Technique

In the early hours of Saturday, Oct. 25, scores of freshmen woke from their weekend slumber and sleepily made their way to the start of the 2025 Freshman Cake Race. This annual tradition, which began as an open run for the cross-country team, has evolved over the years into an integral part of Tech’s legend and a rite of passage for any student setting foot on campus. Before the race, students made their way into the corrals at the starting line on Fowler and 6th Street.

On Friday, Oct. 24, crowds packed the edges of Peter’s Parking Deck as riders, pit crews and spectators came together for one of Tech’s most spirited homecoming traditions: the Mini 500. What began in 1969 as a simple tricycle race has evolved into an event that blends endurance, creativity and classic Tech ingenuity. This year’s race was the largest in terms of teams and number of participants, according to Ajay Dakoriya, third-year ECE and Ramblin’ Reck Club’s Mini 500 Sub-Chair.

SCPC hosted its annual Homecoming Carnival on Tech Green, or rather, the yellow brick road, last Tuesday. Conveniently taking place during midday, students stopped by for a brief arts-and-crafts break between classes or spent their afternoon competing in bouncy house and egg-cracking races with friends. Erin Yoon, fourth-year NEURO and this year’s SCPC President, spoke about this special event. “It’s a big tradition here at Tech throughout Homecoming.

Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) US-East-1 data center started reporting failures in the domain name system (DNS) resolution around 3:00 a.m. EST on Oct. 20. What followed was several hours of broken platforms, lagging online operations and disrupted services worldwide.

Last Monday, the 2-2 Falcons entered a must-win game at Mercedes Benz Stadium against reigning MVP Josh Allen’s Bills. The Bills, fresh off an upset defeat to the New England Patriots, would surely be fired up to get back on track in Atlanta, especially when the rabid “Bills Mafia” was well represented in the stadium.

With autumn comes comforting flavors, activities and breezy weather. October apple picking, pumpkin bread baking and haunted house walking encourage socialization with friends, where  matching the activity’s theme is paramount. A large part of the fall aesthetic comes from the clothing — plaids, brown sweaters and black tights are all significant motifs for autumn.

Policies in a changing free speech landscape The Tech community often feels the effect of changes in the federal government, as the recipient of over $100 million of federal funding per month. Even this week, the government shutdown forced the Institute to limit hiring new personnel, consulting services and major contracts and purchases, reminding us that federal policy shapes our campus in material ways.

A new undergraduate major in mathematics and computing will launch next fall, led by a joint effort between the School of Mathematics and the College of Computing. The new major offers comprehensive and interdisciplinary training in advanced mathematical theory and sophisticated concepts of computer science.

U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings has once again recognized Tech as one of the nation’s top public universities in the latest rankings. The release of the 2026 edition on Sept. 23 places the Institute at No. 32 among all national universities, a small yet important improvement from the previous year. Tech has also maintained its position as the top No. 9 public university in the country.