Judicial Board Chairman Anthony Barbieri ’15 released a formal decision on the constitutionality of actions taken by the previous Executive Board with regards to the RPI Bookstore on Friday, May 22. The ruling comes ten days after The Polytechnic released a breaking news article detailing the changes to the bookstore, which can be found at http://poly.rpi.edu/s/txya9. Read more...

The Executive Board convened for a meeting at 1 pm on Friday, May 15. In the meeting, the status of negotiations related to the bookstore were discussed, and a motion regarding the bookstore was passed unanimously. Unfortunately, because The Polytechnic was not notified about the meeting, reporters were not able to be in attendance. The full text of the motion, which was moved by Jeremy Feldman ’16 and seconded by Gregory Bartell ’17, reads as follows: Read more...

Click on the links below to access the pdf of the full issue, or each section! Read more...

Follett Higher Education Group, a subsidiary of Westchester, Ill.-based Follett Corporation, is on-track to take over the RPI Bookstore in mid-June. However, questions are being raised over the transparency of agreements made between that company and the Rensselaer Union. Read more...

Summer is around the corner, and if you want to make it there happily, then finish your semester here at RPI by taking some advice presented by The Polytechnic. Next week is a week for many that may cause a lot of stress; it’s finals week. Finals are somewhat spread throughout the week, and one major suggestion we have is to get enough sleep. Presuming you have one final a day, and three finals in total, there is more than enough time to study and get at least eight hours of sleep per night. Don’t cram in hours of last minute studying. You’ve worked hard all semester and most finals are cumulative; have confidence in yourself that you understand the connections of the material from over the last few months. Read more...

A Marlin Brando film that was adapted to a 1988 film starring Steve Martin and John Caine, and later adapted to a musical starring John Lithgow, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has quite the history of talent and success. The 1988 movie is on the list of Bravo’s 100 funniest and the 2005 musical ran for 626 shows in total. Given this history, I was quite eager to see how the RPI Players’ version of the musical measured up. Not that there wasn’t some impressive talent involved in RPI’s own production—director Norman J. Eick has been producing and directing for 30 years and has numerous TANYS awards for directing and producing. Read more...

The Liberty League tournament started out slowly for the Engineers. In the opening game of the tournament, RPI fell behind 8-2 to the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers after six and a half innings. Then, after scoring one run in the bottom of the seventh, the Engineers broke out the bats in the eighth. Senior centerfielder Jared Jensen, senior second baseman Tim LeSuer, and sophomore designated hitter Thomas Desmond all doubled, and Rensselaer scored five runs to tie the game at eight. Read more...

The Senate began its five hour meeting with three more petitions. The first was “Install Water Bottle Filling Stations around Campus,” sponsored by Emily Farella ’16. Farella has been working with Vasuda and the Facilities and Services Committee on the project already; the purpose of the petition was to gauge whether there was interest among students for it to be implemented. Graduate Senator Timothy Krentz asked why specialized filling stations would be necessary in place of a sink or water fountain. Many senators expressed that having them around would encourage more people to use their own reusable water bottles, and it would making filling tall water bottles easier. The Senate charged Austin Miller ’17 with assisting Vasuda and Farella with the project in a 17-0-2 vote. Read more...

Well, it’s that time in my career at RPI to say goodbye. RPI has been very good to me during my four years here. When I came here as a freshman in the fall of 2011, the first thing I started with was The Poly Press Pass during Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond. At that point, I was hooked on The Poly and have been an editor on the paper for every issue since. During my time here, I have been associate copy editor, photography editor, copy editor, contributing editor, web director, and systems director, often at the same time (currently I’m contributing editor, copy editor, web director, and systems director). Read more...

There are very few music artists in today’s industry that are as polarizing as Skrillex. If you ask one person, he or she may tell you that Skrillex is the best thing since sliced bread. If you ask another, they could declare that the stuff he makes “isn’t even music.” The guy in the back, however, nods his all-knowing head because he is aware of the basslines and music structures required for tracks to be “actual dubstep.” But all biases and music snobbery aside, just what’s the deal with Skrillex? It seems as if the general public can’t make up their mind, so it’s time to clear things up. Read more...

After an incredible four years, senior pitcher Kristina Weltzin will be graduating, leaving quite a legacy as one of the best softball pitchers in Rensselaer history. Over the course of her softball career, Weltzin has set numerous school records including appearances, starts, wins, complete games, innings pitched, and strikeouts. Read more...

I can’t believe it. This marks the end of another school year. Usually, older students joke about the freshmen. Thinking more deeply about that, I will never be considered a freshman again. Before going on with this brief review of my college freshman experience, I want to first thank every person that I have met here at RPI, from my friends in my hall and in clubs, the workers in Commons, and so many more. Thank you all. Now here’s some of my awesome, casual experiences I’ve had over the last couple months. Read more...

From May 9–10, the city of Albany held its 67th annual Tulip Festival in Washington Park. Over 100,000 tulips are arranged annually around the King Memorial Fountain, displaying vibrant splashes of color in each flowering bed. Food tents and craft vendors line the paths around the beds, selling Greek food, barbeque, carnival food, and artisan works. Located farther out, two concert stages performed live music all day. Additionally, a kidzone area, sponsored by Price Chopper, featured a bouncy house and a variety of family-oriented shows for kids. Read more...

Summer Salutations Students,

Don’t give up on your classes yet, you’re almost through the semester! I hope the study tools I mentioned last week were helpful to you. Read more...

On Saturday May 9, the Union Programs and Activities Committee put together one final field day for the RPI students to enjoy before the final week of classes. The ’86 Field found itself covered in laser tag obstacles, a volleyball net, corn hole frames and a nice blanket of smoke from the grill. The food included hamburgers and hotdogs along with pizza, ice cream, and drinks and was served at no charge to the students that decided to swing by. Read more...

What’s up, RPI?

So this week there’s quite a bit to talk about, mainly selections for the 2015–2016 Executive Board! I want to sincerely thank everyone who applied. This year, I received 42 applicants who were all well qualified and strong candidates. If I had 42 positions to fill, I would be a happy man, but that unfortunately isn’t the case. This meant the ones I had available to fill were highly competitive. Read more...

I’m a relatively content person. I can watch anything, read anything, do almost anything, and find some enjoyment out of it. But one thing that makes me really passionate, and somewhat elitist, is food. I really love, and desire, good food. Now add that with my relative contentness with all things, I’m someone who enjoys quality food of all flavors, and I can appreciate a well done meal from any nationality—at the very least of all the cultures I’ve tried so far. I think most of fine dining comes from fine chefs who put a lot of themselves into the dish, which is why the new Netflix series Chef’s Table caught my eye. Read more...

Have you ever wondered why those “wise old sayings” are words to live by? They get passed down from one generation to the next. My philosophy is that the experience of living teaches you how relevant those proverbs are to your life. Read more...

People argue that using neuroscience in the field of marketing is immoral. This field is now being referred to as neuromarketing. There are people out there that feel strongly that using MRI and EEG testing to see what happens in the brain when purchasing consumer goods should not be practiced. I encourage you to view it as a scientific breakthrough versus an unethical practice. Research in this field cannot only open the eyes to the consumer’s irrational mind, but to help us understand human kind. For centuries, philosophers were always searching for a way to define the brain; at first they believed it to be a heating system then the idea changed to a machine. We now have the technology not only to define the brain, but also to go even further and broaden our knowledge. Read more...

Update (1:16 am, May 13): The Student Senate brought the following motion onto the floor: Read more...