• WWU rowers take fifth straight title
  Even inexperience couldn't stop the Western Washington University women's rowing team. Despite half the rowers in their two shells being freshmen, the Vikings claimed their fifth consecutive national title, winning the 2009 NCAA Division II national championship Sunday, May 31, on the Cooper River. It is the first time that a team in any NCAA rowing division has won five straight titles since the NCAA began a rowing championship in 1997.

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• Tour of hydrogen-fueled cars makes stop at WWU
  The average observer wouldn't notice anything different about the dozen or so cars parked in Western Washington University's Red Square Tuesday, June 2.
  On the outside they looked like shiny new models from big-name carmakers - Toyota, Honda and GM, to name a few - but under the hood the real difference was obvious. These were hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the combustion engine replaced by an electric motor powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
  
  "We're thrilled," said Eric Leonhardt, director of WWU's Vehicle Research Institute. "It's a great opportunity for our students and for the community to see the potential future for vehicles."

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  Rowing: Coon, Theodorson earn CRCA honors
  Two members of the Western Washington University women's rowing team, Audrey Coon and Kristy Theodorson, have been named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Pocock All-America team.
  Coon is the No. 7 seat and Theodorson the coxswain of the Vikings' varsity eight, which ranks No. 2 nationally in the USRowing/CRCA/NCAA II Coaches Poll and will compete at the national championships this weekend at Cherry Hill, N.J.

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  Three WWU rowers honored by the NCAA
  Three Western Washington University women's rowers - Audrey Coon, Madeleine Eckmann and Casey Mapes - have been named National Scholar-Athletes by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association.
  
  Coon is the No. 7 seat, Eckmann the No. 2 seat and Mapes the stroke in the Vikings' varsity eight shell, which ranks No. 2 nationally in the USRowing/CRCA/NCAA Division II Coaches Poll.
  
  It is the third time that Coon has been recognized and the second time Eckmann has been honored.

Anchorage Daily News

• Trio of WWU rowers part of a dynasty
  A trio of Alaska women is aiming to help Western Washington University extend a tradition of excellence that's approaching ridiculous.
  
  Western Washington will take aim at a fifth consecutive NCAA Division II National Rowing Championship beginning Friday on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. Four consecutive national titles is the longest active streak by any school in any NCAA division.

KIRO-TV

• Evergreen police ask for more powerful rifles
  Police at The Evergreen State College said they need rifles and heavy body armor to protect students if someone opens fire on campus.
  
  Some students are fighting the request saying it's the campus police who really need to be feared.
  
  Sgt. Tim Marron trains and works to protect the students and staff at The Evergreen State College and every day, he thinks about mass shootings like the one at Virginia Tech where a gunman killed 32 people.
  
  "I come to work every day and I think, I hope it's not today," Marron said.
  
  In Bellingham, Western Washington University Police now have rifles which are more powerful and accurate than handguns and they also have heavier body armor and bullet proof helmets.
  
  "It's equipment that's just life and death," said Chief Randy Stegmeier of the Western Washington University Police.

Ghana Business News

• U.S. university offers Ghana travel course
  An American university is offering a travel course to Ghana for anyone who is interested. According to the Bellingham Herald, Western Washington University is offering a course titled “Financial Capital and Social Justice,” with the objective of giving students an understanding of the social implications of moving financial capital from developed countries to what it calls undeveloped countries.
  
  The course involves a trip to Ghana to be led by the University’s Department of Management instructor, Craig Mayberry and will include visits to communities impacted by World Bank and International Monetary Fund projects, trips to national parks and meetings with local and international foundations.
  
  The trip, which is scheduled for Aug. 31 to Sept. 11, has a priority application deadline of Monday June 1, 2009.