News

Love146 fights to end child slavery

Students take part in contest

Financial aid gets a boost

Ed/Op

Letter to the Editor
Letters to the Editor

Editorial Notebook
Destroy this article immediately

Top Hat
Senate at work with variety of initiatives

Staff Editorial
Implement Student Life changes with care

Editorial Notebook
Hermitry lacking benefits

Features

Dave Barry
Glue binds tiles to humans

Mullane’s combination of humor, honesty a success

Roy mixes business, pleasure in Australia

Idiots entertain audience with jokes, games

Sports

MLB season opens in Japan as Red Sox trump A’s

Baseball continues early season run

Weekly Round Up
Lacrosse victorious, tennis, track, and softball lie idle

Rensselaer in Brief
RHA members attend ‘Moosebook’
On Friday, March 7, members of the RPI Residence Hall Association visited SUNY Geneseo for the North East Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls Mini No-Frills Conference, themed “Moosebook.”

“Conferences are a great source for students who are genuinely interested in improving living environments within the residence halls,” said National Communications Coordinator Chase Miller ’10. Student leaders from a multitude of diverse schools present a variety of programs that focus on everything from social programs that involve the entire student body, to team builders that help build leadership qualities, to workshops on how to advertise efficiently and effectively.

This year at Mini No-Frills 2008, the RPI delegation presented three programs for the first time. Participants in the team-building program led by Catherine Chou ’10 examined the inner workings of a strong team, and put together a moose puzzle reiterating the concept of teamwork. Competing against more than 70 other programs, team builder “Build-A-Moose” was granted the honor of being voted a top 10 program, a first for the RPI group.

The top 10 program was not the only unprecedented achievement honoring the RHA. Having submitted a programming grant application a month before, RPI’s efforts were rewarded with a scholarship for a program to be put on during the Office of the First Year Experience’s Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond. Another award caught the RPI delegation by pleasant surprise as Brandon Graver ’08 and Elizabeth Kelley ’08 were recognized for their two years of service and dedication to NEACURH. Their efforts to establish the Patroon Chapter of National Residence Hall Honorary at Rensselaer were also applauded.

Sigma Chi tips hats for cancer
Derby Days, an annual series of events hosted by Sigma Chi to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, kicked off last Saturday. Teams compete to earn points by selling raffle tickets, Rusty Pipes tickets, and entries to the hockey tournament, as well as by participating in fun events such as a scavenger hunt, ‘sign-a-sig’ day, and a banner contest. The winning team will then receive 25 percent of all money raised during the week of Derby Days to donate to a philanthropic charity of their choice.

Derby Days began last Saturday and will run through next Saturday.

One of the kick-off events was a campus clean-up, held on Sunday from 1­­–3 pm. Members of the Derby teams went around the campus, beginning on Freshman Hill, and gained points for the trash that they picked up.

This year’s Derby Days will provide a host of activities for the campus, such as a floor hockey tournament, a scavenger hunt, a banner contest, and the “Steal a Derby” contest.

A canned food and clothing drive will also take place throughout the week, with drop-off locations in both the Rensselaer Union and Darrin Communications Center.

Derby Days culminates Saturday in a head-to-head competition of Derby teams to determine the ultimate winner of the event.

Body pulled from Hudson River
Troy city detectives have been interviewing witnesses as they work to track down the killer of Shelton “Shawn” Grant, whose body was pulled from the Hudson River on Saturday.

Detectives retraced the final days of Grant’s life as they looked for a break in the murder case. They revisited people whom they talked to when Grant, 22, disappeared in late November on his way to an appearance in Troy City Court.

Comments by Grant’s acquaintances drew renewed interest from detectives, who had exhausted all their leads in the missing persons case.

Grant was originally from New York. He had lived in Lansingburgh for five years prior to his murder, according to police. Detectives are seeking to interview additional people who knew Grant.

Grant reportedly was on his way to court November 30 when he was dropped off at State and Fourth streets, about two blocks from the court and police headquarters. He never appeared in court, and was reported missing December 3.

In January, detectives requested the public’s help in finding Grant. Posters were sent to New York City, where they were distributed by family members.

Grant was not seen until his body was recovered at 3:30 pm Saturday from the Hudson River shore near Bruno Machinery Corp., at the western end of Madison Street. City Department of Public Works crews removed cinder blocks that are believed to have weighed down Grant’s body.