Here we go!

Where did the summer go? It feels like only yesterday we were packing up and heading home. Classes start a week from today!

Looking to get a ride to campus? RPI Parking and Transportation has free shuttles to campus if you register for them before the 26th. From their website:

Start of semester shuttle to RPI
The Parking and Transportation Department will be offering transportation through a registration process from the Albany International Airport, Rensselaer Rail Station, and Greyhound Bus Station to campus. To arrange transportation please contact the Parking and Transportation Department weekedays at 518-276-6616 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Return trips will occur on Sunday, August 29th. Be advised that there are select timeframes to choose from and the last day to arrange transportation will be Thursday, August 26th at 3:30 p.m. All requests after this date are subject to availability. Passengers are encouraged to pack lightly as space on the shuttle bus is limited.

We look forward to seeing you all back on campus! And if you’re an incoming freshman, Welcome to RPI!

Some interesting excerpts from the article:

In the case of Dr. Jackson and her five board appointments, Ms. Minow says, “it is just physically impossible to do the work necessary to be a good director” on so many boards. The Corporate Library estimates that board members must invest 240 hours a year, including meetings and preparation, to do the work properly. But it can become a full-time job if the company runs into trouble.

Charles M. Elson, a corporate governance specialist at the University of Delaware, is highly critical of university presidents who serve on several boards, although he is reluctant to single out particular directors or companies. “If you see a university president on multiple boards, that’s a problem,” he says. “There is no way you can do the job. Someone has got short shrift.”

Some of the companies these presidents served make a different assessment, however.

Marathon Oil said it was proud to have Dr. Jackson on its board. “She is a valued contributor, with a keen attention to detail and breadth of knowledge that serves Marathon well,” a company spokesman says.

FedEx said her broad array of commitments had not interfered with her work on its board and that she had recently been selected to be chairwoman of its nominating and governance committee. “We consider the breadth of her experience — in academia, government service and as a member of other public company boards — to be a tremendous asset to our company,” says a FedEx spokesman.

I.B.M. said that Dr. Jackson, who is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was re-elected to the I.B.M. board this spring by more than 93 percent of shareholder votes cast. “It is clear that the overwhelming majority of I.B.M.’s stockholders appreciate her contributions to the company,” says an I.B.M. spokesman.

Dr. Jackson would not comment for this article. A Rensselaer spokesman, William N. Walker, said she regularly worked on her board duties through vacation and on weekends. As proof that she was not being distracted from her Rensselaer duties, he cited the hiring of more than 270 new faculty members, $700 million in construction and renovation including four new centers on campus, and a $360 million anonymous donation in 2001 as part of a $1.4 billion capital campaign. Her networking at I.B.M. paid off by helping to bring a $100 million supercomputer to the campus in partnership with I.B.M. and New York State, he said. In June, Rensselaer’s board of trustees voted to give Dr. Jackson another 10-year term.

Yesterday we reported on allegations that RPI didn’t fully pay the electrical contractor it had hired to complete EMPAC, referencing the Times Union article which broke the story.

Today a new development made the front page of the TU’s business section which doesn’t really seem to have any bearing on the case at hand.  The story basically explains that the inspector for the City of Troy inspected the building before it opened and declared it to be safe.  He says that it is “one of the safest buildings in Troy.”

As far as I can tell, this doesn’t affect whether RPI owes $2.6 million to LaCorte, but it does give us the peace of mind of knowing that we weren’t put in danger.  We all knew the building was being rushed and that it wasn’t done in time for the big opening gala (it closed immediately after so they could finish construction).  This is simply a matter of whether LaCorte was paid for the work they did, and that’s something that remains to be decided by a court.

UPDATE: Just found an article in the Record, which has Claude Rounds’s statement:

Rensselaer received a certificate of occupancy for EMPAC after an exhaustive and extraordinary review by the city of Troy. The substantial documentation associated with EMPAC’s compliance with all the requirements of the certificate of occupancy is a matter of public record. Any allegation that the building was not ready for occupancy is irresponsible.

We stand behind the work of Turner Construction – a first-rate, internationally recognized contractor. We also stand behind the more-than-40 subcontractors and hundreds of local skilled craftspeople who played a role in building EMPAC, and we look forward to putting this frivolous matter to rest.

Well, it’s that time of the year.  College rankings are making headlines and rising high school seniors are probably buying the only copy of U.S. News and World Reports they’ll ever own.   The 2010 U.S. News rankings put RPI at 42nd in the nation (not too shabby), but it’s interesting to note that the Princeton Review puts RPI as #12 in “College Town Not So Great,” barely worse than Union College at #13.  We happen to think that Troy is much nicer than Schenectady (and even if it isn’t, our hockey team more than makes up for Union’s allegedly better ranking).

I have to personally disagree with the ranking, which is based on student assessment.  Most RPI students rarely venture off campus to see what Troy really has to offer, and so they buy into the stereotype that Troy is some terrible place to live.  I’d wager that most students would change their mind if they just spent a Saturday or a Troy Night Out enjoying the downtown area, which is not to mention the endless possibilities that exist within an hour’s drive for a fun Saturday afternoon hangover-beater.

We did a little exploring and found some other interesting rankings that feed well into RPI stereotypes.  For example, we rate #18 in political inactivity, and #13 in “professors get low marks”.  Hmm…. thoughts?

Looks like RPI could be out a couple million bucks if this goes through, which is a shame and ultimately a loss to students.  That money could have been used for many other things.

But seriously, the article says:

Jackson said she’s tired of feeling like she’s under the microscope when the focus should really be on the school itself and the developments going on there.

This is a little bit surprising to us as students.  We are each paying over $50,000 per year to be students here, and I think we deserve to put the administration under the microscope a little bit.  Heck, that’s why we have a student government!  Perhaps the President feels as though she’s too personally responsible for what’s going on around the school.  To that, my honest opinion is that that’s the job of a leader: to take responsibility for the actions of those whom you lead.

I’m very surprised that she would take that stance as such an apparently successful leader.  Most leaders take pride in a certain “the buck stops here” mentality.

On the other hand, we do agree with Dr. Jackson that the City of Troy tends to have a perpetually negative attitude toward RPI.  We do a lot for the community, but they seem to forget that so easily.  RPI did the right thing to alert students about an armed robber running around Troy.  RPI is doing the right thing by trying to negotiate about the fire lanes leading up to the VCC (even if we’re being a little hard-headed about it, the City has taken a very negative path during the entire course of the debate).

But what about the discussion over a new house for the President?

Before reading what Doctor Jackson had to say, I invite you all to read the original message that was sent out to the Rensselaer Community on December 7th, 2009.  Now read the subsequent update from February 25th.  Do either of them mention the apparent animal infestations, water leaks, or asthma-inducing conditions that Dr. Jackson now claims are the reason for the new President’s House?

Nope!  The house idea was an effort to promote fundraising efforts, and to show the Board’s commitment to Dr. Jackson’s leadership.  To quote:

This gift will provide a place that enables President Jackson and her successors to greet high-level constituents in a manner that demonstrates the status of Rensselaer as a major research university.

We’re not buying this new health argument.  How many people decide to quintuple the size of their house as a result of water leaks or poor air quality?

To:    The Rensselaer Community
From:  William N. Walker
Vice President, Strategic Communications & External Relations
Date:  July 1, 2010
Re:    RPIAlert test

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 6, our News office and Emergency Operations
team will conduct a test of the RPIAlert system function on the
Rensselaer Web site. We will post a test message on the site that
morning to determine whether the connection and information flow to the
on-campus cable TV network and the CONCERTO display system function
properly. We will not be testing the RPIAlert distribution of text
messages to cell phones, nor will we be testing the campus speaker
system.

On another note, New York’s cigarette tax went up by $1.65 to $4.35 per pack today, meaning that a pack of smokes can cost about $8-$10.  Yikes!

—-

To:    The Rensselaer Community
From:  Curtis N. Powell, SPHR
Vice President for Human Resources
Date:  June 30, 2010
Re:    Tobacco-Free Environment

As you know, Rensselaer is about to launch our new tobacco-free campus
initiative. Effective July 1, 2010, we are proudly joining more than 360
U.S. colleges and universities in providing a tobacco-free environment.

In enacting this initiative, the Institute is supporting a culture of
genuine respect for all members of the campus community, visitors, the
environment, and our institutional sustainability efforts. We also hope
to set an example that will encourage the Rensselaer community to
embrace a spirit of health and wellness.

As we transition to a tobacco-free institution, Rensselaer will support
faculty, staff, and students in their efforts to stop using tobacco
products. Smoking cessation classes will be available on and off campus,
and counseling sessions will be available through the Employee
Assistance Program.  Additionally, all smoking receptacles will be
removed from the campuses during the week of June 28, 2010.

The tobacco-free initiative is reflected in significant changes to our
Smoking Policy, Human Resources Policy 800.3, which has been renamed
Tobacco Use, to reflect the health hazards beyond smoking
cigarettes. The Tobacco Use Policy includes a prohibition against using
all tobacco products on Institute property, including buildings and
entrances, Rensselaer facilities, properties, and outdoor areas. A copy
of the new Tobacco Use Policy will be available on the HR Web site.

Please note that the Policy includes Enforcement Procedures, which
provide for the use of progressive corrective actions for students,
faculty, and staff.

The Tobacco Use Policy will be disseminated broadly to the university
community with a Frequently Asked Questions page posted on the Institute
Home Page, articles and advertisements placed in campus publications,
notices in the Student Catalogue and Student Orientation Program, and
other venues.

During this change, we ask that all members of the Rensselaer community
support each other, and embrace a spirit of having a healthy living,
learning, and working environment.