Submit the appropriate thought bubbles to tipbernstein@yahoo.com

In case either of my readers see this...

Please excuse my failure to provide you with anything substantially scandalous these past few days. Final exams have me feeling the way the campus rag does (should) year-round.

The "e" stands for "unnecessary"

Interesting point made by a reader: the Rensselaer Plan, the document supposedly governing high-level decisions about the future of the Institute, makes mention of the Biotech center (cost: $100 million) numerous times, while the eMPA Center, or eMPAC (budget: $141.7 million) is never mentioned by name, and only once alluded to. Note: the high cost may have something to do with the fact that money was spent to design an entire page about writing the word "eMPAC ".

Also, please let me know if you can verify the accuracy of this zinger:

Q. Why will the eMPAC center be a non-profit facility?
A. Because it will lose money on every performance.

Cancel the Provost-sized skewers

Yesterday's general faculty meeting saw the vote of no-confidence against the Provost tabled for consideration at the next meeting, and little more. Seeing as how such a meeting is months off, it looks like the appetite for Peterson-on-a-stick has disapated markedly in the past few weeks.

Huh.

The move against the Provost stemmed strictly from his refusal to stand up to Dr. Jackson when she gave the maniacal order to destroy a survey by the faculty citing a very stretched legal precedant in the process. None of the issues that led to the survey being issued--the faculty's grievances about governance, concerns over pensions, the 71% disapproval rating of Dr. Jackson's administration --have been addressed, and this nonsense with the Provost has certainly only amplified their frustration. How such anger could be restrained through such a meeting is beyond my comprehension, but hey, I'm not the one with the PhDs.

Shirley <3 Hillary

With only weeks to go before Senator Hillary Clinton is scheduled to speak at commencement, RPI Watch has been given documents that raise even more questions about Dr. Jackson's relationship with the senator. Electronic copies of federal election filings given to RPI Watch, later verified as authentic, show Dr. Jackson gave Senator Clinton's campaign a sizable amount of money over the past five years, and may have attempted to keep these donations secret. This comes in light of widespread speculation that Dr. Jackson is in market for a cabinet post in a future Clinton administration.

Graduate TA Shortage Solved!

Three months after the campus rag brought the problem to light, it looks like the math department finally has a solution to their shorthandedness:

On Behalf Of Donald Drew
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 4:47 PM
To: rensserv@rpi.edu
Subject: Re: undergraduate TAs

The Department of Mathematical Sciences may have a number of Teaching Assistant and Grader positions for undergraduates for the F05 semester. The TA job consists of handling a recitation for Calc I or II. Graders are needed for various courses. Anyone having an interest in these positions should send their curriculum vita (make sure it contains the courses you have taken) to Michele Kronau (email: kronam@rpi.edu).

Posted by Professor Donald Drew, Chair, Department of Mathematical Sciences

[emphasis mine]

Repeat after me: hiking the graduate tuition has improved the education we get at RPI.