Despite what I’m studying in school, I have a secret passion for flying. Something about being above the world, looking down at what seems so significant on the ground yet so trivial from above, is both exhilarating and refreshing. Given the opportunity to get up in the air again, I was going to take it. This past Grand Marshal Week, RPI’s Flying Club offered flyovers of the campus, and Stephanie and I, along with my roommate Tucker, jumped on the opportunity. Now begins a play-by-play of our adventure. Read more...

Eighteen schools gathered at Harkness Track & Field on Saturday to run, jump, vault, and throw at the Upstate Classic, the first home track and field meet of the season hosted by Rensselaer. Of the 20 events held for both men and women, 12 were won by Engineers. Read more...

Professor Bill Puka and students held a barbeque in front of the Troy Building last Wednesday to continue the Save the Union movement. Snow postponed the event from the originally scheduled date of Wednesday, April 6. Read more...

Since becoming Vice President for Student Life, I have had the opportunity to meet so many students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members who have proudly displayed their affection for Rensselaer. Read more...

Sydney-based and Indie-influenced The Preatures have lived out the majority of their career in relative obscurity. Following the release of two quietly masterful extended plays, the band managed to catch moderate commercial success with the release of their 2014 album Blue Planet Eyes. The album’s single “Is This How You Feel?” was ultimately voted ninth on the Triple J Hottest 100, an Australian quasi-equivalent of the Billboard Top 100. As a whole, the album peaked at number four on the charts of the Australian Recording Industry Association and achieved relatively widespread critical success in the Australian markets. Read more...

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams struggled against St. Lawrence University last weekend at the Sharp Courts. First, on Saturday afternoon, the men lost by a final score of 7-2. Then, Sunday morning, the women lost all but one of their matches to the number 37 ranked Saints. The Engineers’ lone win of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon when the men won a tight 5-4 duel against the Vassar Brewers. Read more...

On Saturday, April 16, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook much of Ecuador, injuring nearly 2,500 and leaving the current death toll at 246. While Ecuador is in an area of high seismic activity, this quake serves to be the largest that the country has experienced since 1979. The tremors from the quake were felt nearly 200 miles from its epicenter and damaged infrastructure in the major cities of Muisine, Manta, Portoviejo, and Pedernales. In response, Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas has declared a state of emergency, and consequently 10,000 soldiers and 4,600 police officers have been deployed to the affected areas. Read more...

Hello everyone. You can’t believe how honored I am to be elected the 151st Grand Marshal. This is something that I’ve thought about and wanted for a long time, and I hope that I prove that you have placed your faith in the right person over the next year. I’m sorry that I was not able to be at the results announcement to accept this office in person. I had a prior commitment which was made in November before the election schedule was made, and I wasn’t able to get it moved. Read more...

Coming into college, I haven’t had as much time for videogames as I once did. Nowadays, I’m borrowing a roommate’s PS4 to play a new game they bought or some mobile game that I can play for downtime between—and sometimes during—classes. However, that’s not to say I don’t miss the type of games I used to play. My DS Lite with Harvest Moon DS sits sadly on my desk, waiting for me to pick it up. But, as a busy college student, I don’t feel as though I can invest the time in these types of games that I could when I was younger. So, as one might have already guessed, I was hit with a good wave of nostalgia when I got my hands on Stardew Valley. Read more...

Grand Marshal Week, as I’m sure you all know, is election week. The week peaks on Wednesday, as the day is filled with many events and ends with a debate featuring all the candidates for GM and President of the Union. My residence on freshman hill led to me visiting more of the events near the field by Commons Dining Hall. Read more...

The Editorial Board of The Polytechnic would like to extend our condolences to the family members of Michele Edwards, who suddenly passed away this past Saturday. Michele joined the Rensselaer Union staff in July 2012 and served as an always welcoming, smiling face for the administrative office ever since. It was with shock and great sadness that we learned of her passing. Read more...

On the afternoon of Friday, April 15, the Conversation Corner and Mandarin Club hosted a dumpling party in the Rensselaer Society of Engineers’ kitchen and dining room. The dumpling party has been hosted in the past at Professor Yue Jianling’s home and is going into into its fourth anniversary as a semesterly event. Finding it too small of a space to host such an event, the club moved their location last semester when one of Yue’s students, an RSE brother, offered the use of the house’s facilities. After a successful dumpling party last semester, the club decided to host this semester’s party, once again, at RSE’s house. Read more...

The Poly's live coverage of the Grand Marshal Week 2016 GM/PU Debate has concluded. An archive is available within. Read more...

Mid-morning on Saturday, April 9, RPI TV and members of the Save the Union movement discovered posters relating to the movement were being removed from buildings by officers of the RPI Department of Public Safety. Read more...

I’d like to begin by saying that this notebook was the catalyst for my joining The Poly, and that this entry has been roughly a year in the making. I joined this staff because I wanted this campus to understand my experiences in the raw, visceral way that made them meaningful to me. Read more...

Since becoming Vice President for Student Life, I have had the opportunity to meet so many students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members who have proudly displayed their affection for Rensselaer. Read more...

Recently, the International Championship of College A Capella Northeast quarter finalists The Rusty Pipes hosted their 19th Annual Spring Show on Friday, April 8, in the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies auditorium. Their game show themed night had rousing performances broken up by games with audience member participation. The evening finished off with a raffle that guests had either purchased raffle tickets for, filled out a survey before hand to receive a free one, or won some from the games during the night. Read more...

The Engineers’ baseball team found its groove this past weekend when they went up against Skidmore College in two doubleheaders, going 3-1 against the Thoroughbreds. Read more...

At least 15 candidates were to be omitted from the final ballot for Grand Marshal Week 2016 Elections as a result of two decisions released by the Rules and Elections Committee on Sunday, April 10. Read more...