Class Cuts

Dorms Might Get Condom Dispensers

Pending approval by residents of Stanford dormitories, condom dispensers could be installed in selected dorms and libraries on campus this spring.

If residents of a dorm want the dispensers in their residence, then the university will permit their installation, said Michael Newman, editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily. But even though it is a student task force that is lobbying for the dispensers, it is unclear which dorms, if any, want to house the machines, he said.

The decision of where the dispensers will be located will be made after spring break, Newman said.

The National Sanitary Labs company is prepared to install the dispensers within a week after it knows where they are to be located,The Daily reported. The machines will dispense condoms for 50 cents, or five times the cost of a condom at the student pharmacy. Brown

Newspaper Uncovers Stereo Scam

Hundreds of Rhode Island consumers, including some Brown University students, have been duped by a company misrepresenting the stereo speakers it was selling, The Brown Daily Herald recently revealed after a three week investigation.

According to the paper, a Warwick-based company, World Wide Electronics, has for months sold its substandard speakers from vans, intimating to consumers that its goods have been stolen and are available at fractions of their original prices.

In order to gain information about the company, the newspaper stated that one of its reporters responded to a classified advertisement for employment and attended an interview with the company's manager. The manager said that similar operations are operating in at least six other states, including Massachusetts,The Herald reported.

World Wide Electronics calls the speakers that it sells, "Acoustic Research, PSM 1250 Studio Monitors." But despite the sophisticated-sounding name, the speakers are of very low quality, the newspaper reported.

The speakers are "plant stands...they are purely visual," the owner of a local stereo store said.

In order to sell the speakers, salespeople show consumers false sales catalogues that describe the speakers as state of the art. Barnard

School Receives No Early Applications From Blacks

Barnard College has not received any early admissions applications from Blacks for at least two years, Director of Admissions Christine Royer said yesterday.

Of a record 145 applicants for early admission, Barnard accepted 71 women, four of whom are Asian and one of whom is Hispanic.

"We don't go out and recruit for early decision [applicants]. The people who apply are self-selected," said Royer, but added that "we do an excellent job of attracting minorities."

Royer said last year's general pool of more than 2000 applicants included 500 Black women, while almost a quarter of the 500 students in last year's freshman class identified themselves as minorities. Of these, the largest percentage was Asian, the next largest was Black, and the smallest was Hispanic, she said.

"There are problems in finding qualified Black applicants; a lot of the high school students are not prepared," Royer told the Columbia Spectator.

Columbia University and Barnard College have a need-blind admissions policy, and students who are accepted learn at once whether they are eligible for financial aid, said Royer.

However, she and Columbia Director of Admissions James McMenamin told The Spectator that the colleges' aid policies may discourage students who would depend heavily on it.

McMenamin said that early decision students do not find out how much and they will receive until April of their senior years, after they have accepted admission to Columbia or Barnard. Royer said 90 percent of Barnard's Black students receive financial aid. Princeton

University Changes Words Of Alma Mater

Memories of bright college days will change a little at Princeton University, which plans to change the words of its official song to reflect the fact that some the school's loyal progeny are now female.

TheDaily Princetonian reported last month that the new version of "Old Nassau" will replace the words "my boys" with "we sing," and "her sons" with "our hearts."

A movement to alter the lyrics of the alma mater began last fall when Janet Sarbanes '89 called for the change in a student publication.

It received approval from Princeton's undergraduate student government, trustees, and Alumni Council, but fell afoul of sophomore class president David Littell, who secured a referendum on the question. However, only 7 percent of the students who voted opposed the change in lyrics, which has since become official.

Written by freshman Harlan Page Peck in 1859, the song changed once before, adopting its current melody when it proved impossible to set the lyrics to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne." MIT

No Paper, No Graduate For Seniors

More than one hundred MIT seniors may not graduate in June because they have not yet satisfied the school's writing requirement,The MIT Tech reported last week.

The horde of 107 procrastinating techies missed the March 1 deadline to submit a ten-page paper to a committee that judges whether it demonstrates sufficient writing ability. The only way the students can pass the requirement and graduate on time is to add a writing course to their schedule and earn a B or better.

The class of 1987 is the first to be subject to MIT's writing requirement.

Dean for Undergraduate Education Margaret L.A. MacVicar said she was "rather astonished that so many students waited to the last minute" to fulfill the requirement, but that no exceptions to the writing rule will be considered.

MacVicar said the MIT faculty is divided over whether to inform the parents of those who will not be allowed to graduate in June. MIT has traditionally communicated with students only, but "some parents may be surprised when they find their kids aren't graduating, "MacVicar told The Tech.