Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

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SN? , SQ' Lg -T x. Mini Course The Mini Course Program was developed to facilitate small groups in which people could share leisure time, interests, skills and hobbies outside of the classroom. It was also an excellent opportunity for commuters to become directly involved in campus social life. The courses were open to all students at minimal or no cost with an additional S2 per course charge for non-students. Funding for this program was made pos- sible through a portion of the College Cen- ter Trust Fund Budget entitled Life Skill Workshops. The Mini Course Program was developed through the Student Activities office in conjunction with the Special Programs Committee of The Student Union Board. l l l I l K' i r TTT f 5 V ,rut 5 Q- rn' 5- - Hg,

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Housing Headaches . . . This year's large freshman class and in- coming transfers, which totalled thirteen hundred students-300 more than last year- caused some headaches in the offices of the Registrar and Housing. Twenty-seven new sections were added to courses in such fields as English, history, politics, psychology, and sociology, and eighteen new, part-time faculty were hired in order to handle the increased number of students, according to Registrar, Dudley Marsh. '-'- ' 'T julie Glavin, Director of Residence Life, said recently that housing problems were caused when the resident atrition, or rate of withdrawal, turned out to be much lower than projected. The overflow of female residents was temporarily accommodated by the use of Towers Lounges, faculty apartments in O'Connor, and the addition of another bed to some rooms. Although no male residents were assign- ed to temporary housing, the male resi- dence halls were at full capacity for the first time in the school's history. Nursing At FSC? About 800 area registered nurses who ex- pected to begin work toward a Bachelor of Science in nursing in the fall were disap- pointed this year. Framingham State College had planned to implement the nursing pro- gram in a part-time basis in conjuction with the Continuing Education department. The problem was that the college assumed that the switch from full time to part-time cur- riculum would be handled as it had with oduy prognnnsin the pamg Nuryng was originally slated to be a full-time program, but eliminated due to lack of funds. The latest proposal would provide for the program to be offered through Continuing Education on a self-supporting basis with no cost to the Commonwealth. The colleges collaborating with Framingham CBoston, Fitchburg, Salem, and Worcesterb already offer the major in Nursing as part of their regular program. The colleges concerned are now working under the coraborative organization which aims to have Framing- ham offer the needed general education and liberal arts requirements making use of staff from the other colleges to deal with professional nursing courses and clinical experiences. President McCarthy had hoped that FSC would have its own nursing program. He stated that the cooperative nursing program can answer the area's needs temporarily.

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Fire More than 300 students of Larned Hall were evacuated early one February morn- ing when a fire reportedly caused by an electrical appliance, occured on the north side of the sixth floor. Norman Maclntosh, RA, discovered the blaze at 1:10 a.m. while investigating the blackout of his television. Macintosh saw smoke coming out from under the door of Room 630, where the fire started, and im- mediately alerted the two residents of the room who were asleep. The Framingham Fire Department re- sponded at once and extinguished the blaze within one half hour according to a Fire Department spokesman. College Administrators and Fire Depart- ment officials have not been able to esti- mate the exact amount of damage, but a precise figure was to be released. Students living on the north side of the sixth floor were unable to return to their rooms after the fire because of excessive smoke damage, and were housed in friend's rooms or empty rooms in Larned Hall. Ms. julie Clavin, director of Residence Life, stated that a number of fire safety regu- lations were violated. Food Poisoning On Friday November, 4, a number of Framingham State College students became ill on what was suspected to be food served in the Student Center Cafeteria. Approximately 200 students were taken to the infirmary and released. Twenty stu- dents were taken to the Framingham Union Hospital and released. According to a ques- tionairre sent out by Assistant Dean of Stu- dents, Wendy Noyes, 391 students reported they got ill. At the time it was not known what was the cause of the sickness. State and local health officials and an inspector from the Con- tagious Disease Division of the Massachu- setts Department of Public Health, were brought in to investigate. They immediately shut-down the cafeteria but upon complet- ing their inspection they found the cafeteria in order, with no sanitation violations. ,sv My , . gf. 'V ww . . ,fl .s f On November 17, the Gatepost reported that the college physician, Doctor Robert Sumner believed the illness to have been caused by toxins from staphyloccus ingested with food. In a report released on February 2, 1978 from George Waterman, M.D., the Assistant Director, Division of Communi- cable and Veneral Diseases, for the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Dr. Waterman stated: Be- cause staphylococcus, phase type 6f47f 54f75 was isolated from a burn on the hand of one of the foodhandlers, and because of the clinical findings, of those who were ill, he fully agreed with Dr. Sumner's find- ings. He went on to state that it is entirely possible to have only a relatively small of the food contaminated, and have no pathogenic organisms isolated from the food samples examined.