At the March 21 Student Government (SG) meeting, the final three midyear reports were presented.

Nick Cifranic, vice president of SG, discussed events and programs he has helped organize such as the Roast of SG, where students were able to discreetly voice their opinions about the campus. Cifranic also helped organize the career day dry cleaning program which drew in over 120 people. His next project includes visiting Dubai over spring break with Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Heath Boice-Pardee and SG President Paul Darragh in order to hold a conference for international RIT campuses and Student Governments...

In New York City eight people have died and dozens were injured due to a gas explosion on March 19. According to ABC News, the blast occurred only 15 minutes after a report from a neighbor stating they smelled gas...

Practicing upwards to three times a week, building relationships that last a life time and doing it all in the name of slam poetry is RIT’s Poetry Slam Team, who is headed to the national competition in Boulder, Colorado. The team consists of Chris Ketant, a fifth year Software Engineering major, Kwando Opong-Mensah, a first year graduate student in Electrical Engineering, Chris Scott, a fifth year Chemical Engineer, Jjvon Hardware, a fifth year Computer Engineering major, and Michelle Sason, a second year Fine Art Photography major. Coming from different majors and backgrounds, they train rigorously and promote slam to the rest of the RIT community...

The center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity (MAGIC) hosted a presentation on consumer data mining and management through private companies by Natasha Singers, a New York Times reporter for the Sunday business section. Singer specializes in writing about the business of consumer data. Her presentation discussed the current state of the consumer data business and its striking similarities to various fictional books on advanced societies.

Singer’s biggest assignment on consumer data began two years ago with her article series titled “You for Sale,” which focused on corporations whose jobs are to collect data on consumers in order to sell them to other companies...

The Academic Senate meeting on March 6, 2014 covered three main topics: the Smoking Policy, the Strategic Planning Initiative and RIT Policy E7.0.

The Task Force for the Smoking Policy, instated in October 2012, is co-chaired by Assistant Vice President for Student Wellness Donna Rubin and Associate Director for Wellness Michael Stojkovic. It was established as a wellness initiative for RIT. The task force is comprised of students, faculty and staff.

The proposal is set to go before the Institute Council May 7. In preparation, the co-chairs presented the proposed policy to Academic Senate to request their endorsement...

On February 17, RIT Admissions announced that it was closing the Facebook group for RIT’s 2013 freshman class. Citing harassment concerns, a student employee of Undergraduate Admissions removed the regular student administrators and announced plans to delete the page within days. Student reactions were mixed, with some students decrying the move and others supporting it. Others wondered what the move meant for other online student-led Facebook groups.

The Facebook group was officially started by Undergraduate Admissions to provide a common area for finding roommates and getting help with the transition to college life...

As of January, 55 percent of Americans own a smartphone, according to the Pew Research center. Concurrently, RIT’s Public Safety released its newest feature of campus safety for students in the form of a smartphone application called TigerSafe on December 7.

TigerSafe is a free downloadable app available on both Android Google Play and iOS App Store. Students sign in with their RIT accounts, allowing them to input any information they think Public Safety would require in case of emergency situations.

“I was tasked with seeing if this was even an option,” recalled Tony Yazback, Investigator for Public Safety...

Policy C16.0, left untouched for decades, has resurfaced in order to add some changes. C16.0 details the procedures for how smoking is handled on campus. The current version restricts smoking in any indoor area and prohibits smoking within 25 feet of any residential building. The committee overlooking the policy aims to make stricter changes for a potentially healthier RIT.

The policy change was most recently presented to Student Government (SG) on January 31...

At the February 28 Student Government (SG) meeting, the general manager of the Grace Watson dining hall gave a presentation on its current and future suitability efforts. Various senators also presented their mid-year reports and progress updates.

Scott Vadney, general manager of the Grace Watson dining hall, stated that with little way to change the physical layout, he aims to improve operations and food venues for sustainability goals.

 One of the new stations, called Simply Eats (previously proposed as Solutions), targets students with allergies or vegan preferences...

Overall Russia’s expenditure into the Olympics cost the nation $51 billion dollars in investments, according to CBS news...

On February 9, five of RIT’s photography professors hosted the twenty-ninth annual Big Shot, an organized photo shoot where volunteers bring flashlights to illuminate High Falls in downtown Rochester. The goal was for students and community members to bring flashlights, light them simultaneously and light up High Falls. Above the Falls was the CSX railroad, who participated in the photo shoot by bringing a train from their world headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla. 650 volunteers held up their flashlights in 19 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a successful photograph...

Recent RIT alumnus Steve Bodnar presented in the Xerox auditorium on February 12. He received his undergraduate degree in English/Journalism from the University of New Hampshire and came to RIT after working for a few years in his field to gain a master’s degree in Communication & Media Technologies in 2012. The purpose of his presentation was to talk about his experience doing public relations for non-profit or low-profit. He also talked about the change in expectations communications jobs have undergone since his time as an undergraduate and how the current generation of communications students can adapt...

For 15 years Jennifer Hayes worked as a staff interpreter at RIT for the science/engineering team, spending her last few years as part of the liberal arts core team...

While most students were using their month off from school for rest and relaxation, a select few opted to take another available opportunity: intersession classes. Starting on January 2 and ending on January 22, students had the opportunity to take a single class in a short-yet-intense three week format consisting of five-days-a-week, three-hour classes. This style of teaching was not possible back in the quarter system and is the first time RIT is attempting it.

The selection for teachers and classes started last year with a variety of training sessions for interested teachers. Professors that wanted to teach a class had to submit a proposal to be approved...

Various professors, sustainability directors and architects from colleges in the Northern New York region came together to discuss and learn about the sustainability efforts at this year’s sustainability conference, held January 29...

On February 9, five of RIT’s photography professors hosted the twenty-ninth annual Big Shot, an organized photo shoot where volunteers bring flashlights to illuminate High Falls in downtown Rochester. The goal was for students and community members to bring flashlights, light them simultaneously and light up High Falls. Above the Falls was the CSX railroad, who participated in the photo shoot by bringing a train from their world headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla. 650 volunteers held up their flashlights in 19 degrees Fahrenheit to produce a successful photograph...

Illustration by Jordyn Carias

 In his State of the Union Address, President Obama mentioned using controversial executive order to sign into law a new minimum wage for federal contract workers, the Washington Post reported. The law was recently signed into place on February 12 and will take effect in 2015. Obama has now urged Congress to increase the minimum wage for all hourly workers by 2015; a move that will be debated in both the House and Senate...

According to the Guttmacher Institute in New York, the abortion rate in the United States is the lowest it’s been in 40 years, when the operation was legalized...

When Student Government (SG) President Paul Darragh, a third year Software Engineer and Vice President Nick Cifranic, a third year Information Security and Forensics major, ran for office they had a list of major goals they wanted to accomplish before the end of their term. The list included a bike sharing program, convincing more professors to use myCourses and other minor goals such as videotaping some classes. Reporter met with Darragh to find out where the President and Vice President stand on these goals and what they plan to do for the rest of the academic year.

The bike share program is expected to start on March 31 with 20 bikes available for students to use...

At the January 31 Student Government (SG) meeting, there was a presentation on future smoking policy changes and elections were held for for GCCIS and CAST senators.

Donna Rubin, assistant vice president for wellness initiatives, and Mike Stojkovic, assistant director for wellness, presented changes for policy C16.0 which affects smoking on campus. The current form of the proposed policy would ban all forms of tobacco products, such as cigars, cigarettes, dip and pipes, as well as e-cigarettes on all university managed property.

A committee was formed to tackle these changes in October 2012...

Illustration by Emily Gage

On January 26, Gracie’s opened a new station called Solutions, which caters to students who have dietary restrictions.

“The new station will be vegan by default,” said Aimee Mitchell, production manager at Gracie’s. “This means we are talking about the absence of milk products and eggs. Also, any sugars that aren’t listed as organic we have to assume aren’t, and we won’t use.”

Mitchell has utilized several sources to find recipes that prioritize allergen free recipes, while also taking vegan and vegetarian individuals into account. “Because this area is so new, we had to start from scratch...

On January 20, eight year old Tyler Doohan gave his life to save his family in a house fire in East Rochester. When the fire broke out, Doohan ran to wake his family, saving six members...

Magic in the Making, Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd

6 – 8 p.m.

Come to the Geva Theatre’s annual open house event and learn about all the behind the scenes effort that goes into putting on a show. Explore the set of “A Christmas Carol” and the rehearsal space. Hear about how costumes, props, sound and lighting are designed and discover the spells behind the theater’s magic.

Cost: free

Stardust Open Ballroom Dance Series, Edgerton Community Center, 41 Backus St

7:30 p.m.

The semester is almost over and it’s time to dance...

On December 16 President Bill Destler hosted the first open forum for the current round of strategic planning. Destler stated that there is typically a new strategic plan every ten years; the upcoming plan informing RIT’s efforts from January 2015 until January 2025. He emphasized that the plan needed to be a community plan approved by the Trustees, and not a Trustee plan thrust on the community.

Destler followed his opening with a look back at prior planning processes and the educational challenges he believed the new plan should address. At the fore of his mind were challenges in K-12 education and the emerging threat of Massively Open Online Classes (MOOCs)...

Worlds AIDS Day is observed every December 1. The day is a way of raising awareness for the global AIDS pandemic and the steps many people are taking to stop it. According to AIDS...

At the December 6 Student Government (SG) meeting, the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration presented on the organization’s status, the GCCIS, CAST and Greek Senators presented on their midyear progress and administrators shared i..

Every year during the holiday season the United States experiences its greatest period of charitable giving. According to Charity Navigator, 50 percent of all charitable giving goes to religious, educational and arts organizations while the rest goes to charities for those in need. Americans, on average, give 4.7 percent of their income to charities. The average individual donates 24 percent of their annual donation between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. For those looking to donate around RIT and Rochester, there are a variety of ways to contribute.

Foodlink of Rochester is part of a regional food bank that has 450 member agencies in a ten-county service area...

Larry Rivers worked as a custodian on the residential side of campus for over 10 years, making sure the halls were clean, rooms were tidy and trash was disposed of properly...

Fatal heartbeat problems may eventually occur for even a healthy individual due to consumption of caffeine and taurine-filled energy drinks, according to a recent study...

“‘What were you wearing?’ – Public Safety.” This was a sign seen at the 2013 slut walk, hosted by the Center for Women and Gender. The sign was made by students involved with the slut walk, including future members and founders of the feminist coalition Michelle Civil and Zakary Skinner.

According to Civil, a third year Visual Media major, and Skinner, a third year Biomedical Sciences major, a survivor of sexual assault had come to them before the slut walk telling of her unfavorable reporting process with Public Safety and stated that she was upset about the situation...