On Monday September 21, the RPI Collegiate Store had its reopening. For the past several months, it has been temporarily housed in the Games Room and Mother’s while its original location underwent renovations. Read more...

The Poly wants to give a shout out to all of RPI’s sports teams for having awesome starts to their seasons so far. In particular, we feel that football, field hockey, and soccer have been doing well. In fact, field hockey broke an Institute record by scoring 14 points in their last game against Keuka College. Football has won their first two home games this season by over 30 points and even managed to shut out Norwich entirely. Men’s soccer has had a perfect season so far. The rest of RPI’s sports are doing equally as well and The Poly encourages everyone on campus to keep up with and follow RPI’s athletics successes. Read more...

Imagine this: take a version of Microsoft Flight Simulator, with only aircrafts from before 1950. Next, add in multiplayer, sprinkle in some Russian magic, and what’s been created is War Thunder. I loved this game from the very start—I lost an entire Friday night the first time I played it. Read more...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the game last Saturday against Rensselaer to take an early 7-0 lead. But that was the last time the visiting team would set foot in the RPI end zone, as the Engineers’ defense quickly ground the opposing offense to a halt and held them in check the rest of the way. The Rensselaer offense played well, scoring touchdowns on each of its first three drives en route to a six touchdown game. RPI won by a final count of 42-7 in the first ever meeting of the two teams and improved its record to 2-1. Read more...

This meeting started off with reports from the committees of the Senate. Joe Venusto ‘17 from the Facilities & Services Committee discussed looking into increased seating in the Darrin Communications Center on the third floor, and also into the placement of water bottle fillers around campus. The Hospitality Services and Advisory Committee discussed walk-throughs of the dining facilities on campus in order to make meal plan recommendations for the next academic year by the end of October. Victoria Tong ’16, chair of the Rules and Elections Committee told the Senate that information sessions for freshmen election candidates have begun, along with the official start of campaigns as of September 22. All interested candidates must attend one of the sessions before they begin to campaign, and all interested freshmen are encouraged to attend a session sooner rather than later. Paul Illori ’17 told the Senate that the Student Life Committee is in the initial stages of deciding which of their projects are actually feasible to cover for the upcoming academic year. Read more...

The academic year at RPI is in full swing. Professors are giving their first exams, and many students have set their routines for the semester. Most clubs have already hit the ground running and are active around campus doing a million different things. There are a lot of things for students to do outside of classwork and just hanging out with friends. As a freshman, it can almost be overwhelming to keep track of everything that is going on around campus. In fact, I daresay it is impossible for one person to really know everything that is going on. As soon as I think that I know my way around campus, I find out about something I literally had no idea even existed. It’s been a personal goal of mine in these first few weeks to get out and experience as much of campus as possible while still maintaining some personal sanity. In a sense, my first few weeks here have been one giant exploration in what RPI can offer. Read more...

Anyone who follows my reviews will know that I really like Netflix’s original programming. Daredevil, House of Cards, and Bojack Horseman are some of my favorite shows of this year, and I’ve found it hard to find a genre that Netflix doesn’t have a finger in. Then, out of nowhere, Narcos is released and has forced me to re-evaluate these thoughts. What Narcos delivers is a fresh and immersive historical drama focusing on one of the most ruthless and powerful underworld criminals in modern history, Pablo Escobar. Read more...

Men’s soccer maintained its spotless record with two home wins against in-state opponents Oneonta and Potsdam last week. Read more...

On Thursday, September 17, President of the Union Nick Dvorak ’16 kicked off the meeting with the swing of his gavel, bringing the group’s attention to the first subject at hand: the approval of a new club, Destination Imagination. Read more...

“I’ll be finished at ten,” I say it time and again... but I’m late; I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah) I cry on the floor, I can’t take any more. It’s not you, I let me down again. Read more...

Downtown Troy has many restaurants and other businesses that give the city an unique sense of character. Some of these restaurants stay open into the early hours of the morning, knowing that RPI students are up at all hours of the night. People have their own reasons for not sleeping, but one common need is a late night bite to eat. The Brown Bag caters to that need, as it is open from 5 pm–2:15 am Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. On Fridays and Saturdays it is open from 5 pm–3:15 am. It is one of the last businesses in Troy to close every night. Read more...

Running in their first eight kilometer race of the season on Saturday at Pineland Farms in New Glouster, ME, the Rensselaer men’s cross country team raced in their smallest meet of the season to date against host team, the Bates College Bobcats, and the Tufts University Jumbos. The RPI women ran against these same two teams as well as competitors from Wellesley College, a private girls’ school in Massachusetts. Read more...

Scanlon was rushed to Royal Lancaster Infirmary where, in order to save her life, she had to have her stomach surgically removed. The boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen is 321 degrees Fahrenheit and this was the approximate temperature that the drink was consumed. Her stomach had been pierced due to the extreme temperature of the drink. Read more...

Hello RPI Students,

The future always comes with a great number of unknowns, but one thing is for sure: the Career Fair is coming. For aspiring science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students, the idea of getting an interview within 60 seconds of talking to someone may seem ridiculous, but for two days, that dream becomes reality. However, if you’re not prepared, you will miss out. There have been a large number of preparation events recently, from both students and Rensselaer staff, so if you haven’t gone to any, be sure to talk to someone that has. Similarly, don’t write off going to the career fair because you may be a freshman or you don’t think you’ll find anything. The networking opportunities are invaluable and can pay off (literally) in the future. Many of the recruiters were RPI students once and will be able to relate with you a lot more than you think! Read more...

Save for three chairs, a table, and a desk, the RPI Playhouse stage lay barren. The lighting and effects are minimal. The Players themselves are similarly plain in their garb; members of the audience would mistake them for one of their own. Thus is the frightening nuance of Suicide, Incorporated: how relevant to the average man and woman the story is. Read more...

Ahmed Mohamed gained national attention on Monday, September 14 when he performed the mundane: after transferring a digital clock to a small case, Mohamed was arrested as officials at his school believed the pencil-case-clad electronics presented a threat to the student body. Under suspicion of creating a bomb, Mohamed was led from the school in handcuffs into the eyes of a country enraged by how the situation was handled. Read more...

How are you, RPI?

Happy Wednesday! As we slide into the first test rotation, I wish you all the best of luck. With rush winding down, and classes kicking into full swing, the semester will fly by and be gone before you know it. The days are long, but the weeks fly by… Read more...

On Saturday, September 19, 2015, the Lark Street Business Improvement District held their 34th annual LarkFEST on historic Lark Street, closing it for pedestrians between Madison and Washington Avenues. Spanning eight blocks, the festival held more than 60 vendors and hosted 14 major sponsors, while eight bands played on LarkFEST’s two stages located at opposite ends at Madison and Washington Streets. The festival’s stands offered local cultural food such as Korean, Thai, and Caribbean, in addition to the classic hotdog and hamburger stands that appear at state fairs. Additionally, caricaturist stands, boutique vendors, and a local flower shop all offered their services to passersby. The day-long event started at 10 am and concluded with its final musical acts at 5:30 pm. More than 80,000 people attended the event. Read more...