NRHH Chapter
NRHH chapter founded
Last Thursday, February 21, the Institute established the Patroon Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary. The NRHH, originally founded in 1964, encompasses over 170 colleges and universities. The honor society is dedicated to recognizing individuals who work to improve their residence halls, campus or, community all across the country. Membership is very limited; entry is granted only to the top one percent of students that live on-campus.
“Just as Dutch businessmen, the Patroons, were given the task of establishing settlements of families along the Hudson River, we have people that live in Rensselaer’s residence halls and apartment complexes that establish settlements of their own, places where students live, study, create long-lasting friendships and grow as global citizens,” chapter founder Brandon Graver ’08 said.
He continued, “The organization will acknowledge those students who have stepped to the forefront and made buildings such as Barton, the Quad, and North Hall more than just places to sleep.”
Students can nominate residents, Resident Assistants, and Resident Directors who have improved their experiences living on campus. Applications can be found on the Office of Residence Life’s website through March 21 at: http://reslife.rpi.edu/
Jackson calls for debate
RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson has joined in calling for a presidential debate on science, technology, and innovation before the November elections. Joining a coalition of over 100 leading scientists, engineers, and others in government, academe, business and media, Jackson is urging for the creation of Science Debate 2008 for presidential candidates.
The initiative was launched in December and has been endorsed by more than 16,000 citizens. Presidential candidates were invited to a debate in Philadelphia on April 18, 2008.
Jackson said in an RPI press release, “The economy, national security, and health care have been the primary focus of the debates to date, but many of the solutions to those challenges are rooted in science, technology, and innovation.”
The website for Science Debate 2008 states that, “Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of the environment, health and medicine, and science and technology policy.”
In addition to Jackson, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Susan Hockfield, presidents of the universities of Iowa, Oklahoma, Coppin State, and Lehigh, and former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta have joined the coalition.
Activity fee increased
On Friday, February 22, the Student Senate listened to the Executive Board’s presentation on the activity fee for the 2008-2009 year. The proposed fee was $527.50 for undergraduates and $280 for graduate students, which were approved by the Senate in a vote of 16-0-0.
In the presentation made by President of the Union Erik Swanson ’08 and Senate/Executive Board Liaison Amy Moise ’08, the budgeting process and background on the activity fee were discussed. Swanson cited the main budgeting goals as outreach in terms of concerts, club programming and athletics, Poly ad credits, an increase in trip fees and class dues, and fewer work studies due to monetary constraints.
This year’s budget was the largest in Union history at $8.83 million in expenditures, which translated to $2.86 million in activity fee funding required from students. The increase in the activity fee for undergraduates is a 3.02 percent increase from this year, and the activity fee for graduate students increased 4.56 percent.
At the Senate’s meeting on Tuesday, they tackled appointments to the Judicial Board. Grand Marshal Julia Leusner ’08 selected the members up for appointment with consultation from graduate student and Vice Chair of the Senate Ken Girardin, Senator Andrew Neidhardt ’11, Dean of Students Mark Smith, and Stanley Johnson ’08.
The first position to be filled was alternate member of the J-Board, for which Alan Chen ’08 was approved by the Senate in a 16-0-1 vote. The Senate then approved Johnson to the position of chair of the J-Board as well as chief judicial advisor in votes of 17-0-1 and 17-0-0, respectively. Haris Khan ’11, Jonathan Rosenberg ’10, and David Morris ’09 were each approved by the Senate as regular members of the Judicial Board following Johnson’s approval.
