Monday, the Student Senate endorsed changes to the Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities regarding academic integrity, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, and postponing a decision on the more controversial revisions regarding off-campus jurisdiction. Read more...

With commencement just around the corner, campus has been abuzz with controversy surrounding the awarding of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia with an honorary degree from the Institute. Various people around RPI have passed around a petition hoping to bar the judge from the ceremony. Additionally, a Facebook group has been started with the aim of encouraging people to boo Scalia off stage during the event. Many saw how much controversy this decision has brought to campus in last week’s Poly with members of the Rensselaer community weighing in from both sides of the debate. Read more...

Not many people have gone through their RPI experience for the past four years without seeing the results of the efforts of Anasha Cummings ’12, or at least having seen his smiling face and epic red beard. A strong proponent of sustainability, student leadership, and positive relationships with the Troy community, Cummings has made the best of his time here, promoting change both on and off campus, both tangibly and intangibly. Read more...

For only the second time in program history, the women’s lacrosse team will be heading to the Division-III NCAA tournament later this week after earning an automatic bid from winning the Liberty League Championship. Led by Head Coach Leslie DeLano and a slew of talented players, the Engineers will cap off their record-breaking season with a trip to the national tournament. Read more...

Over the course of the past few months, RPI’s chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World, in conjunction with a senior capstone design team, has conceived, designed, and constructed what they hope to be a sustainable way to house Haitian orphans. Their design uses a shipping container for much of the structure and involves the use of solar panels to provide the structure with power. Read more...

By this point in my RPI career, I am essentially done with the computer science curriculum. My next year will be spent taking courses for my co-terminal master’s degree in Information Technology and Web Science. Because of this, I feel it is appropriate to comment on my experience with the computer science program here at RPI. I’ll start off by commenting on individual courses: Read more...

Do you have stuff that you no longer need, but is not worthy of a trip to the landfill? Do you attribute merit to the old saying: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” Then you should make a trip over to Rens-cycle. From 10:30 am–6 pm on May 11 and May 14–17, students can come to the lawn behind Commons Dining Hall, the Rensselaer Society of Engineers lawn, or the Rensselaer Apartment Housing Projects behind the laundry room to drop off and take free appliances, supplies, clean clothes, or just general knick-knacks. The events are free and open to students and the community. Formerly called Dump and Run, Rens-cycle allows every item you don’t use anymore to keep another student from purchasing, and it will save you a trip to storage at the end of the year. Not only does it encourage recycling and reuse on campus, it also allows students to evaluate their personal wants and needs. This ultimately reduces resource consumption and volume in the landfill, and beneficiaries of the items can spend money elsewhere. Read more...

RPI took the longer road to the title game and fought against the University of Rochester to the final game of the double elimination tournament, but in the end they were not able to come away with the win on Saturday. Read more...

Over the last two months, Institute Professor of the Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Georges Belfort has become a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems. He was also elected to be a foreign corresponding member for the Institute of Bologna Academy of Science. Read more...

Introduction to Engineering Design is a class that many at RPI are unfortunately familiar with. It’s a class that, and this is despite speaking with several different class years of attendees, I have yet to hear a kind word about through the proverbial grapevine. Read more...

Friday afternoon, students from RPI listened to a talk by Brian Miser of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Baily Circus, better known as the “Human Fuse.” Miser is famous for shooting himself out of cannons that he designs himself. His latest “cannon” is in fact a crossbow, which is different because he is exposed outside the device, instead of being shot from within. He also sets himself on fire. Read more...

RPI finished off it’s season in style while taking three of four against Vassar College. The final home games of the season were especially thrilling as the Engineers showed resilience, completing two walk off comebacks. Read more...

On Monday, the Student Senate held its last meeting of the semester. Business during the meeting included officially appointing students to the Rensselaer Union Executive Board, who had been recommended by President of the Union Jonathan Stack ’13, and deciding on revisions to the 2012-2014 Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights & Responsibilities proposed by the Dean of Students Office. Read more...

With this being the last Top Hat I will be writing for this academic year, I do not want to focus on anything Student Senate-related. This past week, the Student Handbook revisions have been a big topic we have been looking at. The discussion with Dean of Students Mark Smith was very productive, and we ended up getting some more time to collaborate on the issue. However, if you would like to learn more about that, please look to the RPI subreddit or other articles in this issue of The Poly. Read more...

Omer’s Take

The Avengers was incredible. Let’s just get that out of the way. It was everything a kid like me, who grew up going to comic book stores and running around pretending to be Iron Man, could have ever wished for. What happened for me Saturday evening was a kind of childhood wish fulfillment that I’ve never experienced before. For the whole film, my jaw was either on the floor or I was just grinning stupidly. Joss Whedon has crafted something truly unique here; many were worried that a project so ambitious would cave in on itself under the weight of its larger than life characters expected to interact with one another. Whedon allays all these fears though, and has made a movie that never forgets its characters even amongst the spectacular insanity that is the second half of the film. This is simply a movie that cannot be missed. Read more...

Hello all! It is with great excitement that I present to you members of next year’s Union Executive Board, as confirmed by the Student Senate on Monday night. Joe Grimaldi will be the graduate class representative, and the Class of 2013 representative is Courtney Lang. The Class of 2014 representative will be Harish Lall, and Erica Hutchins will serve as the Class of 2015 representative. Confirmed as the five club/intercollegiate athletics representatives are James Petranik ’13, Allison Feldman ’14, Nikki Gallant ’13, Craig Bennett ’14, and Erin Amarello ’15. The first member-at-large will be James Buchwald ’14, and the new Senate/Executive Board liaison will be Gretchen Sileo ’14. Read more...

Thoughts on math education at Rensselaer

To the Editor: Read more...

The Student Peer Alcohol Monitoring formation committee held an open forum on Tuesday to address concerns from the student body about how the program will function. Read more...

Last Thursday, RPI released its revisions to the Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Most of the changes seem minor and straightforward, altering language to more clearly or accurately explain the meaning that was already there. The Poly finds nothing wrong with the minor alterations made to the Academic Dishonesty/Integrity policy or the sexual harassment policy. Read more...

I thoroughly enjoyed the RPI Players’ most recent production. The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving, if irreverent, musical sendup of Broadway shows of old. Featuring a variety of musical and dance numbers, a zany plot, a biting commentary on the current stage of life, as well as a sentimental ending, The Drowsy Chaperone is a $5 investment you won’t regret. Read more...