News

E-Board begins year strong

Ed/Op

Staff Editorial
Be sure to visit EMPAC, career fair

Editorial Notebook
Banks lack responsibility

Editorial Notebook
Rathskellar offerings sub-optimal

Derby
Tour of EMPAC wows Derby

Top Hat
Senate addresses RPI campus life

Economy needs Democratic fix

Letter to the Editor
EMPAC costly, not beneficial

Panhellenic Council
Consider sisterhood

Features

Auburn’s Proof more than just mathematics

Hunt’s A Song in Stone is repetitive, monotonous read

Elliot Chang tickles audience’s funny bones

Simmons’s Hyperion delights, entertains

Campuses work together

Sports

Red Hawks dominate in rout of Bard

Weekly Round Up
RPI advances to 3-2, topples ranked Cortland

RPI romps at Endicott 36-7 to open season

Red Hawks split in Colorado

Rubgy takes 15-12 win over Oneonta

Rensselaer in Brief
Troy requests dialogue
Troy firefighters have raised concerns as RPI and city officials continue discussions about the Institute’s paying additional public safety costs the city says it faces from the campus expansion.

Capt. David Paul, president of Troy Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 86, said the union wants to talk to RPI about its findings from touring the campus earlier this summer.

“We were told that RPI would not meet with us. They would meet with the city to discuss issues of public safety,” Paul said to the Times Union.

Firefighters are worried about having enough people to staff the fire station, which is adjacent to the RPI campus.

In June, the city raised the possibility of RPI paying the city up to $1.26 million annually through a public safety fee to underwrite additional police, fire and ambulance services the city will provide the campus as it grows.

“It’s just general discussion. Nobody’s come forward with a specific proposal,” according to RPI Media Relations Manager Jason Gorss.

SUNY cuts programs
It will be hard for the State University of New York to absorb $96.3 million in additional budget cuts, particularly since campuses are already are leaving faculty positions unfilled, offering fewer classes and restricting costs in other ways, according to officials.

H. Carl McCall, chairman of SUNY’s Finance and Administration Committee, asked Interim Chancellor for Finance and Administration Jason Van Voorst during a meeting Thursday to report on how campuses will be affected. The issue will be discussed again at the full board of trustees meeting, he said, although campus-by-campus specifics will likely not be available by then.

Faced with an ongoing economic slowdown and projected budget shortfalls, the legislature and Gov. David Paterson have made a few rounds of budget cuts to state agencies. The state budget enacted in April gave SUNY $38.8 million less than last year, and the school subsequently had to make another $11.2 million in cuts. Now the 64-campus system has to trim $96.3 million more. All told, the net impact on SUNY over last year’s funding is $210 million, school officials said.

In the best-case scenario, campuses will have to share about $40 million in additional cuts, McCall said. The balance of the $96.3 million will be absorbed by the system administration, he said.

United University Professions President Phillip Smith said the union was not happy with how the last round of cuts was spread across campuses. It was divided up based on a formula that takes enrollment, research activities and other factors into account. Larger campuses are more able to absorb the cuts than smaller ones, he said.

The budget cuts could affect some students’ ability to graduate on time because certain courses will not be offered in the spring, Smith said.

Skidmore goalie issue
Skidmore Colleg suspended John Capitani, the lacrosse team’s goalkeeper, for allegedly assaulting a city police officer who tried to break up an underage alcohol party on Tuesday morning.

Capitani, 20, posted bail and returned home to Garden City, Nassau County, Mausert said. The college junior is charged with felony assault, two counts of resisting arrest and several violations.

Police allege he was drinking beer and became belligerent when officers came to the party to investigate a noise complaint. Capitani allegedly punched an officer in the face, and in a scuffle, crashed through a porch railing with him, which fractured the officer’s ribs.

Capitani denies punching the officer and pulling him over the railing. He will not return to school this semester because of the pending felony charge. Capitani faces up to seven years in jail for the assault charge.

Also charged at the party were two players on the college baseball team: Edward R. Reilly was arrested for allegedly providing alcohol to underage people, a misdemeanor; and Christopher Darin was charged with two drinking violations.

Reilly and Darin remain Skidmore students, but could face school sanctions through its Integrity Board, a college spokesperson said.