The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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e a t h e r
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Today: Chance o f Percipitation. H ighs 40s. Tomorrow: W in d y . P o s s ib le
in the rain .
H ighs in the 40s.
Thursday: T u esd a y ; F ebru ary 2,
W P I ’s T i m D r e s s e r W in s N a tio n a l
1999
V o lu m e
T w e n ty -S e v e n ,
by Sharad Yogesh Bhojnagarwala ACM Publicist
A p p lic a tio n s c o m p e titio n Courtesy o f WPI News Service
Gena Hill and Lauran Wojtkun kick down into a groove at the annual Dance-A-Thon (DAT), sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega (APO). Courtesy of The DAT Committee
On Friday, Janurary 29, Alpha Phi Omega and Lens and Lights brought the fourth annual DanceA-Thon to the WPI campus. Stu dents from Smith and UMass joined those from WPI in Alden Hall from 8pm until lam fora night of high energy dancing and fun. Through the event, over $300 was raised for the Worcester Battered Women’s Shelter. Attendance at this year’s event was down from previous year’s, but students who did come had a great
time anyway. Tunes were mixed by WPI’s own DJs Pegasus and Slee. The crowd heard hits from theirjun ior high school days, popular dance music of the 90’s, and some new releases from Europe. This year’s Dance-A-Thon was sponsored by the Student Activi ties Office, Healthy Alternatives, Residential Services, BJ’s Whole sale Club, W al-M art, The Boynton, Spag’s, East Side M ario’s, The Sahara, Shaw’s, Torrilla Sam’s, and Tech Pizza. APO would like to thank every one who supported the DAT by sponsorship or attendance.
See Dresser, continued to pg 10
What’s black and gold, lives in a glass jar and is older than the build ing which it resides in? The Coaxial Battery. Sure it doesn’t work. Sure it has no practical purpose. But its sur vived 16 years. I bet the good people at Duracell would be impressed. Many people who have lived shel tered lives may never have seen a coaxial battery before and are prob ably wondering what one is. This battery is of the Duracell 9 volt vari ety and sitting in a small covered glass jar with a coaxial attachment. Exactly why someone decided to make this coaxial battery is a mystery lost forever in history. It even remains a mystery how this battery survived the past 16 years without being thrown out. Surprisingly it shows no signs of corrosion over the past 16 years. Back on January 24, 1983, some unsuspecting person wrote the words on a sticker “Good 1/24/83” and attached it to a coaxial battery. Little did he know the chain of events which would result from his actions, some 16 years later. Sixteen years to that day, members of the WPI Chap ter of ACM gathered in celebration of the 16th birthday of this Coaxial Battery. While we know little about the his tory of the battery in the time between that fateful day in 1983 and its dis-
PHOTO COURTESY O F AC M
covery last fall, in Fuller A23, one can assume it survived a move to Fuller sometime after the building’s con struction in 1990. We do know what the future will hold for this battery. Next January 24, we will gather again in honor of its 17th birthday. The fol lowing year, it might even be older than some of the freshmen. Of course we all eagerly await the 2004, when we will return in honor of its twentyfirst birthday and enjoy a beer with it. For all of you who missed the birth day bash, feel free to stop in the ACM lab in Fuller A23 to view this amazing Coaxial Battery. For any of you who know of the person who labeled it, some 16 years ago, have him or her contact us so he can see the monster he has created.
C l i n t o n ’s
Eta Kappa Nu inducts nineteen new members
L a w y e rs ta lk
by Yu-Ping Toh H KN Correspondence Secretary
w ith
L e w in s k y
by John Solomon Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi dent C lin to n ’s law yers once searched for an innocent alterna tive to Monica Lewinsky’s sensa tional story. Now six months after their client admitted to an affair, they get their first chance to ques tion the former White House in tern. Presidential advisers say the lawyers probably will handle the deposition Monday gingerly, hop ing to coax her to repeat state ments that are helpful to the presi dent without challenging her cred ibility. Along the way, they might also explore her treatment by prosecu tors who were pressing hard for her cooperation, a subject that was ignored before the grand jury, according to advisers familiar with the W hite H ouse’s em erging See Lewinsky, continued to pg 10
C O N T E N T S ... News ............................ 10 Sports........................... .... 2,3 Arts & Entertainment..... 3,5,i6,7 West Street House.......... 6 International House...... 6 Club Comer ................. 9 Announcements............ 10 ll Classifieds.................... U Comics.......................... Crossword Companion.... ll WPI Scrambler.............. 11 Police Log .................... 12 What's Happening........ 12
N u m b er T h ree
Coaxial Battery celebrates 16th birthday
And that was DAT
E le c tro n ic s
Tim Dresser, a sophomore elec trical engineering major from Manchaug, Mass., competed in the field of electronic applica tions at the U.S. World Skills Com petition in early January in Las Vegas. His first place showing earned him a spot on the national team that will compete against o thers countries at the 35th World Skills Competition held in Montreal, Canada in November. Tim competed against five oth ers at the U.S. competition, all pre vious national skills competition medalists from the last two years who began competitng in either high school or junior college. Each com petitor was a winner of a school contest, a district and state contest and a national contest. Tim competed with a senior at Blackstone Valley Regional Voca tional Technical High School in Upton, Mass. The Las Vegas competition, closely modeled on the upcoming international com petition, included two assembly
M ostly cloudy. H ighsin the 40s.
Last Tuesday, Gamma Delta chap ter, the WPI chapter of the national electrical engineering honor society Eta Kappa Nu inducted 19 new mem bers into its fold. Eta Kappa Nu was founded in 1904 by Maurice L. Carr at the University of Illinois for elec trical engineering students not just to stimulate and reward scholarship but to assist and encourage its mem bers to grow professionally throughout their entire lives. Eta Kappa Nu has chapters in over half of all the engineering schools in the United States. Eta Kappa Nu invites into membership students in their junior year of study of electrical engineering who rank in the upper quarter of their class and senior year students who rank in the upper third of their class. History has shown that these are the students who later be come leaders in the profession and in the community at large. The 19 that were inducted have shown themselves to possess the three qualities necessary in an Eta Kappa Nu member: scholarship,
character, and personality. It is our pleasure to welcome undergraduates Brian Arthur Greenlaw, Crissy Renee Montgomery, Emrah Diril, Eric Toledo, Govind Samant, John Pong, Kevin Michael Landrigan, Mankong Chowkwanyun, Michael J. Euell, Michael Shear, Rahul Bhan, Ross Borgcson, Sheng Yung Deng, Stephen Lei Nash-Webber, and Tenzin Jampe Lama. Inducted at the same time were graduate students James C. Kilian, Nina Silva Tjoa Prashant V. Krishnamurthy, and Siddharth Gahault. After the traditional ceremony that was attended by both parents and members, a dinner was held. After dinner the head of the WPI Electri cal Engineering Department, Pro fessor John Orr gave a talk titled “Why we are here today?” in which he challenged all of us to become leaders in whatever career field we choose. He cited some examples of WPI electrical engineering alum that have made their mark, stressing that leadership is not about giving orders but letting others know what can be achieved. We wish the new inductees all
W hat's in s id e .. D o e s E th n ic ity im p ly
a lw a y s
a lle g ia n c e ?
"As a child who grew up watching re runs of 'T h e Brady Bunch" and eating TV dinners, these questions never seem ed to cross my star-spangled mind. I always considered myself as American as apple pie; as American as the dream boasted to children in far-aw ay lands."
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PHOTO BY M A TTH E W LUG
The newly inducted members with the officers the best and encourage them to help nurture the freshmen and sophomores. To the freshmen and sophomores, work hard and strive for the academic excellence that the WPI Electrical Engineering Depart ment is well known for. Just a reminder that every Friday at 11:45am, Eta Kappa Nu holds pizza lunches in AK 108. We fea
ture a wide selection of piping hot Papa Gino’s pizza. You get 2 slices of pizza and a can of soda for just $2. The goal of these lunches is to foster a sense of community within the electrical engineering depart ment, not just amongst the students but the faculty and staff as well. So come on down to AK every Friday at 11:45 and join in the fun.
E n g in e e rs d e fe a t riv a l M IT
A
4 1 -6
th e s a la ry o f th e
O n Saturday the 23rd W P I was at Trinity for a quad m eet with W illiam s, M IT and the hosts. T h e Engineers ended the day winning two and tying one. They defeated Trinity 2610 and M IT 4 1-6 while tying W illiams 2 0-2 0 .
m o o n ?
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r a t , a p ig a n d
M e e t th e two s ta rs of Newspeak's new comic strip, "Pearls before Swine".
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