List of Things More Pressing Than a House for the President
January 18th, 2010
I started this list in December, and it fell to the wayside a little bit, but I think it’s still relevant. In December the Board of Trustees released information that they were all contributing money to build a new house for the President. Along with many other students, we think that this shows just how out of touch the Board really is with the needs of this Institute. To prove it, here’s a list of things more pressing than a house for Dr. Jackson. Feel free to add to it with comments.
- New chairs in the DCC
- New classrooms in Ricketts
- Housing for the sophomores so that upperclassmen aren’t forced off campus
- More parking for students
- The ‘86 field renovations
- Quad renovations
- North Hall renovations
- E Complex renovations
- RAHP demolition
- Compensation for Residence Life Staff
- Energy efficient windows in old residence halls
- More faculty so we don’t have such huge, overcrowded classes that are impossible to get into
- Funding to make the CLASS Initiative all it can be
- More Division I sports to increase school spirit
- An electronic system better than SIS
- A new footbridge
- Phases 2 and 3 of ECAV
- EMPAC programming that interests students
- This is worth repeating — more parking for students
- Fire lanes leading to the VCC
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Happy to see a list.
The labs in the science center are also seriously outdated.
It’s worth noting that Amos Eaton isn’t handicap accessible. Sure, they move classes that are normally in there to the DCC if someone with a permanent physical handicap is taking the course, but that’s a bandaid for something that needs surgery. It also doesn’t help anyone who becomes temporarily physically handicapped over the semester and now has to dangerously hobble their way up those tiny, steep stairs on crutches.
I’d also recommend renovating the plumbing in the current upperclassman dorms. My old dorm alone saw four or five major floods in one school year, and according to the staff, caused by plumbing problems. (Major = flood damage from the third down to the first floor, people with mold allergies having to move out, huge loud dehumidifiers in rooms for weeks, people having to sleep in the lounge…)
Regarding the footbridge, that’s supposed to be the gift of the Class of 2007. Not entirely certain when they plan to start reconstruction, though.
I’ve got an idea…
Why don’t we write these and other ideas into a formal letter to the administration, blow it up onto a giant white piece of cardboard, set it up in Hassan Quad and hand out markers for students to sign it as they pass by going to classes, then submit it publicly to the administration. That’ll get their attention and urge (ie, embarrass) them into solving the problems. This administration hates NOTHING more than negative press caused by students!
Where can I find out more about the need for more parking?
Increase department budgets that have been cut three years in a row instead of proposing more cuts.
16. was supposed to be a class gift …… Don’t know where that ever went.
@Cara R
We’re working on that, stay tuned..
North Lot never seems to be full. The only time I have seen it fill up is during football games on 86 Field.
Do the parking lots near the Field House and the lots near Stakywick fill up?
What about the parking lot at the old Best Western?
As far as I can tell the parking problem is because people don’t want to walk to campus. Any walk under 25 minutes is acceptable. Colonie is just barely close enough.
A bike turns a 25 minute walk into a 5 minute bike ride. Also anyone can get one at the troy bike rescue.
http://www.troybikerescue.org/
@Alex Mattern
North fills during almost all big special events (Hockey, any alumni thing, football, etc.). And now it will also be opened up to people with Blitman (Best Western) parking passes during the evening to avoid so many people having to walk the Approach after dark. During the daytime the Field House lot is designated for commuters, and it does fill pretty regularly. The Blitman parking lot is gated, and most of the spots that are outside of the gates are contracted to the Troy Post Office for a few more months still. Also, to get from that lot up the hill still requires a ~10 minute walk, so that wouldn’t help much for anyone trying to regularly cut down commute time.
@Jay Walker had it right about the bike thing, though.
#14–not possible unless all sports go Div. I.
I agree with the protest and bad advertisement suggestion but I hope it is not too late. I enjoyed this institute when I came here and ever since then there have been numerous changes each making me more annoyed by the next. I have had about enough of RPI and its decisions on how to spend money and I think that I should do the same and decide that money can be better spent else where.
#3 and #4: Rip out North Lot and build a multi-deck parking garage and adjacent residence hall.
Also:
Get rid of dangerous asphalt pathways around campus.
Repair badly spalled concrete steps on west front of Union building.
Do SOMETHING about that slanty staircase outside the CII/DCC.
Continue the JEC walkway to the front of the Greene Building.
Renovate BARH.
Get rid of LMS.
Enlarge and improve lighting on staircase between SARS and the Approach.
Actual, honest-to-God foreign language classes.
Renovate interior of West Hall. (Confirm or refute rumors of giant cables in basement).
New windows in all Ricketts-era buildings. The ones in Greene and Sage rattle.
Install central (NOT STEAM!) heating and air-conditioning in Ricketts-era buildings.
…and my favorite, as an Archie…
Annex for archives for the Greene Building. The sheer volume of old projects lurking in rooms is staggering. That building is an inferno waiting to happen.
I am an alumni and am going to grad school at a different school. Trust me…SIS seems bad…but it’s amazing compared to the garbage system at the school I am at now.
I was ChemE…and the classrooms aren’t the only thing that needs renovating in Ricketts. The ChemE senior lab is an absolute joke. The equipment is so out of date that it is impossible to get any meaningful data from the experiments.
I wish the administration would try and shift focus on academic facilities and updating housing facilities (2yr RAHP survivor!) rather than embark on these extravagant construction projects like EMPAC and ECAV. Both are really great facilities…but IMO you need to update whats in disrepair before you run around building new facilities which can only be enjoyed by a certain percentage of the student body.