1. Life is shallow. I should get plastic surgery. Read more...
Yearly Archives: 2009
Comments Off on Excerpts from self-portrait
Among the various events that make up the “first year experience,” only one of them makes me want to avoid it like it was swine flu. Read more...
Comments Off on Dorm storming getting old quick
I have received a lot of e-mails from students since my e-mail on September 18 asking me, “What’s the big deal? Isn’t this just the flu?” I can’t possibly answer all the e-mails personally, but I did answer a few, and felt it might make sense to write to The Polytechnic so I could reach all the students who have similar questions. Read more...
Comments Off on H1N1 precautions inconvenient but needed
It has been four weeks since classes have started for the fall, and the RPI pace is starting to return to normal; freshmen now know where the Darrin Communications Center is and the football team is on an undefeated streak again after an amazing game last Saturday against Utica College. We’re one week away from Reunion and Homecoming weekend, the first time alumni and alumnae come back to campus during the Fall while we’re in school, one week from the East Campus Athletic Village opening and the first Hockey game, and it looks like a good year for RPI. Read more...
Comments Off on Keep yourself healthy and safe
“There’s nothing to do in Troy,” and, “There’s nothing to do at RPI other than go to class, study, and stare at my TV and laptop screens all day,” are a couple of phrases I hear quite a bit. There are many around here who will claim that the region is dull. With nothing to do but study, study, study, “it’s no wonder,” they’ll say, “that this school generates such top-notch engineers and industry professionals.” Of course, this isn’t true; it’s just another misnomer, and I’m going to take a stab at convincing you otherwise. Read more...
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My very first experience at RPI was with Habitat for Humanity. In the fall of 2007, I participated in the Habitat overnight trip for Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond, and it was everything I hoped for. I signed up because I always had an interest in community service, and this seemed like a good fit (not to mention the fact that I was looking for a cool way to meet some other freshmen). It did end up being a cool way to meet people, but I also found much more. Read more...
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“Chesapeake Bay! Mike Tyson! NAAARRRWWAALL!” Dozens of audience members screamed in unison. To the untrained ear, this haphazard mix of utterances would seem like a trio of misled nouns, but to an Idiot, these could all be simple synonyms. Sheer Idiocy never fails to please, harvesting sounds like wild cotton and threading every syllable onto a loom to imbue meaning into plain nonsense. The renowned comedic troupe lured in a full house on Friday, September 18 and proved yet again that the best things in life are free. Read more...
Comments Off on Idiots perform in Mother’s
Admit it, you’ve been reading The Poly for the past three weeks anxiously anticipating an update from the Student Sustainability Task Force. Well, your wait is over. Here we are, back again with our weekly column. Expect us to bring you an article every week about what is going on here on campus or abroad as it relates to sustainability. I can assure you that this will be an exciting year; with plenty of projects set to soon be completed as well as word from the administration that we may soon have a sustainability professional on campus, we have a lot to be inspired by. The SSTF is doing some good work. Read more...
Comments Off on SSTF discusses projects for the upcoming year
This past Saturday night, Revolution Hall lent itself to charity and hosted Songs for Freedom, a benefit for the abolition of child sex slavery. The concert featured Basement Band, a Brooklyn folk-rock group, and local folk musician Sean Rowe. While the turnout was less than ideal, the concert hall was sparsely littered with attendees lucky enough to see a pretty decent show for only $10, and simultaneously help out a charity. Read more...
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The first game for the men’s and women’s hockey team wasn’t what one would normally expect. Members of both squads traded in their normal ice skates and pads for the night in favor of something different—a sled. Last Friday, the Engineers were challenged by a new, local team—the Capital District Sled Warriors—in an exhibition match. Although RPI lost the game, 4-3, the players and coaches walked away with a new appreciation for the game, and the challenges some people face to share in the joy of the sport they love. Read more...
Comments Off on Hockey teams appreciate new perspective on game
With Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Ithaca College Bombers, the men’s soccer team has claimed its sixth-straight shutout, and remains undefeated this season. Rensselaer, which scored a goal in each of the halves, is now 5-0-1 on the year, while Ithaca, a team RPI has struggled to defeat in the past, is now 2-2-2. Read more...
Comments Off on Men’s soccer ranked 14th in national poll
With seven competitions in the past two weeks, RPI’s women’s soccer team has been busy on and off the field. With Liberty League Conference matches starting this week, the women have been busily preparing for the more challenging competitors that they are guaranteed to face. Read more...
Comments Off on Women’s soccer drops two in non-conference action
During the first few weeks of classes, H1N1, also known as swine flu, has been a recurrent topic on campus. Professors were asked to discuss the flu with their classes, and consequently, many went over some basic hygiene suggestions to help prevent the spread of the flu. In addition, some professors have announced contingency plans for lectures and grade determination in the event that many students or the professors themselves are unable to attend classes. Signs have appeared around campus reinforcing basic hygiene practices, while some professors are passing around hand sanitizer or Clorox wipes in classes. Medical Director of the Student Health Center Leslie Lawrence states that these health guidelines are an attempt to slow any potential spread of H1N1, which would assure that an outbreak could be more thoroughly handled by the Institute’s resources. He felt that professors would be one of the best ways to reach students about the virus. Read more...
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The face of media has been constantly changing over the years; print media is becoming secondary to more immediate methods of getting information via sources like the Internet. News stories are moving towards more of a tabloid feel, and our generation is becoming steadily more interested in Kanye West’s behavior at the VMAs than policy decisions about the economy that students will eventually have to enter after graduation. While The Poly will not be turning our national news page into a detailed report of the latest celebrity entering rehab, we will be trying to keep up with the times in terms of technology as well as keeping our readers interested in our content. Read more...
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The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center welcomed Atlanta-based indie rockers Deerhunter and the Japanese noise rock act Boredoms presenting their BOADRUM 9 performance this past Friday evening as the kickoff event of the “New Nothing” series. The event was rather well-attended, perhaps due to a surprising level of interest from local media outlets or the introduction of advertising on the popular indie music website Pitchfork. The entering audience was greeted with an impressive stage setup. In the middle of the concert hall was an octagonal stage, carefully supported by chains just above the seats, littered with what at first appeared to be a mutant interpretation of the traditional rock set up. Behind this, a second stage was constructed, elevated to compete with the stage already hovering over the lower portion of the orchestra seating in the concert hall. This setup unfortunately provided Deerhunter with one of their two glaring performance arrangement shortcomings—having to perform behind the main act’s gear. (The second drawback was the limitation provided by the hall’s fixed seating arrangement, which proved to be too formal for the act in question.) Read more...
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This past Saturday pitted the RPI football team against the Endicott College Gulls in the opening match at the new East Campus Stadium of the East Campus Athletic Village. Not wanting the opposition to steal the Engineers’ thunder, Rensselaer countered the East Coast foes with a 28-0 shutout in front of a record crowd of 3,815—including Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. The Engineers open the season with a strong 1-0 record, while the Gulls drop down to 1-1 on the year. Read more...
Comments Off on Engineers’ defense shuts down Gulls
In recognition of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson, a group of RPI students will be making the same voyage as Hudson did. The only difference is that this voyage will be made with pollution-free hydrogen fuel cells, with the hope to raise awareness about sustainability along the students’ journey. The ship will launch on September 21 in Manhattan and make the trip back to Troy in time for Troy Night Out on September 25. Read more...
Comments Off on New Clermont voyage offers sustainable travel alternative
Recently, I became frustrated with a friend of mine who criticized several works of literature he had never read. Our discussion lead to him admitting, after bashing Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, that he had “only read, like, three pages” of the novel before tossing it aside. The conversation turned to troubles in the Middle East and culminated with a discussion of colonialism, where it came full circle: To the horror of the others in the room, my friend declared that colonialism was very beneficial to the country being colonized. Perhaps, we were quick to point out, if he had actually read Things Fall Apart, he’d have a different point of view. Read more...
Comments Off on Illiteracy is not superiority
Unless we are willing to buck the reins of our so-called civilized society, none of us will ever reach our full potential. As a general rule we are not special—I don’t care what lies your mother may have told you as a child. You need to realize that, though we are social creatures, there is only one person you should devote your life to, and that is yourself. You should be the most important person in your world, and to take any actions that demonstrate anything to the contrary is a betrayal to yourself. Read more...
Comments Off on Accept reality, improve yourself
If one were to step back and look at all that has happened on campus the past five years, it must seem like life at RPI is set to hyperspeed. We’ve completed the Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, and this past weekend’s football game is the start to the East Campus Athletic Village. We’ve started and completed a capital campaign, brought about programs and initiatives that have received acclaim from around the world, and our student body has grown and excelled in quality and diversity; we’ve broken the bounds of what is conventional. Read more...
Comments Off on Freshmen invited to run for Senate