Vol. XCVII Issue 3 by The Vector

The

ector

RESILIENCE The Voice of NJIT with Magnitude and Direction Since 1924

By Sreya Das | Senior Staff Writer

On Sept. 19, 2019, NJIT held the sixth TEDx event, themed “Resilience,” in the Jim Wise Theater of Kupfrian Hall. This year, over 150 people attended in person with an additional 2,300 watching the livestream. Eleven speakers presented at the event, interspersed with two TED videos (Angela Lee Duckworth’s “Grit: the power of passion and perseverance” and Adam Grant’s “Are you a giver or taker?”), a brief intermission, and a performance by the NJIT

FEATURES

SH**T! WE SMOKE! See page 6

TEDxNJIT

Flute Trio. The event was co-organized by Judith Sheft, Associate Vice President of Strategic Relationships & External Affairs. Before introducing each speaker, Sheft recited expressive and uplifting quotes about resilience, such as the following haiku by Mizuta Masahide: “Barn’s burnt down—now I can see the moon.” Speakers included highschool brother-sister duo Alexander and Celeste Huang, who discussed their project of ad-

dressing the global refuge crisis through photographic portraits in “The Power of Faces;" Founder and CEO of SHE Wins Inc. A'Dorian Murray-Thomas, who discussed in “Rewriting Resiliency Radically” how her organization develops middle and high-school girls in Newark, particularly those who have lost a parent to homicide; and journalist Madison Jaye, who discussed how to utilize your ‘chakras’ in “Building Resiliency Through Spirituality.”

Vol. XCVII | Issue 3

Week of September 23, 2019

Photo By Sandra Raju

“Resilience is the ability of one party to withstand attacks from another party,” said TEDxNJIT speaker Dr. Cesar Bandera when asked what resiliency meant to him. “The attacks may be intentional or unintentional; global warming is attacking anything and everybody.” Bandera is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at NJIT’s Martin Tuchman School of Management, and his talk was titled "Resilience and the Entrepreneur." Continued on Page 3...

FEATURES

ENTERTAINMENT

HINDU YUVA SPOTLIGHT

IT CHAPTER TWO

See page 8

See page 10

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Week of Septemeber 23, 2019

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As the official student newspaper of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, our mission is to inform and entertain our readers, cultivate awareness of issues concerning the NJIT community and provide a forum for purposeful, constructive discussion among its members. Deadline for Articles or Letters to the Editor is Thursdays prior to publication at 10 P.M. Submissions should not exceed 750 words. For more information on submissions, e-mail: managing-editor@njitvector.com. Advertisement Reservations are due two weeks prior to publication and should be sent to: business-manager@njitvector.com

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NJIT Vector Summary 9/20/2019 Times Shown are Times Reported For 9/13/19 through 9/19/19

9/13/19 2:10AM Officers arrested a non-affiliate at James and Nesbitt Street for driving under the influence. He was issued four summonses and the vehicle was towed. 9/14/19 3:27PM Non-affiliate reported while her vehicle was parked on Warren and MLK Blvd, the front passenger side window was broken. A laptop, books and a wallet were taken from the vehicle. 3:47PM Staff member reported the theft of a wheelchair from the WEC.

9/15/19 12:20PM Officers recovered a vehicle on Nesbitt and Orange Street that was stolen out of East Orange. Two juveniles were driving the vehicle and were apprehended on Wellington Way. Both were transported to Essex County Youth House. 9/16/19 5:23AM Officers escorted an intoxicated male from the property of National Fuel located on Orange Street. 9/18/19 1:17PM A Rutgers student reported while his vehicle was parked on Warren and MLK Blvd.,

the passenger side window was broken. His backpack was missing from the vehicle and later found on the corner of Summit and Warren Street. 9/19/19 5:54PM Officers arrested a non-affiliate on MLK Blvd and New Street who was panhandling on the Campus Plaza. 6:11PM Officers arrested a non-affiliate on MLK Blvd and Warren Street who was panhandling on the Campus Plaza. 11:16PM Officer issued a summons for an open container to a non-affiliate at 271 MLK Blvd.

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News

Week of September 23, 2019

TEDxNJIT continued from page 1

Bandera continued, “When one speaks of resiliency and entrepreneurship, they typically speak of the resiliency of the business model—can the business model survive global warming, or a raise in interest rates, or competition from other companies, large and small? My talk [was] about the emotional and psychological resiliency of the entrepreneur and how can we help that.” Dr. Amy Hoover, Assistant Professor of Informatics at NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing, was another faculty member who spoke at the event. When asked about her definition of resiliency she said, “To me, resilience is to bounce back and navigate your adversity, to not let it define you, and to continue to keep moving.” Her talk was titled “Trial and Error Actually What is Success?” Other speakers at the event included Jasmine Wahi, founder of Project for Empty Spaces; Colette Santasieri, executive director, policy and planning innovation for civil infrastructure and environment NJIT; Grace Ibitamuno, Rutgers medical student; Donald Sebastian,

president and CEO of the New Jersey Innovation Institute; Jason Vitug, author; and NJIT student-athlete Tomislav Antoljak. “I thought the event itself was a very cool experience, both in performing and watching the other speakers,” said Kristianna Gaw, a junior studying Computer Science who also performed as part of the Flute Trio. “It was fun listening to different personalities take the stage, all with the common goal in mind: to make a positive change in the world and build resilience.” Allison Wong, a sophomore studying Digital Design, echoed similar sentiments. “I really enjoyed the different stories about resilience at the TEDxNJIT,” she said. “I left feeling more invigorated to face my own challenges and to work towards my goals.” She came to the event because she likes watching TEDx talks on YouTube and “thought it’d be cool to attend one in person.” Varun Pai, a freshman studying Biology who volunteered at the event, also enjoyed the event. "With topics ranging

from business to personal growth, each of the speakers at TEDxNJIT showcased the depth and breadth of the concept of resilience,” he said. “I was deeply impressed with the personal and social implications of the ideas being covered—not to mention the organization and execution of the event itself. This year's TEDxNJIT was a wonderful opportunity for students to become acquainted with leaders in the local community and gain valuable perspectives." TEDxNJIT is an inspiring and enriching experience that brought the Newark and NJIT community closer together. This year’s iteration reminded us about the importance of staying strong through hardships and how to recover after adversities. Although the date and theme for next year are not yet set, the organizers of TEDxNJIT welcome involvement by anyone.

Completing your degree this Fall2019? The Office of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Student Association are pleased to present the mandatory

Thesis and Dissertation Workshop Guidelines for formatting documents Presented by Clarisa Gonzalez-Lenahan Associate Director of Graduate Studies

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Snapshots

Week of September 23, 2019

The Week in

Snapshots Art Night Photos by Sean Slusarz

Highlander Art Club helps students to channel their creative side at the end of a busy week. Students stream in and out to participate in painting, drawing or folding origami.

Climate Change Teach-In Photos by Ethan O'Malley

NJIT Green and the Murray Center kick off the week of the climate strike with the Climate Change Teach-In. Dozens of students gathered to listen to speakers and to make t-shirt designs and buttons for the cause.

Circle K Karaoke Night Photos by Sean Slusarz

The Highlander Pub was anything but quiet as students joined the hosts, Circle K, in choosing their favorite songs to perform with one another.

Constitution Day Photos by Sandra Raju Professors, staff and students host a panel to offer an overview of the political system and the Constitution of the U.S. and the importance of civic engagement.

Ganesh Chathurti Photo by Sandra Raju

Hundreds of students danced along on the night of Ganesh Chathuri, which Hindu YUVA celebrated with traditional ceremonies, dances and food to hundreds of students.

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News

Week of September 23, 2019

Sh**t! We Smoke! By Daniel Cruz | Contributing Writer and Ishita Solanki | Contributing Writer

Newark’s air quality is equivalent to smoking half a cigarette a day. This is according to Sh**t! I Smoke, an app designed to show local air quality anywhere in the world in terms of cigarettes smoked. For example, breathing air in Beijing on a bad day is the same as smoking four cigarettes. The idea for the app came to Amaury Martiny and Marcelo S. Coelho, a German and Parisian product developer respectively, after reading an article from Berkeley Earth that related air pollution to the number of cigarettes inhaled by a person. When asked about comparing air and cigarettes, Coelho said, “The beauty of the equation Air Quality vs Cigarettes is how it takes very abstract, scientific measurements, and transforms

the data into something much more tangible for the general public.” According to Coelho, Paris averaged an air quality level of 10.9 particulate matter in April 2019. “This doesn’t say much, right? Well, in cigarette numbers it means that people living in Paris smoked half a cigarette every day this past month. It doesn’t seem much, but it’s almost 15 cigarettes a month.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) splits particulate matter into the categories of particles that can be smaller than 10 micrometers (dust, pollen, mold, smoke) and finer particles measuring 2.5 micrometers and smaller. The 2.5 micrometer particles, almost 30 times smaller than one hair follicle, can enter the lungs and

irritate those with asthma or even contribute to heart and lung cancer. These particles, which are pollutants released after industrial combustion, can also reduce visibility and cause the air to appear hazy. For NJIT, the app pulls data from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection air quality station three kilometers south of campus. The data suggests that particulate matter is the driving factor in the equivalency to smoking cigarettes, whereas carbon monoxide and ozone are less important. However, air pollution levels currently measure about 10% less than two years ago, with Newark sitting at an equivalent of 0.5-0.8 cigarettes per day. In

contrast, New York City residents, only a few miles away, are breathing in the equivalent of 0.8-1.1 cigarettes a day. Arthur Crossan, an NJIT professor of environmental engineering, mostly agreed with the given values for Newark air but contested that the particulate matter is less accurate due to localized particulate matter spikes from human activities. This means that activity such as construction or industrial pollution near the air quality station will show a different picture than what’s directly on campus.

have started boycotting Brazilian goods, particularly leather, as the cows mostly occupy the space where dense jungle used to be. Fifteen fashion labels including Vans, Timberland and H&M have stated that they will no longer import Brazilian leather. Finland has even called for a Brazilian beef ban within the whole European Union.

Marcos Rocha, the governor of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, called the outrage over the fires a “fuss” and went so far as to accuse foreign powers of blowing the fires out of proportion to stunt the Brazilian economy. He also called out the hypocrisy of the countries that were protesting, stating the smog from their industry far outweighs the

Oseghale Ufuah, a sophomore Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering double major, said, “Obviously it’s bad... I don’t want to be breath-

ing in nonsense like that.” As a Newark resident, he agreed that “cigarettes smoked” is a much easier way to see the information. Sneha Kafle, a freshman Computer Science major, said, “It’s scary how cigarettes kill millions and yet our air quality has gotten to the point where it’s comparable to something so dangerous.” “The goal [of the app] was to raise awareness about the risks of air pollution,” Coelho said. “But the way of improving our air quality is not a secret, it’s just a matter of adopting more sustainable habits and respecting the environment.”

Amazon on Fire By Christian Kielbowicz | Contributing Writer

The Amazon rainforest is a vast jungle of exotic plants and animals that produces over 20% of the world’s oxygen, absorbs over 2.2 billion tons of CO2 every year and is going to make profit for Brazilian farmers at the cost of its charred remains. As of this September, over 80,000 fires have broken out through 2019, the most since 2010. This is largely due to the policies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsanairo, who promised to loosen the restrictions on deforestation within the country. He has been very successful: since he entered office in January there has been a 29.4% decrease in fines for illegal burning violations. When asked about the Amazon wildfires Professor Zeyuan Qiu, a Chemical and Environmental Science professor at NJIT, said “Wildfire itself is not a bad thing, it is a natural way to sequester excess bioenergy in the forest. When it is driven by human action, however, that’s a big concern. The original ecosystem is disturbed to a much

wider extent." He went on to explain that the Amazon is an important carbon sink, since the plants remove carbon dioxide from the air, and that their destruction in the wildfires would drastically affect the carbon cycle. This deforestation has come about for a number of economic reasons. The wood from the forest itself is removed before the fire is initiated because it can produce lumber as well as rubber. Then, the rest of the land is left to dry before it is burned away to produce more free area for farming, which is also an important source of income for the country. When asked if this is a good solution to increase the food supply, Professor Qiu responded that “burning the rainforest for more room for farming is probably one of the dumbest things a human can do, and is one of the least sustainable ways.” Since the explosion of international opposition to the logging of the jungle, several companies

environmental problems that would arise from the forest fires. Despite Rocha’s denial of the urgency of the matter, Professor Qiu argues that “it is critical. In many ways we share this world with all other species, we really need to give space for other creatures and work hard to preserve the biodiversity.”

If you LEARN IT, You will EARN IT Ethical Decision and Academic Integrity

The Honor Code at NJIT states “New Jersey Institute of Technology is an institution dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge through teaching and research. The university expects that its graduates will assume positions of leadership within their professions and communities. Within this context, the university strives to develop and maintain a high level of ethics and honesty among all members of its community. Imperative to this goal is the commitment to truth and academic integrity. This commitment is confirmed in this NJIT University policy on Academic Integrity.” As a student at NJIT you are faced with a myriad of life situations which cause you to make certain decisions. There is the everyday juggle of balancing school with personal life, social and civic responsibilities, staying connected and being your best

self. Decision-making is also a huge part of your everyday routine. You make decisions on what to eat, what to wear or not to wear, when to study or procrastinate on homework and other projects, when and where to hang out with friends and above all how to be grounded by keeping yourself healthy and happy. Not all decision-making is easy, but it is still necessary especially when your values forces you to make difficult decisions. Core Values As you prepare to take a test, complete a project, assignment and any other exam for that matter, I hope that you will take some time to think about your core values. If you have never done it, generate a list of at least five of your core values and then see how those core values guide your decision-making. Do not base your list on what is morally right and

wrong. Some examples can be getting good grades, family responsibility, happiness, freedom, etc. After you have done that, think about how these values might conflict with your morally-based values. For example, you may value academic honesty, but that could come into conflict with your value of getting good grades, or your value of career success. As a student there are various times that you will be tested. With each test the difficult decision or not so difficult will be to determine if it is at all ethical with what you are choosing to do. Do the Right Thing Choosing and taking the “right” course of action is not always an easy feat. However, when you choose to do the “Right Thing”, it can showcase and highlight the innate wisdom and power you have to uphold the values you abide by. Furthermore, it also

showcases your “will power to maintain your integrity and mitigate frustrations, challenges or obstacles.” As a member of the NJIT community, I ask that you live and breathe professional integrity into your academic success and identity. Whenever you are faced with an ethical dilemma, remember to always do the Right Thing and act ethically. The power lies within you to maintain professional integrity. Help create a culture of Academic Integrity at NJIT When you see an act of academic dishonesty Say and Do Something. Take the Pledge to Fight Academic Dishonesty Dean of Students Office Dr. Learie C. Nurse Associate Dean of Students

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Features

Week of September 23, 2019

Hindu YUVA Spotlight By Daniel Cruz| Contributing Writer

“In celebration, there is a way to grow” - Kush Patel Hindu Youth for Unity, Virtues and Action (Hindu YUVA) started the first meeting of the semester with an activity all clubs might do on the first day: an icebreaker. The president and co-founder, Lay Gandhi, gathered everyone into a comfortably-sized circle and all who were there got a chance to learn more about their fellow members’ summers. One member had seen a Philly sunset from a plane, and someone else had worked as a waiter over break. When the meeting was done, Vice President Vaishnavi Patel prepared chana jor garam, a type of food, for members to eat. The room was light with conversation and a jovial atmosphere made from the sharing of stories and time. Hindu YUVA is one of the

largest student organizations on campus. It is a religious and spiritual organization at NJIT that promotes Hindu festivals and the Hindu lifestyle. Patel said, “It’s about bringing everyone together, because that’s what Hinduism is about. No matter what culture or religion you’re a part of … festivities are meant to bring people together in celebration.” She described the origin simply as part of a discussion among friends to celebrate more of the religious aspects of being a Hindu. With the holiday Ganesh Chaturthi just wrapping up, YUVA is preparing for the Navratri festival coming up soon, where Hindu YUVA will be doing their biggest collaboration to date: partnering with the Association of Indian Stu-

Photo By Akaash Patel dents, the Rutgers Indian Student Association and the graduate club SANSKAR. Gandhi said that the preparations for some of these events can begin in the early summer, illustrating the details of Ganesh Chaturthi. This festival is a celebration of the arrival of the Hindu deity Ganesh to earth. He mentioned the importance of social media when having these events, describing it as “showing a glimpse. Even if you didn’t make it to the event you can see in our Instagram what it feels like to be there. It feels like

you’re actually at the event.” When talking about Hinduism, Kush Patel, Senate Club Director and co-founder of YUVA, described a common misconception the western world has about Hinduism. “Hinduism is not a religion, Hindu is a geographical identity of people who live between the Indian ocean and Himalayas. God is not a supreme almighty being, but a stepping stone. The biggest thing is liberation from physicality and to go on to the next phase of existing. In celebration, there is a way to grow.”

COLLECTIONS; voices from around campus

What's been your weirdest experience with a

THIS WEEK: teacher?

Each week, students send anonymous texts, emails, and mobile responses to our collections prompt. Note: all responses are posted ex-

actly as they were received. Understand there is an unwritten [sic] after every possibly erroneous (or not) response.

By Daniil Ivanov | Managing-Editor

"When a teacher is helping another student and their ass [is] in your face" "I straight up told him that his class gave me trauma and he got sad" "Getting called babe accidentally" "My professor being severely confused that the owner of a white name was brown"

"He gave me dried apricots one day" "He told me that Steve Jobs deserved to die" "I lent her a book. She lost it. She gave me 300% on my project to give me an A in the class" "He cried... a lot"

With Hindu YUVA entering its second year, Gandhi has set the tone for leading this club through the coming semesters. “One of the core values does focus on Hinduism, but it’s [also] good to step back and look at YUVA. We also bring culture and festivities to the campus. … I keep a really open mind, and as President I’m still learning along the way.” Hindu YUVA will be cohosting Navratri on October 3 from 6 PM to 11:30 PM.

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Opinion

Week of September 23, 2019

Frat Parties are Overrated

You walk into the party through the door—after paying ten dollars—and go down the narrow staircase into a humid basement. As you attempt to make By Birju Dhaduk | Senior Staff Writer your way over to the bar, you run into a chain of girls holding hands and pushing their way towards the other end of the bar to get some jungle juice, a concoction of various juices and hard liquors. Thirty minutes pass where you simply try to get to the front of the crowd, having to slowly shove your way in front of the oth-

In Defense Of Thursdays

er people, all the while sweating excessively and having no room to breathe. You finally reach the ledge of the bar after waiting for what seems like forever only to be served beer that tastes like tonic water. Then, in an attempt to regroup with the rest of your friends, a fourth of your cup finds its way onto the floor from bumping into other people before the drink even touches your lips. Although the frats attempt to control the number of people inside the house, most of them end

Greek Parties

class and sparkling in the evenings trying to make new friends. Everywhere I went there were new people to meet, conBy Sreya Sanyal | Contributing Writer versations I could have delivered in my sleep about my name, maWalking up to my first frat party was terrifying. I went with a friend, jor, hometown and career plan. and once he paid and we walked But in the dark, pulsing room of in we were greeted by a stairway that party, I could finally breathe that pulsed with music and dark out. I could finally pause and light near the top. This was my unwind, feeling the kind of refirst real opportunity to turn off lease I never knew I had needed. The anatomy of a frat party my brain and unwind. What I felt during the day was overexposure, is frequently the most criticized constantly being tuned in during aspect: loud, crowded, dark, hot

and lubricated with dubious refreshments. It seems that these components create a perfectly awful environment for meeting new people and socializing on an intellectual level. But that’s exactly what makes frat parties magnificent. For me, the draw of a party is the ability to connect with people on a more fundamental level— through shared love or hatred for the music, admiration or scorn for the attendees’ laughable antics or simply the shared frustration at the heat and scarce liquids.

up being too crowded to enjoy, and the room fills up with hundreds of sweaty bodies rubbing against each other. The floors grow sticky as watered-down beer and jungle juice spill onto the ground as a result of people dropping cups and shoving each other. The music plays way too loud to have a coherent conversation with the person standing next to you without having to yell into their ear. All of this ruins the partying mood that frats strive to achieve in order to draw students to their houses.

The main reason most people go to frat parties is to hang out with friends and have fun while drinking. This can easily be done elsewhere, such as the Highlander Club (formerly known as the Highlander Pub) or in the students’ dorm rooms without the sweaty crowd and sticky floors. So, unless you can somehow convince yourself to enjoy the disastrous environment that is a frat party, it is definitely the better choice to avoid the Greek alphabet.

OVERRATED UNDERRATED In the dark, at midnight, there is never the question “What’s your major” or anything similarly inane. Yet the people I have met at parties are some of my closest friends. The only shared information at a party should be social media, so that the next day any partygoer can revel in the opportunity to either solidify these new connections, or let them pass by as ephemerally as the steamy night that forged the relationship. Frat parties are underrated simply because they have a bad

reputation. If you find yourself at a party that doesn’t have the vibe you want, leave! Most importantly, do not eat or drink anything you don’t want to. It is not necessary to be inebriated to have a good time, because your own inhibitions will fall away once you realize that no one is watching you. There is nothing more freeing than being alone in a crowded place, and it is truly a rare luxury in college. Don’t be afraid to have a good time, and see you next Thursday!

Left, Right, & Middle What do you think is the most important issue a presidential candidate should be focusing on? By Colin Bayne | Copy Editor

By Daniil Ivanov | Managing Editor

L t this time in the election cycle, most candidates have released detailed policy plans designed to implement their specific visions for the future of the country.However, to ask which of these issues being addressed is the most important is an impossible question to answer. Some voters are described as being ‘single issue.’ For example, many anti-abortion activists and supporters will back a candidate only if they agree on the issue of abortion rights. Similarly, many LGBTQ+ activists and individuals will only back a candidate if they agree with their stance on LGBTQ+ rights. For some, these issues are all that they focus on, and if a candidate supports them on these issues, the constituents will vote for them no matter what. This method of voting represents a flawin our society. While it is true that people may often have a more personal stake in one issue or another, a candidate often has a comprehensive vision they seek to enact. This means that only evaluating a candidatebased on one issue blinds people to their other positions, and narrows the scrutiny placed on them. Often these issuescan affect each other. For example, someone who is an LGBTQ+ single-issue voter might back a candidate who supports transgender rights, but the candidate mayalsoenact immigration policies which treat asylum-seekers as hostile to the US, and imprison them in camps. Obviously,this question is not asking about single-issue voters specifically, but it speaks to that mindset of one issue being paramount over others. In truth a candidate’s entire platform of stances should be examined. Do they support Medicare for All? Do they support Student Debt Cancellation? Do they support Debt-Free College? Will they pledge to attain zero carbon emissions by 2050? These are all the sorts of questions we need to ask of our candidates, and we need to judgethemby their answers to all of them, not just one issue.

By Mark Pothen | Senior Staff Writer

ndrew Yang came onto the Democratic Debate stage to talk about one big idea: the inevitable destruction of our economy at the hands of automation. The economy as a whole is built around growth. I, a stockholder, expect the companies that I invest in to continue to expand and find new ways to make profit. However, this method is unsustainable in both an environmental view—as we can only strip Earth's resources to an extent—and from an economic view since companies must continuously find ways to inflate their worth. Even an idea like the Green New Deal, an idea championed by many Democrats in which large sums of governmentspending would go to increasing our renewable energy infrastructure, faces the same problem. It is a temporary fix away from more environmentally taxing energy sources, but once most of the solar panels and windmills are installed, the jobs will once again disappear. Thus, the same idea of unbounded economic growth exists while shelving the problem of "where do we grow from here?" The United Nations predicts that the world population will reach 9.8 billion by the year 2050. On the other side, as Yang consistently points out, automation and artificial intelligence are pushing more and more jobs out of the market. Retail positions are already being cut down by online retailers such as Amazon, but Amazon uses robots within their warehouses. Autonomous vehicles will render truck drivers, taxis and other vehicular vocations obsolete. Even doctors and lawyers are beginning to be threatened by artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, it seems that criticism of Yang has been more focused on his proposed solution ofuniversal basic income rather than his ideas being a catalyst for creative problem solving. Politicians need to stop promising job creation and economic growth— both of which are popular demands from voters— and begin to shift the frame of thought to a sustainable plan that accounts for the inevitable.

ruth be told,there is a bevy of different issues plaguing the American public;however, there is a greater root issue that politicians are not so apt to speak on. Andrew Breitbart, the late writer and publisher,used to famously contend that “politics is downstream from culture” and it seems that Americans have begun treating cultural issues with a sense of tribalism. This tribalismhas begun to spill over into our politics and has led to dire ramifications in the social sphere such as not being able to attribute good motives ontothe actions of other Americans. For example, after every school shooting, the conversation around guns becomes about the political will to see stricter gun control policy put in effect in order to prevent children dying,when the truth is that every American grieves for the deaths of these children regardless of whether or not they are gun rights activists. Especially on deeply important issues, instead of having a conversation about what effective policy may look like, discussions oftendevolve into attributing malice to someone because they disagree with the potentially terrible policy being presented. In America, thispolarityin politics has begun to deteriorate all the common spaces we used to have. Even watching football, a sport that brings people of very different backgrounds together to unite behind one team, has become politized beyond imagination. It has come to the point that as each day goes by,Americans are being more and more isolated within their respective political tribes. There will be a point where American society, and our politicians at the helm,will have to ask how we can live together anymore.

Correction: In our previous issue, the right opinion and left opinion were misattributed. Mark Pothen's Right opinion was under the left column, while Colin Bayne's Left opinion was under the right column. We apologize for the confusion.

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Entertainment

Week of September 23, 2019

IT Chapter Two

By Michael Makar | Contributing Writer “It” (2017), directed by Andy Muschietti, took theaters by storm upon its initial release. “It” managed to break into mainstream media and became a cultural phenomenon. Now, after two long years, “It Chapter Two” has arrived. While the horror genre is infamous for pumping out tasteless and repetitive sequels, this film breaks the mold. The original novel by Stephen King is over 1000 pages long and

You'll float two

switches between two time periods. The first is set during the childhood of Chapter Two’s main characters, in which the group of young adolescents confront an evil in their hometown. This plot was given a full treatment in the first film. “It Chapter Two” tackles more thoroughly the second plot, when the same group returns home 27 years later to end the threat once and for all as adults. This makes the movie unique, since it wasn’t created simply to bank on a profitable idea, but instead it was crafted hand-in-hand with the original to be part of a fully realized saga. Now that the duology has been completed, many are asking: does “It Chapter 2” sink or float? First and foremost, the production team behind the movie demonstrated once again that they know the most important aspect of a compelling piece: the characters. It's a common trap in the horror genre for filmmakers to construct a demonic entity to be the centerpiece, and to create for the protagonists human

archetypes with paper-thin personalities who are only there to react. The result is a lack of a meaningful focal point for the audience. “It Chapter Two” and its predecessor know how to avoid this: by making the humans the centerpiece. The main cast of characters, dubbed the “Losers Club,” all have strong, likable and distinct identities that were established in the first film. When Chapter Two picks up, we meet the members of the Losers Club 27 years later. We see how these characters have grown and how their childhoods shaped their adult lives and fears. Despite being a completely new cast composed of grownups, the film does a superb job of aging the characters in both appearance and personality. Audiences have known the faces and characteristics of the children playing the Losers Club for the past two years and finding actors to fill those shoes was a huge undertaking. They did a great job overall, with Bill Hader as Richie Tozer and James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak being the clear standouts. Even Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, who is intentionally a very physically different actor than his younger counterpart, composes himself in a manner that exemplifies the lovable and

shy Ben from the first movie. The cast embodies the spirit of the original kids that audiences fell in love with in 2017, allowing for this film to pay off scares, jokes and story arcs established in the first. However, this does present an issue with the story. While “It” (2017) was a self-contained flick, Chapter Two is heavily reliant on the first. For a movie nearly 3 hours in length to not be able to stand on its own is problematic. What is most frustrating about the runtime is not the fact that it’s lengthy, but that it doesn’t have to be. While there was no point in the film where I was bored, there are entire sequences in the second act that could be completely removed without sacrifice to the plot. The pacing would have greatly benefited and the product as a whole would’ve been a tighter package if these scenes were left on the cutting room floor. On the other hand, while the film suffers in terms of pacing, it’s filled with great comedic timing, often in horrifying moments where you don’t expect it. This only adds to the experience as many characters react in real and human ways to the atrocities happening around them. These responses create much more investment from the audience than if the

characters simply shrieked and ran away every time. It’s this creative direction and the performance that saves the movie from falling flat with its runtime that's about a half hour too long, and some story beats that rely too heavily on its predecessor. Overall, “It Chapter Two” is thoroughly entertaining. It's not as neat and concise of a package as the first, and I don’t see myself choosing to watch Chapter Two over “It” (2017). Everything great about the first is also great in the sequel, but everything bad is unfortunately magnified due to its length. That being said, the longer format allows nearly every member of the Loser’s Club to have an arc in the story, unlike the first where it was obvious some characters were there only to fill out the ensemble. While some of the arcs are more compelling than others, each one gives tension, laughs and heart all at the right times. This makes “It Chapter Two” a good companion piece to the first, thus creating a solid 5-hour horror epic that can be enjoyed without any fears.

Photos by Glyn Lowe PhotoWorks

"Lover" By Prem Naik | Staff Writer The end of summer marked a new beginning for Taylor Swift, following the release of her highly anticipated seventh album, “Lover.” Released on Aug. 23, “Lover” attempts to redefine Taylor Swift’s musical style and persona in a way that still manages to feel fresh and relatable. Dreamlike in mood and catchy in tune, “Lover” is a welcoming change of pace when compared to 2017’s “Reputation.” During the release of music videos to preface her new album, Taylor Swift hinted at the album’s tracks via easter eggs hidden within the frames of the video. Much like the songs in the album, they were a welcomed surprise, even when they retread themes explored in previous works. Kicking off the album with “I Forgot That You Existed,” Swift makes it clear that she

wants to put her “Reputation” years behind her, and in a few ways she succeeds. It seems that every single album Swift releases has continuing themes that include talking about exes that were not right for her, talking about how critics and tabloids target her and how she wishes it could have worked out with some of her other exes. As many of us enter our 20s, Taylor Swift enters her 30s, and continues to talk about the exact same themes she explored a decade ago. While it’s true that the second song “Cruel Summer” follows suit, the key difference with each album is how it is all presented to the listener. With lyrics that sound less aggressive, and music that sounds lighter and nostalgic, the “Lover” era is artistically introduced. The title track exemplifies

this point, with a beat that serves as a callback to classic love songs from the 60s and the Motown era, and lyrics that puts you in her fantastical musical world. Setting the tone with this song, it is easy to see how her pastel colored album art and music videos fit into the world she creates within her music. Songs that further support this nostalgic era are “Paper Rings,” “The Archer” and “Death by a Thousand Cuts.” Each talk of lost love in a way that does not put down past lovers, but instead appreciates them for how they have affected her, as evident by the lyrics “trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch.” This is a great takeaway for anyone who’s been in a relationship , and makes the album slightly more relatable. Each of Taylor Swift’s tumultuous relationships have

impacted her in some way and working this into her most recent album was a brilliant change. “Lover” is much more akin to her previous albums “1989” and “Red.” Whereas “Red” was the fusion of pop and country, and “1989” was the bubbly introduction to mainstream pop, “Lover” finds a home somewhere between the two. Each of the songs is perfect for an end of summer listen, letting listeners kick back to an upbeat journey as they wave summer goodbye. At a whopping 18 tracks, it may get jarring to listen to in its entirety, but “Lover” succeeds in providing a good group of love songs that will satisfy most listeners, superfans and casual listeners alike.

THE VECTOR

Entertainment

Week of September 23, 2019

Do You Even Sudoku?

Horoscopes By @poetastrologers

PISCES

AQUARIUS

CAPRICORN

You will help a good friend. You won’t be scared to. The friend is yourself. You will wear a blue hat again.

You took the long way. Is this what they meant by survival. Is this what we meant when we held the door open to feel the air. Everything needs some sort of attention.

There is little time but still enough. Can you manage to get there. You will have no problems. Truly.

SAGITTARIUS

SCORPIO

LIBRA

You are the day. The day before and after a daybreak. After everything. With one long night of dreaming.

You know how you feel at least. The greenest ocean. The best find all day. The light.

You got up and were ready. You went in the house. You are not scared. You are ready for anything.

VIRGO

LEO

CANCER

A slightly warm feeling in the leg. A lot of great insights. Replace the fog. Get to the know the nighttime.

Unbeknownst to anyone you fell. You felt true to that at least. So wear a hat. Wear two hats when you’re ready.

You will check-in. You will turn the lamp off and on. What if you aren’t ready. Eat violet cookies and breathe. 8:52 PM - 22 Sep 2019

GEMINI

TAURUS

ARIES

A lantern is full of poems. Will you be ready when the time is here? It may be. A road full of sun.

You can go to sleep. Dreaming will bring you some solace. But what about the silver window. What about the future.

You will be surprised at how strong you are. Green letters over water. Now you will understand everything. Be brave.

EASY

MEDIUM

Comics

HARD

EVIL

By Randall Munroe

Crossword

For more comics, visit https://xkcd.com

Crossword credited to onlinecrosswords.net

Tweet @TheNJITVector a photo of your completed crossword puzzle (only if you can solve it, though)! Down 1. Like the job you've always wanted 2. Took measures 3. Soon 4. Callao locale 5. Bottle gourds 6. Some graven images 7. Home studies? 8. Like water in the desert 9. Possessive word 10. Corn spikes 11. Pennsylvania port 12. Coal tar products

13. Plaster support 20. Leather's fuzzy side 21. ''... down and ___go!'' 26. ''Just ___suspected!'' 27. Favored female 28. Make ready, briefly 29. Dynamic prefix? 30. Is a valuable hen 31. One with a first-person account? 32. ''Happy Days'' co-star 33. Character created byBronte 35. Harper Valley grp. 36. Suspensions

38. Golfer's target 39. An unmentionable 44. More than saluted 46. ''The Travels of MarcoPolo'' creature 47. Type of drum 48. Country's K.T.50. Grinch creator 51. Carpet fiber 52. On a carrier 53. Knee concealer 54. German river 55. Stink up the joint 56. Variety of plum 57. Winslet of ''Titanic''

Across 1. Creator of Dogpatch 5. El ___ (Spanish national hero) 8. Spirited stallion 13. Filthy riches 14. Lime drink 15. Cautious 16. Daisy look-alike 17. Either Chaney 18. Lofty abode 19. Hemingway saga 22. Half of a famous splitpersonality 23. Bodybuilder's pride 24. Co. that makes ATMs 25. Vino valley

27. ''Golly!'' 28. Chum 31. Hides the evidence, e.g.3 4. Barbecuer's rod 36. Lot measurement 37. Certain brazen crime 40. Subject to a draft 41. Tangible 42. Taken-back purchases,briefly 43. One of a Howard trio 44. First word of ''NowhereMan'' 45. Tatter 47. Motor oil can letters 48. Mexico's gold

49. One market for exports 53. Expecting illness? 58. Utopian 59. Beer alternative 60. Sharp or severe 61. American farm machineryindustrialist 62. Game-ending declaration 63. Electrifying inventor Nikola 64. Bothered 65. Word with run or result 66. To be, to Nero

THE VECTOR

Sports

Week of September 23, 2019

NJIT Tennis Announces Alumni/Open Singles and Doubles Tournament By NJIT Athletics The NJIT men's and women's If you don't have a doubles tennis teams are proud to an- partner, you will be paired with nounce they will be hosting an another entrant. Alumni/Varsity/Open Tennis The Naimoli Family Athletic Tournament on Sunday, Octo- and Recreational Tennis Facility ber 27, at 9am in the Naimoli features state-of-the-art lightFamily Athletic and Recreation- ing and PlaySight Technology al Tennis Facility. The event is that will livestream the tournaopen to alums, students, facul- ment so friends and family can ty, staff, and the general public. watch at home. The tournament will feature NJIT's women's squad opened one co-ed singles draw and one up play last weekend at the co-ed doubles draw. All match- Columbia Invitational, while es will be eight-game pro sets. the men's team will open their There will be a back draw for season on September 27 for the first round losers, so everyone is first of three days at the Bingguaranteed at least two match- hamton Invitational. es.

DELAND, FL--Stetson's William Suaut scored the lone goal of the match in the 77th minute, leading the Hatters to a 1-0 victory over visiting NJIT in the ASUN Conference men's soccer opener at the Athletic Training Center Saturday evening. Stetson picks up its second straight win of the season, moving to 5-3-0, 1-0-0 in the ASUN while the Highlanders move to 2-2-3 overall, 0-1-0 in the ASUN. "We had a strong first half, especially towards the end of it where we forced a point blank save and drew the penalty kick," head coach Fernando Barboto commented. "Missing the penalty kick was very deflating. We have to bounce back mentally, emotionally and physically for the next week." The home team broke a scoreless match in the 77th minute after a serve from the left side into the box by Gabriel Diniz, finding Suaut, to put the Hatters ahead, 1-0, finishing on a header. Stetson finished with a 20-5 advantage on overall shots and edged the Highlanders in corner kicks, 5-4. Three different Highlanders registered a shot in the match -Rene White, Gerald Cubero and Juan Zapata. NJIT's first opportunity to score Friday night came in the 14th minute on a shot by freshman Gerald Cubero and two

Stetson Scores Late Goal; Tops Visiting NJIT in ASUN Conference Opener By NJIT Athletics

minute later, ASUN Conference goals leader Rene White blasted a shot, which sailed high. In the 40th minute, Stetson was called for a foul inside the box, resulting in an NJIT penalty kick. NJIT junior transfer Regsan Watkins stepped up to the line, striking to the lower right post but Stetson's goalkeeper denied the Highlanders with a diving stop. With 8.1 seconds left in the first period, a free kick was