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Student sues for security deposit Research of new Future Chips constellation progresses
Ed/Op
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Rathskellar needs to offer greater variety of food Editorial Notebook
Weekend doesn’t need FYE Editorial Notebook
Website forgets about students Top Hat
New dining plan hurts our Union Derby
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Encourage more recycling
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Wide variety of colloquia offers service to students Metallica keeps kicking in comeback tour Dave Barry
Mister Language Person strikes again Bad Boys of Comedy laugh it up at Palace Theater Words to Eat By
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Ruggio delivers miracle for Rensselaer Weekly Round Up
Tennis, golf just average RPI falls from league’s top spot RPI sloppy in openers Women’s soccer woes continue One-Timers
Fans’ stereotypes often misfounded Saints’ victory twelve years in waiting For Red Sox 2004 really is ‘the year’ One-Timers
Engineers team to extreme Seahawks, Falcons fall from unbeaten ranks New assistant coach welcomes latest stage in career
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Rensselaer in Brief
Guns Close Troy High
School was closed down Wednesday, October 6 for Troy High School on Burdett Avenue when two sixteen year old boys were discovered to be possessing BB guns. Both boys admitted to taking the guns into school with the intent to cause damage to various facilities such as the bathroom and empty classrooms. The guns had been taken to the bus stop in a bookbag and then into the school tucked into the boys’ belts.
The school called for a two hour lockdown while students were still roaming the hallways. This was considered more dangerous to the students, as they were not under the supervision of teachers. Some students, including one of the boys with a BB gun, were able to slip out of school unnoticed.
A board meeting was called Thursday morning to discuss the school’s handling of the situation. It was proposed that metal detectors be bought using money from the utility tax fund, as the guns could have been real. Improvements to communication within the school were called for as well. The policy on lockdowns was changed, making it so that they could only happen when the students were in the classroom and under the supervision of teachers.
School returned to normal on Thursday. The two boys were charged with one count each of unlawfully possessing a weapon on school grounds. Two Party Chairs Named
The Rensselaer County Democratic Party has named two members co-chairmen of the party instead of holding an election between the two candidates. According to a member of the committee, the intent of this strongly supported move, was to preserve party unity.
The two individuals, Tom Wade and Lynne Mahoney, are both cooperating with the request of the party. Mahoney, though slightly surprised by the decision of the party, agreed to go on with the plan without hesitation in order to please the party’s desires.
Plans call for the duties of the chairman to be split between Wade and Mahoney. Mahoney will be concentrating on the cities while Wade will be focusing more on the towns. Some doubts have arisen and problems foreseen. One of the main tribulations that may arise is the creation of two parties: one for the cities and one for the towns.
Lu Receives Medal
Professor Toh-Ming Lu has been elected to receive the 2004 Materials Research Society Medal for his extensive research in the area of thin-film materials. Lu has been with RPI since 1982. He is a R.P. Baker Distinguished Professor of Physics and director of the Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies.
The Materials Research Society Metal is given to those who have made recent discoveries and advancements that are expected to have a major impact on the progress of any materials research field. With his research, Lu has provided a better understanding of thin-film materials. Understanding these materials is essential for the future of nanotechnology applications in electronics. He also aided in discovering the foundations of diffraction and scattering methods for quantitative analysis.
Lu, along with the two other recipients, will be honored at the Fall 2004 Materials Research Society meeting on December 1 in Boston, Mass. Research Team Refocuses
Professor Leik Myrabo has been studying lasers for the past thirty years. Recently, his attention, along with that of the team of researchers with which he has been working with, has been turned to the idea of beamed energy propulsion. This concept uses laser beams to propel spacecraft.
This idea alone revolutionizes the idea of space flight. Should this practice actually come to fruition, space ships would be lighter, cheaper, and more accessible to the common citizen. Beamed energy propulsion would replace the need for fuel engines to get spacecrafts out into space.
RPI is hosting the third symposium on beamed energy propulsion, an event that is spread out over three days. The guest list includes such companies as Boeing, the U.S. Air Force, and Pratt & Whitney. Myrabo predicts a manned test flight within the next five to ten years.
Many obstacles are hindering the advancement of turning this field of research into practice. One such problem is that of stray beams. It is possible that these beams could stray from their path and destroy passing airplanes and satellites. Another problem is cost. Lasers require immense amounts of energy in order to be used effectively in propulsion. The cost to send just one or two humans into space using this method could cost as much as $1 to $2 billion. |
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