News Briefs

Power plant smokestack to be removed

The brick smokestack for PC's power plant is in the process of being removed and will be replaced by a new carbon steel and stainless steel smokestack over the course of three to four weeks.

According to a notice from Edward J. Caron, vice president of College Relations & Planning, the brick smokestack is "at the end of its useful life."

The bricks removed from the smokestack will be dropped into the center of it and will be carried out upon the project's completion.

The project is taking place now because the College is "in a period between the heating and cooling seasons-when our need for burning oil is significantly diminished," Caron said. While the removal of the old smokestack and construction of the new one is taking place, the energy needs of the College will be supplied by natural gas, he said.

Workers are spending 10 hours a day, six days a week to ensure that the project is completed in a timely fashion. "The on-campus tennis courts adjacent to the power plant will be temporarily closed until approximately 40 percent of the stack is removed," Caron said.

Students attend bioethics conference

Five students in bioethics classes at Providence College attended the 28th annual undergraduate Conference on Bioethics on March 19.

Sponsored by the Mendel Society of Boston College, the Conference was held at Chestnut Hill, Mass. The students included Jonathan D. Pouliot '05, Padraic Dugan '05, Mary Allietta '05, Robin Scott '05, and Angela Conant '05. Their professors Rev. Joseph D. Cassidy, O.P., and Sister Ann P. Stankiewicz, O.P., accompanied them.

About 100 to 125 students attended the event this year, according to Father Cassidy. As part of a class assignment, the students wrote a research paper on a topic related to bioethics. Those students who wanted to could send a summary of their papers to the Mendel Society for review.

Of the students who sent summaries in, about three dozen were chosen to present their papers at the conference and then discuss them as people from the audience asked them questions. The conference also included a speech on "current moral issues in biomedical research" by keynote speaker Dr. Glenn McGee, director of the Center for Medical Ethics Research at Albany Medical Center.