“What’s the worst beer you have?” I asked as I walked into Hoosick Street Discount Beverage Center. The clerk, who was fixing something near one of the large displays of beer, looked towards the display and said, “Ugh, we don’t have it,” but then he listed three other options: Keystone Ice, Natural Light, and Steel Reserve. I thought the last had the best-sounding name, so that was destined to be this week’s review specimen. Read more...

The Rensselaer women’s basketball team has competed away from home in the past five games over the last two weeks, and they will not return to East Campus Stadium until December 30 when they will meet Drew University. In that time, they have played against the Utica College Pioneers, the Babson College Beavers, the Wheaton College Lyons, the Sage Colleges Gators, and the Middlebury College Panthers. In every game, the teams have finished within 13 points of each other. Read more...

Victoria Tong ’16, chairman of the Rules and Elections Committee, told the Senate that R&E has been planning out how GM Week 2016 is going to work. They have established a preliminary timeline and are working on giving more structure to their timeline of events. She also told the Senate that Paul Ilori ’17 has stepped down from his position as co-chairman and now has no role on R&E. Read more...

After the Division III National Cross Country Championship Meet in Oshkosh, Wis., the Rensselaer women’s cross country team—and junior Ben Fazio—went out to a restaurant in Milwaukee to celebrate with an unusual and local treat: cheese curds. All performed excellently in their events, and having earned a ninth place title at the meet, they certainly deserved a treat. Read more...

The Executive Board meeting took place November 19, the Thursday before Thanksgiving break, wherein they introduced graduate student Jen Church as the new Rensselaer Union Annual Report Chair and Senate/E-Board Liaison. Church plans to graduate in 2017 and is an active graduate senator, serving on the Graduate Council. Her past experience as a leader in student government includes holding the position of Student Government Communications Committee Chair and participating in other student councils. When questioned as to why she was interested in holding the position, she said that, in the previous fall, she had come into student government, which was at the same time as the introduction of the UAR, and she became involved in its handling. She went on to state that she is interested in attending both Senate and E-Board meetings to offer her support and act as the bridge between the two. Read more...

Hey RPI!

I hope everyone had a relaxing Thanksgiving Break! Now it is time to buckle down for the last two weeks of classes and push through finals so we can enjoy our extremely long winter break. Remember that the Heffner Alumni House will be open during study days for students to study with an endless supply of snacks and coffee. Read more...

On Friday, November 27, RPI women’s ice hockey confronted the University of New Hampshire in the Houston Field House. During the game, the team was active and aggressive, which increased the enjoyment and competitiveness of the entire game. During the game, UNH got one power play chance while RPI received no power plays; RPI won 25 faceoffs out of 45; the Wildcats’ goalie Kyra Smith saved 20 out of 23 shots, while RPI freshman goalie Lovisa Salender kept 27 out of 30 shots from the net. With only three penalties in total, this clean game ended with 3-3. Read more...

Allegations of tampering with Fall 2015 freshman elections have been brought to Statler & Waldorf and relayed to The Polytechnic. It is unclear what implications the accusations will have. Read more...

I was doing some research compliance training the other day when I came across the following question: “Many of the workers now use laptops, notebooks, palmtops, PDAs and even very smart cell phones that have access to sensitive information. What would be the LEAST effective philosophy regarding security training for these devices?” Read more...

Rucking, scrumming, and mauling the ball since 1992, the RPI men’s and women’s rugby teams make up one of the 27 Rensselaer Union-sponsored competitive club sports on campus. After conquering the field with a 29-22 win over Molloy College on November 8 at the Tri-State Conference Finals at Vassar Farm in Vassar, NY, placing first out of six teams in the North Division, the men received a bid to play at the USA Rugby Division II National Round of 16. Facing the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in the opening game of the two-day South Region Conference on November 21 at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., the team played hard, having ascended high in the ranks. Unfortunately, this would be their last game of the year; they lost 32-8. Read more...

I’m nearing the end of my term on The Poly this semester and graduating at the end of next. Honestly, I’m a little scared of leaving this place and saying goodbye to all my friends. Sitting at home in peace makes me feel introspective and think about all the places I’ve been, all the things I’ve done over the past few years, all of the people’s lives that have influenced me and vice versa. I’m not the same. I’m not. Read more...

Hello RPI,

I hope Thanksgiving break gave you the chance to relax. Your friends and family missed you while you were diving headfirst into your work here. That being said, you only have a few weeks left, so give it your all and succeed before the long break. Read more...

Saturday, November 14
Department of Public Safety
Assistance: A Department of Public Safety officer found a person asleep in their car that had been running for over an hour. It was determined that the individual was not intoxicated, and was escorted back to their residence. Read more...

Update (8:50 am, November 25):

According to a source in the Union, after speaking with the individual who located the painting, it has been determined that the painting was found “leaning against the southeast door of the Great Room” of the Heffner Alumni House. It was not located in a dumpster as was previously believed. Read more...

On Friday, October 13, the city of Paris, France was shaken as a series of six attacks took place throughout largely populated regions of the city. The militant Islamist group ISIL has since taken credit for the attacks, and has made it clear that the attacks were largely motivated by French foreign policy against Syrian refugees. In response, French president François Hollande has declared a nationwide state of emergency, and the country has deployed aircraft to bomb ISIL strongholds throughout the middle east. ISIL has released statements following the attacks in which they have made claims that other international cities may be potential targets for future attacks. Read more...

The Polytechnic Editorial Board is saddened to hear of the loss of lives in the tragic terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris and Beirut this past week. We extend our sincerest condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones in the harrowing attacks. Read more...

Announced only five months ago by Bethesda at E3 2015, and released on November 10, 2015, Fallout 4 easily competes for Game of the Year award. Bethesda’s last Fallout installment, Fallout 3, hit stores seven years ago, in 2008, and the last game the video game publisher released, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, dropped in 2011. The company has spent nearly seven years developing the world of the Commonwealth. This bodes well for players, as Bethesda games are most known for their enormous size and sandbox-RPG style adventures. With the expansive, immersive worlds that Fallout 3 and Skyrim offered and their at least 90 percent ratings on all game review websites, Fallout 4 proves to be the most anticipated game in years. Read more...

The Engineers had two challenging games this weekend against Yale and Brown on Friday and Saturday, respectively. RPI came out strong on Friday night and scored a goal within a minute and a half of the start of the first period. The goal was put up by senior Mark Miller with a snap shot from the top of the slot assisted by sophomores Drew Melanson and Lou Nanne. The goal did not go unanswered for long. It was only five minutes later that Yale’s Bulldogs tied the score 1-1 with a rush on the net. The game stayed tied for the rest of the period with only one penalty on the Engineers. The Engineers’ goalie, freshman Cam Hackett, had 15 shots put on him in the first period while Yale had 16 put on their goalie the entire game. Read more...

In response to the events that transpired in Paris last week, President Shirley Ann Jackson called for a Town Hall Meeting to be held this past Tuesday to discuss the effects the tragedy would have on the Rensselaer community. Read more...