Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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WORCESTER ; THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THIS LONELY REGION CALLED QU1N8HMM0ND VMS ATTEMPTED IN 1671. BUT ABANDONED DURING KING PHILIP ' S WAR. A SECOND SETTLEMENT. ATTEMPTED IN 1684, SOON NAMED WORCESTER, WA8 ALSO TEMPORARY ABANDONED BECAUSE OF HUMAN HOSTILITY PERMANENT Iffi o m Sh O • i — i C CI) 1 — ' w 00 ) l l . €? -a CN 1 CD (1) S CD Xi 02 ■ i — i CD (V -4— ' ■ — i BOTTOMS CLAS

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Van Alstyne: Well I was in an awkward position. At the time the original planning committee was es- tablished I was head of the Math De- partment ... So that I had to sit on the executive committee. I was at the meeting when the President an- nounced the formation of the Planning Committee. The most uncomfortable experience I ' ve ever had in my life. The Committee was so upset that they declared a five minute recess. Right in the middle of the meeting. They were very upset and never forgave the President. It turned out that . . . some of them were very supportative later on but as a Committee . . . they hadn ' t done the job they were sup- posed to and they were embarrassed! And Annoyed. And particularly an- noyed that they had had no say on who was on the Committee. They weren ' t asked . . . that was the begin- ning of the demonishion of their pow- er. Anderson: Somehow, I guess, they got the ear of the Administration and committees were formed ... to investigate and come up with a proposal . . . and eventually this was presented to the faculty and we had 50,000 meetings ... It was not unani- mous but ... it was definitely a majority. We have the PLAN now and what are we going to do about it? Bridgeman: You can always go back to the traditional system but how well do the grades evaluate what the student has gotten out of the course? And because the student has passed a certain number of courses in a certain number of areas doesn ' t insure that he ' s really carrying . . . (it) in his head — he ' s been exposed to it. It seemed to have enough good features that (the faculty) were willing to give it a try. I think the faculty has been very cooperative in that once the thing was adopted they made a real effort to make it work. Wagner: We ' re still doing the job — as good a job as other schools are doing because all of ' em are down. Because we ' ve adopted a permissive system that never existed ... He isn ' t psyched the way he used to be. He ' s brought up on the boob tube ... I can ' t do the things that they do on T.V. — so can I hold your attention? We ' re still turning out people that are easily comparable to other schools, and maybe even a little better, but still, I strive for the best.