RPI women’s hockey’s impressive undefeated run came to a stop this weekend by the hands of the Niagara University Purple Eagles. The Engineers fell in game one on Friday by a 5-4 margin in overtime, while Niagara narrowly edged RPI in a 3-2 decision again on Saturday. The two losses place Rensselaer 2-2-2 overall, while the Purple Eagles, with assistant coach Allysen Weidner ’10 behind the bench, are now 2-4-0 overall. Read more...

To most instructors and students, learning is work. “School is your job,” they like to say. Students need to discipline themselves to study hard and get their work done, which will allow them to pass their exams and receive good grades. We assume that learning takes place somewhere throughout all of that. Read more...

A trip to Big Rapids, Mich., didn’t end as planned for the formerly nationally ranked men’s hockey team. After falling on the weekend to now No. 14 Ferris State University by a combined score of 6-0, the Engineers are now 1-3-0 on the year, while the Bulldogs vaulted to a perfect 4-0-0. Read more...

Research is going strong at the Institute’s Center for Earthquake Engineering Simulation headed up by Professor Ricardo Dobry and Associate Professor Tarek Abdoun. The CEES at RPI practices what is called physical modeling, where a small scale model of a given piece of some kind of infrastructure, for example a dam, levee, tunnel, or building, is created and tested in the center’s geotechnical centrifuge lab. This lab functions in a similar way to a wind tunnel, where a small scale model of a complicated system is put under stress in order to draw data from it that will help inform design processes on a greater scale. Read more...

This Friday marks the beginning of one of my favorite weekends here at Rensselaer: Reunion & Homecoming. This weekend, over a thousand alumni will be coming back to campus to reconnect with classmates, explore campus, and get a glimpse of what RPI is like today. This weekend is a fantastic opportunity to get to know a little more about RPI’s history and gain perspective on how the university has excelled and changed throughout the years. There are so many fun and interesting events going on all weekend, and many of them are open to the general student population. Attending these events is a great way to reach out to the alumni community, learn more about traditions and history, network with graduates of Rensselaer, and show your school spirit. Read more...

On Monday, Nicholas J. Viggiani began serving as RPI’s assistant vice president for research. After meticulously completing his duties and reporting to Dr. Francine Berman for his first full week here at Rensselaer, Viggiani asserts that his move to RPI is indeed a long term career move. Read more...

I am not the “tourist type.” Don’t get me wrong; I was once: I ascribe the present situation to the result of a slow ossification of whatever part of my personality was responsible for making me want to rush madly around and see things and places that were determined as absolutely necessary for everyone to see. I’m not saying that such things and places (the Taj Mahal, Sydney Opera House, the Grand Canyon, what’s left of the world’s wildlife after poachers have turned it into rugs or homebrew Viagra, and so on) is not worth a look: far from it. No; what I’m saying is that as time has gone by, I’ve become less and less enchanted by the horde of rampaging lookers-at that seems to sweep around the world much as the buffalo used to sweep across the American prairie. If I’m going to go somewhere, I like to see where tourists don’t go, the places known only to locals and shown to visitors with the sense that they’re being admitted to some private and terribly exclusive club. It’s entirely true that tourism is a major industry and has been for a century or two at least; furthermore, there exists a large number of communities which owe their continued existence to the revenue which tourists bring in. And further, again, how do you define a “tourist”? Is it possible (whisper it in hushed tones) that I am just as much a tourist as anyone else, except that I’m just more snooty or uptight about it? Am I, to coin a phrase, in some sort of excursionists’ closet? Read more...

At the Albany Common Council meeting on Monday, October 17, two ordinances were passed prohibiting hydrofracking in Albany County and the disposal of waste from hydrofracking in the county’s landfills. Although RPI is in Rensselaer County, hydrofracking is also a statewide issue; the state of New York will be deciding whether to allow hydrofracking in the state or not at the end of this year. A moratorium was passed prohibiting hydrofracking until that is decided upon. Read more...

Editor’s Note: This week’s Top Hat was guest written by Anasha Cummings ’12, who currently chairs the Advocacy, Community & Advancement Committee. Read more...

To the Editor:

I want to begin by saying that I’m not angry about what David Hodson ’14 wrote in the last issue of The Poly, and, speaking as someone who spent three years at this university not as a member of a fraternity, I can see where you’re coming from. I’ve been an active member in The Delta Phi Fraternity since the fall of 2009, and I wanted to take some time and perhaps explain a bit about why greek life is the way it is. Read more...

To the Editor:

This past month some of Troy’s finest pizzerias came together for Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Third Annual Pizza Tasting. Each year, during Fall Rush, as part of their goal to bring RPI students closer to the community of Troy, the brothers of SigEp hold the pizza tasting. The previous years have seen fantastic turnouts and this year was no different, with as many as 150 people participating in the event. The brothers were able to get nine pizzerias to participate in this year’s competition, including student favorites like Pizza DaVinci and Big Apple Pizza, as well as national pizza chain Domino’s. Read more...

I remember clearly a moment about three months after leaving the RPI campus, after all the congratulations for my degree and the genuine excitement people shared with me for my new job. One evening after a long commute from the office, I stood in the doorway of my very small studio apartment where I could see every single one of my worldly belongings in a glance and with a stack of mail in my hand addressed to “The Resident of ...” I had this sinking feeling: Really? Is this it? I thought I’d make a difference. I have heard this kind of experience referred to as the “after-school blues.” Read more...

Recently, the community of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was alerted to incidents of crime in areas near campus. As the culprits have not yet been identified, it is still unknown whether members of the RPI community are responsible. This has caused much of the community to be concerned for its safety. Read more...

According to a Public Safety Alert, there has recently been a series of robberies around campus, particularly between 13th and 15th streets. At the same time, there has been an increase in student muggings. Now that everyone is settled back into campus life, we thought it would be a good idea to remind students to stay safe while at college. Read more...

Following this past weekend’s action in Burlington, Vt., RPI women’s hockey remains only one of two teams in the ECAC with an unbeaten record. The Engineers tied the University of Vermont Catamounts last Friday evening and followed with the team’s first win over UVM since February 6, 2000, with a 4-0 victor on Saturday. Rensselaer improves to 2-0-2 on the season, while Vermont falls to 0-1-2. Read more...

Recently, in an e-mail to the faculty and staff at RPI, it was officially announced that Robert Palazzo will step down from his position as provost at the end of this school year. Coming to Rensselaer in 2002, Palazzo served as director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies during its initial years before becoming acting provost in 2006. Being instated as full provost in 2007 following a regional search, Palazzo has experienced nearly seven years in an administrative position at RPI. Read more...

As I write the words that you are reading right now, my dear reader, I am not thinking about my disdain for American leadership or my qualms on the lack of variety in Sodexo’s “Simply to Go” meals. I am thinking about the unfortunate loss of an artifact from generations past that had profound impacts on history before the dawning of the 21st century. I am thinking about cursive handwriting: its regrettable fall and its relevance in the modern world. Read more...

Nationally-ranked RPI men’s hockey opened its regular season with a two-game set against the Minnesota State University at Mankato Mavericks this past weekend at the Houston Field House. Although the No. 20 Engineers fell in the final minutes of play on Friday night in a 1-0 decision, Rensselaer bounced back to earn a 4-1 victory on Saturday. The win and loss place both teams at 1-1-0 for the young season. Read more...