Straight from the top — or maybe the paunchy midsection — of the CDN Reader Mailbag:
Q: Did Western Washington University ever fix the problem of the lack of a way to lock its campus doors from the inside during a security threat?
A: No.
Western’s student news site, The Front, recently posted a well-reported update on the glacial process to secure the 15,000-student campus by taking a decades-overdue step: Placing locks on doors to classrooms and auditoriums that would allow locking from the inside in the event of an active shooter incident.
This (rather stunning) security oversight has been highlighted for more than a decade by students and staff members (disclosure: as a former adjunct instructor, yours truly was once one of the louder complainants). The university’s own security instructions suggest “locking down” classrooms that simply cannot be locked down.
A half-dozen years ago, Western appointed Yet Another Committee to consider the matter. Its recommendation: Get classroom door locks.
Yet the university continues to prevaricate and whine about the cost, up to an additional $15 million, for a full fix. Sorry to be so blunt, but once again, I ask:
What’s a student’s life worth?
How about 10?
Maybe 50?
Want to put a price tag on 100?
Yes, the expenditure request is languishing on a slow-boat state capital budget list. But we’ve seen Western’s administration find a lot more money than this in its own couch cushions in the face of other campus angst. And can local state reps really not find a way to fund this?
Split the difference and get it done.
Meantime, pro tip: You can get stout deadbolts at Hardware Sales for about 20 bucks a pop.
Q: Re: Your recent stories and columns about Jase Klinkhammer, a Meridian High School track star allowed to go on competing after being charged with rape of a teenage girl and lying to police. Doesn’t that send a terrible message?
A: To use a carefully chosen, legally vetted term: Yes.
Q: Is the City of Bellingham, in its infinite wisdom, really planning to bollix the last timed-light thoroughfare in the city with bike lanes and enhanced pedestrian crossing times?
A: Yes! See the take of my slightly unbalanced alter ego, B. Hammer on cascadiadaily.com. Earth-killing drivers should prepare now to enjoy many, many extra moments of zen meditation counting the light bulbs on the Horseshoe Cafe sign and pondering the charming, post-falafel architecture of the Pita Pit building.
Q: After construction of the House of Healing longhouse at the base of Sehome Arboretum, will arboretum parking set a precedent for paid parking at what amounts to a city park?
A: The city probably would not agree to this (the term of art was “managed” parking) but apparently, yes — at some times.
The arboretum’s base lot on Arboretum Drive, off of 25th Street, is its largest public parking access, providing a couple dozen spots in addition to the handful at the top of the Arboretum, which is jointly managed by Western and the city.
Parking on that side of the arboretum was identified as a significant problem as long as two decades ago, in a master plan update. Reason: The lot is on the cusp of the car-overloaded campus, and many students are parking full time in these “three-hour” spaces.
Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver told the Bellingham City Council parking in the area has been a “free-for-all” for some time. She’s right, because the “short-term” parking has not been sufficiently enforced by her employer, the city, which up to now has held that responsibility.
Result: Arboretum users have been largely frozen out of access by perma-parking students. This has been particularly noticeable as use of the arboretum has grown along with city population.
During longhouse construction, currently slated for this summer through next summer, the status of parking is unknown. (Parks and Recreation has not responded to requests for details.) Afterward, according to city documents, the existing parking area along Arboretum Drive will be paved and striped with 26 spots — nine permit spots and 17 “hourly” spots, which presumably will not require payment after longhouse hours.
Unfortunately, this parking will be “operated and maintained” according to a new ground lease approved March 25 by … Western!
Yes, that’s the same entity that already operates and maintains one of the most poorly managed public parking systems in the region, in terms of clarity of what parking is available when, and why (see, the university’s south campus lots).
But they can’t really manage it any worse than the city has of late.
Can they?
Q: In a recent rambling essay about news organizations’ paywalls (in The Atlantic, which like a majority of U.S. publications has a paywall), Richard Stengel argued that news media have an obligation to make news about the critical 2024 election free. As our local news organization, has CDN considered this?
A: We already do that, and will continue to.
Our election pieces now carry a story-top tag denoting this, also reminding readers they can help support an independent local press by donating or subscribing to CDN. We were born of a crisis in representative democracy and consider election coverage that helps establish an informed electorate to be among our most important missions.
Among the highlights of our election coverage, provided again through the lens of the Citizens Agenda, are a primary election Voter Guide in July and a general election Voter Guide in October.
Ron Judd's column appears weekly; ronjudd@cascadiadaily.com; @roncjudd.
