The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute i
I n T h i s I s s u e ...
EHJI
Christmas Concert..........5 16 Police L o g ..................
Volume Twenty-five, Number Twenty-four
Tuesday, December 9, 1997
Back by Popular Demand: They Might Be Giants by Sarah Walkowiak Assistant News Editor After millions o f years o f waiting, well okay, four. They M ight Be G iants are re turning to perform at W PI on De cember 13 in Harrrington Gym (not Alden) at 8:00 pm. They M ight Be Giants last performed at WPI in 1993. Although they have become better known over the last few years, the band still has a cult following o f fans, ranging from occasional lis teners to obsessive fanatics. Their following at W PI is es- ^ pecially strong. For those who are unfam iliar with their music, They Might Be G iants are not your average band. They are silly, sarcastic, cynical, and even occasionally sad all at the same time. Most o f their earlier music was cre ated with computers and synthesizers, al though they have recorded their last two albums John Henry and Factory Showroom
with a full band. They have experimented with a variety o f musical styles, but most of their music sounds upbeat and brassy. The music and lyrics of They Might Be Giants have a lot o f character, as do the band members themselves. John Flansburgh and
John Linnell, the founding members, are in famous for their anti-promotional tactics. This is seen in the cover art to John Henry, which features a gathering of children carrying ban ners which read “We Hate They Might Be G iants” . This tendency also shows up in
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Future leaders of the world? Students attend model UN conference by George Stuart Class o f ‘01 “ 1200 people, 700 beds, 1 goal — world peace.” And so begun the three day confer ence that is UPMUNC (University of Penn sylvania Model United Nations Conference). A conglom erate o f students from various universities gathered to debate issues rang ing from environm ental protection to inter national terrorism — and yes, WPI sent a team. The CIA (Council o f International Affairs)
is the local student organization which pre pares student delegates to attend two an nual co n fere n ce s. One o f w hich being UPMUNC and the other being HNMUN (Har vard National Model United Nations). For more detailed information, the CIA web site, which is currently being designed and up dated, can be reached at http://www.wpi.edu/ ~cia. For UPMUNC, WPI teamed up with del egates from Amherst College to represent the nation of Chile. The team was a mix o f expe rienced and inexperienced students, each at
tempting to contribute in their own way to the conference as a whole. Having participated in 3 high school MUN (Model United Nations) conferences before attending WPI, freshman George Stuart felt that the conference was in many ways bet ter. “Despite the fact that we did not take resolutions with us to merge and debate, the whole concept o f ‘caucusing’ was something new and interesting,” said Mr. Stuart. “Over all, I was really quite impressed with the con ference.” These com m ents were com ple mented by the head delegate’s opinion, Ben
WPI students staff fire station in Auburn by Mike Golden West Station Recruiting Coordinator In this age o f shrinking municipal budgets, many towns and cities are forced to provide fire protection with a minimal number of per sonnel. This often leads to dangerously low levels o f service. In extrem e cases, whole fire stations are closed due to lack of money or personnel. The nearby town o f Auburn has come up with an innovative solution to this problem.
In the late 80’s, the Auburn Fire Department was forced to close the West Street Fire Sta tion due to a lack o f available personnel. In 1993, however, that same fire station was re opened. The station was renovated to pro vide living space for up to twelve members in single and double dormitory style rooms. The personnel are all WPI students who pro vide their service as firefighters to the town in exchange for rent free housing. Residents o f the station provide staffing for two pump ers responding to fires and other emergen-
Tab le of C o n ten ts Person on the Street.............................. 2 Sports..................................................... 3 Arts & Entertainment........................ 5,6 Commentary..................................... 7,11 Letters to the Editor.............................. 8 West Street House..................................8 — --------------------- — --------- — — -------------------” --------
International House............................. 9 Club Corner........................................ 12 Announcements........................10,11,13 Classifieds........................................... IS Comics............................................ 14,15 Police Ijog ........................................... 16 — ------------------------------------------------------------- --------
cies, often being the first personnel to arrive at the incident. Program participants also have the opportunity to assist with review ing building plans and fire inspections of new and existing buildings in the town. Auburn is a town of about 15,500 residents bordering W orcester. T h e several b u si nesses in town cause the daytim e popula tion to increase to nearly 60,000. In addition to fires, the departm ent often responds to traffic accidents on the M assachusetts Turn pike and Interstates 290 and 395. While the program is not formally affiliated with WPI, all personnel are W PI students. Any student with Firefighter I certification and at least one year of fire department experience is encouraged to apply for available openings. For more information call M ike at 832-7591 or email hoser@wpi.edu. You can also visit our website at www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/ Fire/Wafd/wafdtite. html.
Fischer, that “The UPMUNC conferences has been one o f the high points in my time here at W PI.” By now you probably are wondering what on earth “caucusing” is and what exactly is involved with a “MUN Conference.” W ith out going into too much detail, an MUN Con ference is a near exact replica o f the United N ation. A conference consists o f several comm ittees, each of which usually debates 2 to 3 resolutions under a general “committee category” (general category exam ples in clude legal, financial, and environmental). UPMUNC also hosted an Ad Hoc committee which was a model for the A m erica’s NSC (N ational Security Council o f the United States). The UPM UNC delegates from WPI were Ben Fischer on the Ad Hoc NSC, George Stuart on the Legal committee, Kirk Johnson on the SCRUN (Special Committee on Re structuring the U nited N ations), M elissa Kachura on the WHO (W'orld Health Organi zation), and N izar Dahbar on the CST (Com m ission on Science & Technology ). The 4 day UPM UNC conference started on Thursday, Nov. 20th and proceeded until Sunday the 23rd. The conference went smoothly and the delegate fest (the celebra tion held the night before closing ceremo nies) was a blast. If you are interested in international affairs or would like to know m ore information about the CIA and MUN, p le a s e g o to the w eb site at h ttp :// www.wpi.edu/~ciaoremail the CIA President Alfred Andrade at aandrade@wpi.edu or Ben Fischer, the “mentor” (as he likes to be called), at nitro@ w pi.edu.