Monday afternoon, a crowd of students gathered by the patio of the Union in order to celebrate the conclusion of a week of activities related to Hockey Line. Hockey Line is the annual tradition where groups line up outside the Union in order to be the first to buy season tickets to men’s hockey games. Groups in the line included the Red Army, Lambda Chi Alpha, Delta Phi, Sigma Chi, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Read more...

With the recent revival of the Save the Union movement, the Senior Board would like to reiterate the importance of respect. In March, the student body, along with some alumni and faculty, gathered to protest outside of the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. As a collective, it was a moment to be proud of; we expressed opinions peacefully, with dignity, and with pride. We made our voices heard, and it seemed to have the effect the student body intended. Read more...

James Wan’s 2004 directorial debut, Saw, has polarized fans of the horror genre. Some have dismissed it as an excessively gory exploitation film, while others have called it a horror masterpiece. In truth, Saw had all the pieces to be a great movie, but they didn’t fit the jigsaw puzzle we were given. Read more...

Hard work in the preseason and a tough defense have helped propel women’s soccer to a 3–0 start this season. Read more...

In memory of the 9/11 attacks on September 11, 2001, various student organizations across campus paid homage to their nation’s fallen heroes and victims on Sunday, which marked the 15th anniversary of the massacre. Read more...

Coming into Rensselaer, I was always told to explore and challenge myself, which were the most influential and constructive suggestions for my entire first year. Now, I want to pass the same words down to freshmen, which is really hard to do since the first year itself is already a big challenge. Keep challenging yourself and putting yourself out of your comfort zone. It can be extremely hard, from time to time, you want to step back to your shell. There will also be ideas that an academic-focused freshman year can offer a solid guarantee for a better GPA. However, regardless of all those utilitarian thoughts, great experiences and lessons will be absorbed from all the efforts, pain and discomfort if one dares to break one’s own bubble. Read more...

This fall, I am taking History and Culture of Games, a class that typically is taken by first-year game design majors, even though I am a junior studying computer science and information technology. As part of this course, our professor, Dr. Jim Malazita, selected a variety of games for us to play through. At first, I assumed these games would be boring, but I was very wrong. Read more...

In their biggest invitational so far this season, the men’s cross country team requisitioned a second place men’s team victory out of 14 schools thank to contributions by fifth place junior Ben Fazio and seventh place sophomore Grant O’Connor. Fazio ran the 6,000 meter course on Vassar Farm in a time of 19:31.2, finishing only five seconds behind the leader from New York University, and O’Connor crossed at 19:35.0. Read more...

With the start of a new semester, the Rensselaer Union Executive Board wasted no time in addressing their responsibilities. To begin their first meeting, Director of Student Activities Cameron McLean presented on the importance of risk management. Read more...

In less than two months, one of the biggest elections will take place—the 2016 United States presidential election, as this election marks the first presidential election for many students on campus. As a student and citizen of the United States, voting is a civil obligation. It’s your chance to make a difference for your country; opportunities like these do not come around often, so take advantage of it while you can. Read more...

This year, whenever I’ve been in a great mood, I always put on some good old Don Diablo; his songs capture “goodfeels,” which are perfect for a summer day drive. As an up-and-coming name in house music, Don Diablo produces a unique style with upbeat tempos and dynamic vocal manipulation. Most electronic dance music capitalizes on slow build-ups followed by heavy bass drops; however, his tracks are much lighter and include a memorable melody. Other artists that I would consider similar are 2015–2016 Martin Garrix and Dash Berlin. Read more...

The first half of Rensselaer’s first home game of the season found the Engineers 27 points in the hole without as much as a field goal on the board. Though they retaliated fiercely in the third quarter to recover from their overwhelming deficit, gaining 17 points, they ultimately lost 17–33 against Alfred University this past Saturday. Read more...

As you were walking to class earlier this week, you probably noticed posters that have been put up on campus relating to the current state of affairs of the Rensselaer Union in relation to the Institute’s new Assistant Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students position. Chip Kirchner ’17 and I have been working to relate the concerns that we, as leaders, and other members of the Rensselaer community have in regards to this position since the end of the spring semester. We have a meeting with Dr. Ross scheduled for Wednesday, September 14, where we’ll be discussing the matter. We will have more comments and information after this meeting happens. Read more...

As the creator of cult-classic podcast Welcome to Night Vale, Joseph Fink has achieved some degree of notoriety in the world of fictional podcasts. Fans of Welcome to Night Vale have made note of Fink’s ability to create surreal atmospheres and bizarre comedies; the podcast is a strung-together re-imagining of daily events in a town where nothing is ever quite normal. This past March, Fink debuted his second podcast: Alice Isn’t Dead. True to form, this new podcast plays on the same surreal ideas of Fink’s earlier work, but the content creator has opted for something much more sinister in his newest piece. Read more...

The Rensselaer women’s tennis team had five singles players and two doubles teams compete in the semifinals at the Mary Hosking Invitational on Saturday. Read more...

Hello all! I have a few updates regarding the Executive Board, and some messages for club officers. First, the E-Board: applications for the two positions available to first year students on the E-Board have closed this past Monday. Read more...

Whenever I tell someone that I go to RPI, I’m constantly told that RPI is a great school. However, this sentiment is usually expressed with one particular qualifier; “RPI is a great school—for engineering.” I agree with this sentiment on some level, but it always strikes me as odd that the education I am receiving is meant to be uni-faceted. Is it possible that the school I’m going to is some sort of one-trick pony? Is it possible that I’m going to enter the job market with a very particular set of skills with a very particular application? It’s frustrating to me that we, as students, are only expected to contribute to the hard sciences. Read more...

As the 2016 Union Activities Fair kicked off on Thursday, September 1, over 2,100 RPI students flocked to the Armory to explore over 218 clubs and organizations that well presented themselves. Read more...

The RPI Engineers football team opened their 2016 season with a road game at Norwich University in Vermont. After Norwich scored a field goal early in the second quarter, Rensselaer scored 24 unanswered points to take a commanding 21-point lead, which they did not relinquish. The final score of the game was Engineers 31, Cadets 17. Read more...