Factorio has been available since February 2016, and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to pick up such an innovative game. The premise is simple—you’re stranded on an alien planet and need to build a rocket ship to escape. There are abundant resources with which to do this, and you (fortunately) have the knowledge and skill to build some mining machines to get it all rolling. But as the copper, iron, and coal rolls in off the conveyor belts, the player will quickly realize that manually collecting, smelting, and crafting everything is a bit too slow. That’s where the fun begins: automating everything. Read more...

As winter break comes to a close and students begin situating themselves yet again on RPI’s campus, Rensselaer welcomes a new assistant vice president and dean of students: Travis Apgar. Read more...

Rensselaer has recently announced the election of three new leaders to the Rensselaer Board of Trustees effective January 1, 2017. Appointees include Wanda Denson-Low ’78, Arthur F. Golden ’66, and Curtis R. Priem ’82, all Rensselaer alumni who have made notable contributions in their professional fields and have loyally served RPI. Read more...

Truth is under attack. Donald Trump seems to believe that repeatedly shouting falsehoods makes them true. He aims to distort what is and is not truthful so that everyone is left in doubt as to what is factual. Trump’s goal is to convince you that reality is unknowable. Read more...

At a time when the legitimacy of the press is questioned and the term “fake news” is thrown around without regard to its impact, we must remember the irreplaceable role the press fills in our lives. We have the privilege of living in a country where the freedom of the press is protected. Journalists need not fear persecution for exposing the truth. We are privileged to have a diversity of news sources available to us, and to not have that news censored by our government. Undermining the credibility of reputable news sources practicing responsible journalism is detrimental to the health of the United States. Read more...

Not even home for 1 week from school, I attended the Gud Vibrations Tour at the Oakdale Dome in Wallingford, Connecticut, featuring Slander and NGHTMRE. Read more...

I remember walking into my Environment and Politics recitation last semester, two days after the election. I was still in a daze and hadn’t fully processed the results. Our TA had prepared an exercise for the class that would help us understand what a Donald Trump presidency would mean for the environment. We spent the next hour and a half filling the board with his proposed actions, comments, and tweets. The board was covered with words that blatantly contradicted almost everything we had learned. It was a sobering experience that I can’t help but consider as the inauguration approaches. Read more...

The Star Wars film series continues with the first installment of Star Wars Anthology, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This newest lens-flaring, explosion-filled, action-packed movie in the franchise enters the scene as a quasi-stand-alone. The film details events immediately prior to A New Hope, the very first film in the series from 1977, and segues into the timeline seamlessly. However, the film brings an entire set, of shiny brand new characters, along with some CGI ones, to the screen. Nonetheless, this reviewer was giddy upon hearing that the simple “many Bothans died to bring us this information” line from Mon Mothma in A New Hope would earn its own full-length feature to answer their begging question. Read more...

Welcome back from break, and happy 2017! I hope everyone enjoyed a great winter break and an even better start to the spring semester. Last time I wrote was in early December. I generated a long list of projects and goals the Executive Board has for this year and our progress so far. Nearly a week after that was written, the E-Board completed club budgets and budgeting appeals for the next school year, finalizing the Union’s budget. Read more...