W P I t o h o s t U S M L -2 c r e w f o r h is to r ic v is it by Brian Parker Editor-in-Chief-Emeritus Tomorrow WPI will have the unique opportunity to host the entire crew o f STS-73, which Hew aboard the space shuttle Columbia last fall with the sec ond United States microgravity labora tory mission. They will be joined by M assachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy, w ho will participate in discus sions with the community and with busi ness and education leaders. Professor Albert Sacco, who was a payload spe cialist on the mission, commented: "It is unusual for the whole crew to gather for a single event, except for meetings at the White House. . .this represents a major commitment on the p;irt of NASA, to release the crew from theirother training schedules. . .this is u very special event for WPI and the city o f Worcester, noth ing like this has ever happened before in Massachusetts.” The astronauts will arrive tomorrow morning (Wednesday. April 10) and participate in a round table discussion "Building Educational Partnerships for the 21st Century" with business and
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gift to the community for all o f its sup to show that science can be fun and they educational leaders. Sacco commented port of him and his endeavors. He also walked out to the shuttle with their hats that this discussion will continue to build arranged for a question and answer ses on backwards to demonstrate that “sci on the theme of USML-2, by showing sion in Harrington, where selected high ence is not for “geeks’.” According to that institutions of higher education, in school students will also be present. Sacco, USML-2 showed that this can be dustry and the government can work This is another part o f the attempt “to done if the will and desire exists and he together to produce world class technol motivate the next generation of Einsteins hopes that this will ;md desire can be ogy. and Goddards” says Sacco. The There will also be a pre future competitiveness of the sentation for the WPI com United States will depend on munity at 11:30 in the morn “I'm hoping this is som eth in g to rem em b er whether educators today can ing, which students are en f o r th e rest o f ou r lives. . .th is is qu ite a stimulate their interest in sci couraged to attend. "Count com plim en t to WPI to be a llo w ed the en tire ence, mathematics and engi down to Tomorrow” will be crew to visit. ” neering. By presenting it at a about what it is like to live -P rofessor AI Sacco personal and interesting level, and work in space, and the through programs like this one, kind o f science which was this can be done most effectively. done on the mission. The talk The day looks to be a big celebration found at WPI. will also include the educational down of the future and the potentials that fu Senator Kennedy, along with Gover link, which allowed the shuttle crew to ture research and young scientists and nor Welti and Senator Kerry' are strong conduct interactive science lessons with engineers hold. It also has the potential believers in the need for government, four high schools (including Worcester's for WPI to lend its support lo the devel industry, and educational institutions to South High School) and be viewed in opment o f projects that could lead to a form partnerships lo maintain competi 40,000 classrooms nationwide over the leadership role in the years to come. tiveness. Kennedy’s willingness to par Channel One network. The presentation According to Sacco "This presents a ticipate in the program, especially in the begins promptly at 11:30, so everyone is chance to become a major player, there roundtable discussion, show strong sup asked to arrive a bit early. is a lot o f work that would need lo be port for this type o f cooperative venture. The crew o f USML-2 figured that done; faculty and student support would Professor Sacco helped to organize exciting teachers and students was a be important. . .but this is a chance wc the morning presentation as part o f his major part of their mission. They wanted
can’t afford to miss.” Again, students are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to talk with an entire space shuttle crew (Commander Kenneth Bowersox, Pilot Kenl Rominger, Mission Specialists Catherine Coleman, Michael LopezAlegria, Payload Commander Kathryn Thornton and Payload Specialists Fred Leslie and Albert Sacco) and, quite pos sibly, shake their hands. Tomorrow promises to be the celebration o f one o f the most successful missions in NASA history, where experiments were con ducted in: astroculture, crystal growth, fluid mechanics and combustion sci ences among other disciplines. Presi dent Parrish feels that the event "will provide an opportunity to highlight the important contributions Massachusetts, with its wealth of educational resources, its technological know-how, and its in dustrial might, has made and continues to make to the welfare of the nation.” Professor Sacco ment ioncd “I’m hop ing this is something to remember forthe rest o f our lives.. .this is quite a compli ment to WPI to be allowed the entire crew to visit.”
The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
N e w spe a k Volume Twenty-four; Number Eleven
Tuesday, April 9, 1996
Management Department seeks accreditation for programs by Jason Papadopoulos News Editor WPI’s Management Department has been busy this year in an effort to gain accreditation for its management pro grams. In addition to going through the process for "Engineering Criteria 2(XX),’’ for its Industrial Engineering major, the Department has been actively preparing a plan of improvements that could lead to accreditation o f its other management courses, by a business school accredita tion board. The criteria used for accrediting busi ness schools is very similar to the experi mental "Engineering Criteria 2000,” as far as evaluation is concerned. Both criteria require that students be evalu ated on outcomes rather than actual course completions. The only differ ence is that the business accreditation criteria goes a step further and asks that after the basic criteria has been achieved the department has lo continue to im prove its programs. The result will be an up-to-date educational program for the business-persons of the future. In April o f 1995, an advisor from
the accreditation board that will evalu ate W P l’s management curriculum came to provide the Management D e partment with advice that would help it start evaluating its programs and improve them so as to achieve the required accreditation criteria. Since then the department has been steadily improving its programs, including hir ing three new management professors. The depart ment out lined some changes it had to make, in a plan it submitted to the accreditation board, and has been trying lo accomplish the outlined tasks. On April 20, Professor McRae C. Banks II. Management Department head, will be leaving for California where the accreditation board will give it’s deci sion on accreditation of WPI’s manage ment programs. If the Department is accepted as a candidate for accredita tion, the process for accreditation will take anywhere up to five years. During this period the Management Department will have to assure the accreditation board that it has achieved the required criteria and that it will continue to im prove its programs.
The crew of space shuttle mission STS-73, from left to right: M ission Specialist Catherine Colem an, Payload Specialist Albert Sacco, Jr., C om m ander Kenneth Bowersox, Pilot Kent Rominger, Payload Specialist Fred Leslie, M ission Specialist M ichael Lopez-Alegria, and Payload Commander Kathryn Thornton.
ISC to sponsor tenth annual Cultural Festival this Saturday by Jason Papadopoulos News Editor The 10th annual Cultural Festival will be held at Harrington Auditorium, from 9:30am to 3:00pm, Saturday, April 13. This year’s festival will consist of exhibits, food samplings, performances, represented by more than a dozen coun tries and clubs. The result o f weeks of work and preparation will be open to the public as part of this year’s parent’s day festivities. The doors to the ISC (Inter national Student Council) sponsored event open at 9:30am. At 10:00am the Vice President of WPI is expected to give a short speach in honor o f the event, followed by the inauguration of the Cul
tural Festival. Entrance will be free, and those thal wish to sample from the inter national quisine, will be available will have to purchase fcxxl sampling cou pons for 50tf and exchange them for a sampling. One o f the new and main attractions to the festival will be the French cafe, which will serve French crepes and Puerto Rican coffee, in a French cafe atmosphere. Groups involved in the Cultural Fes tival include the ASC (Asian Society), CSA (Chinese Student Association), Deutsch Klub, French Circle, HS A (His panic Student Association), ISO (Indian Student Organization), JA (Japan Asso ciation), MSA (Muslim Student Asso ciation), Society o f Martial Artists, TSA
Schedule for USML-2 Visit C
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(Turkish Student Association), and the VS A (V ietnamcse Student Association). Another first for this year’s cultural festival, will be the representation of the Republic of Cyprus. Two WPI sopho mores will setup a stand, exhibiting maps, photographs, handbooks, and leallcts on Cyprus, as well as offering samples of Cypriot hors d’ouevres, foods, and des serts. The Japan Society will have several tea ceremonies, and origami (a tradi tional Japanese art o f folding paper to form flowers, animal figures, etc.) dem onstrations. The Asian Society expects to have a display of items from various Asian countries. The Deutsch Klub said that its exhibit will consist o f pictures
and videos showing the architecture and landscape of three German speaking coun tries, Austria, Gennany and Switzerland. Manned performances include singing, dancing, and martial artsexhibitions. Herrik Haensch, a graduate student, will sing “Ueber den Wolken”, a German ‘folk’ song. Vietnam ese students from Worcester’s South High School will per form a Vietnamese Fan ditnce, ;uid a WPI graduate student will perform a Thai dance. The CSA, ISO and TSA also plan to dem onstrate traditional Chinese, Indian, and Caucasian dances. The HSA intends to enact “Down from the Caribbean”, a musi cal and theatrical performance, while the Society of Martial Arts will display various martial arts.
Visitors will also be able to sample the native quisine o f countries from all over the world, such as cheese from Cyprus. French crepes, German salami and bread, Indian samosas. Puerto Rican pastries, and Vietnamese rice. MSA’s contribution to the Cultural fes tival will lie different from most. It plans to display Islamic heritage in the form of calligraphy, paintings and pictures. It will also have a multimedia presentation de scribing MSA’s role at WPI, and Islam in general. MSA will also provide an interacti ve database of the Quran, where the publ ic will be able to search a topic and find the Islamic point of view on the particular point. A person from the MSA will also be writing in calligraphy on request.
Table of Contents N ew s ................................................................................................. 2 Sports ...................................................................................................) Arts & Entertainment................................................................... 4 Announcements ............................................................................. 5 letters to the Editor ...................................................................... 6 Commentary .................................................................................... 6 Student Government Association .............................................. 7
Counseling and Student Development Center....................... 7 Club C orner .................................................................................... H Greek C orn er .................................................................................. 9 Classifieds ..................................................................................... 11 Com ics ............................................................................................ II Police I jo g ............*....................................................................... 12 What's Happening ...................................................................... 12