Dear Editors,

Today’s Union is unique on campus: through its many member organizations, it provides a rare opportunity for students’ vision to grow and flourish and to learn outside the confines and structure of the classroom environment. It is unfortunate that the administration has prioritized its own myopic “vision” for student life above the lofty goals set out by the Rensselaer Union Constitution.

As an associate member of RPI TV for the past six years, I have personally witnessed the power of extensive student involvement. Much of RPI TV’s recent technical progress has been due to the work of dedicated students and volunteers. Their projects have provided them with countless hours of highly applicable experience in fields such as coding and project management, while providing tangible benefits to the RPI community as a whole. The overwhelmingly positive feedback RPI TV receives is a testament to the quality of their hard work. Where is the motivation for these volunteers in a paternalistic, administration-run “Union”? If students don’t have a sense of ownership, there is no motivation to think outside the box. The endless opportunities presented by today’s Union would be reduced to a small, pre-determined set. Needless to say, this is unacceptable at a university that aims to educate the next generation of innovators and thinkers.

Andrew H. Armenia ’08