Vol. CI Issue #2 by The Vector

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Vol. CI | Issue 2 Week of September 12, 2021

NJIT’s Response to Tropical Storm Ida Don’t Forget Your Kayak. By Karim Gueye | Business Manager

Photo by Sarah J Lee | iStock

On Sept 1, the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida landed in New Jersey, bringing more rain than the state was prepared to deal with. The day began with a persistent drizzle, but by 10 p.m., streets had turned into rivers, areas in Newark’s airport had flooded and Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency across all of New Jersey.

national Airport tweeted that they were suspending all flights at 10:28 pm, but videos of the airport flooding began surfacing nearly half an hour before the airport’s tweet was sent. At about 8 p.m. in Kearny, the roof of a postal distribution facility collapsed, sending seven employees to the hospital. There were over 300 people in the building.

The National Weather Service reported risk of heavy rain and “possibly significant” flash flooding instances on Aug. 31. Murphy began retweeting tweets warning of heavy rain and possible flash flooding at 3:47 p.m.

Most of New Jersey expected 3 to 4 inches of rain, while certain areas in North Jersey expected around 5 inches. Thursday morning following the storm, most towns reported at least 4 inches of rain, with several counties suffering 7 to 8 inches of rain. It is apparent that New Jersey’s delayed response to the storm was partially due to it receiving significantly more rain than expected.

Despite growing concerns, NJIT ran evening class normally, and the university did not make a response on the storm until 10:31 p.m. Andrew P. Christ — Sr. VP for Real Estate Development and Capital Operations — sent an email with the subject “Remnants of Hurricane Ida,” warning students to “stay indoors if at all possible” and “limit unnecessary travel.” This email was sent nearly half an hour after Murphy declared a state of emergency and half an hour after NJIT’s last courses were slated to end. At that point, several of NJIT’s buildings were flooding with water. NJIT was far from the only public organization to stay active on the night Ida hit New Jersey. Newark Liberty Inter-

There were no reported injuries on campus, but a portion of NJIT’s commuter students were stranded on campus due to unsafe conditions. These students found refuge in the Campus Center. Members of Student Senate, including junior biology major and Vice President of Finance Mark Nashed, handed out 100 blankets to commuter students who were unable to leave campus. “I think as we approached 10 o’clock, people started realizing that they’re not going to be able to get home.” Nashed estimated that there were close to 125 to 150

students stranded “just in the Campus Center alone.” Other buildings were cleared out throughout the night, and according to Nashed, NJIT Department of Public Safety informed students that the Campus Center was still open if they were unable to get home. However, NJIT made no official statement to commuters that the Campus Center would remain open, likely because leaving the building open was not explicitly planned beforehand. This may have led to students leaving NJIT campus after their 6 p.m. classes ended rather than risking being kicked out into the storm once all the campus buildings had closed. Nashed left the Campus Center at around 2 p.m., but most of the commuters remained. By 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 2, there were approximately 50 students remaining. About an hour before Nashed returned to the campus center the morning after, Christ sent out a second email titled “Impacts of Hurricane Ida.” This email was sent at 5:40 a.m. and announced that classes would not meet before 1 p.m.

portation and our campus facilities have become more clear,” and all class activities were transitioned to synchronous online. The final post-Ida operations email was sent by Associate Dean of Students Kristie Damell at 7:46 p.m. and stated that all instruction would remain online for Sept. 3. A follow-up email was sent at 8:28 a.m. and announced that the Student Involvement Fair, then scheduled for Sept. 3, would be postponed to another day. In hindsight, there is a chance that fewer students would have been stuck on campus if evening classes were cancelled. Additionally, “Impacts of Hurricane Ida” was sent just under 3 hours before 8:30 classes were slated to begin, when many students would have been asleep. The email announcing all classes on Sept. 3 were going virtual was sent just one hour before classes were set to resume; if it was delivered any later, NJIT would have risked students beginning commutes to now-virtual labs and lectures. It is clear that NJIT took reactive steps to mitigate the harm to the student body once the severity of the storm was realized, but proactive steps reduce the need for reactive steps.

Christ sent out his third Ida email at 11:58 a.m., stating that “the extent of these [Ida’s] impacts on regional trans-

NEWS

FEATURES

RES LIFE UPDATES GUEST POLICY

EXCHANGE STUDENTS FINALLY ON CAMPUS

CLUB SPOTLIGHT: IDSA

See pages 3

See pages 5

See page 7

THE VECTOR

Week of September 12, 2021

About THE

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ADVISORS

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. 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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@TheNJITVector @njit_vector Join our Friday Meetings from 11:30 AM-1:00 PM at NJIT Campus Center, Room 466 if you're interested in contributing!

Friday, Sep. 17th

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Operational Advisor Kristie Damell

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EXECUTIVE BOARD eboard@njitvector.com Editor-in-Chief Sandra Raju editor-in-chief@njitvector.com

Business Manager Karim Gueye business-manager@njitvector.com

Managing Editor Yukthi Sangoi managing-editor@njitvector.com

Photography Editor Ethan O'Malley photography-editor@njitvector.com

Executive Editor Nicolas Arango executive-editor@njitvector.com

Web and Multimedia Editor Nick Merlino multimedia-editor@njitvector.com

VECTOR STAFF Copy Editors Sreya Das Karim Gueye Mustafa Shaikh Staff Writers Saanika Joshi Maksim Sokolov Contributing Writers Ali Jamil Alicia Tedesco Alexandra Griffith Emily Rejano Fatima Osman Hannah Lenkowski

Senior Staff Anthony McInnis Sean Slusarz Sabastian Fernandes Evan Markowitz Sreya Das Areej Qamar Yash Kewlani

Layout Assistants Gilliana Loyola Soojin Ahn Leanne Burgos Maksim Sokolov Karim Gueye Areej Qamar Yash Kewlani Graphic Designers Sreya Das Evan Markowitz Photographers Sean Slusarz Hannah Lenkowski Ali Jamil

Upcoming Events WEDNESDAY, Sep. 15th 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month Kick-Off 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm Plant and Paint 6:00 pm - 10:30 pm E-Sports Game Night

Campus Center Lobby CC Room 215 CKB 116

THURSDAY, Sep. 16th 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Popsicle Fundraiser

CC Plaza

FRIDAY, Sep. 17th 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Latin Night CaribSO's Jerk Social

CC Highlander Club CC Terrace

POLICE BLOTTER

9/7/21 2:05PM Staff member reported two monitors taken from the third floor of 211 Warren Street, EDC3. 7:15PM Two students were found in the Campus Center without masks. They were told to put on a mask and names were forwarded to the Office of the Dean of Students. 9/8/21

NJIT Vector Summary 9/13/2021 For 9/4/21 through 9/9/21 Times Shown are Times Reported

9:21PM An honors student reported she was walking east on New Street from Norfolk Street with a group of other students. She reported that while walking past the Science and Technology Park Garage, she was struck in the hand, leg and arm by some type of unidentified object.

THE VECTOR

News

Week of September 12, 2021

Residence Life Updates Guest Policy By Evan Markowitz | Senior Staff Writer On Aug. 4, an email was sent by NJIT’s Department of Residence Life to students planning to live on campus during the fall semester, informing them of changes to the guest policy. However, on Aug. 16, a follow-up email was sent informing students that “based on current recommendations from the CDC,” the guest policy had been updated. The policy change described in the email outright disallowed non-resident visitors from entering the residence halls, superseding the previous policy which allowed visitation by commuter students. According to Karen Quackenbush, Director of Residence Life, this change was made in conjunction with NJIT’s Pandemic Recovery Steering Committee, a group of administrators and officials responsible for guiding campus policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quackenbush stated that the committee made the recommendation to change the guest policy based on guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That guidance, outlined in their document “Guidance for Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs),” recommends that for institutes of higher education where not all students are vaccinated, “building access by non-residents” should be limited and that “groups of dorm rooms” should be established for non-vaccinated students to “minimize transmission” of COVID-19 and to “facilitate contact tracing.”

On Aug. 16, Dr. Joel S. Bloom, President of NJIT, announced that one measure the university was taking was to separate vaccinated and unvaccinated exempt students within the residence halls. This would be in accordance with the aforementioned guidelines by the CDC. In the same announcement, it was noted that 89% of NJIT students had been fully vaccinated, with 92% of students having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. At the time of publication of this piece, updated numbers had not been released. Per NJIT’s policy on vaccination, students with “valid medical reasons” or “established and sincerely held religious beliefs” were eligible to receive an exemption to the COVID-19 vaccination requirements set forth by NJIT in April. Additionally, incoming international students were granted a temporary exemption from the vaccination requirements in order to facilitate the receipt of vaccinations within the United States. All NJIT students, regardless of vaccination status, are expected to wear masks indoors in public spaces. Regarding the recent changes in policy, Quackenbush noted that Residence Life and the Steering Committee would continue to evaluate the policies and make changes where appropriate or necessary. “Our first priority for all students on campus is health and safety. We’re going to do what we can to make sure everybody’s healthy and safe.”

Forte PIZZERIA

Campus Center Lobby 11AM - 8PM Mon.-Fri. 11AM - 5PM Saturday

THE VECTOR

Features

Week of September 12, 2021

Exchange Students Finally on Campus

By Alicia Tedesco | Contributing Writer

Like many others, I could say that I’ve always dreamed about a semester abroad. I could say that I’ve always dreamed about being an exchange student: to explore and connect with new places and people. I could say that, and it would be true.

Alicia Tedesco, Media Design Furtwangen University Black Forest, Germany

Being an exchange student is not a first for me, however. I went to France for three months when I was 14. A year later, I left for the United States to attend a high school in Michigan for half a year. And now, at 22 years old, I’m at NJIT as an exchange student once again. NJIT is one of many partner institutions of my home university. It is also the only partner university in the US that offered a tuition-free spot for exchange students with a media design major. Its close proximity to NYC and various

courses in the field of journalism helped me make up my mind to apply and spend my 6th semester at NJIT. Because of COVID-19, of course, I didn’t know if I would be accepted, and even if I was, being able to fly to the U.S. was still up in the air. My parents were worried about me catching the virus, but they supported me in every other way. To be honest, the thing I was more concerned about was Newark’s crime rate. Coming here has been a great experience so far. I do miss home, but I didn’t fly all the way from Germany across the ocean to get homesick. I came to study, get to know new people and have faceto-face classes again. And I did. I went to parties, too, became part of the crowd, felt my body move to the music, and oh boy, have I missed that! I’ve gone to

New York City, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, had dinner at Ignazio’s Pizza Restaurant and spent an evening in a little bay with a view of the gleaming New York skyline. There was English all around me, with some occasional Spanish, French, Turkish, Dutch, and German. I love every single part of my experience here, and I cannot wait to keep making new memories! ....................................... At NJIT, there are currently nine exchange students who are either staying for just the fall semester or the entire year. Three of them are from Germany, two from Spain, another two from France as well as one each from Turkey and the Netherlands. Three of them decided to share their stories about coming to NJIT.

Javier Navarro Muñoz, Industrial Design Nebrija University Granada, Spain

David Elskamp Computer Science and Engineering University of Twente Amsterdam, Netherlands

Giray Arat, Electrical Engineering Istanbul Technical University Ankara, Turkey

Muñoz made the decision to study abroad even before he started attending university. His family always supported him in his endeavors. “I was lucky enough to be able to pursue this exchange program without practically any limits,” he said. One of the only concerns he encountered was COVID-19. “I went through it in October and November 2020, and I definitely don’t want to go through it again,” he mentioned. That’s also the main reason he got vaccinated as soon as he could.

Studying abroad in the U.S. specifically was one of Elskamp’s goals since high school. At that time, he took some elective courses to dive into some business classes, leading him towards a semester at NJIT.

Like the other exchange students, Arat knew he wanted to study abroad in high school, but it took him three years to come to NJIT for his senior project; he added, “I’m the only exchange student from my university.” He wasn’t scared of the virus because he is vaccinated. “I had to be because the city I live in, Istanbul, has 15 million residents,” he explained. “New York has 8 million. It’s super crowded!”

He decided to do a semester abroad despite the pandemic because he finally felt like his studies were going smoothly. “I finally was liking what I was studying”, he said. His experience in the U.S. and at NJIT has been pleasant. “I’m still immersing myself in it,” he acknowledged, “but I’m very excited to see what NJIT has in store for me.” The east coast of the U.S. fascinates him. Muñoz has found a few significant differences between the lifestyle here and how things are done back home. One such variance is that the method of learning information and testing students’ knowledge. “In Spain, academics rely on students’ memories too much and evaluate all the [students’] work in just one exam. Here, we work more on a daily basis; tests normally don’t make up the majority of the grade, and open-book tests don’t seem to be a taboo concept,” he explained. Muñoz is excited to get to know the U.S. better and learn about design in a more practical and pedagogical way. “I want to learn about the different cultures that constitute the university and get involved in almost anything that I can get my hands on.”

He loves New York City, and NJIT is bigger and better than he expected, with the Makerspace as one of his favorite parts. “I like the parties. I like the people. I hate the food – the food at GDS is terrible,” he said. He misses the fruits “not tasting like chemical,” and he misses his dog. According to his experience, there is substantial variation in culture. The social-economic system, along with politics, is very different. “I began to appreciate more what we have in Europe,” he admitted. At the same time, he appreciates the U.S. and its opportunities. “Fitness is the coolest thing in the entire universe!” Elskamp explained. “In our country, if you do fitness, that’s just up to you. And here they’re like, ‘Come do fitness! You’ll get credits and a personal trainer and everything is free!’” Another detail he noticed during his first few weeks in the U.S. is the way people interact. “In my country, nobody really does small talk”, he mentioned. Asking someone how they are doing is considered a serious question in his country, whereas in the U.S., people greet each other with that without expecting an honest answer. According to Elskamp, “[Having] deeper conversations with someone is sometimes harder in the U.S.” Nevertheless, he is excited about his semester abroad; he is convinced that “meeting new people, new cultures and new experiences makes you a better person.” He wants to go see some of his favorite artists, travel the West Coast, meet some girls and go to New York City many more times.

While meeting new people, Arat often gets questioned about what surprised him the most about the U.S. Without hesitation, he responds with, “Cars! This world is built on cars.” It took him almost two hours to get to Walmart without a car, and it was shocking to learn that a drivers license is considered a main source of identification. He also mentioned, “the second [most] surprising thing is that everybody is so nice.” He expected people to be more impolite. Nevertheless, Arat appreciates the diversity in the U.S. “Walking around NY drives me crazy! No two people are alike. It’s something to fall in love with,” he said. Compared to what he’s used to, Newark is extremely spacious. “I enjoy walking to downtown Newark and spending time around the parks.” He even signed up at a climbing gym and goes there without worrying about walking home late at night. “Last time I was coming home, I stopped by a club and chatted with the bodyguard. He was nice and invited me to the club,” he recalled. “There are so many things to do here, and so many places to go.” For example, he got bubble tea for the first time ever when he was in New York City. Going there has reminded him how much he misses his home city. “The mosques and the churches. The hallow silhouette of Istanbul. The sunset upon the Bosphorus. Seagulls flying around church towers. I miss that the most,” he said. However, he is still exceptionally eager to continue exploring and meeting new people here.

THE VECTOR

Snapshots

Week of September 12, 2021

Carnival To break in the new school year, the Office of Student Life threw a carnival in the campus green. Featured events included a ring toss, a dunk tank, and a giant game of billiards.

Photos by Ethan O'Malley

Pancakes with the President

As part of welcome week, students were treated with free pancakes in the Campus Center Atrium on the second day of school. Those that came early enough could share the meal with President Joel Bloom.

Photos by Sean Slusarz

Student Involvement Fair All of NJIT's student-run organizations took to the campus green last Friday to entice new members. Though the event was pushed due to Hurricane Ida, there was still a great turnout.

Photos by Ethan O'Malley

THE VECTOR

Features

Week of September 12, 2021

Club Spotlight The NJIT Chapter of Industrial Design Society of America held a project launch event on Sept. 11 for the Montclair Design Week 2021. NJIT partnered up with DesignShed to unite four major design schools in New Jersey to introduce the project. The competition’s primary goal is to unite students from different schools to exchange ideas and tackle various design challenges, from finding creative new solutions to concerns such as climate change to addressing various social issues such as public health and personhood. Students from all four schools — NJIT, Montclair University, Kean University and William Paterson University — work together to create innovative solutions for these different problems using their own design philosophies. While the specific challenges they wish to tackle depend on the team, the overall idea that all teams must follow is the same: the year is 2121, and the beings that roam the planet wish to send a time capsule 100 years into the past to assist the people in our current time period. The competition will take place in multiple phases. During the first phase, students form teams and begin to discuss ideas regarding the situation presented to them. Upon forming their teams, the students move on to stage two, where they will begin the design challenge creating media as well as a prop that will be put into the hypothetical time capsule. Three physical items are required to be put into the time capsule along with a 30-second video for the

Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) By Ali Jamil | Contributing Writer

people of their past. In the final phase, the teams’ work will be showcased in the Montclair Design Week hub gallery. On Oct. 3, it will be open for the community to see. Many ideas have already been brought up during the very first phase such as creating robotic fish that go underwater and assist in eliminating pollution in our oceans by consuming waste. Two other concepts include tackling a possible food and water shortage in the near future and dealing with the concept of personal and national identity in a more globalized future. The possibilities for creative solutions and designs are limitless, and the competition is an effective way for different minds in the field of design to collaborate and advance their ideas. The organizers of the launch event include DesignShed’s founder Petia Morozov, NJIT industrial design student Lemmuel Escalona, NJIT alumna Renee Collins and Matthew Mateo, club event coordinator of NJIT’s chapter. The NJIT Industrial Design Society of America club hosts workshops, joins conferences and interacts in social affairs. Some of its events include drawing and wood workshops, and the club encourages anyone who has interest in making things and working with their hands to join! The meetings take place on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in the major fishbowl studio on Weston Hall’s seventh floor. Feel free to email idsa@njit.edu to get more information! Photos by Ali Jamil

COLLECTIONS voices from around campus

Submit your responses to @njit_vector on Instagram!

What are you looking forward to this Fall! "Taking a nap and waking up to 2022"

"showing off my sweet "seeing people on collection of sweaters campus" and jackets" "Human Connections" "more outdoor events" "Having a cone as president" "JASON DERULOOO" "In person friendsgiving" " studying 24/7" "seeing my online friends in person"

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Entertainment

Week of September 12, 2021

Horoscopes

Do You Even Sudoku?

By @poetastrologers

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Speaking your feelings will never be the wrong thing to do. Although it can be hard, you should just say everything. There is momentum. Even though for you it might seem too slow, things are moving.

It has almost been a while now but not quite. You will still look to the letters for anything like a solution. If you can, hold your head up high. There’s nothing quite like the sky.

A thousand new ideas will come flooding in. There could be everything and nothing. A new friend brings an answer. But you won’t be sure you asked a question.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Holding a ceremony is more for you. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Quite the opposite, take some time now to do what you want. What can be perched up can also go quickly.

You are starting to be in the middle of something important. Don’t question it too much. A long line of trees surround everything. There will be circular emotions.Ss

If you can let it pass then it might be fine. The question is can you do this. You are looking far off and you can see a hopeful sign. You can see yourself in love.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

Orange walls and a new outlook. You will find yourself back in an old place. Two arms outstretched to form a purple globe. There might be a coat.

You might hold on to the surrounding light. But what really moves you is what you can hear in the distance. Make it there if you can. So much blue will be uttered.

It’s you again, so don’t worry. A red cape will envelop the day. Two columns are on either side of the idea. It’s the poem you are after.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

It’s the same story but this time it could be different. A blue chair is a nice place to rest. Oh but you don’t want to. You want to fall into the surrounding air.

The wind is everywhere. You have a book open. There is one word written but you can’t make it out yet. Everyone is waiting.

Go out and see the open space. More lilac in the sun is necessary. You will get there but you need to go through this first. There will be enjoyment.

EASY

MEDIUM

HARD

Comics EVIL

Crossword Crossword credited to onlinecrosswords.net

Tweet @TheNJITVector a photo of your completed crossword puzzle (only if you can solve it, though)! Across 1. Type of winner? 1. Kindergarten basics 5. Abs exercise 10. Quart parts: Abbr. 13. Piece of land 15. Caribbean resort island 16. Go bad, as fruit 17. Physical work 19. Neighbor of Wash. 20. New __, India 21. Teachers' org. 22. Urban pollution 23. Engine noise

25. Michigan or Minnesota 27. Splash droplets on 30. Drinks noisily 33. Large coffee maker 34. Figure of speech 37. Game-show host 38. Lollobrigida of film 40. L-P link 41. Skin opening 42. Grownup 44. Copper or aluminum 47. Prepare to shoot 48. Broadcasts again 50. Bridge support

52. Cake section 54. Prefix for present 55. Six o'clock broadcast 57. Harbor boat 59. In first place 62. Gardner of Hollywood 63. Onetime NASA satellite launcher 66. Wooden pin 67. Watchful 68. Ancient Scandinavian 69. Before, in verse 70. Oregano and basil 71. Spouse

Down 1. 24-hr. bank feature 2. Actor Pitt 3. 27 Down source 4. Carve, as a statue 5. Actor Mineo 6. Teheran's country 7. Toothpaste containers 8. WWII subs 9. __ for the course 10. Painter's application 11. Fuss 12. Guys-only event 14. South Pacific island

18. Like notebook paper 22. Tree-trunk remainder 24. Fairy-tale writing brother 26. Stein contents 27. Coffee additive 28. __ and joy 29. Yearly earnings 31. Danger 32. Teacher's request 35. Afternoon hour 36. Maxim 39. Fictitious name 43. Have a go at 45. Knight suit

46. One of the Beatles 49. Come to terms 51. "Cheers" or "Friends" 53. Measuring stick 55. Back of the neck 56. Hardly __ (rarely) 58. Clothing 60. Gumbo veggie 61. Flea, e.g. 63. Sound of satisfaction 64. City roads: Abbr. 65. Golf platform