The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
W e a t h e r ... Today: Possible rain. Highs upper 40s. Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Highs 40s. Thursday: Fair. Highs 40s.
Tuesday, D e c e m b er
8, 1998
V olum e T w en ty-six , N u m b er Tw enty-four
Bill would limit public college tuitions, fees The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) A bill cospon sored by the entire state Senate would limit tuition and fees at the state’s public colleges and univer sities to one-third the cost of edu cating a student at them. Also, community colleges would be prohibited from charging stu dents more than 25 percent of the cost of educating them. The colleges and universities are among the most expensive state institutions to attend in the coun try. The bill, proposed Thursday, also would require the colleges and
universities to meet standards of performance, or lose state money. Cuts in state funds to schools would mean cuts in tuition. The schools also would be required to attain a specific level of support from federal grants, endowments and fund-raising. If approved, the legislation would cost the state $269.2 million over four years. A similar bill, but without the per formance standards for the schools, was filed the last two years by Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg, D-Amherst, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Students now pay 33.2 percent of the cost of their education at the
University of Massachusetts. At state colleges, students are charged from 19.5 percent of the cost of their education _ the Mas sachusetts Maritime Academy _ to 40 percent of the cost _ Bridgewater State College. Community college students pay from 27 percent to 40 percent of the cost of their education. Tuition and fees at the state schools more than doubled when state money for them was cut 22 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s. By 1994, the state’s community colleges were the most expensive in the country; the state colleges were the seventh most expensive,
Georgetown U. bans condom demonstrations for peer education Archdiocese of Washington supports student petition By Rebecca Sinderbrand & Andy Amend The Hoya (Georgetown U.) (U-WIRE) WASHINGTON — Following a letter-writing campaign to the parents of first-year students and a letter from the Archdiocese of Washington to the university, Georgetown has decided to sus pend demonstrations of condom use during Peer Education ses sions, according to Dean of Stu dents James A. Donahue. Donahue has asked the Peer Edu cation Program to review its prac tices. Health Education Director Carol Day, who oversees the Peer Educa tion Program, said she was sur prised by the decision. According to Day, the program had received mostly positive responses from stu dents who chose to comment on Peer Education activities, and very few negative reactions. The move comes after meetings between Donahue and Brian Say ers (COL ’99), founder of the Com mittee to Reform Peer Education. The committee was formed in the beginning of October to protest what it viewed as a faulty focus in the orientation sessions, at which students demonstrated the applica tion of condoms using produce. The demonstrations have been part of Peer Education since 1989. Donahue said the demonstra tions have been suspended and
that “we will explore the extent to which discussion about the use of the condoms is essential for achieveing the health goals of the program.” When asked if demonstrations might ever once again be part of the program, he replied, “For right now, no.” In late October, the Committee sent a letter to the parents of all first-year students in which it stated that it was “deeply saddened” by the content of peer education, and expressed frustration that its con cerns on the matter “had been ig nored” by the administration. The letter urged parents to contact the office of University President Leo J. O ’Donovan, S.J., to register their concern. Tim Sheldon (COL ’01), a Peer Educator, said he was disappointed when he heard of Donahue’s deci sion. He said he felt that an outside body — the Archdiocese — was unfairly influencing the university. It is against Roman Catholic teaching to use condoms for birth control and to engage in sexual in tercourse outside of marriage. Donahue called the church’s stance on condom use to prevent disease a “complicated distinction to be explored.” Donahue said that condom dem onstrations have not encountered any previous opposition in at least the past five years. He added that they had been included “for health
education purposes” and were never a matter of university policy. He also said the program encour aged abstinence and presented its discussion of responsible decision making in the context of moral and religious values. “Abstinence was not talked about enough, or sometimes at all,” according to Sayers. He said the mandatory nature of the sessions also offended many students who had moral objections to its content. Sheldon said that Sayers was correct in saying there was defi nitely room for improvement when it came to the abstinence part of the lecture, but he pointed out that in every Peer Education session he was involved with, he revealed that he was “abstinent, and proud of it.” He also said that he recognized that abstinence was not the decision that everyone made. Said Sheldon, “We’ve had absti nence for two thousand years, and we still have STDs.” “I believe that presenting any thing other than an abstinence mes sage leads people down the wrong street,” said Joanne Reich, an Ohio resident and parent of a first-year student. Reich sent a letter express ing her views to O ’Donovan, and sent Washington Cardinal James Hickey a copy. Reich said that she found Dean Donahue “cordial and accommo dating” during a visit she had with
See Condoms, cont’d to page 2.
NEWSPEAK STAFF PHOTO/JUSTIN GREENOUGH
Couples and Stags alik e danced the night aw ay at W P I's W in te r F o rm a l w hich was sponsored by R esidential Services.
and the University of Massachu setts was the fourth most expen sive state university. Supporters of the new measure compare it to the 1993 Education Reform Act requir ing the state to pay at least half the costs of running public elementary and secondary schools, while de manding more of the schools. “What I like about it is that it’s a strong commitment to public higher education, which is just ancillary to our commitment to K-12, and it does insist on accountability,” said Sen ate President Thomas F. Birming ham, D-Chelsea. “People are decent and inclined to be generous to edu cation, but they are not patsies, and they don’t want their money to be thrown down a black hole,” he told The Boston Globe. State Board of Higher Education Chairman James F. Carlin supports the bill. “But I want to work hard to fine-tune it so it will get broad sup port,” he told the Globe. “If there can be controls on cost, the proposal will have much smoother sailing,” he said. “The cost of higher education in the U.S. and Massachusetts has gone up double the inflation rate,” he said.
Men’s Glee Club: Brothers in song by Ken Gagne Newspeak Staff Mu Gamma Kappa. Well, no, the Men’s Glee Club -but it’s the clos est you can get to a fraternity with out joining one, as they are all brothers in song, or fratres in cantus. The WPI Glee Club is the second oldest organization on campus, and for the past 31 years has been di rected by Professor Louis Curran. Their diverse repertoire ranges from Verdi’s Requiem or Orff’s Carmina Burana to modern arrangements, including many done by resident musicians. The Club performs with groups from colleges throughout New England. Traditionally this has involved Smith College, Wells Col lege, Radcliffe, Regis College, BU and many others. The glee club has made a bian nual tradition of touring internation ally. In 1997, the various churches of England was their destination. Spring break of 1999 will be their 11th tour, with a trip to Vienna, Aus tria, and the satellite towns of Prague, Czech Republic. Club policy: if a member signs to go on tour, that person will go on tour. No matter how bleak the fi nancial situation ever appears, the commitment is a strong one. Fratres in cantus: they do what they can to support one another. To hold to this commitment, the club has been involved in several fundraisers and campus activities this year. If your professors seem a bit happier this fall, that's because these singers raked their lawns. If the Searstown Mall seems cleaner, that’s because the musicians par ticipated in a trash removal. And if you have a new computer, you might have won it when the club raffled off a top-of-the-line IBM compatible. Even if you didn't win a computer, other electronic prizes are avail-
See Glee Club, cont ’d to page 8.
The Wrestling team started its season off strong, with a win; close calls tn men’s basketball and women’s swimming round off the sports recap from Thanksgiving break.
Happy Holidays! This issue is the last Newspeak of 1998. Look for the next is sue on Tuesday, January 26.
C o n t e n t s ... News.............................................. 2 Sports............................................. 3 Arts & Entertainment.............5,7 West Street House ....................... 6 International House ................. 6 Person on the Street....................6 Editorial....................................... 7 Commentary................................ 7 Club Corner................................ 8 Announcements....................... I I Classifieds................................. I I Comics........................................ I I Police Log ................................. 12