One of the first issues discussed was Homecoming, which would serve as the Go Be Red kickoff with team registration. Following the football game, the staff of Go Be Red organized the record-breaking electric slide that was to follow. A little over 350 people participated in the dance, led by President Shirley Ann Jackson.

The electric slide was just the kickoff event for Go Be Red. The next event is today’s Puckman Dip from 1-3 pm, which will take place at the Union South Patio, and its rain location is in the Armory. The Division I men’s hockey team will be there to help and participate in the event.

What was perhaps the largest discussion of the afternoon dealt with the agreement in the works to evaluate Ruckus’s music service. According to the Derek Murawsky ’07, chair of the Technology Affairs Committee, a new music contract with Ruckus was drawn up. It would allow 3,000 trial licenses from October to the end of the school year—2,500 bought by the school, but sponsored by the Campus Action Network, and 500 supplied for free by Ruckus. There was some heated discussion among the senate members about the exact service the campus would be receiving for this trial run and how the student body would react if only half the student body were eligible for this trial service.

Senator Lindsey Denton ’06 thought that it was statistically sound and logical to offer 3,000 trial licenses, because it would give a substantial amount of data for the E-Board and President of the Union to decide whether or not to obtain a permanent music service for the campus.

In order to acquire new music via the service, you must be on campus at the time of download, but you can play music off of the network any time, because it only needs to check that you’re licensed to play the music in one-month intervals. In the end, a vote was taken, and the final count was 12-3-2 to accept the current proposed number of 3,000 trial licenses from Ruckus. While the contract had still not been signed as of press time, it is moving forward and the current target date for launch is October 1.

Julia Leusner ’08, who chairs the Academic Affairs Committee, mentioned some of the ideas that the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee is beginning to look into. In addition to considering a midterm grading system, a suggestion that the Student Senate brought to the Faculty Senate, they are also beginning to address how to implement the new communications requirement that was voted to take effect as of next fall. The FSCC is also beginning to re-evaluate the current 4x4 system in which the standard undergraduate credit load is four 4-credit classes.

In response to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the administration pledged $35,000 to the Gulf Coast Relief Effort. In conjunction with RPI Relief, the Student Senate and other clubs have come together under “Project Hope” to match the pledge of the administration. These efforts include raffles, benefit dinners, and various clubs collecting money.

The greek Senator, Nathan Parker, told the Senate that the beginning of this semester has seen many houses facing possible judicial action. Since the semester began, two houses have been put on emergency suspension and three are under investigation—most of the possible violations involve underage drinking.

Nick Wood ’07, the liaison between the E-Board and the Senate, discussed the recent business of the E-Board. According to Wood, there has been a Mueller Center proposal, in which there will be around $8,000 worth of new equipment for the center. In addition to that, over this winter, Sodexho may be doing over $800,000 worth of renovations for the Rathskellar in the Union basement. The planned upgrades would only affect the current food area, not the games room.

An issue that was discussed last year, bio-diesel for the shuttle buses, is making some more headway. Bio-diesel fuel, according to Graduate Council President and Senator Wally Morris, results in 40 to 50 miles per gallon and is produced for 50 cents a gallon out of vegetable oil. Morris expressed to the Senate how much RPI is dedicated to this project. The exact plans are still up in the air, but the goal is to have bio-diesel used in the shuttles. Morris stated that, as this project takes off, there will be a multitude of undergraduate research project opportunities in many different subject areas.

A new issue brought up at the meeting concerned student government websites. The Senate recently launched its own new website and webmaster August Fietkau wants other student government organizations to have a process that ensures their sites are being updated. After some discussion about Fietkau’s resolution, the issue was sent to the Technology Affairs Committee.

Finally, there were two new E-Board appointments confirmed at the meeting. The first appointment confirmed was that of Jen Scholwin as the Class of 2007 representative. Her appointment replaced that of the originally appointed representative, who did not return to campus this semester. The second appointment was the graduate representative, Sanjiv Reddy. The Graduate Representative position was left vacant as of last year. Currently, the only vacant positions on the E-board are the Class of 2009 representative, which will be filled after freshman elections, and a Graduate Council representative.