News

RNE reports sizable drop in number of candidates

Ed/Op

Staff Editorial
Students concerned with higher cost of tuition

Editorial Notebook
Sen. Kerry: Better than Bush

Editorial Notebook
Amateurs highlighted in March

Derby
Student elections arriving quickly

My View
Band recognized for talented members

Top Hat
Grade modifiers addressed

Panhellenic Council
Panhel receives council award

My View
Former band conductor sets record straight

Features

How to survive end-of-semester crunch

Passion of the Christ aims high, strikes out

Dave Barry
Search for good housekeeping goes on

Starsky remake lacks storyline

Sports

Hartman makes history at NCAA meet

Engineers bow out of ECAC tournament

Engineers’ bubble burst

Track ranks at ECACs, NCAAs

Ski team searching for more members

No vacation for lacrosse in Florida

Pitching carries RPI down south

Women face déjà vu in ECAC title bout

Red Hawks bounced by Knights in ECAC tourney

Inconsistent start to season for baseball

Rensselaer in Brief
Downtown fee proposed
The Troy city government is currently deliberating whether or not to approve a downtown Business Improvement District. Last Tuesday, a group of business leaders asked the Troy City Council to start a 30 day comment period on the proposal.

The current plans call for an additional fee amounting to five percent of property tax to be assessed on over 300 downtown businesses as well as some multifamily homes in downtown Troy. Money raised through the fees would be spent on improving the way downtown looks in an attempt to bring new businesses to the area.

If and when the comment period begins, the property owners who would be assessed the mandatory fee can file objections to the proposal, and if a majority do so, the proposal cannot pass. While Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian favors the proposal, Marjorie DerGurahian, president of the City Council, does not seem to agree.

The members of the Troy City Council will meet to plan their agenda for next month this Thursday. More information on the proposed Business Improvement District is available on the web at http://www.troydowntown.com/.

Habitat’s work continues
Members of RPI’s Habitat for Humanity chapter spent their Spring Break in John’s Island, S.C., just outside of Charleston, participating in Collegiate Challenge: Spring Break 2004. As part of the challenge, over 10,000 students from more than 700 universities, colleges, and high schools are working at over 200 sites on Habitat for Humanity projects.

RPI’s chapter worked with the future homeowners as well as other volunteers across the country while in South Carolina.

Funds for the trip to South Carolina came from members of the chapter, the chapter itself, and the Rensselaer Union. One of the main fundraisers for the group is the “Quilt Project” which allows people to buy an eight inch by eight inch square for $100 and have their name added to the quilt.

Once $10,000 is raised by the chapter, Habitat for Humanity International will match the funds. Each home built costs about $50,000.

Among their local projects is a home they are building at the corner of 11th Street and Jacob Street. More information on RPI’s chapter can be found on the web at http://habitat.union.rpi.edu.

Acting director named
Robert Palazzo, professor and chair of the biology department, has been appointed the acting director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies slated to open this September.

Palazzo has been at RPI since August of 2002. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1979 and a Ph.D. in biological sciences in 1984 from Wayne State University. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia for over four years and was later tenured at the University of Kansas.

President Jackson announced his appointment, saying “As acting director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Dr. Palazzo will have responsibility for intellectual leadership in biotechnology research at Rensselaer, for the coordination of the center’s research programs, and core facilities development.”

Dr. Jackson also said that a committee has been created to find a permanent director for the center and that it will consider candidates both from within RPI and from other places as well.