RIB

Parking changes

Starting next Monday, and continuing through May 9, part of College Avenue will be closed for parking in order to allow street reconstruction by McCarthy Builders, the general contractor for the Biotech project. Through traffic will be allowed, but may be delayed by construction vehicles.

The area affected will extend from the intersection with 15th Street to Rensselaer Gate B, just past 13th Street. Residents may use area parking lots and College Avenue below 13th Street, but RPI commuters must use the Field House lots and the Red Hawk Shuttle.

NYSTAR grant

The New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research has awarded Omkaram Nalamasu, professor of materials science and engineering and director of Rensselaer’s Center for Integrated Electronics, $1 million to fund his research in various areas including biochips and nanofabrication.

NYSTAR award recipients are expected to use the money to conduct nationally and internationally recognized research and to attract additional funding from other public and private sources.

The Office chooses who to award grants to based on a variety of factors, one of which is to attract and retain faculty whose research has strong commercial potential that could benefit the state.

Cruelty sentences rise

The punishments handed out for acts of cruelty against animals have been edging steadily upward over the past few years to near the point where offenders are being given one year in jail for each count, the maximum sentence under the state agriculture and markets law.

Joseph Gadomski was recently sentenced to 10 months in county jail for neglecting his dog. The 14 year-old animal was found by police 50 pounds underweight and frozen to the ground in a shallow hole it had dug. In strict contrast, three years ago Michael Futia was given 60 days in prison for shooting a dog twice while it played in a neighbor’s yard.

The increases have been hailed as great achievements by a number of people, many of them proponents of “Buster’s Law,” a law aimed at increasing the punishments on animal abusers, named after a cat that died after being set on fire. The law mandates that a conviction for cruelty requires proof that cruelty was intended, and as such is difficult to prosecute under, but it is being used more everyday, according to its author Assemblyman Jim Tedesco of Schenectady.

Anthrax scare in Albany

The Court of Appeals building in Albany was evacuated Friday after a security guard opened an envelope containing white powder and a note, the contents of which was not released. The Department of Health’s Wadsworth Lab tested the material and determined that it was not hazardous, but before the results came back, six construction workers, two security guards, and another court employee were raced to Albany Medical Center Hospital.

The incident occurred at 10:15 am when security guards were routinely sorting the mail delivered to the courthouse. The envelope containing the letter and the powder was addressed only to the court and was therefore opened by a guard.

FBI investigates in Troy

A Troy computer store that was closed early last week after being raided by the FBI re-opened last Thursday, despite the ongoing investigation. Federal agents were investigating whether the Help the Needy organization, a fund based out of Syracuse that the store’s owners raise money for, was illegally sending money to Iraq. The store, AIT Computers on Hoosick Street, was one of 11 businesses in New York State to be investigated.

According to a federal indictment, the Help the Needy fund raised about $4 million in the United States that was then laundered through a Jordanian bank before being sent to unnamed individuals in Baghdad.

Hadj Ounis, one of the co-owners who holds a doctorate from Clarkson and a master’s from RPI, said neither he nor his partner felt any animosity toward the agents, who were just doing their job.

Unionization effort

Contract negotiations between Rensselaer County and United Public Service Employees Local 424, the union that represents over 1,300 county workers, have stalled, with the chief union negotiator blaming the county’s side for the delay.

The union’s contract with the county expired December 31, and the talks have been ongoing since that time. The county’s 2003 budget included the elimination of 28 jobs and a 35 percent tax increase, but negotiations have restored the jobs and reduced the tax increase to 25 percent. Other topics of discussion include pay, health insurance, working conditions, and safety. The County believes there are not enough funds available for an increase in the benefit package.

The union is particularly vocal about the absense of County Executive Kathy Jimino at the negotiations. The county contends that her presence is not necessary, and that the department heads have the matter well in hand.