On Saturday, the Engineers faced the Yellowjackets in a fire that burned the home team out in the end, resulting in the 6-point loss that brought Rensselaer to a conference record of 0-3 and overall record of 3-3. The Yellowjackets, meanwhile, improved to 2-1 in the league and 4-2 overall. Read more...
Monthly Archives: October 2013
Each year, the Class Ring committee of the junior class at RPI reveals to its members the class ring. This year, the Class of 2015 has attempted to create a ring design that provides students with a less traditional option. Read more...
It is that time of year again: Halloween! And, of course, that means it’s midterm season as well. By the time this notebook is in print and you are reading this, you have probably taken most, if not all of your midterm exams. Well, now is the time to relax and do something fun that is only going to be available during the Halloween/fall season. There are haunted houses you can visit, hay rides to go on, and, of course, the ever popular apple picking adventure! Read more...
As far as sports go, Formula One is far from the most popular. For the uninitiated, Formula One is the highest tier of single-seat auto racing in the world. It involves a single driver confined in the tight cockpit of a very small, very aerodynamic vehicle with more than several times the average horsepower of an everyday car. This car and driver are then pitted against like-minded individuals and their cars, covering lap after lap on some of the most varied—and even dangerous—tracks in the world. Some of the danger comes from the fact that these vehicles can achieve speeds upward of 200 miles per hour; in past years, Formula One was considered the most deadly sport in the world, racking up several driver deaths per year on average. In terms of raw excitement, few sports can match the sort of white-knuckle intensity that comes from a good Formula One race, which is why it seems a little odd that there hasn’t been a film on the sport before, brilliant documentary on Brazilian F1 world champion Ayrton Senna aside. However, Ron Howard seeks to rectify this with his latest film Rush, a film detailing the 1976 Formula One season, particularly the legendary rivalry between Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda and British McLaren driver James Hunt. Read more...
On Thursday October 17, I attended Max Brooks’s zombie survival talk, which later opened to an interactive and engaging Q & A with the audience in EMPAC. Brooks is the author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide. The book World War Z was recently made into a blockbuster movie of the same name starring Brad Pitt. During the talk, Brooks seamlessly wove current political events and pop culture with important survival strategies to take during the zombie apocalypse. At the end of his talk, he received a plaque with a key to the Union to recognize and honor him for visiting RPI through the Union Speakers Forum three times. Brooks is the only speaker ever to be invited back and I can clearly see why after attending his talk. Thank you, Max Brooks, for coming back to RPI and educating us all on zombie survival techniques. Read more...
I’m a serious fan of Pokémon. I’ve played since the Red and Blue versions were released in the United States (I’ve been tempted to find an imported copy of Green version and play through it, but I don’t have the money or time). So, when Nintendo released information regarding versions X and Y, the sixth Pokémon generation, I knew I had to play one of them. I picked Y, based on the appearance of the legendary Pokémon associated with it, Yvetal, and I haven’t looked back. Read more...
Hello, RPI! This past weekend was full of fun, as many Family Weekend activities were hosted all over campus. I hope many of you were able to attend these well-planned events. I would like to congratulate the Office of the Student Experience for planning such a wonderful weekend. Special thanks go out to Louis Trzepacz and Shanté Brown who were the co-chairs for this event. I hope that, after this weekend, they were both able to get some much deserved sleep! Read more...
Family Weekend at RPI is a time for celebrating the numerous accomplishments of the students who attend it, most importantly their diversity of character and talent. There was no better exhibition of these attributes this past weekend than through the showcasing of student talent outside of the classroom in the fields of theatre and music. I find it impressive that a school so famed for the importance it places on math and science can be so rich in artistic ability as well. For many, family weekend was a sort of tribute to the arts; attendance for both Shut and Bar the Door, written by Tom Gray and performed by our very own Players, and the Rocky Horror PITCHer Show, a performance by Rensselaer’s a capella groups, were very high, considering they were in competition with the number of other activities available. Even with the draw of a hockey game, the performances had the full house they deserved. Shut and Bar the Door provided a nice comic relief, the light and playful atmosphere projected by the actors and actresses allowed for relaxed, enjoyable entertainment. The show was cast well, the characters’ portrayal just witty and sarcastic enough to have the entire audience laughing, while retaining its cuteness and family-friendly atmosphere. The high energy show poked fun at traditional gender roles expected by a husband and wife, leading to a tremendously pointless but nonetheless very entertaining dispute that provided the show with the remainder of its plot, as well as frequent, silly bickering riddled with tongue twisters delivered so fast-paced that they had the entire audience chuckling in awe. The show was relatively perfect for the occasion, with audience interaction and simple amusement for everyone to enjoy. The Rocky Horror PITCHer Show, a pun that goes along with the shows Halloween theme, was an equally entertaining event. The four a capella groups arrived in costumes and made use of black lights in their performances, culminating to a very captivating performance by all. The groups provided a little something for everyone, due to their distinct and unique flavors, styles, and song choices. The light-hearted, fun show put on by Partial Credit was a perfect first act, setting the mood of high energy and artistic creativity, in both costumes and musical arrangements. They captured the Halloween feel in their take on Rusted Root’s well known song “Send Me On My Way,” a usually perky song, performed with a creepy yet comical twist. The Rensselyrics’ extremely diverse show followed the holiday spirit with a great rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” which created energy that had the whole crowd bobbing. The Rusty Pipes followed with a show that mixed current and classic music, contributing to the theme of the night with a somewhat haunting but extremely enjoyable arrangement of Muse’s “Madness,” and ending with a powerful version of “Titanium” by David Guetta. The show ended with RPI’s only all-male group, Duly Noted, who happened to be an excellent closing act, providing the audience not only with an amazing rendition of “Drive” by Incubus, among others, but their trademark goofy antics that kept the energy high, and the audience thoroughly amused until the very end. I would suggest the players’ next show, “Importance of Being Earnest,” opening in November, to anyone interested in some easy going and fun student run theatre. I would also highly suggest attending as many of the a capella groups’ fall shows as possible to anyone interested in a unique and exciting display of talent. For anyone planning to attend: prepare to be thoroughly entertained! Read more...
It is a common misconception to think that only seriously ill people need counseling. Studies have shown that over 80 percent of people can benefit from counseling at some point in their lives. People come in to talk to a counselor because they are having some problems in their lives for which they are seeking help in finding resolution. Some of the types of problems presented by students coming to the Rensselaer Counseling Service include low self confidence or self esteem; help with finding or losing a relationship; understanding puzzling emotional states; self defeating behaviors; alcohol and drug abuse; poor grades; anxiety; eating disorders; depression and/or suicidal thoughts or ideas; difficulty making decisions; lack of purpose and life direction; gender identity issues; family problems or conflict; and low motivation. Read more...
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All photos: Joseph Shen/The Polytechnic Read more...
Hello, parents! When you dropped your student off at RPI for the first time, you may have heard that Troy was unsafe. Read more...
“Pack the House Night” for the women’s ice hockey team ended in a tie between the Engineers and the No. 7 Boston University Terriers after three periods and a five-minute overtime this past Friday to kick off the weekend. It was a rather slow game for Rensselaer, but they worked hard to meet the sufficient end that would avoid handing them a complete loss in this non-conference competition. Read more...
Tuesday, October 8
• On-campus Location Read more...
Since I’m more than halfway through the first semester of my fifth year and well on my way to getting my master’s, I figure this is a good time to talk about my experience moving from an undergrad to what is effectively a grad student. Read more...
It truly was a day for celebration as the women’s soccer team emerged victorious on Saturday, October 12, over Bard College in a shutout. It was also the team’s day to acknowledge and show their gratitude to the six senior members of the squad for their participation and hard work for the past four years, with a short ceremony before the start of the competition. The triumph did not end there, though—what better way to continue the fun than to crush the opponent? Read more...
Last weekend, I attended HackMIT, a weekend-long hackathon hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This particular hackathon had participants spend a straight 24 hours coding a project involving some combination of software and hardware. Several dozen tech companies sponsored the event; many encouraged teams to use their software and APIs when creating their hacks. With hundreds of teams from all over the country, this contest was no small event. Read more...
RPI Cycling’s Mountain Bike Team has brought home the Division II Championship title from the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference for the second year in a row. Read more...