During the weekend of March 1, the Rensselaer Science Fiction and Anime Society put on their annual sci-fi and video game convention, Genericon. This marks the 27th Genericon, running back 29 years to 1985 when the event began. The oldest convention of its kind, Genericon features an array of events from traditional card games to concerts and celebrity guests. Read more...

On Monday, February 24, the Senate held a forum on Greek senators and their relevance to the student body. If I didn’t have another commitment at the time, I would have gone and defended Greek representation too, along with nearly two hundred of my Greek brothers and sisters. When it comes to Greek life, I’m a firm supporter. I pledged a fraternity first semester of my freshman year, and you can bet that I take pride in saying that. I’ve never experienced a organization like this that is so close-knit and holds traditions that are over 150 years old. I know there are social stigmas that surround Greek life; allow me to clear it up and reason you into joining us. Read more...

A few weeks ago, I was hanging around with some friends, watching reruns of Mythbusters, bored out of my mind, when my friend asked if I wanted to try this new game, Nidhogg. I was interested, not just out of boredom, but the name. Nidhogg? What does that mean? After some research, I learned that Nidhogg, also known as Níðhöggr, is an ancient Norse dragon that gnaws at a root of the World Tree. The prefix of this name in those times meant losing honor and becoming a villain, which I think fits this game quite well. Read more...

On the weekend of March 1, the Rensselaer men’s hockey team wrapped up its regular season with games at Brown University on Friday and Yale University on Saturday. Friday night’s game started out slow for both teams, with neither recording a goal in the first two periods of play. But five minutes and 45 seconds into the third period, junior forward Jacob Laliberte started off the scoring with a goal assisted by juniors Curtis Leonard and Matt Neal. Later on, goals by sophomore forward Mark Miller and junior forward Zach Schroeder gave RPI a 3-0 win in Providence, Rhode Island, over an underwhelming Brown squad. This was the first shutout of the year for standout junior net-minder Scott Diebold, whose 856 saves rank first in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Read more...

On Monday, the Student Senate met to discuss the potential changes within the Rensselaer Union Constitution and the GM Week Handbook for 2014. During its three-hour meeting, the Senate reviewed any suggested changes to the two documents and voted on their viability. While any changes in the Constitution need to be voted on by the Senate first, the final vote lies within the student body, which needs to approve the document by a majority vote in a valid election. Read more...

Transferring to RPI was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made. The idea of starting college all over again—basically re-doing freshman year— scared me so much. However, making the choice to suck up those fears and transfer colleges ended up working out pretty well. Read more...

For me, television has always been about finding the next great story, a story that couldn’t fit into the two-to-three hour confines of a film and was just too cinematic to be held back against a page. Shows like Game of Thrones showed me how jaw-dropping television series could be given film-level budgets and production values, and how excellent an adaptation of an epic book series could be given the room to breathe that seasons of television allow. Meanwhile, the likes of Breaking Bad showed me just how powerful the medium could be in the hands of a masterful bard, weaving his vision out of stark cinematography and strong symbolism. And of course, both of these shows, and more, showed me what could happen when brilliant actors were allowed hours of screen time to flex and showcase their superb talent. We are indeed in a golden age of television, and with more and more Hollywood film talent gravitating toward the medium, it would seem that we haven’t seen anything yet. So what happens when you combine some of that Hollywood talent, including a leading man on a warpath effort to redefine his career, with the likes of a relatively unknown novelist and former literature professor, and a fresh director with only two films under his belt? The strongest HBO effort since Game of Thrones, a breakout television hit, and easily the best show currently airing. Read more...

Recently, there have been a string of muggings and other crime targeted toward RPI students. This is a concern to The Poly staff, as we don’t want you to be a victim of campus crime. Crime seems to be increasing, and we encourage you to take precautions to defend yourself. Be careful about where you walk late at night, don’t display valuables—better yet, don’t bring them with you unless absolutely necessary. Stay alert, which includes not listening to music on headphones. Public Safety provides free escorts if you don’t feel safe walking somewhere, or you can travel with friends to make yourselves a less likely target. Act like you know where you’re going and what you’re doing, and keep a posture that doesn’t make you appear a victim. Read more...

Nathan’s View

Seeing Ron Burgundy on the big screen should definitely happen more than once a year, and this opportunity has arisen thanks to the producers of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues with the special one-week-only release of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues: Super-Sized R-Rated Version. Do not miss out on seeing this film; whether it is your first time ever seeing an Anchorman film, you saw the first one and loved it but missed the second film, or even if you did see the original release of the second film. See it as soon as you can, because this new release lives up to its hype as a different film, and, in my opinion, is a better one. Read more...

Matt Hall, a freshman attackman for the RPI lacrosse team, produced an incredible four goals and one assist in the team’s home opener against Keene State. Hall led his team against Keene State in a 10-6 victory. He shot an impressive 50 percent going four for eight from the field. He also received one ground ball in the season opener. Read more...

Tuesday, February 25

• Stacwyck Parking Area Read more...

Summer camp. A time for children to spend all day playing in the warm sun, all afternoon swimming in the refreshing waters of a lake, and all night gathering around a cozy fire. Camp is a place where friendships seem to be made—and broken—in an instant. It is also a place to discover your fantastic arts and craft skills, and take part in inside jokes, ones that will only be funny to your camp friends. Read more...

Last weekend, what I thought to be impossible happened. After more than 16 days, thousands of people playing a single game of Pokémon actually managed to beat it. For those of you who haven’t heard of this, which would be rather surprising at this school, Twitch Plays Pokemon is a streamed video of an emulator of the first Pokémon game. People in the video’s chat enters commands like left or right in order to dictate the avatar’s movement and actions. This sounds simple, but with thousands of people entering commands anything can happen. Read more...

On Saturday, March 1, RPI lacrosse had their first home game of the season against Keene State at ECAV stadium. After losing their first game to Montclair State in a fourth quarter struggle–where Montclair produced four goals to RPI’s none to win the game—RPI was looking to bounce back and reclaim what they hope to be a successful season. Read more...

The Student Senate approved the revisions of the Union Constitution on Monday; this is a positive change for Greek life. The Senate also removed every reference to the Inter Fraternity Council and Panhellenic Council except for the Greek senator positions where they voted to keep these positions. This removed the clauses giving the Judicial Board the right to review all IFC and Panhel legislation and well those outlining Greek Judicial Board. The Rensselaer Union Constitution now reflects that the IFC and Panhel are independently constituted bodies and that the Union does not have jurisdiction over their actions. This also gives the IFC and Panhel constitutions the ability to define the Greek Judicial Board separately. Read more...

Last Wednesday, February 26, 11 student teams gathered to pitch their business proposals at RPI’s annual Business Model Competition. The Lally School of Management has hosted this event for three years, with the help of the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, an on-campus organization dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship among RPI students through educational opportunities and resources. This year’s business models were presented to a panel of judges comprised of RPI faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Judges chose the top three submissions in both graduate and undergraduate divisions. Read more...

Hello, RPI! At the general body meeting for the Student Senate this Monday, many important topics were discussed regarding the Union Constitution. The Senate voted on and passed three motions during the meeting, and each of them is important for the future operation of the student government. The first motion focused on the Independent Council. In the motion, it was outlined how the Independent Council was created to expand the social and extracurricular life of students who were not Greek and then explained how the Rensselaer Union now serves the intended function of the IC. It further stated that because the Independent Council operates separately from the Rensselaer Union, meaning it has its own constitution, it can dissolve itself. In the motion, it dictated that by dissolving itself, the responsibility for electing the independent senators fell to the Student Senate. These independent senators will only be elected by Independents and the voting status of the students voting in Grand Marshal Week will be determined by the Dean of Students Office. Read more...