The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
I n T h is I ssu e ... Ice Cats ......................................2 Academic honesty ............... 5 Orientation leaders ......... 10
Volume Twenty-five, Number One
Tuesday, January 21, 1997
President’s IQP Award winners for 1996 announced Courtesy o f WPI News Service Judging for the best Interactive Q ualify ing Project at W PI took place Decem ber 11, 1996. Two student project teams tied for first place in the In s titu te ’s annual President’s IQP com petition. One team re se a rc h e d p re a d m is s io n s te s tin g u sin g telem ed icin e w hile the o th e r ev aluated c h e m ic a l s a f e ty at T h a ila n d ’s Chulalongkorn University. The third place team explored the possibilities o f innova tion in the m anagem ent o f coffee wastes in Puerto Rico. The President’s IQP Competition repre sents the best o f the projects completed each year. Five teams gave oral presentations on their projects to a panel that included WPI President Edward Parrish, faculty and invited guests who selected the winners. W PI jun iors Robert Eckm an, Shannon Hogan, Yueh-Hui Lon, Sean Veale and their a d v iso r, C h e m istry p ro fe s s o r S tep h en W eininger traveled to Bangkok, Thailand to com plete their IQP “ Evaluating C hem i cal Safety at C huianlongkorn U niversity.” The students prim ary question was “ W hat is the view o f safety in a developing, in d u s tr ia liz e d c o u n tr y lik e T h a la n d ? ” Through a series o f over 500 surveys, site visits, and interview s with faculty, staff, and students o f C huianlongkorn U niver sity, the IQP team discovered that Thai cultural attitud es regarding personal re spect and autonom y, as well as the defi-
ntn'S SERVICEPHOTO (left-right) Shannon Hogan, Yueh-Hui Lin, Sean Veale, Robert Eckman, and WPI President Edward A. Parrish. ciency o f appropriate support services pre was the Thai idea that to impose one’s per vented the enforcem ent o f a uniform set of sonal ideas o f safety upon another was c h e m ic a l s a fe ty ru le s in th e la b s o f Chulalongkorn. Initially, the IQP team said that they won d ered w h eth er th e fa c u lty and s ta ff at Chulalongkorn did not enforce proper safety procedures out o f indifference or lack of in formation. Much to their surprise, the team discovered that neither was the reason. It
wrong and violated the Thai concept o f per sonal integrity and respect. After completing their research design, the students suggested to the University admin istration that the physical environment of the University should be modified in order for chemicals to be properly stored and handled, and that a uniform set of safety rules should be enforced throughout the University in a “top down” fashion. A final suggestion was that outdated safety equipment be discarded and that new equipment be purchased so that chemical procedures could be effectively implemented. The students said that they did not seek to impose a “ W estern” understanding o f safely upon the community at Chulalongkorn as they realized that Thai culture was differ ent than their own but possessed many ad mirable qualitites such as em phases upon patience and compassion. The students said they found their Thai hosts to be very friendly and appreciative. The IQP team that tied for first place did their research entirely on A m erican soil, much o f it taking place at the D eaconess Hospital in Boston and at WPI. This team ’s See IQP continued to page 4
Cayer Scores 1,000 Plus
Mass. Academy course creates teen inventors Courtesy o f WPI News Service A gift-wrapping system, a locker unlocker, a self-tying shoe, and a temperature control for the shower were the culminating projects completed by four teams o f students in the new Introduction to Engineering course of fered for the first time last fall at the M assa chusetts Academy o f M athematics and Sci ence at WPI. In December, the students de scribed their projects to a panel of experts from the WPI faculty and area companies. Mass. Academy chemistry teacher Jacklyn B onneau and c o m p u te r science teach er Pauline Lamarche taught the course, which provided the high school juniors with an overview of several engineering disciplines, including mechanical, civil and biomedical engineering, and required them to work in
teams to form companies that would develop prototypes of devices that could solve a com mon problem. The students came up with the follow ing com panies and inventions: WDW: Thomas Armstrong, Guang Chen, and Angela Richardson developed a sys tem that uses the least possible am ount of paper to wrap any size box without com prom ising the appearance of the package. Q uick-C lick, Inc.: C arl Chan-A ldebol, Naomi Fox, and Jonathan Moussa created the Quick-Click Locker/Unlocker. The device consists of an opener installed inside the locker door and a hand-held remote control that triggers it, eliminating the need to open the lock by hand. IFT Inc. The Shoe: Am y G ilgis, Jesse H im m elstein, and Andrew Hobgood pro See Inventors, continued to page 2
Table of C o n ten ts N ew s........................................ 2, 4, 6, 10 Sports............ ........................................ 3 Arts & Entertainment....................... 4, 8 Commentary....................................5, 10 Sports..................................................... 5 Student Government Association........ 6 This Day in History...............................6
7 Editorial................................ West Street H ouse................. ............... 7 Letters to the E ditor.............. ............... 7 Club Corner.......................... ............... 8 Commentary.......................... ............. 10 Classifieds............................. ............. U Comics.................................................11
Jeff Cayer with his parents, co-captains and coach. by Heather M azzaccaro Sports Editor It’s his final year here at WPI, and Jeff Cayer is adding icing to his cake. The senior chemi cal engineering major from Shelton, CT has become the eighteenth male basketball player here to surpass 1,000 points in his career. A little more than nineteen minutes into a game against the Lancers of Worcester State Col lege was when Cayer hit the mark. WPI ended up losing that game, but Cayer contributed 16 points to keep the game close.
Currently Cayer is second on the team in scor ing and rebounding with averages of 19.1 ppg. and 7.4 rpg. He is a three year starter and has started every game for the Engineers this sea son. To top off these accomplishments, he was selected to the Worcester Area College Bas ketball Association weekly honor roll and was part o f the IQP team that won third place in the President’s IQP competition. Cayer received a plaque marking his 1,000 plus point achievement at last Saturday’s game.