Shuttle project goes live
This past week, the Student Senate’s shuttle tracking project went live. The Java-based web-application uses GPS technology to track the position, speed, and direction of shuttles as they move on their route around campus. The pilot system was developed as part of an independent study by Lam Tran ’07 and Jonathan Bidwell ’07 and supported by Facilities, Finance, and Advancement Committee Co-Chair August Fietkau ’08.
By the end of this week, all of the Institute’s seven shuttles will be equipped with the tracking units, even though at most five or six are on the route at any one time. The units collect data from GPS satellites to triangulate their position and then send that data to a central iTrak database. The shuttle tracking system polls that data every 15 seconds and pushes those updates to users.
The project was started last spring after input from many students regarding the system’s reliability and timeliness. “The shuttles were first intended for commuter students who would park near the field house, but their real benefit has been to students in BARH, RHAPS, and Stackwyck,” Fietkau said. “Missing a shuttle can be inconvenient,” he said. “You miss a shuttle; you miss a class.” Fietkau expects the project to reduce the time students have to wait for a shuttle and help students to make their classes on time.
The live pilot officially launches this Thursday and can be seen online at http://shuttles.rpi.edu/ or that day in the Student Government Suite.
Man dies from the cold
Weather this past week has been bitterly cold in some places, with Monday’s morning low dipping to 13 degrees below zero in Schenectady and nearing zero degrees in many places in the Capital Region. The cold weather proved deadly this past weekend when Darrell Glass, 31, of the Red Carpet Inn in Albany was found dead on a city street around 7 am Sunday morning. An autopsy performed later that day revealed that he had succumbed to the cold weather after a night of drinking heavily.
With temperatures dipping so low, there is a greater risk of developing frost bite or hypothermia. “The biggest tip I can give is to dress properly,” said Dr. Leslie Lawrence, medical director of the Student Health Center. “The key is wearing layers,” he said. Lawrence recommends making sure that as much skin is covered as possible and limiting the time that skin is exposed to the cold air. “When the temperature is less than 10 degrees, it’s best to limit time outdoors to 30 minutes or less,” he recommended.
At night, when the temperatures drop even lower, Lawrence advises students to stay inside and keep warm. When wind chills fall to 20 degrees below zero or less, frostbite can occur in only 30 minutes, and that time shortens to only 10 minutes with wind chills of 35 degrees below zero or less.
CDC hosts career fair
The Career Development Center will be hosting the annual Spring Career Fair on Friday, February 9, from 11 am to 4 pm in the Almuni Sports and Recreation Center. The event, which drew over 2,000 students last year, is expected to draw over 3,000 students this year to meet with over 150 public and private-sector employers, over 30 of which are Capital Region companies.
According to statistics provided in the CDC’s 2005-2006 Annual Report, the average starting salary for Class of 2006 graduates with bachelor’s degrees was $54,343, an increase of 8.5 percent over 2005. For master’s degree graduates, the average starting salary was $66,053, up 4.4 percent.
Employers at the fair will be looking for potential full-time, co-op, internship, and summer employees. “Today’s employers desire students who have had some experience while in college,” said CDC Director Tom Tarantelli. “This is what gives a student the competitive edge when it comes to landing a full-time job.”
For more information about the fair, visit: http://www.cdc.rpi.edu/careerfairs.html
