Project
Links Receives Award for Excellence
A
reception and Project Links demonstration will be held on
Friday, Feb. 2, at 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Russell Sage Dining
Hall. The reception will honor the faculty, staff, and students
who have made this project so successful since its inception
in 1996. The campus community is encouraged to attend.
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Project
Links, a Rensselaer program dedicated to linking the concepts
of math to real-world applications through interactive Web-based
modules, was recently awarded the PREMIER Award for Excellence
in Engineering Education. Courseware from the National Engineering
Education Delivery System (NEEDS). Funding is provided in part
through a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
A
reception and Project Links demonstration will be held on Friday,
Feb. 2, at 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Russell Sage Dining Hall. The
reception will honor the faculty, staff, and students who have
made this project so successful since its inception in 1996.
The campus community is encouraged to attend.
Mark
Holmes, chair of mathematics, and Robert Spilker, chair of biomedical
engineering, head Project Links. They, along with other faculty
from numerous departments, developed the content of the modules.
Each module is designed to be used in a math course and an engineering
or science course. A team from the University at Albany works
with faculty in evaluating the modules.
"Project
Links is a great success, and our thanks go out to the faculty,
staff, and students who have spent countless hours on content,
design, and testing of the modules. The PREMIER Award recognizes
their hard work and how successful they have made Project Links,"
said Holmes.
The
modules are used in classrooms at Rensselaer, Siena, Hudson
Valley Community College, University of Delaware, and Virginia
Tech, with plans to include more universities in the near future.
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Rensselaer
has been featured frequently in the latest national
news:
- $130
Million Gift
In December, President Jackson announced a $130 million
gift to the university from an anonymous donor. The
news was reported in The
New York Times, The Chronicle
of Philanthropy, and The Chronicle
of Higher Education ( January
12, 2001 and December
14, 2000)
It's
a Woman's World
Rensselaer grad Pamela Daum'00 is one of a growing number
of women entering the field of engineering. Daum is
featured in a recent New York Times article,
titled "Engineers in Hard
Hats and Heels," that reports more women
than ever are entering the field. Rensselaer President
Shirley Ann Jackson also is quoted in the article, noting
that the discipline is achieving "phenomenal growth."
-
Internet
Love Blooms, Then Fades
H&SS Professor Joseph Walther, who studies the
behavior of people using the Internet, says that
starting a relationship online has little connection
to real-life encounters. In a New York Times
article titled, "On
the Net, Love Really Is Blind,"
Walther says that "most people you encounter,
online or off, are those you will not be interested
in."
Rensselaer
Research Recognized
The
Associated Press reported that, with eight
NSF Early Career Award winners, Rensselaer and Cornell
are tied in having the most research faculty honored
by the NSF in New York state.
Renowned
Brain Tissue Researcher Recalls Roots in Region
Rensselaer alumnus James Fallon '73 received national
attention for his pioneering search for a
way to repair damaged brain tissue.
These
stories and more are found at http://www.rpi.edu/web/News/home.html.
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New
Budgeting Process Developed
"..the
activities of a portfolio and their relationship to the
Rensselaer Plan, rather than the size of a portfolio's budget,
will be the determining factor in budget increases."
— Eileen
McLoughlin—
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As
part of the Rensselaer Plan, one of the first-year highest priorities
is the revision of thebudget process. According to Virginia
Gregg, vice president for finance, the new budgeting process
represents the third leg of President Jackson's integrated planning
process, where strategy, action, and resources are all intricately
linked. The new process is activity-based rather than incremental
and requires a disciplined approach to prioritization.
This
means that the activities of a portfolio and their relationship
to the Rensselaer Plan, rather than the size of a portfolio's
budget, will be the determining factor in budget increases,
explained Eileen McLoughlin, director of financial planning
and budget.
An
understanding of the funding status of current and proposed
activities will give the president the ability to examine activities
across the board before making any final budget decisions. Spending
will be consistent with strategy, and will force the prioritization
of finite resources and reserves. The goal is to improve the
utilization of existing funds, focus on content, and establish
consistency in the submission of budgets, which has already
been addressed with a new standard presentation format.
The
approval of budgets will be moved forward from May to February,
which will enable constellation and other faculty hiring plans.
Airline
Mega-Mergers Taking Off?
Merger-mania
is just beginning in the airline industry, says Phillip Phan,
the Bruggeman Distinguished Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
at the Lally School of Management and Technology.
News
of the American Airlines' $500 million buyout of Trans World
Airlines and its agreement to pay United $1.5 billion for jets
and gates at six East Coast airports will set off a chain reaction,
says Phan.
Merger-mania
is just beginning in the airline industry.
—Phillip Phan—
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"This
merger will be the first in a series of mega-mergers,"
Phan predicts. "Next up is Continental-Northwest/America
West; United/USAir; Delta/Southwest; and probably a few smaller
regional carriers in the mix. That's not even including cross
border mergers. The British Airways/American merger, which was
put off five years ago because of antitrust concerns, could
reappear."
Phan
says mergers of this sort allow an airline to get rid of planes
and consolidate routes and schedules by eliminating overlapping
takeoff times. This means that more planes will take off with
their seats full.
"Even
with consolidation, problems remain," says Phan. "Planes
depreciate over 25 years, leases are long-term with severe penalties,
and gate/slot contracts are often for 99 years," he says.
"So, while it is easy for new airline companies to enter
the industry, it's very difficult for them to leave."
So
what can the consumer expect? Certainly not improved airline
food, Phan says. But possibly more low-budget, no-frills, direct
flights.
Fourth
Annual Student Appreciation Dinner
The
Fourth Annual Student Appreciation Dinner was held Jan. 18 in
the Sage Dining Hall. The event, sponsored by the Rensselaer
Union, celebrates students who serve Rensselaer as work-study
students, resident assistants, teaching assistants, learning
assistants, and more.
Approximately
150 students were honored at the dinner, paid for by the office,
department, or individual sponsoring them. Members
of the faculty and staff volunteered, acting as servers, cooks,
and dishwashers.
John
Fusco, general manager of Sodexho Marriott, volunteered his
cooking staff and was responsible for organizing food donations
for the dinner. Proceeds from the event directly benefit the
Troy Record's annual Clothe-A-Child Campaign. Last year, the
annual student appreciation dinner raised $2,300. By the end
of this year's campaign, the Union expects to donate more than
$5,000 to the Record.
"Each
student here tonight is a leader and a partaker in my mission
to foster a sense of 'Communiversity' with Rensselaer, Troy,
and the greater area," said President Jackson. "By
your efforts, you unite Rensselaer as one community able and
willing to assist others in need."
Aid
for Victims of Earthquake in India
The
HSBC branch office in the Rensselaer Union has set up an
interest-free
and charge-free account for this purpose. Donors may send
their gifts
directly to that account. Checks should be designated "Indian
Relief
Fund/Patrick Quinn."
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Friday's
devastating earthquake in India has affected many members of
the Rensselaer community. There are more than 200 students and
numerous faculty and staff members from India.
Sunita
Bansal '02, co-president of the Indian Students Association,
says that the students are organizing several fund-raisers to
send relief aid to the stricken country. They will collect donations
in the Union and campus dining halls, and plan to hold a bake
sale later this week.
"I
finally reached Jaimini Mehta in Baroda. He assures me that
the students at CEPT were away during the 'quake and are
safe, and that the faculty have escaped unscathed…
—Patrick Quinn—
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Since
1992, Rensselaer's School of Architecture has offered a semester-long
program in India. The program is held at CEPT, one of India's
leading architectural schools, in the city of Ahmedabad. Though
there are no Rensselaer students there this semester, Patrick
Quinn, professor emeritus of architecture, reports that many
of the places familiar to the Architecture program have been
devastated:
"I
finally reached Jaimini Mehta in Baroda. He assures me that
the students at CEPT were away during the 'quake and are safe,
and that the faculty have escaped unscathed…
"I
have downloaded many reports from the Times of India and the
Indian Express and I find each one increasingly heartbreaking.
So many places we loved are devastated, schools crushed, families
vanished, small vendors obliterated. The lovely city of Bhuj
is gone, leveled. Its important museum is no more. The village
of Tunda Bhand, sketched on my recent Christmas card is gone,
so is the village of Bacheau. The magnificent mediaeval city
of Mandui is not even heard from. It is unthinkable, but it
is terribly real.
"I
am organizing a fund to help our Indian friends. What we collect
will be
sent to OXFAM USA in Boston, an organization of impeccable credentials
in
getting aid to its intended target. Thank you most profoundly
for helping."
The
HSBC branch office in the Rensselaer Union has set up an interest-free
and charge-free account for this purpose. Donors may send their
gifts
directly to that account. Checks should be designated "Indian
Relief
Fund/Patrick Quinn." Contact Marge Graber at HSBC at 271-0247
with questions.
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The
Electronic Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) Task Force,
chaired by Professor John Tichy, is holding two open meetings
for the campus community and the community at large. The first
will be Wed., Jan. 31, at 7-9 p.m. in 3051 CII ; the second
will be held Wed., Feb. 7, at 1-3 p.m. in 4050 CII.