On Tuesday, President Shirley Ann Jackson presented an IdeasLab titled “From Concept to Commerce” in the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. Along with Director of the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center Richard Siegel, Director of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies Jonathan Dordick, and the Director of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center Boleslaw Szymanski, Jackson described how the “transformation” of RPI can be implemented on a local, national, and global scale. Read more...

This past Friday, the Office of the Residential Education and the Resident Student Association hosted Union After Dark, an opportunity for students to come to the Rensselaer Union in the evening to partake in a variety of activities. The schedule was packed, listing movies, board games, crafts, casino games, music DJ-ed by WRPI, karaoke and mocktails, a free raffle, and an ice cream eating contest, among other things. But, while many students attended, it seemed most left after a few minutes of walking around. What started off as a potentially huge event fizzled out fairly quickly. Read more...

Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy of young adult novels has become a phenomenon in the past few years. The books have generated a rabid fan base from both the male and female demographics. Due to the incredible popularity of these books, it’s no surprise that Hollywood production house Lionsgate jumped at the chance to secure the rights to film adaptations of the series. However, with a cast and production crew of fairly green Hollywood-ers, the film has faced an upward battle against the massive amount of hype the fans have created around it. Opening weekend gross numbers are one thing, but the real question is how well the book translated to the silver screen. Read more...

Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams are off to a strong start this season. The women’s team moved to 5-0 on the year after defeating Castleton State College and SUNY Potsdam at Renwyck Field this weekend, while the men’s team, ranked 16th in the nation, played to a convincing 9-4 victory over Vassar College at the East Campus Stadium on Saturday. Read more...

This Monday, the Student Senate held its weekly meeting, discussing the prospect of adding a second greek representative and the idea of introducing GPA requirements for senators. They considered three motions affecting the Rensselaer Union Constitution, the Senate bylaws, and the GM Week Handbook. All three passed during the meeting, but one was later recalled due to misunderstood conditions on constitutional amendments. Read more...

I find myself concerned after reading Vice President for Student Life Tim Sams’ editorial and response to the depiction of the RIBS acronym on campus in last week’s Poly. RIBS awareness day, for better or for worse, is part of the set of traditions that reside on this campus. It is a day undertaken by the students and meant to elicit a response of humor from the students. There is special emphasis being made here on one key point: students. Why, then, is the response to the day creating a “group of campus professionals to explore the RIBS acronym?” Read more...

I first heard of Sushi X Lounge when my neighbor asked if I wanted to go with him to an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. I thought this was too good to be true; there was no way that there was a sushi buffet in Troy of all places, but sure enough, there it was in Latham. I’m going to confess that I’m an amateur foodie/restaurant reviewer so please keep this in mind. Read more...

Thirty two teams from across the northeast converged in Saratoga Springs this past weekend to compete at a Division-III exclusive spring tournament hosted by RPI Ultimate. The event was held at the Saratoga Polo grounds and merchandised by VC Ultimate, and boasted a highly competitive field of D-III level teams. Twenty five open and 12 women’s teams competed in two divisions on Saturday and Sunday in both pool play and bracketed competition. Read more...

Hello RPI! At the last Senate meeting, the Senate voted on a Union Constitution Amendment which would provide a full Senate seat (including voting rights) to both the Interfratenity Council and Panhellenic Council. Currently, there is one Senate position which switches between the two organizations. The motion would put the amendment up to a campus wide vote during GM Week if passed by the Senate. The vote for the motion came back eight in favor, seven against, and one abstention. As this is a tie, the Grand Marshal receives a deciding vote. I voted in favor of the motion, giving it a simple majority. At the time, I believed that the amendment would move to a campus wide vote. Read more...

What are you wearing? No, this isn’t one of those. Clothing and textiles are the world’s second-most traded goods, making up an industry worth more than $1 trillion worldwide, but we pay hardly any attention to their sustainability. As we bleed money on fashion, we, without thought, accept inferior quality—why build something to last when your customers will replace it in a few months?—and the destruction of the environments that grow the fibers. Cotton, a “natural” fiber, may account for less than three percent of the world’s farmed land, but it is responsible for a quarter of insecticides and one-tenth of herbicides, is the fourth most heavily fertilized crop, and is roughly 70 percent irrigated rather than rain-fed. Organic cotton may make your clothing less toxic, but does nothing for all its other problems. “Made in America” may sound nice, but it can just be a cover for deeper problems. And don’t get me started on “vegan” fashion. That’s just code for mass market petroleum products sold at premium prices. Only about one-fifth of sustainability initiatives in the fashion industry target the environmental effects of the underlying supply chain, the remainder limited to toxins and pollution from the factories. Read more...

Heading into four games against the Rochester Institute of Technology with a 3-7 record so far, RPI baseball was looking to turn around its season with some positive results. Fortunately, that is exactly what the team did as it split the first doubleheader and swept the next two games the following day. Read more...

Last week, three members of the Rensselaer Union Executive Board, Director of the Union Joe Cassidy, Union Operations Coordinator Jean Purtell and myself attended the annual Association of College Unions International Conference in Boston. This was a great opportunity to collect innovative ideas about Union function and collaborate with other student unions all over the country. The conference focused on offering educational sessions and setting up groups that discussed all kinds of subjects relevant to students unions like community building, event planning, scheduling, renovation, motivating staff and students, and multicultural awareness. Read more...

There are a lot of great TV shows out there, but I’d definitely rank Avatar: The Last Airbender as being one of the best shows aired in the last 10 years. The tale of a young boy tasked with mastering the elements in a process known as bending, uniting four divided countries, and saving the world aired on Nickelodeon from 2005–2008, and even spawned a film adaptation (which I don’t think is even necessary to discuss). Airbender boasted great art, a stellar voice cast, fantastical creatures, beautifully choreographed fight scenes, and a plot that was unafraid to touch on deeper issues like racism, disabilities, and war—especially for a series aired on a children’s television network. Read more...

In its first games since returning from Florida, RPI softball played a doubleheader against the Ithaca College Bombers. The series was split after two very close games, including the opener which was decided in eight innings. Read more...

It is spring! Sure, the weather is still playing tricks with us, but flowers are starting to bloom, the sun is shining, and plants are starting to grow. Many of us may be getting out to exercise more, and looking for good sources of fresh and healthy food. Unfortunately, with our busy schedules, it is often hard to find time to make quality a priority. Read more...

On Friday, the Troy Police Department arrested former RPI Heating and Cooling Supervisor Thomas McMartin for unlawful surveillance and burglary. McMartin pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Read more...

It’s been a while, and we hope that you all had a restful, relaxing Spring Break and that you’re ready to go heading into final weeks. The weather’s warmer, the skies are bluer, but don’t lose sight of all the reasons that you’re here. Read more...

An arcade game machine was recently installed in the Union Games Room. The machine features five fun games made by RPI’s own Game Development Club, some of which were seen at last semester’s Game Development Showcase. Read more...

RPI men’s hockey’s fairytale journey through the first round of the ECAC tournament and into the quarterfinals came to a screeching halt by the hands of Route 7 rival Union College. The top-seeded Dutchmen defeated the 10th seeded Engineers in a best-of-three series at Messa Rink on March 9 and 10. Rensselaer finished the season with a 12-24-3 record, while Union cruised through the remainder of the tournament to be named the ECAC champion and earn a bid to the NCAA East Regional. Read more...