The student newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute Tuesday,
Volume 6, Number 3
1978
-Tom- Daniels
BLIZZARD BELTS BOYNTON'S BASTION The stranded . : ~.
The storm . . . A slow-moving winter squall of unprecedented furry brought hurricane-force winds and 181nches of new snow to New England left the Worceater area virtually paralyzed for 72 hours last Monday and Tuesday. The storm, which many are calling the worst blizzard ever to hit Muaachueetts, caused a portion of the roof at the United States Post Office to collapse late Tuesday morning. Due to the lllOW, only a handful! of employees were working in the area at the time of the collapse. There ware no reported injuries. Governor Dukakls declared a "state of emergency" throughout the Commonwealth, and banned all private vehicles from the roads. The ban was lifted at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday for most of western and central Massachusetts, Including most of Worcester County. Worcester and other
local police departments, however, refused to enforce the no-driving ban in many cases, since they felt that roads In their areas were cleared for travel by Wednesday. Here at WPI, several faculty members and students were forced to stay on campus for several days. At least two commuters were housed in the Infirmary, while others sought refuge In friend's nearby apartments. For a short time, it appeared that the Institute would run out of heating oil, but a stop-gap donation of 1,000 gallons filled the void until regular suppliers could make it to the Hill. Breaking all precedent, WPI Administration officials cancelled all cl8888fl for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. According to Roger Perry of the Public
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Safe in dorms? by Ken Mandile and Tom Polito
The tragic fatal fire at a Providence College dormitory last December has raised concern over dormitory safety in colleges across the country. At WPI there has always been concern over this topic. Newspeak spoke to WPI Dean of Student Affairs, Donald Reutlinger and Dean of Housing, Pamela Sherer lest week. These two deans are responsible for the safety of the residents of WPI's student housing. Reutlinger said all WPI dormitories meet all safety regulations. He also said WPI often goes beyond regulations in an effort to do what they feel is safe. One such e~ample Is extra smoke detectors which are soon to be Installed in Morgan Hall, Daniels
Hall, and the Stoddard Complex. In· stallation of the smoke detectors has been delayed by "bureaucratic hang·ups downtown" according to Reutllnger. Sherer and Reutlinger stressed that the safaty problems which remain are human problems . There are false alarms, discharging of fire extinguishers, and general chicanery in the dormitories. Students are paying less attention to fire drills as evidenced by the fact that Daniels Hall residents took three times as long as they should have to evacuate the building during a recent fire drill. False fire alarms lead to disrespect tor real alarms. "Kids ignore them after a while," said Reuttlnger. contmued on Pllge 17
AMC pub damaged Unknown vandals last Friday caused about $200 in property demgge to the men's restroom of the Anna Maria College Pub. The incident has prompted meetings between students and administration and conflicting ideas as to the continuation of Pub operation. According to Sandy Taylor, student government president, the adMinistration of the school has wanted to close the pub for some time, and this incident merely "kicked off the administration.'' Although no one has said the pub will be closed, Teytor felt that outcome was implied. A meeting was held Saturday with atudent government members and the dean of student affairs. According to Jean Lacey, social chairman, the dean relayed a
message from college president Sister Bernadette Madore that "something had to be done." She also felt that the ad· ministration was "pressuring" the students to close the pub. later that day, a meeting with the SGA and the student body concluded that they did not want to close the pub, but would respond to the incident by stepping up security measures and patrols at the pub. Sister Madore stated that the pub " will not be closed." "That will not solve any problem," she said. She commended the student's hearing of the problem, calling them " responsible", and said that they are "taking the necessary -'eps to take care of
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by Tom Polito While some of the people on campus welcomed the storm and the accompanying days off, there were 110me who would rather It hadn't happened. Several members of the faculty and staff of W .P.I. had to spend the night away from home, near the campus. H. Russell Kay, Director of Publications for the University Relations Dept. and his wife, Harriet. Educational Activities Coordinator, spent Monday night at the Cempua Religious Center, as well as Tuesday night. When asked how they were being treated by the school, Mrs. Kay responded that "I wouldn't say that the school has been treating us well, it's just that they haven't been paying any attention. It was Jim Fowler who saw us In the Wedge last night and invited us over." Although the school didn't offer the Kay's any housing, they did receive a dozen offers from students. Mrs. Dorothy Brophy, the nurse in the infirmary was interviewed about 7:3> Tuesday night, and had been on duty since 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. She had little hope of leaving until sometime Wednesday. She said that Dean Reutiinger had been over to see how she was and that Coach Sue Chapman was planning to come over Tuesday night and handle the
The super!
desk and phone. The infirmary housed two commuting students Monday night and planned to do the same Tuesday nlght. When asked about medlcel problems during the storm, Mrs. Brophy said that there had been "lots of cuts." Wrth Campus Security's vehicles snowed In, two cases requiring hospital attention, had to be taken by the Worcester Fire Dept. One of these cases was a student who jumped off the roof of the Pub and Into a snow bank, apparently injuring his back. The last doctor who was at the infirmary was there Monday morning, and there was none there Tuesday. Mrs. Brophy did not know how she wes going to get home, es there were to be no buses running Wednesday. As far as other members of the W.P.I. faculty were concerned, Professors Hayes and Parkinson were staying in a spare room in a nearby apartment building. Prof. Todd stayed with Prof Beall. and Prof. Tuft spent Monday night in Olin Hall. Several custodians also spent the night on campus. Although some people didn't spend the most comfortable night, it appears that most people managed. " People do tend to pull together," sa1d H. Russell Kay, and as Harriet Key said, " It's kind of a nice ad · venture ·•