RPInsider

Yesterday we reported on allegations that RPI didn’t fully pay the electrical contractor it had hired to complete EMPAC, referencing the Times Union article which broke the story.

Today a new development made the front page of the TU’s business section which doesn’t really seem to have any bearing on the case at hand.  The story basically explains that the inspector for the City of Troy inspected the building before it opened and declared it to be safe.  He says that it is “one of the safest buildings in Troy.”

As far as I can tell, this doesn’t affect whether RPI owes $2.6 million to LaCorte, but it does give us the peace of mind of knowing that we weren’t put in danger.  We all knew the building was being rushed and that it wasn’t done in time for the big opening gala (it closed immediately after so they could finish construction).  This is simply a matter of whether LaCorte was paid for the work they did, and that’s something that remains to be decided by a court.

UPDATE: Just found an article in the Record, which has Claude Rounds’s statement:

Rensselaer received a certificate of occupancy for EMPAC after an exhaustive and extraordinary review by the city of Troy. The substantial documentation associated with EMPAC’s compliance with all the requirements of the certificate of occupancy is a matter of public record. Any allegation that the building was not ready for occupancy is irresponsible.

We stand behind the work of Turner Construction – a first-rate, internationally recognized contractor. We also stand behind the more-than-40 subcontractors and hundreds of local skilled craftspeople who played a role in building EMPAC, and we look forward to putting this frivolous matter to rest.

Share Uncategorized EMPAC, LaCorte, scandal, Troy, Turner

Sorry. We got a little excited.

We can stop crossing off our calendars today. It’s finally April 30th. Gregg Gillis Girl Talk and Wesley Pentz Diplo will be gracing two of RPI’s newest “platforms” (ECAV and EMPAC) tonight.

Friday April 30

Girl Talk at the ECAV Arena. Tickets are sold out, but there’s a chance that someone is selling them on the facebook group. Doors at 8:30 show starts at 9:30 pm. From what we hear it has the potential to be a grossly epic sweat/dancefest, so dance appropriately.

Diplo helps kick off the intriguing onedotzero festival (at 11pm), in its second year at EMPAC. Diplo tickets are sold out, but “the cafe will be bumping with a larger-than-life 40′ HD feed  for those that are curious / up late / didn’t snag a ticket”. If that doesn’t suit you, we do have 2 free press tickets available if you’d like to write us up a review after the show (email us for details). Festival passes are still available for $10. The doors open at 8pm: the installations will be on-going, there are two wild screenings, and the cafe will be open with food and beverage from the folks at the Epicurean.

Shabbat Dinner with RPI-Sage Hillel is being sponsored by the Mahler family.  Starts at 7 and it’s free! [FB]

It’s Troy Night Out!  Get downtown between 5 and 9 to check out all that Troy has to offer. The West Route of the RedHawk Shuttle will take you to monument square.

If you’d like to do more studying, UPAC Cinema has Eli’s Book available for viewing  at 3 times tonight (7, 9:30, and midnight). What’s that? Oh. Apparently it’s a movie called the Book of Eli. Nevermind the studying bit…

The New York State Collegiate Track Conference is having its outdoor championship beginning at 1 PM on the Harkness Field. [RPIAthletics]

Urinetown is playing tonight at 8 PM at the RPI Playhouse.  Tickets are $5 with RPI ID.[FB]

Read more…

Share Uncategorized distractions, ECAV, EMPAC, girl talk, music, party, to do

We’ve been looking forward to these two events since the calendar was published in January! Looks like EMPAC’s potential is slowly being unleashed. Both events use space differently, in real life, and with animation.

+ EXHBITION
Dancing on the Ceiling: Art + Zero Gravity
Thursday, March 18 – Saturday, April 10, noon to 6 PM
Free

Dancing on the Ceiling: Art & Zero Gravity is a major group exhibition in which contemporary artists explore the condition of weightlessness on earth by deploying techniques such as parabolic flight, rigging, and digital effects. The exhibition presents the work of multiple national and international artists, including three newly commissioned pieces for the exhibition.  Distributed throughout the public spaces at EMPAC the exhibition is itself un-tethered from the confines of the traditional gallery exhibition paradigm.

Exhibition opening: March 18, 6 – 10 PM
6 PM: Reception with commissioned artists – visitors to the opening reception receive a free exhibition catalog! (while supplies last)
7 PM:  Talk by special effects legend Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey,  Close Encounters, Star Trek, Blade Runner), followed by a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of science fiction cinema, 2001: A Space Odyssey on EMPAC’s massive 56′ concert hall screen.

http://www.empac.rpi.edu/events/2010/spring/zerogravity/

+ PERFORMANCE
The OpenEnded Group: Upending
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7 PM
Friday, March 26, 2010, 7 PM
Saturday, March 27, 2010, 2 PM
with music by Morton Feldman, recorded at EMPAC by the FLUX Quartet
Followed by the making of Upending with The OpenEnded Group
$5 for Students

Upending is revelatory work of 3D animation: an actor-less drama of disorientation and reorientation that compels viewers to rethink their relationship with the material world. The play of images is accompanied by a gutsy, EMPAC-produced spatial recording of Morton Feldman’s first String Quartet by the FLUX Quartet.  Following a short break, each evening will conclude with a talk and q&a that traces this EMPAC-commissioned work over two years, from inception to completion.

http://www.empac.rpi.edu/events/2010/spring/oeg/index.html

Share Uncategorized art, EMPAC, media, movies, music, to do

There’s no much going on, because it’s time to head home for Spring Break!  If you happen to be staying, check out these two things!

Of course, the Hockey Team begins their playoff season on Friday Night against Brown in the first of a best-of-three series. 7 PM in the Field House.  They will play again at 7 on Saturday, and at 7 on Sunday if necessary.

SOLOS^2 at EMPAC: ” a diverse array of performers will guide listeners through aural space, using strings, brass, percussion, amplification, and voices to fully explore the potentials of timbre and musical directionality.”  Tell us that doesn’t sound cool!!  Friday at 8 PM.  RPI Student tickets are $5.

Share Uncategorized EMPAC, hockey, to do, weekend

EMPAC being a bit bashful and trying to hide behind a tree. That only works in cartoons!

Continuing our “Uncovered” series, we look into the people behind perhaps the most mysterious building perched on the side of campus: EMPAC. We interviewed the Director of EMPAC, Mr. Johannes Goebel, and EMPAC’s Curator for Music, Mr. Micah Silver. More info about them is available on EMPAC’s site.

Mr. Goebel tackles the hard questions and perhaps has stumbled upon EMPAC’s new slogan: “Now Here Jump”.

Our new favorite way to think about art comes from Mr. Silver:

It’s about falling in love with things that we’d never dreamed to exist.

Interviews after the jump!
Read more…

Share Uncategorized EMPAC, employees, interviews, media

According to the email from William Walker below, tickets to the Aretha Franklin show at EMPAC tomorrow (12/4) may be available, if any are not picked up by those who already have theirs reserved.  How do you get them?  Show up at the EMPAC box office at 7:30 PM.  Same deal for Joshua Bell on Saturday night.   Those of you who are going, enjoy this weekend!

To:   The Rensselaer Community
From: William N. Walker, Vice President,
Strategic Communications and External Relations
Date: December 2, 2009
Re:   Celebration Weekend Update

In a few days, the university community will come together for
“Celebration Weekend: A Tribute to the Transformation of Rensselaer.”
The program presents a special opportunity for our community to
highlight our achievements during the first decade of The Rensselaer
Plan.

On December 4 and 5, a series of events will provide members of the
community with opportunities to celebrate the transformation of
Rensselaer through presentations, tours, and interactive sessions with
faculty, students, and administrators, and visiting artists showcasing
breakthroughs in Rensselaer research and learning environments. We also
will recognize the achievements of President Jackson and members of the
Institute community who have worked to implement The Rensselaer Plan.

Read more…

Share Uncategorized Aretha Franklin, celebration weekend, Dr. Jackson, EMPAC

Sorry to scare you, but it is Friday the 13th!

Friday, November 13

Well, first of all, it’s Friday the thirteenth.  Do something spooky.

It’s also Hug a Jew Day.  RPI-Sage Hillel is hosting their weekly Shabbat Dinner at 6 PM in the Phalanx Room (Union 3502).  It’s free, and they’re serving an italian-style dinner.  You can find more info at the [Facebook]

You know you can’t resist seeing men dressed as women at the Rensselaer Pride Alliance Fall Drag Show at 7 PM in West Hall. Admission fee- $3 advance; $5 at door for RPI Students. $5 for general public in advance; $7 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased in the DCC and Union the week prior.  [Events Calendar]

The men are up in the North Country this weekend (catch them on WRPI 91.5 or online), but the Women’s Ice Hockey Team is battling the Yale Bulldogs tonight at 7 PM in the Houston Field House.  Women’s games are free! [RPIAthletics]

EMPAC never fails to provide a show you can talk about the next day.  We’ve heard this one is one for the books too: “Punky funk meets Futurism and homespun electro in this paradoxical grouping of artists from far ends of the musical spectrum.”  Check out New Nothing: Skeleton$, Luciano Chessa + Dan Deacon at 8 PM.  EMPAC tickets are $5 for RPI students. [EMPAC] [Facebook]

You can also see The Visit at the RPI Playhouse at 8 PM.  $5 for students.  Info is [Facebook]

Read more…

Share Uncategorized awkward, EMPAC, football, Hillel, hockey, Playhouse, RPA, scary, soccer, to do

Today at 1 PM in EMPAC, Dr. Jackson will be hosting RPI’s annual fall Town Hall Meeting.  Dr. Jackson will present about the current state of the school, and typically takes questions from those present in the audience.  Nothing too new is expected as far as we know, but there is a group of students (well, a Facebook group at least…) that is planning to ask politely about foreign languages and to stand up to show their support.  Politeness gets you a long way at RPI, so kudos to these students for realizing that and using it to take action on a tangible campus issue.

See you at EMPAC at 1!

Share Uncategorized Dr. Jackson, EMPAC

Plenty to do this weekend! Take advantage of free events and roaming Alumni.  If you see anybody that looks lost, you should probably help them.

Don’t forget your school spirit!

Friday October 2

Get a job! at the career fair.  It begins at 10 AM in the Armory.  More information is available at careerfair.rpi.edu.

If you’re into esoteric physics lectures, check out “Toward the ultimate laws of nature: dark matter, supersymmetry, the LHC, and string theory,” a lecture by Gordon Kane of the University of Michigan at 3:30 PM in Sage 3303.

This isn’t on campus, but Starbucks’ Via Taste Challenge begins at 5 PM, and they’re offering free coffee.

Join Hillel celebrate Sukkot with Shabbat dinner at 6:30 in the Shelnutt Gallery.  Free.

Women’s hockey opens their season at 7 PM in the Houston Field House as they battle the Wayne State Warriors.  Free.

UPAC is showing The Taking of Pelham 123 at 7, 9:30, and midnight.  $2.50. DCC 308.

Get your Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the Ground Zero Open Mic Night at 8 PM in the basement of Nugent Hall.  Free.

Dirty Paris, Timbre Coup, and Deja play at Revolution Hall downtown starting at 8 PM.  $10.

Read more…

Share Uncategorized career fair, ECAV, EMPAC, ground zero, hockey, homecoming, physics, Rev Hall, to do, Troy

If you’re a fan of RPI’s female sports teams, this is a good weekend for you.  Lots of home games.  If not, then there’a always UPAC, EMPAC, and GZ.

There aren't any running events on campus this weekend, but this is a cool picture. Lots of women's sports events on campus!

Friday September 25

Women’s soccer battles Hamilton at 4 PM on Renwyck Field.

EMPAC is always good for a Friday night event.  Catch Slow Wave: Seeing Sleep’s opening exhibition tonight starting at 5 PM.  Apparently, there’s a sleepover on Saturday night as well.

It’s that time of the month! Troy Night Out is tonight!  It runs from 5 until 9ish.  Many stores in Troy will be open late, and you can catch free shuttles from the Union.  Just hop on the West Route and get off in Monument Square.  This month is especially fun because they are also celebrating the quadricentennial of Hendrick Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River.

ACHA Division II Hockey starts their season tonight at 7 PM against Union in the Field House.  Free

UPAC Cinema is playing The Proposal at the usual times of 7, 9:30, and midnight.  $2.50.  DCC 308.

Hindu Temple Society of the Capital District and Gujrati Samaj present Narvati 2009 Garba & Dandia Raas at 7 PM at the Hindu Cultural Center 450 Albany Shaker Road, Loudonville.    $5 student tickets.

La Unidad Latina presents the 14th Annual Cultural Pride Night. It’s a free show that starts at 7:30, with performances from various cultural groups. The Keynote Speaker is Thomas Webber- Author of Flying Over 96th Street: Memoir of an East Harlem White Boy.

Ground Zero presents Br’er in the basement of Nugent Hall.  $3.  Power Animal and Ben Esposito perform at 8 PM.

Read more…

Share Uncategorized EMPAC, ground zero, hockey, sports, to do, UPAC, women's sports