President’s IQP Award finalists show variety of global programs by Kristen Greene Graphics Editor The 1994 President’s IQP Awards Competition was held on W ednesday, December 7 in Higgins House. The original pool of tw enty-four projects which had been submitted was nar rowed down to five finalists, which were presented during the competition. Hossein Hakim, Chair o f the Inter disciplinary and Global Studies Divi sion, opened the ceremony with a wel come and introduction. He began by speaking about the Interactive Quali fying Project, in general. He focused on the Global Programs that are cur rently offered. He remarked that out of about 260 IQPs done over the past year, one-third o f them were done at offcampus project centers. The first of these off-campus project centersd to be d e v e lo p e d w as the W a sh in g to n , D. C. center, which began in 1974. In 1987, WPI saw the beginning o f a second off-campus project center, in London, England. Since then, the pro gram has expanded, and there are project centers located around the world. ‘T his year’s finalists include projects com
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pleted in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin Bangkok to follow up on this project. use o f com puter simulation o f fires America, and on-cam pus,” said Hakim. The next project was presented by works well in the legal system. ‘T h is shows the diversity o f what WPI Benjamin Fichera, David Jacoby and Next, Susan M oreira and Rafael offers today.” Nathan W ittasek, titled “C om puter Chavez presented their project titled The project presentations began next. Simulation o f Fire Spread and Its Per “ Isla de Mona: A Photovoltaic Energy Each group was given tw enty minutes ception in C ourt.” This project was Assessment.” This project was con to present their projects, with ten min completed on-cam pus, and was advised ducted during D-term of last year in utes allowed for questions from the by Professor Jonathan Barnett. The Puerto Rico, and was advised by Pro audience. fessor W ilhelm Eggimann and The first project was titled Professor A. Shepard-Mendez. “Solid Waste M anagement Islade Mona is an island which “ These are not textbook problem s. They are in the Slums o f Bangkok,” has been designated as a N atu real problem s with rea l a n sw ers.” and was presented by Jason ral R e se rv e by the -Hossein Hakim Anderson and Sandra Davis. D epartam ento de R ecursos ( liair. Interdisciplinary an d The project w as conducted N a tu ra le s y A m b ie n ta le s G lobal Studies Division in Bangkok, Thailand dur (DRNA) o f Puerto Rico, and ing C-term o f last year, and is home to a biological research was advised by Professor camp. An alternate source o f John Zeugner. The objective o f this project studied com puter fire models energy was needed for this island. The project was to assess the current system and how they are perceived in court, project team had two objectives to the of garbage collection in the Klong Toey both by the general public and by pro project, the first to assess the current slum in Bangkok, Thailand, and to rec fessionals. M uch o f this was accom energy system in use on the island ommend an improved collection pro plished through interviews and ques (diesel fuel generator), and the second gram. In addition to accom plishing tionnaires. The group examined three to design a photovoltaic system which this, the project group also created an major fires in order to show how sim u would meet the needs o f the camp and advertising campaign designed to edu lation models are currently being used. increase the availability o f electricity cate residents, which consisted of post As a result o f the project, it was deter on the island. As a result o f their ers, a brochure, and a t-shirt. Finally, mined that in general, people believe research, the project group accom the group recommended several future that these models are accurate and reli plished both of their objectives, and IQPs which could be conducted in able. It was also determined that the cam e to the conclusion that a photovol
taic system would be safer, more effi cient, and most financially feasible for the island. A fter a half hour break, a project titled “ A Study o f Farm ing on the Innichberg: Preserving a Unique C ul tu re ” w as p re se n te d by A n to n io Delgado, Philipp Herget and Kimberley Scofield. The project was advised by Professor David Dollenmayer and Dean William Grogan, and was completed over the past summer in Innichen, which is located in the Italian Alps. The students studied the unique farming culture o f the area, and the fact that this may soon be gone because o f the many changes taking place in the area. T our ism, which is a main source o f income o f the community, is both helping and hurting the farming at the same time. The group developed a num ber o f rec om m endations of ways in which the economy o f the farming comm unities could be stabilized. At the completion of their project, the students presented their findings in both G erm an and Ital ian to members of the comm unity and representatives from the tourism inSee IQP Awards,
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The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
N e w spe a k
m e Twenty-two, Number Twenty-eight Twenty-eigh Tuesday, D ecem ber 13, 1994 ^ V o l uVolume
SocComm to institute new movie channel for WPI cable viewers by Brian Parker Features Editor Starting in C -term , SocC om m will begin offering a m ovie channel over the cable netw ork in all o f the resi dence halls. This serv ice will be running on a trial basis, and should continue barring any m ajor p rob lem s, back to back w ith SCO LA on C hannel 12. From 6:00pm until 2:00am , m ov
ies selected by the Film s C om m ittee, will be played on VCRs given to SocC om m by the IMC. R ight now, there are three VCRs av ailab le, so for a w hile on e m ovie w ill be re peated every night. SocC om m is also currently w orking tow ard ob tain in g a fourth VCR to elim inate th is pro b lem. The com pany which provides the Sunday night m ovies is providing the tapes w ith the legal rig h ts to
show them for thirty days. New tapes will be received every w eek and they p robably w ill be show n with som e them es to tie them to gether (such as the “ A liens” series or baseball m ovies). But, the m ovie channel is not looking to show ju st the types o f film s w hich are show n on S undays, they are looking to show oldies, carto o n s as well as others. SocC om m is also going to m ake the schedule available on the WPI
b u lletin board on C hannel 11, and is looking for input for its D -term film selections. T o becom e involved with th is, speak to one o f the m em bers o f the F ilm s com m ittee, o r jo in it yo u r self. T here is som e concern about the fact that SocC om m is required to
provide entertainm ent for the entire com m unity, not ju st the on-cam pus residents. The third floor lounge in Fuller L abs will be set up as a view ing area for the m ovie channel and. once it is built, the film s w ill be run from an d show n in the C am p u s C enter.
Firestone sparks students’ thoughts by Jennx Yambert Associate Editor P ro fe sso r D avid F ire sto n e has been teaching E nvironm ental Law at V erm ont Law School for o v er twenty years, now , and T hursday afternoon he shared a little o f his policy know l edge w ith WPI students. His goal was not to convince studen ts that his opinions o f policy are th e correct ones, his goal w as to show students that there are many view s w hich they should be aw are of. H is subject m atter focused on the U nited S tates’ policies on pesticides and w aste, both hazardous and non-hazardous. The U nites S tates has very strict laws on p esticides m ade for national use, but those m ade for export have an en tirely d ifferent set o f regulations. The question of how to deal with our w aste disposal raises m any issues of state sovereignty and ethics. U nder the Federal Insecticide Fun gicide and R odenticide A ct (FIFRA ), any p esticide that has been approved for sale in the U nited states can be banned by the EPA if it is proven to be unreasonably harm ful to health or safety. It used to be that the EPA w ould be obligated to pay a co m pany fo r lost revenue, by buying the am ount o f unsold product that had been produced before the ban, when it chose to ban a pesticide. A 1988 revision o f FIFR A , though, took that requirem ent out, giving th e EPA a
lot more freedom in its duty to p ro tect the U nited States citizen s. EPA approval o f a pesticide, and its pow er to ban, are only applicable to p esti cides made for use in the U .S., they do not apply to pesticides m ade for export. Any pesticide that is banned in the U .S., o r even one that has never even been review ed by the EPA , can be exported for use in other countries. Is this a moral actio n on the part o f the U.S. g overnm ent? Do we have the o bligation to prevent export o f these p esticides? Do we have the right to prevent o th er na tions from buying what they want to buy? T he U nited States has very strict rules about how w aste, hazardous a n d n o n - h a z a r d o u s , s h o u ld be handled. L a n d fills have to have heavy plastic liners to prevent co n tam ination o f ground w ater supplies, hazardous w aste must be sto red so that it is no lo n g er a th reat to U.S. citizens. The Federal gov ern m en t is currently co n sid erin g the possibility o f shipping o u r w aste to the M arshal Islands. The hazardous w aste could be stored in B ikini A tol, w hich has been deem ed u ninhabitable for the next 50,000 y ears due to radiation caused by U.S. nuclear te sts c o n ducted there in the past. S olid w astes w ould be put in landfills on the in habited islands. The M arshal Is lands want the contract fo r w aste shipm ent to com e through b ecau se it
ACM places second in regional contest
r
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would provide th eir small nation with industry, m ore land space, and an annual incom e o f $46 m illion. T hey are w illing to take the health risks to get the benefits. Should the U.S. allow the export o f our waste? Should we be forced to deal with our w aste and find w ays to reduce w aste p ro duction? Is it o u r ethical duty to protect the M arshal Islands from the harm the w aste cou ld cause? Do we have the right to deny them the b e n efits that this “trad e" could bring them ? Professor F irestone is clearly c o n cerned w ith how the U nited States conducts its foreign policies. He wants people to be aw are o f the truth in how o u r nation conducts its b u si ness. He p rovided students w ith the facts on cu rren t policies, and e n couraged them to figure out the re a sons behind the argum ents for and against the policies. “ My jo b is not to convince you o f an y th in g ,” he told students, “ I ’m a teach er.” He encouraged every o n e to be aw are o f United S tates policies and to d evelop opinions on them . He en couraged students to becom e involved, but, he said, “ if you advocate a position, you should be the best advocate you can be.” T he w ay that is done is to know both sides o f the argum ent, and to be aw are o f how U nited S tates policy effects both citizens and fo r eigners.
NEWSPEAK STAFF PHOTO / JASON PHILBROOK
T he Social C o m m ittee's C offehouse C om m ittee b ro u g h t m usician Tom A cousti to W PI last S a tu rd a y night. The show w as held in A lden Hall.
Review course for Fundamentals of Engineering Exam announced WPI is now accepting regis trations for the annual Engineer ing Intern Review (Formerly Engin eer-in -T rain in g R eview ). The Review prepares candidates for the Fundamentals of Engi neering Exam. Topics include the bask sciences, mathematics and engineering disciplines. Classes meet on eleven Thurs day evenings between January I t and ApHl 6 ,1 9 9 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the WPI campus. The format of the course hi a formal lecture period followed by questions and answers. Stu
dents also complete problem sets to help acquaint them with the Fundamentals o f Engineering Exam. Weekly lectures are con ducted by WPI faculty members. The program fee is $325 per person. Full-time undergradu ate WPI students are eligible for a reduced rate of $195. The fee includes the text and all other instructional materials. Deadline to register is January 12,1995. For farther Information, con tact W PI’s Office o f Continuing Education at (506) 831-5517.
Table o f Contents N ew s ................................................................................................. 2 Announcements ............................................................................. 2 Community Update ....................................................................... 2 Sports ................................................................................................ 3 Commentary .................................................................................... 4
Club C orner ....................................................................................6 Greek C orner ................................................................................. 7 Police Ix)g ....................................................................................... 8 What’s Happening ........................................................................ 8 Classifieds ....................................................................................... 8