Avion Issue 10 Fall 2017

| Issue 10 | Volume 148 | Tuesday, November 21, 2017 | theavion.com |

Keenan Thungtrakul /The Avion Newspaper

International Arrivals: Riddle Declares Cultures at Customs

Keenan Thungtrakul Senior Reporter

What’s Inside

This past week was International Education Week, an initiative brought forth by Embry-Riddle’s Office of Global Engagement (OGE). The initiative was meant to help students gain a sense of appreciation for the diversity of the student body and encourage them to pursue opportunities abroad, whether through summer programs or exchange programs. Sodexo offered themed meals for students so they could have a taste of different international cuisines. The WIKD 102.5 played music from a variety of cultures on the radio throughout the week for students and the community to listen to. OGE hosted various events and gatherings throughout the week, which culminated in Saturday’s Coming to Africa culture show hosted by the African Students Association.

The week began with a photo exhibition at Starbucks, featuring study abroad groups from the various summer programs. Tuesday featured “Snacks and Laughs,” which was held in the Office of the Registrar. Students were able to sample a wide variety of snacks from across the globe including Mexican chips and salsa, German brats (small sausage bits), French crepes, Swedish ginger cookies, Russian tea cakes, Korean dried seaweed, and English scones. Games were set up to entertain everyone including

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the staff working at the office. This provided a nice study break for students and allowed them to converse with Registrar and Library staff on matters outside of their usual business.

Wednesday featured a showcase on the UC flight deck of exchange students along with Embry-Riddle professors advertising their countries and the study abroad programs accompanying them.

Health Services was there with flag trivia, seeing whether students knew the countries whose flags were hung around the UC. Countries featured in the showcase included, but were not limited to, Italy, Greece, Germany, Poland, and Spain. OGE ambassadors and professors distributed flyers for their study programs to students to recruit them for the coming year.

Thursday highlighted a small group of exchange students, OGE staff, and regular students in their roundtable discussion of cultural appreciation and awareness. Starbucks provided coffee and tea for the participants to enjoy while getting to know more about each other and the cultures they hail from. Cultural awareness is important in a diverse setting where people from all over the globe are present. It makes one more able to adapt to any situation and interact with people in a proper manner. The experience of living and working in another country helps to broaden horizons and enables one to experience new cultures

and traditions, even if for a short time.

The scenery is different, the interactions with others are different, and more notably, the food is different. One of the best ways to learn about a new culture is by tasting food from that culture; authentic food, not adaptations from other countries around the world. For those who have the chance to go on an exchange program, the style of teaching

Keenan Thungtrakul/The Avion Newspaper A participant kisses his partner’s hand during the couple walk of Coming to Africa’s Fashion Show segment.

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and learning is different and one has to adapt to fit in with the new culture.

Director of the Office of Global Engagement, Sue Macchiarella, stated, “we are the future of our own countries.” Everyone has a duty to protect and maintain our cultural heritage, passing it on to the next generation when the time comes.

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21 Student Life Honors Series: ETHEL and Robert Mirabal

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The Avion

Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager

Henry Neiberlien Andrew Bronshteyn Collin Anderson Sariah Adviento Vipul Telang Payton Muglia

Page Editors

Front Editor Campus Editor SGA Editor Student Life Editor Opinions Editor I&T Editor

Sports Editor Motorsports Editor Entertainment Editor Comics Editor Copy Editor

Collin Anderson Nick Hernandez Levi Duncan Keenan Thungtrakul Victoria Jordan Joshua Rosado Emily Rickel Zachary Fedewa Miguel Moore K’Andrew France-Beckford Madaline Eitnair Abigail Johnson Vipul Telang Rajan Khanna Samantha Stirmel Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh Sariah Adviento Nicole Drevlow Brandon Collins Samantha Stirmel Sariah Adviento

Staff Contributors Reporters Samantha Stirmel Michael Shekari Brandon Collins Keenan Thungtrakul Victoria Jordan

Photographers Rajan Khanna Zachary Fedewa Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh Joshua Rosado Abigail Johnson

Correspondents Nicholas Wahler, Peter Vane, Sarah Fairchild, Alexa Manssa, Christopher Weil, Abigail Ngo

Staff Advisor Ginny-Beth Joiner, Avion Advisor

Contact Information Main Phone: (386) 226-6049 Ad Manager: (386) 226-7697 Fax Number: (386) 226-6016 Editor-in-Chief editor@theavion.com Managing Editor managing@theavion.com News Editor news@theavion.com Business Manager business@theavion.com Photography Editor photo@theavion.com Advertising Manager advertising@theavion.com Website: theavion.com

The Avion is produced weekly during the fall and spring term, and bi-weekly during summer terms. The Avion is produced by a volunteer student staff. Student editors make all content, business and editorial decisions. The editorial opinions expressed in The Avion are solely the opinion of the undersigned writer(s), and not those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Student Government Association, The Avion, or the student body. Letters appearing in The Avion are those of the writer, identified at the end of the letter. Opinions expressed in the “Student Government” and “Student Life” sections are those of the identified writer. Letters may be submitted to The Avion for publication, provided they are not lewd, obscene or libelous. Letter writers must confine themselves to less than 800 words. Letters may be edited for brevity and formatted to newspaper guidelines. All letters must be signed. Names may be withheld at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

The Avion is an open forum for student expression. The Avion is a division of the Student Government Association. The Avion is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The costs of this publication are paid by the Student Government Association and through advertising fees.

The Avion distributes one free copy per person. Additional copies are $0.75. Theft of newspapers is a crime, and is subject to prosecution and Embry-Riddle judicial action. This newspaper and its contents are protected by United States copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, in print or electronically, without the expressed written consent of The Avion. Correspondence may be addressed to: The Avion Newspaper, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. Physical office: John Paul Riddle Student Center, Room 110. Phone: (386) 226-6049. Fax: (386) 226-6727.

Keenan Thungtrakul Senior Reporter

On Wednesday evening, the Honors Series hosted the musical group ETHEL along with three-time Grammy Award winner Robert Mirabal as part of International Education Week. ETHEL is a string quartet that was established in New York City in 1998.

As stated in their official event pamphlet, ETHEL quickly gained a reputation as one of America's most adventurous string quartets, finding new paths in music and seeking creative expression forged in the celebration of community.

According to a biography provided by ETHEL, Mirabal is a Native American musician and instrument craftsman who lives a traditional life with his family at the foot of the sacred Taos Mountain range in northern New Mexico.

The village holds on to customs and lifestyles that date back centuries. The village itself is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a US National Historic Landmark. Mirabal is of the Taos Pueblo people, one of many tribes of Pueblo people who reside in the southwestern United States. Mirabal travels widely, playing music he

learned from his tribal roots across the globe. He first learned the art of making traditional wood flutes from his grandmother and had the chance to meet renowned flute player R. Carlos Nakai, who said to him upon seeing his hands, "I have that same scar. It's the scar of the flute maker."

Over the years, Mirabal evolved his flute crafting art and has become an accomplished writer, composer, dancer, actor, painter, and performer.

His travels are reflected in his music. He merges his indigenous melodies with those of other cultures, tapping into a planetary pulse that allows him to empower audiences with his performances.

Wednesday's performance featured one of ETHEL's new releases, The River. Inspired by water, the embodiment of the native spirit, the album immerses the audience in a flow of music, narration, and ritual that evokes timeless Native American traditions through contemporary music. The various pieces combine to tell a story, that, as stated by Mirabal in an interview with The Avion Newspaper, "As long as the story is from a place of honor, the musicians can convey it in a powerful

Keenan Thungtrakul/ The Avion Newspaper Ethel and Robert Mirabel gave bows at the end of the SpeakER Series.

manner." The beginning of the story embraces our connection with the earth through the description of an age-old tradition where young Taos Pueblo mothers would journey up the sacred mountain to seek a certain flower to bring back. The ritual, says Mirabal, is a metaphor. We are connected to the earth, and we have to honor it like it is a parental figure.

This creates a deep sense of humility and understanding. ETHEL reflected this connection strongly through the replication of nature's sounds on their instruments. Violas, violins, a bass drum and a cello were used to replicate various sounds from insects to flowing water.

These were accompanied

by Mirabal on one of his

flutes or other instruments he's collected from his adventures. Towards the end of the performance, Mirabal performed a special ritual over corn kernels harvested from his village.

Placing four ears in the cardinal directions, he pronounced a blessing over the kernels and invited the audience to come up and collect some kernels to put in their own sacred places. The blessing he placed over the kernels extends to the people receiving them, allowing them to share in the Native tradition. This ritual served as a great closing to the show as it left the audience with a positive mindset coupled with an ages-old blessing that is sure to ring memories every time we glance at the kernels of corn.

AXD - Surfers for Autism Abigail Ngo Alpha Xi Delta Publicity Chair On Saturday, Oct. 7, the women of the Theta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Xi Delta were able to volunteer and experience a day at the 8th Annual Central Florida Surfers For Autism event in Jacksonville Beach, Florida! The organization behind this event goes by the name of Surfers for Autism. This organization was started by a small group of surfers back in 2007 whose lives and fam-

ilies had been touched by autism. Due to this, they decided that they wanted to do something more for the community affected by autism. The result was mixing two things they are very passionate about surfing and helping the cause so near and dear to their hearts. The mission statement of Surfers for Autism is as follows: to unlock the potential of people with developmental delays, support advocacy for autism issues and scientific research. To make this mission a reality the great peo-

ple of Surfers For Autism put on events such as the one Alpha Xi Delta was able to participate in this year! Regardless of your experience level, all hands are helpful at these events.

The surf teams are set up in such a way that there will be one experienced surfer to teach and coach the participant on how to get up on the board. Alongside them will be two to three more volunteers that will aid in helping the participant stay safe throughout their surfing lesson. Alpha Xi Delta was able to jump

Photo Courtesy: Alpha Xi Delta Volunteers from Alpha Xi Delta showing support for Surfing for Autism, an event held in Jacksonville, Florida.

in as surfing assistants and had the chance to firsthand experience the impact something as simple as this can have on an individual that is on the spectrum.

Not only through this event do the participants have the chance to surf and interact with those that can aid in helping them develop positively, but through these events money is raised for research and support of these families.

Throughout the event, sisters heard countless times messages of gratitude for taking a day to invest in their family member's life and numerous testimonies about what this these events have done for their family member. Surfers For Autism recognizes the ripple effect their events have which include uniting communities and groups through volunteerism, and the women of Alpha Xi Delta were honored to be a part of it.

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Cyber Security Speaker Series

Samantha Stirmel Staff Reporter

Brad Deflin presented at the Alumni SpeakER Series Live in the Willie Miller auditorium and online on YouTube. They took questions from both the live and online audience.

Deflin is one of the founders and the president of Total Digital Security. He talked a lot about Moore’s Law: what he believes is the driver of most of the change in the cybersphere. Deflin explained that Moore started Intel and created the first transistor; several years after manufacturing this he was asked to speak about his success and products. After analyzing data which he wanted to use in his speech, he found that you can increase twice of everything for half the cost because of the advancements in technology. This relates to the digital format versions of everything that Deflin was talking about and how it has helped increase the rise of technology. A scary statistic that Deflin had for the audience explained that “the data that we create.. [totals] the equivalent of the data from the beginning of time to 2003”. Big data is classified as artificial intelligence and software that

can data mine and connect dots between tons of raw data. All of this data is held in chips within every device we own and “as these chips are driven by Moore’s Law.. they’re ending up everywhere… so chips are now embedded in almost every part of our daily lives.”

It is impossible to get away from technology and every be completely off the grid. However, this constant connection to technology leaves everyone open and vulnerable while it helps them. The internet “democratizes” everything: as in, now anybody with access to the internet has access “to the world.”

Deflin touches on the fact that the music industry has problems keeping all their products under control because of this. People can jump on any number of online sources and be able to get information that is copyrighted and steal it without much problem.

Switching topics, Deflin began talking about the fear that most Americans have these days: that they are constantly being recorded by their own technology.

TV company, Visio, was fined by the federal government and fined by the state of New Jersey for not letting consumers know that

their audio systems could be turned on even if the TV is not. The TV’s would turn themselves on randomly and be able to record what they heard in their surroundings, in which case, anyone could hack into them and disburse whatever information that TV had collected. Deflin explains that certain things should be in a digital vault, encrypted and kept off the cloud for the privacy of all people everywhere. “The New Digital Age” by Eric Schmidt is a specific book that Deflin mentions that he has developed some of his ideas from besides his personal experience. Schmidt is chairman of Alphabet, a huge company that spans the globe by owning other companies under them, most notably, Google. Deflin explains that Schmidt comes from the old school tech world, going to Stanford like any other technically driven person in that time. Schmidt talks about how “Humanity has been through all.. ages,” but now “we’re in the digital age,” and that requires a “new set of rules.” The phone has your entire identity and humanity has become too reliant on them. They are the “supercomputers of today” and even better than

Joshua Rosado / Staff Photographer Brad Deflin giving a brief description on Cyber Security.

Kray computers, some of the very first in the industry. “More people own a cell phone than own a toilet,” says Deflin. The connection of people to phones is ever increasing so much so that they are paying by phone even now. Digital identities can be accessed in a number of ways through cell phones and “preserving your digital autonomy is one of the most difficult things.”

Even the Equifax crisis was brought up. Equifax’s CEO testified on Wednesday this past week and when asked if the peoples’ data could have been taken or impacted he could not answer. Deflin is incredibly worried about

these companies that hold massive amounts of personal data that could ruin a person’s life and that they do not monitor it closely enough. During the lifetimes of the people on this campus, Deflin thinks that hacking will become much more under control, stopping more ransomware and stealing of identities in general. Ransomware attacks hold your information for bitcoin; but right now, it is the “wild west.” Deflin has talked to the FBI about this for his clients and has been told that if the client’s information is important enough, the best advice is to “pay the ransom.” There are

no physical barriers stopping hacking and the ransoming of people’s information, and so it is hard to track it right now especially with the outdated laws that do not allow police to stop it. Countries that wish to harm us will not physically hurt us; they will bring us to our knees economically through the tech market.

James Klapper’s comments on being attacked online, “low to moderate attacks are the ones that will impact us the most,” since they are more abundant and take little chips away at people’s lives and are again, hard to track.

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NSCS Inducts New Members at Riddle Mike Shekari Staff Reporter The Embry-Riddle Aeronautically University chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) inducted their newest members into the organization on Nov. 11. The ceremony, held in the Henderson Welcome Center, was attended by newly inducted students along with their friends and families.

In addition to the induction of new members into

the NSCS, Alexandra Agresta, a University of Central Florida alumna and co-founder of Purpose Pioneers, gave a keynote speech about the importance of putting oneself first in life and pursuing individual dreams to make them realities.

Membership into the NSCS is by invite only and requires that students be either a freshman or sophomore in standing with at least a 3.4-grade point average. Some prospective members might be initially

Mike Shakeri / The Avion Newspaper

off-put by the fee to join the organization, which is $95 for a lifetime membership.

However, NSCS does also provide many scholarship and networking opportunities for its members.

Additionally, the NSCS is accredited by the Association of College Honor Societies, which is the primary accrediting body for collegiate honor societies within the United States. There are also students like Dynamite Obinna, an aeronautics senior, who credit NSCS involvement for many of

their successes during the collegiate experience.

The NSCS was founded in 1994 on the campus of George Washington University by Steve Loflin, with the goal of recognizing and engaging high achieving students early in their undergraduate careers. However, in the 23 years since the organization’s founding, the NSCS has expanded to over 300 educational institutions around the United States and possesses a total enrollment of over 1 million lifetime members.

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Mike Shakeri / The Avion Newspaper

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Thanksgiving Basket Brigade “

The Basket Brigade initiative in the county pledged over 950 baskets from all of the different organizations that they reached out to.

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The Volunteer Network student organization on the Embry-Riddle campus continued their long history of getting the school together and donating Thanksgiving Baskets for families in need that cannot afford their own Thanksgiving meals.

Sean Murphy is the advisor for the Volunteer Network and talked about the organization’s progress in their outreach to the community and the students behind this Thanksgiving initiative. Last year, the initiative brought together a total of 19 baskets, whereas this year they donated over 26 baskets to families.

This is the second year that the Volunteer Network has been run by Sean, and he sees big potential for the

future with student leaders like Stephanie Bermudez.

Sean has been pushing more and more for students to be running most of the club and getting out there and networking with these volunteer organizations.

The entirety of a basket is meant to feed a family of 5 and includes many typical Thanksgiving staples like a pumpkin pie, stuffing, corn, as well as a gift card for the family to purchase a turkey

SGA Hits the Books SGA purchases popular textbooks to be loaned out in the library Samantha Stirmel Staff Reporter Finding textbooks in the library for classes is a hard task, especially when one can only rent them for hours at a time. Katelyn Wentworth saw this need after she overheard some of her friends talked about it and decided to do something to change it.

As Treasurer of the Student Government Association, she had the networking to propose this plan and enact it. She contacted the library and asked them about some of the most in-demand books in the library and proposed that the SGA donate some books to the library to support it and the student's educational needs.

After the SGA Executive board talked over the problem, they agreed to purchase three copies of each of the five most popular textbooks for the library to keep and loan out. Two of them are business books, and 3 are lower level engineering books.

In the future, the SGA is working on a partnership with the library to continue this relationship and donate more textbooks to support the students.

Wentworth implores any students that have specific textbook requests to let the SGA know so they can narrow down exactly what students want to see. These library books will be going on the borrow shelf along with other books supplied by faculty members. With how the university is structured the Library does not have the budget to fill the textbook need of the student population.

Therefore, the faculty is expected to put their books on the shelf to give students access without them having to buy the bookstore books.

Another way to improve the borrow shelf is by graduating students donating them. Obviously, not all faculty and former students are willing to do this, and so the SGA has moved to fill this need and hopes that this relationship will continue long into the future.

for their meal. Understanding that one student cannot always provide all the supplies for one basket was a key part of the club focusing on trying to get organizations and departments to go in on some baskets.

The Student Government Association donated about five baskets, the Office of the Registrar donated three themselves, and many other organizations on campus put a basket or two together as well.

The Basket Brigade initiative in the county pledged over 950 baskets from all of the different organizations that they reached out to.

When Brenna Freeman, Director of External Operations for the SGA, dropped off baskets Saturday morning, she heard talk of over 2,000 baskets being donated with more to come.

Sean hopes that next year they can double their total and get more organizations on campus involved with this community outreach project for families in need.

This year, the point of contact for the project is Stephanie Bermudez, a junior on campus with a furious passion and history of volunteer work. Bermudez started volunteering when she was a child at her church with her family, helping everyone around her runs in her blood.

About 75 volunteer hours were required in her high school to graduate; however, she estimates her total hours were about 500. This led to her involvement in the Volunteer Initiative on campus when she started coming to Embry-Riddle.

Bermudez loves this project and has tabled for it in

the Student Center almost every day because it means a lot to her to give families a meal which so many others may take for granted.

Her full force attitude

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Bermudez has also been pushing the Angel Tree project that is going on until Dec. 8

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Samantha Stirmel Staff Reporter

for every project the Network runs has given her the opportunity to be a manager of the club next semester, and she gladly takes the challenge. The Thanksgiving initiative is just one project out of the year, and part of the clubs push to have at least one service project every semester.

While pushing for the

Thanksgiving project Bermudez has also been pushing for is the Angel Tree project that is going on until Dec. 8, where students can choose children off the tree in the Student Center and buy t hem toys for Christmas.

She especially likes this project as well because the children that students can pick off the tree have parents who are in jail and cannot afford Christmas presents.

Buying needy children presents or donating Thanksgiving baskets is one way to get involved in the community around campus and helping the world around Embry-Riddle, but another way is volunteering time. Another way to get involved is by emailing Sean at murphs34@erau.edu.

Homecoming Queen 2017 Gabrielle Bonowski

Junior, Aerospace Engineering Gabrielle Bonowski is a junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering and is a proud resident of Pilesgrove, New Jersey. On campus, she is involved in the Orientation Team and is a Midshipman in the Navy ROTC program. Additionally, she is in the Student Government Association, serving as an Associate Justice on the Student Court and the Constitution Committee.

Outside of school, you can find her on the beach or taste testing all the great ice cream Daytona Beach has to offer. She loves her family, friends, running, and shoes. She is super excited to have been nominated and voted to be your Homecoming Queen!

Homecoming King 2017 Hunter Tedrick Junior, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Science Hunter Tedrick is a junior majoring in Unmanned Aircraft Systems Science and was born and raised in Waynesboro, PA. Hunter began attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in August 2015 as an Aerospace Engineering student and Air Force ROTC. He has since switched from AE to Unmanned Aircraft Systems Science and loves it. Shortly after switching, he joined the UAS Technology Club and currently serves as the Vice President. Hunter’s childhood obsession with airplanes has definitely stuck with him, as he is an Instrument rated Commercial Pilot, with Multi-Engine Land and Single Engine Sea Commercial add-ons, a Part 107 SUAS Certificate and a CFI. Plastic airplane toys, airshows, and flying are some of Hunter’s favorite activities; it is safe to say he landed at the right University.

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Dancing with the Eagles

Alexa Manssa Correspondent

The evening began with the dimmed lights of the Student Center, as the dancers prepared for their unique, decades-inspired performances, adrenaline was running high. Suddenly, the stage became alive and one by one, the teams came on stage to perform their number.

The show started with a 50s-inspired opening number to "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley performed by the pros of the Embry-Riddle Dancing Eagles (Choreographed by Kelsey P.).

The celebrities of this show were sororities, fraternities and the Air Force ROTC. The first performers were Delta Upsilon of the 20s-era dancing to "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody"

by Fergie, choreographed

by Kiristan W. The show proceeded with Theta Phi Alpha of the 30s-decade performing "Booty Swing" by Parov Stelar, choreographed by Alexa M. Following that performance, was Sigma Beta Rho of the 40s-decade performing "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra, choreographed by Kelsey K. Directly after, Sigma Alpha Epsilon of the 60s-era performed a mix of "Soul Man" by Sam and Dave, and "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, choreographed by Abigail J. Following intermission, two of the Pros (Alexa M. and Hafiy H.) choreographed and performed a high energy number to "Womanizer"

by Britney Spears.

The show continued with FIJI of the 70s-era perform-

ing a medley of the 70s, choreographed by Bailey P. Following that performance, The Air Force ROTC of the 90s-decade performed "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" by the Backstreet Boys, choreographed by Holly S. Bringing the decades back to modern day, Alpha Xi Delta performed "Ain't my Fault" by Zara Larson, choreographed by Hafiy H. The winners of the people's choice award were Delta Upsilon and proKiristan. The overall winners of Dancing with the Eagles were Alpha Xi Delta and pro-Hafiy. The audience really enjoyed the show put on by the EmbryRiddle Dancing Eagles.

It was fun and filled with lots of excitement and energy. Be sure to look out for the dance team in 2018!

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper Members of the Dancing Eagles opened with a dazzling performance that set the bar for the rest of the show.

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper Sigma Beta Rho members end their 40s-inspired performance to Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” by displaying their letters to the audience.

International Week Continued from A1 >> There’s beauty in every country and culture and as Macchiarella said, we should learn to appreciate cultural diversity and allow each country to have a uniqueness by maintaining and preserving its own culture. Those who have traveled know how diverse

Speaker Series Continued from A3 >> People, technology and risk need to all be managed together and weighted equally to protect the people. While working for JP Morgan in 2012, Deflin had the epiphany that technology was being democratized and he did not want to go to the IT department; he wanted to talk to the public. The biggest risk manager in the universe in the industry got paid 52 million dollars a year to look over Leman's assets and capital to make sure

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper Delta Upsilon members perform to “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.”

the world is, and having a chance to immerse oneself in another culture is a real eye-opener. Referring back to an article published in Issue 9 of The Avion, Dean Gains of the COAS mentioned attempting to create more language programs at Embry-Riddle so students could have one as a minor or simply out of interest.

Thursday afternoon featured “Study Abroad and Your Resume”, a short presentation by Career

Services ambassador and program manager Ryan Mazon. Mazon shared various tips on how to highlight study abroad experience in a resume, cover letter, or essay, even if the experience was only for a week.

Friday featured the International Food Challenge. The event was intended to be like the TV show Top Chef, where participants cook their best dishes to present to a panel

of judges. Here, exchange students showed off their country’s cuisine in a popularity contest. To finish out the week, the African Students Association (ASA) put on their annual cultural show “Coming to Africa”. This is the third time that they have hosted this show, and once again they have shown that Africa has its own unique cultures, traditions, and capacity for growth. Entrepreneurship was a big one,

and a video played during the show highlighting a growing automotive and aviation industry thanks to entrepreneurs and young women making a difference. The show also featured a parade of flags, several skits set to traditional stories, spoken words, a fashion show, as well as dance and musical performances. MCs Sabelo Mathebula and Ruth Chungi coordinated and commentated on the show. Dr.

Kenneth Hunt of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion gave a special speech on the three different types of intelligence: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual.

Dr. Hunt encouraged the audience to diversify their experiences so they will be prepared for the future.

With so many cultures on the Embry-Riddle campus, IE Week allowed all of them to present themselves in a fun, creative, and educational manner.

that nothing got through or scammed. He himself was scammed out of 20 million dollars trying to buy a simple apartment. Part of this advocates getting off of free email since "we have become used to the idea that everything is free on the internet."

This sense of everything being free is detrimental to peoples' understanding of the world and makes people more vulnerable. One key economic term that Deflin mentioned is the fact that "There's No Such Thing As a Free Lunch," someone's always paying for something in some way shape, or form.

By using sketchy online sites and throwing personal information all over the internet, it increases the chance of someone taking advantage of that information and using it. Deflin talked next about how passwords that people believed protected their information were incredibly ineffective.

However, "there is an art and science to passwords," and the power of them is in the math, the longer they are, the harder they are to crack. At around 14 characters the password becomes almost impossible to crack regardless of special char-

acters or capitalized letters.

"We have been taught erroneously that it has to be complex, " but Brad advises that it be completely random. Something that has a familiar tone "Mary had a little lamb" and switch it up to "Kathy had a big cow" so that it fits the criteria of what it needs to be less hackable, but easy to remember.

Next, the talk shifted to the cloud, the massive database in the sky that holds everyone's information and more selfies than can be counted. Deflin worries about this perception of the cloud as it "is really

just someone else's computer." Thought computing is implying that this information is becoming more accessible and that it can be accessed from everywhere.

The smartphone changed everything, Steve Jobs predicted it by saying that we "will be running [our] lives off of [cellphones]." Deflin thinks he is not wrong. The demand for the information to be everywhere, on the go, made the industry step up to it and offer it everywhere.

A simple case of supply and demand. But this requires the overarching of the cloud in more ways than anyone

ever expected and holds more information than ever.

Cyber is humanities transition to the new age, and the low hanging fruit of cyber expansion is its crime, which is only in the early innings and will progress further. Obama's administration tried to address this technological monolith shadowing the world and put out a call for more cyber specialists. Though the government recognized it, they ignored computer scientists, engineers, and various other pieces of the puzzle that form together to form the firewall against cyber-attacks.

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The Boyfriend Loophole: An Opinion on Gun Control

Sarah Fairchild Correspondent The debate over gun control has run itself in circles for the past two decades, and it seems that we are no closer to agreeing on this controversial issue. But with the recent mass shooting in Sutherland, Texas, a new aspect of gun violence has arisen that both ends of the spectrum can agree upon: domestic abusers should not be allowed to purchase guns.

Mass shootings are terri-

fying, and the consensus is that they are impossible to predict. But are they? The support fund “Everytown for Gun Safety” performed an exhaustive study of the 156 mass shootings that unfolded between 2009 and 2016. Eighty-five of those acts (roughly fifty-four percent) were related to domestic or family violence. James Hodgkinson, Omar Mateen, Robert Lewis Dear and now David Patrick Kelley, were all reported to have committed an act

of domestic violence.

Thankfully, there is legislation that will help prevent mass shootings and domestic violence without harshly infringing on our second amendment rights. The law states that domestic abusers are prohibited from buying or owning a firearm if they have ever been married to the victim, lived together, or had a child.

Problem solved, right?

Wrong. This is where something called the ‘Boyfriend Loophole’ comes

into play. A dangerous ex-boyfriend or dating partner has no such restriction. This issue can be traced back twenty years, to when Congress defined domestic violence in a way that focuses on spouses, cohabitating couples, and couples with children. This loophole allowed twenty-five percent of domestic abuse perpetrators to not qualify as intimate partners under the current law. What is worse, is that when Court Watch Montgomery investigated cases

of domestic abuse, they found that ninety-nine percent of judges failed to tell abusers that they could no longer own guns. When responding to a domestic violence call, the last thing the police needs is a dangerous abuser armed with an illegal firearm.

So far, eight states have passed or strengthened legislation to keep guns away from domestic abusers. These are small victories, and there’s still a lot of work to be done: existing laws need to be better

enforced, victims need to be taken more seriously, and the remaining thirty-seven states need to take steps to close the boyfriend loophole.

Abused individuals are the ‘canary in the coal mine’ of mass shootings.

By limiting an abusers’ ability to purchase firearms, the number of tragic massacres will decrease significantly. The law should not care if the abuser holding the gun is married because the gun definitely does not.

of it. Catch up with your family, friends, and most importantly your sleep, while eating a nice feast. As far as some cool activities to do, you can try bowling, roller skating, mini-golf, laser tag, paintball or go to the park for simplicity. A word of caution, remember to complete some of your homework and takehome finals. You are back in places of comfort and creativity, so chances of completing these tasks with ease are manageable.

If you feel like procrastinating, just think of all the fun you will have working on assignments from midnight to dawn from Nov. 29 through Dec. 4.

2. Cramming Speaking of this procrastination deadline (Nov. 29 – Dec. 4), this is when the most amount of cramming will emerge. I cannot say do not cram because everyone will. However, there

are a few things to help you retain more of the information. Study the hardest in the morning, take a walk when you start feeling tired, and most importantly get a least a moderate amount of sleep before the exam.

3. Stress This is the hurdle of life, knocking us down in the past, present, and future.

Either experience your first set of college finals or even the very last set, the tension will creep in. To alleviate the burden, try to meditate for a few minutes a day, eat healthier, exercise, and take a break when you need one.

3.1 Mental Breakdown We have reached the timeline in which stress and cramming cross paths.

You are in a whirlwind of emotions, and by eating the slightest bit of candy you are now off your rockers, and you do not know where to laugh, cry, or scream

(maybe a combination of all three). At this point rock out to music from the beginning of the 2000s, it will make you reminisce about the simpler days and laugh at how bad some of the music videos were.

4. Acceptance Finals are here. You have finished relaxing, and dealt with all the cramming, stressing, and the daily breakdown. You cannot hide anymore or anywhere, time to master the

boss level of the game we call college. Ready? Your time starts now.

5. Success Flips over the exam, open canvas, submits take-home final, “Here is an A+ from me.”

Fall 2017: The Final Countdown

Victoria Jordan Staff Reporter

Beginning the semester bright-eyed and bushytailed, we now walk around campus daydreaming about the Thanksgiving break. In a matter of seconds, you realize that Thanksgiving break starts Wednesday, and panicky that there are only three weeks left until the semester ends and finals week begins. *Silent Screaming* Although the end of the semester is swiftly approaching, November is the month to recharge and focus so that you can be resilient when tasks are thrown to you from the left and right. Here are a couple of things you should be aware of and how to master it as we all enter the final countdown.

1. Relaxation The break we all need is finally here, take advantage

Sparks on the Bay

Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Steel wool photography is where you light a golf ball sized clump of fine steel wool placed inside a small whisk, and spin it on a rope. During this, you take a long-exposure picture using a camera on a tripod.

This photo was taken right off the Dunlawton Bridge. Camera settings: 12mm, ISO 100, 30”, f/3.5

International Experience A7 Making Travel Experience Count: Study Abroad and Your Resume

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Keenan Thungtrakul Senior Reporter

As a part of International Education Week, Embry-Riddle’s Office of Global Engagement partnered with Career Services to host “Study Abroad and Your Resume”. Career Services Ambassador and Program Manager Ryan Mazon led the presentation. This article shares the information Mazon presented in a question-and-answer format.

What key elements of a study abroad experience should be highlighted?

Mazon stated that you should highlight your experience working in an international environment (meaning collaborating with people from the country you’re studying in), learning another culture and language, and solving problems both while traveling and during the academic portions of

The Avion

the trip. With increased globalization, employers want employees who have a global perspective since they are always looking to expand their frontiers, often to other countries. When interacting with employers or while in an interview, put quality over quantity.

Describe relevant experiences you had during the trip abroad tailored to the interaction and let them make you stand out.

How much abroad experience is sufficient to be able to have on a resume?

This goes back to quality over quantity, something Mazon stressed repeatedly. Having study abroad experience, even if only for a week, can not only help with job applications, but also applications to graduate school, scholarship programs, and fellowship programs. It could also lead to the discovery of new career fields!

You just need to make sure you make the most out of the trip, no matter the duration. Get out of your comfort zone and get experience interacting with people from another culture. It will help you in the long run.

Where should I place my study abroad experience on my resume?

Mazon stated that the experience abroad could go in either Education, Activities, or Project Experience. Exchange programs are best listed under Education. Summer and weeklong programs, depending on the individual program, can go in either Education or Project Experience.

A program like Greece, for example, could fit either section. All the traveling you do serves as a learning experience as much as the projects and workshops conducted in the final week do. An IGNITE Abroad program fits best in

Project Experience. If your study abroad program does not come with a project, see if you can start one!

Do employers want to see my study abroad experience?

This is a common myth, according to Mazon. The short answer is, “yes.” Even if the employer does not explicitly ask about your experience, you can bring it up in your answer to a question or in your elevator pitch if you give one.

You will not alienate yourself from the employer if your recounts of your trip stay relevant to what the employer is asking. However, do not over-stress your experience. Weave it into your other experiences to help the employer get a better sense of your wider skills and abilities.

Also, do not make your study abroad experiences sound the same on every resume. Make each one unique in its own sense,

tailored to the position you are applying to.

How can I highlight my experience in an interview?

As mentioned by Mazon, the best time to highlight experiences abroad in an interview is when you are asked behavioral questions or questions about challenges you have faced. Use your experience to make the interview interesting.

Again, put quality over quantity and keep your descriptions relevant to the question at hand; do not go off on a tangent and forget to wrap it back around to the original prompt. Even better, if the interviewer asks you about your experience directly, take it as a chance to tell the interviewer a story that describes how your trip has helped equip you for the position.

If you need guidance, think about how your experience helped you mature in the fields of teamwork,

patience, adaptation, and handling transitions.

How about beyond my resume? Where else can I make my abroad experience shine?

Study abroad experiences do not have to be restricted to a resume.

In an interview with The Avion Newspaper, Mazon stated that you could also describe your experiences in cover letters and application essays. Do not limit yourself. In a cover letter, highlight your gained skills in depth and elaborate further on how your trip has better equipped you for the position. An essay gives you more freedom to highlight your travels. Emphasize personal gains and the significance of your trips while keeping your essay within the prompt. For more help with a resume or cover letter writing, check out the Career Services website. For essays, the A2 Writing Center can help.

Student Shares Exchange Experience Nicolas Wahler Correspondent This is a continuation of an article that was published in Issue 8.

Part II; You know the Delft University of Technology?

My university, the Delft University of Technology, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technological university. It is commonly seen as one of the top 20 universities worldwide for engineering in general, but also aerospace engineering. We have eight facilities which cover the whole range of engineering topics (including some economics) and about 19,000 students.

Currently, most Bachelor degrees are still taught in Dutch, but the university is working on transitioning everything completely to English. The aerospace faculty offer Master’s programs solely in English.

This is a great advantage, as it allows students from all over the world to come to Delft to enrich the faculty with their diversity. Only about half of the Bachelor students in aerospace are Dutch. My friends come from Holland, Germany, Romania, France, Italy, Spain, UK etc. You get to meet many nationali-

ties and learn a lot about them. It can be fascinating to see how the approach to a problem can differ by nationality. Plus, you get to make many great friends all around the globe, the perfect starting point for good networking.

These differences can then be put to productive use in one of our many student teams. We have very successful teams working on small racecars (Formula Student), hydrogen-electric racecars, high-performance bicycles, solar boats, submarines, sounding rockets, and the Hyperloop. Formula Student is consistently amongst the top three in their races.

Hyperloop won SpaceX’s competition in January, and the rocket team is currently working on their third (European) altitude record for student-built rockets. Their distinguishing feature is that all design and development is conducted by the society. Thus, both rockets and engines are designed and produced by students.

The next project, Stratos III, is set for launch next year. It will incorporate the newest solid-propellant engine, active stabilization and a new mortar-type release mechanism for the parachute. Hopeful-

ly, we will finally beat our self-set goal of reaching an altitude of 50 km (31 miles). Next, to this, they have many groups working on hybrid, liquid and cryogenic engines, as well as refined aerodynamics, active stabilization, and new innovative recovery methods. All production is done at a huge workshop in a separate building solely dedicated to these student projects.

TU Delft also strongly encourages student startups. They have specific grants and facilities where these companies can move. One very successful example is ‘Innovative Solutions in Space (ISIS).’

They started producing miniature equipment for cube-sats. Currently, you can order custom built satellites from their website, including handling and launching into orbit.

Now, this may sound like the aerospace faculty is rather space-focused.

That is not quite the case.

They operate ten subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic wind tunnels, a full-motion research simulator, and their research aircraft, a Cessna Citation II. They also have large material production and testing facilities. As a Bachelor student, during your proj-

Photo Courtesy: TU Delft The Cessna Citation II used by TU Delft to conduct research and perform flight tests.

ect work, you will be using most of this equipment.

During the first two years, practicals will be held in subsonic and supersonic wind tunnels. You will design, build, and test different structural parts. In your final year, you will also get to fly the simulator and do flight tests with the Citation. All these facilities can be used for Masters and doctorate research.

In contrast to Embry-Riddle, we do not have any specializations in the Bachelor’s degree. We have courses in aeronautics, astronautics, and propulsion all together; we only specialize in our Master’s programs. There we have very diverse programs in Control & Simulation, Operations, Flight Performance & Propulsion, Spaceflight, Aerospace Structures & Materials, and

Aerodynamics & Wind Energy. Delft University also offers further specializations for precisely the field of study you love most.

While they are all challenging 2-year programs, you will get a good quality education, learn a lot, and have access to great facilities to support your degree field. Amongst others, the admission requirement is a CGPA of 3.0 or higher.

As for student life, Delft is a nice city: the university is so big, everything is very student friendly, and you can get discounts on restaurants and bars. And with Belgium and Germany as neighboring countries, there is a very good selection of tasty beers available everywhere (18+ only). For parties, you can even go to the big cities of Den Haag or Rotterdam via 10-minute train ride.

We have a bar run by our student association-a great place to meet all the other Aerospace students. Once a year we have a big party, Airbase, where the facility gets transformed into a big club with two dancefloors.

It is really fun and is a great break from the usual studying in that building.

I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about student life halfway around the globe.

If I sparked your interest in a study abroad (or more), you can go to the Office of Global Engagement for more information on the requirements of Embry-Riddle. You can contact me at wahlern@my.erau. edu for more information about TU Delft and life in Europe in general.

Hopefully, I can meet some of you in Delft in the future for some delicious Stroopwafels.

Photo Courtesy: Tesla

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Diversity and Inclusion in Aviation

Airshow Center Hsinchu Air Base Open Day Hsinchu AB, Taiwan November 25, 2017

• More than two years since its last airshow, the Hsinchu Air Base Open Day will feature the Republic of China Air Force Thunder Tigers and Mirage 2000 fighters. _________

JASDF Open House Tsuiki Air Festival JASDF Tsuiki, Japan November 26, 2017

• Featuring the Japan Air

Self-Defense Force Blue Impulse team. _________

Finland 100 - Independence Day Parade Kuopio, Finland December 6, 2017

• Independence Day Parade featuring F-18 Hornet and Black Hawk formation flyovers. _________

Miguel Moore Correspondent

The aviation industry is a highly technical one, but as human beings, we cannot escape the fact that we are social individuals.

The interaction with our colleagues is an indivisible aspect of any job, and as such, it should be treated with the importance it deserves, especially if the lives of tens or hundreds of people depend on such interaction. Imagine you are a passenger flying back home for the holidays: how would you feel if you knew that an avoidable external factor is causing tension in the cockpit, thus hindering the safety of the operation? What if such external factor is tied to a social issue, or more precisely, to an LGBT issue? Preventing this from happening

is one of the main goals of the National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA).

Contrary to its name, the NGPA is not only restricted to pilots. According to their website, the NGPA’s mission is “to build, support, and unite the global LGBT aviation community.” This includes, but is not restricted to, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, ground staff, engineers, among others.

For two days, a panel comprised of four representatives and members of the NGPA visited our campus, with the objective of promoting the organization’s primary goals: “to encourage members of the LGBT community to begin piloting careers; to foster equal treatment of LGBT aviators through advocacy and outreach; to promote aviation safety; and to pro-

vide an affirming social and professional network for LGBT aviators.” The panel was composed by Troy Merritt, First Officer at Endeavor Air and Chair of the Advocacy Committee for the NGPA, Brian Gambino, First Officer at JetBlue and Director of Corporate Relations for the NGPA, Brian Paravati, Captain at ExpressJet, and Brian Case, First Officer at JetBlue. The visit was arranged by Kenneth E. Hunt, Associate Director for Diversity and Inclusion, Alyssa Ciardiello, President of P.R.I.D.E.!

(People Respecting Identity, Diversity and Equality), and the NGPA. Upon arriving on campus on Nov. 7, and after touring and revisiting the facilities (all three Brians are ERAU alumni), they participated in the

P.R.I.D.E.! general meeting and carried out a very informative presentation on what it is like working in aviation as a member of the LGBT community. The following day, the panel visited several classes, speaking to both students and faculty about the mission of the NGPA and its goals, and concluded their visit by hosting a panel discussion at the College of Aviation Atrium.

After sharing their coming out (of the closet) stories, they discussed about the challenges and fears one might have being out as a pilot, considering how such position is usually viewed as a male-dominated and very “masculine” one, and how different it is to be out in the cockpit, compared to, for instance, an office-type environment.

Key West Centennial of Naval Aviation NAS Key West, Florida December 7, 2017

• Airshow celebrating 100

years of Naval Aviation in Key West, FL (Boca Chica Field). _________

This Week in Aviation History November 21-24, 1917

The Zeppelin LZ-104 “Das Afrika-Schiff ” makes a 4,199 mi journey through Africa in 96 hours (average speed 44 mph).

November 21, 1783

In a flight lasting 25 min, de Rozier and d’Arlandes take the first untethered ride in a Montgolfière in Paris, the first human passengers carried in free flight by a hot-air balloon.

November 22, 1989

Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-33 at 0:23:30 UTC. Mission highlights: Fifth classified DoD mission; Magnum/IUS.

November 23, 1996

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767, is hijacked over Kenya. The aircraft runs out of fuel, and the pilot attempts to ditch the aircraft in the ocean off Moroni, Comoros. The hijack leaves 125 casualties out of 175 souls on board.

November 24, 1939

BOAC is formed by the merger of Imperial Airways and the original British Airways.

Miguel Moore / The Avion Newspaper Brian Gambino shares his experiences both as a student at ERAU and in the workplace during the panel discussion.

They also addressed the changes in the aviation industry towards LGBT acceptance, and how LGBT culture now plays a predominant and integral role, becoming a crucial factor when it comes to selecting an airline or company to work for.

Furthermore, they highlighted the importance of allies in the community, and the ever-growing role of universities, professors and educators in participating in LGBT issues in aerospace. Last but definitely not least, a strong emphasis was placed on the plethora of resources available to the community, such as the Advocacy, Mentorship and Volunteer programs, the Transgender People Forum, the Women Forum and the NGPA Education Fund.

During the next months, the NGPA will be organizing the 2018 Industry Expo, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 9 in Palm Springs, CA. This will be a great opportunity to interact with the recruiters of over 42 exhibiting companies, meet over 1200 fellow NGPA members, connect with the executive board, and attend the various summits, keynotes and workshops that will be taking place during the event. For more information on the NGPA, the Industry Expo, or any of the aforementioned programs, please visit www.ngpa.org.

Apple’s Face ID is Vulnerable Chirag Mehrotra Correspondent On Sept. 12, 2017, tech company Apple announced its latest version of the iPhone series, the iPhone X. The new iPhone made a huge shift from its predecessors since the X has gotten rid of the home button and the power button. To unlock the iPhone, the user simply raises the phone to the eye level and the Face ID recognition software projects 30,000 invisible infrared (IR) dots on their face.

This allows the software to create a map of the user's face that it stores in its A11 bionic chip and compares future maps against the original map. Apple claims there is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance that someone would be able to open your

phone using Face ID when compared to 1 in 50,000 chance of having the same fingerprint as the user.

It all sounds reassuring when the user is attempting to protect his privacy on their iPhone. However, researchers from Vietnam have found a deceptive method to unlock the iPhone using Face ID. The researchers made use of a 3D printer and created a mask that cost them $150. "Nose was made by a handmade artist. We use 2D printing for other parts. The skin was also hand-made to trick Apple's Artificial Intelligence," Bkav said in a blog post. "The mask is crafted by combining 3D printing with makeup and 2D images, besides some special processing on the cheeks and around the face, where

there are large skin areas, to fool AI of Face ID. Many people in the world have tried different kinds of masks but all failed. It is because we understand how AI of Face ID works and how to bypass it." said Ngo Tuan Anh, Bkav's Vice President of Cyber Security. The researchers, therefore, claim that the face recognition is "not mature enough to guarantee security for smartphones."

According to the firm, Apple heavily banks on the artificial intelligence behind the software and thus that could lead to severe security breaches. "We just need half a face to create the mask. It was even simpler than we ourselves had thought," Bkav said. Face ID can create massive problems if exploited by the

wrong people and it can be as simple as wearing a mask of the user's face.

Apple has to look at this discovery by the researchers and address the issues poised with their new-

est and most ambitious product, the iPhone X. Until Apple finds a solution to the Face ID dilemma, the firm suggests that fingerprints are the best tool for biometric safety.

Photo Courtesy: Macworld

Space

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Looking Into Our Past (and Our Future)

Abigail Johnson Staff Reporter

This past weekend SEDS USA (the Space Explorers and Developers Society) held the annual SpaceVision conference in our very own Cape Canaveral at the Raddison Convention center. This occasion brings together scientists, engineers and space lovers alike to listen to some of the top leaders in the STEM fields talk about their research.

SpaceVision discusses a range of topics from future space business policies to modern astronomy.

One of the highlights of SpaceVision 2017 was the presentation discussing the building of the James Webb Space Telescope delivered

by Senior Engineer Alliston Barto from Ball. Barto highlighted all the major components of the telescope and how these precise parts came together. What makes the James Webb Space Telescope so unique from other telescopes in space is that it is going far out of our orbit: about one million miles from Earth.

This means that it will have to escape the launched capsule once it reaches its destination and unfold itself into position. All previous space telescopes have been manually put together by astronauts, but since James Webb will be so far away, a new method will have to be used. This is a challenge engineers have solved using what is called an "origami

fold." The telescope will be folded up inside the launch capsule until it will be slowly (and carefully) unraveled into its new position.

However, this is one out of numerous new challenges engineers on this project are having to face.

Interestingly enough, since the telescope will be so far away, its temperature must be regulated to function.

The James Webb telescope will be positioned in such a way that Earth will always be between it and the sun to help the mirrors of the telescope stay cool. However, to maintain this coolness, the mirrors had to be carefully manufactured to maintain a temperature of at least 30 Kelvin. Temperature is critical due to the purposeful

research of the telescope by astronomers to study the very first stars of the universe millions of lightyears away. Barto explains every mirror took around five years to manufacture out of extremely pure Beryllium. After they were created, the mirrors were coated with very thin layers of gold, simply because gold is a metal known to keep cold. Barto explained to her listeners the very intense testing the mirrors had to go through to be properly aligned. "It takes a month to cool it down [on Earth in the vacuum chamber] and another month to warm it back up," she explained.

"We needed to know if it would work… Usually, we have one or two new

technologies… but this time we have ten."

While the James Webb Space Telescope seems so complex, it will be a revolutionary marvel once it is functioning as a useful tool for astronomers. Having the ability to see so far into the origins of the universe in the very first stars will tell scientists information about the past of the universe. The possibility of obtaining insight about the future of our solar system and our species has never seemed so feasible. However, shortly the world will discover how developed these new technologies have become as the James Webb Space Telescope attempts to be launched out of Earth's orbit.

Tesla Unveils Two New Vehicles Vipul Telang Photo Editor Tesla unveiled its highly-touted Semi as well as its updated Roadster on Nov. 16 in Hawthorne, California.

CEO and founder Elon Musk introduced the Tesla Semi at a private event in a hangar at Hawthorne Municipal Airport. The Semi introduces many of the features and amenities that have been seen on the Model S, X, and 3, along with performance that is normally seen in highend sports cars. Without a trailer, the Semi can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in five seconds, which is

ten seconds faster than a regular diesel truck.

Part of the reason for the impressive acceleration is the drag coefficient. The Tesla Semi has a drag coefficient of just 0.36, which is less than the Bugatti Chiron, which has a drag coefficient of 0.38. This is helped by the windshield that gives the driver a larger range of sight compared to a diesel truck. The driver also sits in the middle of the truck, with two information screens on either side of the steering wheel.

Musk also highlighted the range of the Semi.

Fully loaded at highway speeds, it can travel 500

miles on a single charge.

Musk glossed over this point, as a lot of trucking routes are longer than 500 miles. However, he emphasized that over eighty percent of trucking routes are 200 miles or fewer, allowing drivers to make the round trip on just one charge.

At the conclusion of the Tesla Semi presentation, Musk brought out the revamped Roadster, which had been inside one of the trailers. The Roadster accelerates from zero to 60 mph in a heart-stopping 1.9 seconds, which makes it the quickest production car ever. The top speed is at least 250 mph, but

Musk did not give an exact number, presumably until the production model is revealed. This is assisted by Tesla’s new “plaid” mode, which is much more powerful than both “insane” and “ludicrous” modes found on previous models. “Plaid” mode is a reference to Spaceballs and the warp-like acceleration and speeds that the Roadster can achieve. This is incredible for a car that seats four people in a 2+2 configuration. Drivers will also have a range of 620 miles, which is currently the largest range of any of Tesla’s models.

The Roadster will be sold for $200,000, while a

limited-edition Founder’s series, limited to 1,000 cars, will sell for $250,000.

Musk stated the reason for building the Roadster was that “[it] should be a hardcore smack-down to gas-powered cars” and that petrol cars would look like “steam engines with a side of quiche.”

With the Semi entering full-time production in 2019 and the Roadster slated to enter production in 2020, Tesla is set to shake up the automotive world. Only time will tell if Tesla’s usually optimistic production deadline will stand strong against the predicted high demand for both vehicles.

The Avion

Launch Control Center Zuma - Falcon 9

December @ TBD Kennedy Space Center, Florida LC-39A

Jilin 1 - Long March 6 November 21 @ TBD Taiyuan, China

Meteor M2-1 - Soyuz

November 28 @ 0041 EST Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russia

ASNARO 2 - Epsilon

TBD Uchinoura Space Center, Japan

Still Testing - Electron December @ TBD Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

CRS 13 - Falcon 9

December 4 @ 1453 EST Cape Canaveral, Florida SLC-40

ISS Sightings November 22 0529 EST - Appears at 12° above SSW, disappears at 10° above SSW. Max height, 12°, visible for > 1 minute.

November 24 1836 EST - Appears at 10° above SSW, disappears at 45° above E. Max height, 52°, visible for 4 minutes.

November 26 1724 EST - Appears at 30° above W, disappears at 20° above NNE. Max height, 44°, visible for 3 minutes.

This Week in Space History November 22, 1989 Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-33 at 00:23:30 UTC. Mission highlights: Fifth classified DoD mission; Magnum/IUS. November 24, 1991 Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-44 at 6:44:00 pm EST. Mission highlights: DSP satellite deployment.

Photo Courtesy: Alexis Georgeson/Tesla Motors A rendered profile view of Tesla’s new electric semi-trailer truck.

Photo Courtesy: Alexis Georgeson/Tesla Motors A beautiful rendering of the new Telsa Roadster, unveiled along side their new semi on 16th November, 2017.

November 26, 1985 Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-61-B at 4:26 am EST. Mission highlights: First Mexican in space, Rodolfo Neri Vela.

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Pioneering the “Ignorosphere” This past week, Blue Origin's Dr. Erika Wagner presented on the Embry-Riddle campus enlightening students on Blue Origin, job opportunities and what to expect from the company in the future.

Dr. Wagner explained that Jeff Bezos believes that others should want humans to go far and not make space Plan B, but make space part of Plan A for the planet.

The growth rate for Blue Origin increases every day and pushes their drive even more in the technology sector. West Texas is where all the interesting launches happen so far, with New Shepard conducting test launches and experiments.

Down at Cape Canaveral, Blue Origin is working on their facility where they will be assembling and launching their upcoming rocket, New Glenn. Just like SpaceX, Blue Origin is involved in the launch-

ing, landing, and repeating the use of rockets.

Reusability is the foundation of Blue Origin. By bringing down the cost of rockets to the cost of fuel, it increases the feasibility of everyone having access to go to space.

New Shepard flew a total of five times with the same rocket. On its last flight, Blue Origin wanted to go further into the unknown and had conducted an in-flight escape test of the capsule where they flew it up to about 20,000 feet and fired off the abort motor. The capsule ended up landing safely on the ground, and the rocket continued flying and landed safely as well.

To end on a good note, Blue Origin decided to retire the rocket, and it was on tour during the spring and into the summer of 2017, even visiting Oshkosh AirVenture in Wisconsin.

An important factor of the rocket is the fact that as soon as the hatch door

closes, the emergency abort system is activated. This is to ensure that, even when sitting on the pad, the capsule provides an out for astronauts.

A portion of moving further into space tourism is limiting the amount of G's that astronauts are pulling and moving it down to around two G's.

This is a load that any healthy human should be able to handle, and it does not require the stamina of a fighter pilot to

“

Blue Origin launches most of its rockets into the portion of the atmosphere that they call the “Ignorosphere.”

“

Samantha Stirmel Staff Reporter

be able to withstand it.

Dr. Wagner stresses that the rockets are not yet ready for humans in part because Blue Origin still needs to ensure the safety of the rocket which might

A Silent Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Argentine Submarine vanishes; Search underway Henry Neiberlien Editor-in-Chief Built in 1983, the Argentine diesel-electric submarine ARA San Juan is the newest boat in the Argentinian submarine force. The San Juan was built in Germany as part of the TR-1700 class of submarines.

These submarines were some of the fastest and most advanced submarines when they were built. However, today they are showing their age.

The San Juan went through a five-year mid-life update between 2008 and 2013 to keep the submarine competitive and reliable well into the future.

Unfortunately, the ARA San Juan is now missing after contact was lost during a journey between Ushuaia naval base in southern Argentina and Mar del Plata naval base in northeast Argentina.

Contact between the Argentine Navy and the submarine was lost on Nov. 15, 267 miles of the coast and only faint emergency signals

has been heard since.

This loss has sparked one of the greatest international search and rescue operations in recent history to attempt to find and save the forty-four crew members, including Argentina's first female submarine officer on-board at the time of its disappearance.

The Argentinian Navy has deployed everything in its arsenal for the search including helicopters, corvettes, and destroyers.

The US Navy is deploying a P-8 Poseidon from El Salvador to assist, and NASA is rerouting a P-3 Orion from Operation Icebridge to help as well.

Even the United Kingdom has offered their assistance to their former foe in the form of a research vessel and C-130 asset-based in the Falkland Islands.

Hopefully, the submarine just suffered a communications failure and is still carrying out its missions, however as the days go by the hope that submarine is still operational continues to fade.

Unlike a nuclear submarine like those found in

the US Navy, a diesel submarine cannot stay underwater for multiple months with an unlimited range.

The San Juan is at the mercy of its electric batteries to provide power when submerged, and these need to be recharged by running the diesel engines surfaced or using a snorkel system.

If the submarine did indeed sink with its hull intact, the crew would only have had hours not days of breathable air left before suffocation.

In normal operation, the San Juan can only be at sea for thirty days, so time might be running out for the crew's rescue.

While incidents like these are increasingly rare due to modern high-tech submarines, it is very important to realize that being a submariner is still a risk as you and your boat are at the liberty of the sea.

This incidents proves that there are still risks involved in submarine operations, and the Argentine navy is preparing for a possible underwater rescue of the submarines crew.

take about 18 months.

Dr. Wagner was at ERAU because she attended a conference called the "R&D 100" where representatives of all industries come together and collaborate on ideas.

Dr. Wagner explained that, when talking to them, she often heard "I don't belong in spaceflight. I'm not NASA funded." She argues that they're not selling spaceflight, they are selling experiment space in microgravity.

When taking gravity out of the equation, it changes variables and can help innovate products, making them even more efficient.

Blue Origin is expanding spaceflight from just one industry to all of them. By taking out just one of the seats on their rocket, they have space to put lockers which Blue Origin sells to companies to fill with whatever experiment they desire.

Taking the guesswork out of having the resources to get to space allows

for schools and companies who cannot send up their own rockets to test products and expand horizons.

Blue Origin launches most of its rockets into the portion of the atmosphere that they call the "Ignorosphere."

Many spaceflight companies completely ignore it and do not spend much time there, but this area in the atmosphere is where the majority of upper atmosphere climate interactions happen.

New Glenn is a new breed of rocket. Because of the rocket measuring in at an astounding 313 feet in height and 23 feet in diameter in the three-stage configuration, it needs to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a newer and larger facility.

The grand plan is for it to be launched by 2020.

The rocket has an especially large payload fairing that opens a wider range of possibilities for what the payloads can be.

Blue Origin is also

looking at natural gases as an alternative to rocket fuel because it stops what is called "cooking."

It is also more functional than kerosene or helium, both of which are not renewable resources.

The first week of December is when Blue Origin will take full residency of the Cape Canaveral facility so they can begin the process of building the New Glenn rocket.

Blue Origin has started signing launch contracts for satellites to plan for the future and cement usability for the New Glenn rocket.

A program titled "Blue Moon" was also mentioned.

This project is Blue Origin's concept of building a lunar lander for future use.

By putting Blue Moon on top of a NASA SLS rocket, Blue Origin hopes to increase useable cargo space and work with other companies to start pursuing their ultimate goal of working and living in space.

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper

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MOTORSPORTS

Upcoming Races: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NEXTERA ENERGY 250 Daytona International Speedway Feb. 16, 2018 TBD

NASCAR XFINITY Series POWERSHARES QQQ 300 Daytona International Speedway Feb. 17, 2018 TBD

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Advanced Auto Parts Clash Daytona International Speedway Feb. 11, at 3:00 p.m. ET

FIA Formula 1 World Championship Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit Nov. 26, at 8:00 a.m. ET

FIA Formula E Championship HKT Hong Kong E-Prix

Hong Kong Central Harbourfront Circuit Dec. 2, 2017 TBD

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Drama in the Desert Rajan Khanna Staff Reporter

The penultimate race of the 2017 NASCAR Season took place at Phoenix International Raceway this past weekend.

The racing was full of surprises, ranging from rookie mistakes in the shadow of championship glory, to an upset win by a non-playoff contender. This revamped playoff format resets all contenders to 4000 points and removes playoff points. The only factor in crowing the champion is the highest finisher at Homestead. No driver will earn stage points, but the stages will still be present.

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Johnny Sauter took the checkered flag after a wreck filled Lucas Oil 150. The drivers eliminated from contention are Ben Rhodes and John Hunter Nemechek.

Rhodes was wrecked by Austin Cindric late in the race and was forced to retire from the race. The accident was very similar to an accident between Carl Edwards and Joey Logano at the 2016 Ford Ecoboost 400. Logano had a much better restart and tried to drop under Edwards but Edwards attempted a block and spun himself around. He then hit the inside wall before bouncing and hitting the outside wall. The incident between Rhodes and Cindric had Cindric in Logano’s position and Rhodes in Edward’s position. Rhodes attempted to block Cindric’s advance and was ultimately put into the wall and out of contention.

Rhodes was apprehensive about Cindric’s decision: ““He put me in a bad place and I’m trying to do everything I could to keep my spot. I’m not sure it was the right move on his part.”

“

He put me in a bad place and I’m trying to do everything I could to keep my spot. I’m not sure it was the right move on his part.

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Fellow Toyota driver Matt Crafton offered his opinion on the matter: “I told Ben (Rhodes), the 19 (Austin Cindric) better not finish Homestead.” Cindric claimed the wreck was not intentional. He thought

Photo Courtesy: Ralph Freso/AP

that restart was his only chance to get past him. Kyle Busch motorsports teammates Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson also collided in a separate accident. Both were battling for the lead with seven laps to go and crashed. They both sustained damage but Bell was able to finish the race in the top ten. There was also a wild six wide moment which ended in disaster as underdog, Ryan Truex, was taken out of the race. He has been consistently improving throughout the season and now contends for wins weekly. After the race concluded, the four drivers that advanced into the championship field are: Johnny Sauter, Austin Cindric, Matt Crafton, and Christopher Bell.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series race was much tamer. The JR Motorsports teams had quite an issue to solve prior to the race.

They use Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pit crews since they are very experienced, and no rule prevents pit crews from freely switching between series’. Their usual pit crews were stuck in Alabama due to a flight issue and were unable to make it in time for the Ticket Galaxy 200. They were forced to create a brand-new pit crew just before the race, but it paid off. William Byron still came home victorious in the desert, claiming his fourth win of the 2017 season. He had not lead any laps until lap 183 where his crew chief made the decision to take only two tires. Phoenix is known for giving stock cars a “clean-air advantage.”

That gives the car in the lead an aerodynamic advantage since it is not impeded

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona Daytona International Speedway Jan. 27, 2018 TBD

Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg March 11, 2018 TBD

Photo Courtesy: Johnathan Ferrey/Getty Images

by drag from another car. Although he won, he was not dominant whatsoever.

Ryan Blaney was able to win two of the three stages despite his ineligibility to earn points in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Only one major accident happened in the race, involving Brennan Poole and Caesar Bacarella. Bacarella, who was making his first career NASCAR XFINITY start, shot up the track while Poole tried to go to the bottom. Poole commented on the accident, “I saw (Bacarella) go in (to Turn 1), and we were going to kind of go to the top to go around him, and he slid up so I tried to go to the bottom,” Poole said.

“Bad luck, bad circumstances.” Bacarella did not publicly comment on the incident.

The four drivers that advanced and continue in the championship hunt are: William Byron, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, and Daniel Hemric. All four contenders drive Chevrolet stock cars.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series had an exciting chain of events. Matt Kenseth stole the show after taking the lead from Chase Elliott with just nine laps left, Elliott gets retribution against Denny Hamlin for the Martinsville incident, and Brad Keselowski just barely stays in contention to advance to Miami. The Can Am 500 was an impressive race and brought excitement to the 2017 playoffs. Recently announcing his retirement from full time racing, Matt Kenseth brought himself a story book ending to his career, claiming victory for him and his Joe Gibbs Racing team. He had a lackluster season and was expected to retire without leaving a mark on 2017, but he changed that prediction. Kenseth commented on his win, “With only two (races) left, I didn’t think we probably had a good chance of getting back to Victory Lane. It’s been, I don’t know how many races – somebody’s probably going to tell me tonight – but it’s been at least 50 or 60, s o it’s been a long time.”

With his win also brought heartbreak to Chase Elliott. Elliott has had many near wins this season and this just adds to it. He will have one final chance to get his first career win in 2017 at the Ford Ecoboost 400. Although Elliott did not win, his fans had a small victory as Chase got his revenge against Denny Hamlin for the Martinsville incident.

Elliott forced Hamlin up to the outside wall and gave almost no room where Hamlin was pushed into the wall and damaged.

This left him with a tire rub that caused him to spin and sustain heavy damage. Once the race came to an end, the four championship drivers are: Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski.

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Last Lap for the Old Guys

Christopher Weil Correspondent The sun is setting on the 2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season as Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. wave goodbye to the life theyused to know.

Both drivers began their full time career in NASCAR’s premier Cupseries in the year 2000, and just as they entered together, they will exit together marking 2017 as their final year of full time racing.

Matt Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Champion, has enjoyed a sure-fire Hall of Fame worthy career. Starting in 2000 for Roush Fenway Racing (RFR,) he was immediately competitive in his bright yellow 17 Ford and notched his first win at the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on the NASCAR calendar, and is still the only driver to ever win that race as a rookie. While he didn’t win any more races in 2000, he did win Rookie of the Year honors over Earnhardt Junior, simply by being more consistent. Kenseth continued racing with Roush Fenway up until 2013 where he switched over to Joe Gibbs and in the number 20 Toyota, Kenseth revitalized his career earning 7 wins in the 2013 season, the most wins he has ever had in a single season. His final and 39th win of his career came just last week at Phoenix International Raceway, where after winning, he sprayed team owner and former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs with champagne while quipping, “What are you gonna do? Fire me?”

Dale Earnhardt Junior, the 14 time Most Popular Driver, has similarly had a Hall of Fame worthy career. Driving the number 8 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI,) Dale Jr. drove his way to his first win as a rookie at Texas Motor Speedway, and was

able to gather 25 more wins through the years for a career total of 26 Cup series wins. Easily one of his biggest wins includes the 2001 Pepsi 400; the first race at Daytona after his father, Dale Earnhardt Senior, crashed and died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. In victory lane, Dale Jr said, “He was with me tonight, I don’t know how I did it.” From then on, Dale Earnhardt Junior was always a favorite to win at Daytona, even earning the nickname ‘The Pied Piper,’ as he was the driver everyone else would follow. His fans sure followed him when he moved to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 to pilot the 88 car, which is where

he will finish his full time racing career.

There is good news, as Dale Jr isn’t done with the racing scene yet. On top of his new gig as a commentator for NBC’s NASCAR coverage, he is set to compete in two Xfinity Series races in 2018. Previously in the Xfinity Series, Dale Jr has enjoyed 24 wins and back-to-back championships that came in 1998 and 1999 with Kenseth playing the bridesmaid in 1998 and being 3rd in ‘99.

Taking over Dale Jr’s 88 next season will be Alex Bowman. Avid fans will remember some of Bowman’s triumphs from 2016 while Junior was recovering from his concussion. The most notable achieve-

ments from Bowman included qualifying 1st at Phoenix International Raceway and nearly winning the race before being taken out with 2 laps to go by none other than Matt Kenseth. Filling the hole left by Kenseth in the 20 car will be 2017 Cup Series rookie, Erik Jones. Jones worked his way through the NASCAR ladder winning the Truck Series championship as a rookie in 2015, then finishing 4th in points with 4 wins in the Xfinity series in 2016. While it’s certainly sad to see two fan favorites leave the sport, the new talent entering the sport is more than enough to keep fans watching and cheering.

Photo Courtesy: Gene Heagney

Danica Retires from Full-Time Racing Christopher Weil Correspondent During a press conference at the scene of NASCAR’s final race of the season in Homestead-Miami, NASCAR’s own Wonder Woman, Danica Patrick, dropped the bombshell that the 2017 NASCAR season would indeed be her last full time season. Directly after saying this; however, she announced that she would be running two races next year, the Daytona 500, and the Indy 500.

Both the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 are the biggest races of the year for NASCAR and Indycar respectively, and Danica is no stranger to both of them. From 2005 to 2011, she raced full time in Indycar, with her one win coming in Japan in 2008. In her first Indy 500, she managed to qualify 4th and run very well, but she would lose the lead with 7 laps to go en-route to finishing 4th. Her best ever finish in the Indy 500 was 3rd, which she recorded in 2009. It still remains the best Indy 500 finish by a female driver. While the team she’s driving for has yet to be announced, as long as the car is competitive, Danica can definitely contend for the win here.

Danica switched from Indycar to NASCAR, and started racing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2013, and managed to qualify 1st for her first race, the Daytona 500; which marked the first time any woman had ever sat on the pole in the NASCAR Cup Series. Due to the nature of how restrictor plate races are run, Danica would quickly get shuffled out of the lead, but manage to finish 7th. In her career, Daytona and Talladega have been two tracks where Danica has consistently been able to contend for the win, but she has unfortunately come up short every time thus far.

Now, many people will argue that Danica was just in NASCAR as a marketing tool, but to many fans she was much more than that. She was an inspirational figure that was able to show many young fans, especially female, that you can accomplish whatever you desire, as long as you work hard enough and believe in yourself. She didn’t get to where she was by luck or money, she got there because she earned her spot. Danica never let anyone tell her what she could or couldn’t do, and without her, there is going to be a large void in the NASCAR driver community.

Photo Courtesy: Morio

Photo Courtesy: Stewart-Haas Racing

November 18, 2017

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper

Abigail Johnson/The Avion Newspaper

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper

VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY PARK

Abigail Johnson/The Avion Newspaper

Abigail Johnson/The Avion Newspaper

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper

Abigail Johnson/The Avion Newspaper

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper

Motorsports

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Like Father, Like Son: Ridgeway Racing The Avion Newspaper headed out to Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida to cover Late Models, Thunderstocks, Mini Stocks, and Hobby Stocks. Volusia Speedway Park is a half-mile dirt track built in 1968, and is home to some of the largest dirt track racing in the nation. The track also hosted the NASCAR Busch Series from 1989 to 1992, earning the title “the fastest half-mile in the world.”

The Avion Newspaper interviewed Michael Ridgeway, who is the owner of Ridgeway Racing and built the team’s MiniStock car. He drives the No. 27 car part-time along with his son.

The Avion Newspaper: How fast does the race car go?

Michael Ridgeway: Well, the car has 4 cylinders but they have racing springs, shocks, and other parts. They have special tires that only have four lug nuts. The regulations allow you to do anything you want with the motor. When the cars reach top speed, they go about 90 to 100 mph.

Q: Where all have you raced?

MR: I did race at New

Smyrna Speedway a long time ago back, but I’ve mostly raced dirt tracks.

I’ve been racing since 1970.

Q: What’s your favorite moment of your racing career?

MR: I’m going to have to think about that for a minute.

“

Racing is one of

those things that

once it gets in your blood, it can’t get out of it.

“

Vipul Telang Photo Editor

Q: How do you plan for a race weekend?

MR: The car will stay on trailer tomorrow [Sunday].

We start working on our car on Monday. I’ve got a checklist made up that I use every week. Starting Monday night, we take the car to the garage and check all of the nuts and bolts.

We inspect everything and make notes of the parts, such as bad or loose/wearing parts. We make note of anything we see that needs to be done we replace.

If we see a shock hanging, we aren’t going to repair it. We get a new one. That’s the price to pay if you want to be competitive. Our shop

is based in Deland, so we’re lucky. Most of the drivers are all over Central Florida, so they have a long drive to and from some tracks. For example, that team [over there] is based in Tampa.

Q: What’s the cost of racing?

MR: Starting with the fuel cell alone…that’s racing fuel and that’s ten dollars per gallon. A full tank will run you eighty dollars. To get into the pit lane and infield is another thirty dollars. The tires that we use are $135 a piece. To stay competitive, our car gets new tires once a month but some teams don’t have that kind of money. They buy new tires at the start of the season and hope that they last.

Like I said, spending this kind of money is important to be competitive. So, in total, I’d guess it costs about $200 to $300 for a weekend at the track. Most importantly, it’s not going to feed a family for doing this type of racing. In this series, the first-place prize is only $175, making this more of a hobby than anything else. It’s definitely not a way to earn a living.

My son, in his first year of high school, came up to me and asked me, “Dad, can you build me a racecar?” Believe it or not, I spent almost three hours

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper Both the No. 27 and No. 47 cars of Ridgeway Racing dive into turn one during a three-lap warm-up session.

Rajan Khanna/The Avion Newspaper Michael Ridgeway, 64, poses with his car, which he co-drives with his son on race weekends.

Vipul Telang/The Avion Newspaper Michael Ridgeway races his son down the backstretch at Volusia Speedway Park during their Mini-Stock race.

talking him out of it. It’s a very expensive hobby to get into, and he was only working part-time because he was in high school. To put it another way, [these cars] are like having kids. You have to babysit them constantly.

Q: Did you think of your favorite racing memory?

MR: I’ve always been big with children. Our team used to take cars around high schools and ask students if this is what they want. I always tell them to stay in school and complete their education. It’s

important to focus on math and science. It’s so gratifying to see kids that you’re getting through to them. My favorite moment was when we used to show up at elementary school and all of the kids realize that there’s a racecar in front of them.

They think I’m as famous as Richard Petty or Chase Elliott- I always hear, “can I get your autograph?” We had postcards with both cars, and we would sign them and hand them out to the kids. I’ve always had big heart for kids. Racing

is one of those things that once it gets in your blood, it can’t get out of it. I was 16 when I started racing, and I’m 64 now. My son was 17 when he started and now he’s 40. What’s great is that my son and I are in the same division so you’ll see us out on the track at the same time.

The Avion Newspaper wishes the best for Michael Ridgeway and the Ridgeway Racing team as they close out the 2017 racing season and their en devours in the offseason.

Sports

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W-Basketball Beats St. Leo

Allison Smalling ERAU Athletics

The Embry-Riddle women’s basketball team turned in its best shooting performance thus far this season in an 83-54 win over Saint Leo on Saturday. The win gave the Eagles a 4-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Sunshine State Conference play, and matched the program’s best seasonopening win streak.

The Eagles shot 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field and were 15-of-19 from the charity stripe, and were dominant on the glass, out-rebounding the Lions (1-3, 0-2) 44-19.

Saturday’s win was the product of a strong team performance as five Eagle players scored in double figures and 10 of the 12 players that took the court got into the scoring column. For the third straight game, Tara Fields was the Eagles’ scoring leader, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds, while Nikki Tucker was just one rebound shy of her second double-double of the year with 13 points and a game-high nine boards.

Sophomore Marisa Koopman had a career-best 11 points and four rebounds, and Lauren Ellenberger and Sigrid Sandstrom added 10 points apiece.

The Eagles got off to a fast start, going 9-for-17 from the field in the first quarter.

Fields proved to be a difficult matchup for the Lions inside as she scored 10 points in the paint in the first 10 minutes of play, including a layup that gave ERAU a ninepoint (15-6) lead with 2:08 left in the first.

The Lions managed to narrow the gap to five (19-14) in the latter part of the first quarter and at the 4:41 mark in the second, the Eagle lead was down to three (27-24). That was as close as they would get, however, as a 12-4 run swelled the ERAU lead to 11 (39-28) at the half.

The third quarter saw the Eagles shoot 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from behind the three point line to continue build on their advantage, and the home team shut the door for good in the fourth period, outscoring Saint Leo 21-9 to seal the win.

“We are finally starting to have some things click defensively for us,” ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson noted. “When we are focused and commit to our game plan, we see the results. Our bench did a great job again and we did an amazing job rebounding tonight as a team.

I’m very happy with our defensive rotations tonight

Despite five players in double-figures and a big rebounding advantage, the Embry-Riddle men’s basketball team dropped a close game to Saint Leo on Saturday night in the ICI Center, 82-78. The game featured 14 lead changes and 13 ties as Saint Leo (4-3, 2-0) ended the game on a 5-0 run to earn its third straight win over the Eagles (2-2, 0-2). The Eagles suffered their worst-shooting performance of the season, managing just 39 percent from the field and 28 percent from the three-point area.

Trailing by six at the half, the Eagles battled back early on in the second half, taking a 43-42 lead on an Ognjen Miljkovic jumper in the lane with 15:39 remaining, and from there on the two teams were locked in a backand-forth battle as neither team trailed by more than a possession until the final 60 seconds.

A Miljkovic triple at the 9:04 mark gave the hosts a 56-54 lead, but

two free throws from Ty Brice knotted things up before Nashad Mackey knocked down a three for the home team. Daniel Duarte answered for the Lions on the other end, and that’s how it went for the next nine minutes.

Junior Searcy’s free throws at the 1:43 mark pushed the SLU lead to 77-74, but Joshua Hawkins connected on a pair of free throws a few moments later before a defensive stop by the Eagles led to a Rudy Bibb-Boyd layup on the other end, giving ERAU a 78-77 lead. The layup from Bibb-Boyd was the first Eagle field goal since the 3:53 mark, and unfortunately for the Eagles, would prove to be the last points of the night for the hosts.

Saint Leo came down and got a huge three from DeAndre King to retake a one-point lead, and the Eagles turned the ball over on their next possession before being forced to foul. Kyran McClure made both free throws with six seconds left to ice the game and account for the 82-78 final.

ERAU had to dig out of

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Upcoming Games: Tuesday Men’s Basketball vs Ave Maria ICI Center @ 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday No games this day

Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh/The Avion Newspaper

and the adjustments we made in the second half. St Leo is a dangerous team, who can really shoot the three.

It’s hard to guard a team like that, that spreads the floor with five shooters.

“I would like to see us take better care of the ball.

We had a lot of unforced turnovers and some turnovers from their traps when we were careless with the ball. We need to get better at that and consistently

value possessions.”

Rage Dotson posted a game-high 16 points for a Saint Leo team that fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Next up for the Blue and Gold is the NSU Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Nova Southeastern, Nov. 24-25. The Eagles will take on Lee at 4 p.m. on Friday followed by a rematch against West Alabama at noon on Saturday.

M-Basketball Defeats St. Leo Ryan Mosher ERAU Athletics

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Thursday No games this day

Friday Women’s Basketball vs Lee Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. @ 4:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs Auburn Montgomery ICI Center @ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday Women’s Basketball vs West Alabama Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. @ 12:00p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs Wingate ICI Center @ TBD

Sunday Saktiswaran Jeyaganesh/The Avion Newspaper

the hole it built for itself after the first half, trialing 39-33 at the break. The Eagles shot just 37 percent in the opening period, and despite making six threes, was behind due to the Lions’ 6-for-6 effort at the free throw line.

Both teams were solid at the charity stripe, with SLU going 18-for-22 and ERAU ending 22-for27, but it was the Lions’ 10 triples compared to just eight for the Eagles that were the difference.

Bibb-Boyd paced the

Eagles on offense for the fourth time in as many games with 19 points, both Mackey and Luka Majstorovic finished with double-doubles of 11 points, 12 rebounds and 11 points, 10 rebounds, respectively.

Miljkovic added 16 points, nine boards and four assists, while Hawkins ended the night with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Eagles will look to return to the win column on Tuesday, Nov. 21 against Ave Maria in the ICI Center.

No games this day

Monday No games this day

Entertainment

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Threat Signal, Disconnect Brandon Collins Staff Reporter Threat Signal, a heavy metal band from Ontario, Canada, released their fourth studio album, “Disconnect,” a couple of weeks ago on Nov. 10. “Disconnect” is the long-awaited follow-up to Threat Signal’s previous self-titled album which came out in 2011.

The band is best known for their heavy, thrashing riffs which they typically combine with melody and core. This album

was a surprisingly rocklike album, similar to that of Soilwork and In Flames, or even some of the older music by All That Remains.

The album opens with “Elimination Process,” which starts off as a soft, lovely ballad, but then quickly descends into aheavy, thrashy riffs and solos without notice.

The lead single from this album, “Exit the Matrix,” stands as one of the best tracks, swapping out the chugging riffs displayed earlier in the album for a

more thrash focused song.

Easily the best song of the album is “To Thine Own Self Be True,” which is a nonstop, hard-hitting jam song with a great intro that leads to some great headbanging moments.

On the album, slightly less than half of the vocals are screamed and growled, and many of the songs open with mellow notes and riffs which then begin to pick up. The album is perfect for people who like a metal band who does some growling but stick mostly to regular

singing vocals.

The album is a little on the lengthy side. Clocking in at 56 minutes, this album is about ten to fifteen minutes longer than the average album from this genre.

It is a little repetitive in riffs and notes, plus the fact that it has a very clean production makes some listeners a little less inclined to enjoy the album due to the fact that some metal bands keep their albums not perfectly clean to keep a little of the harsh sound in the music.

Disconnect

Food, Glorious Food

Not Your NorMEL Diner Collin Anderson News Editor This week, The Avion Newspaper changed it up a bit and decided to review breakfast food at Mel’s Diner.

Mel’s Diner is located in the same plaza as Tomoka Brewing Company in Port Orange and is one of the area’s local secrets. Mel’s is open for breakfast at 7 a.m. and closes after lunch at 2 p.m. Upon entering, you are greeted with the sound of many people enjoying, not only their food, but also the company of those around them. The restaurant is of decent size but seems smaller because the place is constantly packed through breakfast. The walls of the restaurant are covered with various different posters and pictures of people like Elvis Presley all the way

through the Three Stooges, who take up the back wall.

Everywhere you looked there was something new to see, this includes Mel’s coffee mugs which interestingly enough had ads printed on the sides. The atmosphere is comfortable and informal, everyone is there to enjoy amazing food and have kind staff fill their coffee cups. Not only will your server come check on you various times throughout the meal, but other staff will too.

The servers waste no time greeting and seating you, and are extremely pleasant. The menu is nothing different from that of a typical diner, but that does not mean that they don’t make it delicious. Anything you can list off they can make, as long as it’s on their menu they will make any combination of meal

for you. The two meals that we ordered to judge for this review were the French toast and the corned beef hash. The French toast was two pieces and was served with sunny side up eggs and hash-browns on the side. The corned beef hash came with two over easy eggs with hashbrowns. Everything came out fresh and piping hot, including the coffee.

If this isn’t the kind of breakfast you’ve been yearning for after Sodexo’s breakfast food, I don’t know where you could possibly go. I would highly recommend going to Mel’s Dinner for breakfast any day of the week when you want a change up.

It will never get old and the breakfast food will always come piping hot with a smiling face holding it.

Chad Gallivanter/Orange Rocket Post The inside of Mel’s Diner in Port Orange, FL, during a lull between rushes.

Mel’s Diner

Food Adventure: Fancy Q’s Sushi and Thai Restaurant

Alessia Ames Correspondent Food adventures are always nice when you can feel relaxed. So, if youwant some sushi in a comfortable place to go sit down, and feel comfortable talk to the people you go with . It is the perfect place to get away.

Fancy Q’s is the place to go.

The layout of the restaurant gives an average amount of spacing between tables. On the sides of the establishment, the half booth and half tables are kind of close but not to the point of being socially unacceptable. As you sit down, someone is there to ask what you would like to drink; someone different asks you what you would like to order.

Every time I have visited Fancy Q’s I have had multiple waiters or waitresses.

This makes it great because someone is always walking around to see if you need a refill on your drink or have a question. Only once have I had someone with an attitude that was very short.

This select person was one of the people that took my order this trip, and we did not have a problem.

When looking at the menu, there are appetizers, soups & salads, entrées, sides and dessert options.

The entrées range from sushi (raw, cooked, specialty, a la carte), hibachi grill, tempura, udon, curry, Thai noodle & Mongolian dishes and bento boxes. No matter what you order they bring a simple mushroom soup, then depending on what kind of entrée is ordered, you get a free ginger salad or a small holiday sushi roll.

At dinner time, they provide you get a free dessert order of fried Oreos (one for each person at the table) in a dish with whip cream.

On this trip, the person I adventured with and I got only sushi. As soon as we sat down, someone came to ask for drinks then handed us the complimentary soup. After ordering the Alaska roll (with added mango on top) for myself,

the dynamite roll to share, and for my friend a Ginza roll, we received the holiday roll complimentary to the table. For each roll of sushi, the rice had a very nice texture, and solidly stuck together so when you used chopsticks the piece did not break apart.

My company commented that the rice had a slight vinegar hint to it; I did not taste this though. Each roll came in eight pieces and were not just tiny slivers; about three-quarters of an inch to an inch thick. I put wasabi in my soy sauce then dunked the sushi in that and their ‘yum sauce’ which lives up to the name, it is very yummy. The combination of all the flavors was like a food choir singing a hymn with each other.

Zachary Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper The crunchy roll from Fancy Q, garnished with a little umbrella.

Fancy Q

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The Avion

EDC: An Escape From The Real World Through Music Peter Vane Correspondent I had the amazing opportunity to attend EDC Orlando 2017 last Friday and Saturday.

EDC stands for "Electric Daisy Carnival" and is a huge electronic dance music festival consisting of three stages: Kinetic Gaia which is the biggest stage, Circuit Grounds, and the smallest stage called Neon Garden. It took place at the Camping World Stadium right near

downtown Orlando. The lineup consisted of some extremely popular DJs such as Zedd, Armin Van Buuren, Excision, Galantis, Diplo, and A-trak, among many others.

These DJs played nonstop from noon to midnight both days.

The first thing that caught my attention was the amazing and diverse lineup. They had basically every sub-genre of electronic music from violent "fatal" dubstep to uplifting and magical trance. I got

to see most of the artists I wanted to see although many of the big DJs played at the same time on different stages. My favorite set of EDC was probably Galantis. The energy they brought was unlike any I have seen, and their big hits like "Runaway" and "No Money" had everyone dancing and singing.

Another set that stood out to me was Simon Patterson at the Neon Garden stage. He played super-fast psytrance that brought something different

to the festival.

The execution of the festival was sub-par. There was just barely enough room for all 75,000 people. I feel like a couple more social areas with benches and artwork would have definitely been a plus. It took my squad and me about thirty minutes to enter the festival on the first day when we arrived around one in the afternoon. However, on the second day, it took a good hour and a half after we arrived around

four in the afternoon. The festival should increase the number of their security staff for faster entry next time.

My biggest complaint about the festival was the crowd. As opposed to other festivals I attended, this crowd was just a vast majority of frat boys who only wanted to get drunk or do drugs. Very few people seemed to actually be there for the music, especially at the main stage. My advice for anyone wanting to go to EDC next year is

to make sure that there are a handful of artists you want to see playing at the two other stages other than the main stage. Your experience will be much better seeing these DJs. Despite the few flaws, my experience at EDC Orlando was very memorable. I got to spend quality time with my friends from out of town, and I also met so many new people. If huge visuals and extreme pyrotechnics are your things, two hundred bucks is worth it!

Levi Duncan Correspondent

movie getting everyone together, and then the end of the world happens. However, this movie is simply a lesser implementation of that structure.

This is not to say it was not an enjoyable movie.

The first half had an “it’s so bad it’s good” quality to it; the second half was decent.

The fights are decent.

The graphics are good.

Wonder Woman and the Flash are great, and the latter is the only source of wonder and true humor in this movie. Ezra Miller has never been bad in a movie.

But in the landscape of consistently good to great Marvel movies, it is a disappointment. The first half of the movie feels especially affected by the reshoots Joss Whedon held once he took over. Scenes where new characters are introduced feel incredibly rushed. We visit so many different iconic DC l ocations, but all within the

space of about twenty minutes. I suppose the thought behind this is to try to keep the tone lighter, to keep it moving. Instead the result is a movie that seems like it is trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

To me, the most interesting aspect of this movie was how Zack Snyder’s style met with Joss Whedon’s.

Snyder’s presence is most apparent in the fight scenes, which are epic in scale, but mostly consists of having people punch each other through walls as hard as they can in a picturesque yet uncreative style.

You get punk Aquaman, a god of the sea in a tank top who feeds people fish, downs a beer and tosses the bottle in the ocean. And of course, you get Superman, who in Snyder’s iteration has permanently served not as an “American Superhero,” but as a Christ allegory.

Whedon’s presence is felt in the tone, and in all

the attempts at heart and humor. Virtually every character attempts humor multiple times, but most jokes fall flat. Artificial heart is induced into the story, the most egregious example of this being intermittent scenes of a random family, who at the very end get to safety, all in the attempt to add human stakes for a group of people who are almost entirely unrelatable and inhuman. At least more screen time is given to Wonder Woman, the only truly great DC character on screen since 2008.

If this was Snyder’s movie, there would be an emphasis on the crushing burden on brooding heroes, these gods amongst men to save the world. If it was Whedon’s movie, I suppose we would have serviced each character more. Instead, we get this strange mix of both, and despite the stakes being the world, there is not enough emotion in this movie for me to care.

Justice League - Apokoliptic Failure

JUSTICE LEAGUE

Man, what a weird movie.

I knew going into the movie that it had faced an intensely tumultuous production once director Zack Snyder suffered tragedy in his family. The fallout of the tragedy included director Joss Whedon to step in and try to patch together a working product. In a lot of ways that is what this movie felt wlike, patchwork.

The movie roughly follows Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) as they try to assemble the first iteration of the Justice League to defeat Steppenwolf and collect three Mother Boxes. This eventually results in adding Aquaman (Jason “Khal” Momoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), the Flash (Ezra Miller), and, of course, Superman (Henry Cavill). The movie uses a similar formula to that of “The Avengers.” It spends about half of the

Monterey Grill Plates Perfection

Collin Anderson News Editor

Monterey Grill is a quaint Californian-style restaurant located in Port Orange, FL, a little way down Dunlawton. It’s got a great atmosphere and an amazing staff that you can tell genuinely cares about your dining experience. The restaurant is small and compact which lends a hand to the cozy atmosphere in the restaurant. Every seat in the house is a booth besides

the bar, so there’s no fighting over the comfiest seat in the house. Their bar is small, but again comfy, and considering how relatable the staff is, it is not hard to strike up an interesting conversation with the bartender. Their menu has variety, so there is something for everyone, but the best thing was that everything was reasonably priced. Starting off the meal I indulged in some Italian Wedding Soup which tasted amazing, there was plenty of noodles

and a healthy amount in the bowl. Fresh bread was also on the table with the soup and dipping the bread in was a better treat than spreading it with the butter provided, just trust me.

Next, there was a healthy bowl of chicken marsala: the creamiest noodles I’ve had in a while meshed perfectly with cooked chicken and mushrooms. It tasted amazing and was the perfect amount for anyone to fill themselves up. One second I had a whole bowl full

in front of me and the next it was gone. I was tempted to ask my server where it went and hope she gave me some more. However, dinner did not conclude there, as the night ended with a hefty portion of brownie a la mode. What tasted like a just pulled from the oven brownie, was covered by two scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, and a healthy dousing of chocolate sauce. The brownie was still warm and moist, and the ice cream and

whipped cream were melting on top. The entire thing melted in my mouth and I would highly recommend the splurge when going to dinner here. Our server checked on us several times throughout the meal, making great suggestions that really intensified the expe-

rience. Counting calories is not the way to go if you are going to Monterey Grill as you will want to eat everything on the menu. If you’re a student at Embry-Riddle starving for a divine homecooked meal around Volusia County, you need to visit Monterey Grill.

Monterey Grill

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