Brown and White Vol. 94 no. 11

              brown and white lehigh university vol 94 — no 11 bethlehem pa tuesday october 12 1982 215)861-4184 rhc opposes sorority move to residence halls by louis gombocz charging that it would be a wasteful use of dollars the residence halls coun cil rhc approved wednesday a state ment opposing a proposed move by sororities into residence halls a move into the centennial i complex emerged among the favored options of the sororitirr vlowing a study by the women's housing committee rhc president valerie smith 83 said we're not trying to be anti-sorority but we're trying to represent the interests of residence-hall students the rhc in its statement proposes that the university invest the funds allocated for the conversion of residence halls to sororities 85,000 per house for the building of new houses in sayre park the rhc motion on sorority housing states that the council opposes any plan to house sororities at the expense of resi dence halls students or residence-hall space through either displacement or relocation according to the statement the rhc opposes any plan that would locate sororities in residence halls with the following rationales — before the sororities were established the university informed them that no housing would be provided in the residence halls a deviation from this policy opens the door to other organized groups such as off-campus fraternities to request residence-halls housing however warren soare associate dean of students remarked last night that the saucon married and graduate student apartments smags was not originally intended for undergraduates and that the university policy was modi fied at that time to accommodate student-housing needs three sororities now reside in smags apartments — residence-halls students would be forced to absorb extra expense due to the decrease in the number of students on the board plan a report evaluating the effects on the meal plan estimated that the conversion of one centennial unit could cost each meal-card holder 15.02 if the women were totally off the plan or 5.33 for the loss of five dinners only these figures prepared by richard metz director of auxiliary services include the savings from not preparing food for the number of students in either category — co-educational housing is a popular and desirable living arrangement which encour ages the development of male-female rela tionships expansion of the sororities in the residence halls will promote single-sex hous ing rather than the popular co-ed arrangement — in the centennials the sororities would be taking bed space in relatively new dorms that are not in need of renovation these dorms are nicely furnished with large areas conducive to dorm programming a sorority move into the centennials would also severely restrict the small-group living option rhc activities coordinator bonnie solt 85 explained that it is a matter of the small hall vs the large hall the cen tennials are especially good because of their small-group living arrangements that allow students to become more familiar with one another she said — students displaced by the sororities could be ottered housing in smags how ever there is no guarantee some residence halls students would not be displaced and the disadvantages of living at smags would simply be transferred to another group of students — the sororities are social living groups providing activities that attract many students from campus it is unlikely that displaced upperclass residence students would attract the same number of students to the saucon valley further isolating those living in smags there would be a psychological impact on residence-halls students the university would be giving credence to the concept that lehigh is a greek school the sororities ultimate goal is to have petition by bsu gauges popularity of funk musicians by gregg rogers the black student union bsu is passing out petitions to determine if there is an interest in an earth wind & fire or rick james concert at stabler arena according to bsu president andre hanks 84 we're trying to cross over from all the hard rock that has been presented at stabler lately said myron mcpher son 85 culture committee chairman for the bsu according to mcpherson the bsu brought the idea of an earth wind & fire or rick james concert to the concert chairman of the student activi ties council sac jon lewis 84 and were told that if enough names were signed on a petition a serious effort would be made to sign the two groups for performances the bsu then contacted other black students unions at the other lehigh val ley colleges through the inter-collegiate finally b&w photo by doug grandin the engineer football team charges onto the field as the last seconds tick away in their 16-12 win over the university of connecticut saturday the engineers earned their first victory of the season with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 1:32 remaining in the game see story page 16 corroded can of chemicals leads firemen to coxe lab by sanford block the bethlehem fire department was called to coxe laboratory early friday afternoon after a corroded can of chemi cals was discovered there according to professor leslie sperling of the mate rials research center in coxe the fire department was called spe rling said to aid in the disposal of the chemical the corroded can was found during some routine cleanup work he explained the can broke open when it was picked up and the chemical began fuming in reaction with the moisture in the air he said the chemical methyl dichlorohydros ilane reacts with water to make hydrochloric acid and sand sperling said the cap of the bottle inside the can had cracked so that the breaking of the can exposed the chemical to air there was no danger to anyone he said and the can was taken outside there were fumes as you would expect from a lit cigarette sperling described the fire equipment arrived shortly after 12 30 p.m the firemen were able to hose down the can diluting it sufficiently to prevent burning although a burnt spot can be seen on the grass outside the building sperling said no damage was done and nobody was hurt he said adding that the fire department was called as preventive medicine to ensure safety in the dispo sal of the chemical b&w photo by sanford block bethlehem firemen spray a fuming bottle of acid-forming chemical out side coxe laboratory early friday afternoon the corroded container was found during cleanup but no one was hurt in the incident see rhc page 8 see bsu page 7