I know it has been a while since you have heard directly from me, but over the past few weeks I decided to have each of the Senate’s committees submit basic reports and information about themselves in hopes of providing you with pertinent information about who the Senate is and what we do. As you can hopefully see now, the Senate completes a vast amount of its work through its committees and this year they’ve moved on a number of fronts and completed many of their goals.
The Student Life Committee, since its piece was published, has worked on issues surrounding the smoking policy at the Rensselaer Union and the sale of cigarettes in Father’s, and has passed a resolution on where people are permitted to smoke. The rationale behind these policies is as follows: The New York State Clean Air Act (adopted in 2003) states that “smoking shall not be permitted and no person shall smoke” in “indoor areas” of “all public and private colleges, universities, and other educational and vocational institutions”; it is a commonly known fact that smoke travels indoors from outside when persons smoke near buildings. The RPI Office of Residence Life maintains a policy that smokers must be 25 feet away from the openings of a residential building, and the Student Senate believes that the Residence Life policy is a common-sense method for reducing the amount of smoke which enters a building. After debate and conversation was had over this rationale, the proposed policies were brought before the Senate and approved.
The following policies were resolved and shall take effect immediately: 1. Smoking shall be prohibited within the Union. 2. No person shall smoke within a distance of 25 feet from the open position of any door or opening to the Union. 3. No person shall smoke anywhere it is otherwise posted outside of the Student Union.
These policies will be enforced by the Union administration, and we both can be contacted with questions regarding this policy. Signs will also be posted shortly, notifying the exact additional spaces where it is not appropriate to smoke.
Beyond the smoking policy discussion in the SLC, all Senate committees are remaining active and are always looking for new members. Please contact me at gm@rpi.edu and I can forward your information on to the appropriate chairs.
This weekend marked the celebration of Family Weekend and Homecoming on campus. With a deluge of parents, siblings, cars, tailgaters, and alumni, the weekend was kicked off with a night of student performances in the Curtis R. Priem ’82 Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. I had the opportunity to perform in front of a full house in the EMPAC theater and watch one of the most famous jazz drummers of all time. For all those who have not made it down to EMPAC, I would like to encourage you to make the trip; it is more than worth your time and effort.
This time of year is when campus truly comes alive; one, if not all three, of hockey, football, and concerts can be found on a weekend. Take advantage of the abundant resources made available to you and please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns you may have.
