On Thursday, April 26, Bill Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault: penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant. Cosby is now a convicted felon guilty of sexual assault, after decades of suspected behavior, and can face up to 10 years in prison according to NBC news. Read more...

Everybody has a story to tell, but does every story need to be told? I faced that question when I sat down to write this notebook. I have a story about my time at RPI and on The Polytechnic, and I was unsure whether anybody needed or even wanted to hear it. I decided that I would write an abridged version—hopefully it suffices. Read more...

Winter semester—I mean spring semester—is coming to an end. That means I’m almost a senior. That means I’m almost ready to jump into adulthood, or get pushed in. No more calling myself a student. What does that even mean? Read more...

Integrity is the trust that a set of people have in their, or others’, abilities to firmly adhere to moral values. This is the critical part of a regimen of an ethical code that assures us that our capacities will not fail us; to foster the growth of our moral character and therefore ourselves. The strong gravity of dignity tends to cloud our judgment of our self-reflection on our integrity, so this ability of critical introspection is lauded by society. Idealistically, this moral acumen is imbued into education such as the scholastic system at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute throughout your time in our community. However, integrity has become a maladroit afterthought crammed into syllabi, zero tolerance drug and alcohol policies focusing on penal action instead of rehabilitation, and judicial processes that start with the assumption of guilt. Read more...

As many of you know, last fall’s hiring process for the director of the Union was reconstituted. The administration has acknowledged their failure to communicate and made a number of commitments to increase student involvement in a reconstituted, student-driven search for our next director. Read more...

Hi, Engineers!  I hope you are all having success in wrapping up any projects or assignments, and that studying isn’t causing you too much stress! With the semester quickly coming to an end, and finals right around the corner, I hope that you are able to take a break from work, and the stress of being an RPI student, and enjoy this well-overdue beautiful weather. Read more...

Hello, RPI!

Tonight, appointees for the 2018-19 Rensselaer Union Executive Board will come before the Student Senate for confirmation voting! We saw over 40 student applications to the Executive Board this year, and I am blown away by the experience, passion, and determination each of the applicants had. As these exceptional students will hopefully be serving as your representatives for the coming year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce each of them to you and give you some insight into their contributions to campus so far! Read more...

This past week, student government dealt with the fallout of the reckless and irresponsible decision of Interim Vice President for Student Life LeNorman Strong to inform the Rensselaer community of what he claimed were concerns from anonymous students regarding the recently-concluded GM Week 2018 Elections. I contend that his decision to send the email last Tuesday was reckless and irresponsible because he did not allow the Elections Commission to make a decision before releasing his statement. Of greatest concern, he falsely stated that the Rensselaer Union Voting Suite was compromised.  Read more...

“‘Smells rotten’: Administrators meet with Elections Commission” says it all. The rotten smell is due to several odor contributors. Read more...