Architects win
Fifth-year architecture students Ryan Salvas and Stephanie Cramer took first place at the Global House 2005 International Design Competition. Priyanka Mara, Moniera Buck, and Brian Janeczko, also fifth-year students, won third place.
This year’s contest challenged participants to design a house representative of global contemporary values that can exist on any site. The awards included cash prizes of $2,000 for first place and $500 for third place.
Visiting scholars leave
The end of the fall semester marked the end of the Gulf Coast Visiting Scholars Program, an invitation through which 64 students from colleges affected by Hurricane Katrina were able to enroll, but not matriculate, at RPI. Most of those students have returned to their home institutions.
Some students have faced substantial challenges in returning to schools in the affected region. Most notably, Tulane University has cancelled its mechanical engineering program, along with 16 other disciplines. The colleges and universities themselves have faced enrollment and fiscal challenges, with some failing to recover a majority of their preexisting student body.
According to the First-Year Experience web site, over $26,000 has been raised for Project Hope, the RPI student response to Hurricane Katrina. The Institute originally donated a total of $35,000 to charities related to hurricane relief.
Snavley, Ebert Retire Vice President for Government and Community Relations Larry Snavley retired effective December 31. Since joining RPI in 1987, Snavley has directed the Institute’s program for public policy advocacy and has overseen the opening of the Washington, D.C., office occupied by the director of federal relations. Prior to 1987, Snavley directed government relations at Syracuse University and was assistant to the president at the University of Toledo. The unoccupied position will be filled during an upcoming planned divisional reorganization.
Director of Rensselaer Research Libraries Loretta Ebert has also announced that she is leaving the Institute after 11 years of service.
She will be assuming the role of director of the New York State Research Library in Albany. Most recently, Ebert was a major player in the second floor renovation of the Folsom Library and Library Café.
Trump denies running
Virtually ending the political speculation swirling around him, Donald Trump declared in a press release on Thursday that he would not run for New York governor. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who represents Rensselaer County, had indicated in December that a wealthy candidate was “thinking” of running for governor, and most news agencies interpreted this as a nod toward Trump.
Trump stated, “The problem is that I really enjoy what I am doing right now,” which includes “The Apprentice” television show and continued real estate development.
