Faculty prepares to vote
The Faculty Senate, chaired by President Achille Messac, has called for a general faculty meeting to take place today to discuss grievances with the administration. The major discussion points include disbanding the Faculty Senate, requesting that information be released to the Planning and Resources Committee of the Faculty Senate, and potentially conducting a vote of no confidence in President Shirley Ann Jackson.
The meeting seems to be the culmination of several years’ worth of discussion and complaints, building on last April’s attempted vote of no confidence in Provost G. P. “Bud” Peterson and reaction to the destruction of a faculty survey. The meeting will be chaired by Professor Bruce Nauman, the central figure in the survey debate last year.
Also slated for discussion and possible action at today’s meeting are a visible protest against administration policies, a complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging age discrimination against senior faculty, and publicity indicating that RPI is considering cutting back on pension plans. The meeting begins at 2 pm in DCC 337.
RPI student wins contest
When Polytech Apartments, a new student housing development under construction at the intersection of 15th Street and Congress St., needed a name, its management turned to RPI students to do the job for them. Mercer Development, the group constructing the new apartments, started the “Name-the-Building Contest” in January and publicized it to the campus community through flyers and articles in local newspapers. The winner of the contest was to receive a priority choice on housing and free month’s rent in the new building.
Christopher Suraci, a 19-year-old aeronautical engineering sophomore from Royersford, Pa., won the contest by submitting the winning suggestion. He learned about the contest when his mother saw a story about it in the Times Union and referred it to him. Suraci has extended family in the Capital District, with relatives in Schenectady and Guilderland. Approximately 95 students entered the contest to name the complex, which will open this coming August.
Jackson to chair board
President Shirley Ann Jackson, who was a member of the now-dissolved New York Stock Exchange Regulatory Oversight Board, was named chair of the newly-formed NYSE Regulation, Inc. on April 5.
The creation of this subsidiary of the NYSE Group was a direct result of the NYSE’s merger with Archipelago Holdings, Inc., one of the major news stories in the financial markets for several years. Its purpose is to perform regulatory oversight of the NYSE Group and its subsidiaries, while reporting only to the Board of Directors of NYSE Regulation.
Jackson began her first term on the NYSE board in 2003 and has served with many prominent national figures., including former Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
