WPI Plan 25th Anniversary basis for Commission Competition by the WPI Plan 25th Anniversary Committee The 25th A nniversary o f the WPI P lan is at hand! Part o f any 25th A nniversary involves looking back a n d celebrating what has been ac com plished. H ow ever, in its discus sio n s w ith faculty and students, the A nniversary C om m ittee found strong sentim ents that simply looking back w ard to the P lan’s genesis and im p a c t on WPI w ould not do ju stice to th e intensely prospective nature o f w h at went on 25 years ago. As the current direction o f A BET accredi ta tio n criteria make clear, the WPI PLA N was prescient in anticipating th e evolution o f educational needs. A celebration o f the 25th A nni versary o f the WPI PLAN should be an occasion to stim ulate again that p rescience concerning the next 25 y ears. H ence as part o f the 25th A nniversary celebration the A nni versary C om m ittee will com m ission u p to five papers on the future direc tio n s for W PI. The term s and condi tio n s o f an open com petition for the
c om m issionings arc explained be five abstracts for the co m m issio n o f individually or collectively, in print or $ 1 000 each for subm ission o f a full low. via W W W , and will very probably paper o f approxim ately 50 0 0 w ords Part I o f the 25th A nniversary Cel form a focus for Part III o f the Anni ebration o f the WPI PLAN C OM M IS (2 0 pages typed d o uble-spaced). The versary C elebration, a colloquium on SION COM PETITIO N com pleted paper (in hard copy and the Future. d isk ette) m ust be subm itted by noon $ 1000 each paper for the papers on Content: the following topic: M arch 18, 1996 to q u alify fo r the The C om m ittee encourages the wid "W PI — THE NEXT 25 YEARS” stip en d . est possible creativity concerning the Up to five papers will be topic, but anticipates that the papers will in some fashion com m issioned and the com petition is open to all mem ad d ress three fundam ental In its d isc u ssio n s with f a c u lty a n d s tu bers o f the WPI Com m unity questions: den ts, th e A n n iv e r s a r y C o m m itte e f o u n d - faculty, staff and students * What changes in the world stron g se n tim e n ts th a t sim p ly lo o k in g b a c k (undergraduate and gradu o f the professional scientists/ w ard to th e P lan \v g en esis a n d im p a c t on engineers/m anagers will WPI ate registered as of D ecem WPI w o u ld not do ju stic e to th e in te n se ly ber 15, 1995). Joint author have to accom m odate in the ship is acceptable but the next 25 years? p ro sp e c tiv e n a tu re o f w h at w en t on 2 5 y e a r s stipend will be spilt accord *How will WPI negotiate those changes, both in mis ingly. ______ RULES: sion and curriculum ? C ontestants must subm it an abstract All abstracts will be subm itted to ♦What will be the reasons for W PI’s the selection process w ithout identifi success o r failure? of approxim ately 1000 words (four pages typed double-spaced), to Dean cation of authorship. Thus the name Specific questions lhat follow from Em eritus Grogan, Project Center, no and address o f the author(s) must ap the fundamental inquiries are almost later than noon January 15, 1996. pear only at the top o f each abstract endless, but some authors may want to W inners o f the C om m issions will be page, allowing copying w ithout iden play with questions such as: Will WPI announced January 23, 1996. tification o f the author(s). still be an independent institution? Will A n outside panel o f three WPI Abstracts and papers becom e the W PI students focus on traditional T rustees/A lu m n i w ill select up to property o f WPI and may be published classes or will they meet only on vari
ous media formats? What will be the fate o f projects and other current WPI degree requirem ents? How will the college be organized and financed? What will be the composition of the faculty and student body? What will professional life be like? W hat new challen g es and o p p o rtu n ities w ill em erge? Criteria for selection: The outside panel doubtless w ill have its ow n ideas o f evaluating the abstracts but the A nniversary C om m ittee will urge the panelists to c o n sider the plausibility and evidence o f the p apers’ predictions, the c o gency and logic of their argum ents, the originality and perceptiveness o f their argum ents as well as the o rig i nality and perceptiveness o f th eir thoughtful consideration of W P I’s encounter with the future. The panel will alm ost certainly co n sid er the clarity and w riting quality o f the abstracts presented. Future projection is a very dicey enterprise, but the 25th A nniversary Committee has made available on re-
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Y ' The Student Newspaper of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
N e w sp e a k ,
Tuesday, December 5, 1995
Volume Twenty-three Number Twenty-six
Mildred Tymeson Petrie, author of Two Towers, dies compiled by Dave Koelle Newspeak Staff Mildred (McClary) Tymeson Petrie died November 11 after a long illness. She was 83. Mrs. Petrie is the author o f Two Towers: The Story o f W orcester Tech, 1865-1965. In 1962, P resident Harry P. Storke com m issioned Mrs. Petrie (th en Mrs. T ym eson) to write the h isto ry o f W P I’s first 100 years. P resident Storke received glow ing r e c o m m e n d a tio n s a b o u t M rs. T ym eson, a local autho r who had w ritten several w ell-received corpo ra te histories. Mrs. T ym eson searched through c o lle g e arch iv es and in terview ed m ore than 80 people during two years o f research and w riting in order to com pile the most com prehensive h is to ry of W PI possible. She was very in terested in w riting W P I's history, a feeling w hich was strengthened by “ significant links” to W PI she found w'hile w riting histories for Norton C o m p a n y , W y m a n -G o rd o n , th e W o rcester C ounty N ational Bank, a n d W o rcester’s R ural C em etary.
“C learly, WPI had been a key ele m ent in the g ro w th o f W orcester during its first c en tu ry ,” she noted. “ I knew there w as a g reat story here.” In 1969, Mrs. Tymeson established what is considered to be one of W PI’s most prestigious student awards. This ii the T w o Towers Award, “given to the student who, through general aca demic competence, cam pus leadership, regular course work, and special work in research and projects, best exempt ifies a combined proficiency in the theo retical and practical union implicit in the T w o Towers concept, which is at the heart o f the T wo Towers tradition." (from the WPI Undergraduate Cata log) M rs. Petrie leaves her husband o f 28 y ears, G eorge W Petrie III: and a nephew . Her first husband, Ralph T ym eson, died m any years ago. She w as b o rn in K n o w lto n , Q u eb ec, dau g h ter o f Rodney H. and Sayde M. (L anphear) M cC lary, and later lived in O hio and W ashington, D.C. She then lived many years in H olden be fore m oving to S arasota. F lorida in 1967. She was g raduated from At lantic Union C o lleg e in 1933 and
earn ed a m aster’s degree is m u sic o l ogy from B oston U niversity in 1947. She then studied creative w riting at H arvard U niversity G raduate School in C am bridge, M assachusetts. Mrs. Petrie was the author o f 24 books, mainly on history and biogra phy, including histories ol several ma jo r businesses and their leaders in W orcester, Mass. She also wrote in dustrial movies, magazine articles, es says, and poems. Last year, she com piled the memoirs o f her husband, one o f IB M ’s first applied scientists and a pioneer in the computer industry. She was also a pianist and choir director for many years in Holden. In 1980, Mrs. Petrie founded the S arasota M usic A rchive and w as its president until she retired. In 1977, she initiated the W U SF R adio R ead ing S ervice for the Blind and H an d i capped in Sarasota. She was a m em ber and form er branch presid en t of the N ational League o f A m erican Pen W'omen. She was a m em ber o f the A uthors League and the A uthors G uild. She was an honorary m em ber o f Sigm a A lpha lota, the in tern a tional m usic fraternity.
Kim Landry (#25) scores for WPI in a gam e versus B rid gew ater State College last Tuesday. She scored 26 points in that gam e, which WPI won, 78 62. Rebecca Rubenstein (#13) scored 11 points to help lead the Engineers to the win. The team recently won the W orcester City Tip-O ff Tournam ent, in which they beat Clark in the Final game for the first time in five years. NEWSPEAK STAFF PHOTO / ED C AMERON
WPI receives donation of valuable Dickens collection taken from Questa publication o f WPI Through brilliant novels like David Coppeifield, Lillie Dorrit and Great Expectations, Charles Dickens defined the Victorian era and helped shape our understanding of this important period in British history. He is one o f the most studied writers in English, and the most widely read of all authors. Now, thanks to the generosity o f an educator and collector in California, WPI is home to a remarkably rich collection of Charles Dickens materials, a collection that is already being put to good use by stu dents and scholars. The gift, from Robert D. Fcllman of Palo Alto, Calif., has been valued at more than $160,000, earning Fellman m em bership in W P I’s Presidential
Founders. It establishes WPI as the premier source for Dickens material in Central Massachusetts, according to Joel J. Brattin, associate professor of English and secretary and trcasurerof the Dickens Society o f America. ‘T h e collection contains valuable first editions, unique manuscripts, original and rare illustra tions, and fascinating secondary sources from the 19th and 20th centuries— all o f extraordinary value lo scholars and stu dents o f Dickens,” Brattin says. Robert Fellman and Charles Dickens became g<xxl friends when Fellman was just 13. On a trip to the high school library in the small town o f Red Lake Falls, Minn., where Fellman was bom, he decided to check out a book w ith the curious title, The Posthumous Papers o f the Pickwick Club, one o f Dickens’ ear liest works. Fellman was attracted by
History and Traditions Part III r
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the Victorian author's humor, his sense o f character, and his uncanny ability to draw a reader into his world. “He’s a novelist who, when you read, is sitting on your shoulder. You can’t get rid of him,” he once told a newspaper reporter. Fellman quickly turned into an avid reader of Dickens’ novels. His love for Dickens’ writing continued as he went on to study chemistry at the University o f Minnesota Institute o f Technology, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1944. (He later received a master of science in chemistry at the university of Southern California and did additional graduate work in the discipline at the University o f London and Stanford Uni versity.) In 1958 he joined the faculty o f the newly founded Foothill College in Los See Dickens, continued on page 2
Class of 1879 prize competition to recognize work in Humanities The co m p etitio n for the C lass o f 1879 Prizes for 1995 is now open. T h e p rizes rec o g n iz e o u tstan d in g w ork in the H um anities and A rts by aw arding prizes o f cash and a c ertifi cate to the three best Sufficiency pro jects subm itted in any term dur ing calendar y ear 1995 (including this term , B95). Interested students should subm it a single, printed copy o f their S u fficien cy project to Pro fessor John T rim bur, H um anities and A rts, S a lisb u ry L a b o ra to rie s , by D ecem b er 31, 1995. Last y e a r’s w inners w ere Karl D icker, for his history o f black base
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N ew s .................................................................................................. 2 Sports .................................................................................................J World N ew s ..................................................................................... 4 Announcements ............................................................................. 4 Arts & Entertainment............................................................ 5, / / Commentary .................................................................................... 6 letters to the Editor ...................................................................... 6
ball; Shaun P. Heaney for his study o f New U nion Station; and S cott H iggins for his analysis o f the p ro b lem o f identity. They w ere chosen from am ong fifty-five entries. The C lass o f 1879 Prizes, one o f W PI’s oldest and most prestigious undergraduate aw ards, were o rig i nally piesented for the best essays w ritten in com position class. The C lass o f 1879 established the aw ard at their reunion in 1900. Since 1983, the C lass o f 1879 Prizes have been given in recognition of the m ost o u t standing w ork done in the H um ani ties and A rts Sufficiency project.
Co ntents Student Government Association ..............................................7 Computing ................................................................................ 7, 11 Club Corner ................................................................................... S Greek Corner ................................................................................. 9 Classifieds .....................................................................................11 Police Ijo g .................................................................................... 12 What’s Happening ...................................................................... 12