LehighWeek Volume 13, Issue 21

              Crime down 15 percent
Annual safety report
contains positive statistics
See Page 6
Volume 13, Issue 21
LehighWee/c
The campus digest for innovation, news and events
It's now official!
With 17th straight dual win,
wrestlers set school record
See page 8
February 16, 2000
Mortgage incentive
program expands;
Home-buying
seminar March 1
The mortgage incentive program
to encourage employees to buy
homes in neighborhoods surrounding Lehigh is being expanded to include employees of
the Wood Company, OneSource
and the Manufacturer's Resource Center (MRC). The goal
of the program is to promote
strong neighborhoods for employees, students and city residents.
The financial incentive to employees who purchase an owner-
occupied home on the South Side
is 2 percent of the mortgage
amount. This money, which is
usually included in the paycheck
following settlement on the property, can be used for renovations,
repairs or other expenses.
The program is run in partnership with FirstUnion Bank.
No down payment is required
and there are no closing costs,
except for taxes and homeowners'
insurance. Two other financing
options with FirstUnion include
a mortgage to buy and renovate
a property, and an individually
negotiated plan in which
FirstUnion will waive one point
from its normal fee schedule for
Lehigh employees.
To explain the program in
more detail, Lehigh will host a
jrown bag lunch for future
homebuyers on Wednesday,
March 1, from noon to 1:15 p.m.
in the Osbourne Room (308) of
the U.C. Among the topics to be
covered are the steps to find and
purchase a home, and the mortgage incentive program.
A representative from First
Union Bank will review the
bank's programs for employees,
as well as the financial aspects
of securing a mortgage. A local
real estate broker will discuss
the different roles real estate
agents may play in the search for
a home, an attorney will discuss
the legal aspects of home ownership and the settlement process,
and a home inspector will review
the benefits of securing a home
inspection prior to buying a
home. Finally, a Lehigh representative will review the incentive payment process.
The geographic boundaries for
homes eligible for the program
are the Lehigh River on the
north; Mountain Drive West on
the south; Lynn Avenue and East
Eighth Street on the east; and the
Bethlehem city limits on the
west (west of Wyandotte St.).
The Wood Company has set a
maximum mortgage incentive of
$1,000 per employee, and the
MRC has set a maximum of
$2,000. Lehigh and OneSource do
not currently have a maximum
Please See EXPANDS, Page 7
Photo by Robert Walch
'Holocaust Project: From Darkness into light'
Students, staff, faculty and members of the community celebrated the arrival of the "Holocaust Project:
From Darkness into Light." A public reception and
gallery talk by artist Judy Chicago and her husband
and collaborator, photographer Donald Woodman,
was held on Feb. 10, which followed a private opening of the multimedia art exhibit on Feb. 9.
Chicago and Woodman discussed the five sections
of the exhibit, as well as the logo. They said they
were pleased that the exhibit was the center of a
semester-long project at Lehigh, "The Holocaust:
Critical Reflections on Modernity," so that issues
surrounding the Holocaust can be discussed from
moral, ethical and aesthetic viewpoints.
The exhibit, located in the Zoellner Arts
Center's Main Gallery, runs through June 11 and
is open to the public free of charge.
For more information on the exhibit, call the
Berman Center at x84869 or visit the Project's
comprehensive Web site at www.lehigh.edu/
~inber/proiect2000.html.
Professor probes a paradox:
When smaller is stronger
Rick Vinci, assistant professor
of materials science and engineering, is fascinated by anew
product from Texas Instruments
that uses a computer chip to
project an image from a computer onto a large screen on a
wall.
It is not the rich array of vibrant colors displayed by the
projector that excites Vinci.
Nor is it the exceptional clarity of the images, or even the potential applications — huge, futuristic TV and movie screens.
No, what captures Vinci's
imagination is the invisible
flashing of a million
micromechanical mirrors, all
stitched into a chip the size of a
postage stamp, which are responsible for the colors, the images and the sharp contrast.
Each tiny mirror is suspended on two hinges; each produces one pixel, or picture element. Choreographed by a computer program, the mirrors tilt
up and down dozens of times per
second, depending on when, and
whether, their hue is required for
an image.
As the micro-mirrors rotate
back and forth, the aluminum
hinges twist almost constantly,
absorbing billions of cycles of
stress. But they never fail.
And that is what amazes
Vinci.
The durability of the aluminum hinges is just one example
of a physical phenomenon oft-
noted but not yet fully understood by scientists — the fact
that a tiny amount of a material
can have dramatically different
properties from a larger quantity
of the same material.
"Texas Instruments was worried that fatigue would cause the
aluminum hinges to break after
a relatively small number of
cycles," says Vinci. "But the
hinges didn't fail. Why? Because
they're so small.
"The same aluminum, in a
Please See PARADOX, Page 7
Photo by John Kish IV
The tiny aluminum wires
Prof. Rick Vinci tests, which
bridge the gap in the center
of these samples, possess incredible durability. Used in
eletronic applications, they
could one day have an impact
on telecommunications and
other industries.
Alternatives
plans presented
for campus
Consultants from Sasaki Associates visited campus Feb. 2-3 to
present their round-two concept
alternatives for Lehigh's new
campus and facilities development plan. The concepts were
designed to improve the quality
of academic space, increase the
vitality and definition of the Asa
Packer campus, and strengthen
connections with the South Side.
The consultants studied the
quantity, quality and adaptability
of existing academic and classroom space and concluded there
was ample space for existing programs as well as some modest
growth. However, some spaces are
not configured effectively or are in
poor condition. Therefore a number of older buildings need to be
renovated. Priorities for renovations would be set based upon the
academic strategic plan, which
would indicate what areas are
anticipated to grow. Several locations for new construction on the
Asa Packer campus were also
identified, but construction decisions depend on the priorities in
the academic strategic plan.
An exciting scenario for the
Mountaintop campus was suggested. The consultants propose
that Lehigh develop the existing
72-acre campus into a high-tech
corporate research park that
would be compatible with
Lehigh's research efforts. Sasaki
believes that Lehigh can add approximately 700,000 square feet
of space there for this use. This
could translate into as many as
2,400 new jobs, which would have
a positive economic impact on
Bethlehem and provide an income source for the university.
To meet the demand to house
400 more graduate and undergraduate students on campus,
the consultants recommended
building new student housing on
the lower campus. This new housing should be duplex apartment/
townhouse-style buildings.
Among the possible sites for such
housing are the existing Morton
Street parking lots. The construction of student housing and some
retail space on Morton St. would
add vitality and energy to an
area now occupied by parking
lots, which tend to divide the university from the community. This
student housing development
would help integrate Lehigh and
the South Side and would act as
a catalyst for economic development in the adjacent business district. The consultants also recommended building a parking garage
on the lot by the bookstore. The
garage would be hidden by new
buildings with student apartments above ground-floor retail
space.
Please See CAMPUS, Page 7
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