The Student Senate held a special meeting on March 21 through Webex to approve changes to the Student Government Election Handbook made to accommodate the transition to online classes. The changes included moving Student Government elections to Thursday, April 2, as well as updating the nomination procedure to allow for online gathering and submission. The Senate also discussed the third-party voting systems that are being considered for online elections.

In an email to the Rensselaer community on Wednesday afternoon, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced that this spring’s Commencement, planned for May 23, will take place in an online ceremony, adding that there will be an in-person celebration “when the public health situation allows us to do so.”

Rensselaer Music Association moves forward with creating a recording studio in the J Building.

RPI Autism Self-Advocacy Network becomes Union-recognized, RPI Chinese Students and Scholars Association approved to compete at the Northeastern Chinese Basketball League tournament on March 14-15, and Rensselaer Running Club starter budget approved.

From jazz favorites to soundtrack classics, the annual Pops Concert hosted by the Rensselaer Music Association was a blast!

I was once told that college is the last time in your life that you will be able to focus on learning things solely for your own benefit and gain. In the future, it is likely you will primarily be learning to advance your career. Everything you do now should be purely motivated by self-improvement. I didn’t realize the significance of this statement at the time, but reflecting, I find it has defined my time here at Rensselaer.

We published a staff editorial regarding the technical problems we have faced on campus last month. Within that article, we talked about how we noticed Wi-Fi issues on campus. After the article was published, Associate Director of IT Infrastructure Colleen Morrissey reached out to share how the Division of the Chief Information Officer has been committed to ensuring a strong Wi-Fi network across campus.

While Big Red Freakout and Winter Carnival went on without a hitch, administrators placed severe restrictions on some students’ biggest events of the year, citing concerns with coronavirus. “It’s discriminatory and wrong,” said Multicultural Leadership Council member Sundjata Suma ’20 while discussing the issue in a meeting.

With a win against Quinnipiac, the Engineers inch closer to securing home ice advantage for the playoffs.

I realized how many people around me had secured summer internships when my sophomore year ended. When I went home after finals, I applied to positions in a panic. I was afraid I made a mistake by never attending career fairs and making no effort to get an internship.

The Chinese American Student Association held their Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday. I was there to take photos for The Polytechnic, but I had a blast. I had never been to anything like it before, and sure the food was subpar as it was American Chinese food catered by Sodexo, but the celebration featured a variety of performances from a dragon dance, to a performance on the guzheng—a traditional Chinese string instrument, even including a multitude of dance routines by the group Eighth Wonder.

The Rensselaer Union website is currently undergoing maintenance to increase its functionality and address some issues. The site’s present status renders some information regarding clubs and Union events inaccessible to the greater student body, causing students to resort to social media such as Reddit and Facebook.

A survey conducted by the Student Senate showed that 78 percent of respondents were unsatisfied with the Arch after they participated in it. 94 percent of respondents thought that students should be able to live in off-campus housing during the Arch. 64 percent of respondents said they would not participate in the Arch if it were optional.