State budget progresses
New York State lawmakers appear to be ahead of where they normally are each year in the budget making process. The fiscal year begins April 1, and if New York’s budget passes before then, it will be the first time New York has passed a budget on time since 1984.
According to State Assemblyman Jack McEneny, committee meetings were held on some budget matters in January that are normally not held until late February or March. McEneny also told The Associated Press that, as opposed to normal yearly procedure, lawmakers are not being advised to look into loans while their paychecks are withheld after the April 1 deadline until a budget passes; “There is something in the air that says this is real.”
Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno also feels that the budget will pass on time. He told The Associated Press “I think we’re on a track and if I were a betting guy, I’d bet we’d get it done by April first. I’d give 2-to-1 [odds] that we’ll get it done.”
HS adds security
Columbia High School in Rensselaer County recently added new security measures due to the shooting that occurred there last month.
The school has added more building monitors, moved the main entrance, and locked all other doors, equipping them with alarms. Additionally, the school will be locked down before 7 am and students will not be allowed to enter before that time.
Metal detectors and more security may still be added. A safety committee consisting primarily of students, teachers, and emergency personnel will be responsible for making further recommendations.
The shooting occurred on February 9 and left a teacher wounded. The alleged shooter, 16-year-old Jon Romano, has been charged with 86 counts and remains in the Rensselaer County Jail with no bail set.
Bioengineering grant
RPI, in partnership, with University of California, Berkley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Ridge National Laboratory was recently awarded a grant of over $2.5 million from the National Institute of Health. The grant is for four years and is RPI’s Bioengineering Research Partnership Grant from NIH.
RPI has two professors in the chemical and biological engineering department working on the project. Jonathan Dordick, who holds the Howard P. Isermann ’42 Professorship, is leading the research team and Assistant Professor Shekhar Garde is also working on the team.
The goal of the research is to allow pharmaceuticals to be produced both more rapidly and economically. Most of the research on RPI’s campus will be conducted in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies which is scheduled to open in September.
