadeh at features@dailyuw.com.

From wasteland to wonderland

Haylee Morse-Miller — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:59:24 -0700

Seattleites were out for political blood.

Allegations of sexual abuse and drug trafficking had been leveled against the Monastery, a dance club run by the Universal Life Church that catered to the underage. The fallout from the resulting public outcry led to the ruination of Seattle’s all-ages music scene; with harsh regulation brought on by the city’s 1985 Teen Dance Ordinance, shows for anyone under the age of 21 were almost nonexistent.

“The Teen Dance Ordinance, in a broad sense, made it prohibitively expensive and difficult to run an all-ages show,” said Nick Turner, development manager at the all-ages Vera Project.

Restrictions included the need for off-duty police officers at all shows and $1 million in liability insurance, among other things. Unless young musicians and fans were linked in to all-ages house shows and DIY venues, they were forced to make the trek to neighboring cities such as Bellevue and Redmond for their live-music fix.

After years of lobbying and legal cases, the All-Ages Dance Ordinance was passed in 2002, loosening many of the laws exacted by the Teen Dance Ordinance that governed a now severely stunted underage music scene. Since then, all-ages shows have boomed, although some elements of the Seattle music scene remain a hostile environment for young musicians.

“There’s always a need for a diversity of spaces,” Turner said. “There’s a lot of different levels that shows need to exist at.”

Part of the solution to fill the all-ages void has been the Vera Project. The idea for the venue was developed in 1999 by James Keblas and Shannon Stewart, two UW students studying abroad in the Netherlands. They were directed by friends to the Vera, a volunteer-run and Dutch government-funded film and music venue.

At the same time in Seattle, the Music and Youth Task Force was recommending that a city-funded, all-ages venue be formed. With seed money from the City of Seattle and various other organizations and private donors, the Vera Project put on their first show in January 2001 in a downtown concert space. Demand for an all-ages show was high enough that hundreds of people had to be turned away. Since then, the Vera Project has developed a permanent residence at the Seattle Center, with a venue that can hold an audience of 400 and host educational programs, such as sound engineering, to launch students into the music industry.

Sol Moravia-Rosenberg, a 20-year-old UW student and hip-hop performer known as SOL, credits the Vera Project with helping him in the Seattle area music scene. He frequently performs at the Vera Project and will headline at the Vera Stage at the Capitol Hill Block Party July 25.

“I’ve played a lot of all-ages shows and built a pretty healthy crowd,” Moravia-Rosenberg said. “I appreciate it so much … I don’t see why anyone would want to exclude that demographic.”

However, as a younger musician, Moravia-Rosenberg has faced plenty of issues in the Seattle music scene as well. Due to liquor laws, he often isn’t allowed into a venue until his part of the performance and is forced to leave directly afterward. This puts the kibosh on his ability to network and learn from other musicians’ performances, among other things.

“I played a show with Wu-Tang [Clan] last year. I had my own room backstage with the name on the door. I couldn’t get backstage and eat the food or anything because it was 21-plus,” he said. “It’s not that bad, but it’s definitely not easy.”

Venues usually fall into one of three categories. Some, like the Vera Project, cater to all ages. Others, like the Tractor Tavern, are exclusively for the 21-plus crowd.

Many music venues, such as El Corazón, offer shows to an underage crowd while requiring ID for bar access.

April Nishimura, an international studies major, works as a booking agent for the UW-based group, Dyno Jamz, and also plays cello and other instruments with the band, The Lost Boys. Her band plays primarily all-ages shows, and she sees a big difference in the audience at these shows.

“People really listen to the music,” Nishimura said, “I’ve been at house shows where everyone just sits down and listens to the music. That would never happen at a bar.”

Moravia-Rosenberg feels that venues that serve all ages but also have a bar work best, allowing the venues to make larger profits and also allow everyone in. He had a CD release party in February at Chop Suey, a bar that caters to all ages and serves alcohol.

“The artists and promoters are taking a major cut off the door, and the venue takes all the money from the bar,” he said. “The venues need that bar money to stay afloat. They aren’t going to make nearly enough money selling Gatorade bottles as they are shots of Citron.”

The revitalization of the all-ages scene has benefited younger musicians in that they now have the chance to meet and mix with others in the music industry. Dyno Jamz and SOL took first and second place, respectively, at the EMP Sound Off! — a competition for bands. Since then, they have played together and also made connections with other groups that were part of the competition.

“The connection I was able to build with the other performers was astonishing,” Moravia-Rosenberg said.

That support system that has grown out of the all-ages music scene, and the experience gained by young musicians is proving to be invaluable.

“Young people are so excited about music,” Moravia-Rosenberg said. “At least try to open up to them more. Now that I’m doing it professionally, I still remember the people I looked up to.”

Reach reporter Haylee Morse-Miller at features@dailyuw.com.

Students notified of robbery in U-District

Lexie Krell — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

last updated 10:33 a.m. on July 5

Thursday (July 2, 2009) the UW community signed up with the UW Alert system received notification around 5 p.m. that two suspects had fled the scene of a robbery that occurred north of campus. The suspects were not apprehended, and people were advised to stay alert through broadcasts on the campus outdoor alert system.

According to the UW Police Department (UWPD), the robbery occurred at a business in the area of Northeast 52nd Street and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast. Witnesses followed the suspects down Brooklyn Avenue Northeast, and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) received a 911 call that the perpetrators were at Brooklyn Avenue Northeast and Northeast Campus Parkway. Officers searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspects as they headed westbound on Northeast Campus Parkway. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects.

Barista Lillian Morlock said the perpetrators entered the store and demanded the money without causing a scene.

"They came in, they looked around and they kind of seemed nervous," Morlock said. "Rather than checking out small things that make the store unique, they were checking out whether there were people around and whether it was a good time."

The UW community was notified of the incident via the UW Alert system, which emails, text messages, and calls the phones of subscribers as part of a crisis communication network on campus. The outdoor alert system also notified students through broadcasts over the speaker system that could be heard on and around campus earlier today.

“Our only goal [was] to get some quick information out there on UW Alert so that people could be cautions,” said UWPD assistant chief Ray Wittmier. “Providing that information via UW Alert increased our chances that we could get a 911 call that could assist in the apprehension.”

Morlock said she does not feel that similar offenses are common place in the area.

"I definitely think it's not something that would happen very often," Morlock said. "It's a coffee shop. I still feel safe working at [the] place, even when I'm alone."

The case is currently under investigation by the SPD. UW students, staff, and faculty can sign up for UW alerts by visiting https://www.uwalerts.org.

Reach Arts Editor Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.

Letter to the editor

Various — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:51:23 -0700

In the race for King County executive, Democrats need to unify

A new KING 5 poll shows that Susan Hutchison, the former KIRO-TV news anchor, is still riding high on her massive name-recognition advantage. It appears her notoriety and solid Republican base make Hutchison a near certainty to move past the top-two primary on Aug.18.

This puts Democrats in a difficult position. With the recent initiative to make the office of King County executive non-partisan, the race will be harder to frame as Democrat vs. Republican — playing right into the hands of the well-known Hutchison.

To hold on to this office, Democrats should unite behind a single candidate now. The fight to cut into Hutchison’s name-recognition dominance and boost from a solid conservative base cannot start early enough for Democrats. The newly non-partisan nature of the office necessitates haste.

While numbers were previously muddled, the new poll shows that Dow Constantine is now a front-runner among Democrats. He has already proven himself a capable leader in a long career of public service, and this new poll confirms his viability. Only through unity can the Democratic majority of King County prevent a candidate out of step with their ideals from usurping a vital office.

Nick Rosellini

Issaquah, Wash.

Editorial cartoon and rants and raves

Conrad Zeutenhorst, Various — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:43:33 -0700

Rants-

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 47,000 elderly people in the United States visit emergency rooms each year as a result of falls from walkers and canes.

TV pitchman Billy Mays (of OxiClean fame) died in his sleep June 28. Mays’ death capped a week of celebrity passings that included Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon.

Raves-

A survey of 100 American centenarians shows that 3 percent use Twitter, 10 percent e-mail friends and family, and a further 4 percent download music from the Internet.

The worth of a set of carved jade from China was estimated at more than $1 million on the PBS TV program Antiques Roadshow, the first time in the show’s history an item has been appraised for that much money.

Turn off the waterworks: Shed a tear, and get on with your life

Rachel Solomon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:40:04 -0700

This past year, I witnessed four of my close friends nurse broken hearts.

They followed the typical post-breakup ritual, lamenting the loss of lovers with a pint of mint-chocolate chip ice cream, bawling over Love Actually for the third or fourth straight time and swearing off men altogether.

As I made myself useful as a one-woman tissue dispenser, I was left wondering why society mandates the female species’ complete psychological breakdown following the latest deployment of “it’s not you, it’s me.”

I’ll be honest; I’m certainly guilty of this comfortable post-relationship trap. After two particularly crushing splits, I sobbed myself to sleep several nights in a row, skipped a few meals and even lost five pounds — a feat all too noticeable on my 4-foot-11-inch frame. In retrospect, my inner Gloria Steinem is clucking with disapproval.

I’ve since reconciled my past foolishness. But it troubled me — and still does — that one person could wield so much power over another.

Now, perhaps this collapse into despair is all just proper protocol, as perpetuated by the media. After all, it’s quite rare to see a man weep to his pals or treat himself to retail therapy. But the very moment women get dumped, they’re portrayed as weak, unable to sustain a normal existence sans a Mr. Right by their side.

This portrayal is what irks me the most. There’s something seriously wrong when women are made to feel that “singledom” is a punishment reserved for sinners in the 10th circle of hell. Possessing a significant other does not somehow validate your existence; you’re perfectly capable of being whole alone.

Once the final tear falls and the last carton of Häagen-Dazs has been polished off, women seem to seize a false independence.

“I’m done with guys,” a friend told me recently, following a breakup. “I hate men.”

Sure, those safe, familiar words have oft crossed my lips. My friend was definitely not alone in feeling spiteful. But it’s only a matter of time before the next guy bats a flirtatious eye, we return a coy smile and the cycle of heartache resumes.

Let’s face the biological facts: In college, when we’re at the height of our sexual prowess, no one should be renouncing the opposite sex — or same sex, if it so suits you.

I don’t mean to compromise anyone’s grief. Whether a relationship lasts three years or three days, breakups just hurt. But I think it’s high time we stop feeling sorry for ourselves.

Shed a tear, bake a cake, buy a cute new dress, do what you need to do. But ladies, please don’t overdo it. You’ve got to know when to turn off the waterworks.

Reach Features Editor Rachel Solomon at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Poaching jobs will not lead to recovery

Mike Noon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:37:32 -0700

As Washington state’s unemployment rate approaches double digits, legislators are trying to curb the loss of jobs through a variety of programs. Unfortunately, city officials are poaching jobs from other cities to boost low employment rolls. Not only is this method of “job creation” counter-productive, it is also a waste of public funds.

The latest example is the Tacoma-based financial firm, Russell Investments. The company is looking for a place to construct its new headquarters and has mentioned Seattle as a possible location. In response, Tacoma has put together a package worth $148 million that includes tax breaks, a new parking garage and streetscape improvements to compete with Seattle’s tax break offer.

But even if the bid is successful, it would only save 900 jobs, which is a fraction of the roughly 15,000 Tacoma has lost since December. While stopping local employment loss is important, cities regularly go overboard when competing for businesses. A good example is the 2003 battle over the production of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. The state passed $3.2 billion in incentives to have the plane built in Western Washington.

Creating jobs via this method is a negative-sum game. Any company that can so easily relocate will likely do so regularly if not given incentives. This leads to absurd bidding contests among cities as each tries to upstage their rivals with a more ridiculous combination of tax breaks, subsidies and public expenditures for private benefit. This happened in 2001 when Chicago, Dallas and Denver competed to be the new location of Boeing’s global headquarters. The winner was Chicago, which offered the largest package, consisting of $41 million in incentives.

This type of employment poaching shifts rather than creates jobs. Moving an employee from Tacoma to Seattle will not reduce the region’s unemployment but will further impoverish both cities. While the losing city ends up with fewer jobs, the “winning” city will have only achieved a pyrrhic victory. Whether through tax exemptions or public expenditures, the winner will become poorer at a time when revenues are already low due to the recession.

The millions of dollars spent on stealing or saving jobs from other cities is money not used to produce more locally sustainable jobs. During the 1960s, Seattle’s Pike Place Market was scheduled to be demolished as part of an urban renewal plan to replace the market with a garage, hotel and park. Residents came together to save and revitalize the downtown icon. As a result, Pike Place Market has not only provided numerous jobs for more than three decades, but has become a vital tourist destination for the city.

Developing institutions such as Pike Place Market also have an added benefit of making the city a desirable place to live. Places that attract people for cultural reasons can help provide a strong workforce for potential employers.

Money spent on Pike Place Market produced the type of sustainable jobs that will fuel Washington’s economic recovery. The city and the state should focus their efforts on redeveloping infrastructure and supporting local entrepreneurs rather than getting in a bidding contest with other regions. With a little effort and planning, we can create the type of sustainable and local jobs that expand, rather than shift, employment.

Reach columnist Mike Noon at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Will's Word of the Week: bikini

Will Mari — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:20:18 -0700

This week’s word was once quite scandalous, licentious and even promiscuous. Indeed, it’s not normally a word I’d consider delving into, but in the interest of a summer etymological survey, “bikini” is worthy of our (modest) attention.

The bikini is, of course, a two-piece swimsuit for women, and variations of the basic idea have been around since the days of the Greeks and Romans (yes, they liked to go the beach, too). Fourth-century mosaics at the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily depict Roman women wearing rather bikini-like tops and bottoms. But for much of the first part of the 20th century, women’s swimwear was not nearly as revealing, and “somewhat frumpy” would be a polite way of describing old-timey bathing suits. Privacy and exceptional modesty were the bywords of beach-goers everywhere.

After the first World War, that began to change, as Hollywood led the way by — gasp! — showing a bit of bare midriff on actresses such as Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth. A “bit” was still a bit, however, and the all-important navel was still tastefully covered up.

But in July 1946, a bomb got dropped: an atomic bomb, to be more precise, in the Marshall Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy’s “Operation Crossroads” detonated two 23-kiloton nuclear devices on the Bikini Atoll in an attempt to see how such weapons would affect both men and machines.

On the other side of the world, two French designers were separately planning a style explosion of their own. Inspired by the high drama and excitement of the early atomic age, Jacques Heim (1899-1967) was the first, advertising his “Atome” in early summer 1946 as the “world’s smallest bathing suit.” Louis Réard (1897-1984), an automotive engineer-turned-fashion designer, countered with a far smaller suit. Constructed of just 30 square inches of fabric, Réard could not, in fact, get any self-respecting girl to model it, turning to ah, well, a dancer at the Casino de Paris named Micheline Bernardini for help with putting it on display.

Réard timed his brainchild’s debut on July 5 at the Piscine Molitor, a Parisian public pool, perfectly, naming it “le bikini” after the site of the American Navy’s nuclear test that had occurred just four days earlier that same week. He claimed that it was, in fact, smaller than the world’s smallest swimsuit, but as explosive as an atomic bomb. The resulting (back) splash was indeed the fashion equivalent of an atomic explosion, but Southern Europe embraced the scanty suit within a decade or so. American shores repelled the bikini’s global advance until the 1960s, and the advent of the counterculture, in this case, symbolized by Brian Hyland’s 1960 hit, “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini” (and by all those silly Frankie Avalon beach-party movies and, of course, The Beach Boys).

All that to say, the first appearance in English of the word comes to us, as noted by the Oxford English Dictionary, in the June 14, 1948 issue of Newsweek, with the line: “This … French beauty… shows the 1948 countertrend against the skimpy ‘bikini’ style … which swept French beaches and beauty contests last year.” The July 2, 1957 London Times offers this definition of a bikini: “‘A small pair of pants and a brassière.’”

In the interest of taste, I won’t delve too much into bikini bottoms for men (think Europe and bodybuilders and stop right there); there’s also the sling “mankini,” but I’ll leave that one to your imagination too.

I wouldn’t wear one myself, but I do hope you found this Spartan garment’s history enlightening. If you have any word ideas, questions or comments, please send me a note at features@dailyuw.com, and until next time, cheers!

Reach Opinion Editor Will Mari at features@dailyuw.com.

Voices heard 'round the world

Michael Truong — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:09:26 -0700

Sorayya* submitted her absentee ballot to vote in the Iranian presidential election at 3 p.m. June 12.

Two hours after the UW senior cast her ballot, her family received a call from Iran.

“My grandparents called and said [the Iranian government] announced the president,” Sorayya said. “We voted just two hours before we were told about the announcement, so we were very surprised about the results.”

News coverage of the current political turmoil in Iran resonates deep emotional feelings for several UW students of Iranian descent, many of whom have relatives living in the country.

The protests in Iran gained momentum after the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency declared incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the victor of the presidential election with 63 percent of the votes. Supporters of the Reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi flooded the streets of Tehran, primarily in Azadi and Enghelab squares, wearing green, the color of Mousavi’s campaign.

Many of the protesters in Iran also covered their faces with scarves and masks, fearing reprisal by a paramilitary volunteer force called the Basij if they are identified in media coverage. UW students who occasionally travel to visit relatives in the country, such as Sorayya, also felt the fear of government reprisal.

“It’s not that people of Iran are so behind Mousavi; it’s the idea of freedom that Mousavi represented,” said junior Cyrus Kazemi, who has relatives in Iran. “They feel like the government was taking away the freedom they got so close to achieving.”

A popular message on protest signs asked in English: “Where is my vote?” Although most of the signs carried by protesters were written in Farsi, many signs targeted Western audiences with English writing.

“Iranians want their voices to be heard,” Sorayya said. “It’s not that they want Mousavi or Ahmadinejad, it’s the principle of their voices not being heard. A lot of people felt it was more like a selection than an election.”

The president of Iran is the nation’s highest elected official but is subordinate to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The president does not make major foreign policy decisions or control Iran’s armed forces and must be approved by a group of six religious clerics and six legal experts known as the Guardian Council. The chairman of the Guardian Council is a strong supporter of Khamenei.

“What happened in Iran was the breaking point,” Sorayya said. “Iranians really appreciate and look up to the freedoms Americans have, and they want to have the same thing there.”

Sorayya said young people in Iran look to Western countries for more than just political inspiration.

“When you walk down the more affluent streets of Tehran, you see the young generation imitating the style of large fashion hubs like Los Angeles,” she said.

More than 60 percent of Iran’s population is under the age of 30 as a result of a booming birthrate that followed the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

That revolution resulted in the overthrow of Iran’s monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

“The shah of Iran was a megalomaniac who pushed the country to a point where the military abandoned him, the people rose up and the Islamic republic is what emerged,” said Talal Hattar, a political science graduate student and TA.

Many Iranian-Americans are critical of the Iranian government because of the conditions that forced large numbers of Iranians to flee during the revolution, but Iranian-Americans are not homogeneous in their perceptions of the events currently unfolding.

“There is a large part of the population embracing the reformists, but they’re not trying to be a new United States,” said junior Alec Maghami. “They want something closer to what China has where the government still has the reigns of the country, but it will embrace capitalism.”

Maghami’s grandfather was a doctor and a professor at the University of Tehran before the revolution. His grandfather and father fled Iran at the onset of the revolution and settled in the United States.

Although the crisis in Iran has been compared to the 1979 revolution, the government has not demonstrated any intention of changing its structure.

The theocratic republic sees authority divided between elected officials and senior clerics but is ultimately overseen by the supreme leader.

The supreme leader and the Guardian Council have demonstrated their control over the country through ordering its military and law enforcement forces to quell the protests and rejecting any possibility of a re-election.

The size of the current protests — the biggest since 1979 — is significant because it serves as an indicator to Western observers that the supreme leader’s control over Iran may no longer be as strong as previously thought.

The government’s theocratic nature has led to laws that prohibit alcohol and tobacco and censor cultural influence.

“In Iran, there are certain books you’re not allowed to read, so some people set up networks where they trade books for underground book reading,” Kazemi said. “There is heavy censorship on the Internet, so Twitter became big during the elections because it was one of the few mediums that wasn’t as censored.”

The BBC reported in late May that Iranians attempting to log onto Facebook received a message in Farsi that read, “Access to this site is not possible.”

The Iranian government shut down text messaging service and Facebook in the days preceding the elections to prevent Mousavi from gaining more supporters in the weeks leading up to the election.

Many of the UW students who still have family members in Iran have experienced a roller coaster of emotions in recent weeks: relief in learning their family members are safe, disappointment as their votes appear to have gone uncounted, and optimism that this month’s events will be a catalyst for change in the future.

“I would like to see continued pressure on the Islamic republic and pressure on the leadership to change the way the government is structured,” Maghami said. “I would like to see the power divide at the top in the clerical ranks lead to a slackening of the reigns on military pressure on the people, and that leading to increased reformist rights.”

Although separated by 12 times zones and 6,700 miles, many UW Iranian-Americans are perhaps just as connected to the streets of Iran as the protesters themselves. Glued to the TV, refreshing their Internet browsers and waiting for the phone to ring, they anxiously anticipate news that has been 30 years in the making.

*Last name withheld for security reasons.

Reach reporter Michael Truong at features@dailyuw.com.

48-percent fee hikes in nurse-practitioner program

Ivan Vukovic — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Amid school-wide tuition hikes, one of the programs hit the hardest is the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program in the UW School of Nursing (SON). In June, the SON told its students there would be a 48 percent increase in program fees for incoming students, raising quarterly tuition from $4,600 to $6,800 per quarter.

“It’s well above what I thought I was going to be paying,” said Adam Davis, a graduate student in the FNP program. “I’m hopeful that this isn’t going to stay the same because I think that they’re kind of putting the FNP program at a huge disadvantage in terms of the future when it comes to trying to get strong applicants to apply for the program.”

While the FNP program is self-sustaining — it pays for itself through student fees and receives no state funding — the SON, which the practitioner program is a part of, is facing 11-percent cuts.

According to the UW’s Web site, the three-year FNP program is a specialty within the Doctor of Nursing Practice program that aims to train students to diagnose and treat diseases and prescribe medication to patients of all ages.

Not all students in the program see the benefits of a career as a FNP as being undermined by the increase in program fees.

“As a nurse practitioner, I will be making a lot of money when I graduate,” said Emily Donaldson, a graduate student in the FNP program. “So I don’t actually have a fear of being able to repay my loans.”

One of the stipulations of the program increase is that the 48-percent increase only applies to incoming students. Continuing students already enrolled in the program will be paying $5,307, or 14 percent more in fees.

“The actual cost varies by type of student because we are committed to easing the transition for our continuing students,” said Marla Salmon, dean of the SON.

Need-based students, who are exempt from paying the “tuition” part of the program fees, are also receiving a break with their decreased costs now covering a larger range of credits.

“For the tuition-exempt students, the university has increased the number of credits it will now cover in summer and fall quarters — from six credits to 18 credits,” said Lia Unrau, director of communications for the SON. “This holds the fees the tuition-exempt students pay to just the program fees — about $402. Students will be responsible for any costs beyond 18 credits.”

The SON chose to raise tuition rather than cut programs or faculty and staff in an effort to have more time to continue to find ways to have all of the school’s various programs bring in more revenue.

“These decisions have been very difficult. We are deeply grateful to have been able to preserve faculty and staff employment and continue to offer our programs in the face of unprecedented cuts,” Salmon said. “Having our faculty, staff and programs continue this year allows us to prepare for the future in ways that would have not been possible had we not made the decisions we’ve made.”

Davis agrees the program has a lot to offer society, but feels the new program hikes will turn prospective students away.

“I think the program is something that could be very significant to the state of Washington,” Davis said. “I think the state and school would like to be as supportive as possible, but the curriculum is actually extremely expensive.”

Reach reporter Ivan Vukovic at news@dailyuw.com.

Bank robberies, stolen wallets and illegal showering

Lexie Krell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

From fraud to graffiti, this weekly crime blotter aims to inform readers about offenses on and surrounding campus. While in-depth articles may be written about specific incidents, this column provides a brief overview of recent crimes that impact the UW community.

Monday, June 22

Officers responded to a complaint of spray-painted graffiti on a retaining wall by the UW Botany Greenhouse. The estimated damage of the vandalism is $590. Further graffiti found on the wall of a parking garage at UW Tower is estimated to cost $250 to remove.

Authorities responded to a man showering in a kitchen in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The individual was given a written warning for trespassing and left the area.

Police arrived at Suzzallo Library after a suspect wearing bloody clothing entered the building and reportedly took a phone out of a bystander’s hand to prevent the individual from calling 911. The victim declined to press charges. The suspect was trespassed from all UW libraries and admitted to gang activity.

A suspect stole the wallet of an individual studying near the information desk in Odegaard Library. The victim left her belongings unattended to use the restroom and returned to find her wallet missing at an estimated loss of $190.

Tuesday, June 23

Authorities approached two people sitting next to a vent in the central parking garage. The individuals said they were homeless, and the officers informed them they could not stay in the garage overnight. One suspect was arrested at the scene for a misdemeanor warrant but was released because of overcrowding at the Kent Police Department. Authorities released both suspects without further incident.

An unknown person gained access to an individual’s debit-card information and made three fraudulent charges. The victim checked his account balance and was informed by his bank it was $0. Authorities at the Japanese Embassy advised him to cancel the card and file a report with police.

Wednesday, June 24

Officers responded to a fight at the UW Human Resources building to find the victim in what appeared to be an intoxicated state. After displaying uncooperative and aggressive behavior, the individual was involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation.

Tuesday, June 30

Authorities received a report of a robbery at the Bank of America in the 4700 block of the Ave. This incident is part of a series of bank robberies that have occurred in the Seattle area during the past weeks and is being investigated by the FBI.

The UW Police Department provides the information for this column.

Reach Arts Editor Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.

Economic entertainment: Outdoor cinema offers inexpensive way to have fun

Julian Estrada — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Zombie walkathons, haircutting showdowns, karaoke contests and gourmet popcorn all converged at the Fremont Outdoor Cinema last weekend.

The theater, which began its 17th season this year, shows weekly movies during the summer for a suggested donation of $5. The program also provides visitors with zany preshow activities that relate to the featured film.

“It’s easy: Grab a few lawn chairs, a blanket, a picnic basket; then grab a date or a group of friends,” said Ryan Reiter, the artistic director of the program.

The festivities before last week’s showing of Edward Scissorhands included a hairstylist competition hosted by Rudy’s Barbershop.

“There’s a lot of preshow fun, comedians, jugglers and magicians,” said vendor Dana Adams.

Saturday’s festivities began with about 250 people arriving for the preshow fun. As the sun disappeared, the former gas station evolved into a make-shift theater. The parking lot was a montage of laughing children, pets and young couples by the time the film began on the 40-foot jumbotron.

Edward Scissorhands is one movie in a lineup that is chosen by the cinema staff before the start of each summer.

“We start out with a list of about 30 movies that we have played over the years, never played, and movies that we think would be a good [match] for the summer,” Reiter said. “It sounds easy, but it usually takes us about three months to make our final decisions.”

The Fremont Outdoor Cinema started in 1992 as a means of bringing people together while supporting local businesses. The cinema has a family-oriented atmosphere that employs interactive aspects such as movie trivia, costume contests, karaoke and photo booths.

While this cinema is an outdoor venue, it has had difficulties accommodating all of its visitors in the past. Jon Hegeman, co-founder of the cinema, said that some moviegoers spilled into the streets and onto rooftops for last summer’s showing of Ghostbusters.

For the rest of the summer, the cinema will show an array of cult classics and established blockbusters such as Some Like It Hot and Die Hard. Additionally, 3,800 zombies will attempt to break a Guinness World Record by walking the streets of Fremont before the screening of Shaun of the Dead on July 3.

“We’ll probably go to another one if the evening is right,” said moviegoer Kelly Malone on his first visit to the cinema.

After a long year of economic strain, watching an outdoor movie and participating in the eccentric festivities of the Fremont Outdoor Cinema is an inexpensive way to let loose and start the summer.

Reach reporter Julian Estrada at arts@dailyuw.com.

The Entertainer

Lexie Krell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Wednesday, July 1

7 p.m. — Treeless Mountain

Northwest Film Forum — This semi-autobiographical film, which runs until July 2, follows two young girls in Korea who rely on each other after being repeatedly disappointed by adults. Tickets are $6 to $9. nwfilmforum.org

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Thursday, July 2

First Thursday

Admission to the Seattle Art Museum (10 a.m. to 9 p.m.), Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (5 to 8 p.m.) and the Seattle Asian Art Museum (10 a.m. to 9 p.m.) is free on the first Thursday of every month. There is also a monthly art walk in Pioneer Square (noon to 8 p.m.). firstthursdayseattle.com

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Friday, July 3

Noon to 10 p.m. — Seattle International Beerfest

Mural Amphitheatre, Seattle Center — This event offers 150 beers from more than 15 countries as well as live music. Entry is $20 and comes with a glass and 10 beer tickets. Drinks cost from 1 to 4 tickets, and of-age non-drinkers can attend for $5. Attendees must be 21 or older, and the event runs through Sunday.

seattlebeerfest.com

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Saturday, July 4

Noon — Chase Family 4th

GasWorks Park — This celebration goes from July 3 to July 5 and includes activities, food vendors and music from Sound Wave, the official band of the Seattle Sounders Football Club. A fireworks display will begin about 10 p.m.

chasefamily4th.org

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Sunday, July 5

Noon — Waterlines

Volunteer Park — This performance by Stokley Towles occurs at various times until July 19 and explores the sources, conservation and perceptions of water. The artist worked with Seattle city employees to get information for the piece and explored Mesopotamia, where Hammurabi’s rules for water originated.

seanet.com/~stokley

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Monday, July 6

7 p.m. — Summer Sings

Benaroya Hall — Dennis Coleman, artistic director of the Seattle Men’s Chorus, will lead an open reading session to Fauré’s Requiem for interested singers. Tickets are $10 at the door (pay with cash or check).

seattlesymphony.org/benaroya

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Tuesday, July 7

7:10 p.m. — Seattle Mariners vs. Baltimore Orioles

See the second game in the series between Seattle and Baltimore at Safeco Field on military discount night. Tickets start at $7.

seattle.mariners.mlb.com

Marching with Pride

Lexie Krell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The streets of downtown Seattle were filled Sunday with crowds celebrating the 35th anniversary of Seattle Pride. Marching in the festivities — some for the first time — were members of the UW community.

The parade began at Union Street and 4th Avenue at 11 a.m. and ended near Seattle Center as part of the monthlong Seattle Pride celebration that aims to create unity and honor diversity with LGBTQ pride events.

The Q Faculty and Staff of the UW (QFSUW) group marched in Seattle’s parade for the first time this year, and UW staff member Ivan Henson designed the T-shirt logo for this year’s event.

“What the Pride parade does is show the queer community and the non-queer community that we provide a support network for our students,” said UW alumnus Stein Haakenstad, who walked with the group. “It was to show the unified front of the Huskies and the UW to the student body.”

The group didn’t have a float this year, instead sporting purple T-shirts and marching behind a banner, but they hope to expand in the coming years.

“We definitely plan to grow UW’s presence at the parade, since this was our first year as a funded [group],” said organizer James Fesalbon.

QFSUW also hopes to partner with other groups for the coming parades.

“I think the future plan would be to actually encourage not just the queer faculty, staff and students, but also allied groups to join and help fund a float,” said graduate student Ed Chang.

The group had received $1,000 in funding from the UW’s Leadership, Community and Values Initiative to use during the entire 2008-2009 school year, but it struggled to cover the costs of the parade. To offset the expense of the event, members of the group purchased their own T-shirts.

“We knew going into the academic year that $1,000 was going to be difficult to spread throughout the year,” Fesalbon said. “You basically had to be creative as to how you’re going to make the money last.”

Budget cuts have created uncertainty about funding for the coming year, and the group’s allocation for the 2009-2010 school year has yet to be determined. But since Sheila Edwards Lange, vice president of minority affairs and vice provost of diversity, marched with the group, some members aren’t concerned.

“If the [vice president of minority affairs] is willing to step out here, I think it shows that the UW values diversity,” Fesalbon said.

The UW chapter of Delta Lambda Phi, a national social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, marched in the parade and hosted a booth at Seattle PrideFest, the celebration at Seattle Center following the parade.

“It’s a great way to build connections with other groups in the community,” said Delta Lambda Phi President Rob Squizzera. This marks roughly the fifth year the fraternity has marched in the parade and the first year they have had a booth at the festival.

This year’s parade celebrated a theme of peace, love and equality, encouraging participants to express and honor diversity.

“In a group of people that is often oppressed,” said Fesalbon, “having these events for this monthlong celebration serves as a way to celebrate pride in being true to oneself.”

Reach Arts Editor Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.

Public Enemies: The end of a gangster era comes to the screen

Robert Frankel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

4.5/5 stars

Michael Mann has been at the forefront of crime cinema since his 1995 masterpiece Heat. He is one of the few filmmakers who manages to make dark, deathly intelligent thrillers with a strong sense of style and spirit.

With Public Enemies, Mann returns to tell the story of the legendary battle between the law and Depression-era gangsters, specifically that of the hunt for the United States’ very first public enemy number one: John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), the notorious bank robber and folk hero.

Hot on Dillinger’s trail is agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). What follows is a crime history set in the streets and outskirts of 1930s Chicago, tracing the fall of the last great gangsters and the rise of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI.

Although the film lacks the wicked tension of Mann’s previous efforts, it is still engaging. Prepare for a thorough and engrossing look into both the workings of gangsters and the early operations of the fledgling FBI. Based on his previous work, Mann is no stranger to crime narratives. He is interested in the political, technical, social and even organizational processes that drive both the cops and the robbers. No stone is left unturned, making the end product a rich and layered experience instead of a simple run-and-gun picture.

In addition to its intellectual strengths, Public Enemies also boasts incredible visuals. Mann’s flair for the image on screen is a talent rivaled by few modern directors. He uses colors and movement, part of his ultra-stylized technique, that add to the story’s impact, not just its presentation. Unlike many similar films, Mann’s work is not only visually invigorating, but also emotionally effective. When his new film presents Dillinger’s famous assassination, the scene’s orchestration is both poetic and balletic.

Mann remains true to his gritty style even in the context of the 1930s. Sometimes the camera is too shaky, and at other times it is difficult to tell exactly what is happening. The violence, when present, is intense and overwhelming. Gunfights are chaotic and brutal, as they would seem to be in reality. It is interesting to view this modernist style chronicling what is effectively a period piece, but it works quite well for the most part.

One of the most important aspects of the film is its phenomenal acting. Depp and Bale have an outstanding chemistry that continues even when they aren’t on screen together, and Marion Cotillard displays great skill at portraying Dillinger’s lover.

Enthusiasts will revel at the perfect embodiment of gangsters Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), not to mention the strong accompaniment of the musical score or the convincing 1930s production design.

Overall, Public Enemies is an exceptional film. It is both exciting and powerful, and although it is not Michael Mann’s best film, it certainly is one of his finer ones.

Reach reporter Robert Frankel at arts@dailyuw.com.

Robotics: International Science and Systems Conference comes to UW

Doris Wu — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

For the past four years, experts from all over the world have flocked together to exchange and share ideas on a broad range of concepts within the field of robotics. This year, the UW had the honor of hosting the Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference where researchers presented their work on a number of topics including autonomous robots and sea exploration.

“The RSS conference is held annually at a different site each year,” Gaurav Sukhatme, a computer science professor at the University of Southern California who is researching robotic sensor networks for exploring aquatic environments, wrote in an e-mail. “The UW is a major center of robotics research, so it was chosen this year.”

Previous conferences have convened in various locations around the world. Last year, the conference was held at ETHZ, a technical institute in Zurich, Switzerland. The UW was picked for this year’s conference.

“The UW has a very strong presence in robotics and has a unique robotics faculty,” said Sebastian Thrun, founder of RSS and robotics expert at Stanford University. “It’s been very eager to host the conference here, [and] it was a perfect fit for us.”

Thrun said that in a field as complex as robotics, these annual gatherings are necessary to explore complicated issues, such as the problems of getting a robot to follow a diver underwater.

“We used a technique that allows the robot to detect biological motion in the water to recognize specific creatures, such as a diver, and follow them,” said Gregory Dudek, a professor at McGill University in Quebec, Canada. “We use a custom, gesture-based language akin to sign language, but better suited to underwater robotics.”

“In science, you’re trying to solve difficult problems,” he said. “So getting together periodically in this exchange and learning about the problem you’re trying to solve is beneficial to everybody. It’s a big gathering of people who are at the forefront of robotics.”

Graduate students and faculty in all areas of robotics submitted work to present at the conference. The submissions went through selective committees who only chose certain findings.

“The selection process for being chosen is extremely rigorous where only 25 percent of applicants are accepted to present their research,” said Yoky Matsuoka, program chair on the RSS Organizing Committee and associate professor in the UW's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Although there is no common theme in the work presented — experts in robotics come from multiple fields — popular topics at this year’s conference were robot autonomy and robotic underwater exploration.

“[A] key challenge that a number of people are working on, including my group, is how to effectively set up systems of multiple robots that interact with humans,” said Kristi Morgansen, UW assistant professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. “Questions that are under investigation are how much autonomy should be given to the robots, how much autonomy should stay with the humans, and how should the two best interact.”

Out of all the findings presented at the conference, Thrun said he’s most excited about MIT studies on controlling air vehicles.

“If this work pans out, you’ll be able to land regular aircraft vertically,” he said. “Think of what the implications of that is. It’ll be possible to take a very small aircraft and possibly land it in your backyard.”

Overall, the conference was a great success, said Dieter Fox, local arrangement co-chair on the Organizing Committee and assistant professor at the UW's Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

Next year, the conference will be held in Spain.

Reach reporter Doris Wu at news@dailyuw.com.

From warehouse to chic: Fremont lounge provides pool, music and dancing

Matthew Jackson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

4/5 stars

Of Fremont’s repurposed warehouses, the Ballroom is the classy place to go for seekers of drinks and East Coast-style pizza.

The Ballroom is open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night. With a hip young crowd, it sees its busiest nights during the weekend, though there are reasons to go any day of the week.

Pool is half-priced Sunday through Tuesday at any of the six regulation-sized tables, and PBR beer is $2 all night. Pool is free for participants in the Ballroom’s “Trivia with a Twist” that is held on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. Winners take home cash, while losers get various other prizes. Entry is $5 per group, with an eight person limit per team.

Thursday through Saturday are great nights for dancing in the room adjoining the pool hall. The music is always great, although loud on the weekends. Be prepared for a $10 cover charge as well.

The bars themselves — one with outside access — are stylish and made of dark wood, fitting with the dark, chic atmosphere of the Ballroom. Six wide-screen televisions, a fire pit and a vintage photo booth add to the charm.

The food ranges from typical comfort, bar food to more exotic options. Appetizers of calamari, Caesar salad, fried mozzarella, meatballs and garlic bread are all made in-house and cost less than $10 each.

The real draw, however, is the pizza. The signature pizzas come by the slice or as whole, 28-inch, hand-tossed pizzas. In addition to all the classic pizza choices, the Ballroom also features some exciting gourmet toppings. The Oglio D’Ovio mixes goat cheese, arugula and garlic while the Rocket features buffalo chicken and bleu cheese.

These pizzas are huge and delicious, and with the beer, provide the perfect way to begin — or end — an evening of pool.

A dozen beers on tap, along with a full selection of wines and liquors, provide choices for everyone. Happy hour is from 4 to 7 p.m. every day, with a second food-only happy hour from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sundays and Mondays.

The earlier happy hour features wines, beers, PBR and wells. Pizza by the slice is either customized for $3, with additional toppings for 50 cents each, or $4 for a signature slice. The fried mozzarella, garlic bread, Italian house salad and Caesar salad are each $3 as well.

Although the Ballroom has come under scrutiny for drawing a “sketchy” crowd and has a history of purse and jacket theft, for bar-goers with common sense, the Ballroom is a great hangout. For a higher-intensity night out, try the weekends, or enjoy the more casual weeknight outing where the bar can be a comfortable spot for drinks and dinner.

Reach reporter Matt Jackson at arts@dailyuw.com.

UW Alert increasingly used in notification of hazmat incidents

Lexie Krell — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:13:32 -0700

When hazardous material (hazmat) incidents occur on campus, the response from authorities can at times seem overwhelming, and notification about the incidents has recently increased.

“We have come to the conclusion that the public likes to have some sort of information, no matter the severity of the incident,” said Ray Wittmier, UW Police Department assistant chief.

The UW community received notification of a hazmat situation in the T-wing of the Magnuson Health Sciences building last Wednesday when a gas leak in the area was reported. Wittmier said the incident took roughly 25 minutes to resolve, at which time notification giving the all-clear was sent.

“We evacuated the area, and then the fire department went in with their monitors,” Wittmier said. “By the time the fire department had made entry with their monitoring devices, they found the gas level was of a safe level in the facility, so they were able to let occupants re-enter the building.”

The incident marks the second time in the past few months that a notification of a hazmat situation has been sent via UW Alert, an emergency communication system that sends text messages, e-mails and automated phone calls to people who subscribe to the service. The notification briefly explains situations the UW community may observe on and around campus.

“As we evolve with the UW Alert system, one of the things we have had discussions about is the amount of concern generated when the public sees numerous emergency vehicles,” Wittmier said.

A UW Alert was sent regarding a hazmat situation at Hall Health in mid-May, when employees on the ground floor experienced a burning sensation in their eyes and throats. While 29 emergency vehicles were sent to respond to the incident, no hazardous materials were found upon inspection of the building.

“Our dispatchers make a decision on what kind of response to send based on whatever information they get over the phone,” said Dana Vander Houwen, Seattle Fire Department (SFD) public information officer. “In some cases, after firefighters arrive, they may be able to determine there is not an immediate life-safety issue and return some of those units.”

This large response was part of SFD’s protocol for hazmat incidents. If multiple individuals appear to have sustained injuries, the situation is classified as a multiple casualty incident, and an extensive response network is deployed.

While use of the UW Alert system develops, increased notification and the large safety official response to hazmat incidents do not always represent the severity of the incident at hand, instead reflecting a trend of increased crisis communication on campus.

Reach reporter Lexie Krell at news@dailyuw.com.

Brockman drafted by Portland, traded to Sacramento

Maks Goldenshteyn — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:00:00 -0700

With family and friends anxiously huddled around the TV at his Snohomish

home, former Husky forward Jon Brockman got a call from friend and former UW frontcourt mate Spencer Hawes.

“You’re my rookie,” Hawes told Brockman.

Sure enough, just moments later, the Portland Trail Blazers would make Brockman the No. 38 overall pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, having already traded those rights to the Sacramento Kings for former Arizona State forward Jeff Pendergraph and guard Sergio Rodriguez.

The announcement would trigger a wild celebration at the Brockman household with Husky coach Lorenzo Romar taking part as a guest.

“It was almost like a Selection Sunday when you realize you got picked for the NCAA tournament and what see you are,” said Romar. “You couldn’t hear a word from the television at that point. Everyone just threw their hands up and stood up and applauded. It was a great scene.”

Brockman, Washington’s all-time leading rebounder and second leading scorer, is the fifth Husky to get drafted since Romar became head coach in 2002, following in the footsteps of Bobby Jones, Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson and good friend Spencer Hawes.

“It’s truly a dream come true to get drafted in the NBA,” Brockman said Thursday night. “I don’t think I could ask for a better situation playing alongside my former AAU teammate, college teammate, and now NBA teammate. I don't know if that's ever been done before. But it's a dream come true and I'm overwhelmed.”

As a senior, Brockman earned All-Pac-10 honors with averages of 14.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, leading Washington to its first outright conference title since 1953.

Yet at just 6 feet 7 inches tall, some wondered whether the undersized Brockman’s bruising style could carry over to the next level.

The Snohomish High graduate seemed to silence some of those doubters with his output during April’s Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, leading all players in rebounding at 16.3 per game, four rebounds more than the next closest player.

But Romar insists it was more than Brockman’s gritty, physical play that caught the attention of the Kings’ front brass.

“The team that drafted him appreciates what he brings to the table, and that’s the other intangibles—finish and make plays [offensively],” Romar said. “He can really run the floor, and that’s another thing that impressed Sacramento. He’s a strong presence defensively when he gets a low base to the ground and he gets physical with people. It wasn’t just that he was a hard worker and a rebounder.”

It was after his Portsmouth performance that Brockman and his agent decided to pass on the NBA’s annual pre-draft combine in Chicago, decline interviews with the media and forego individual workouts with teams.

All the secrecy led some observers to wonder whether Brockman had secured an informal deal with a team prior to the draft. But Brockman, speaking to reporters for the first time in weeks Thursday night, said his decision to lay low was a strategy formed to gain stock and climb draft boards by “being that forbidden fruit, that one thing that they [teams] can’t have.”

“It was tough for me. It wasn’t easy at all,” Brockman said. “I’m not the kind of guy who doesn’t want to tell people what’s going on, or anything like that. But really I was just following the advice of my agents. “

And that advice had gotten Brockman considerable interest from four other teams – Milwaukee, San Antonio, Cleveland and Portland.

But Brockman says he’s just happy to end up only a short plane trip away from friends and family.

And happy for the chance to play alongside Hawes again.

“I don’t know who’s more excited,” said Romar. “Jon or Spencer.”

Reach reporter Maks Goldenshteyn at news@dailyuw.com

Spitting, broken beer bottles and newspaper-stand delinquency

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:57:15 -0700

From missing paintball tickets to counterfeit bills, this weekly crime blotter aims to inform readers about offenses on and surrounding the campus. While in-depth articles may be written about specific incidents, this column provides a brief overview of recent crimes that impact the UW community.

Monday, June 8

A suspicious person became uncooperative with officers near the William Gates Law Building as they attempted to give him a trespass warning. The suspect made kicking motions toward the officers and spit on one of the police officers. He was placed under arrest and later released with a criminal citation.

Wednesday, June 10

Two male suspects harassed two individuals in the E1 parking lot as they left an event at the Bank of America Arena. The suspects hit the hood of the victims’ car, threw a lit cigarette at one of the victims and spit in the other’s face. The victims were referred to the UWPD crime victim advocate.

Friday, June 12

Authorities responded to a report of a counterfeit $20 bill at the Commuter Services Office. Officers verified that the bill was fraudulent and submitted it into evidence. No suspect has been found at this time.

Saturday, June 13

Authorities investigated a large fight disturbance at 1:11 a.m. in the 5500 block of the Ave. A male victim sustained a deep cut to his upper arm and claimed that the suspect inflicted the injury by slashing him with a broken beer bottle outside the party. The suspect was found and arrested nearby. While authorities were investigating the incident, a suspect broke glass behind them and fled. The suspect was later apprehended.

Monday, June 15

Officers confronted a suspect after receiving a report that someone had been damaging a metal newspaper stand near Schmitz Hall. The suspect ran away, but eventually stopped and was arrested. Authorities found a small bag of what appeared to be marijuana on his person. The estimated damage to the newspaper stand is $100.

Friday, June 19

Authorities spoke with multiple witnesses of domestic violence at a bus stop by the UW Medical Center and arrested a male suspect after several reported that he slammed his female companion to the ground. The victim was released to her grandmother.

An adult male was robbed at gunpoint at 11:38 p.m. at Northeast 43rd Street and 12th Ave Northeast. The two male suspects took the victim’s property and fled without injuring the individual.

Officers responded to a stabbing outside a tavern in the 4300 block of the Ave. Authorities took the suspect into custody; the victim was treated for a stab wound to his arm and slashes to his face and transported to Harborview Medical Center. Both individuals were intoxicated, and the suspect began swinging a knife when he was removed from the bar. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening.

Sunday, June 21

A vehicle in the central parking garage was vandalized, and authorities responded to the scene to find the rear passenger window broken and a backpack and paintball tickets missing from the car. The estimated damage is $500, and the estimated loss is $387.

The UW Police Department and the Seattle Police Department’s online blotter provided the information for this column. The online blotter represents a sampling of the hundreds of incidents the SPD responds to each day.

Reach reporter Lexie Krell at news@

dailyuw.com.

Majority of swing-shift custodians may keep their shift

Eric Staples — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:56:49 -0700

On March 25, all swing-shift custodians received a notice that they would be moving to the day shift on June 1 as a result of the 16 percent cut the department is facing. After the custodians’ 3-month struggle to voice their concerns, UW Custodial Services and the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), Local 1488, are now in conversation over the possibility of keeping a majority of swing-shift custodians on their current shifts.

Initially, Custodial Services management was unwilling to bargain in good faith; now they’re more receptive to employee needs, and things are changing.

“We have made a proposal to keep 50 [of the 85 swing-shift] positions,” said Gene Woodard, director of Custodial Services. “They’ve bargained, [and] we’ve listened to the union. They’ve made the case that this is a hardship.”

On May 28, the Board of Regents held a special meeting where custodians and their supporters explained the change in lifestyle custodians would face with the transition, such as difficulties with childcare or conflicts with daytime jobs.

Immediately after the meeting, Custodial Services management decided to move the transition date for swing-shift custodians to July 1 to allow more time to continue negotiations with the custodians’ union.

“We’re actually making some progress in the negotiations now and trying to put together an agreement,” said Cecil Tibbits, a professional bargainer for WFSE Local 1488. “Our goal obviously is to take care of as many of the hardships as possible.”

Woodard said one of the goals of the shift changes was to increase efficiencies by moving all custodians to the day shift. Even with this extension, he said that parts of these goals can still be met.

“We’re still able to reduce the number of work areas [on swing shift],” Woodard said. “A big thing is getting all the upper campus buildings to day shift.”

If 50 custodians were able to stay on swing shift, two of the buildings they would service are the Health Sciences Building and the Physics/Astronomy Building.

Salvador Castillo, WFSE Local 1488 vice president, said that of the 50 people who would remain on the swing shift, 25 would be selected based on seniority, and the other 25 would comprise employees with the strongest hardship cases.

Despite the progress the swing-shift custodians have made, many remain determined to keep all 85 custodians on the swing shift.

“I am not satisfied with the union,” said Mehereteab Mengistu, a swing-shift custodian. “My opinion is the protests are working good, [but] my concern is now with the 50 people staying — how will they decide who is going to stay? I don’t see how they figure out who has a hardship or not.”

When the union and custodial management come to an initial agreement at the negotiations table, the union will bring the custodians together to vote.

“We’re not going to impose something,” Tibbits said. “We’re going to take it back to the people affected by it.”

Tibbits said the union hopes to reach an agreement with management and custodians by the end of June.

U-PASS honored on upcoming light rail, U-District Link still under construction

Ivan Vukovic — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:55:55 -0700

On July 18, Sound Transit will begin operating the Central Link light rail, a 13.9-mile link between downtown Seattle and Tukwila, which will have a 1.7-mile extension to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in service by the end of the year.

With the quarterly fee for the U-PASS rising from $50 to $98, some students are left wondering whether it can still be considered a bargain; however, one additional benefit the U-PASS offers is free access to the light rail.

“It’s been a goal for both Sound Transit and the UW to have [the] U-PASS be honored on the light rail,” said Josh Kavanagh, director of UW Transportation Services.

While the U-PASS can be used on the light rail, UW students won’t be able to access it in the U-District until 2016, when the 3.15-mile University Link is built.

“I will probably use it [to get to Sea-Tac Airport] when I travel to China this summer,” said UW graduate student Dan Wang. “[but] unless it covers more areas like the U-District I don’t think students will use the light rail often.”

The University Link, which Sound Transit has begun construction on in March, will include a station near Husky Stadium and will connect the UW to Capitol Hill via a three-minute trip and downtown Seattle via a nine-minute trip. This is a significant cut in time from daytime bus transit. The link will also provide access to commuters who need to make I-5 bus connections.

“It’s something we’ve heard from all our customers; excitement about this new option coming to Seattle,” Kavanagh said. “It won’t be the solution for everybody, [but] for everyone living along that route it will provide a huge convenience.”

The population of the area the University Link will run through is expected to increase by 56 percent by 2030, at which time the route is projected to contribute 70,000 riders daily to the light rail.

However, the question of whether these additional benefits will soften the impact of the escalated U-PASS prices still remains to be seen.

Reach reporter Ivan Vukovic at news@

dailyuw.com.

Blasting off

Adam Magnoni — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:55:33 -0700

*EDITOR'S NOTE: Results of Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition at bottom.

Using the same type of fuel as a spaceship, a rocket built by UW graduate students will be able to reach the speed of sound in roughly three seconds.

The 10-foot, 8-inch rocket was designed and built by a team of 11 graduate students and four professors from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The team has been working on the project for the past two quarters to compete in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), which will take place June 25 and 26 in Utah.

Adam Bruckner, one of the professors who worked on the rocket, said the competition is based on precision, not power. The rocket must come as close to 10,000 feet above ground level as possible — roughly 2 miles — and then must be recovered by the team in a fully reusable condition.

The on-board altimeter will be responsible for providing proof of altitude. The team also equipped the rocket with a GPS system, a beacon, a video camera, a flight computer, a radio communication system and a computerized control system, which works in conjunction with the active control energy system (ACES).

“As you can see, it is quite complicated,” Bruckner said.

The power of the rocket should have enough propulsion to go well beyond the desired altitude. The ACES will measure the altitude and speed and then deploy the air brakes to stop at the contest’s prescribed height.

“After the motor burns out, we have electronics on board to determine how fast we’re going and what altitude we’re at, and then the air-brakes can be deployed,” said Ryan Trescott, a graduate student who worked on creating the braking-system.

The UW team constructed the entire vessel with the exception of the motor and fiberglass body. These were purchased due to safety and time constraints; constructing a motor means handling multiple hazardous materials. Bruckner didn’t want the team dealing with the potentially harmful substances required to produce the 6,000 pounds of thrust.

The team originally planned on fabricating the carbon fiber body but that proved to be too difficult and expensive, so they purchased a fiberglass body instead.

“We’ve spent about $7,000 so far,” said Derek Schmuland, a graduate student who worked on the recovery system.

Bruckner set the total budget at $10,000 back when the project began. The remaining $3,000 will be spent on travel and housing expenses for the competition.

“We are doing this all with a gift from GenCorp,” Bruckner said. “They are the parent company of Aerojet, which is a famous rocket company from way back. [They] have been very supportive of our efforts in doing space-systems-type work … and are very interested in promoting instruction in space-systems and rocketry.”

This is the fourth annual IREC being sponsored by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association. The UW team will compete against the University of Iowa, Brigham Young University, Arizona State, Cal State University of Long Beach and Seattle Central Community College.

The prize being offered for the winning team isn’t much: $250 in cash and a plaque. But the UW team isn’t in the competition for the payout, they’re in it for the experience. The team has already achieved a sense of accomplishment due to the long hours and amount of effort they have put in to the project.

“The last week has been 12 to 16 hour days,” said Bhuvana Srinivasan, a student who worked on the rocket. “It’s going to be great.”

Srinivasan sees the competition as an opportunity to meet and connect with other engineer students around the country.

“One way or another, there are going to be a lot of rocket geeks out there,” Srinivasan said. “We’ve never built anything this large scale before.”

Reach reporter Adam Magnoni at news@dailyuw.com.

*The UW team placed second in the competition, overshooting the 10,000 mark and reaching an altitude of 12,500 feet. First place went to California State University in Long Beach, whose rocket reached a more precise altitude of 8,200 feet. The UW team also took home the Jim Furtaro Award for Technical Excellence for its rocket’s quality of design.