The other day, I was hanging out with my bro Geoff, when he mentioned that there’s a great five star restaurant on campus; I thought I’d give it a try. It’s called “d’ps,” which stands for something along the lines of “dingue parisien supermarché,” which is probably something classy from French haute couture. It certainly sounds fancier and a lot more (grammatically) proper than anything I ever heard in my AP French class. In retrospect, I probably should’ve done my research before taking on this restaurant review—oh well! As the French say, “tu ne vis qu’une fois.” I honestly have no idea what it means, but it somehow adds to the sense of allure surrounding the restaurant (a “je ne sais quoi”, hon hon hon!). In fact, that’s what was on my mind as I approached the building. It truly is an enigma with its exterior façade of beautiful faded brick; wall-tall windows with eternal blinds, which lend an exclusive feel; two sets of doors which are automatic if you press the button; and rooftop mechanisms which, rumor has it, are government-exclusive lines for the true VIP-MVP kids. Then again, who knows? Those chunks of metal are definitely higher tech than anything we have at RPI; it’s not like we’re engineers who are supposed to know about that, or anything. Read more...

To the editor,

As a professor of Rochester Institute of Technology, I feel it is my duty to voice my opinion of the campus in hopes of improving the institution that I have called home for the past several. While I appreciate all that Rochester has grown to be, I see on fundamental issue that continues to burden the school: far too frequently students, alumni, and faculty of Rochester Institute of Technology have mistaken the school for RPI. Read more...

There’s a new drug on the street, and not only is it legal, but also high level school faculty are pushing it onto students. Ten times more powerful than adderall, using the street name "Resilience," students in droves are turning towards this new self medication method in order to get through classes. Read more...

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Anthony Barbieri ’15 was spotted taking J-Court’s possessions out of their former office in the Student Government Suite. J-Court was formally dissolved per order of the Rensselaer Union Executive “Bored” because of their lack of on time budget submissions. When asked by a reporter of The Poly, Barbieri gave no comment and only held his head in shame. Read more...

On June 27, 2015, Poly member Nathan Dorer ’18 sat in the back room of the Poly office to review The Room, in celebration of Tommy Wiseau’s creative genius. Little did he know, halfway through the first play, I had locked him in from the outside and forced The Room on an infinite loop. A hidden camera was placed in the far corner to monitor his response. Why, you ask? To review the effects of repeated viewings of our generation’s most esteemed brainchild. Read more...

On Tuesday, November 24, a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber aircraft was shot down by the Turkish Air Force near the Syria–Turkey border. According to Turkish officials, the jet was on a combat mission in northern Syria when it crossed into Turkish airspace. The Su-24’s crew of two was able to eject from the crippled aircraft; however, only the navigator survived. The pilot was killed by gunfire as he parachuted to the ground. His body was recovered and flown to Moscow on Monday. Read more...

To a passerby, the white concrete box that sits on the banks of the Mohawk River in Schenectady, NY seems unremarkable. But, for many students interested in nuclear engineering at Rensselaer, it is one of the biggest draws to the school. Inside that building is the Walthousen Reactor Critical Facility, RPI’s very own nuclear reactor, used by students and faculty researchers alike. Read more...

In light of the recent surge of violence, many people have voiced concerns with the role of media releasing the names of assailants of crimes nationwide. This presents a double-edged sword for journalists and media organizations; there exists a struggle between providing the public with as much objective information as possible and avoiding giving the criminals the infamy that some are aiming for. Read more...

Several weeks ago, Elisabeth Ryan ’19 and I found ourselves running downhill, our arms extended and making airplane noises, as we headed downtown for a mother-and-child dinner date at the Illium Cafe. The walk back, of course, was more leg day than leisure. As we approached our destination, we identified it by a old-fashioned sign hanging on the corner of the block. Upon entry, we were greeted by a waft of air that was smoky and oily, which became understandable as we ate the food. Glancing around, we saw two museum-like displays with apparel for purchase, and a sign directly in front of us with special items of the day, such as “escargot au poivre.” This immediately had us reeling, thinking, “we hoi polloi what is this frankais?” Read more...

The seniors of Team 129, known more widely as the 2015 Rensselaer football team, went out with a bang on Saturday, November 21, establishing the legacy they had once only dreamed of leaving. At Central Connecticut State University’s Arute Field, RPI polished off Buffalo State 20-13 in the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl Championship, earning a near record high of nine wins out of 11 games for the season. This is the second best cumulative performance any RPI football team has put together in the Institute’s history. Read more...

On Thursday, November 19, the Associate Dean of the Greek Commons at Residence Life Rafael Matos, four student government members and a reporter from The Polytechnic sat down with students, staff, and faculty at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. to gain perspective into their Dartmouth Plan, or D-Plan. This trip was one of two planned trips organized by student and staff leadership in the Rensselaer Union this semester. Their purpose is to learn how students have responded to programs similar to Summer Arch. By understanding the effects and methods of this academic system, the administration and student government can better tailor Summer Arch for RPI. Read more...

This is no bathroom stall breakdown in the middle of family dinner when your parents ask if your boyfriend will be joining them. This is no hopeless, helpless, setting-fire-to-everything kind of album. This is no declaration of broken hearts, no bottom of the well wallowing, and certainly no last resort. Beginning in the rough valleys of “First Love” and “Hometown Glory,” 19 promised the world a rising icon. Following that came atrocious heartbreak and monumental success as Adele bled and showed the world her battle wounds in 21. After years of silence and minimal public appearance, she returns to say “Hello” in 25, forever changing how we explore love and showing us all the nitty gritty mistakes she made along the way. Read more...

The Engineers played four hard games over the week of Thanksgiving break. The first was on Friday, November 20, against Bentley. In this game, RPI scored three unanswered goals in the first two periods. These goals were scored by sophomore Lou Nanne, senior Mark Miller, and sophomore Mike Prapavessis. Two of the goals were assisted and both were by sophomore Drew Melanson. It took Bentley until the end of the second period to score on the Engineers’ defense. Bentley scored again in the third. The shots on goal and faceoff totals were nearly even between the teams, and no power play goals were scored despite the seven that occurred during the game. The final score of 3-2 set the tone for the ensuing games. Read more...

On Monday, leaders of Greek organizations on campus received notification from Vice President for Student Life Dr. Frank Ross that the recently appointed Associate Dean of Greek Commons Rafael Matos is no longer an employee at Rensselaer. Matos had been hired to the position in October. Read more...

This week starts the home stretch for the fall semester. We are in the midst of the second-to-last week of classes and the workload is going to increase before finals begins. For the classes that do not have finals, final grades will be recorded in two very short weeks. Students are in the midst of filling out the final course evaluations using the electronic Digital Measures system. I know this because as I am writing this notebook, I am filling out those evaluations at the same time. They may not mean that much at the end of the day, but I feel like the feedback is collected for someone to read so it must be important. Read more...

Released in 2012 to critical acclaim, Wes Anderson’s cult romance Moonrise Kingdom is a quirky, eccentric take on an angry and misguided romance between two budding teenagers. The piece presents itself as inviting; the themes of summer love, thirst for adventure, and escaping parents lend themselves to a sort of innocence that everyone likes to imagine exists. Read more...

Underway competitively since November 15, when they won the first game of the season at an away game against the State University of New York at Cobleskill 75-46, the 2015 Rensselaer men’s basketball team has already dribbled their way to a winning majority, having outdone their competition in three of the four games they have played so far. Read more...

On Thursday, November 19, students noticed that the portrait of former Director of the Union Rick Hartt was missing from the Rensselaer Union. They noticed a posting on an anonymous Snapchat account, rpi.snap, containing a photo of the stolen painting and a caption reading “When you steal dank s*** from the union [sic].” They immediately reported this finding to President of the Union Nick Dvorak ’16, the Union administrative office, and the Department of Public Safety. Read more...

Poly notebooks are a bit funny to me, because they provide me with a soapbox to preach. In general, I try to provide helpful advice on how to live better, but I rarely talk about how to be a better person. In general, I avoid it because I don’t think I’m the type of person who can, or should, tell others how to be themselves. However, there is one topic that is of vast importance to me and has made me a better person: respect. Read more...