The 38th Student Senate held its last meeting Tuesday, April 1, in which the Senate took a group photo, approved a Judicial Board appointment, discussed upcoming events and the status of the digital signage project, and finished with the usual committee reports.
Graduate student John Wason was approved by the Senate as regular Judicial Board member. Wason started at RPI in 2002 and was supported by former Grand Marshal Julia Leusner ’08 for his solid understanding of the judicial process, and his knowledge of campus. Wason cited that he is joining the J-Board because he “wants to give the graduate perspective.” The Senate also discussed the lack of graduate student representation, and expressed hope that Wason may influence more to become involved.
Concerto, the digital signage project being worked on by the Web Technologies Group, “aims to communicate events, announcements, and other information submitted by RPI organizations and individuals to the campus community through a variety of digital means, including web pages and large LCD screens.” The project is well underway with four currently active LCD screens and a fully functioning website (http://signage.rpi.edu/) for students and clubs to upload pictures for display, which students have already begun to use. Senator Brian Zaik ’09 presented the capabilities of the project and the plans for its expansion to the Senate.
The Community Relations Committee had better turnout for its tenant education. The CRC has yet to hear from the administration about the implementation of off-campus RAD. The Campus Communications Committee will be putting up posters for the scavnet project and brought up the improvements being made to http://www.myrpi.org/ project, such as adding classified goods and incorporating received feedback. Jonathan Babiec ’09, representing the Inter-Fraternity Council, mentioned that their elections procedures are being rewritten. The Academic Affairs Committee is hosting the academic integrity forum, and discussed the probable use of web projection for the instruction of a German language class. The forum on academic integrity is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9 from 4–6:30 pm in DCC 318. Committee updates consisted of many comments meant to conclude the year. Finance Chair Dan Horvath ’08 took the opportunity to thank fellow senators for doing a good job of keeping him informed about expenses over the past year.
With the report from the Rules and Election Committee, a general consensus was met that RNE has done an excellent job. Though, along with the mention of a lack of contested positions came an in-depth discussion of apathy on campus. “We have done a huge amount to make people’s lives better,” explained graduate student Ken Girardin. He dismissed the Senate as very much responsible, due to evidence that this apathy is reflected in the rest of society and is an “issue with our culture.” Girardin then went on to add to his rationalization that “media on campus has been lacking. … in the absence of a really good campus publication, you’re not going to get the dialogue …”
Minutes for the previous meeting were not provided due to a “fiasco,” according to Girardin. The “fiasco” referred to was the absence of the secretary, and lack of communication as to who would take the minutes for that week. The minutes, once compiled, will be approved by the 39th Student Senate.
