October 9–12 was Reunion & Homecoming. Among other events, President Shirley Ann Jackson gave her twice-yearly State of the Institute Address on Saturday, October 11. Most of those in attendance were alumni and their families. Jackson discussed the many programs and initiatives Rensselaer has in place to shape the Institute over the coming decade. Also among the events on Saturday were the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Centennial Celebration and the induction of the Class of 1964 into the 50 Year club. Read more...

Around this time last year, The Poly was under both editorial and monetary stress. At the beginning of the Fall 2013 semester, we owed the Union a significant amount of money, and as a result, staff morale was at an all time low. Consisting mostly of upperclassmen members, the Poly staff was burned out from years of late Tuesday composing nights. As a result, in mid-October, most Poly members reasonably resigned from the newspaper to focus on schoolwork. I like to call this the Poly purge. Frankly, it was more of a bad thing than good. Read more...

October 9–12 was Rensselaer Reunion and Homecoming. Many events were held to celebrate alumni coming back to campus. Class years ending in 4 or 9 were celebrated with various dinners and receptions. Special events included the 50 Year Club Captain J.P. Dinner Cruise on the Hudson, Rensselaer in Space: Live from the International Space Station with G. Reid Wiseman ’97, The Auto Show Presented by Rensselaer Motorsport, President’s State of the Institute Address, the 5K Alumni Challenge, FanFest, “Oh, What a Night” Band Party, An Evening of A Capella with Voice Play, and more. Read more...

On Saturday, October 11, RPI football hosted St. Lawrence for their homecoming matchup. The Institute found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard as they suffered their second loss of the season, 24-10. Read more...

Net neutrality is the principle that websites, web-services, and applications are treated equally by large telecommunications companies. Net neutrality essentially allows small startups to compete with mammoth corporations, such as Facebook. Without net neutrality, Internet service providers would be allowed to select certain high-traffic websites to load much faster. Consequently, the small startups that are unable to pay for preferential treatment would be left in the dust. Recently, many high-profile companies have paid premiums to Internet service providers to ensure an enhanced ability to reach customers. Netflix, for example, has made a deal with Comcast so that its users can stream movies and TV shows faster. Read more...

I’m new to the world of so-called smart phones. Over the summer I “upgraded” from the original Samsung Gravity (released in 2008) to the Samsung Gravity Smart (released in 2011), if you can truly call that an upgrade. I had the original Gravity for five years. My friends teased me relentlessly over my “dumb” phone but I knew how to use it and it did everything I needed. Only at the end of its long, full life did I have any problems with it. But since upgrading, my phone has caused me quite a few problems. Read more...

Destiny: a first-person, action-packed thriller video game that doesn’t allow you to stop playing. Having won over 180 awards, the game’s amazing user interface and visual representation keeps the user glued to the screen for hours on end. Read more...

This past weekend, RPI field hockey hosted the University of Rochester Yellowjackets and William Smith College Herons on Friday, October 10 and Saturday, October 11, respectively. In the opener, the Engineers battled valiantly against a Rochester squad, which had only one loss the entire season. In the opening three minutes, junior forwards Hana Murphy and Angela Cascio combined for three shots on Rochester goalie Tara Lamberti. But each was saved. Then, in the following six minutes, Rochester fired three shots of their own, one of which was blocked by a defender, while the other two were saved by senior goalie Hannah Clough. Read more...

In last week’s Executive Board meeting, President of the Union Erin Amarello ’15 was not present. Presiding over the meeting in her place was Erica Hutchins ’15. On the agenda were meetings with Ski and Snowboard Club, The Poly, and CANstruction. Read more...

Happy Wednesday, RPI, and welcome back from your long weekend! I hope everyone has thoroughly enjoyed their time off, and that all are well rested in preparation for the rest of the semester. This weekend was also Reunion & Homecoming weekend, and an exciting time for all. For the RPI alumni new and old, Reunion & Homecoming is the perfect opportunity to connect and catch up with old friends and favorite organizations as they return to this campus, this place of so many dreams and memories. Read more...

This week’s athlete of the week is men’s soccer player junior midfielder Matt Carberry. In two games last week, Carberry scored both game-winning goals for the Engineers, who went 2-0. Last Wednesday against Union College, Carberry scored on a free kick in the third minute to give the Engineers a 1-0 lead. The goal proved to be the lone score of the evening as sophomore goalie Alex Kessler hauled in nine saves to preserve a 1-0 win. Read more...

At 6:30 pm on Saturday, October 11, a smiling Keith Downes ’91 completed the second of two cuts splitting a thick purple ribbon looped around two columns in front of the First Baptist Church on 3rd Street. The cut was accompanied by the applause of a crowd of around 100 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brothers, graduate brothers, and friends celebrating a joint event commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Tau Nu Fiji chapter at RPI and the official opening of the renovated chapter house. For the first time in three decades, the Tau Nu Fijis will be living outside of the Rensselaer Apartment Housing Projects student housing. Read more...

Hey RPI!

I hope that all of you enjoyed your long weekend. Whether you went home or stuck around for the Reunion & Homecoming festivities, it’s always good to get a little break! If you did stay around campus, I hope that you were able to attend some of the events that occurred all across campus throughout the weekend. Many of our Union clubs took advantage of the weekend to showcase their talent and hard work to students and alumni. All of our a cappella groups performed Saturday night alongside VoicePlay to put on an amazing show for all who attended. Formula SAE showed off their hard work during their Auto Show on Saturday with a demonstration of their own car. During FanFest, the main stage hosted a variety of student performances including Duly Noted, Partial Credit, the Rusty Pipes, Rensselyrics, RPIgnite, and the Jazz Band. Reunion & Homecoming weekend is an incredible and unique opportunity for students to connect with alumni and show them how great their Alma Matter is doing. It is always exciting to be able to speak with alumni and hear about their experiences, both at RPI and in their careers after graduation. One amazing RPI alumni success story was shared with the campus this weekend when we were able to speak live with Gregory Reid Wiseman ’97, who is currently on the International Space Station. RPI alumni make up a very prestigious and inspirational group of professionals that are out there changing the world and getting to spend the weekend with them is always a pleasure. Read more...

Last Friday, a special guest video chatted with students and alumni at the Experimental Music and Performing Arts Center. That guest was not only an RPI alumni but also more than 200 miles above the earth. Gregory Reid Wiseman ’97 is an astronaut currently on the International Space Station and graciously donated his time in order to answer questions from the RPI community. Read more...

On Saturday, October 11, RPI women’s hockey held its regular season home opener against the University of Vermont Catamounts at the Houston Fieldhouse. After scoring twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission, the Engineers allowed three Catamount goals in the first 10 minutes of the third period, and lost 4-2. Read more...

Although this may be the first time addressing it through writing, people should know I’m an unabashed fan of superhero films. From early Christopher Reeve’s Superman to Tim Burton’s Batman, to the Saturday morning Static Shock cartoons, I’ve basically seen it all. However, one place I’ve always noticed superhero shows to be especially weak when it comes to television, something DC Comics and Warner Brothers hope to fix with Gotham. Read more...

On Tuesday, October 21, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center will be abuzz with excitement as startup business founders and partners learn more about investing and entrepreneurship. The event, titled “Investing in Entrepreneurship,” begins at 9:30 am with a panel of angel investors and entrepreneurs discussing how to make or break your first investment as a new startup. At 12 pm, the Startup Showcase begins. During this segment, 20 investment-ready startups will each receive five minutes to pitch their young businesses to angel investors and investment group representatives with the intention of getting an investment to further their vision. 10 mentor-ready startups will receive one minute each for their pitch in the hopes of obtaining guidance on the road to growing a successful business. At 3 pm, President Shirley Ann Jackson will lead a conversation with entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Internet pioneer Steve Case. Since Case’s time as Chief Executive Officer of AOL, he focuses on helping startups in the United States as part of the Startup America Partnership. The discussion with Jackson will focus on cultivating entrepreneurs and growing an innovation ecosystem that uses data to unlock potential solutions to the grand global challenges. Read more...

Monday’s meeting of the Student Senate began with a presentation by Marcus Flowers ’16, head of the Academic Affairs Committee on the committee’s projects. While there was no motion put forward for this committee, there were a number of points which needed to be communicated to the members of the Student Senate. The presentation included highlights and details on some of the committee’s more high-profile projects. Projects included public directory or job listing for research projects, and work with the Faculty Senate’s curriculum committee. Elaboration for these projects was given by Flowers after being questioned by members at the meeting. Read more...

Not only is this weekend Columbus Day weekend, but it is also Alumni Reunion and Homecoming! Starting on Thursday, you might see alumni coming to your classes or touring campus. This weekend’s, events include the President’s State of the Institute Address, “Rensselaer in Space: Live from the International Space Station” with G. Reid Wiseman ’97, FanFest, an auto show, An Evening of A Cappella, Open Skate with Puckman, and dozens of club and Greek life receptions and dinners. Read more...

For those who follow articles I’ve written in this section, if I have something to say about a television show, it’s usually good. And more often than not, if I write an article about a comedy show, it’s a very funny show. So it should come to no one’s surprise that I have nothing but praise for Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and with the second season just starting, I think I need to remind everyone about this hilarious and award-winning show. Read more...