On Monday, September 15, the Senate had discussions with both Lester Gerhardt and Mark Smith to discuss the changes that they would each like to bring to campus. Even though they had different end goals, the Senate was able to set aside time to speak to each of the gentlemen thoroughly. Gerhardt is the President of the Faculty Senate and spent his time talking to the Student Senate about how the two governing bodies may work together and increase their communications. This change was suggested by last year’s vice president, and is something that Gerhardt fully intends to work on. To show his intention, Gerhardt proposed the use of a time slot in which representatives from the two bodies may meet. In these smaller discussions, Gerhardt hopes to hear word of what is going right, and what is going wrong in each other’s governing bodies, and in the case of the latter, Gerhardt hopes to discuss possible improvements. The Faculty Senate president hopes to be aware of issues and challenges that the students face and hopes the Student Senate will reciprocate. Read more...

For most of my notebooks, I tend to choose a light hearted theme, but this week, I’m so heated about this issue that I need to have it printed in the paper for everyone to read. Let me frame the problem. Last week, during a late night of studying in the Rensselaer Union, at 11:50 pm, I decided to get some ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s, 10 minutes before the posted closing time. However, when I approached the vendor to claim some delicious ice cream, I was horrified to see the shop dark, locked up, and not in fact open ten minutes before the closing time. To say I was flustered is an understatement. I felt cheated, abused, and neglected by this action. The Union food services, a set of organizations I held in high esteem for getting rid of greasy Chester’s, gross 99 cent Arizona sugar water, and disgusting calzones, has broken my heart. Read more...

The newest iPhone has been a long awaited release. Every year, many people wait on upgrading their phone until they get a chance to see the new iPhone that Apple releases. This September, Apple announced and released their newest iPhone, called the iPhone 6, and they also showed us the iPhone 6 Plus, which has some upgraded features and specifications compared to the iPhone 6. In this article, we will go over the new specifications and features of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and compare them to the previous iPhone and some of the top competitors’ smartphones that are on the market today. Read more...

President of the Union, Erin Amarello ’15, began this week’s Executive Board meeting by welcoming graduate student Courtney Lang, the new graduate student representative and appointing Andrew Sudano ’17 as the representative for the Juggling Club. Afterwards, the board discussed solutions to the post office that used to be in the games room, funding for two clubs, and ended with the director’s report. Read more...

The book is dying, radio listenership and participation is down, and stacks of newspapers go untouched. Computer usage has skyrocketed, social networks dominate our time, and we gripe on Reddit. Our computers and our smartphones serve as music stores, jukeboxes, news outlets, cameras, human interaction, as well as for professional business, meetings, and scheduling. Nude pictures of celebrities leak, ISIS releases a beheading video, and the president is heard nation-wide via a YouTube livestream. It’s a place where people blog, overanalyze, and where people waste hours replying to miles-long YouTube comment threads. Read more...

This week’s Athlete of the Week is RPI junior quarterback Jeff Avery. Despite this past week’s loss to Alfred University, Avery exhibited dynamic playmaking ability, throwing for 185 yards and four touchdowns. Two touchdowns of eight and 36 yards went to junior wide receiver Logan Gaddar, who totaled 85 yards on three catches. The other two went to graduate student Reggie Colas, who snagged five throws for 71 yards, including a beautiful touchdown throw and catch to put the Engineers up by 10 in the third quarter. In addition, Avery rushed twenty times for 45 yards, including a long of 11. Read more...

On September 10, 2014, a day before the 9/11 anniversary, President Obama announced that the United States will expand current military operations in Iraq to degrade and destroy Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. ISIS “is not Islamic,” the president explained while citing the massacre of innocents, the majority of whom are Muslim, in the troubled region. ISIS has taken advantage of the sectarian conflict in Syria to establish itself within Syrian and Iraqi territory. The terrorist organization’s entrance is particularly alarming because of its crimes against humanity (e.g., execution of prisoners of war, enslavement, rape, and forced marriage). Read more...

This Monday, Dean of Students Mark Smith came to the Student Senate general body meeting to discuss upcoming changes to the Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities, regarding the good samaritan policy as well as sexual assault and sexual harassment policy. With this week’s Top Hat article, I would like to explain the importance of this Student Handbook and the role we, as students, have been asked to play in the discussion process. Read more...

When described by the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center as “experimental,” the media showcased at events definitely fits the description. Steve Goodman, better known as Kode9, gave a dubstep performance on Tuesday, September 9 that was no exception. Read more...

In the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Dr. Douglas Swank is working on uncovering important fundamental details about muscle and the heart. As a part of the Biology Department for nine years, Dr. Swank has been an integral part of research at RPI. His interest in muscle physiology and disease began in high school and was solidified by a summer undergraduate internship at State University of New York at Buffalo which eventually led to his graduate school study. Dr. Swank has undertaken research projects that may help scientists understand the fundamental importance of several characteristics of muscles and the heart. With the award of two new grants from the National Institutes of Health, new research opportunities have opened up for the Swank laboratory. Read more...

Hey RPI!

I can’t believe that it is already week four; this year is flying by and it will be winter break before we know it! As the bombardment of projects and the first round of exams begin, I wish you the best of luck and as much sleep as you can get. Read more...

Greek life has been an integral part of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute community since 1853. Their continued academic, philanthropic, and social contributions make the Greek community a vital component of campus. Many famous RPI alumni are Greek, including the 14th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute George Low ’48, John Erik Jonsson ’22, Samuel Heffner ’56, and Palmer C. Ricketts, Class of 1875. Read more...

A treasured tradition within The Rensselaer Polytechnic is the editorial notebook. Each week, two editors compose a piece of approximately 500 words which conveys their thoughts and feelings toward a topic of their choice. Editors are free to discuss any topic. Many choose to write about topics they feel passionate about, especially those which have relevance to current events. For example, over the last few issues, three of our female staff members have written about feminism and gender, a topic which affects them especially. This week, one of our Greek editors wrote about rush and fraternities, a topic which he feels strongly passionate about. There are some perennial notebook topics, such as farewells from graduating seniors who have been long-time editors. Read more...

From August 7–10, Las Vegas hosted Jeff Moss’s internationally known Black Hat
Convention for computer security professionals as well as the 22nd annual DEF CON gathering, attended by hackers worldwide. I was among the many thousands of participants at DEF CON and the following is an interview with Ladar Levison, founder and CEO of Lavabit, which gained national recognition when he shut down his company to prevent the government from gaining access to his customer’s encrypted email. Read more...

This past Saturday, Rensselaer football opened its season at Norwich University in northern Vermont. Though RPI’s offense played well, it was the defense that set the tone, keeping the Cadets out of the end zone until the game was well out of reach in the fourth quarter. The final score: Engineers 29, Cadets 9. Read more...

The 41st Hockey Line ended Tuesday, September 9. Hockey Line, an RPI tradition organized by the Grand Marshal, is when students wait in line to buy seasons tickets. In 1985, one group started waiting in line right after RPI won the national championship. Part of the reason for this line was that pillars obstructed the view of many of the seats before the Houston Field House was redone. This year, Hockey Line started early; the rules were available before classes started, and the countdown clock counting the days, minutes, and seconds until seasons tickets go on sale was hung on the Rensselaer Union during the first week of classes. Participants lined up on the Rensselaer Union patio and had to have at least one person present from 8 am–9 pm to keep their place in line. The winning group was Red Army. Read more...

In light of the recent developments in our front page article this week, I would like to outline the ideal nature of Greek recruitment and comment generally on the purpose of Greek life. Full disclosure, I should mention that I am a Sigma Chi and have no first-hand experience with any wet recruitment event. Read more...