Elections Reform Task Force chair removed days after appointment
The last Student Senate meeting of the semester was filled with a number of appointments and motions to close out the year. The first motion of the meeting was a resolution to establish an elections reform task force as a special committee of the Senate. The committee would be tasked with reviewing Grand Marshal Week 2018 and suggesting reforms for future elections. Read more...
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On Thursday, April 26, Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant. Cosby is now a convicted felon guilty of sexual assault, after decades of suspected behavior, and can face up to 10 years in prison according to NBC news. Read more...
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As a fan of Wes Anderson, I was super excited to see Isle of Dogs. I loved what he did in Moonrise Kingdom, and Grand Budapest Hotel is still one of my favorite movies. When I saw the trailer for Isle of Dogs, I was a bit puzzled. Instead of human actors, or even non-human actors, the trailer featured stop motion dogs and a tiny stop motion human. Honestly, this shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise, as Anderson’s 2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox was done in a similar style, but I hadn’t anticipated seeing something like it anytime soon. I’m glad I went in having only seen the trailer though. Isle of Dogs is an incredible, albeit bizzare, movie that’s hard to describe. Read more...
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Curl Connection’s first annual Natural Hair Symposium took place last Wednesday in the Academy Hall Auditorium. For those of you who don’t know, “natural hair” is simply hair that has not been chemically altered in any way. This means no relaxers, color, or texturizers. Recently, particularly in black culture, natural hair has become more mainstream, due to it being viewed as part of the “Black is Beautiful” movement. This is one of the reasons that Curl Connection wants “to connect and cultivate a community to promote hair growth, hair health, and success for all hair types.” This event was meant to kickstart the club’s future events and generate interest. Read more...
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The RPI Racquetball Team traveled to Warren, New Jersey for the 2017 - 2018 Eastern Collegiate Racquetball Conference Regional Championship over the weekend of February 23. Read more...
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Everybody has a story to tell, but does every story need to be told? I faced that question when I sat down to write this notebook. I have a story about my time at RPI and on The Polytechnic, and I was unsure whether anybody needed or even wanted to hear it. I decided that I would write an abridged version—hopefully it suffices. Read more...
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Winter semester—I mean spring semester—is coming to an end. That means I’m almost a senior. That means I’m almost ready to jump into adulthood, or get pushed in. No more calling myself a student. What does that even mean? Read more...
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Integrity is the trust that a set of people have in their, or others’, abilities to firmly adhere to moral values. This is the critical part of a regimen of an ethical code that assures us that our capacities will not fail us; to foster the growth of our moral character and therefore ourselves. The strong gravity of dignity tends to cloud our judgment of our self-reflection on our integrity, so this ability of critical introspection is lauded by society. Idealistically, this moral acumen is imbued into education such as the scholastic system at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute throughout your time in our community. However, integrity has become a maladroit afterthought crammed into syllabi, zero tolerance drug and alcohol policies focusing on penal action instead of rehabilitation, and judicial processes that start with the assumption of guilt. Read more...
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As many of you know, last fall’s hiring process for the director of the Union was reconstituted. The administration has acknowledged their failure to communicate and made a number of commitments to increase student involvement in a reconstituted, student-driven search for our next director. Read more...
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On April 25, Interim Vice President for Student Life LeNorman J. Strong announced via email the creation of the Elections Reform Task Force of the Student Senate. According to Strong, it planned to work with Vice President for Information Services and Technology John Kolb and others to “develop a project timeline and approach to analyzing the current election system as the student leaders decide whether to repair or replace the electronic system.” Read more...
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The E-Board meeting on April 24, started out closed so that the Board could discuss the future of Union dining and the Union facilities assistant position. The meeting then opened again to discuss the affiliation of the Christian Students on campus, the reallocation of funds for multicultural events at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, and an amendment to the report on National Affiliations the Board made earlier in the semester. The meeting was catered by Panera Bread. Read more...
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Hi, Engineers! I hope you are all having success in wrapping up any projects or assignments, and that studying isn’t causing you too much stress! With the semester quickly coming to an end, and finals right around the corner, I hope that you are able to take a break from work, and the stress of being an RPI student, and enjoy this well-overdue beautiful weather. Read more...
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Hello, RPI!
Tonight, appointees for the 2018-19 Rensselaer Union Executive Board will come before the Student Senate for confirmation voting! We saw over 40 student applications to the Executive Board this year, and I am blown away by the experience, passion, and determination each of the applicants had. As these exceptional students will hopefully be serving as your representatives for the coming year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce each of them to you and give you some insight into their contributions to campus so far! Read more...
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This past week, student government dealt with the fallout of the reckless and irresponsible decision of Interim Vice President for Student Life LeNorman Strong to inform the Rensselaer community of what he claimed were concerns from anonymous students regarding the recently-concluded GM Week 2018 Elections. I contend that his decision to send the email last Tuesday was reckless and irresponsible because he did not allow the Elections Commission to make a decision before releasing his statement. Of greatest concern, he falsely stated that the Rensselaer Union Voting Suite was compromised. Read more...
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In the meeting of the Executive Board on April 17, Roebling Investment Group and She’s the First were approved as a Union affiliated clubs, Destination Imagination was approved funds for globals, the Multicultural Leadership Council was approved as a committee, and Pride Alliance was approved to transfer funds originally meant for their drag show to a barbecue and the purchase of board games. Read more...
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“‘Smells rotten’: Administrators meet with Elections Commission” says it all. The rotten smell is due to several odor contributors. Read more...
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“In summary, the 2018 GM Week election results are valid, and there is no need to run a new election,” wrote the Judicial Board in an email sent to members of the Union on Sunday. Read more...
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The Student Senate met to confirm Grand Marshal Stef Warner ’19’s appointments to various senatorial positions including vice grand marshal, parliamentarian, secretary, and all other necessary roles. In addition to the appointment of new members, the Senate also voted in favor of amendments to the Undergraduate Council Bylaws. The Senate went into new business after a few quick committee and peer body reports were made. The first motion of the night was for the appointment of Meagan Lettko ’20 as vice grand marshal. Lettko served as a class of 2020 senator for the past year and was reelected for another term in the most recent election. She served on the Academic Reforms Committee and was involved in the director of the Union hiring process. Lettko was appointed to the position with a vote of 14-0-3. Read more...
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