Talk:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Archive 1

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Notable Firsts

Latin American fraternity? Uhm. OK. Uh, I that maybe my alma mater had a few other notable firsts. Maybe?

I can't think of any off the top of my head. -Michael

Well, I guess being the "oldest" is still first, but that is already covered in the intro. There has to be some other stuff, but I suppose it also has to be a substantial "first" in order to avoid seeming silly.

RPI had the first Ben & Jerry's on campus. Besselfunctions 03:20, 25 August 2005 (UTC)

Wasn't RPI the first college to offer a Civil Engineering degree? Christopher 06:37, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

  • Yes, I believe so, but rather than 1860, 1835. This is according to an article called Amos Eaton was Right! in the Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice , Vol. 123, No. 1, January 1997, pp. 30-34 by Francis E. Griggs, Jr.

According to the exibit in the Folsom Library it was started in 1860. Christopher 06:41, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

1860 was the year when the Civil Engineering degree was extended to a four year program. I misread. Christopher 05:19, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Maybe I am wrong, but didn't West Point teach military engineering - trenches, breastworks, gun emplacements, etc.? RPI was the first to teach civil engineering - roads, bridges, canals, railroads, etc.Modorney 05:30, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Is there further proof that RPI had the first undergrad degree in game design? The article is inconclusive and simply says it may have been the first. I do believe that the Rochester Institute of Technology could have been the first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.197.236.60 (talk) 18:22, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Didn't find anything definitive, but we can at least be more accurate about what the sources say. I've made an attempt. -FrankTobia (talk) 22:11, 31 July 2008 (UTC)
On the topic of firsts I can personally attest from a campus visit in 2004 that at least one other university had a game design degree before the 2007 noted degree that RPI is shown to offer. Check out Full Sail and you'll see they have their game design degree listed in 2003. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.61.189.24 (talk) 06:42, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
I'm pretty sure that WPI started their Video Game Major (Called Interactive Media and Game Development) in 2005. See press release: http://www.wpi.edu/News/Releases/20045/imgd.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.10.112.103 (talk) 14:22, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Status as Oldest Technological University

Is it correct to call the U.S. Military Academy a university?

  • Yes. RPIRED 18:10, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

The IP range 128.113.x.x belongs to RPI. Christopher 05:38, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

This is true. Besselfunctions 05:40, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

  • No, west point's focus was civil engineering until after the Civil war.

Given that West Point was turning out civil engineers before RS (RI/RPI) existed, how can the article claim that RPI has the first civil engineering curriculum? USMA is widely credited as the first US engineering school, and the only engineering they did at first was civil. USMA's civil engineer department claims to be "The Nation's First Department of Engineering" and outside this article, the preponderance of sources would support that claim. JoelWest 18:11, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

You are correct, The oft cited fact is that RPI offered the first Civil Engineering Degree. I will change the sentence to read "the first civil engineering degree was awarded in 1835. The USMA did have a civil engineering department quite earlier, but probably just a general engineering degree, if any degree at all (?). You can read about the RPI department here [1] and there are also more information on the RPI archives website. Danski14(talk) 19:46, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Maybe we should add something about RPI's historical habit of falsely claiming to be the oldest engineering school in the U.S. (or something like that), especially to prospective students. Dishonest recruiting in the late 20th century is more important today than trivia about the reality of the early 19th century is. 66.10.94.35 19:30, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

List of Faculty

Does anyone else feel that it would be a good idea to include a list of faculty in the article? If so, should we limit it to just professors who have tenure or include all professors? Christopher 09:01, 8 November 2005 (UTC) 

   Why do you feel as though this would be a good idea?  Besselfunctions 15:05, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

I believe we can file this under "unnecessary additions." - RPIRED 20:14, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

clubs etc

I think the Nigerian Students' Association link is going to cause a spate of entries from other countries' student associations. If this happens, I'm going to remove it. Cribananda 09:09, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

  • I agree, but this holds true for any of the clubs in the list. In fact, all 130+ clubs would be just if they were to appear on this list. Instead of listing clubs, why don't we solely provide the link to the actual list on RPI's server? https://clubs.union.rpi.edu/?content_id=1 is where all of the clubs are listed in an easy to navigate manner. Unless anyone has any blaring objections, I'm going to update the page in a couple days. --Kevin Morenski 15:50, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Puckman? Pac-Man?

I noticed that "Puckman" redirects to "Pac-Man." Does Puckman warrant his own article? I mean, he's easily one of the most recognizable and beloved mascots in all of college hockey. And I'm not just saying that, I've had plenty of people from other schools - Cornell, St. Cloud, etc. -tell me how great Puckman and the Puckman logo is. -- RPIRED 22:35, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

I don't know how much history puckman has behind him, but I say go for it. At the very least, an article of his own will let people know that he represents RPI, and give them a little information about him. JesusjonezTalk 23:02, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Historic City

"the historic city of Troy" is in Turkey, not the United States. 78.16.40.137 (talk) 10:26, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Well, the historic city of Troy is in the united States. --Darktower 12345 05:45, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Motto

There appears to be some disagreement over this university's motto. Please discuss here what it ought to be listed as. Besselfunctions 15:28, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

The school motto is "Knowledge And Thoroughness." "Why not change the world?" is an advertising slogan. - RPIRED 17:52, 14 April 2006 (UTC)


External Links

At present, it seems to consists links that promote special interests. I think it has the potential to get out of control. I think it there should only be links to the most pertinent information. Besselfunctions 17:22, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

I will decide for myself if I have no input from other Wikipedians. Besselfunctions 15:29, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Greek Life

Does anyone else think that giving some more information about greek life besides Psi U and APO is a good idea? -Nicole

Yes, feel free to do some good research and expand the section on RPI's greek life. Cite some reliable sources if it's not too much trouble. Besselfunctions 19:47, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

The current events part of the Greek life/clubs and organizations section is fairly POV. Anything giving the administration's view on the subject? I'm not familiar at all with the issue... -VetteDude 18:08, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

The current events part is definitely biased and should be edited to indicate what is actually happening. Seems like some frat kid at Rensselaer has some axes to grind and did so in this forum, which is not necessarily appropriate. -skfl

Comment: If someone felt inclined they could make a page Fraternities and Sororities at Rensselaer Polytechnic, using the list found on the union website. We could merge Epsilon Iota into it, and also make redirects to each specific section. Danski14 22:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Update : I created the page List of RPI fraternities and sororities, as I discussed, but I am afraid it is quite incomplete. I used all of the fraternities and sororities found on the union website, but I know there are more (around 30 fraternities is what this article says). So, contributions would be greatly appreciated. What I would like to see is a short statement under each one about when they were founded, where they are located, and what they do. As far as I know, there are no centralized lists (at least on the internet) of all the fraternities and sororities, so this might be usefuly. Danski14 16:24, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't have a hard time getting a much more complete list together. Besselfunctions 19:17, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

Main picture

I think the primary picture at the top of the article is particularly unflattering and unrepresentative of the appearance of the campus. Can we please have it changed or exchanged with one of the other pictures in the article?
Rockchops 16:10, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

It can be removed all together. I took some pictures and put them on Commons. That's the most convenient place to look, in my opinion. Besselfunctions 17:20, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

The placement is a little weird too since it pushes the infobox down. Can we maybe improve this page by finding a GIF or something of just the seal, larger, without the "Rensselaer" after it? That would make the infobox look better and something that would be more presentable than it is now. I uploaded the current picture directly from a place on the RPI website which allowed its fair use, but I was hoping someone would be able to come along and put up a better representation of the school symbol. - RPIRED 19:42, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

About the school symbol, it would have to be either the coat of arms [2] or the seal (which has coat of arms on it)[3]. (The colors look a little pale, but those were the only images I could find). I think if we put the coat of arms in we should move the "RENSSELAER" logo down to the bottom of the info box. Any comments? Danski14 22:12, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I created and added a SVG version of the coat of arms to replace the seal. I think it looks much better then the just black seal. What do you think? Maxxgar 03:40, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Nice work! Very impressive that you used SVG. The colors look about right, as far as I know. Yeah, I guess we'll keep this. It looks like most major university pages prefer to use a coat of arms, it lends an air of history and tradition. Plus you see the coat of arms used a lot on RPI materials, but it is never in very high resolution. Keep up the good work Danski14(talk) 04:19, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

I must say I was thinking while looking at this article that the photos taken must have either been during the summer or the three sunny days in Troy during the entire school year. When friends of mine came to visit me they felt they could some up the feel of RPI and Troy in general with one word... bleak --Doug 8/5/08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.43.32.86 (talk) 16:41, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Student Body Statistics

The article "Admissions exceeds target for freshman enrollment" in the July 10, 2006 issue of the "Polytechnic" released some new statistics for the class of 2010 stating that:

  • Percentage of applicants accepted: 67% (Down from 78%)
  • Average SAT combined: 1322 (Up from 1320, The article does not specify whether this is only from the Math and Verbal sections of the New SAT without the Writing section.)
  • Class of 2010 comes from 49 states (No one from Iowa)

These statistics have not been posted on the Quick Facts & Figures page or the RPI Common Data Set page. Do you think we should update these numbers? Thanks (RCX 17:45, 26 August 2006 (UTC))

That's odd. My class (Class of 2004) had students from 49 states at convocation, also just missing Iowa. What's up with Iowa? Hawkeyes aren't Redhawks? :) - RPIRED 22:15, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
Cyclones aren't Redhawks either. I'd say it would be fine to include the new statistics and cite "The Polytechnic." Besselfunctions 22:22, 26 August 2006 (UTC)


Here's what it would look like. Changes I made are bold. The SAT scores and percent applicants accepted are the only relevant statistics from the article. Please tell me if this is ok (I am new at citing references on wikipedia). Thanks! (RCX 14:45, 27 August 2006 (UTC)):

Statistics for the undergraduate class of 2009 (and 2010):

  • Percentage of valedictorians and salutatorians: 9%;
  • Percentage of students who were Rensselaer Medalists: 24%;
  • Percentage of students in top 10% of high school class: 61%;
  • Percentage of applicants accepted (Class of 2010): 67% [1];
  • Average SAT combined (Class of 2010) : 1322 [1];
  • SAT 50th Percentile: 1220-1420;
  • Average SAT Math: 686;
  • Average SAT Verbal: 634;
  • Average ACT score: 26;
  • Average high school GPA: A−/B+[2];
  • Percentage of students with SAT Math above 700: 46%;
  • Percentage of students with SAT Verbal above 700: 22%[3];


  1. ^ a b The Rensselaer Polytechnic - July 10, 2006
  2. ^ RPI Facts
  3. ^ Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Common Data Set 2005-2006


Go for it. Be bold. Besselfunctions 02:42, 6 September 2006 (UTC)


Criticism of The Rensselaer Plan

This article is indeed one of the many puff pieces promulgated by Shirley's Jackson staff. Regarding the Rensselaer plan, it has failed in many ways. One way is the major reduction in graduate student enrollment, by more than 50% since Shirley Jackson reign. I posted this as a neutral statement of fact. It was deleted, likely by a staff employee of RPI. Now, my question to which I am yet to find an answer, is who has authority to delete factually true edits on the grounds they are not "constructive."

This article could sound less like a PR puff piece if it could source criticisms linking Shirley Ann Jackson to the Plan and how it ostensibly seeks to replicate MIT (her alma mater) as "Rensselaer University"; hence all the "research and need for grad-students" (and subsequent lack of actual teaching or respect for students in the undergrad courses). 71.162.141.218 20:49, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't think those criticisms are very well justified. MIT is a great model for a school like RPI! Additionally, RPI is working on new research centers different from those at MIT, and will always have a different flavor as a smaller undergraduate school, while MIT is primarily a grad school. If you look at the plan's website, I think about 25% or so of the money goes to core teaching funds. But research is the primary goal, which is great because it means RPI's relatively small endowment will be boosted in the years to come. ~~danski14

Well, if you read the Undergraduate Plan, Dr. Jackson would like to increase research at RPI to offer undergrads an opportunity to gain research experience - it will give you a serious advantage to many other students coming out of college into the workforce or into grad school. Also, if you talk to Chuck Carletta, the secretary of the institute, he'll tell you that research has to get done somewhere. It used to be more so in private labs, but now it's in universities, like RPI. I would avoid writing something slanted or in favor of or against research. Aiellc 05:44, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

It appears that a toady of Shirley Jackson has been employed to delete anything critical of her reign. The facts are available as public records on IRS Forms 990. Graduate student enrollment has declined from a high of 2617 to the current 1112 since Shirley Jackson become president. This is the outcome of the misguided graduate tuition plan imposed by Shirley Jackson.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Ebnauman (talk • contribs)

Well for one thing, I can assure you it is not a "puff piece". I and others have reviewed it for having a neutral point of view and the wording has been changed. It is true that there have been significant changes from the plan, as well as opposition and problems with Shirley's leadership style. ([4], also see this article [5], for discussion). However, I can't find any evidence to support your statement. The university website says that they "Expanded the number of doctoral students, from 775 in Fall 1999 to 886 in Fall 2006.", which seems to indicate an increase in graduate students. Perhaps you meant that graduate acceptance rates have decreased?
For further data, we can look at the institute "Rensselaer Facts" page going back several years to 2003. (http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.rpi.edu/about/facts.html). In 2003 (class of 2007) there were 1,212 full time (plus 1,004 part time graduates at Hartford). Now in 2007 there are 1228 full time (plus 707 at Hartford), a decrease of

about 13% overall.

I also have a college guide from 1997 (The Fiske Guide to Colleges) which states RPI had 2040 graduates. So it would seem to be a decrease overall. However, they include all Hartford students as graduates. Perhaps that is what confused you? It seems that overall the number of graduate students has stayed roughly the same over the past 10 years with a little more on the main campus, and less on the Hartford campus. I will remove the statement for now, I have to go, but I will be back later to look into it more. Danski14(talk) 20:56, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
Out of curiosity I looked at the 990 tax form for 2001 [6]. I am almost certain they include the Hartford students in that form. Danski14(talk) 23:33, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
OK, well I have looked over several records and I think that there was a decline. I will source it with the archived pages [7]. I am pretty sure hartford students were not included in those numbers. They were included in 2001 [8], and there were over 1500 enrolled at Hartford alone at that time. It seems if they were included in the 1999 statistic it would have been more inflated then it is. Well, I have to say I was surprised overall. This is good information and should be included. Danski14(talk) 02:59, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

Trivia Section

Perhaps a section for the geeky trivia, such as the names of the email servers or the allocated IP range, would be appropriate (against WP guidelines, but this information doesn't really fit into the rest of the article). Alec 09:50, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

It would probably be best just to link to that kind of information elsewhere, as further reading, if one wanted this information. As you said, it doesn't really belong here. --djopie 06:09, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

GA on hold

This is a great article, with a lot of references, pictures, etc. However, I'd appreciate improvement on the following things:

—Disavian (talk/contribs) 18:25, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks so much for your time/ useful comments! I'll get to work on this. I had many of the same ideas, and agree with these suggestions. Danski14 18:50, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
I added a little to history..and will be back to work on this later. If people are interested, there are a lot of historical materials available at the Archives website, http://www.lib.rpi.edu/archives/e-collections/index.html, which may where the information in the first paragraph was taken from, but I may not have the time to delve in deeply. Also, I don't know much about athletics, but may be able to clean it up a little. Danski14 20:13, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
While I'm thinking about it, I'd like to point out an example of a good Alumni section: Duke University#Alumni. It uses text and pictures to illustrate the most notable alumni. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 23:12, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

While it's not directly related to the GA nom, I suggest you add images of RPI to Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; add alumni to Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni; and add presidents to Category:Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Done—Disavian (talk/contribs) 23:19, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

A few comments,
  • Hopefully someone can expand the athletics section, and perhaps create a separate article, but I am not sure. Keep :in mind Georgia Tech is a much larger school.
  • I think it's ok to have a few lists. Wikiproject Universities says bulleted lists are ok.
  • Presidents category seemed a little small, (4 pages), but I might create it.
  • article is looking good!
Danski14 02:53, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
Looks like you've covered all the bases, and the article is looking great! However, I think the following could use more improvement:
—Disavian (talk/contribs) 17:39, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Do you are anyone else have suggestions for anymore subsection titles for History or Research? Also, I've tried to add to athletics, but beyond Hockey, I am not sure what to put in. Apart from Hockey, I don't think athletics are really that big here. I mentioned the PuckMan mascot, who has his own article. Danski14 23:45, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Somewhere there should be historical mention of RPI outside of Troy. In the 1950's-1960's, Dallas, Led by J Erik Johnsson, assembled some land and some financial commitment to move the University to what is now UT Dallas. There was some problem in moving, in that many RPI degrees were not allowed in Texas, at that time. Texas had different degree requirements, both in number of credits and types of classes. Also, an expansion of Hartford was similarly shelved, Hartford is only graduate level. Modorney 05:43, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
Ah yes, I will add something about the founding of Rensselaer at Hartford, and perhaps that other plan as well. Danski14(talk) 00:04, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
If you honestly can't think of anything to add to athletics, that's fine. Some schools don't focus on it. As for #History, you could go 1900-1950 and 1950-present. #Research? I have no idea. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 04:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
After taking another good look at the article, I'm satisfied. :) I suggest you get a peer review for more ideas on how to improve the article. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 04:57, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
By the way, I'd appreciate it if you went to WP:GAC and reviewed a few articles there. :) There's currently a horrible backlog, and the more you put in, the more you get out, so to speak. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 05:00, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
Great! Yeah, I think I def will take a look at a few GACs. Danski14 05:39, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Athletics

As was mentioned above, the Athletics section may not have complete coverage. I recently found this [9].. on the "College Hockey Wiki". Material from there can be merged in from the open GFDL license I think, and only if it is notable. Danski14 05:39, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

GA comment

For the article to maintain its GA status, the copyrighted images need detailed fair use rationales. Look to other passed GA/FAs for examples. Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions. --Nehrams2020 06:51, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

No problem, detailed rationales were added for seal and logo. Danski14(talk) 19:17, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

CII Incident

Shouldn't there be a section on the CII incident or, at the least, a blurb? It was a pretty big ordeal. If anyone needs facts, check The Poly's website and their | http://www.poly.rpi.edu/index.php3?IssueID=201. Aiellc 05:59, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

True, it was a big incident for the school. However, I think that since in the end it turned out to be suicide it may not be as significant from a historical perspective as it seemed at first. From what I understand, unfortunately suicides are not rare at major universities (I am a freshman, and someone said there was a suicide last year as well). However, I was thinking we might want to mention it on the page on the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, I think it would be worth mentioning under "history".
Also, there was a pretty good wikinews article written on it [10]. Danski14(talk) 03:55, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

POV

"The need to attract greater research funds is paramount, with a goal of $100 million annually. As of 2006, research expenditures have reached $90 million per annum. The university recognizes the relatively small size of its endowment compared to its competition, as well as its relatively strong dependence on funds from undergraduate tuition to support its operations. "

The need is paramount? is that really a neutral fact? or is it what RPI tells its alumni to solicit contributions?

Similarly, "the university recognizes..." seems not very neutral. How about actual numbers, and references?

Camaier 05:24, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Accidental E-mail and following scholarships

RPI sent out an e-mail within the past week to a general mailing list of high schoolers saying that the recipients had won the Rensselaer Medal. Due to "added angst" caused by this e-mail, they are now offering a 4 year, $60,000 scholarship to anyone who recieved the e-mail and applies early to the school. 24.22.218.56 05:12, 5 September 2007 (UTC)


Is someone nitpicking?

However, the program has persisted, and remains an integral part of life at RPI, with about 25%[original research?] of the courses requiring that a student bring their laptop to class.

...undoubtedly a groundbreaking result in the theory of laptop penetration among east coast campuses. =)

Kidding aside, I think that the statement conveys information that can easily be confirmed and thus does not qualify as original research.

Timhoooey 05:12, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

How? Besselfunctions 05:58, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
I agree: we could just change "25%" to "many" or "many freshman". Danski14(talk) 05:31, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Use of the word "still" in reference to "The Approach "

The Approach feel into disrepair and was unused for several years. Therefore, it is not correct to use the word "still", which refers to something that has been continously true. Instead, the word for something that is true now, and was true originally, but was not true at some time in between, is "again".66.10.94.35 19:27, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Faculty governance

As a current RPI student quite involved in student life, my initial reaction to this article was "Good heavens, wherever is the section on the faculty governance situation?" For the uninitiated, there are a lot of faculty who are very, very unhappy right now about the fact that their faculty senate was unceremoniously shut down by the administration. A conclusion is being neared, but it makes an interesting statement about faculty/administration relations and is interesting historically.

Hmm I thought about it a bit, and added a sentence under history. I also put back a brief summary about Shirley Ann, etc which had been taken out and moved to her article a while ago. Feel free to improve it / add some more, but I think the sentence I have is a good way of summarizing it. Danski14(talk) 01:54, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

There should be some mention of the Faculty Senate being dissolved, and the AAUP's censure of RPI. Here are some references:

Photos

Over the past few weeks, I have been taking some pictures of campus that we might be able to use. Some of the ones that we are looking for are the ones listed at the top of this discussion page. I have ones of EPMAC, the Union, and the stone sigh at the entrance of the RPI Tech Park. It will be tough to get into the CCNI to get a picture, and I have yet to find the Dutchman's Shoes Trophy, despite knowing that it is located somewhere on campus. How do I go about uplading them? OneScholar (talk) 06:14, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Awesome! I would myself, but I don't have a camera :( The best way to upload them is to upload them to http://commons.wikimedia.org , in which case you have to agree to release them with come kind of free license (you would normally anyways). Then you just link to them using the name of the image like normal. Also, the Dutchman's shoes are in the 87 gym. Danski14(talk) 06:49, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Rensselaer Presidents

I noticed that there were articles on only a few of the past presidents of Rensselaer, so I've been trying to build articles about each of them. Mostly, I've been working from the Biographical Record of Officers and Graduates available at the Rensselaer Archives at http://www.lib.rpi.edu/archives/e-collections/. If anyone can add details to these articles, I would appreciate it. For example, I added a reference on Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford's page linking to the page for his grandson, Samuel Blatchford, who was an associate justice of the US Supreme Court. More interesting is Nathan S.S. Beman, the fourth president. As were his predecessors, he was a clergyman but he was also active in the abolition movement and worked with Lyman Beecher and Charles Grandison Finney. There is an interesting contrast with his stepson William Lowndes Yancey who was a noted secessionist and defender of slavery. I think he was also involved in some sort of union of Presbyterian denominations, but I know little about the history of religion. Beman is interesting enough that in 1987 a new biography of him was published (A Divine Discontent: The Life of Nathan S.S. Beman by Owen Peterson). I appreciate any comments, suggestions or additions. Dewey Finn (talk) 04:05, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Nice work! They are all certainly notable, even if there articles may be short. Danski14(talk) 23:39, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Rensselaer Archives

Another thing. The official Rensselaer Archives has some great online resources on the history of RPI. For example, this page (http://www.lib.rpi.edu/dept/library/html/Archives//buildings/index.html) has articles about almost all of the past and present buildings on campus, including pictures of many of them. Does anyone know how to get permission to use the photos and text on Wikipedia? And there is a photo of the Old Bank Place (see http://www.lib.rpi.edu/dept/library/html/Archives//buildings/images/old_bank_place_large.jpg) that would be a nice addition to the main article. Ultimately I'd like to have articles about each building. Dewey Finn (talk) 04:17, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Uh, I would be careful about creating articles on buildings, because they are not always notable. A while ago, an article on the Pitsburgh Building was deleted. Also, the article on the Greene building was originally deleted, but was recreated. I think we should focus on improving the articles we have (especially CCNI and EMPAC). Then if people want to do more work, it should be on the campus section.. then eventually maybe we could create a sub-page on the campus, like Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Also, I was thinking one of those old post-card pictures would make a really valuable addition. Actually, I have a specific one in mind, showing the old buildings.(either [11] or [12]) The nice thing is that any images published before 1923 are in the US public domain, and no longer can have copyrights. You can use the template Template:PD-US for licensing. Danski14(talk) 23:39, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

iEAR?

The citation is broken for the supposed Ranking of the iEAR Program under Academic Rankins. Now, I could just be an idiot... but isn't iEAR the administrative folks who bring in the art shows? EMAC and EARTS are the degree programs in the Arts Department. Are we sure it wasn't one or both of them that Ranked High Academicaly?71.245.156.161 (talk) 21:11, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Layoffs section?

Is the Layoffs section appropriate for an encyclopedia article about the school? It seems more like something that belongs in a news article. Dewey Finn (talk) 07:49, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I think there should be a short mention of it (perhaps in the 1900-present section toward the end), but not a separate section.  -- BeezHive (talk|contribs) 16:02, 27 December 2008 (UTC)
I don't think it is appropriate or notable enough to warrant its own section. Unfortunately, mis-management or not, layoffs are a common occurrence during these times. I agree it should be trimmed down and moved to somewhere in the history section, and should sound less like a news piece. It is also mentioned in the Shirley Ann Jackson article, which I think is fine. Danski14(talk) 17:54, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

School colors

I have to disagree with the school colors. I believe that cherry should be changed to red. Considering at all sporting events, the chants always have to do with "Go Red!" As a current student, I think most people would agree with this change. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.113.164.203 (talk) 15:43, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Regardless of what the students may chant, the school's colors are officially cherry and white. See this site: [13] for some of the history.  -- BeezHive (talk|contribs) 17:22, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Forbes Ranking List

Forbes ranks RPI at 499 and yet US World News ranks RPI within the top 50. If a person were to stumble upon this section they would think RPI is a lesser university. Even though Forbes.com did publish a list and it's their own opinion I think it unfairly demeans RPI. The survey's methodology has come under criticism and in Wabash College's wiki there is admittance of this. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabash_College) This information should also be attached if you are using Forbes Ranking on this page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fatcartman13 (talk • contribs) 04:44, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Good point. I think it should be removed altogether, because it is a new ranking and very misleading. Right now I've just qualified it, so that people know this ranking was highly biased towards liberal arts colleges, and colleges with high rankings on ratemyprofesors.com, which is a very poor metric. I find this somewhat interesting to include, but I may remove it because it is so misleading and a questionable "ranking". Danski14(talk) 17:37, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Talk:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Archive 1/GA1

Hockey line

The article states, "the tradition of the hockey line, where students line up for season tickets months in advance of the on-sale date." Does this mean that the on-sale date is months before the first game, or that students remain in line 24/7 for months before the on-sale date? If the latter, it would be highly irresponsible for the administration to allow a student to waste "months" of college life sitting in a hockey line and skipping most of a semester's worth of classes. This claim should be back up by a reliable source if it is true. Racepacket (talk) 01:32, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

I'll give you two guesses but you'll only need one. It just needs a bit of a rewrite, but logic can help in the interpretation too. :) upstateNYer 01:36, 7 March 2010 (UTC)
I found a contradictory statement in another Wikipedia article on the Houston Field House, "Today, the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity tends to start the line every year in early September, and most other fraternities join the line a day or two before tickets go on sale." So, the Hockey Line is really only one or two days long in practice, which conforms to other Universities. Racepacket (talk) 01:42, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Here is a blog posting by the university archivist giving details on the history of Hockey Line, including why it started originally (obstructed views from some seats). It might be useful as a reference or for additional details. As for the idea of "wasting months of college life sitting in a hockey line", the way it worked was that people waited in groups, so that it wasn't necessary to miss classes.Dewey Finn (talk) 03:26, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

I've rewritten the statement based on this source, as well as my own observations as a current student at RPI. --Darktower 12345 04:23, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Rewrite the article from a neutral point of view, shorten the introduction, put the rankings in the ranking section. Wiki is not a place for marketing. Update information. The Times Higher Education ranking in the introduction is from 2007 rankings. The Times Higher Education did not rank RPI in the top 50 in the last 5 years! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Irani12 (talk • contribs) 16:37, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Why RPI's decline in rankings not mentioned?

In 2012, RPI had one of the biggest downfall. I think it went down from rank#38 to rank#50!

graduate engineering ranking keeps going down

from #34 in 2005 to #42 in 2012! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.238.110.64 (talk) 18:24, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Clean up needed

I have done some minor copy editing for encyclopedia tone, but this well developed article still reads very promotional and contains much excessive detail. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 06:20, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Removed redirect, "The Ratio"

I am noting here that I have moved the redirect page The Ratio to point to the commonly-known Twitter concept of the same name, as I think that makes much more sense than pointing here. The only time the word "ratio" even appears in the article is in a brief mention of the student-to-faculty ratio. -- Kronhjorten (talk) 13:29, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

I changed the page to become a disambiguation for both terms. RPI2026F1 (talk) 14:18, 13 October 2022 (UTC)

Restore Gender Equality section?

This section appears to have existed in some from the time the article was written in 2006 until 2016, when it was blanked. The given justification was that that content would fit better in another section, such as history. However that information is not currently present on the page at all. I propose restoring the section entirely or in part, and will do so if there are no objections. Here is the last version I have found before the section was blanked. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute&oldid=754106199 -- Kronhjorten (talk) 13:29, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

  • Just a note that since there was no objection I finally got around to doing this today - Kronhjorten (talk) 20:05, 8 June 2019 (UTC)
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