Questions raised about DAKA at open meeting by Am y L. Plack Newspeak Staff A s reported in the last issue o f
N ew speak , the S tudent G overnm ent A ssociation is investigating the is sue o f food quality on cam pus. As ch air o f the S ubcom m ittee on Food S erv ice Issues, I am pleased to re port that progress, how ever slight, has been m ade. O n T hursday night, Ed M urphy, D irecto r o f D ining S ervices, invited all stu d e n ts to an open forum in F ounders Hall. W hile there w a sn ’t m uch tim e to publicize, this m eeting w as fairly well attended. S tu d en ts at the m eeting w ere en cou rag ed to tell D ebbie P eters, M an ager o f Founders, and Bob W ilder, M anag er o f M organ, exactly what e n trees do not appeal to them and
y
why. Som e students co m p lain ed about the d ifferen ces b etw een F ounders and M organ C om m ons. In Founders, according to one stu d en t, the pasta sets too long and becom es mushy and cold, w hereas the pasta in M or gan is usually O K. The difference is due m ainly to the fact that M organ has a h igher tu rn o v er rate; that is, m ore students eat there, so d ishes are depleted and rep len ish ed constantly. In contrast, Founders only feeds 300 o r so students, so the tu rn o v er rate is less. A nother co m p lain t was that, in Founders, m any item s are gone by 5:30 and are n ev er replaced. A c cording to one student, there is usu ally nothing left there after 6 :0 0 PM, even though Founders does n ot close until 6:30. W hile D ebbie had no
responses, Bob p ointed out that his sta ff in M organ does not start re m oving food until 6:30. W hen the q u estio n of ingredient q u ality cam e up, Ed invited ail stu d e n ts on to u rs o f b oth k itch en s. “ W e’ve got nothing to hide," he said. “ [The in g red ien ts we use] are all G rad e A .” S tu d en ts interested in a k itchen to u r should co n tac t D ebbie o r Bob. He also told students that he is w illing to arrange road trips to o th e r sc h o o ls, w h ere th ey c o u ld sam ple foods and m ake suggestions to Ed. Several ch an g es were suggested T hursday ev en in g , ranging from re m ov in g p e p p e rs and onions from m a n y e n tr e e s to re d e s ig n in g F ounders C o m m o n s so that a H ealthy C hoice line cou ld be added. D ebbie is considering m oving the salad bar
and dessert selections out into the dining area in order to dedicate m ore
space to entrees.
See DAKA, continued on page 2
A good number of students turned out last week to let DAKA know what they think is wrong with their food and service.
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
N ew speak
Tuesday , February 21, 1995
Volume Twenty-three, Number Six
Appalachia in Worcester It is that tim e o f the y ear again w hen the N ew m an C lub sp o n so rs its ann u al Spring B reak project “ A p p a la c h ia in W orcester.” The d ates for the p ro ject are M arch 13th and 14th. E v ery year a group o f W PI students give up tw o days o f spring vacation to w ork on projects for the hom eless o f the C ity of W orcester in co n ju n c tion w ith Y ouville H ouse, a tem p o rary, em ergency shelter for hom e less fam ilies. F o r the last ten years, Y ouville H ouse has provided a vari ety o f crucial services for fam ilies, esp ecially battered wom en and their ch ild ren , who have lost th eir h o u s ing. T oday at Y ouville, the average “ lo n g ” stay is as long as six m onths. O ne o f the com ponents o f Y ouville care for hom eless, battered w om en
and th eir fam ilies is their after-care for these people. Y ouville tries to move their clie n ts into perm anent housing w ith o n -g o in g su pport and services to help them m ake a tran si tion to norm al liv in g co nditions. This year, Y ouville H ouse has asked that o u r A ppalachia in W orcester project be centered on gettin g vacant apart m ents fit for th ese w om en an d their fam ilies. In th is w ay, the clients o f Y ouville H ouse can restart th eir lives in norm al living co nditions w ith on going support serv ices and care. So if you are in terested in helping this w orthy cause, please co n tact Susan R oosa (Box 2 500) or Becky Prince (Box 947) as soon as possible. The group is lim ited to 40 students. Sign up now and give to people o f o u r city som e o f your talents.
Gordon Library open house a success by Carmen Brown Gordon Library H ead o f Public Services The G ordon Library hosted an open house W ednesday, February 15 from noon to 3pm. It was a good opportunity for members o f the WPI com m unity to meet the staff in a relaxed atm osphere. Over 130 people signed the guest register and over fifty people heard President Brown
speak about the origins and evolution o f libraries. L ibrary sta ff at the registration table gave out free pencils and c a l endars w hile encouraging people to sign up fo r the raffle. A dditional staff helped patrons locate in terest ing W orld W ide W eb sites on the 3d floor stu d en t N ovells, w hile still o ther sta ff m ade sure that the re freshm ent table (hom em ade cookies and cold drin k s) w as w ell stocked.
M em bers o f the Instructional M e d ia C enter d em onstrated th eir m ul tim ed ia presentation, as w ell. T h e student, facu lty and sta ff art show attracted m any visitors who had many com plim entary things to say about it. People voted for their fav o rite piece and a s a resu lt, Eric M alo, a M ass A cadem y student who subm itted “ F light,” w on a gift cer tificate for receiving the m ost votes. W in n ers of the raffle include M arge Roncone and C hris B org, who w on gift certificates to the WPI B ook store; Mary Kelley, Fiona A bram s a n d L a u ra M e n id e s w ho w on G o m p ei’s gift certificates; Lanny T jandra, who won a WPI t-shirt do nated by the bookstore; Q ingyun Z hang, who won a large WPI special pizza donated by G om pei’s; Betty Jolie, Joseph Fehribach and Debbie R iel, who won library photocopy cards; Sharon Davis, who won a case o f C oca Cola, and C ynthia Rand, w ho won a three pound bag o f M & M ’s. T he library sta ff w ould like to thank those who en tered the art show , and everyone w ho p artici pated in the events o f the day. W e hope all o f you en jo y ed it as much as w e did.
sunlight can be accom plished sim ply by rearranging living o r w ork space. S pendin g som e tim e outside can also help. D uring the w inter, the su n ’s rays reflect o ff the snow , w hich provides an o th er m eans o f obtaining
the benefit o f exposure to light. If you have any questions about S A D , or would like to take a pap er/ p encil assessm ent, please contact the C o u n selin g and S tu d en t D ev elo p m ent C enter, 831-5540.
Is SAD Making You Sad? by Carrie Daninhirsch Counseling and Student Developm ent Center H ave you ev er w ondered w hy you ju s t c a n ’t seem to kick those w inter b lah s? W hy the change in the sea sons leaves you feeling dow n in the d um p s? Perhaps its because what you are experiencing is som ething m ore than ju st the blues— S A D , or S easonal A ffective Disorder. W hat exactly is SA D ? Studies show that SAD may be caused by the lack o f sunlight available d u rin g the w in ter m onths. W e know that our b o d ies operate on circadian rhythm s w h ich regulate our sleeping, eating, and activity levels. It is believed that for those affected by SA D this rh y th m is slow to adapt to the change o f seasons. As a result they are affected by the follow ing sym ptom s w hich are typical o f depression: sad n ess, anxiety, irritability , inability to co n cen trate, w ithdraw al from and loss o f interest in activities, ex ces sive sleep, increased ap p etite and w eig h t gain. G enerally, tw o m ethods o f therapy are available for the treatm en t o f SAD. F o r som e, the use o f an tid e p ressan ts has been found to be help ful. T he other alternative for treat m e n t is k n o w n as lig h t o r
phototherapy. How is it that p hototherapy w orks? The brightness o f light is m easured in lux. In the sum m er we are e x posed to sunlight being equivalent to 100,000 lux. In co n trast, a gray o r rainy day m easu res at about 10,000 lux. In order to treat SA D , ind iv id u als are exposed to a device m ade up o f w hite fluorescent lights w hich are m ounted on a m etal reflecto r and shielded w ith a plastic screen. The intensity o f this light m easures 2,500 lux, which is abo u t five to ten times b righter than typical in door light. Individuals sit about three feet away from the light for as little as thirty m inutes up to a couple o f hours a day. It has been found that sym ptom relief begins in tw o to four days and can be com plete w ithin a w eek o r two. It is im p o rtan t to note evidence has show n that w hen treatm en t stops sym ptom s q u ick ly reappear. T here fore, the co n tin u atio n o f treatm ent is crucial for p eople to obtain lasting results through the w inter m onths. T he use o f p h ototherapy has re la tively few side effects; how ever, the follow ing should be taken into co n sideration. A nyone w ith ey e or skin problem s w hich are ex acerb ated by bright light o r w ho are taking m edi cations that h eighten the b o d y ’s sen sitivity to light should not partici-
Housing Lottery Info See page 5
A bove: stud en ts, faculty, and staff view the pieces that were su b m itte d a s p a rt o f the Invitational Art Show
Right: P resident John Lott B ro w n s p e a k s a b o u t th e o r ig in s an d e v o lu tio n s o f libraries.
Photos by Jason Philbrook
pate in th is form o f treatm ent. F or th o se w hose sym ptom s o f SA D are not as severe, m aking a d ju stm en ts in o n e ’s environm ent can help to co m b at som e of the sym p tom s. W hile indoors, getting more
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N ew s ................................................................................................. 2 Announcements .............................................................................2 Sports ................................................................................................ 3 Arts Entertainment .............................................................. 4, 5 Commentary ............................................................................... 6, 7 Letters to the Editor ...................................................................... 6 V_________________________________________________________
Contents Student Government Association ..............................................7 Club Corner .................................................................................... 8 Greek Corner ..................................................................................9 Classifieds ..................................................................................... II Police Ijo g ..................................................................................... 12 What's Happening ...................................................................... 12
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