Date rape program a success by R ob Sim s E ditor-in -C h ief Last w eek, the Dean of Students office and the WPI police sponsored a program to inform students about date rape. The presentation included a brief introduction by Nancy Denney, A ssistant Dean o f Students, and then a videotape hosted by Kelly M cGillis. This was followed with a presentation by Peggy Jablonski, D irector of H ous ing, and a discussion with Cheryl M artunas, Special Investigator with the WPI police. The video contained m any bits of inform ation about spotting potential date rapists, av o id in g situ atio n s which m ight lead to date rape, stop ping a date rapist, and what to do if date rape occurs. A lot of literature was available to back up the vide
otape. Som e o f the things that women can do to avoid date rape (Excerpted from literature published by the Project on the Status and Education of W omen): Exam ine your feelin g s about sex. Set sexual limits. D ecide early i f you would like to have sex. Do not give m ixed m essages; be clear. Say “yes" when you mean “yes” and say “no” when you mean “ no.” Be alert to unconscious m essages you m ay be giving. Be fo rc e fu l a n d firm . Be independent and aware on your dates. Do not do anything you do not w ant to ju s t to avoid a scene or unpleasantness. Be aw are o f specific situations in
which you do not fe e l relaxed and in charge. I f things start to get out o f hand, be loud in protesting, leave, go fo r help. Trust your gut-level feelings. Be aw are that alcohol and drugs are often related to acquaintance rape. 75 percent of the men and 55 percent o f the women involved in date rape were drinking or us ing drugs. A vo id falling f o r such lines as “You would i f yo u loved m e." I f you are unsure o f a new a c quaintance. go on a group or double date. H ave your own transportation, i f possible, or taxi fare. A void secluded places w here you are in a vulnerable position. Be careful when you invite som e
one to your home or you are in vited to his home. Exam ine your attitudes about m oney and pow er. If he pays for the date does that influence your ability to say no? Socialize with people who share your values. More detailed information is avail able in the Dean of Students office, as well as a variety of related inform a tion. WPI published a handout about date rape. It includes som e o f the above information, and m uch more. There is a list o f places to call for inform ation or help; there is also a reprint o f the M assachusetts laws governing rape. From the handbook: In the G eneral Laws of Massachusetts, C hapter 265,
Section 22, Rape is defined as, “ W hoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a person and com pels such person to subm it by force or against their will, or com pels such person to subm it by threat of bodily injury.” If the act occurs while the victim is uncon scious, asleep or otherwise unable to com m unicate unw illingness, it is still considered rape. A woman can file a complaint with the police departm ent and not file charges, if she so wishes. The reason for doing so is to collect evidence if the woman decides later to press charges. If you are raped, do not destroy any evidence: Do not show er or wash; do not eat or drink anything. Any further information can be obtained from the WPI police depart ment, 831-5270.
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute ^
Volume 17, Number 15__________________________ Wednesday, September 6, 1989
Fuller Labs on schedule and on budget by G ary D elG rego G raphics E ditor Fuller Labs, W P I’s first new aca dem ic building since 1965, is nearing com pletion. So far construction is on schedule with an expected com pletion date o f January 1, 1990. However, partial occupancy m ay begin as soon as the beginning of N ovem ber. This ten m illion dollar building will con tain the entire C om puter Science D epartm ent along with the College C om puter Center, the O ffice o f A ca dem ic C om puting and the Instruc tional M edia Center. Moving the com puters and CS offices to Fuller will free about 9000 square feet in A tw ater Kent and 3000 square feet in W ashburn as well as freeing space in H iggins Labs and the Project Center. A recent tour o f Fuller Labs led by John M iller, Vice President o f the Physical Plant, revealed a building on the verge o f com pletion. Everywhere it is evident that the architects de signed Fuller with light in m ind. The skylights, which run the length o f the building, shine through four floors to a central slate tiled staircase. The structure is the first to be to tally air conditioned, with therm ostats in every room and additional air con ditioners in im portant com puter labs. The clim ate will be controlled by a m ainfram e over the large hall and m onitored in the H VAC office in A tw ater Kent. In fact, most o f the w indow s are sealed shut. Fuller alone will have 400 tons o f air conditioning, bringing the cam pus total to 1700 tons. The general color schem e in the building is a gray carpet or tile ac cented with natural wood window fram es and m oulding, especially in
the large lecture hall. Bathroom s are finished in an attractive m aroon and silver tile. G iven the technical nature o f the building, it w as designed with com m unications and w iring accessibility a priority. Electrical and com m unica tions conduits run through all five floors through central control rooms, allow ing easy access to all wiring. There is an em ergency generator on the roof to provide lighting in case of a pow er failure. The only other cam pus buildings w ith generators are Founders, H arrington, and the Pow er house. The most prom inent part o f Fuller Labs is the new lecture hall which holds 400 students, 180 more than K innicutt Hall. The hall has a com pu terized lighting panel so that profes sors can sim ply hit a button to bring up the proper lighting for slides, m ovies, lectures, whatever. There is a m odem projection room that will hold two 35mm projectors along with a 18 ’x24' screen. On the floor, on either side o f the lecture table, w ill be large screen te le v is io n s p ro je c tin g w h a te v e r slides, videos, etc. that the instructor wants to show the class. In addition, a projection screen is placed one third o f the way up the seats, and a second twO-thirds o f the w ay back, allow ing students in the back o f the hall to see w hat’s happening. A ccording to John Miller, no eye will be more than 35 feet from a screen. Behind the hall there is a large area to prepare experim ents, including a fume hood and stockroom . From the top floor dow n, the build ing is organized as follows: On the top floor (the 3rd level) there are two additional classroom s of 60 and 40 student capacity, respec
tively. The room s will have tablet chairs and are for general use. A lso on the third level is the main C om puter Science office along with the offices o f the departm ent head and many sm aller offices for professors and TAs. The nicest area on the floor is the lounge/study room which resem bles a greenhouse. When finished, it will contain couches and the full length w indow s will have vertical blinds. The second floor is actually the entrance level (if you enter on the Salisbury Labs side) and has the rear entrance to the large lecture hall along with a sm all lounge. To the left o f the entrance will be the new home o f the College Com puter Center. T here is a large room for about 48 term inals along with offices, m ainfram e room, and storage. There is also a room for CCC operators/program m ers which is a large room with partitions around individual desks. The rest o f the sec ond level has more CS offices and a small conference room under the larger glass walled lounge. Like the lounge, the conference room has a panoram ic view o f Salisbury St. The first floor will contain the Instructional M edia Center. There is a large studio and control room along with offices and equipm ent storage/ repair room s. In Fuller, the IM C will
NF.WSPKAK S TA FF PH O TO /R O B SIM S
T h e view from the back o f the new lecture hall in F uller L ab oratories. have about twice the space they now occupy in the basem ent o f Higgins. Also on the first floor are additional offices, another com puter operator/ program m er room, and research labs along with another glass w alled lounge (below the other two). The O ffice o f Academ ic C om put ing will be housed in the basem ent of
Fuller Labs. They will have much more space than they currently have in the Project Center. The basem ent is the entry level on the Salisbury St side (the official main entrance). A lso on this level is a w alkw ay and tiled plaza connecting to Kaven Hall with a see F uller, page 3
M*A*S*H program enters second year by Chris Barcus N ews E ditor The MASH (M ath and Science Help) program is operating on the cam pus for the second year. The pro gram is designed to assist students, prim arily freshm en, in calcu lu s.
Chaos in the bookstore on move-in day as freshmen buy books and parents buy shirts and stickers
chem istry, and physics. The goal o f the program is to help students taking these classes to under stand what is in class, help answ ering hom ew ork problems, and give sug gestions on how to be successful in class. T o achieve these goals, Anne G arvin o f academ ic advising who is in charge o f the program chose under graduates who had previously taken the class, were interested, and quali fied to be MASH leaders The role of the MASH leader is to attend the lectures, a conference, and
to run three study/help sessions a week. Anyone who is interested feel free to attend the session(s) which fit your schedule. The program is for anyone who wants to do better in class. The professors do not know who attends theses classes, so participation will not influence your professor. H ow ever, participation hopefully will help improve your grade in the class due to the extra interest you have taken to succeed at W PI. see page 2 f o r schedules
Don’t forget about the Activities Fair today from 11:00 to 1:30 on the quad. Stop by the Newspeak table while you're there!