Other big changes included the installation of a ramp for the handicapped in the Lower Wedge, and the replacement of the brown dividers with glass panels and doors. Now the entire Lower Wedge is visible from both the outside and the Upper Wedge.
The brick wall next to the Grille is now home to a mobile coffee shop. The cart will sell French Quarter brand espresso, latte, coffee, and a selections of donuts, bagels, and pastries. It will allow students, faculty and staff to get their morning (and afternoon) coffee quickly and lessen the lines in the Grille.
To top it all off and complete the look, new, modular furniture was placed in the Wedge. Lunch tables and chairs remain undisturbed in the Lower Wedge, and comfortable lounge furniture continues to migrate into and out of the Upper Wedge. While the committee in charge of the renovation considered permanent furniture for the Upper Wedge, moveable furniture was purchased in order to make the Wedge more like the 24-hour student lounge it should be. It seems that not all students appreciate the change, however, since furniture has already been misappropriated for personal use.
Many students feel that it should have been expected, but some say that it's high time WPI students started to act like mature adults. "God forbid that we trust people," says Greg Snow '98. "Anyone ever heard of academic honesty? It doesn't stop at not cheating on tests.. it's about living in an academic community where people trust each other, and have enough respect for each other not to lie, cheat or steal. It's about being able to leave a book bag in the bookstore and not come back to find it missing. It's about not stealing furniture from the Wedge, no matter how easy it is to steal. It's about stopping people who try to steal or cheat, and reporting them if necessary."
To prevent further theft of the furniture over the weekend, members of the renovation committee decided to lock it all in the Lower Wedge on Friday night, leaving no furniture to use through Monday morning. It was the only way, they said, to prevent more thefts.
A small group of students recovered two of the stolen couches on Friday night, and four of the tables mysteriously reappeared, but one couch and two tables remain missing. John Hanlon, chief of police at WPI, says that the parties in possession of the furniture have until Thursday at midnight to return it without punishment. After that, he says, his department will "seek criminal complaints in the Worcester District Court." Since the couches are valued in excess of $250, the individual(s) responsible for the theft could be convicted as felons and could be expelled from WPI.
How will the police find the thieves? While campus residents must, by federal law, be informed 24 hours in advance of a room search, there is talk of conducting just such a search. Room-by-room, door-by-door, resident advisors and student life staff would search for the stolen articles in the residence halls and campus apartments. Once found, the furniture would be returned to the Wedge, and those responsible prosecuted.
Another solution would call for a flip-flop of furniture: the Upper Wedge would become the eating area and the Lower Wedge would be a lounge which could be locked at night. While this would ensure that the furniture would be safe, students wouldn't be able to use it at night and groups scheduling events in the Lower Wedge would be forced to move the furniture anyway.
Still another solution would involve drilling holes in each piece and permanently affixing it to the floor via steel cable and a metal plate. This would allow for limited flexibility in moving the furniture while discouraging theft. The committee will meet again next week to decide upon a course of action.
Mike Caprio '97 laments the loss of the dividers, "Remember the African marketplace a while back? The entire Wedge was open, and it was a marvel to see... Now it looks like that's the last time I'll ever see that."
Robert MacDonald '99 likes the new look, but misses "the big tables that people ate on, the Magic players used and the D&D people played on." Also, he thinks it's "annoying to [have to] move the tables around."
"I think it's really beautiful, especially with the glass walls between the two parts now," says Carolyn Morse '97. "It makes the place a lot brighter!"
Finally, Joseph Schaffer '96 proposes an improvement on the design: lamps. "The addition of small, durable lamps bolted to some of the end tables may make the Wedge appear even more upscale, and incandescent light at spots will improve color rendition and soften the overhead tube lights at night, making the space more pleasant and functional for reading and doing homework."
While feelings are mixed about the new furniture, most agree that the Wedge looks and smells better. No longer do the remnants of the Wedge's smoking days linger in the carpet, and the new windows separating the Upper and Lower Wedge give it a brighter, more open feeling. The addition of the coffee cart will no doubt appeal to a large number of students and there are now enough tables and chairs in the Lower Wedge to accommodate all the faculty, staff, and students who eat lunch there daily. Despite being darkened by the shadow of furniture thefts looming overhead, the new and improved Wedge has been long in coming and it's finally here to stay.
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