Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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0 vehicles U0»£fi ON] NTH. FIELD A question and answer session followed the lecture, in which tempers flared. A number of people in the audience were from outside the WPI community per se. This was to be expected, as Smith is a famous figure. A few of these people were actual citizens of Zimbabwe, students of neighboring colleges, and they were highly critical of Smith. In a press conference following the lecture. Smith claimed that his detractors were “in communication” with others across the country and followed a pattern of creating disturbance. WPI Newsbriefs, a publication of the WPI News Bureau, expanded on this, calling the detractors a “well organized oppositionWorcester Magazine contacted some of the detractors and found no evidence of such organization. 13 tat

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Ian Smith comes to WPI B term opened this year with the announcement that Ian D. Smith, the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), would speak in Kinnicut Hall. This speech was to be the first in a series of lectures on technology and third world countries. Mr. Smith is a highly controversial figure, at the very least. After becoming Prime Minister, he declared his country independent from Britain. International economic sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe. Smith s leadership has been both praised and criticized due, respectively, to his adherence to free market principles and his maintenance of white minority rule in a country 96% black. Smith spoke at length about his country and its history of free market economics. He also perceived a growing Soviet threat on the African continent which threatens to subvert his country’s economic principles. The only solution he could see to this perceived threat was the investment of large amounts of capital by the United States. Zimbabwe is a land rich in minerals; some, Smith contends, available nowhere else in the world but the Soviet Unions lands. Smith expressed dissatisfaction with the economic sanctions imposed on his country for such a long period of time, claiming they discouraged investment.

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Atwater Kent Renovated The ongoing process of renovating WPI’s many older buildings and facilities saw the accomplishment of Kaven Hall’s repairs and additions and the commencement of the reconstruction of Atwater Kent in 1980. These renovations, which began in July, included modernizing labs, lecture halls, classrooms and conference rooms as well as increasing the amount of floor space in the building by a about 30 per cent. The newly restored building will house both the EE and CS departments when completed in September 1981. The two departments, whose enrollments have been continuing on a dramatically incrementing trend, now hold over 35 per cent of the undergraduate population. The EE department, which has been located in Atwater Kent for over 75 years, has been temporarily moved to Alden Hall while the construction progresses. The CS 14