Photo Spotlights

Popcorn packaging design created by Michael Rodriguez was the top vote-getter among moviegoers Nov. 7 at the Little Theatre. Rodriguez was among the graphic design and industrial design students whose creations were on display and competing for votes to win the prize of a student membership to the Little Theatre. Graphic design majors Laura Woodruff and Casey Moosman took second and third place, respectively. The project was for the Packaging Design course co-taught by Lorrie Frear, graphic design professor, and David Morgan, industrial design professor.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation recently awarded RIT $2.8 million to design, develop and build a zero-noise detector for the future Thirty Meter Telescope. RIT scientist Donald Figer is leading a team of scientists from RIT and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory to create an imaging detector unlike any available today.

A blueprint for what citizens can do to directly address global warming was the focus of a presentation by author and activist Bill McKibben Nov. 6 at RIT. The talk, “Uniting Global and Local,” included a discussion of global warming, current climate change policy and what can be done to address problems related to pollution, climate change and fossil-fuel use. The event was sponsored by RIT’s Caroline Werner Gannett Project.

Lynn Fuller, RIT professor of microelectronic engineering, led a tour of the facilities to three dignitaries from Dubai on Oct. 30. The dignitaries from Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority are, from left to right: Jihad Kiwan, chief technology officer; Mohammed Al Zarouni, chief executive officer; and Shahla Ahmed Abdul Razak, deputy CEO. In August 2008, RIT opened a Dubai campus offering high technology-based programs in engineering, business and information technology.

RIT senior graphic design and industrial design students came up with innovative and creative packages for popcorn at the movies! Some of the package designs will be on display from 5 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 in the lobby of the Little Theatre. Film watchers are invited to vote for their favorite. The student who gets the most votes wins a student membership to the Little Theatre.

The RIT Provost’s Office recently awarded Richard Doolittle, head of the School of Life Sciences, the third annual Changing Hearts and Minds award for his leadership and commitment to diversity on campus.

RIT made a “Voting Bus” available to students who wanted to vote on Election Day. The bus picked up students at three on-campus locations and transported them to their John Street polling place. RIT has been encouraging students to register to vote for the past month and, according to Phyllis Walker, assistant director of RIT’s Leadership Institute and Community Service Center, a record number of students have registered this year. After voting for the first time, first-year student Erin Delventhal got her sticker to prove it.

Rivers Run, a housing project for active adults and seniors, had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 30 to announce the opening of independent-living apartments. RIT offers activities and programs to residents, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at RIT will relocate to Rivers Run in 2009. Here, guests get information from Susan Bussey, vice president of project administration and marketing for project developer Living Communities LLC.

Not politics as usual. Students in Halloween gear discussed politics and offered literature in front of the Wallace Library on Oct. 31.

About 150 costumed children from Care-A-Lot Child Care had their annual trek to Facilities Management Services, building 99, on Oct.31. Treats were doled out at various candy stations and the children posed for group photos in their creative Halloween attire.

RIT’s Center for Religious Life and Hillel sponsored PB Jam, a mammoth peanut butter-and-jam sandwich-making assembly line, on Oct. 29. The 2,000 sandwiches, made by over 100 volunteers, were donated to various needy organizations in Rochester.

In recognition of a $1 million endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute hosted the Osher Endowment Celebration Oct. 24 at Rivers Run Living Community. Chairperson Peter Luce officiated at a cake-cutting ceremony and Osher members were invited to take a sneak peek at their new classroom facilities that will be open in spring 2009.