Apple plans departure
Tom Apple, vice provost and dean of Graduate Education, will be leaving RPI to return to the University of Delaware, his alma mater, as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He will begin his position at Delaware on July 1.
Apple earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1982. He has been a faculty member at RPI since 1991 after he worked at the University of Nebraska from 1983 to 1991.
At the University of Delaware, Apple will be in charge of the largest school which makes up about half of the university. He will be responsible for 600 out of 1,100 tenured track faculty as well as about 9,000 out of the 20,000 or so undergraduate students.
Apple said that he is proud to be at RPI, but Delaware was just too big of an opportunity to pass up. He said that his years at RPI have been among the most rewarding.
Cemetery desecrated
Charges continue to be filed in the wake of the desecration of graves and other vandalism at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. A 17-year-old, Daniel Thompson, was initially charged with grave desecration in the first degree—a felony charge.
This past Tuesday, Troy resident Ricky Rockenstire was also charged with grave desecration in the first degree. Though it is not clear what role he played as of yet, a third witness was involved, but has not been charged as he only observed the vandalism and did not take an active part in it.
The desecration, which included the toppling and damage of over 50 gravestones and the destruction of several other memorials, occurred late at night when Thompson, Rockenstire, and a third person were drinking beer in the cemetery and began smashing stones. Rockenstire allegedly has a grudge against a cemetery employee and went to the cemetery with a hammer in hand, though the problem between them was not clear.
Rockenstire was already in jail after failing to pay a $300 court fine for stealing a dog, and was arraigned on Monday. Thompson was released with an electronic monitor and both are scheduled to attend a hearing on Friday.
Funding cutback
Due to several major funding cutbacks, the Troy Boys & Girls Club is turning to the local community to fund its annual $500,000 budget. The local United Way, an omnibus charity, has already cut funding to the local club considerably. Furthermore, state and federal contributions in the amount of some $57,000 were not available.
The federal and state funding arose from a program passed into law by former President Clinton that gave the club and similar organizations money for delinquency prevention and aid to welfare-supported families. This year, however, the funds may not be as forthcoming as they once were.
The club has sent out letters to local business owners and “alumni” of the program seeking help. So far, the club has collected about $15,000 out of the $30,000 they hope to obtain in this manner. The club will also be holding more fund-raisers including spring and fall harvest brunches, a craft fair, and a golf tournament to raise awareness of the club and its goals.
Admissions adds blogs
As part of an initiative to give prospective students a better impression of what daily life is like on the RPI campus, the Admissions office, in conjunction with three undergraduate students, is offering a feature called PolyBlogs.
PolyBlogs are unedited, 250-word diary entries in which the three students—Mary Dalton, Laura Henry, and Bryan Knight, who work for Admissions as student tour guides, ambassadors, and speakers—will chronicle their daily routine and experiences at RPI for all to see.
The entries, which can also include photographs, are intended to help prospective students evaluate the experience beyond the classroom and get a glimpse of what life is like for some typical RPI students.
