The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
W e a t h e r ... Today: Partially cloudy. High 45. Wednesday and Thursday: Possible showers. High 40s.
Tuesday, November 3, 1998
Volume Twenty-six, Number Twenty
WPI Sophomores Take Sports and Recreation to a “Bigger Level: Students Develop Large-scale Inline Skates by Justin D. Greenough News Editor For Sophomores Ian DeBarrows and D avid Henry, skating was a hobby. They enjoyed it for its recre ational and exercise benefits. That is, until they got “stuck m the mud,” so to speak. “I’ve always done a lot o f skating,” commented Debarrows, “including some off-road activity with commer cial off-road skates. The problem is, that although the commercial skates are great for dry surfaces and hardpacked soil, they tend to sink-into grass and muddy areas.” This situation posed a problem to Ian and his friend David It was a problem, that as two second-year Mechanical Engineering students, they knew they could solve. To say they solved it would be an under statement. “We wanted to create a pair of skates that were big for stability and provided the best and most comfort
able ride,” commented the two boys. On Friday, O ctober 30th, th ey scheduled a demonstration of their work, to be held on Freeman Plaza at WPI’s campus. At precisely 4:30, Ian D eB arrow s, follow ed by partner David Henry and WPI Mechanical Engineering staff member Todd Bill ings, who helped the two with the project. DeBarrows appeared to be dressed in the normal protective garb associated with the sport of inline skating. However, instead of rollerblades attached to his feet, he sported two 22-pound contraptions, com plete with duel pneumatic tubeless tires, a suspension and frame system fabricated from Aircraft aluminum and a hand-held braking system. One viewer commented that each skate looked rem arkably like a child’s scooter. “You don’t even feel the transition from concrete to grass,” commented DeBarrows, who had practiced with the skates attached to his feet for only about an hour before the presenta
T h e C a m p u s ...
T odd B illings, Ian D eB arrow s and D avid H en ry.
tion. “I rolled over a two-inch text book back in the ME lab and didn’t even feel a thing!” DeBarrows and Henry explained
that the 12-inch tires and framework were designed to allow the skater to run over such things as rocks, turf
See Skating, continued to pg. 3
WPI Greek system changes Rush by Janelle A rthur Newspeak S ta ff Rush has begun. This year, how ever, many o f the policies and ac tivities have changed to counter the negative image the media has por trayed o f Greek life, as well as to create a greater sense o f com m u nity at W PI. Over the past years, the media has attacked Greek houses all over the nation. Because such a nega tive image was projected, the per centag e o f students involved in Rush dropped approxim ately fifty percent from 1996 to 1997. The Greeks here at WPI, along with the administration, wanted to project a m ore p o s itiv e im ag e o f G reek houses. They wanted to be recog nized for their involvement in the school, the community, and in their self-governing houses. Last spring, the adm inistration m et w ith the IFC and Panhel to d isc u ss re s tru c tu rin g R u sh for
th is year. T he a d m in istra tio n w anted a deferred Rush, b egin ning in the start o f C term. IFC and P a n h e l, h o w e v e r, th o u g h t th at a d e fe rred R ush would be d etrim ental not only to the G reek houses but the entire WPI co m munity. Since the Greeks spon sor many activities, deferring their o n -c a m p u s in v o lv em e n t w ould c re a te a m o n o to n o u s e n v iro n m ent. B ecause the goal o f re structuring Rush for this year w as to p ro je c t a p o sitiv e im age o f G reek life, the G reeks and adm in istration agreed to a com prom ise. To encourage, activity and in volvement on campus, each house was given a budget to host five campus-wide events on WPI prop erty. The events had to be approved by IFC, Panhel, and SAO and could be held on Tuesday, Friday, or Sat urday nights, with at least one on Tuesday. Beyond the on-campus activities, the sororities also incor porated philanthropic events into
their Rush schedule to promote in volvement in the Worcester com munity. In regard to the duration of Rush, this y ear’s Rush will be shorter and begin later than last year’s. Sorori ties will Rush ten days from the start o f B term versus the two and a half weeks last year. Fraternities will be less formal with Rush beginning in B term instead o f beginning of A term, and lasting only three weeks. Bids for both fraternities and So rorities will be given out before the Thanksgiving break. By sh o rte n in g and d eferrin g Rush, the Greeks and the adminis tration felt freshmen would have time to adjust to the new environ ment and focus more on school. For the sam e reasons, this year resi dence halls were off limits for re cruitment between 7pm and 7am and freshmen were not allowed in Greek houses before Rush began. What is the reaction in regard to the changes this year? It seems
that both the Greeks and the WPI community have benefited from the changes. The greatest benefit has been from the Greek sponsored and organized activities, made possible through the new budget this year. Various cook-outs have created a casual environm ent w here people from the Greek com m unity could meet new students, w hereas activi ties such as the Swing Show and the X-Rated Hypnotist have pro vided entertainm ent for all o f WPI. When asking Sean Smith, president o f TK E, w hat he thought o f the changes, he stressed that the new budget has made it possible to or ganize and publicize events that bring the W PI community together. He felt that these on-cam pus events did not focus on recruiting fresh men to com e to a specific house, but rather, introduced freshmen to the entire Greek com m unity and eliminated some o f the intimidation freshmen often feel toward “upper classm en.”
W h a t is N a tiv e A m e ric a n H eritage M onth and w hat does it m ean to me? I asked m yself this question before w riting this article. At first nothing cam e to m ind. I was puzzled by my reaction. But then I was filled with m em ories o f my youth and o n e p a r t i c u l a r e x p e r ie n c e floated to the surface. I was 14 years o f age and living in the w ork cam p s o f the b lu eb erry barrens. T hat season my fam ily happened to be placed next to a fam ily from the O ttaw a Na tion. Joh n , the father, w as a large m an o f great stature that walked around with little or no ex p re ssio n on h is w eath ered face. H is w ife was a p e tite wom an with soft features and b e a u tifu l, long, dark flow ing hair. They had a five-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl. The boy constantly sm iled de
spite the loss o f one o f his baby teeth . T he shy young girl ran around w ith her brother picking him up every tim e he fell. I v iv idly rem em b er how close th e ir family was. I loved watching them talk to each other in their native language as they w ent about their day. T hey had a very handsom e family. Still, the fam ily kept to them selves for the m ost part. One night after work, I was out side the cam p just walking around and noticed the O ttaw a family had made a fire and was making som e thing. I strolled over and asked,” So what are ya doing?” “ I am making com bread”, John replied. I had seen my mom make com bread and I had never seen her use a fire or special pottery. He e n cased the bread in the pottery then placed the pottery in the hot coals. It seemed like a lot o f work to me, after all, my mom made com bread in the oven. He than said som e thing in Ottawa to the fire. C uri
ous, I asked what he had said. He told me that he had said a prayer in thanks for the food. “Why don’t you use an oven or stove?” I unknowingly asked. He chuckled a bit then a sm ile broke through his leathery skin. John explained to me that he was making the com bread as his an cestors did. By keeping with his native peo p le’s traditions he was honoring his God, his ancestors, and his heritage. W ithout these traditions his way o f life would be lost. I w as taken back by these strong w ords o f pride and w is dom. I thanked him for explaining this to me and w alked back to my camp contem plating the signifi cance o f what he said. A short while later I heard a knock on the door. It was John. H e handed me a warm piece o f com bread and smiled. I thanked him and took a bite in to the b est ta stin g corn bread I had ever had. He chuck led at my awe inspired facial ex pressions and left w ith a grin on
S p o r t s ...
A & E ...
Modern art displays now at the museum read more about it in the article.
African drum and dance The W PI Jazz group to host Brian 'R agli a drum and dance
Pg.7
T r a v e l i n g ...
Native American Heritage Month by Francis Houde Class o f ‘98
H a l l o w e e n ...
PfS-10
Ken Gagne goes to kissing llama ranch
Read about his experi ence.
C o n t e n t s ... ^I * 1V # *> III 41S If] m w m .m
C harcoal Portrait o f Sitting Bull
his face. It w asn’t until many years later that I had realized how fortu nate I was to get to know these wonderful people. I only wished that I had given m ore effort to
See Heritage, continued to pg. 2
.......... 3 Arts & Entertainment....... .......5 - 7 .......... 6 International H o u se ........ .......... 6 .......... 6 Letters to the E d ito r .......... .......... 7 .......... 8 Person on the Street .......... .......... 8 Announcem ents ................ .......... 9 .......... 9 ........ 10 ........10 ......11 ........ 11 What's Happening ........... ........12