H e a lth O f fic e s u r v iv e d th e b u d g e t c u ts by Ray Bert On these pages about a year and a half ago the state of the WPI Health Office was an incendiary issue. Due to budget cuts the administration had announced that the Health Office staff would be trimmed and hours short ened. An uproar ensued on the pages of Newspeak. and, presumably, among the interested parties, both for and against, within the administration. The attitude of the students at the time, including everyone I talked to, was one of general concern and/or outrage that
we would be unable to receive the medical treatment we had paid for if we happened to require it during off hours. This seemed legitimate, since viruses, rashes, and accidents tend not to con form to a 9 to 5 schedule. WPI refused to budge, however, even as letters of criticism were fired off continuously, and the issue eventually fell by the wayside with the general feeling among the students that we were being shortchanged. In reality, behind the scenes, a con certed effort was being made by both the Health Office and the administra tion to allow the budget cuts to remain
while still providing the same high level of service to the students. What they came up with has managed to be just that. In fact, in speaking with JoAnn VanDyke, RN, Director of Health Services, and Sharon Cahill, RN, it may even be better. Health Services contracted with Hahneman Family Health Center to insure that physicians were available on call from 5pm to 8am Monday through Friday and 24 hours a day over the weekend. The phone numbers are available by dialing Health Services any time after hours, when an answer
ing machine will provide the necessary information. In addition, physicians are still available four hours a day during the week, at varying hours some days to accommodate different sched ules. Finally, the emergency medical service (EMS) began operations this fall and provide assistance in health related emergencies on campus. Both VanDyke and Cahill stress that they are open to any suggestions or complaints concerning the quality of care provided. They point out that the dividers present in the waiting room as
well as a new sign-in system are both changes initiated due to student con cerns about privacy. While my per sonal experience with the Health Of fice has been quite good, they recog nize that not all students may not feel this way, and they need that type of feedback if they are to continue to improve service to the students. As a final note, while Newspeak is an appropriate medium for airing complaints and attempting to spur ac tion, it can also be used as a forum for recognition for a job well done. This is one of those cases.
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute ^
Volum e 18, N u m b e r 22____________________________ Ttiesday, N ovem ber 1 3 ,1 9 9 0
Nobel winner’s influence felt in WPI lab
(WPI News Service) On Oct. 17, the 1990 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Professor E.J. Corey of Harvard University in recognition of his work in the field of organic chem istry, which the Nobel committee noted “contributed to the high standard of living and health and the longevity enjoyed at least in the Western World.” For one member of the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Corey’s influence extends beyond the confines of a laboratory or the pages of a textbook. From 1983 to 1985, James P. Dittami, assistant professor of chemistry, was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in Corey’s lab at Harvard University. Dittami, who holds a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Poly technic Institute, joined the WPI fac ulty in 1985 and continues to focus on r 'o m r M ic C S m p ilS
research areas he studied under Corey. In 1987 Dittami received a five-year grant totaling approximately $350,000 from the National Institutes of Health to synthesize a naturally occurring chemical called Koumine, which is an alkaloid derived from Kou-wen, a Chinese medicinal plant used to treat heart ailments and liver cancer, and to control pain and reduce fever. “Professor Corey developed the modern-day approach to organic syn thesis—a method that enables scien tists to manufacture useful chemical compounds such as those found in plants and animals,” says Dittami. Through the years, Corey has synthe sized approximately 100 natural prod ucts, many of which have significant medicinal value. There is not a phar maceutical company in the world that has not used discoveries made in
im n m u o m o n tc im p r O V e m © n tS
benefit security
by Peggy Jablonski Assistant Dean of Housing and _________ Residential Life_________
Several improvements were made over the past few months to help make our campus a safer community in which to live. Security phones have been placed at the main entrances of the large residence halls. Although the phones are labeled “Emergency,” they are for your daily use to contact a resident for access. When you are expecting a visit from the pizza ven dor, or from a friend please ask them to use this phone to contact you. On the inside of each phone are listed emer gency numbers, as well as the hall phones for each building. We encourage students to use these phones on a regular basis. We hope that by providing phones, propping open doors will not occur. Leaving a residence hall open by propping a door is jeopardizing the security of all the residents and their property. In the Stoddard Complex, the out side doors as well as the hallway doors may not be unlocked with a student’s key as they had been in the past. We
hope the residents of Stoddard under stand our desire to upgrade security. The lost-key policy, now in its sec ond year, appear to be working well. Students who lose their room key are required to have a lock change com pleted immediately. The cost of the core-change can be deducted from the security deposit each student pays in August. By completing a lock change the same day we become aware of the problem, we help maintain the security of the room and the building. Security also means personal secu rity. The Personal Safety Committee is a group of staff and students who pro vide programs wand information on issues of acquaintance rape, sexual assault, harassment and related topics. Members of the committee are avail able to do educational programs for student groups, to lead discussion groups, or participate in a classroom presentation. If you are interested in more information contact Peggy Jablonski (Housing and Residential Life), Joanne Van Dyke (Health Serv ices), Cheryl Martunas (Campus Po lice), or Madeline Langman (Counsel ing and Student Development Center).
A l p h a P h i O m e g a ’s 3 r d A n n u a l T h a n k s g iv in g F o o d D r iv e
To benefit the Prospect House in Worcester
Collection Boxes: Residence Halls at WPI and Shaw’s Goldstar Boulevard When: Monday, November 12 through Friday, November 17 Please think of the needy and give whatever possible to help them have a better holiday.
Corey’s lab, and his research activities with prostaglandins and leukotrienes have had a major impact on medicine and on biochemistry.” During his career Corey has trained more than 500 graduate and postdoc toral students, who have gone on to prominence in academic and industrial centers worldwide. “Their range of interests include computers in chemis try, synthetic methods, natural prod ucts total synthesis, organometallic chemistry, biorganic chemistry and biochemistry,” says Dittami, who notes that Bengt Samuelson, a former Corey ‘postdoc,’ recently received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for work he completed in collaboration with
Corey. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dittami completed a total synthesis of ovalicin, a chemical compound derived from a fungus. “Drugs like ovalicin are immuno-suppresive agents—they are given to patients recovering from or gan transplant surgery to minimize rejection. Although ovalicin has not been used, this was the first time it had been synthesized. Dittami says that Corey’s work in synthesis is detailed in the Nobel prize winner’s recent book The Logic of Chemical Synthesis. He notes that in 1988 an entire issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society was dedicated to Corey on the occasion of
his 60th birthday. “The issue featured articles by Corey’s former students and is a measure of the respect and admiration the scientific community has for him.” Dittami, originally from Medford, Mass., was raised in Sherbom, Mass., where his parents, Francis and Rose Dittami, still reside. He is a graduate of Marian High School. In addition to his doctorate, Dittami holds a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry from the Col lege of the Holy Cross and a master of science in chemistry from Boston College. He and his wife, Helen, and their two sons currently reside in Oakham, Mass.
Dean of Students changes name, P r io r itie s r e m a in u n c h a n g e d
---------------_by Joe _ _ Parker _ _ -------------_________ Features Editor_________ Many changes have been made recently concerning the restructuring and renaming of the Dean of Students Office. The new title is Office of the Dean for Student Life. Janet Begin Richardson’s title has been changed to the above mentioned, and other changes have taken place as well, as the whole department has been restructured. Nancy Hunter Denney now has the title of Assistant Dean for Special pro grams and Greek Life, and she will basically have the same responsibili ties, except that Student Activities is completely in the hands of Chris Jachimowicz, as was reported in Newspeak two weeks ago.
IntheHousingoffice,changes* In the Housing office, changes have been made as well. Judy McGuire Robinson has taken a post at Boston College, so Margaret (Peggy) Jablon ski has been promoted from director of housing to Assistant Dean for Housing and residential life. This move has opened up a lower level position for an Assistant Director of Housing, for which an interviewing process is cur rently underway. Elizabeth Sinkiewicz Reid will remain assistant Di rector of Residential Life. “We essentially had two bosses and one assistant over there,” says Dean Richardson. This led to confusion over who was in charge of certain areas. This move is intended to relieve some of the confusion. When asked why the moves were
taking place. Dean Richardson re sponded that she had been pushing for the move for some time. “Dean of Students sound too narrow, and doesn’t take into account that the Health Service and Residential life fall under” the responsibilities of the office as well. She was worried that the office was being seen only in the disciplinar ian role, and that the contribution that the office made to students, such as assisting in housing arrangements, advising, and the work done with inter national students was being entirely overlooked. She also felt that the hier archy was very confusing to many people, and that the changes that have been made will help students be better able to define who they should talk to for a particular need.
A SADD story: A car crash on the Quad by Melissa McMahon On November 19th and 20th there will be a crashed car somewhere on the quad. There is a story behind it that we, the members of SADD, would like to share with you. The day I died was an ordinary day. It was a Friday. The end of the week. Time to have some fun. I jumped into my car and headed out to the clubs. I told myself that I would only have a couple of drinks. Well, a couple of drinks turned into a few and a few turned into a lot. Then it was time to go home. I didn’t live far away so I thought I’d be O.K. I was wrong. I guess I was going too fast, because the last thing I remember is passing a little old lady that was going too slow. Next
I heard a deafening crash and I felt a terrible jolt. Glass and steel flew eve rywhere. My whole body seemed to be being ripped apart. I heard myself scream. Suddenly I awakened. It was very quiet. A police officer was standing overme. Then I saw a doctor. Mybody was mangled. I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged glass were sticking out all over. Why are you pulling that sheet over my head?! I’m not dead. I can’t be dead. I have a date tonight. I have homework due Monday. I have things to do, people to meet, a life to live. I can’t be dead! Hey, don’t put me in that drawer. It’s so dark and cold in here. Don’t let
my parents see me like this. They look so much older. I heard them tell the person in charge, “Yes, he is our son.” The funeral was strange. Everyone was crying. People would walk by and touch my hand and sobbed as they walked away. My family were like zombies. Please wake me up! Don’t bury me. I’m not dead. I can’t be dead. I’m too young to die. I have more laughing and living to do. Please God, just give me another chance. I promise I’ll never drink and drive again. All I want is one more chance. If you are ever thinking about get ting into a car after drinking, please think about this story. It could become the story of vour life.