RPI’s men’s soccer team started its games for the week with a match against league opponent Skidmore College on Wednesday in Saratoga Springs. Entering with a 1-3-2 record in Liberty League contests, RPI desperately needed a positive result against the Thoroughbreds. Read more...

It was another difficult weekend for the RPI women’s hockey team. After falling to Robert Morris University by a 5-1 decision on Friday evening, the Engineers were unable to complete a comeback against the Colonials the following afternoon, falling by a score of 4-2. The two losses—RPI’s fourth straight—give the Engineers a 2-4-2 overall record, while RMU improves to 5-1-0 on the year. Read more...

Backed by a strong defensive performance, Rensselaer football defeated the St. Lawrence University Saints by a 14-7 margin in front of a large crowd at the East Campus Stadium during Reunion & Homecoming Weekend. The Engineers are now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Liberty League, while the Saints are 2-5 overall with a 1-3 conference mark. Read more...

“Here’s to the friends we’ve made at dear old RPI!” These words, the last line of our Alma Mater, rang throughout campus this weekend as over 2,000 registered alumni returned for our annual Reunion & Homecoming weekend. Read more...

Last week, I mentioned the importance of Reunion & Homecoming. This weekend marks another great Rensselaer tradition: Family Weekend. Make sure to invite your parents up this coming weekend to get a first-hand look at everything that Rensselaer has to offer. This weekend gives you the opportunity to spend some time with your parents and share with them everything that makes Rensselaer unique. Show them your residence hall, the dining halls, where you study and do research, and even introduce them to your friends. There are many great events throughout the course of the weekend that allow your families to enjoy the campus and the diverse student body. Read more...

I have had issues with FIXX in the past. They have always seemed like nice folk when I contacted them, which is completely to their credit given the volume of calls they must receive, but being nice doesn’t make up for the fact that they don’t respond. Read more...

If it wasn’t clear earlier in this issue, The Polytechnic’s editorial board is trying to get one point across: students are unhappy with the condition the Institute has fallen into and their voices are not really being heard on the matter. There’s no coincidence this issue is being brought up this very week—it happens to be Family Weekend here at Rensselaer, and from our editors’ (and my own) prior experiences, a parent’s voice can often travel much further than a student’s. Read more...

Family Weekend is a time to celebrate families at Rensselaer, and you’ll certainly see everyone putting their best foot forwards. You’ll experience a myriad of quality events, informative tours, and artfully-pruned trees and bushes that beautify the campus. We challenge you, however, to experience the average student’s campus. Explore the residence halls, pop into a classroom, and talk to the other families you pass by. Read more...

As Rensselaer moves further into the 21st century, we must not forget about the connections that technology has with the environment around us. Even if we do not want to submit our lives entirely to having a more sustainable world, there are still many things that can be done to move in this direction. Read more...

There was a time when my parents actually controlled what I watched on TV. The Simpsons were a no-no (which still baffles me as there really isn’t anything that inappropriate), and God forbid I was caught surfing on MTV or Comedy Central. I eventually grew up (well, my age grew), and they soon didn’t care whether I watched Nickelodeon or Cinemax late at night. It was at this point that I saw my first stand-up comedian. I flipped to Comedy Central one afternoon to find an older man standing on the stage, screaming at the top of his lungs about how the Super Bowl half-time show has gotten progressively crappier over the years. Read more...

On Saturday, everybody’s favorite robot that isn’t CGI stopped by. Watson, the golden god of Jeopardy, and project lead David Ferruci ’94 came to explain how Watson functions and play an actual Jeopardy game. The event took place in the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center where a mountain of free “I heart Watson” T-shirts were waiting to be swooped up by the liver-spotted hands of our alumni and anyone else who attended the event. Read more...

Research by Professor Robert Linhardt, constellation chair and professor of the chemistry and chemical biology department, involves sequencing the first carbohydrate biopolymer. This is an alternative name for a polysaccharide, a long chain of individual sugars such as glucose and other variations on a saccharide naturally synthesized in nature. Read more...

This past Friday, President Shirley Ann Jackson delivered her state of the Institute address to faculty, alumni, and students. But before Jackson gave her address, a video was shown that highlighted the goals and achievements of the Rensselaer Plan, students, and faculty. Read more...

On Monday, RPI’s Student Senate held its second annual State of the Union presentation. The chairs of each committee gave overviews of their respective committees, providing students with insight into how the Senate works. Read more...

A proposal for a McDonald’s on the corner of Hoosick Street and 15th Street has created a schism among Troy residents. Although the idea has not technically been released publicly, many are already organizing an effort against what they view to be a terrible idea. Read more...

Every fall, RPI comes alive with prospective students and future potential at open houses and other events. The Institute tries hard to make these potential tuition-paying students feel that this campus is the one for them. We at The Poly remember our days of campus visits; student tour guides promoting the small class sizes and brand-new buildings such as the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. But how many of these facts have matched the average student experience? Read more...

On Friday, men’s soccer headed to Clarkson University on a four-game winless streak and were eager to change that against the 4-7-1 Golden Knights. Since the team’s victory against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, the Engineers have tied two games and lost another two, all against Liberty League opponents. Read more...

Recently, signs have appeared around campus proclaiming things like “Stop RPI from being a sinking ship!” and “Why are all my professors leaving?” Read more...

There’s one thing I miss now that I’m at RPI: being able to talk politics. Not the talk of trying to convert people to whatever ideology I tend to be holding onto in a given month, but just talking about it. Talking about the Big O’s plummeting approval rating, talking about Mitt Romney finally pulling ahead of Governor Rick Perry in the polls, or talking about how a wealthy individual in North Carolina has been pouring millions into campaign funds in an attempt to realign the state congress. But the majority of the conversations I have on campus generally boil down to “LOL, Michelle Bachmann is crazy, Tea Party is crazy, [insert Colbert Report or Daily Show quote here].” Read more...