One hallmark of Rensselaer's graduating class this year is service -- service to communities locally and globally, service to government, and service to others. Technology has reinvented the way students communicate and how they mobilize. High-tech college campuses like Rensselaer are reinventing student "activism" into community "advocacy" using information technology tools.
Atsushi Akera, a historian of technology and lecturer at Rensselaer, calls this phenomenon "social entrepreneurialism." He says students learn about complicated social issues that the information revolution is unleashing, and also how to apply technology for greater social, human, and organizational good.
Following are some inspiring Rensselaer students who are on the verge of graduating--and who are already changing the world.
"Y" Not Change the World?As a sophomore, Jessica Constantine '03 wired the Troy YWCA for Internet access. Now, the IT graduate will work as its full-time "Human Potential Advocate."
Constantine will teach technology classes and offer specialized support to a growing group of women in need.
"My two passions have always been computers and empowering other people," says Constantine. "I enjoy the combined work so much that I have a hard time using the word 'service' to describe it."
Constantine developed the Sally Catlin Resource Center (SCRC) at the YWCA. The center aims to empower area women with the technological tools to help them locate the resources they need to care for themselves and their families. She also spent three months at a YWCA in the African Republic of Botswana as part of ITCORPS -- a Peace Corps-like organization with an information technology focus.
By the time she left the city of Gaborone, Constantine had a dozen PCs up and running, and had obtained and installed software including Microsoft Office, PhotoShop, and Dreamweaver. Thanks to the software tutorials that she programmed before returning to the U.S., citizens there can continue to learn the technology.
"Learning to use the Internet is a privilege, but in today's society, if you don't have the technological abilities you are clearly at a disadvantage," says Christine Nealon, director of the SCRC. "Jessica will continue to make technology available and accessible to people who are consumed with life-critical needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter."
As Constantine did, service-minded students can combine an Information Technology degree with a minor in Science and Technology Studies, which emphasizes the social, human, and organizational dimensions of information technology.
A Laptop and a Dream: Bridging the Learning Gap With TechnologyScott Robertson '03 has Asperger's Syndrome, an autistic disorder. Although not as severe as classic autism that afflicted the character Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, the lifelong syndrome could have prevented Robertson from doing what many take for granted.
But it didn't.
Studying at Rensselaer, a technological university that promotes the integration of computers and other technology in the classroom, has allowed the 22-year-old computer science major to overcome major learning hurdles and graduate with a near-perfect 3.96 GPA.
Robertson says Rensselaer's laptop program, which began in 1999 and requires all incoming freshmen to own a laptop, has been essential to realizing his dream -- to design software and devices to improve the lives of those with learning and other disabilities.
To that end, Robertson will attend Carnegie Mellon in the fall to pursue a master's degree in human-computer interaction.
"I used to have difficulty organizing my assignments," says Robertson. "But, because most of my assignments have been done on a laptop that I carry around with me, I can keep track of my work. I can also download notes anytime, anywhere. That has made it easier to focus on class discussions because I don't have to rush to take notes. Instead, I can concentrate on the PowerPoint slides after class."
Robertson, for instance, can't read facial expressions -- crucial for the most basic communication skills. And, performing more than one task, such as listening and taking notes at the same time, is daunting.
Technology is not the only major benefit Rensselaer has offered Robertson. Because he has a hard time organizing multiple instructions, it can be difficult for him to understand properly the sequence of some written exam questions. The extra time for tests provided through Rensselaer's Disabled Student Services has helped tremendously, he says.
In addition, the hundreds of interviews he has conducted with professors, students, and others in his three years as an editor for the student newspaper, The Polytechnic, have given him the communication experience needed to fit in with his peers and to pursue a career.
"I have received an excellent education at Rensselaer," Robertson says. "When I first arrived here, I knew that I would graduate if I worked hard. However, I didn't know I would be able to accomplish all that I have done."
Pay It ForwardBrendan Harnett paid for his entire college education at Rensselaer in cash.
Yes, in cash. Like, "walk-to-the-Bursar-on-the-very-last-day-you-can-possibly-pay-tuition,-with-a-check-for-$26,400," laughs the architecture major.
"I've always worked as a Teaching Assistant, usually had another job on the side, and always worked in the summer," says Harnett. "I usually would earn enough to pay the 28 percent capital gains tax on the stock I had to liquidate to go to school. And I usually had enough to pay rent as well!"
Not only did Harnett pay for his entire education, largely from money he'd bankrolled from mowing lawns in high school, other jobs, and wise investments in the stock market, he's paying it forward in other ways.
Harnett invested $25,000 in another student startup, he began his own architectural design firm (http://www.3Arc.com), and he and another student received an international award from Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that encourages architects and designers to seek solutions to social and humanitarian crises around the globe.
Harnett and Michelle Myers designed a clean, crisp, mobile HIV-AIDS medical unit to be used in Sub-Saharan Africa.
"I hope it helps people," Harnett said in the Hartford Courant's Sunday Northeast Magazine.
Harnett is now looking for positions with architectural design firms in New York and in Pennsylvania. He has no college debt.
"Army of Number One"--McNutt '03 Is the Country's Top ROTC Cadet Among more than 4,200 college students across the U.S. who will enter the military this year as graduates of Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs, Richard McNutt, a senior at Rensselaer, is ranked No. 1 by the U.S. Army.
As the Army's top cadet in academics, fitness, and leadership, McNutt is entitled to his choice of coveted positions. He has decided to plunge into military life as a paratrooper in one of the Army's prestigious airborne units.
"Maybe I just want to see what I'm made of," says McNutt. "I want to challenge myself."
Challenge is nothing new to the Cape Vincent, N.Y., native. Throughout his Rensselaer career, McNutt has maintained a 4.0 grade point average as a dual major in biophysics and biochemistry. He oversaw a ROTC company of 20 cadets, routinely clocked 12 minutes on two-mile runs, never achieved less than a perfect score on the Army's physical fitness test, and is currently working toward his black belt in karate.
This past April, McNutt earned a prestigious George C. Marshall ROTC Award and an invitation to the Marshall Seminar on the national security of the United States, a gathering of the country's top ROTC students and top U.S. Army leaders.
McNutt intends to stay focused on the task at hand -- graduating and obtaining a spot with either the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C., or, his top pick, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the unit that recently made headlines for parachuting into Northern Iraq.
From Engineering to Indy -- Erin Crocker '03 Is Driven to SucceedErin Crocker '03 is already the winningest female sprintcar driver in the Empire Super Sprints (ESS) league history. On May 17, she'll graduate from Rensselaer and into big-league auto racing.
Crocker, from Wilbraham, Mass., was the only female driver in the Empire Super Sprints (ESS) league. She finished the season with an overall sixth-place ranking in an all-male field of 69 drivers. Now she has decided to make a go at racing full-time in the more competitive Silver Crown Series.
"My goal is to be an Indy car driver," Crocker says. "I don't want to race just once a week. I don't want this to just be a hobby; I want to make this a career."
Inspired by her late father and two competitive brothers (she also has two sisters), she started her career driving go-karts and quarter-midget cars at age 7, and has since progressed to sophisticated automobiles. When she began her first semester at Rensselaer, she wanted to continue her amateur sprint car racing career, so school administrators and professors ponied up a $25,000 sponsorship for her race team and her car, and coordinated tests and assignments she missed while on the racing circuit.
"I wasn't just a number or a tuition check to Rensselaer," says Crocker, who will have a related degree in industrial and management engineering to fall back on should her plans stall. "They really encouraged me and helped boost my career. A lot of schools don't take that same sort of interest in their students."
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