In May, Phalanx awarded the David M. Darrin ’40 Counseling Award to Professor Charles Boylen. The award was physically presented to Boylen during Commencement 2013 on May 25. The Counseling Award was given to Boylen for his “unusual contribution in the counseling of undergraduate students.” Read more...

Welcome back to RPI! For those of you who don’t know, in the past, The Poly has been self-funded, with the entirety of our revenue coming from our advertisement sales and no funding coming from the Rensselaer Student Activity Fee. This is something that we have always been proud of; it allows us to maintain financial independence, journalistic integrity, and helps keep student fees down. However, over the past decade, print advertising revenue has fallen over 60 percent industry-wide. The Poly has not been immune to these changes. Last year, through a combination of the troubles facing all print media and mistakes on our part The Poly did not make enough money via advertisements to cover the cost of publication. The Rensselaer Union graciously covered the debt we owed our printing company, something for which the staff of The Poly is very thankful. Read more...

On Wednesday, August 21, as a wave of freshmen flooded campus for Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond, 30 students gathered in the basement of the Darrin Communications Center to learn about RPI’s own radio station, WRPI-FM 91.5. With no shortage of music lovers, they crowded into the WRPI headquarters, led by members of the channel eager to share their passion for everything that they put on the airwaves over the 75-mile radius, including three states, that the station commands. Read more...

So a lot of people have seen and loved the work of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Between them they have the twin successful titles of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, both of which have met with a good reception from critics and fans alike. Pegg and Frost have been a very successful comedic duo for a while now, with their own slightly less well known but no less good sitcom on the BBC, Spaced. Still, a three-peat is very difficult to manage for almost everyone, and there were a lot of expectations riding on their latest work, The World’s End. I am here now to say unto you, they nailed it. Read more...

Over the last several weeks, members of RPI’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders traveled to the Panamanian island community of Isla Popa II to continue progress on their clean water program. According to EWB Vice President Kammi Shah ’14, this was the team’s third trip to the island and their second assessment trip. Read more...

The only person you know best is yourself. You know your likes, dislikes; when you’re willing to stop studying for a “quick” snack break. Or, what you’re best at doing, say polytechnic stuff. I mean, that’s why a lot of you are here, at this school. But, do you truly know your limits? Read more...

Could natural gas be the answer to U.S. energy independence? This is the question facing researchers and policy makers, and the State of New York finds itself right in the heart of the debate on fracking. The state overlies a portion of the Marcellus shale formation, which according to the Department of Environmental Conservation, could provide the U.S. with up to 489 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Read more...

Four members of Engineers for a Sustainable World from RPI, accompanied by a team from To Love a Child, traveled to a Rantlamouaie, small village, in Haiti to complete the installation of a new daycare center this summer. ESW helped Rantlamouaie last year by converting a shipping container into a health center, outfitted with solar panels for power. This year, Javier Camino ’14, Chris Warmann ’14, Andrew Chung ’12, and Nelson Lim ’11 used this same concept to design and construct a daycare center, complete with a playground and awning, right next to the health center. Read more...

Hi! I’m Elizabeth. While I’ve been involved in many clubs over the past three years, this is my first time being an editor at The Poly. Read more...

If there is one word to describe Sheer Idiocy, it’s “witty.” First year students were taught the art of quickly coming up with something funny and clever without losing the theme. This Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond activity was the embodiment of improvisation. It can let you be more creative with your words by having to think fast without losing accuracy. Read more...

Some of you may have noticed a change in the first floor of the Rensselaer Union this fall. Where there used to be a large banner and a stack of deep fried poultry, i.e. Chester’s Chicken, there is now a display case containing sushi and tempura rolls. Read more...

Over the last couple of months, Rensselaer has seen new individuals selected as heads of various departments, as well as the hire of a new acting vice president. Read more...

Welcome to all the new students who are joining our RPI family this year. Student Orientation and Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond week has come to a close and classes have begun. I hope it was as great of a time for the new students as it was for me three years ago, when I first came to RPI. I had such a wonderful experience thanks to the Student Orientation advisors who showed me around and answered my questions. SO advisors, Residence Life Staff, and everyone else involved, you did a fantastic job and are amazing at representing RPI. Read more...

On Thursday, August 22, the Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond theater group performed three productions in a culmination of hours of work over the previous two days. Under senior members’ guidance, the group of freshmen demonstrated their talent for theater on and off stage. Read more...

Earlier this summer, I went with one of my roommates and some of his family to Jose Malone’s, a self-declared Mexican-Irish restaurant on 2nd Street, near Brown’s Brewing Company. From what I could tell from the menu, “Mexican-Irish” seems to mean Mexican with Irish influences for most of the dishes. Read more...

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all those at RPI! Whether you are returning for another semester or are here for the first time, I welcome you to campus. I hope this year will bring good memories and classes for us all. It is wonderful to see the faces of those whom you may not have seen all summer, back on RPI’s familiar campus. Read more...

Twice a week, a group of students gathers on Anderson Field. Some of them have Frisbees, some of them don’t. Some are dressed in athletic gear tying up cleats, while others are wearing t-shirts and jeans. Most are somewhere in between. These people are part of Troy Ultimate Frisbee Community pick-up. Pick-up is open to anyone of any skill level. Some people are RPI students around for the summer to do research, work, or take classes. Others are RPI alums and others are from around the Capital District. Some come from as far away as Albany or Schenectady. All have come to play Ultimate while having a great time. Read more...

A collection of RPI newcomers gathered on the morning of Wednesday, August 21 inside the Ricketts Building, preparing to build an electric car. This activity was a choice offered by the Institute during Navigating Rensselaer & Beyond, a week-long event focusing on welcoming freshmen to the campus. Read more...