Being a student at RPI can be incredibly stressful. I consider myself to be an active participant in many student activities. That being said there are many times where it seems like all of my responsibilities can creep up on me. I am also not exempt to the plethora of work that comes from being an engineering student at RPI. Like many students, I have days where I don’t know how I will be able to complete all my work plus my outside responsibilities; however, luckily enough, I have found ways that have helped me deal with everything I have on my plate. Read more...

At first glance, the Washington
Avenue Armory in Albany looks like the typical event space: stadium-style seating surrounds a large gymnasium with a stage set up at the back for shows. But on September 24, the Safe in Sound Festival made its stop in Albany, and the star-studded lineup attracted fans of the dubstep subgenre of electronic music from across the Capital Region. The festival, which is touring 23 cities across the United States between September 19 and October 25, combined headlining acts Destroid and Flux Pavilion, with special guest Zeds Dead and supporting artists ΩZ and Terravita for an unforgettable night of dubstep music. Read more...

RPI wasted little time on Sunday, firing seven shots off in the first eleven minutes of action against the State University of New York Geneseo. Five of the shots were corralled by Geneseo goalie Dayna Mercer and the other two missed their mark. Then the pace of play slowed down. Geneseo managed three consecutive shots of their own in a fourteen minute span, including two in the 28th minute. Senior goalie Hannah Clough made a key save and the other was knocked down by a defender shortly thereafter. Clough also made saves in the 32nd and 34th minutes to keep the game tied at zero. Right before the half, RPI junior attack Hana Murphy slapped two shots on goal but both were stopped by Mercer to maintain the tie. Read more...

University students in Hong Kong have dropped their books and flocked to government buildings in protest of Beijing’s refusal to allow Hong Kong to select its own candidates for the election of the city’s leader. As a result, all of the election candidates will be prescreened and approved by Beijing before the election, such has been the case since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule. More than 10,000 students are boycotting classes in a movement bearing the undertones of the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989. Most universities are not punishing their students; college administrators, faculty, and the city’s biggest teachers’ union are largely sympathetic to the cause. Tied yellow ribbons, a symbol of the city’s pro-democracy movement, snake the gates of the pro-Beijing chief executive’s office. Amidst all of the chaos, People’s Liberation Army personnel carriers have moved into the city clandestinely. Read more...

With over twenty million registered accounts just seven months after the official release of the game, Hearthstone has proven to be a very popular game. I myself started in the first official ranked season in April. Read more...

This past Friday, September 26, during a walk in downtown Troy, I visited the Arts Center of the Capital Region to see the latest exhibition, the East Coast National Screenprint Biennial. The purpose of the showcase is not to show off the best of the best of screenprinting, rather, its intention is to bring notice to screenprinting as an art medium worth discussion and features artists who use screenprinting in inventive and interesting ways. This goal was absolutely achieved; this is probably the best art showcase you will experience this year. Read more...

On Saturday, three Greek organizations hosted their annual charity events. Lambda Chi Alpha hosted the Watermelon Bash, and Pi Beta Phi and Theta Chi co-hosted Wing Fest. Read more...

Hello RPI. Last Thursday, September 25, marked the conclusion of the freshman elections, and the results have been counted and finalized. Congratulations to Kenneth Vetter ’18 on his election as Class of 2018 President, and to all other elected student officials. The 2018 Class Council, responsible for promoting class unity through traditions such as the Class Ring, Class Tree, and Senior Week, will be convened in a training and team development meeting by Jacob Derechin ’15, President of the Undergraduate Council, to help prepare them for the year and their new role as representatives. Read more...

On Tuesday, September 30, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences held its inaugural HASS Inquiry lecture. These lectures, of which two will be held this semester, are meant to fit in with the HASS Inquiry courses, which are classes that freshmen can take. HASS Dean Mary Simoni welcomed the audience and explained the HASS Inquiry courses and events. Professor of Science and Technology Studies and Associate Dean Nancy Campbell introduced the speaker, Dr. Carl Hart. Read more...

This week’s athlete of the week is RPI football’s senior All-American kicker, Andrew Franks. This past Saturday against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Franks broke the record for longest field goal in RPI school history with a 51-yarder in the first quarter. The previous record was 50 yards, which he set in 2012 and tied in 2013. Franks also made a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter to give RPI a 6-0 lead. Read more...

The Student Senate once again convened on Monday, September 29 for a multitude of student-related activities. The meeting began with the Senate’s annual picture and soon delved into the motion of the week. Congratulations were then given to the new freshmen senators, Justin Etzine ’18, Jennifer Freedberg ’18, Steven Sperazza ’18, and Keegan Caraway ’18. Soon after the approval of previous minutes, a ceremonial motion was put forward congratulating and thanking Dr. Timothy Sams, vice president of Student Life. Sams is resigning his post on October 10 to move on to Morehouse College to accept the role of vice president of Student Development. The motion acknowledged Sams’ immense support in student diversity, avocation for all aspects of students’ vocations, and overall work during his years at RPI. The motion honors and thanks Sams and wishes him the best of luck in his future work. The motion passed with a vote of 19-0-3. Read more...

Hey RPI!

I hope that you have survived the storm of projects, tests, and career planning which hit last week. Try to catch up on sleep if you can while the workload is light! I would like to thank the members of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers for all their hard work in putting together the career fair last weekend. It is awesome that students organize and put on such an important and complex event each year for the student body. I hope that everyone is well on their way to receiving a job offer from one of the many great companies who attended the career fair. For those of you who have interviews lined up within the next few weeks, take advantage of the Center for Career and Professional Development and practice, practice, practice! There is no better way to calm your nerves than to work with the professionals at the CCPD. Get their advice and opinion on common interview questions, how to dress, and what to write in a follow-up email to assure your success. If you don’t have an interview lined up, keep reaching out to companies that grabbed your interest or inspired you in some way. You never know how much of an impact one email can make. Read more...

On September 23, Robert Barron ’14 and Brian Bradley ’14, co-founders of Embedit Electronics, watched as their Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $20,000 ran out, underfunded by $5,677. Instead of being discouraged by the unsuccessful campaign, the duo was optimistic about the future of their invention, RPiSoC. Read more...

Agenda topics for this week’s Executive Board meeting included presentations from the Undergraduate Council, Rensselaer Music Association and RPI Players. President of the Union Erin Amarello ’15 presided over the meeting. Read more...

I love bad movies. Thankskilling, Food Fight, The Room, Sharknado, they’re cult classics. They’re terrible, but they have novelty value. I can rewatch them with friends and still find humor in them. The awful puns, grade C acting, I enjoy it all. However, when I say that Transformers: Age of Extinction was a pile of crap that ate a pile of crap that crapped another pile of crap, I mean that the movie was the third pile of crap. That’s right, it’s the worst one. Read more...

This week’s Executive Board meeting began with President of the Union Erin Amarello ’15 welcoming the newest members of the E-Board, Donna Grace Moleta ’18 and coterminal student Courtney Lang ’14. Read more...

On Saturday, September 27 at 7 pm, RPI will host the first home night football game in three years. The event, called “Pack the House Night,” will begin at 4 pm with a BBQ hosted by Hospitality Services. Because they are hosting the event, Commons Dining Hall will be closed for the entire evening, beginning at 3 pm. The staff of The Polytechnic believes that this decision is misguided and unfair to the Rensselaer community. Read more...

On September 19, The Maze Runner, directed by Wes Ball, was released in theaters. Adapted from James Dashner’s novel of the same name, the movie is the first installment in The Maze Runner trilogy. Read more...