Campus.News: Features

Susan M.E. Smith, clinical assistant professor of biology, has received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to study potential cures and treatments for the disease that afflicts almost 16 million Americans.

Smith's work focuses of the role of nitric oxide synthases (NOS), a family of enzymes that catalyze the production of nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide is used in the human body as a signal molecule to control many important physiological processes, including blood pressure and immunity.

Inappropriate NOS activity is associated with such diseases as diabetes, hypertension, and toxic shock.

"Today, we know that nitric oxide is the direct cause of type I (juvenile) diabetes. It kills the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. What we're doing is looking for NOS inhibitors," she said.

"We're years away from a cure, but what we're doing could eventually lead to having high blood pressure or circulatory problems eliminated as causes of death. We hope to prevent diabetes in some individuals, and treat or ameliorate it in others," she said.

President to Host Town Meeting

President Jackson will host a campus town meeting Thursday, Nov. 2, at 6-9 p.m in the Armory. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss progress on the Rensselaer Plan. The primary focus of the meeting, which is open to the entire campus community, will be on student concerns.

The town meeting will be aired live on Channel 2 of the Campus Television Network, which is broadcast to the residence halls. In addition, public viewing areas will be set up in the Mueller Center and the Union.

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Rensselaer's seventh annual Honors Convocation will be held Friday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Alumni Sports & Recreation Center (Armory). The event honors all levels of students and faculty for their outstanding academic achievements.

The 2000 Founders Award, the ceremony's highest honor, will be given to 70 students who have been chosen for "creativity, leadership, discovery, and the values of pride and responsibility."

The celebration also will honor 226 Class of 2004 Rensselaer Medalists, 45 4.0 students, 24 graduate student fellowship awardees, and seven faculty award winners.

Honors Convocation previously was held in Room 308 of the Darrin Communications Center, with spillover crowds watching a live broadcast on television screens in Room 318. "Honors Convocation has grown into a major campus event," said Joe Michels, university events director. "We've looking forward to making the celebration even more distinguished in its new location."

Representing more than 30 countries and cultures from around the world, Rensselaer students will serve up music, fashion, and other entertainment during the annual International Festival from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 4, in the McNeil Room of the Rensselaer Union.

Students from more than 15 international clubs, representing countries including India, Greece, and China, will perform traditional dances, display artwork, and show off fashion from their respective nations.

The free event is part of Family Weekend held Nov. 3-5. Other scheduled activities for the weekend include Honors Convocation, theatrical performances by the RPI Players, and an evening of jazz with the RPI Jazz Ensemble. For more information, go to http://www.rpi.edu/dept/doso/famweek/.

Nina Saberi, Mike Marvin, and Russell Planitzer all have one thing in common. They'd love to put their money behind the next great business idea. At a recent Venture Forum sponsored by the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, these early-stage venture capitalists offered advice and some tricks of the trade.

Saberi, who is founder and general partner of Castile Ventures in Boston, suggests people shop around when looking for venture funding.

"Firms have no business investing in things they don't understand. Determine what the VC's focus and expertise is before you approach them."

Saberi also says an entrepreneur must have an eye for detail and a big vision at the same time.

"What's good today may not be good tomorrow," Saberi said. "Entrepreneurs need to understand where the market is and how their business fits in both in the short and long term."

Marvin, chairman of MapInfo and founder of Exponential Business Development Company, has simple advice. "No means no," Marvin said. "If a VC tells you to keep in touch, do the work and follow up."

"The first criteria I look for are people, then passion, and then proximity," he said.

Planitzer, of Lazard Technology Partners in Manhattan, underscored the importance of the business plan as an essential piece of communication with an investor. "If the business plan doesn't speak for itself in one or two pages, there's no way it will get funded," Planitzer said.

He also suggested staged financing. "Raise only the money necessary to get you to the next stage, and create value in the meantime. Never raise money for less than 12 months or more than 18 months. If nothing big happens in that time . . . well . . ."