Brown and White Vol. 84 no. 25

              brown and white bethlehem pa tuesday december 5 1972 mmm 866-0331 vol 84 — no 25 president's report focuses on major milestones at u bybillheumann president w deming lewis released his report of the president this october this is an account of the university's status and progress during the academic year 1971-72 this report of major milestones was mailed to alumni parents graduates and friends in it president lewis posed education for both practical ends and for greater enrichment of life as the dual purposes of the university he then discussed the growth of interdisciplinary programs at the graduate level and their effect on the university's other educational levels lewis then reported on coeducation at lehigh he said the presence of some 120 women on campus made an immediate and favorable difference in the at mosphere by the end of the year lewis said lehigh women simply asked to be accepted as lehigh students along with the men he said lehigh coeds have held their own in all academic fields that he believes coeds and lehigh have a lot to offer each other lewis told of the election of four alumni to the board of trustees and the naming of allen c dubois as trustee emeritus the four trustees are william b eagleson jr 49 c lester hogan 47 harold s mohler 48 and william c hittinger 44 about research lewis said lehigh's ability to increase the amount of research expenditures here while there is a downward trend elsewhere in the academic community is remarkable he noted the national endowment for the humanities grant which provides funding for the college of arts and sciences he also reported on other research projects that were implemented last year lewis commented on the new century campaign a ten-year financial program designed to raise 66,795,000 for physical facilities and additional endowment this goal is the largest ever set by the university the university operated in the black last year said lewis and the projected loss for last year was turned into a net operating income he said gifts in 1971-72 totaled b&w photo by jeff steele dr w deming lewis updating of labs new equipment is asked by physics professors by heather rodale some specific areas for renovation of the physics building were brought out in an open discussion between members of the priorities planning and resources sub committee on science needs and faculty and graduate students of the physics department monday incorporated in phase ii of the new century campaign are funds for renovation of the physics building and possibly a new wing floors one to three of the physics building haven't been renovated since 1929 said james mcclennan chairman of the physics department some major renovations would possible include replacing of wooden beams that now violate fire laws and replacing of weak and warped floors faculty members ex pressed a need for a more efficient and quieter ventilating system conditions in the physics building are cozy and old said physics professor wesley smith smith added that some machines date back to the turn of the century and they don't turn very well either while equipment entailing large sums of money is left to the departmental budget it is possible that some renovation money would be used for smaller scale equipment mcclennan added that if funds space and equipment were available the department could use a 30 per cent in crease in staff to cover more areas of physics than those presently offered at the university associate professor of physics frank feigl stated that some potential freshman and physics majors are turned off by the university's physics department he added that while the labs are a point of interest for visitors it is important that they be up-to-date he also added that renovations would be a good investment because they would attract more students and thus more tuition money mcclennan said that equipment is also needed for potential new staff personnel he stated that a scientist can't get a grant unless he has equipment he added that it would be reasonable to help start off new scientists vik kapoor a physics graduate student stated that the physics building has no lounge or suitable reading room theodore terry associate professor of mechanics added that lounges could be turned into offices as the need arises at its next meeting the subcommittee on science needs will discuss the renovation requests of the physics department faculty and students the date of this meeting will be announced soon asimov predicts future guesses wrong on past by dave ingram isaac asimov the only person ever to predict that no one would ever climb mt everest three months after hillary climbed it in 1953 spoke to an audience of 600 in packer chapel last wednesday night in his speech science fiction as a view of the future asimov an award winning author claimed that science fiction does not hang its reputation on single predictions asimov's prediction concerning mt everest was written he said several weeks prior to hillary's ascent the story was printed in a science fiction magazine even though it came to press after the climb asimov added that the editor responsible was a woman who had been voted by science fiction writers the editor to whom they would most like to submit he then told about several instances where science fiction authors were able to predict the future accurately particularly the advent of the atomic bomb one author robert heinlein predicted fallout following an atomic blast and the high possibility of a cold war following the conclusion of world war 11 all in 1940 these predictions were easy extrapolations said asimov they tell what is inevitable if you suppose that nothing unpredictable will happen this is the area where science fiction can make useful predictions he stated that important predictions are not the gadgets they are the reactions to the gadgets science fiction can tell the adventures of an ordinary person in a future world asimov said that a science fiction author chooses from four major types in trying to picture possiblefutures he can write about what he would like to see what he fears may happen a cute idea or he may grind his private axe asimov then proceeded to paint his own picture of the future stressing the particular problem of population he cited three facts steady rise in population an increase in localism and an in tensification of technology that lead him to extrapolate that man will colonize the universe because of population pressure on the earth he said that by the year 3800 a.d the mass of the human population will equal the mass of the solar system including the sun by extrapolation he predicted that the mass b&w photo by gene smar asimov relaxes science fiction writer isaac asimov talks with students at kappa alpha after speaking in packer chapel nov 29 local students call proposal discriminatory by martin baron you're going to have an isolated community here with no local students and no local support said pat kadar 76 a lehigh local student at a recent open hearing of the forum residence sub committee miss kadar responded to a proposed resolution which calls for forced commuting of students who live within 20 minutes travelling time of the university a group of 11 students expressed overwhelming disapproval of the proposal they labeled the proposal discriminatory and claimed that it would discourage students in the lehigh valley from attending lehigh it would do little to improve the housing crisis the , students added jeff schoff 76 complained if i would have realized this before i first came i would not have come here in the first place he remarked there's no way i'm going to live at home next year miss kadar agreed and said she would not come see housing page 4 see asimov page 5 see lewis page 4