Where have the pictures gone? by M elanie E. Wallace N ewspeak S ta ff Many students have been wonder ing why the freshman class pictures were not included in this year's Stu dent H andbook. Recently, I con ducted an interview with Nancy H unter Denney, A ssistant Dean o f Students, G reg Baryluk, IFC Presi dent, and Jennifer Tobin, Panhel President, to get answ ers to these and other questions. The decision to om it the photos from the Student H andbook was made by the Dean o f Students O ffice, not by
Mrs. Denney as had been previously stated. Several factors were involved in the decision. The financing o f the handbook was som ewhat o f a con cern, but was not a major factor in deciding to not include the photos. A ccording to Mrs. Denney, the staff o f the Dean o f Students Office met to discuss the connotation of the Hand book. The specific concern was the reference to the Handbook as a “meat book.” The handbook was m eant to be used as a legitimate resource for infor m ation about services offered by the school. It also contained official docum entation o f school policies and
regulations. The “meat book” image was not one that Dean of Students O ffice wanted to continue promoting. The consequences o f omitting the photos was weighed, and it was d e cided that elim ination o f the photos was the best option. The presidents of IFC and Panhell, G reg and Jenn, arranged for publica tion o f a directory through a private com pany. The time span in which solicitation o f photos and orders for the books did not allow time for the books to be made available to anyone but freshmen, but according to Greg and Jenn, they will attempt in future
years to m ake the book available to everyone. Members of the freshman class were given options regarding the directory; they had the option of sub mitting a picture or not, and the option o f ordering the book or not. The price for the book was 12.00, a price set by the com pany, not IFC and Panhell. Jenn and Greg, with the help o f Jeff W eiss and Dave W oodilla o f TKE, solicited the photos orders and adver tisers, in conjuction with the private company who produced the books. IF C ’s and Panhell’s intentions were not for the book to become a Rush tool. They wanted the book to be
available to freshman for use in get ting to know the people on their floor, in their classes, etc. Jenn expressed her disappointment at not being a l lowed to use the WPI seal as part of the cover for the book. Mrs. Denney indicated that the DOS office felt the seal would imply that the directory was an official docum ent of the school, and that was a distinction the DOS office wanted to m ake clear. The book created by IFC and Panhell is a high quality publication. The people involved all deserve credit for doing such a good jo b with the time available.
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute Volume 17, Number 16
TUesday, September 12,1989
New calculus program starting at WPI by M ark Saviano W PI this year is introducing a new calculus sequence, one that uses com puters. The decision to incorpo rate com puters into their programs follows the national trend. It is hoped that using com puters to leam calculus will im prove the generally poor per
form ance o f students as well as en h ancing m athem atical styles and techniques. O ther motivating factors are the grow ing use o f com puters in today’s society and the thought that com puters will aid in learning the ideas and applications of calculus. The com puters will be used for doing homework assignments, and
also as displays in the classroom s. C lassroom displays are done via a liquid crystal com puter output screen placed on an overhead projector. The use o f com puter will make m athe matical m anipulation sim pler and al low easy graphing to enhance visual concepts. Tedious calculations can be done faster and simpler, paving the
way for more complicated problems. A second aspect of the revision in the calculus program is the course layout. Previously, the calculus pro gram consisted of MA 1011, MA 1 0 12,MA 1013andM A 1014(know n better as Calculus I-IV). A student at WPI would complete the elementary calculus series in four terms (two
How the health center serves students by Joe P arker A very important place on campus that students should be fam iliar with is the Student Health Center. It is located in the Stoddard C Complex., o ff o f Hackfield Road. The Health O ffice is open Monday through Friday during the hours of 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., w ith registered nurses on duty who are able to consult with a physician if necessary. In addition, physicians are in the office M onday through W ednesday and Fri day from 12:30 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m . The C enter will adm inister allergy injections in m aintenance doses only during the hours when a physician is in the office, and will also provide inform ation concerning physicians w ho will adm inister non-m aintenance doses. G ynecological services are also available by appointm ent, including contraceptive education and counsel ing, breast and pelvic examination. Pap sm ears, pregnancy testing and counseling, and treatm ent o f common gynecological com plaints. The Health C enter maintains a w ide variety o f over-th e-co u n ter m edications that are available to the student at no extra charge to the stu dent. Furtherm ore, the Health Center will prescribe m edication for you if necessary and, in some cases, provide
a starter pack to begin recovery, with a prescription for the rem ainder to be filled at an outside pharmacy. The student is responsible for expenses incurred outside the Health Office. The Center does not provide ex cuses for classes, but will provide verification o f a medical visit should a faculty m em ber require one. Should an em ergency arise, a stu dent should call Campus Police at 831-555. They will respond and se cure the appropriate treatment; how ever, policy has been changed subject to transport by C am pus Police, as will be discussed in detail later. After hours the student in need of care when the Health O ffice is closed should call the Hahnem ann Family Health Center at 756-4301. It is located next to C am pus Police at 39 Dean Street. W hen calling, identify oneself as a W PI student, and leave a name and num ber. The physician on call will return the call and provide the needed m edical care. The Health C enter keeps a confi dential record on every student, which is not available to anyone without the consent o f the student. There are two exceptions: certain infectious dis eases m ust be reported to the D epart ment o f Public H ealth, and docum ents must be surrendered on receipt o f a court-ordered subpoena. The Health C enter is also com m it ted to keeping students healthy, and many pam phlets are available on nu
trition and protection from various com m unicable diseases. Programs are also available on such topics as substance use and abuse, contracep tion, sexually transmitted diseases, first aid, date rape, and more. As to the afore mentioned policy changes concerning medical trans port, the following now holds: 1) WPI Police will not provide transport to and from normal health care appointments. 2) No transport for athletic depart ment hospital or health care appoint
m ents. 3) Emergency injuries will be transported by certified ambulances. 4) Upon review of the situation, contagious virus or diseases will be transported by ambulances. 5) Injury related injuries that are minor, but require immediate atten tion will be transported by WPI Po lice. Should there be any questions, students should not hesitate to drop by the Health Office or call at 831-5520, or 831-5526.
sem em s^rs), but at other schools the calculus sequence is generally three semesters. The new series consists o f MA 1001, MA 1002, MA 1003, MA 1004, and MA 2005 (know n as C alcu lus I-V). In other w ords, the four previous courses are now stretched out to five. All students who started Calculus I in A-term will be in the new series (no more MA 1011), and the old series will be slowly phased out over the year. The students in the new series will be using the APTLAB (H L 204) for their assignments. C om puter labs can become very crow ded so it is suggested that students not leave their assignments until the last minute. Hopefully in the future m ore term i nals of this type can be set up. A note on the large num ber of new math faculty - the large num ber o f new math professors is due to the loss o f several teachers from last year's staff, the increased enrollm ent in math courses, and the efforts o f Sam uel R ankin, the D epartm ent Head, to reduce class sizes.
MSP is there to help you decide by M ark Saviano T he M ajor S election Program (M SP) is a new program this year for anyone w ho is unsure about what their m ajor should be. It can also be used by people who are unsure about what kind o f career they can have with their m ajor. In A -Term , Mary Beth Harrity, the director o f the program, will be run ning a no credit sem inar W ednesdays 2:30-3:20. Focuses o f the sem inar will be speakers from various aca dem ic departm ents, explanations o f differences in majors, an examination o f the jo b market, and discussion of career plans. The Perdue Interest Q uestionnaire for Engineering S tu dents will also be adm inistered, to
The Scuba Club shows their stuff at last week’s Activities Fair. More photos on page 7.
N E W SPEA K S T A FF P H O T O /T O M TU RN ER
give each student an idea of what possible careers are appropriate for them . M SP will introduce students to the C areer Resource Library. In addition M SP hopes to create library files of the departmental presentations. Also, M SP can arange to have more infor m ation exchange betw een the stu dents and the academic departments. In B-Term, as a follow up to the ATerm sem inar, a program called
“ Professional in A ction" will be run. In this program, students get to work, for half a day, with professionals o f their intended major. These profes sionals will be from local com panies. In order to participate in the “Pro fessionals in Action” program , stu dents must have com pleted the ATerm sem inar or have had several independent m eetings w ith Mary
continued on page 3
Football loses in opener by Roger Burleson Sports E ditor Well, the new rule outlawing kick ing tees could have had a big effect in W P I’s 34-30 loss to Division II oppo nent Springfield College on Friday night. This year, on field goals and extra point attempts, kickers are not allowed to use a tee. Coaches are fearing that his might lead to a lot of blocks and run backs. The other day, two kicks failed and one field goal was blocked and run back for a touch down. Springfield scored first in this contest when they took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards for the score. WPI wasted no time in re sponding, though. Six plays later the Greg W hitney led offense scored on a 54 yard drive. Mike Bucci ended the drive on an eleven yard run. The kick was blocked. As it was last year WPI led going
into the half by a score of 12-7, and it looked like there m ight be an upset. But Springfield showed they were not out of it when they cam e out of the locker room and put seven points on the board. WPI took the lead again on a two yard run by Mark M cGill. The pass failed and WPI led 18-14. After Springfield scored another touch down, they then blocked a WPI field goal and ran it back 75 yards for a touchdown for a 28-18 lead. WPI would play catch-up for the rest of the game. Greg W hitney had an outstanding game for WPI. He connected on 30 o f 49 passes for 300 yards. He also had three passes for touchdow ns. Mike Bucci had 55 yards rushing and two touchdowns. WPI will kickoff its home opener this Friday with a Greekkickoff on the Quad which will in clude a live band. The gam e will start at 7:30 p.m. when WPI takes on W estern Connecticut.