GAEA asks WPI to recycle for the environment by Brian Parker Features Editor W P I’s GAEA (G lobal Awareness of Environm ental A ffairs) hosted a cam pus-w ide open m eeting last Thurs day afternoon, in Perrault H all. Pro fessor G ottlieb of the Philosophy De partm ent o p ened up w ith a short speech. “ I’m here today because there are too many things in life that you have to pass over that you d o n ’t want to. We often h ear about po o r air quality, extinction, deforestation and the easy availability o f disposable things. This all builds up until a cloud starts to build in o u r ow n hearts, we look to the future with sadness, rage and despair." H e pointed out that recently he read that w e're tw ice as likely to get cancer as our p arent's generation. "T his insanity o f what w e're doing leads us to want to do som ething.” N oting that the audience o f 75-100 students and faculty was there to “do som ething,” he turned the m eeting over to Bill Lindsey, project engineer for V eryfine, Inc. Lindsey said that Veryfine has been a leader o f the “ green bandw agon” since 1982. Believing that simplicity was the key to get a recycling program off the ground, V eryfine started by
teers. D epending upon its success, there is a possibility that work study money may go to the program . GAEA hopes that the popular opin ion that WPI students d o n ’t care w on’t hold true in this case. T his program is very possible and to becom e a reality all it needs is support and volunteers. A ccording to th eir ow n survey o f a selection o f W PI students and faculty m em bers, 55% o f those questioned w ould volunteer. 91.8% would take advantage o f such a program . The feeling is that m any m em bers o f the WPI com m unity w ould like to recy cle, but because there is no current program , little is done. GAEA also w ants to m ake an effort now for the rest o f the term , use the paper recycling bins. A suggestion was made that students could set aside a box to throw their w aste paper in over the next few w eeks and on one day, “everyone could throw away their papers. E ffectively casting them as ballots show ing support for the recy cling program .” If this could be done, maybe Plant Services w ould see that we are serious about recycling at WPI. But more than a one-tim e effort is needed, and in order to be effective, everyone m ust participate as m uch as they are able to do so.
cided. A few changes, such as the ronm ental program com es in the area looking at what it’s wastes were and a d d itio n o f p a p e r-re c y c lin g b in s of chem ical use. “You often d o n ’t which would be the easiest to start around the m ailroom can be expected recycling. “ Y o u d o n ’t h av eto c o n q u er need as harsh a chem ical as you might by next fall. think at first glance.” T he com pany the (w hole problem ) at once, we start The green bins around campus for tries to find m ultiple uses for different ed with cardboard, glass, paper, and paper recycling were originally a stu things, like com posting ap p le pomace m etals.” As a small to midsized corpo dent-run program, begun as an MQP. ration. he figured his com pany uses 1/ to use as fertilizers and heating buildAs Plant Services saw that it 2 ton paper per day (which is was an effective idea, they about equal to eight trees). began to support it and today O bviously a program at WPI According to / G A E A 's/ ow n survey o f a $200 - $300 are saved every w ould see a much larger selection o f WPI students a n d fa cu lty m em month by not having to cart volum e o f paper. bers , 5 5 % o f those questioned would volunteer. the paper off cam pus. The Recycling w aste m ateri 91 ,S c/c would take advantage o f such a promain reason why this program als is only part o f V eryfine’s works is that the students vol solution. The com pany also untarily participate. This needs m akes a serious effort to to be stressed, because in o r buy from suppliers w ho sell der for recycling to be effective at p o st-co n su m er, recycled p ro d u cts. ings with warm air from its bottling W PI, it needs student support. T hey sell products in alum inum cans process. The proposed WPI program in (it takes 95% less energy to recycle T he meeting then m oved to a pro volves the placem ent o f colored bins posal for a recycling program here on alum inum than it does to m ine and in every building for paper and c o n cam pus. GAEA would like to see a process ore) and PET-pIastic bottles tainers (glass, plastic, and alum inum ). program sim ilar to one at C lark U ni as well as easily recycled clea r glass. T h ese bins w ill be purchased by An exam ple of the savings his co m versity, largely student-run with sup port by federal work study m oney and G A E A ’s budget and any student d o pany sees per year com es from their nations. The plan calls for w eekly their plant services. receiving $48,000 for recycling wastes At W PI, setting up a program will pick-up and transfer to a sorting room in addition to $8,500 saved from not sending things to a landfill. He felt involve overcom ing a few obstacles, where it will also be stored until it can that WPI m ight also save m oney by such as Plapt Services not w anting to be hauled away at no (or at least re not sending w astes to a landfill and put its support behind a program which duced) cost to W PI. If W PI does see that this savings could be used to help may not be successful. A nother pro b a reduction in costs, G A EA hopes to lem is that the location o f a central see the school support its program , the school at large. A nother facet o f V eryfine’s en v i sorting and storage area m ust be d e which will initially be run by volun
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Tuesday, April 19,1994
7\PEAK
Volume Twenty‘two, Number Twelve
Jello speaks: Clinton, NAFTA, Family Values, and more by Brian Parker Features Editor On Monday. April 1 Ith. the former lead singer o f the “ Dead K ennedys,” Jello Biafra came to W PI as part o f his “ Spoken W ord” Tour. In a perfor mance that lasted close to four hours, he read some of his works and told of his personal dealings with government and the law. He opened the night with a piece that was essentially an open letter to President Clinton. In it, he called for an end to the drug w ar, ex cessive defense spending and society turning its back on problems. “ Harm reduction” as it is called in E urope, is being used there in treating drug ad dicts and low ering crim e rates, while
Am erica has chosen to deal with drugs by building prisons and boot camps. Biafra, brought to WPI in part by the S tudent’s Speakers Fund, stated that the U.S. should not encourage freetrade with countries like M exico (be cause o f it’s lax pollution policies and recent dealings with the Chiapas Rev olutionaries). Although some o f his statem ents, such as lowering the vot ing age to 5 to reduce youth apathy, w ere in jest, B iafra’s talk m ade good sense. He warned the audience o f a few hundred, that so-called “ experts” can be potentially dangerous. Som e tim es problem s are created to direct the public’s attention away from the real issues, such as associating rap music with causing crim e. Biafra stated that
crim e has always been a problem and that rap is just a way o f telling the world w hat’s happening. In another o f his w orks, entitled “ Family V alues,” Biafra told the story of som eone hooked by a televangelist. Finding “ faith"and sending away m on ey for brochures, this character learned that everything in society w as bad and should be banned, from books to music - even to various kinds o f people. He said that he wanted to give the audi ence some positive m essages, so he included these before interm ission: It is a positive thing to identify problems and try to find solutions. People should recycle and use existing technologies. A parliamentary governm ent functions well because of its many parties and an
inherent need for com prom ise. There should be more of an emphasis on sensitivity, and caring; less so on pain. Taxes are not a bad thing, if the money is spent wisely. A fter a short interm ission, Jello Biafra came back to relate some infor m ation h e’d learned about the govern ment. Specifically, he stated that under the Clinton Adm inistration, the C IA ’s budget has gone up. A lm ost 50 new death sentence crimes will be created with the new crim e bill. Parents m ay be sentenced for crim es their children com m it. Clinton has lifted a ban on nuclear testing imposed by President Bush (coincidentally, the last earth quake in California, which occurred on a previously unknown fault, coincided
Volunteers needed for Alumni Weekend by Lisa M. Hastings, Director o f Young Alum ni Programs Each year during the first w eekend
in June the cam pus is taken over by 1000 alum ni returning to W PI to cel ebrate class reunions. Ten reunion classes from the 10th to the 60th will
Lab Safety sessions offered One o f the federal regulations that WPI attem pts to com ply with is O SH A ’s Laboratory Standard (29 CDG 1910.1450). This standard has many com ponents, one o f which requires all em ployers to annually conduct inform ation and training sessions for all laboratory workers. The following schedule has been established to accom plish this. Session 1: W ednesday, A pril20th at 10:00 am in GH 227 Session 2: W ednesday, April 20th at 2:00 pm in SL 105 Session 3: T uesday, April 26th at 11:00 am in AK 233
Session 4: W ednesday. April 27th at 3:00 pm in WB 229 Session 5: Friday, April 29th at 10:00 am in G H 2 1 7 All laboratory workers (faculty, research assistants, graduate stu dents, undergraduate students, staff m em bers) that work in areas where hazardous m aterials arc used and/or stored must attend one o f these ses sions. If you have any questions about this matter, I can be reached at: x5216. David M essier, Environm ental Safety O fficer.
On the right track!
participate in the festivities, among them the annual g o lf to urnam ent, m usical perform ances, cam pus tours, the reunion parade, luncheon, class banquets, and hospitality suites. The Alumni O ffice is seeking re sponsible, enthusiastic student volun teers to help with reunion. Reunion begins T hursday, June 2 (evening) and ends with brunch on Sunday, June 5. S tudents responsibilities include hosting reunion classes, setting up for ev en ts, registration, ush erin g , and h o stin g ca m p u s to u rs. T h e A lu m ni O ffic e p ro v id es tra in in g , a c c o m m o d a tio n s and m eals on cam p u s th ro u g h o u t the w e e k e n d and R e u n io n T -sh irts . A n o p en R eu n io n In fo rm a tio n M eeting will take place on Tuesday, A pril 26th at 4:30 pm in Salisbury 104. Ask any student w ho has worked during Reunion W eekend in the past, and th ey ’ll tell you that it’s lots o f fun and that you meet great people. Join us on April 26 to find out more!
NF.WSPEAK STAFF PHOTO / JASON PHILBROOK
WPI runners Ted M anley, Class o f ’97, left, and C hris Pisz, C lass of 94, right, compete in the 200 meter in a meet yesterday afternoon against Trinity College. WPI won the m eet.
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with a nuclear blast test). Biafra also asked where the ReaganBush scandals have all gone. The BCCI. Iran-Contra and S&L problems are al most never talked about. He wondered why a study o f the effects of N AFT A is considered a classified document. He went on to cite as a problem the fact that most of the media is run by a few corpo rations and said that artists are society’s last hope for finding the truth. But, even art is being restricted with warning la bels and bans. Biafra painted for his audience a bleak picture indeed. How ever, there still is some hope in the fact that there are people who are willing to speak out, like Jello Biafra and that there are audiences which are willing to listen to his side.
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News .................................................................................................. 2 Community Update ........................................................................ 2 Sports ................................................................................................ 3 Arts & Entertainment ................................................................... 4 Commentary ................................................................................... 6 Letters to the Editor ...................................................................... 6 Editorial........................................................................................... 7
Student Government Association .............................................. 7 Newspeak Entertainment ............................................................ 7 Club Corner .....................................................................................8 Greek Corner .................................................................................. 9 Reader's Poll ................................................................................. 10 Classifieds...................................................................................... 11 Police L o g ...................................................................................... 11