Courtesy of Dillon Shaver

DIEFFENBACH (CENTER) SERVES on a panel for Sigma Delta on “Surviving College.”

Marie Dieffenbach is the senior undergraduate student services administrator for the Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering department and this year’s Poly Person of the Year. Her office is located in the Jonsson Engineering Center in the second floor lobby.

I’ve had a very hard time trying to sum up Marie’s impact on campus; it’s not a high-profile, headline-grabbing major institute advancement or an “off-duty meter maid saves entire bus of orphaned puppies from the grip of Mt. Vesuvius” headline. It’s much more subtle than that, and in many ways more profound. Okay, saving an entire bus of puppies is pretty profound, but we’re getting off topic. In the simplest terms, Dieffenbach is there for you. Whether you’re a MANE student or not, undergraduate or graduate—it doesn’t matter if it’s in her job description, she’s there to help.

It sounds a little sappy, but if you’ve already met her, you know that’s a pretty apt characterization. If you really get to know her, you might also say “motherly,” but the type that’s not afraid to tell you like it is—in my case, that no matter how much I liked my shirt, four days in a row was not okay. Or, in another case—not me—that the unfortunate combination of lederhosen and pink t-shirt made a fantastic birth-control suit, if that’s what he was going for, but if not, he should probably change into something more “come-hither” and less “run away.” Sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes it’s hilarious.

What I love about this campus is that there are many staff and faculty members that form close bonds like this with students; it’s not an isolated occurrence. What really sets Dieffenbach apart, though, is that you don’t have to get to know her first in order to go to her for support. You can wander right up to her desk for advice, grab a spot at the table to work, or just seize a few pieces of candy and without a word scuttle off to class (or your office). It’s all there for you, and it doesn’t matter who you are or what department you’re in.

It’s also important to point out that this isn’t some sort of departmental initiative or policy; this is her (and JoAnn Gagliardi’s) policy. That isn’t a shot at the MANE department, as they fully support Dieffenbach day-to-day, as well as for huge events like the holiday cookies. They are awesome for doing so. But Dieffenbach and Gagliardi are the ones who come up with and make these things happen for the students on top of their workload. Their belief is that being there for the students means being around the students, so much so that they specifically arranged their office to fit multiple study tables, a couch, and a computer workstation—all for the students. It’s not unusual to walk by the office and see it standing-room only. You would think it might make doing actual work, like answering e-mails or phone calls, difficult, but it doesn’t seem to hold them back at all—they love it.

On a day-to-day basis, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference for students. More often than not, Dieffenbach is helping someone get through with those life-ending bureaucracy snafus that everyone has at least once here at RPI. Lost forms, past the deadline, or filled required courses with one semester left? Dieffenbach has seen it before and knows what you need to do. And speaking as someone who has had all of those things happen, I know I would not have graduated on time without her. Demystifying registrar forms is ironically something I’ve never had happen at the registrar, but Dieffenbach is the expert.

In addition to the day-to-day help, Dieffenbach comes up with annual events for the students to sort of distract from the college routine. Perhaps the best known is hot cocoa and cookies before finals. There are hundreds of cookies from The Cookie Factory for everyone, and she dresses as Mrs. Claus and coerces multiple faculty and staff members to dress as Santa for photos with the students. It adds in a little bit of holiday cheer at a time when the workload is doing its best to make everyone forget that vacation is just around the corner.

If you go to the office today, you can see that all along the windows of her office are those stickers that people put on their minivans to show the people in their family. Naturally hers are Star Wars-themed, but there are multiple sets, all with the names of students who call the office home (I’m the Jawa due to my predilection for dumpster diving). Now, I have graduated and long since departed from campus, but every time I go back to visit, there are more names and figures on the window. And from this, I know that the office is the same and that more and more students call it home. I guess all I can really say is that more than anyone else, Dieffenbach is who made my experience at RPI something that I look back on fondly. And I know I’m not alone in that sentiment.

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

It is finally upon us: the final days of the semester. I mean, the summer movie season. If you’re looking to take a break from studying or writing papers or doing ridiculous end-of-semester projects, then brace yourself: big summer blockbusters are here to distract you and pull you into a summer state of mind. And who better to kick the summer off with a literal bang than the juggernaut that is Marvel Studios? Hot off their record-breaking hit The Avengers, Marvel is back with a vengeance, and they’ve brought their biggest guns in Tony Stark and Iron Man. With a new writer/director and a much more assured Robert Downey Jr., does Iron Man 3 soar? In more ways than you’d think.

Tony Stark is still reeling after the events of The Avengers. He keeps flashing back to his ride through a wormhole with a nuclear missile on his back, flashbacks that keep him up at night and give him intense panic attacks. He’s becoming increasingly distant from girlfriend Pepper Potts, and he spends days on end tinkering with his suits of armor. However, when a terrorist known as The Mandarin begins making threats on global news, and Stark’s trusty friend Happy Hogan is caught in the crossfire of one of his attacks, Tony Stark is shaken out of his reverie and declares war on the villain. Meanwhile, a scientist from Stark’s past, Aldrich Killian, is making waves with a new discovery known as Extremis. It’s not long before Extremis falls into the wrong hands, however, and soon, Tony Stark is facing enemies on multiple fronts.

If this movie had nothing else going for it, Downey would still be considered absolutely on the top of his game. After two Iron Man films and a major role in The Avengers, Downey has really come into his own in the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is excellent playing the swaggering, genius billionaire. His rapid-fire delivery of copious one-liners makes for extremely entertaining movie-watching. Downey’s comedic timing is excellent throughout the course of the film, and he plays well off fellow actors Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce; his chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow is also real, if a little shallow. Essentially, this is arguably Downey’s best performance in the role, and the film is elevated on his performance alone; if you love Downey (and really, who doesn’t?), then go watch this movie.

Meanwhile, Pearce is also rather excellent in the role of scientist Aldrich Killian. Initially playing Killian off as a very nerdy, excitable think-tanker, Pearce transforms the character into a suave, accomplished, and downright conniving genius later on in the film. Pearce has a lot of fun with the character without falling into that obvious superhero film pitfall: campiness. On the other end, Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin is brilliant. Kingsley has an absolute ball with the role, producing one of the best villain voices since Tom Hardy’s signature Bane voice. Kingsley’s spin on the character of The Mandarin is both surprising and refreshing; despite this, he doesn’t get bogged down in the novelty of the character, always putting forth a consistently strong performance.

The supporting cast is consistently good, too, for the most part. Paltrow is given a little bit more to do than usual in her role as Pepper Potts, including a few interesting twists on her character that will surprise and exhilarate viewers. Her work with Downey still feels organic, and as such their on-screen relationship continues to feel less forced than some of the other Marvel movie romances. Meanwhile, Cheadle is less wooden and more amusing in the role of Stark’s best friend, Rhodey. His banter with Downey is solid, and he does a good job playing the straight man against Downey in the film’s final act. Some of the supporting cast doesn’t fare as well, however; Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen, in particular, really does not bring a lot to the table in terms of her performance. She’s just a blip amongst an otherwise excellent cast, though.

Much of Iron Man 3’s success can be attributed to newcomer Shane Black. As writer/director, Black manages to reinvigorate the series after the somewhat disappointing second installment. He managed to turn this movie into something different from the rest of the Marvel films: an out-and-out action comedy. In the past, the Marvel movies have had comedic elements, but Iron Man 3 has enough humor in it, and such a strong focus on the execution of that humor, that I believe it’s fair to call it an action-comedy. Of course, this tonal change is a perfect fit for both Downey and the character of Tony Stark. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have its heavier, darker moments, but those thinking that this was going the route of The Dark Knight, and thus ruin the character of Iron Man, need not despair. Besides the comedy, Black is equally adept at delivering the action goods; some of the action set pieces in Iron Man 3 are good enough to be ranked amongst some of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (yes, even when compared to The Avengers).

Now, while Black’s direction on the film is great, his writing has a few issues. The comedy is excellent, the character moments are excellent … but certain things still stuck out. A shift in the movie’s tone somewhere in the middle, when the movie becomes something of a detective story as Stark tries to discover the identity of a man who might be linked to Extremis in a small town in Tennessee, really seemed out of line with the rest of the movie. Also, Black digs back into his Lethal Weapon roots and makes the third act of the film a sort of buddy cop film between Stark and Rhodey. This isn’t necessarily bad, but alongside the noir-like second act, it makes the film seem a little unfocused at times. Besides this, the film’s take on the character of The Mandarin is … interesting, and different, but it may not appeal to everyone. At this point, I’m still not sure how I feel about it. As a comic book devotee, it left me a little wanting. The same can be said about the use of Extremis; comic book readers will feel like this was a missed opportunity on the filmmakers’ parts, but admittedly the film made good use of it in a lot of ways.

On a technical level, Iron Man 3 was up to snuff with the rest of the Marvel movies. Some of the cinematography in the action sequences was particularly good, and the use of 3-D was solid. The film’s music seemed good, although maybe not quite as memorable as the scores of the last two Iron Man films. Visual and special effects were both top notch, with the film’s third act providing enough computer graphics spectacle to last the entire summer (Man of Steel not withstanding.)

So Iron Man 3 was definitely a great Marvel film and a very fun time at the movies. It didn’t quite reach the heights of The Avengers, but it certainly stands as one of the best Marvel efforts to date, and is neck-and-neck with the original Iron Man in that respect. Black proved, once again, that Marvel makes inspired choices when it comes to filmmakers. And while fans of the comics might be a little annoyed with some of the liberties he took with the film, there’s enough action and fun here to appease most people. And then there’s Downey. ‘Nuff said.

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

A MAG WARFRAME, LOW ON SHIELDS, FLEES from a Corpus Moa walker and a few crewmen during a defense mission on Europa. In defense missions, the player(s) fight off increasingly difficult waves of enemies.

Warframe is a relatively new game to our world. It’s been in an open beta for a while now, and on occasion its play reflects that with bugged-out missions and character modeling and movement, but it is a very good game which is worthy of your time to check out. Normally, given that the game came out some time ago, we would not cover it, as it’s not timely material, but this last weekend the developers of Warframe ran the first global objective for every single player to contribute to, and the release met with much success.

Just to start out at square one, the basics of the game are this: it’s a four-player cooperative third person shooter/melee affair, featuring rather fast-paced combat which often takes the form of what I have come to call a “blood sprint.” In the game you play a Tenno, which is in essence a space ninja.

The backstory is that there was a great war, and the result of this war was that the Tenno were victorious, but shattered in their victory. They were spread out in and around the solar system, and now there are new threats arising in the post-war era.

At first the enemies are the Grineer, who are an empire that believe in heavy armor and a brutally-styled blend of technology and biological systems. They are an interesting foe and have a distinct style that I enjoy fighting against. Shortly after you begin your campaign against them, two new foes appear. First are the terrifying alien Infested, who are members of the other factions which have been infested and perverted by some terrifying organism. I got the impression that the organism was an attempt at generating new technology on the behalf of the Grineer, but that isn’t really a focus of the game. The final enemies you find are the Corpus, who are a group of pure technologically-oriented folks consisting of flying drones, strange walkers called Moa, and then just some weak humanoids. Their focus is often on shields as opposed to armor.

The way the game is played, you can run a public, private, or solo lobby, and you go around a solar system map choosing what specific area and mission you fight through. There are raids, rescues, intel gatherings, assassinations, and spy missions, just to name a few. It’s something fun you can do with friends, but in my opinion, this is one of the first games I’ve played that is more fun to play with randoms online. When you play with friends you often are more thorough and take your time running through mission segments making sure to gather every item and things like that, but when you’re with randoms, the only thing you have in common is your objective, which is where and why I coined the term “blood sprint.” You and your fellow Tenno in that moment exist only to grab that intel or to kidnap that enemy operative. So you sprint and acrobatically combat your way not around or over, but through anything and everything in your way.

In the previous update, the developers added what they call “alerts.” These are temporary objectives added on top of the normal objective in a mission zone which, if completed, yield additional rewards. They can be anything from capturing an additional guy to destroying an ammo dump, and they appear all throughout the day often for only 30 minutes, so you have to run and grab the objective as fast as you can find them. This was a big boon to the game as it added another dimension to their mission system.

And in their last update, the one which inspired the writing of this review, they added a new enemy type in the Corpus forces and made a new global style objective. The backstory they gave was that the Corpus made a new type of Moa walker and had dropped one million of them on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The new Moa were a fusion of Corpus technology and Orokin technology, which is the strange high technology that the Tenno, Grineer, and Corpus are often fighting over. The new Moa were stronger than all previous versions and needed to be destroyed, so a counter was added to the main game HUD, counting down the percentage of the new Fusion Moa killed.

This was a really cool advancement added to the game which brought a lot of the player base sort of back into the game. It was a heck of a lot of fun rushing to unlock any missions on Europa, then going through Europa missions trying to kill as many Fusion Moa as possible.

Overall, the game is a lot of fun. You get to play a space ninja who runs through spaceships and space stations and planetary bases shooting the butt off anything that moves in a set of powered armor. It’s a blast, and the customization system surrounding the weapons and the powered armor you wear is a dream to anyone who, like me, enjoys Knights of the Old Republic- and Mass Effect-style micromanagement of armor and weapon resources.