Community Service Day: Call for Volunteers
Faculty, staff, and student volunteers are needed to participate in Rensselaer's fourth annual Community Service Day, which will be held Wednesday, April 17.

The Community Service Day Committee is planning clean-up projects in the Troy parks near the Rensselaer campus, including Frear Park, Prospect Park, Grafton Lake State Park, and Oakwood Cemetery. Projects also will take place along the city's riverfront, and at the Troy Boys & Girls Club.

T-shirts, food, and transportation will be provided. Volunteers can sign up online at http://www.rpi.edu/dept/fye/commservice/service.html. Early registration ends April 12.

For more information, contact the Office of the First Year Experience at fye@rpi.edu, or call ext. 6864. 4/8/02

University at Albany's Mumford Lecture To Address "The Impact of 9/11 on New York"
"Empire City: The Impact of 9-11 on New York" will be the theme of a talk to be delivered by well-known urban historian Ken Jackson of Columbia University at the third annual Lewis Mumford Lecture at the University at Albany. The lecture will be Thursday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m. in the university's Campus Center Room 370. Refreshments will be served.

Jackson is the author of Crabgrass Frontier and editor of The Encyclopedia of New York City. He serves as president of the New York Historical Society.
For more info, contact Brian Lonsway, director of informatics and architecture, at ext. 6871. 4/8/02

Meet Moviemaker Bobby Farrelly '81!
Movie director-writer-producer Bobby Farrelly '81 will be on campus Wednesday, April 10, to introduce a free showing of his most recent movie, Shallow Hal. Farrelly will speak to the campus community at 7:30 p.m. in room 308 of the Darrin Communications Center, followed by the free screening at 9 p.m.

Farrelly is half of one of Hollywood's hottest brother acts. He and brother Peter have produced, written, and directed blockbuster comedies, including Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There's Something About Mary, Osmosis Jones, and more.

Come and find out how this Rensselaer geology major and hockey player ended up in Hollywood. 4/1/02

Vollmer Fries Lecture April 10
David Alfano '81, manager of information technology strategic research at NASA Ames Research Center, will discuss "A New Look at NASA: Strategic Research in Information Technology" when he presents the Vollmer Fries Lecture on Wednesday, April 10 at 4 p.m. in Room 4050 of the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation.

Alfano will present an overview of research and technology developments under way in NASA's Aerospace Technology Enterprise, such as intelligent neural flight controls (which allow pilots to retain control of an aircraft in the event of unanticipated failures), high-confidence software generation, reconfigurable systems, parallel supercomputing for global climate modeling, biologically inspired technologies, and nanotechnology.

The lecture is sponsored by the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 p.m. in the George Low Lounge. 4/1/02

EarthFest 2002
Rensselaer will celebrate Earth Day with "EarthFest 2002," a series of events April 17 to 19.

On Wednesday, April 17, there will be two workshop sessions. At 10 a.m., participants can learn about solar cooking and organic gardening. At 12:30 p.m., the sessions will focus on animal rights with the Mid Hudson Valley Animal Rights Coalition and "sustainable careers" with Melissa Everett of the Sustainable Careers Institute.

A hike to Grafton's Peace Pagoda and Grafton State Park will take place on Thursday. The hike is free and includes a vegetarian lunch but pre-registration is required. Contact Jesse Vollick at vollij@rpi.edu for more information.

On Friday April 19, EarthFest will feature a "Sustainable Technology Fair" from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Rensselaer Union. Speakers and exhibits will be on hand from many environmental organizations. Other activities that day include live music, T-shirt tie-dying, organic and vegan food taste tests, and more.

EarthFest2002 is sponsored by the Environmental Education Center and Rensselaer Student Pugwash: Ecologic. For more information for any of these events, contact Shawn Shaw at shaws@rpi.edu or ext. 2027. 4/1/02

Faculty Recognition Dinner Planned for May 7
The annual Faculty Recognition Dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 7, in the Russell Sage Dining Hall beginning at 5:30 p.m. An invitation will be sent to all faculty in early April. Please mark your calendars. 4/1/02