In our May 12 edition of The Poly, the Editorial Board will name one member of the RPI community the Poly Person of the Year. The title honors an individual for his or her service to RPI, and can be given to students, faculty, or staff. If you have suggestions, please e-mail them to features@poly.rpi.edu. Read more...

The Poly staff apologizes for our infrequent website updates. We're currently working on getting articles up, but until then, a pdf of our most recent issue is available here. Read more...

At the President’s Spring Town Meeting, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced some key financial updates that will be occurring during the coming year at Rensselaer. At its meeting on February 27, the Board of Trustees recently approved the Institute Budget, which will “enable us to focus our energy and resources on the core activities that are central to our mission and purpose, with continued investment in faculty hiring and in selected student life initiatives,” according to Jackson. Read more...

On Thursday evening, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center hosted a night dedicated to introducing its new exhibit Dancing on the Ceiling. The evening was held in conjunction with a free viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey on the Concert Hall’s 56-foot-wide screen and a lecture from the film’s special effects director, Douglas Trumbull. Trumbull discussed both the artistic and engineering sides of the movie’s special effects, giving those in attendance a glimpse into the intersection of arts and technology that EMPAC was created to display. The event was eagerly anticipated by many members of the Rensselaer community and fairly well-attended, with the Concert Hall filled to about 60 percent capacity. Read more...

After several decades, most movies tend to show their age. In the ’80s, Tron was a breakthrough in visual effects. However, watching it now, the film looks ancient, and the effects can be thrown together with today’s simplest design tools. One of the few films to stand the test of time is Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Read more...

Rensselaer baseball finished the week with a 2-1 record after rising to No. 9 in recent polls. The Engineers defeated the Castleton State College Spartans by a score of 12-8 at Robison Field on Friday, followed by a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Montclair State University Red Hawks on Saturday. However, a three-run 10th inning in a rematch against the Red Hawks on Sunday saw RPI as the victor, redeeming itself after the team’s second loss of the season. With the two wins and one loss, Rensselaer is now 8-2 on the year, while Castleton dropped to 2-7, and Montclair sits just over .500 at 5-4. Read more...

During the Spring Town Meeting, President Shirley Ann Jackson announced that Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama, will be delivering this year’s Commencement address at the May 29th ceremony. Read more...

On Monday, March 15, the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences held a speaker session to illustrate current opportunities in the field of geology. William J. Siok ’69, executive director of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, and Pat Leahy, ’79, executive director of The American Geologic Institute and former head of the United States Geological Survey were invited to speak at the event. Read more...

I miss home.

That single thought is something I’ve struggled with ever since coming to RPI, and something I continue to struggle with in my writing. For my freshman year poetry class, I wrote: “Whenever someone on Tuesday night asks me ‘When are you going home?’ I always respond ‘I’m going back to my dorm at ...’ followed by a brief explanation (to myself) of where home is: Home is where my family lives, where the old people speak Russian and play dominoes, where the OCD woman (who waters her sidewalk three times a day) gets into arguments with the drug dealer across the street because she doesn’t like his berry tree staining her concrete ...” Read more...

There is a lot that I won’t claim to know about health care or any potential changes coming our way, but I think I can say with some certainty that I’ve learned a few lessons on how to navigate some key aspects. Most recently, I’ve learned firsthand how important it is that you be responsible for your own medical records. This isn’t a rant about how you can’t trust “the system,” or a story about extreme situations: rather a story about how frightening it can be to lose something that can easily be taken for granted, like your medical history. Maintaining up to date and accurate medical records is an important task for anyone and everyone, whether you are a student, an athlete, a caregiver, or chronically ill. Read more...

The student government suite is alive with talk about elections this time of year. I thought I’d give my thoughts on the process and share some of the resources available to the student body. Student government is an influential and important organization on campus, and it provides a voice for students and the organization of activities beyond what can be found on most campuses. Read more...