The Polytechnic
The Polytechnic
Vol. CXLIII No. 17
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Students counter-protest anti-abortion demonstration on 15th Street

MATTHEW TREANOR·8 HOURS AGO

A small anti-abortion protest was met by a spontaneously organized student counter-protest of nearly 30 people on October 7.

Meher Randeria/The Polytechnic

Book Review

Till Death Do Us Part: An Interpretation of The Haunting of Hill House

ANDY BATRUCH·4 HOURS AGO

Associate Editorial/Opinion Editor Andy Batruch ’29 gives her interpretation of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson as a love story.

The Rensselyrics singer Jasmin Chen '27 belting "The Fate of Ophelia" Moiz Steenhuis/The Polytechnic

Photo Short Story

All-star acapella lineup performs at Aca-tober Fest over Family Weekend

ANISHA BISWAS & MOIZ STEENHUIS·7 HOURS AGO

The Rensselyrics hosted Aca-tober Fest, an a capella event that featured the four other major a capella groups at RPI.

RPI Academia

A look into Dr. Cioffi’s research on drug discovery

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ & ELENI DOUGHNEY·7 HOURS AGO

Dr. Christopher Cioffi, principal investigator of the Cioffi Research Group, explains his discoveries of pharmaceuticals for macular degeneration and neuropathic pain and overviews the recent challenges of running a research group at RPI.

Moiz Steenhuis/The Polytechnic

Women's Field Hockey

Rensselaer surmounts Ithaca to claim program's first regular season title

MOIZ STEENHUIS & PAX YOUNG·7 HOURS AGO

Rensselaer defeated the visiting Ithaca College 1-0, clinching their first ever Liberty League's regular season championship.

Book Review

Dungeon Crawler Carl really is that good

AUDREY JOHNSON·18 HOURS AGO

Contributing Editor Audrey Johnson ’29 reviews Dungeon Crawler Carl, a LitRPG that has taken over the Science Fiction Fantasy genre.

RPI Academia

The Gaerttner Linear Accelerator: a hidden gem

RILEY SOBEL & DEMETRIOS SKORDAS & CONNOR GRANT

The nuclear engineering department at RPI centers much of its research within the Gaerttner Linear Accelerator facility in the study of interactions between subatomic particles. This research from this facility contributes to a vast array of fields, from global energy to medicine.

Troy Fire responding to the incident. Anthony Santiago/The Polytechnic

BREAKING NEWS

Pipe bursts in CBIS ceiling, floods lab hallway

MEHER RANDERIA

Steaming hot water flooded the second floor lab hallway in CBIS on Friday. Troy Fire, DPS, E&SS, and Facilities promptly arrived on the scene to address the situation and organized an efficient clean-up.

Campus Security

Annual summary of crime and violations on campus

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

RPI Department of Public Safety released an annual report detailing its extensive security and fire-prevention measures, as well as the previous year's crime statistics.

Local News

Local communities rally for Troy family after fatal house fire

THE POLYTECHNIC EDITORIAL BOARD

After the recent tragedy, the Troy community rallied in support of the Rizzo-Ruelfe family.

Student Senate

Senate fails to fully rectify the unconstitutional UAR, freshman representatives confirmed to E-Board

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

The Student Senate failed to amend the UAR committee to coincide with the Constitution of the Union, and confirmed the appointment of the Executive Board’s Class of 2030 representative as well as two Club and Organization representatives.

On-Campus Event

Assembling Rally Week, a work in progress

RILEY SOBEL

The week-long Rally Week event was marketed as the premiere of the biggest spirit celebration on campus. Reviews were mixed, but it garnered much attention.

RPI Academia

School of Engineering introduces new Robotics Engineering Major

MATTHEW TREANOR

The Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering announced the approval of the new Robotics Engineering major by the New York State Education Department on August 26.

Academia Beyond

Navier-Stokes, Euler, and the AI priority question

MEHER RANDERIA

OpenAI announced on September 8 that an internal artificial intelligence model had resolved a version of the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem, one of seven Clay Mathematics Institute Millennium Prize Problems. Mathematicians Dr. Tristan Buckmaster and Dr. Levent Alpöge had just solved a similar version of the problem and were in conversation with OpenAI.

Student Senate

Senate approves one motion and deadlocked on another in the first meeting of the fall semester

AUDREY JOHNSON & MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

At the first Student Senate meeting of the Fall 2026 semester, Griffin Oliver ’27 introduced two new amendments to the Senate bylaws, only one of which passed.

Interview

Transcript: Dr. Cameron Cogburn interview

MEHER RANDERIA & DEMETRIOS SKORDAS

The Poly recently sat down with Dr. Cameron Cogburn to discuss RPI's IBM Quantum System and the Nighthawk r1 chip. The following is a transcript of the interview.

Interface poses interesting questions about our relationship and interactions with sound. Ronan Hevenor/The Polytechnic

EMPAC

Interface: Immersive Audio

JACK CALLAHAN

Felix Deufel and Matthew Goodheart discuss the history of immersive audio and Felix Deufel’s project Lost in Liquid Noise.

On-Campus Event

Rensselaer Games Showcase changes the game

ELENI DOUGHNEY

RPI’s Game Development Club hosts their 2025 Games Showcase, highlighting the achievements of student game developers.

Student dunks a plate of cool whip on Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy Senior Lecturer Julian Georg. Meher Randeria/The Polytechnic

Photo Short Story

Newton's Fourth Law: “Pie Your Physics Professors”

MEHER RANDERIA

RPI students were given the rare opportunity to pie their physics professors.

The start of the soury contest. Matthew Treanor/The Polytechnic

Photo Short Story

Sour showdown at Sage

MATTHEW TREANOR

For the third year in a row, students gathered outside of Russell Sage Dining Hall to see who could eat an entire lemon the quickest.

The Little Pecks sign on Broadway. Moiz Steenhuis/The Polytechnic

Food Review

I can't put down the (coffee) cup!

ANISHA BISWAS & ELENI DOUGHNEY & FEE MACWHINNIE

The Poly wandered into downtown Troy and sipped on some of the most popular coffees to determine the favorites.

Sam Javanrouh/The Polytechnic

Opinion

On the precipice: six national teams that lie on the World Cup’s doorstep

MOIZ STEENHUIS

Six stories picked from the twenty-two teams that remain in the running for spots in this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Editorial Notebook

I was not, in fact, “living the dream”

ELENI DOUGHNEY

Contributing Editor Eleni Doughney ’29 discusses the highs and (many) lows of Nintendo’s Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.

Book Review

If you live long enough, you slip into another world

AUDREY JOHNSON

Contributing Editor Audrey Johnson ’29 reviews Exit Party, a speculative fiction novel about who we are after the collapse of a state.

Editorial Notebook

Why you should continue to watch more Severance

RILEY SOBEL

That’s right, Managing Editor Riley Sobel ’27 isn’t finished with Lumon Industries.

Boundary Conditions

Rare earths

MEHER RANDERIA

Editor in Chief Meher Randeria ’28 introduces: Boundary Conditions; a column that attempts to explore the science behind decisions that shape our world. First up: rare earth elements, and why the hard part is the chemistry, not the mining.

Book Review

Nevernight should be a classic fantasy novel

AUDREY JOHNSON

Contributing Editor Audrey Johnson ’29 reviews Nevernight, a novel that blends school fantasy with traditional fantasy into a coming-of-age revenge story.

Editorial Notebook

Curious creatures

MEHER RANDERIA

Editor in Chief Meher Randeria ’28 shares her experience with undergraduate research.

Editorial Notebook

The power of a protagonist as smart as you

ANISHA BISWAS

Managing Editor Anisha Biswas ’27 discusses the impact of a realistic and relatable horror protagonist as shown in the recently released Resident Evil.

Editorial Notebook

A review of The Stranger

KYLE PAN

Editorial/Opinion Editor Kyle Pan ’29 gives his thoughts on The Stranger (L'Étranger) by Albert Camus.

Rennselaer forward Ian Scherzer scuffles with former Engineer. Audrey Johnson/The Polytechnic

Men's Hockey

Rensselaer snares the Sharks

MOIZ STEENHUIS & PAX YOUNG·2 DAYS AGO

Excellent goaltending sees Rensselaer sweep the visiting Long Island University with 2-1 and 3-2 victories over the weekend.

Men's Soccer

Engineers face RIT in opener for Liberty League

SHAH SHEIKH

Rensselaer traded chances with RIT for 90 minutes but neither side managed to break the stalemate in their first Liberty League match of the season.

Men's Soccer

Engineers suffer a heartbreaking loss vs SUNY Oneonta

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

The Engineers concede a penalty kick in the 84th minute to lose 1-0 to SUNY Oneonta in devastating fashion.

Men's Soccer

Engineers defeat the Keene State Owls

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

Engineers quell the Keene State Owls 3-1, with goals from Christoper McKinney, Justin Woodbine, and Harrison Brownlow, in a tense and chippy game.

Moiz Steenhuis/The Polytechnic

Women's Hockey

Rensselaer loses both games to Maine in back-to-back matches

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ & PAX YOUNG

Rensselaer women’s hockey struggled as they lost to the University of Maine 3-5 and 1-3.

The puck drops. Fee MacWhinnie/The Polytechnic

Men's Hockey

RPI upsets Ohio State in season opener

MIGUEL VAZQUEZ & SHAH SHEIKH

The men’s hockey team defeated Ohio State University, with a masterclass 36-save performance by goaltender Nate Krawchuk.

Sadie Bellissimo guards her goal. Moiz Steenhuis/The Polytechnic

Women's Hockey

Engineers outpaced by the Colonials

MOIZ STEENHUIS & PAX YOUNG

Rensselaer dropped their first games in the Houston Field House to Robert Morris University 2-1 and 4-2.

Women's Soccer

Engineers undefeated at home

SHAH SHEIKH & MIGUEL VAZQUEZ

RPI Women’s Soccer brought home a resounding 5-0 win over VTSU Castleton and a dominating 6-1 over SUNY Potsdam to keep their undefeated streak alive.