A chemical spill, later found to be a skin irritant, caused the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies to evacuate on Friday, around 1:15 pm. Troy Fire Department responded to the scene with several engines and a hazmat unit, and 15th Street was blocked off by Troy Police for over an hour. Read more...

During the 2013–2014 school year, the RPI campus saw many happenings. A scandal over posters; clubs held many events, even beyond those detailed here. The Mueller Center and Rensselaer Union got upgrades to make them better for students. Read more...

The end of the semester is fast approaching, and with finals around the corner, students should make sure they have enough time to prepare to move out for the summer. The Poly would like to make sure everyone has transportation to go back home and their valuables secured. Many options are available to all students. Read more...

Crowdfunding has taken the world by storm. With the advent of services like Kickstarter, it has become the norm for nascent companies to pitch product concepts to the masses in order to convince them to donate their hard-earned money and fund production. Many products have seen successful crowdfunding campaigns: everything from video games to smartphone screen protectors have been released on the money of “backers.” Things became a bit more unprecedented when television writer/creator Rob Thomas and actress Kristen Bell took to Kickstarter. Thomas decided to try his hand at crowdfunding a film sequel to his critically acclaimed, cult hit TV show, Veronica Mars, which starred Bell in the title role. Unceremoniously canceled after its third season, fans of the show have been clamoring for closure to the series for some time now. After being frustrated by studio disinterest in funding such a project, Thomas decided to take it to the fans themselves. After shattering several Kickstarter records and achieving the necessary funding in less than ten hours, Warner Bros. finally decided to greenlight the film for distribution. So, having already made history, how does Veronica Mars, the film, stack up? Read more...

On the weekend of May 2, the RPI women’s lacrosse team hosted the Liberty League Conference tournament, a two-day, four-team event. After coming from behind to defeat Vassar College in the semifinals on Saturday, RPI emerged victorious in the Liberty League Championship game against tri-city rival Union College, and earned an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament starting next weekend. Read more...

Over this past year, the Student Life Committee worked on revisions to the excuse policy. They recently learned that most of their revisions passed through. We interviewed Grand Marshal Kyle Keraga ’15, former Student Life Committee Chair, regarding his old committee’s work and the new excuse policy. Read more...

As a rule (well, sort of), the editor in chief writes editor’s corners a few times during their tenure. Traditionally, they’re once right at the beginning of their term, once at the end, and a few times in the middle. The middle ones are run around big events—like Homecoming & Reunion or the Accepted Students Celebration—or when students are about to pack up and leave for the summer or are just arriving on campus in the fall. Read more...

Although we’re only halfway through season four of this great show, we are at the end of our school season, so I would be remiss not to mention the hit sensation on all televisions, Game of Thrones. Out of respect to those who want to watch, I’ll be sure not to include spoilers, but honestly, if you haven’t watched the show yet, you are missing something special. There is good reason that the show floods social media every week, and has led to half my friends calling me “Prince Joffrey,” because it’s a great show that everyone can watch. Why is this? Why does my brother, mother, and father all love this show when we can’t even agree where to go out and eat? What is it we love? Read more...

Last Friday, May 2, both the RPI men’s and women’s varsity track and field teams, led by Head Coach Colin Tory, traveled to St. John Fisher College to compete in the NYSCTC Championships. The meet began on Friday night, and continued on Saturday morning. The decathlon/heptathlon took place on the preceding Sunday and Monday, April 27–28, at RIT. The meet consisted of 13 teams, all of which are Division III schools in New York. Read more...

Recently researched at Rensselaer, a new type of a battery is in the works, specifically, an all-carbon lithium battery. Current batteries in use, like the ones in cellphones, tablets, and laptops, are lithium-ion batteries. Lithium is a light metal, which is necessary in designing light, portable devices. Read more...

As the 2013–2014 academic year swiftly comes to a close, my time at RPI goes with it. My time as an undergraduate here has been far quick, but I like to think that I’ve learned a lot and grown tremendously as a person. While 400 words certainly is not enough to convey everything that I’ve picked up over the past five years, it will be good enough to talk about some of the things I’ve picked up, as well as my sentiment towards RPI. Read more...

On Friday, May 2, Sheer Idiocy had their last show of the semester. In this show, they introduced four new games: Category Die, Echo, LaRond, and Freeze Jump, all games they learned recently. Additionally, the troupe made up a game just for their graduating seniors, which was a clusterpuppy of six of their other games that they play; it was more for the group than the audience. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make the show that Friday, but luckily, thanks to RPI TV, I was able to watch it online. Lasting about two hours, the show entertained the audience with improvised games. Read more...

This past weekend, RPI women’s softball hosted the Liberty League conference tournament. The tournament followed a round-robin, double elimination format in which teams would continue to compete until three teams all had two losses and the fourth team became champion. Read more...

As of late, the Incident Blotter has seen many incidents of thefts in the athletic buildings. As early as March 13, there have been five reported cases concerning the loss of items near the Mueller Center with two other incidents at other athletic centers. In total, students have reported the loss of over $500, a cell phone, and a watch of unknown worth. All cases immediately were followed up by reports filed to Public Safety. Read more...

Hi, everyone! This Top Hat will be my final article of the academic year. Outside, the Troy weather has improved, classes are wrapping up — and as the summer takes hold, there’s a great deal for everyone to look forward to. Read more...

On Saturday, May 3, the Dance Club held their annual recital in the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. For two hours, members of the Dance Club performed to various musical numbers. Hip-hop, jazz, and ballet were among the dances. This was my first time attending a recital, although my friends on the Dance Club have been begging me to go for years! Read more...

RPI finished its season this past weekend with three road games at Liberty League rival St. Lawrence University. After getting shut-out in the first game on Saturday, Rensselaer fought back to win the second game of the doubleheader. On Sunday afternoon, inconsistent pitching plagued the Engineers in the opening game, allowing the Saints to cruise to a 12-6 victory. Following the first game, heavy rain fell for the rest of the afternoon, canceling the second game of the doubleheader. Unfortunately for RPI, one win in three wasn’t enough to earn a berth in the Liberty League tournament as they finished in fifth place, one and a half games back from fourth-seeded Vassar College. Read more...

On Monday, April 5, the 45th Student Senate had their last meeting of the semester. They met to amend the Senate by laws and approve the Grand Marshal’s appointments to cabinet and committee chairs. Read more...

Hey RPI, I hope you have had a wonderful last week of classes. It’s time for the final push before summer break! Read more...