I don’t like fraternities. I know that sounds bad and a lot of folks won’t like it, but there you have it. I’m sure most of the folks in them can be and are cool. I don’t doubt that many are nice guys (and ladies) that I would probably enjoy hanging out with. What I hate are the groups themselves. I hate the mentality associated with it. Read more...

RPI football cannot seem to catch a break this season. Just as the Engineers seem to gel together for a victory, another setback is waiting the following weekend. Rensselaer fell in a non-conference matchup with Utica College this past Saturday at the East Campus Stadium. The loss places RPI at 2-3 overall on the season, while the Utica Pioneers improved to 3-2. Read more...

As robotics has entered professional fields across the board, various fundamental problems have arisen. Professor of Computer Science Jeff Trinkle, along with several others from RPI to Germany, is conducting research to attempt to resolve such issues. In particular, Trinkle—who has years of experience with the topic—is addressing the area of grasping objects. Read more...

What is CLASS? If you were to ask that question to a random sample of students walking across the footbridge or eating dinner in Sage Dining Hall, you’d likely get one of two responses: the more veteran students will likely declare the unfairness of being kicked off campus, the Greek Commons agreement, or losing housing scholarships, while newer students would likely proudly recite its full name (Clustered Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students) or helpfully comment that their next class is Chemistry I. Read more...

RPI was hoping to improve on a string of difficult results as they hosted conference rival Union College at Renwyck Field. The Engineers were looking to slow down an in form Dutchmen side that entered the game 9-1-0. Read more...

September 28 marked the day of a state-wide forum. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that $4.4 billion will be appropriated over the next five years to five leading international companies to promote the advancement of nanotechnology—more specifically, computer chips. Cuomo also divided up the state into 10 regional economic development councils; the Capital District Region is led by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. Each of these councils is coming up with an economic plan, and the top four plans will be adopted. From a federal perspective, this deal has the potential to create 6,900 more six-figure jobs statewide. On the behalf of RPI’s student body, Anasha Cummings ’12, the Rensselaer Chair of Senate Advocacy, Community and Advancement Committee, attended this meeting. Read more...

This past week, the Executive Board had a presentation on the Mary Jane and Hugh M. Archer Center for Student Leadership Development, more commonly known as the Archer Center. Linda Teitelman McCloskey, the director of the Archer Center, came before the Board to give us a history lesson on the center and its connections with the Rensselaer Union and the Executive Board. She brought in posters, brochures, program descriptions, and data on student participation in programs. It was fascinating to learn that the Archer Center began as leadership development programs for club leadership, all led by McCloskey and the Union’s administrative staff. The Archer Center was originally established within the Union by the Executive Board, and from there, it continued to grow. As the center grew in size, leadership development services were requested by clubs both affiliated and unaffliated with the Union. Read more...

Occupy Wall Street, a protest which began on September 17, is still ongoing in New York City and has spread to other areas around the country. Protesters are still camped out in Zuccotti Park, with marches a constant occurrence throughout the area. The movement has now hit the national and international news and is still going strong, despite the 700 people who were arrested in New York City on October 1. Many other cities, including Albany, are starting similar movements. Read more...

700 protestors were arrested this Saturday in New York City as part of a major march on the Brooklyn Bridge. The march was part of the ongoing Occupy Wall Street movement taking place in Zuccotti Park across the street from the site of the former World Trade Center. The Brooklyn Bridge march was one of many marches being led out of the park over the course of the occupation, now entering its third week. Read more...

Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President for Policy and Planning Laban Coblentz has disappeared from RPI. He is no longer listed in the RPI directory, and his position is listed as vacant on the president’s cabinet list. What happened to him? Read more...

Kicking off the regular season with the first of three series on the road, the women’s hockey team headed to Storrs, Conn., to battle the University of Connecticut Huskies. In a matchup of two programs that have grown in recent years, the teams battled to a 3-3 tie in Friday’s game, while Rensselaer was able to stage a comeback with a 1-0 shutout victory on Saturday. Read more...

After more than thirty years at Rensselaer, the chair of the department of Science and Technology Studies, Dr. Sharon Anderson-Gold, passed away on September 26, 2011. Read more...

Have you ever played Katamari Damacy? It’s a bright and colourful video game, wherein the King of All Cosmos, a giant and mostly-benevolent ruler living in space, accidentally knocks down all the stars in the sky. The people of Earth are, understandably, upset. You play his puny son, the Prince, and are given a sticky ball known as a “katamari”; your task is to push the katamari along on Earth (mostly Japan), while a timer counts down, and pick up anything in your path until you’ve achieved a clump of objects sized suitably for a star. The katamari is then launched into the sky, and a new star, made up of everything from paperclips to elephants, is born. You win once you’ve replaced all of the stars, constellations, and moon. Earth is slightly more desolate, but hey, at least the sky’s back. Read more...

Starting off the season with a bang, the men’s hockey team defeated Acadia University in exhibition action on Saturday night with a seven-goal blowout. Junior Nick Bailen and freshman Ryan Haggerty each scored a pair of power play goals, while freshman Scott Diebold stopped all 19 shots he faced in the 7-0 victory. Read more...

For my first editorial notebook of the new year, I have decided to do something a little bit different. I am going to do an explication (look it up) of a few interesting sections of the movie Watchmen and also a short section of the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you have not watched either of these yet and don’t want big parts of them to be spoiled for you, you should probably stop reading now. Okay, I warned you. Read more...

RPI men’s soccer’s difficult weekend of games started on Friday as it hosted Liberty League opponent Rochester Institute of Technology. RPI was looking for its first Liberty League victory after losing its opening match to Vassar College, while the Rochester Institute of Technology was hoping to get their second in two matches. Read more...

Innio, a company consisting primarily of RPI alumni, has been hired by the Parking and Transportation Department at RPI to implement a new shuttle-tracking program. This program will provide RPI with information such as rider occupancy and shuttle speed. Unlike the existing shuttle tracker, which mainly functions to give students an idea of where the shuttle is in relation to their current location, this new system will provide the transportation department with key information to help make shuttles run more efficiently. Read more...