The name RPI has a lot of history and tradition behind it that should make us all proud to go here. In 1835, RPI awarded the first civil engineering degree in the United States. Washington Roebling, Class of 1857, was the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. Even our campus, with its many old beautiful brick buildings, makes one reminisce about the glory days of engineering. RPI’s strong reputation, which she rightfully deserves, is dying, and it is being replaced with an image of a sloth. This new image is exemplified by the proposed Class of 2009 gift of a new “video game lounge” in the Rensselaer Union.
The direction RPI is heading in reminds me more of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World—blandly numbing our minds to avoid any unpleasantries we may happen to otherwise come across—than a prestigious research university. Granted, our academics have remained impressive over the years, and our students deserve a lot of credit for that; but our social reputation is pathetic. Video games and television are to blame for this. Just because we work hard doesn’t mean we can justify wasting the rest of our free time on pursuits as trivial as video games. As for television, my good friend Father Francis McCloskey put it best when he said, “Television is the new Trojan horse. Welcome it into your home so that later it can corrupt your entire pattern of thinking and subjugate your children.”
What has happened to our energy, creativity, and love of life? Is a video game lounge really the best “gift” we can come up with? The last thing RPI needs is something to encourage her students to remain inside and inactive. We need to get our students passionate about making the most of their college experiences. These four years fly by, and too often do we look back on them and realize we didn’t take full advantage of all the great opportunities college has to offer. Nobody ever looks back fondly on the hours they wasted drooling in front of the television.
We are all at times tempted to partake in the pleasurable but meaningless act of playing video games or watching television; but these are the times I turn to the words of Soren Kierkegaard: “Let others complain that our age is wicked; my complaint is that it is wretched, for it lacks passion. Men’s thoughts are thin and flimsy like lace, they themselves are pitiable like lacemakers. The thoughts of their hearts are too paltry to be sinful. For a worm it might be regarded as a sin to harbor such thoughts, but not for a being made in the image of God.” We need to take back this passion for life that we have wandered from.
My final point is that the Class of 2009 did not even vote for this video game lounge. What was voted for was the renovation of Mother’s that would include “upgrading the furniture, electronic capabilities, and usability of the room,” and “an enhanced performance venue for clubs and organizations.” Somehow, this turned into buying “several flat screen televisions, including a 50-inch plasma TV, a Wii, Playstation, and Xbox 360.”
Until now, our class representatives have done a great job, but this time they really messed up. If you are upset about this, I encourage you to contact Class President David Drew ’09; and Class Vice President/Chair of the Class Gift Committee Kristina Baker. If you feel strongly about this, either way, I also encourage you to click either “attending” or “not attending” on the Facebook group “We Oppose the Planned Class of 2009 Video Game Lounge Gift.”
Nate Harrison
PHYS ’09
