It is my pleasure to announce the return of one of our most venerated traditions: Hockey Line. In this unique RPI ritual, students sleep outside the Union for days to earn the privilege of being first to select their season tickets for our Division I ice hockey program.
Beginning today at 9 am, any group of students may sign up at the Union Administration Office to sit in line. The line will begin next to the western entryway to the building, and stretch around the Union deck as far as necessary. At sign-up, groups are provided guidelines for participation, but there is one key rule: At all times, at least one-eighth of each group must be physically present in the line, or the group forfeits its position. In the past, Hockey Line participants have established a fun, welcoming environment, and encouraged members of the RPI community to visit the line. Some groups have even developed programs to entertain and amuse participants. We hope a similar atmosphere will develop this year.
This tradition began in 1973. Back then, the Field House had a complex physical support structure involving many large pillars. As a result, many seats had a seriously obstructed view of the ice. Seats with an unobstructed view were in high demand, and students fought vigorously to control that real estate. The record for longest time spent in hockey line was 171 days, immediately following RPI’s victory in the 1985 NCAA playoffs.
Tickets go on sale September 16. We hope you choose to participate in Hockey Line. The earlier the line starts, the more opportunities for us to offer special bonus events to groups in line!
Also, there are still several opportunities for involvement with student government this year. We are currently conducting interviews to fill a vacant graduate senator position. This person is a full voting member of the Senate and Graduate Council, and will be either a member or leader of one of the Senate’s project teams this year. We are also looking for students who are interested in important, non-voting positions as members of project teams, or as advisors to the administration on technology initiatives. If you are interested in any of these positions, please e-mail me at gm@rpi.edu.
Freshman Elections will be held next week. There is still time to sign up to be a candidate. The Class of 2007 will elect a president, vice-president, four senators, eight class representatives, and three Independent Council representatives. If you would like to be a candidate, visit http://elections.union. rpi.edu/ and e-mail RNE@union.rpi.edu today.
Finally, there are two key events on my calendar this week. On Tuesday night, the President of the Union and I joined members of the faculty and staff in the Residence Life Opening Doors initiative. As part of the program, we toured the residence halls to discuss the student experience at RPI. On Friday, I will travel to our Hartford campus to greet about 80 new students in the Computer Science Department. This is a component of our program to more tightly link RPI’s two campuses. I will write more about that in a future column.
As always, if there is any way we can make your experience here more enjoyable, do not hesitate to contact us. I can be reached at gm@rpi.edu or x8597, and the Student Senate is available at senate-listens@rpi.edu.
