850 students signed up for the Career Expo and there are only 518 jobs listed on Handshake? Someone do the math.
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | OCTOBER 2, 2026
VOLUME CXXIIII No. 04
In-person Stevens Career Expo 2026
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Stevens soars to No.59 in U.S News Rankings BY ASHLEY ELIAS FLORES, STAFF WRITER
MICHAEL BEECHER FOR THE STUTE
BY ALESSANDRA ZULUETA NIETO, STAFF WRITER After the wave of virtual career fairs, the Stevens Career Center brought back the Career Expo in person on September 24 for Fall 2026, with a second expo scheduled for October 15. As stated by the Career Center, a total of 850 students registered for each date, with both events reaching capacity and having waitlists. Rebecca Andersen Polimeda, Senior Director of the Career Center, said the return to an in-person format followed feedback from both students and employers who wanted more faceto-face career events.
This September expo brought 104 employers to campus, with 518 jobs listed on Handshake. They offer a mix of positions, including internships, co-ops, and post-grad opportunities. Attendees began checking in around 10:45 a.m., with a line of students stretching from the UCC toward Davis Hall as attendees waited to enter the expo. The expo itself took place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the UCC Main Floor, UCC Gallery, Techflex, and Bissinger. Many students were dressed in business casual attire and were strictly instructed not to bring their resumes, to perfect their
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Stevens Institute of Technology has moved up 21 spots in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2027 National Universities rankings, now number 59, making it the third-highest-ranked university in New Jersey. The jump comes as U.S. News introduces changes to both its ranking system and how it classifies colleges. The 2027 rankings place greater emphasis on student outcomes, including graduation and retention, social mobility, and graduates’ earnings. One of the biggest changes is a new earnings measure that compares graduates’ four-year earnings with those of graduates in the same field nationwide. The measure uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard and replaces graduate indebtedness. The classification system also changed this year. About one-fifth of the colleges evaluated had been moved into different categories under a new system developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education. U.S. News made a note saying that a change in classification does not necessarily represent a change in a college’s academic quality. These chang-
es coincide with significant movement among other New Jersey schools. Princeton University remains at No.2 nationally, followed by Rutgers University-New Brunswick at No. 44 and Stevens at No.59. Stevens’ rise is particularly notable because the university gained more positions than any other school in the national top 100. According to Stevens, the university now ranks among the top 14% of 422 national universities included in the rankings. It also rose to No. 32 for Most Innovative Schools and No. 65 in Best Value. The university points to career outcomes as one factor behind its performance. Stevens reported that 93% of its Class of 2025 achieved their desired outcome, which was either employment or graduate school within six months of graduation. The university also reported that 83% of employed graduates had completed an internship, co-op, or summer research experience before graduating. Stevens’ rise reflects more than a change in its position on a list. It also comes as U.S. News changes how it measures colleges, placing increased emphasis on what happens to students during and after their college career. With
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Stevens to launch Bachelor’s Degree $1.13 million research grant in Aerospace Engineering in Fall 2027 awarded to Dr. Nicholaus Parziale BY SRIKAR VELAM, STAFF WRITER Stevens Institute of Technology has decided to launch its brand new Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering in response to growing student demand and the rising prominence of aerospace engineering in everyday life. Recently, Stevens also launched its Master’s Program in Aerospace Engineering for the Fall 2026 semester, led by Assistant Professor Jason Rabinovitch. Following the footsteps of this major’s debut, the Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering will be launching in Fall 2027, offering incoming students of the Class of 2031 a chance to experience a never-before-seen major. This program will be headed by Professor Souran Manoochehri, Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering. Previously, Manoochehri had served as the Associate Dean for Research and Technology in SES from 2004 to 2009. Dr. Manoochehri had already been awarded over 50 contracts and over 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals, highlighting his qualifications for leading such an industry-favored major. The bachelor’s program NEWS (2-3)
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will feature a strong focus on Mechanical Engineering, similar to the master’s program, which also emphasizes its strengths. In the first and second years, aerospace engineering students will develop crucial engineering skills in foundational areas such as fluid mechanics and structural engineering. Later on, in their junior and senior years, students will progress through more specialized aerospace engineering coursework, including courses related to aerodynamics, propulsion, and aircraft design technology. These courses will not only provide students with a strong foundation in aerospace engineering, but also equip them with the skills needed to advance in the growing aerospace industry. Students will be given numerous hands-on opportunities to augment their skill set, including, but not
limited to, research in laboratories, aerospace hardware experience, and industry-related work. To that end, Stevens has numerous research facilities to aid students in their endeavors, such as the 60-foot wind tunnel in the Parziale Lab used for hypersonic flight. For their capstone project, students will have to pool together the accumulated skills over the past four years and emulate the design process of aerospace engineering, taking a concept through the various stages of design, experimentation, and prototyping. The ultimate goal of this Bachelor’s Program is not only to mold students into proper aerospace engineers, but also to provide them with the mental and physical skill set to advance aerospace engineering to heights never seen before.
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BY NEHEMIAH LICIAGA, STAFF WRITER On September 22, 2026, it was announced that the Office of Naval Research (ONR) awarded Dr. Nicholaus Parziale approximately $1.13 million to conduct research on how water droplets break at hypersonic speeds. Dr. Parziale is the current George Meade Bond Endowed Professor at Stevens and has been with the institution since 2014. Before becoming a professor, he achieved his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2008, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Aeronautics at the California Institute
of Technology in 2009 and 2013, respectively. So, how do water droplets break at hypersonic speeds? Well, the speed that the water droplets would have to break has to reach a speed of Mach 5 and greater. Parziale stated there are challenges to encountering objects at this speed: “That’s a materials type problem or an aerodynamics problem. But, I would say that there’s aerodynamics, materials, propulsion, and control. So how do you make these things? How do you make an engine? How do you make it? How do you control it? Then how do you keep it cool, right?” His research builds on his previous $1.2 million grant in 2020 and a $953K
grant in 2023, both awarded by ONR, where he studied how particulate matter and precipitation affect high-speed flight and how to quantify turbulence at speeds that consistently exceed the speed of sound, respectively. To capture the moment these water droplets break, researchers developed specialized methods in the basement of Edwin A. Stevens Hall to record data. “We use laser diagnostics and very high-speed cameras to take pictures of these things,” Parziale explained. “So we try to do something really simple so that we can get a very nice time-resolved
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30-second pitch, and to have a smile on their face as they braved talking to dozens of employers. “Ultimately, the Career Expo is about creating connections,” Andersen Polimeda said. “Bringing students and employers together in person gives both groups the opportunity to have conversations that could lead to internships, jobs, mentoring relationships, and future career opportunities that just can’t be replicated virtually.” The second Career Expo will take place on October 15 and has also reached registration capacity, cementing student interest in face-to-face events.
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factors such as graduation rates, social mobility, and post-graduate earnings playing a larger role in the rankings, schools are being evaluated through different measures than in years prior. For Stevens, those changes coincide with a 21-spot jump into the national top 60. As the new methodology takes effect, the 2027 rankings provide a picture of how New Jersey’s colleges compare and what factors are being used to measure their performance.
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understanding of the physics that govern these flows.” Even though his grant is heavily connected to research for the United States Navy, air breakup is a broad problem that affects many fields under the umbrella of aero breakup. “It’s when a liquid drop encounters a high-speed airstream, and that’s ubiquitous, right?” Parziale stated. “You could think about a fuel injector in a Formula One car, or a hurricane ripping the mist off of a wave. You could think about chemical processes. Any of these, any instance where, or like, you could think about dropping water over a brush fire, right? So any of these processes where there’s flow of drops in a high-speed airstream, like that’s what aero breakup.” Now, the main question around
Expanding opportunities: Stevens Journal of Law and Technology BY ISABELLA FAMA, OUTREACH CHAIR The Stevens Law and Technology Journal (SJOLT) has recently released its second edition, marking another milestone for the publication founded by Nicholas Russo. Following his bachelor’s degree, Russo is completing a Master’s in Computer Science at Stevens and will soon attend Harvard Law School. Russo observed a significant gap while conducting his own personal research: “While researching places to publish my own work on the intellectual foundations and history of computational law, I spent a lot of time studying the world of undergraduate law reviews,” Russo shared. “I realized that there did not seem to be a publication dedicated to undergraduate (and master’s student) scholarship at the intersection of law and technology.” Russo noticed that sufficient work was being done through school-run journals devoted to both law and technology, but these are typically inaccessible to people with no formal legal education. His realization became the inspiration to create SJOLT in early 2025. According to SJOLT’s mission statement, the journal is “the first and only undergraduate-led academic pub-
lication dedicated to advancing scholarship at the intersection of law and technology.” There is a strong emphasis on the journal being centered on accessibility and collaboration. “My main goal for SJOLT has been to make scholarship in law and technology more accessible. I strongly believe that students do not need formal legal education to produce thoughtful, rigorous, and valuable work about legal questions,” Russo said. “To address that, I’ve developed a more collaborative editorial model in which editors can meet with prospective authors, help them brainstorm and refine ideas, and give them the confidence and structure needed to turn an initial interest into a serious piece of scholarship.” Within the newest edition of SJOLT, there are articles exploring the topics of artificial intelligence governance, digital privacy, intellectual property, and more that explore the niches within the intersection of law and technology. Authors from a wide range of educational backgrounds and exposures are featured within the journal, and their incredibly original thinking is proudly published in this edition. Russo views SJOLT as a platform that not only benefits authors, but editors as well. “Authors gain an opportunity to publish substantive work, while
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all of this: Will the research succeed? Well, although the true results are still a long way off, Parziale is one of many professors, scientists, and researchers working to solve how projectiles in the air affect aircraft midair, studying various angles such as how these interactions can mitigate damage, speed up aircraft, and be applied outside the aerospace field. For now, Parziale will focus on continuing his research on hypersonic speeds within the aerospace field, such as utilizing the X-ray capabilities at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to further the understanding of the field with the grant. “Not everything you do works. Lots of times we do stuff, and it doesn’t work,” Parziale stated, reflecting on what is considered a ‘good week’ in the lab. “Did we have a good week in the lab? [...] Have we had fun that week? Yeah, that’s the, you know, the shortest answer.”
editors gain experience evaluating scholarship, working closely with writers, and helping shape a scholarly publication,” he said. “Those experiences can become meaningful parts of students’ applications for jobs, internships, research positions, law school, and other graduate programs.” With the second edition now published, SJOLT is still continuing to expand its reach and influence beyond Stevens. Russo’s idea is an inspiration that legal and technological scholarship inquiry can start before, or even without, law school.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS JOURNAL OF LAW AND TECHNOLOGY
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News LOCAL NEWS Thousands of gallons of diesel spill into Secaucus BY JOSEPHINE CHOONG, portation investments, and build planning & business opportunity, Creek from data center
New NJ study for proper bus rapid transit in Hudson County SECRETARY
New Jersey has never had a proper bus rapid transit (BRT) service. Despite its benefits, like a faster ride compared to a regular bus, its numerous proposals have been stalled. However, Hudson County’s new proposal to implement BRT in the busy streets of John F. Kennedy Boulevard, a corridor connecting Bayonne and Jersey City, could change that. BRT is a rapid bus-based transit system that would function similarly to a light rail line without tracks. Its defining feature is its exclusive right-of-way, without any other vehicles or pedestrians. Hudson County’s recent study indicated that potential improvements could include dedicated or priority bus lanes, transit signal priority, enhanced bus stops and stations, off-board fare collection, and more high-capacity vehicles. The initiative started in July 2025, when Hudson County Executive Craig Guy directed his team to conduct a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) study, which represents a key component of the County’s Vision Zero commitments. The study would assess the feasibility of implementing BRT along the corridor, identify future trans-
upon NJ Transit’s ongoing NewBus Hudson initiative. In January 2026, the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners approved $150,000 in Capital Improvement funding to conduct a comprehensive study to determine potential BRT improvements. In April 2026, Nelson/ Nygaard, supported by TYLin, was selected to conduct the study. The study reflected Hudson County’s Vision Zero Safety Action Plan by discovering transportation improvements to increase mobility and create safer streets. John F. Kennedy Boulevard was selected as one of Hudson County’s busiest and most significant corridors, combining pathways between residential neighborhoods, employment centers, and various other services. That corridor provides access to roughly 2 million jobs within 45 minutes and could reduce commute time by 35 minutes. Combined with its various high ridership and regional connectivity, JFK Boulevard was a strong candidate for future BRT service. The study’s process would start with a public hearing on September 23 at Hudson County Community College. According to Francesca Giarratana, Hudson County’s deputy director of
the study would explore different sections of the corridor to implement unique design options. At a North Jersey Transit Forum on April 25, she stated that “If I was brutally honest, I would say, it’s already difficult and unpleasant to get around Jersey City and Hudson County in a car. We’re not going back.” Giarratana continued, “Traffic’s not going to get easier. So, it’s time to adapt. This is our one true opportunity to make a transit system along the spine of Hudson County.” Leah Katz, NJ Transit’s acting senior director of capital planning, stated that NJ Transit can’t implement BRT by itself. While they control the service, they don’t control the city streets. Those improvements would have to be developed through local partnerships, including Hudson County. Currently, the study is in its Public Engagement Round 1, encompassing a public survey, social media releases, stakeholder meetings, and public meetings. June to December 2026 is the Design and Analysis phase. Afterward, November 2026 to February 2027 is the Public Engagement Round 2. The study concludes in March 2026 with the Final Feasibility Study.
BY JACK MACDONNELL, SECRETARY On September 11th, a computer error from the Equinix data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, triggered the release of approximately 5,500 gallons of diesel fuel and waste into a small stream of the Hackensack River. Data centers have been under intense public scrutiny for the past few months, with concerns about their water usage, crude and ineffective zoning laws, and how they affect the communities around them. With the recent diesel spillage, the Equinix data center has just earned a new reason to be the subject of public outcry. With AI exploding onto the technological scene in the past few years, tech companies and governments are racing to put all their eggs in the artificial basket. Because demand for AI companies’ needs is skyrocketing, data centers housing thousands of computer systems used to train AI models are blanketing the country. This is especially an issue when they’re around residential areas and wildlife. A primary concern is the large amount of water and electricity these data centers take to operate. Some
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data centers can consume as much as a million households’ worth of electricity, and thousands of gallons of water in order to cool their systems. These come out of the resources of the surrounding communities, and the ripple effects of skyrocketing electricity and water usage are significant to those that live near these data centers. The Secaucus Equinix data center demonstrates an alarming principle: A simple computer error could dump thousands of pounds of toxic waste into a local river. What’s an unimportant mistake to a tech company could have disastrous consequences for the people who have to share a town with the data center. While allegedly 3,500 gallons of diesel have been recovered, 1,500 gallons of unaccounted-for chemical waste float in the waters that animals call home and lead to our drinking water sources. As the AI race blazes on, we have to remember where we put our feet before we sprint. As the United States tries to become the AI superpower of the world, the growing consequences of that title are becoming impossible to ignore.
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NATIONAL NEWS CNN, MS NOWand Politico sue Trump administration over White House access BY RYAN LEVINTER, STAFF WRITER As of Monday, September 21, three national news outlets, including CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, have filed a lawsuit against the United States government for violation of the First Amendment. These media outlets were barred from the White House due to unfavorable coverage and were threatened with more bans. Trump is famous for criticizing the media, often claiming they are releasing false information. However, as of 1798, the Sedition Act made it illegal to “print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing.”
In solidarity with these news stations being barred, ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News have refused to provide coverage of Donald Trump. However, other news organizations are concerned by threats of further service bans, leading them to question whether it is better to keep reporting on the administration or join those refusing. To continue publishing media, the Trump administration launched “Trump TV,” a 24/7 streaming channel only showing media of President Trump’s speeches, including archives. Some are concerned this will act as a state-run medium—a direct pipeline from the president to the people—allowing potential
push of propaganda and circumventing news sources’ ability to determine what to report. Both events demonstrate an attempt to control the media by the Trump administration. Overall, national media outlets view this politically motivated ban as an abuse of power by the government. The First Amendment protects the freedom of the press and has been cited in collective lawsuits against the administration. All news sources listed will still be reporting on events, though they will not be allowed to cover events within the White House, and the duration of the ban remains unclear as courts continue to weigh in.
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Trump administration cuts ACA coverage BY RYAN LEVINTER, STAFF WRITER The Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred to as the ACA, passed in March 2010 under the Obama administration, had three primary goals: make affordable insurance more accessible, expand Medicaid, and support innovative medical care delivery. As of early 2024, over 45 million citizens were insured through the ACA. On September 22, 2026, the Trump administration removed approximately 750,000 people from their ACA coverage. Additionally, more verification will be performed on 419,000 members. Vice President JD Vance, acting as Chairman of the Anti-Fraud Task Force, addressed sweeping ACA removal as part of a larger initiative to eliminate administration-identified fraud. Vance claims the task force targeted profiles that did not exist and those who received subsidies that they did not qualify for. Vance stated that cuts will save 2.2 billion dollars in taxpayer dollars, but did not address the groups that lost coverage and how they will be informed. During the Biden administration, ACA enrollment numbers drastically grew from about 11 million members to 24 million. This year, enhanced subsidies added under the Biden adminis-
tration during the pandemic were set to expire. As a result, ACA enrollment already saw a 3 million decrease after premiums became significantly more expensive for those who no longer received enhanced tax credits and switched to a cheaper ACA tier or dropped entirely to shop on the marketplace. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz collaborated with Vance’s task force to enact ACA cuts. Oz claims these cuts were made to people who have never filed a claim for a doctor’s visit, filled a prescription, or responded to a government fraud investigation. Trump has historically opposed government-assisted medical programs. In July 2026, the Trump administration ended a medicare drug subsidiary program which was introduced by the Biden administration to reduce the increasing price of prescription drugs. The long-term impact of this is unknown, though as the cost of health insurance increases, it raises concern for those who are unable to afford it and face lower monthly payments with higher out-of-pocket expenses. The extent of fraud identified by the task force remains unconfirmed, and the ramifications of Americans turning to price-sensitive plans may present in future public health trends.
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Feature Is Stevens commuter-friendly? BY SRIKAR VELAM, STAFF WRITER Being a commuter is like being blessed and cursed at the same time, only it’s 80% cursed and 20% of the time a blessing. Missed trains, flooding in Hoboken Terminal, inconvenient club timings, and so forth — commuting gets pretty damn annoying back and forth, in my opinion. Since this is an opinion-based article, I’m going to rant as much as I can physically fit into this about what I like and hate about commuting by train to determine if Stevens really is commuter-friendly. Let’s begin with the positive: accessibility. At least for me, my train station is extremely close by and, if need be, I can just walk there (though that in itself takes more than 30 minutes). It is very convenient and accessible for me, which also allows a lot of time for me to get ready in the morning. I
struggle to wake up early, so having a train station very close to me is a nice perk of commuting. The train ride is very scenic, and you get to experience views you normally would not see if you were dorming. For people who take longer train rides, you also get the luxury of working on assignments on the train before you actually get to campus. Additionally, they are far less prone to being stuck in traffic than if you were using a car to drive to campus, especially early in the morning. Something else that’s very nice about commuting is that you don’t need to pay for housing (at least for freshman year). Not having to manage the stress of moving out was a nice perk, because I know I would’ve been scrambling to have everything I own shoved into my dorm. Bringing food from home also saves me a lot of money compared to having to rely solely on a meal plan, which is another added bonus.
Now, for the cons. To start off strong, we have missing trains. Although this isn’t as bad a detriment as I initially thought, it’s still quite severe if you’re chronically prone to oversleeping. Trust me, that feeling when you miss your initial train and see that the next train arrives when classes start is a horrible feeling. It’s even worse for people who live all the way in Long Island, where missing a train might mean sacrificing your classes for the day. Morning classes and late-night classes don’t help this at all, since for most commuters, it means having to wake up extra early or having to come home far later, or even crashing at your friend’s dorm (though sometimes, this option is very convenient if you carry spare clothing, and I recommend that you do). Combined, morning classes and missing your train are guaranteed to be a bad way to start your day. I personally wish the trains ran
on 30-minute intervals instead of hourly intervals; at least that way, we could get some cushioning on the off chance that we do miss our train, but alas… Another pet peeve of mine is the late club timings. While I get that most people are freed up around the evening, I personally think it’s absurd to have most club meetings at 9:15 p.m., especially when that makes things far more difficult to manage for commuters since we don’t have the luxury of walking back to our dorm after clubs. Think of us, please! Honestly, I had a lot more I wanted to say here, but I don’t think all of it would fit within the word limit for the article. So, in conclusion, is Stevens commuter-friendly? I’d say it depends. If you’re relatively close to campus, it is quite friendly since it saves you a lot of money at the cost of the comfort that living on campus gives. For those who are further away, I wouldn’t say it’s the best idea, es-
pecially considering how late most clubs meet and issues you may run into with the train timings, morning classes, etc. That being said, I’d say as far as colleges go, Stevens is ultimately on the friendlier side for commuter students.
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An ode to Pierce Dining Hall: In loving memory of packing lunches BY SARA TAHA, CONTRIBUTOR When I was doing my college search, the dining halls were definitely a factor I considered. In fact, I know a few of my high school friends who committed to a college once they tried out the food and enjoyed it, or lowered a college’s ranking on their list because they didn’t. When I looked at Stevens dining options and saw “Meatless Mondays,” I thought, “Yes! I’m even more sure of this.” Imagine my disappointment when I learned that it’s more like “meatless — only on Mondays.” As a vegan student, I have many complaints about Pierce. In fact, in the second week of school, I was browsing the options and saw “VG” (vegan) on one of the pizzas; I was excited. When I looked closer, it looked like it was vegetarian (should be “V”), so I asked the person behind the counter, and he said to me it contains cheese. From a cow. I decided to go speak to someone about it, and I was surrounded by four workers, one of whom insisted that “VG” was vegetarian. We went back and forth until another one decided to just bring the piece of paper. Once it was clear that they mislabeled it, they informed me that the vegan option for today was beans.
It’s already sad that there’s only a single vegan option and not multiple. Imagine being forced to pay for the most expensive meal swipe option yet having beans and rice for lunch. I personally was just offended. They informed me that I could email them at “dining@ stevens.edu,” and they would get back to me within a week. It has been three weeks. My issue is not that the pizza was mislabeled; it’s the fact that the pizza was not vegan in the first place. There’s only one option at one corner every day. My meal gets decided for me every single day. The only time I get to make a choice is on Mondays. I had to pay just as much as everyone else, yet I get fed as an afterthought or even not at all. The one option most of the time is bland, lightly cooked tofu with barbecue sauce as a substitute for spices (a sauce I have disliked and avoided my whole life, but must starve or endure for now). Not to forget the 24/7 waffle station for everyone, but the vegan waffles from the “without” section are only for breakfast. Oh, and the vegan breakfast? The same turmeric tofu scramble every day. I know it seems as if I have beyond beef with Pierce, and the truth is, maybe I do. If I keep talking about how unfairly vegan students are treated by the dining hall, this ar-
ticle would be too long. So, I spoke to some non-vegans. Vegetarians had similar complaints: not enough options. One of my friends stated, “Because of Meatless Mondays, they proved that they can feed us. So why aren’t there more options every day?” When I spoke to other students and faculty members who don’t follow a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, they also stated, you guessed it, not enough options. Most people said, “It’s the same food over and over again,” or “I wish there were more options or variations.” Someone said to me, “There are more all-you-could-eat dessert options than food options, which is dangerous, like having an all-you-could-drink beer station.” As you can tell, Stevens students and faculty are very competent, intelligent, and humorous. So why is no one listening to our concerns? I know for a fact people have contacted Pierce; I am one of them. Stevens holds their students and faculty to very high standards, so why isn’t Pierce held to higher standards? If the students and faculty members are unsatisfied yet there are no changes being made, one must wonder if the intentions are to satisfy students or do what’s easy and convenient. It’s very unfair and frustrating to be forced to pay for meal swipes that don’t
get rolled over for next year, and not be listened to or fed something that you like. I know Pierce could
do better, and Stevens students deserve better, so when are things getting better?
PHOTO COURTESY OF @STEVENSDINING ON INSTAGRAM
Stevens posts AI slop! ...so what does that mean? BY TONI SOFIA RIVADA, CONTRIBUTOR On September 16, the @followstevens Instagram account posted an image depicting the UCC Center and Residential Towers bedazzled in red, yellow, and white gems. The caption read, “A new University Center Complex-ion #whimsymaxxing.” At the time of writing this article, the post has 73 comments, in which the majority expressed criticism and outright disdain towards it. What would cause such an intense backlash? The post used AI-generated content. A comment from an Instagram user reads, “Stevens has access to a whole network of talented artists consisting of both alumni and current students. Choosing to fake it with AI is disappointing and shameful.” Another comment from a user says, “A school charging $32,000 a semester couldn’t pay a VA&T (Visual Arts and Technology) student (who could very much use the experience and resume piece btw) for something THIS simple? How lazy and cheap can you get??” A broader consensus seems to ring the same response: People are tired of “AI slop.” “AI slop” is generally agreed to be content that’s produced as quickly and as much as possible via AI generation. Instead of asking someone to create something, just about anyone can ask a chatbot to generate them something that would take less than five min-
✨✨
utes. And that seems to be the case with this post, as the trend “whimsymaxxing” started with Kylie Jenner’s bedazzled birthday cake and snowballed into social media users following suit. The debate of AI-generated content has only grown more intense over the years, with many expressing ethical concerns regarding its usage and rapid development. The most prominent issue being the environmental impacts, including millions of gallons of drinking water used to cool down data centers, and the fear that more jobs may become obsolete due to AI’s potential to both replace and exceed human labor. This worldwide debate can even be seen on our very own campus, in which Stevens has pushed for broader use and development of AI through the new AI-focused majors at the new School of Computing. From this, student and faculty opinion on the use of AI seems to be quite mixed. The Stute reached out to Tiffany Li, an Assistant Professor of the Department of Computer Science with research in human-computer interaction and responsible AI use, for her opinion on the backlash. Li commented, “The backlash shows people’s concerns over thoughtless, wasteful production of AI-generated images that are low-quality, lack creativity, and, even worse, a lousy appropriation of people’s own ideas. More broadly, people are concerned about institutions and organizations adopting AI without considering its broader impacts on their
people...” Katheryn Detwiler, a Teaching Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, offered to share results of lecture discussions from her class, Computers and Society, as well as a survey on students’ opinions on AI content produced by the university by students themselves. The majority of Detwiler’s students agreed that the post was a “missed opportunity for student engagement with creating Stevens’ brand and social media presence,” with some adding that the image seemed “cheap and low effort.” However, some had argued that the backlash against the image is hypocritical and unjust. They argued that Stevens students have used generative AI without disclosure to complete their assignments. In a student survey conducted by Detwiler’s class, based on about 1,600 responses, there are several contradictions. Only 6% believe that it’s ethical to submit AI responses in their assignments, but 21% reported that they have done so. On a different question, 31% of students believe their peers use AI ethically, while 41% disagree. It becomes even more complicated when transparency and disclosure are brought into the picture. 29% of students believe their peers value transparency when AI is used, while 34% disagree. And the most bizarre statistic comes from 74% of students observing academic misuse of AI. More sur-
vey results show that 37% of students feel somewhat or strongly disadvantaged in their academic work when they don’t use AI, while 40% feel discouraged when they see peers use AI to finish their work. Student polls address the dis-
sonance between ethical concerns and academic pressure to produce work. “Even if they worry about its ethical implications, its ecological implications, even if they think it violates their sense of personal or academic integrity, they feel pressure to use it,” says Detwiler.
PHOTO COURTESY OF @FOLLOWSTEVENS ON INSTAGRAM
Friday, October 2
5
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM SHOT BY DAVE JANOSZ
Sports
ON DECK IN SPORTS FRI, OCT 2 MEN’S TENNIS
ITA Atlantic South Region Championship - Day 2 Fredericksburg, VA TBD
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S FENCING vs Drew University Hoboken, NJ TBD
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Paul Short Run Bethlehem, PA 9:30/10:15 AM
SAT, OCT 3
Women’s Soccer draws with TCNJ BY CAMRYN WINANT, BUSINESS MANAGER On September 23, 2026, the Women’s Soccer team went up in a hard-fought but overall fruitless battle against The College of New Jersey. Despite the final score being 0-0, the night was not a total bust for the Ducks, as they became the first team this season to hold the Lions without a single goal, leaving the Lions with their lowest number of shots on goal of the sea-
son. Both teams went through the first half goalless, but they did have shots on goal attempts. Early in the game, we saw one from senior Molly McCann, but the TCNJ goalie kept the ball out. McCann showed up again in the 32nd minute with a shot on goal, but it was blocked yet again. The Lions also showed up with good attempts on goal, but sophomore goaltender Maria O’Brien produced save after save. Early in the second half,
graduate student Alana Odom, the reigning MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Year, attempted a shot that was seemingly the Ducks’ best chance for a goal that night. Along with that, late in the second half, O’Brien made her finest save of the night on a shot from 15 yards out. The game ended with the Lions taking 16 shots and 5 shots on goal, while the Ducks took 10 shots and 3 shots on goal. After two halves of the Ducks and the Lions bat-
tling with much back-and-forth, the game ended at 0-0, which has happened at least once in each of the last three seasons. However, this game marked O’Brien’s second straight start where she set a career high of five saves. McCann, junior Taylor Truglia, and firstyear Teagan Shay also all played for the full 90 minutes of the game. We can see the Ducks face off against King’s College on October 3 at DeBaun Athletic Complex at 3 p.m.
The No.14 Stevens Field Hockey team defeated William Paterson University 8-0 on Wednesday, September 23, at home in Hoboken, improving to 5-2 on the season. Stevens controlled the game throughout all four quarters, recording 40 shots while holding William Paterson without a shot. Starting off at 1:15 into the game, senior Sophia Cozza opened the scoring. The Ducks doubled their advantage in just over three minutes when senior Jenna Piantieri scored at 4:46 off an assist from Cozza. Junior Ava Pelletier added another goal 49 seconds later, assisted by freshman Jenna Mayer, giving Stevens a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. The Ducks continued their offensive pressure in the second quarter. Freshman Alana Clifford pushed the advantage to four at 21:35, converting off an assist from freshman Emma Trout, followed by Mayer’s goal at 26:35.
Stevens entered halftime with a 5-0 advantage after recording 30 shots and 14 penalty corners in the first half. Senior Taylor Brooks opened the scoring in the fourth quarter at 47:06. Pelletier then scored her second goal of the game just over two minutes later, assisted by sophomore Julia Katz, bringing the final score to 8-0. Pelletier led Stevens with two goals on five shots, all of which were on target. Cozza finished with three points, recording a goal and an assist, while Mayer also recorded a goal and an assist. Stevens’ defense held William Paterson without a shot or penalty corner for the entire game. Junior goalkeepers Natalie Ward and Julianna O’Sheal, senior Maria Dante, and freshman Maggie Hilden each played one quarter in goal as the Ducks combined for the shutout. The victory marked Stevens’ fifth win of the season. The Ducks are scheduled to return against Kings College on October 3 in Pennsylvania!
ITA Atlantic South Region Championship - Day 3 Fredericksburg, VA TBD
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING vs Widener University Chester, PA 1:00 PM
FIELD HOCKEY vs King’s College Wilkes-Barre, PA TBD
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Wilkes University Madison, NJ 2:00 PM
Stevens Field Hockey dominates William Paterson in 8-0 shutout BY MILAGROS CARBAJAL, SPORTS EDITOR
MEN’S TENNIS
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SOCCER vs King’s College Hoboken, NJ 3:00/6:00 PM
SUN, OCT 4 MEN’S TENNIS ITA Atlantic South Region Championship - Day 4 Fredericksburg, VA TBD
TUE, OCT 6 WOMEN’S SOCCER vs Marywood University Scranton, PA 7:00 PM
WED, OCT 7 FIELD HOCKEY
vs DeSales University Hoboken, NJ 6:00 PM
MEN’S SOCCER vs Marywood University Scranton, PA 7:00 PM
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Arcadia University Glenside, PA 7:00 PM
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSUCKS.COM SHOT BY LILLIE MILLER
STEVENS SCOREBOARD DATE
TEAM
OPPONENT
WED, SEP 23 WED, SEP 23 WED, SEP 23 FRI, SEP 25
FIELD HOCKEY WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL WOMEN'S SOCCER WOMEN'S TENNIS
WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY KING'S COLLEGE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY ITA ATLANTIC SOTUH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
FRI, SEP 25 SAT, SEP 26
FIELD HOCKEY MEN'S SOCCER
STEVENSON UNIVERSITY PLATTSBURG STATE
SAT, SEP 26 SAT, SEP 26 SAT, SEP 26 SAT, SEP 26
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL WOMEN'S SOCCER WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL WOMEN'S TENNIS
SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY YORK COLLEGE HAVERFORD COLLEGE ITA ATLANTIC SOUTH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
SUN, SEP 27 MON, SEP 28 MON, SEP 28 TUE, SEP 29
MEN'S GOLF MEN'S SOCCER MEN'S GOLF WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
NORTHEAST ELITE CCNY NORTHEAST ELITE MISERICORDIA UNIVERSITY
LOCATION
HOBOKEN, NJ WILKES-BARRE, PA HOBOKEN, NJ FREDERICKSBURG, VA HOBOKEN, NJ HOBOKEN, NJ HAVERFORD, PA YORK, PA HAVERFORD, PA FREDERICKSBURG, VA WILLIAMSPORT, PA HOBOKEN, NJ WILLIAMSPORT, PA HOBOKEN, NJ
SCORE
W (8-0) W (3-0) T (0-0) COMPLETE L (0-1) NO MAKEUP DATE CANCELED L (1-2) L (2-3) COMPLETE 4TH (+12, 296) TBD TBD TBD
Friday, October 2
6
Science Stanford study reveals the brain may be two separate organs
Textbooks may have skull and specializes in controlling examining developing mouse em- (capable of becoming any cell in BY SEAN PALERMO, necessary, automatic processes for bryos, where two different popula- the human body) into becoming misdrawn this SCIENCE WRITER survival such as breathing, sleep- tions of brain progenitor cells were functional hindbrain motor neuDespite the dominant model for ing, heartbeat regulation, and hun- identified: one expressing the Otx2 rons for the first time in a lab. The basic brain the brain holding it as a single or- ger, as well as directing muscles in gene destined to form the fore- cells behaved like genuine hindgan developing from one early pro- the face, tongue, and throat that brain and midbrain, and the other brain neurons by producing elec- structure for genitor cell population being at the are important for speaking and expressing the Gbx2 gene fated to trical signals (action potentials) forefront for decades, new research swallowing. develop into the hindbrain. The and creating proteins associated 100 years led by Stanford Medicine reveals When examining one of the researchers found that these pop- with specific regions of the hindthe brain may actually be two separate systems that arose separately over hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Published in Nature Neuroscience on September 18, 2026, by senior author Kyle Loh, Ph.D., associate professor of developmental biology, and co-first authors Carolyn Dundes and Rayyan Jokhai, the study promotes promising frontiers in our understanding of the brain and treating certain neurological diseases. The brain is made up of the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain — all of which were originally believed to trace to the same developmental origins. However, these new findings propose that the brain combines two ancient nervous systems: one for essential functions such as breathing and controlling heartbeat, and the other for those such as language, mathematics, abstract thought, and existential reflection. While the forebrain is associated with complex thought processes such as language, consciousness, and abstract reasoning, the hindbrain rather sits toward the back of the
earliest stages of embryonic development, the researchers noticed a key insight: The hindbrain didn’t emerge as a later branch of the pathway responsible for producing the forebrain and midbrain. Instead, it followed its own pathway as it developed in parallel with the other regions. Looking across more than 550 million years of evolutionary history, the team found evidence of the two-origin arrangement in chickens, zebrafish, and even acorn worms, particularly noting how jellyfish, which separated from humans about 600 to 700 million years ago, possess two nervous systems positioned at different ends of their bodies. This relationship proposed the idea that the two organs may slowly have grown closer to each other, enabling the human brain to eventually become far more complex. As Loh explained, “evolution could play around with the forebrain, and make mistakes and give rise to all the fancy things like memory and creativity.” In the formal investigation, initial insights were explored by
ulations remained separate and did not overlap, even at the earliest stages of development examined. This distinction became increasingly clear as the team studied chromatin (a material that packages DNA in cells and helps to control which genes are available for use and which remain inaccessible). The anterior neural ectoderm, which is to become the forebrain and midbrain, and the posterior neural ectoderm, which is to become the hindbrain, were found to have fundamentally different chromatin configurations — the differences effectively committing the respective cells to distinct development paths from the beginning. Using this discovery, the researchers sought to solve a major lab challenge: Create human hindbrain neurons. This would allow further study of serious diseases involving the brain stem such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With their newfound insights, the team successfully guided human pluripotent stem cells
brain that control facial and swallowing muscles. With this success, the team is hopeful about the progress of researching diseases such as SMA and ALS through the ability to grow hindbrain neurons in a dish, enabling the study of what goes wrong during these diseases with far greater precision. Additionally, due to the fact that the hindbrain contains neural circuits that regulate hunger among the systems influenced by weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide, this newfound success may prove particularly useful in that area of medicine. Looking to the future, the researchers now want to investigate where the spinal cord comes from in the developmental cycle and determine more precisely how both diseases disrupt hindbrain neurons. Reflecting on the study and its hopeful implications, Jokhai noted that “now we have a model to better understand these devastating diseases, and work toward regenerative therapies for them.” He remarked, “This is a very exciting new frontier in brain research.”
The needle-thin 3-in-1 implant-changing neurotech BY WINTA SHIBABAW, CONTRIBUTOR Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder that affects 50 million people worldwide. It is one of the diseases that is under-researched. Scientists from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the University of Copenhagen, University College London, and other institutions have developed an invasive thin-needle brain implant called microfluidic Axialtrode (mAxialtrode) that serves multiple functions, paving the way for brain development and its therapeutic practices. It has three functions: record neural activity, deliver drugs or medication, and stimulate multiple brain regions simultaneously using a single flexible fiber across different parts of the brain. It has a light-conducting core encircled by eight tiny channels within the fiber. It is a 2.7-millimeter depth separation for drug injections that can accommodate ultra-thin metal wires for electri-
cal activity measurement and carry medicines. This implant offers several functional sites throughout its length, enabling researchers to simultaneously target several brain layers in contrast to traditional flat-ended optical fibres that only interact with brain tissue at their tips. The needle-thin mAxialtrode begins as a much larger polymer rod than the standard brain implant used. The implant reduces tissue damage and inflammation. It spreads electrodes and microscopic channels across the brain layers. Traditional fibers, however, have an important limitation: They typically interact with brain tissue only at the end of the fiber, meaning researchers can stimulate or monitor just one location at a time. “Most current brain implants are based on hard materials such as silicon, which can irritate the brain and trigger inflammatory reactions in the tissue. The new implant differs in that it is made of soft, plastic-like optical fibers
and has a specially angled tip that makes it smaller and reduces the damage caused when it is placed in the brain,” says Kunyang Sui, who developed the mAxialtrode concept together with Christos Markas, an associate professor at DTU. The effectiveness of the experiment in mice suggests that it may be used to treat neurological conditions like epilepsy. The apparatus successfully recorded electrical activity from both shallow and deep brain regions in living mice, activated nerve cells with blue and red light, and administered drugs at delivery points that were almost three millimeters apart. This new development shows that unprovoked seizures can be brought on by abrupt spikes in electrical activity. The implant, mAxialtrode, is mainly meant to be used as a research tool for studying epilepsy, memory, and decision-making. Kunyang Sui warns that it is still far from routine clinical use. It still requires extensive testing and regulatory approvals before patient applications. In the
long run, researchers say the technology may also have therapeutic applications. If this technology develops, it will eliminate the need for several stiff implants that harm the tissue they are intended to read in order to investigate brain conditions like epilepsy. Looking back, the Food and Drug Administration approved deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease in 2002, allowing surgeons to implant electrodes that deliver continuous electrical pulses to specific brain regions. DBS became the first major clinically successful implanted brain stimulation device. Demonstrated in 2005, Karl Deisseroth’s lab at Stanford showed that light-sensitive proteins from algae could be expressed in mammalian neurons, allowing precise control of neural activity with light pulses. The technique, called optogenetics, transformed how researchers manipulate brain circuits. As the world progresses, technology like this can help redefine major diseases for the better.
The tilcayo: the first new cat species discovered in 100 years BY SEAN PALERMO, SCIENCE WRITER Following the discovery of the previously newest cat species, the pampas cat, in 1923, a new species has been formally named after over 100 years. This new species is the L. tilcayo, a type of tiger cat that lives in Bolivia’s Yungas forest ecoregion, lying on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains. Initially, a local man found a kitten on a road near a forest, ultimately choosing to take it home after concluding that it was likely a domestic breed — a belief countered by the following year of caring for the cat that revealed its wild nature. This realization would cause the man to send it off to a local wildlife sanctuary. Working in Bolivia in 2017, biologist and National Geographic explorer Paola Nogales-Ascarrunz would receive a call from the Senda Verde wildlife sanctuary on the subtropical flank of the
Bolivian Andes that had received a “weird cat.” As the lead scientist and founder of the Bolivian Felids Research Program, she was intrigued. Upon arrival, she noted its scrunched-up face, short and round ears, long whiskers, leopard-like spots, and notably small body size — too small, in fact, to be a housecat. Despite its features, she was unaware at the time that this “weird cat” would later hold the title of the first new species of felid (the cat family) discovered in over 100 years, according to the later study published September 17, 2026, in the journal Current Biology. Furthermore, the L. tilcayo is not only a newly named species, but it is new to science as a whole, being neither a case of a validation of a species proposed in the past nor a formerly recognized subspecies raised to such a status (which is more common). Nogales-Ascarrunz originally assumed the cat was a member of the species Leopardus tigrinus
(called tigrinas, oncillas, tigrillos, or little spotted cats) that was first described back in 1775 from an illustration of an animal seen in French Guiana and presumed to exist across Central and South America. However, while preparing a booklet of Bolivia’s cat species in 2019, she realized the cat that she’d seen and photographed did not resemble the guidebook reference photo from nearby Brazil, noting its much larger rosettes than those across the border. Over the next few years, she developed her skills in genetic analysis and formed a research team with geneticist Eduardo Eizirik at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and co-lead study author Jonas Lescroart from the University of Antwerp. Together they sought to find the cat’s distinct place in the family tree. What their efforts revealed was not only that it is a unique species that they would go on to dub Leopardus tilcayo in honor of the word
the local people knew it by, but when using modern genomics to compare complete genomes from 38 individuals across the Leopardus genus, they found that it was not only different from the other tiger cat species but actually diverged from them around 1.4 million years ago — an evolutionary distance similar to that of modern lions and cave lions that went extinct around 13,000 years ago. Due to the species being recognized only recently, there is still much mystery about the species in their day-to-day lives: what they eat, what eats them, how they reproduce, etc. Reflecting on this and hopes for further research to be launched in pursuit of finding more about this species, and potentially more species using similar methods as this recent study, Nogales-Ascarrunz remarked that, “even in the cats, there are things out there that are undescribed, things that people haven’t found yet…So let’s go out and find them and protect them.”
BY RÉKA WEINACHT, STAFF WRITER Way back in 1896, the Swiss scientist Rudolf Albert von Koelliker coined the term “axon” to describe the thin cable of a nerve cell that transmits electrical pulses away from the body of the cell. Even further back, however, in 1781, Italian microscopist Felice Fontana already described nerve cells as having “uniform and simple cylinders,” which is the basis for how axons have been described and drawn in textbooks for decades. However, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have conducted experiments with mice showing that brain cells aren’t actually shaped quite like we thought. Their study, published in 2024, and a subsequent one published in 2025, reveal that axons have an endearingly named pearls-on-a-string shape. Instead of just cylindrical tubes, they are like very thin strings with balls arranged along them — all at the nanoscale, of course. The “nonsynaptic varicosities,” which is what the scientists have termed the pearls, are about 200 nanometers across. This is 500 times thinner than the average human hair. One key question is how they discovered this structure after it has flown under the radar for so long. The important step they took was their high-pressure freezing method, applied to preserve the cells before observing them with electron microscopy. This method preserves the shape of the membranes that make up the axons much better than previously used standard methods of chemically fixing and dehydrating tissues. The experiments were performed on mouse neurons cultured in the laboratory from tissue removed directly from both adult and embryonic mouse brains. Then, the freezing process was applied after the cells were grown. The researchers used a multi-step process that involved liquid nitrogen, acetone at -90°C, and even prechilled tweezers to move specimens between stages. Importantly, the liquid in the tissues is preserved throughout the freezing process. This was demonstrated to produce different results than just chemically fixing the specimens; axons in the chemically fixed cells appeared smoothly cylindrical, as they had in previous experiments. Gaining a better understanding of what axons look like allows us to better understand their behavior and their role in memory and learning. The observation of pearling in axons allows them to be represented using mathematical models for membrane mechanics, which is already a much-studied field. This could lead to further advances in understanding brain cell signaling and the differences between healthy and diseased neurons. It could contribute to understanding Parkinson’s disease and to modeling the dynamics of brain signals via a better understanding of the biophysical mechanisms that determine the shape of axons. As our understanding of cellular structures progresses and changes, textbooks will need to be redrawn—not for the first time in the history of science—and the field of medicine will continue to deepen and evolve.
INTERESTED IN SCIENCE JOURNALISM?Join our Science writing team! Reach out to Disha Gohil, Science Editor (dgohil3@stevens.edu) for more information – No experience necessary to write • thestute.com/category/science –
Friday, October 2
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Opinion The Stute as of late... JOSEPHINE CHOONG FOR THE STUTE
SENIORITIS
MIND OF A FRESHMAN
Advice from a stranger
Take it one step at a time
BY KATHY GARCIA ‘30 The pressure to socialize and get involved on campus is REAL. Words cannot describe the hardship of managing classes, homework, routine, clubs, sports, and on top of that, social life. Although it’s the first month, everything does feel like it is crushing down on everyone. Especially since the first exams have been taking place over the last two weeks. Have no fear, you are not alone. And don’t worry, just take it one step at a time — or at least try to. With schoolwork, I tend to break it up within the week and focus on assignments due the next day. It is now routine to keep up with work. However, I do not let that encourage me
to do the same thing every day. One day I will go out for breakfast with friends, or I will chill in my dorm until my next class starts. Keep the work constant, but be spontaneous in every other aspect of your day. It keeps each day exciting, new, and different. One thing I don’t like messing around with is my sleep schedule. That is the most crucial thing to surviving the next day, and most people don’t even realize how important it is to get rest. Even if it means taking a nap in between classes, rest should always be prioritized because it clears the mind and resets the body from all stress. So please, sleep!! Take time for yourself to relax, meditate, or simply do something you enjoy. Along with academics, it is challenging to keep up with club meetings and other events around campus. Despite how tiring and intimidating these meetings can get, I encourage everyone to attend and put themselves out there. I can guarantee that you are not alone in these events, and at least a few people feel the same way — whatever class level
they are in. You also never know what kind of opportunities you might find once you put yourself out there. Plus, clubs and extracurriculars are meant to bring connections and community together, so take advantage of this and set some goals. For example, in a club meeting, I like to set one goal or accomplishment I have to complete at the end of the event. Whether it be meeting someone new, learning something new, or having fun, it helps me feel grounded to every activity I partake in. A good reminder is not to force yourself or treat it as an obligation — participate in what you feel connected to and comfortable with doing. A month of classes has passed, so congratulate yourself on small milestones you accomplished during this month! Don’t be hard on yourself, and give credit where credit is due. Take time to treat yourself with food or buy an item you have wanted for so long. Whichever way you approach college life is ultimately up to you, so enjoy it as much as you can!
BY TIANNA SPITZ ‘27 I used to bring books to sleepovers and birthday parties when I was younger, sometimes not to read, but to hold in case some social catastrophe happened, like a lucky charm hidden in my sleeping bag that I didn’t want to reveal. Sad, but true. If only 10-year-old me could see me now, cold-calling article contacts and interviewing strangers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still an introvert who prefers books and coffee over networking, but I’ve been able to shed the book to some extent and will keep trying. Now I’m facing senior thesis milestones that are building up to talking to experts in the field who will hopefully become the center of my paper. It almost seems
COMIC CORNER BY K. TSUGRANIS
like the culmination of my time at Stevens will be packaged neatly into a paper and poster after numerous cold calls and emails — putting myself out there. This project has morphed from pure literature to exploratory interviews and community research. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the journalistic blueprint of this thesis, but at the same time, I couldn’t feel more nervous about starting. My advisor has hinted that I should let go of the end product, especially when pursuing a result that is vested in experiences and anecdotes. She’s right, and it’s scary. It’s daunting to not only tell others what you hope for, but then to take the first steps toward making it actionable. The prep work for this thesis has been permanently occupying a portion of my brain as it becomes the heart and soul of senior year. This challenge has been pushing me to academically show up for myself now more than ever. In an attempt to build some interviewing momentum, I asked people around me—in a coffee shop, a bookstore, on the street, in class—
what was the best piece of advice they’ve ever received. Here are a few responses: “The best piece of advice that I’ve ever received is from my father, and it’s a point that he reiterates several times. It’s that everything has a limit, and I feel like that kind of instills a value of moderation and not taking things too far, which is very easy to do in society.” - Bwè Kafe barista “Live to the fullest, like it’s your first, last, and only day.” - Bioethics professor “Always work hard, no matter what. If you only work harder than the next person, that won’t get you anywhere.” - Bagel on the Hudson cashier “No opportunity or pursuit is ever wasted.” - Symposium volunteer “Trifecta: smart, funny, and cute. Does he have the trifecta?” and “Don’t be a nothingburger.” - Symposium volunteer “You have to take care of yourself first in order to be able to care for others.” - Charge nurse at the hospital I work at
Friday, October 2
8
Opinion BOOK OF THE WEEK
Reflections on My Sister’s Keeper
BY MAYA MEENTS ‘28 (Disclaimer: This reflection has a lot of little spoilers here and there, but I think it is important for the context of the writing. I still think if you are interested in this article, you should consider reading the book.) Hi friends, thanks for tuning in for another book of the week! This week, we will discuss another lovely Jodi Picoult book I read over the summer, My Sister’s Keeper. The book follows Anna, a young girl with one purpose:
to be a perfect genetic match for her sister, Kate, who has leukemia and needs a blood transfusion. The second Anna was born, her umbilical cord was given to Kate. For the rest of Anna’s life, she donated different medical materials until she was asked to donate a kidney. Anna, feeling like she has no other choice, decides to go the legal route and fight for medical emancipation from her parents, who are trying to force her to give a kidney. While I think the book takes cop-outs later in the plot to resolve this tension, I think it does a beautiful job framing this really gray and obscure moral dilemma — who should come first? And as we reflect on this in our own lives, it gives us a moment to think about all the times we’ve sacrificed parts of ourselves for those we cherish. How far would you be willing to go in the name
of love? I don’t think Anna didn’t love her sister; rather, her opposition to giving her kidney away might even be an act of love. Anna’s main argument for why she doesn’t want to give the kidney is pretty simple. She is afraid that giving away parts of herself will continue for the rest of her life, since Kate will never be completely healed or not need medical attention. Anna is aware that giving away her kidney also means signing her sister up for a lifetime of sitting in a hospital bed as life passes her by. Kate, by the end of the book, had missed out on many of the simple things in life. I think Anna saw this and knew that refusing to give her kidney could possibly save her sister from further suffering. Interestingly, it’s revealed later that Kate herself did not want to go forward
with the kidney transplant, even if it’d save her life. She did not want to continue burdening Anna as her genetic match. Most of all, she was exhausted by her fight with leukemia. I think in some ways the author included this as a bit of a cop-out to the original moral dilemma. If a person dying doesn’t want to continue to live, that essentially closes the case. However, it is scary to do something you know will hurt someone you love, but maybe that hurt will save them from further pain in the future. I think it is important to ask yourself from what place of heart you are doing things from. While many would argue that Anna was right to be selfish here (and some may not even see it as selfish), I’d argue that it was not the message the book was trying to convey. The book does not ask you to decide
who was in the right, but to observe the place of heart each character was in, and what that would lead them to do, even if it wasn’t in their best interest. Think of the lawyer, Campbell, who isn’t getting paid for helping Anna out, or the mother, who also sacrificed for Kate and their family. I think we are made to ask ourselves: What are the most loving decisions to make? Fortunately, I’ve never been in a position where I was asked to sacrifice something large for the life of someone else, but we should recognize the amount we are giving to those around us. When you say you love someone, do you say that in a way that means you make them dinner if they get sick, or would go somewhere far to pick them up? Or does love even require sacrifice like that? Is simply feeling your love for them enough, or does
that feeling deserve to be expressed? And if you weren’t able to do these things, does that mean you love this person less than someone who was? The book ends in a horribly tragic way that I won’t spoil here, but you should read it if you want to know what ends up happening. Stay tuned for next week’s book!
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM
RE: WIRED
HER CAMPUS
Navigating the career fair chaos Stop sharing your location
BY BREONA PIZZUTA ‘27 September at a tech school comes with an unmistakable shift in atmosphere. Suddenly, lecture hall attire swaps from oversized hoodies to fancy blazers, library printers churn out stacks of resumes, and the air is thick with elevator pitches practiced under breath. Career fair season has officially arrived. If you feel a knot in your stomach every time you open LinkedIn or overhear classmates debating whether to take a second interview or accept their “j-o-b” offer, you are not alone. Recruiting at a specialized school is intense under the best circumstances. But when you’re a woman in STEM, the pressure often comes with an added layer — the nagging feeling that you have to be twice as polished, twice as technical, and undeniably confident just to prove you belong in the line at that booth. Before the career fair blur sweeps you away, here
is how to navigate recruiting season with your confidence and sanity intact. First off, ditch the “checkthe-box” elevator pitch. Recruiters stand on their feet for hours listening to identical monologues: name, major, expected graduation date, and list of coursework. Stand out by leading with narrative and genuine curiosity instead of a script. Talk about a technical challenge you loved untangling, a project where you had to pivot fast, or what specifically excites you about the company’s culture. Passion and clear problem-solving skills stick with a recruiter far longer than a recapped GPA. Second, try to reframe the conversation. It’s easy to walk into a career expo feeling like you’re auditioning for approval. Flip that script. An interview or networking conversation is always a twoway street. You aren’t just asking recruiters to choose you; you are determining whether their team is an environment where you can thrive in. Does their leadership value mentorship? Do they have active women in engineering networks? Will you be supported, or will you be left to sink or swim? You hold agency, too. Third, mute the LinkedIn echo chamber. The hardest part of fall recruiting rarely happens on campus — it happens on your phone. See-
ing peer after peer announce summer offers can make you feel like you’re already falling behind before October even starts. Remember that LinkedIn is a highlight reel curated for maximum applause. Nobody posts the 60 automated rejection emails, the ghosted recruiter threads, or the terrible coding assessments that preceded their one win. Your path follows its own timeline, and someone else’s offer letter takes nothing away from your capabilities. Fourth, try to protect your joy after 5:00 p.m. Recruiting can easily become an uncredited three-credit course if you let it. Set boundaries. Dedicate a specific time window to refine your resume and submit applications, and then deliberately shut the laptop. Go for a run, grab dinner with friends without talking about internships, paint, or watch your favorite comfort show. You are a whole person, not just a technical resume waiting for approval. Walk into this recruiting season with your head held high. You’ve put in the late hours in the lab, tackled the hardest problem sets, and earned your place in that room. Pitch your skills with pride, lean on the women around you for interview prep and pep talks, and remember: The right opportunity will recognize exactly what you bring to the table.
BY JOSH BODENSTEIN ‘29 Freshman year, I turned off Find My Friends for my mom. She noticed within an hour, even though she lives hundreds of miles away and couldn’t have done a thing if I needed her. It wasn’t a fight, just a text: “Hey, did you turn off your location?” Casual, but pointed enough that I knew she’d checked. That’s when it hit me: The tracking was never about being able to help me in an emergency. It was about her being able to look. I understand the safety reasoning for having it on in high school, driving a car my parents owned while I was still under 18. Did it work? Not really. Until my dad told her about it senior year, she never checked. That let me get away with plenty she had no idea about (if you’re reading this, Mom, I’m still alive, so don’t get mad), and the safety argument was thrown out the window. I always think about the ad that ran from the late ‘60s to the late ‘90s, simple
and blunt: “It’s 10 p.m., do you know where your kids are?” That ad couldn’t exist today. Kids barely have third spaces to hang out in anymore, and if they did, their parents would already know exactly where. Logically, it makes sense that my parents would want to know where I am. They’re paying for my college education, after all. But 10 to 15 years ago, constant visibility into your kid’s life was a foreign concept, one that would’ve been seen as weird — even “helicopter-y.” So why has that become normal now? Part of it is just smartphones existing. Our parents grew up needing to find an actual phone to let their parents know where they were. Now that constant visibility is technically possible, and not having it almost feels like you’re hiding something, even when you’re not. The technology didn’t just make tracking easier; it quietly reset what “normal” parenting looks like. It’s also been monetized. Life360, an app built around location sharing, is a publicly traded company worth billions, selling subscriptions to parents who want driving reports and geofencing alerts on their kids. The fact that we’ve built a profitable business model around parental surveillance says something about how normal—and how lucrative—
this anxiety has become. And it’s not just a parent thing anymore. I share my location with pretty much any friend who asks, and living near NYC makes that feel reasonable: If something goes wrong on a late train, someone can find me fast. But even doing it, it feels slightly off, like I’ve talked myself into something I’d have found strange a few years ago. It’s become a weird proxy for closeness, as if not watching someone’s dot move on a map means you don’t care. Location sharing isn’t inherently bad; there are good reasons for it sometimes. The issue is that we’ve stopped treating it as a tool for specific situations and started treating it as a baseline expectation of any relationship, parent or otherwise. Privacy used to be the default and sharing the exception. Now sharing is the default, and privacy is what you have to explain. So no, I don’t think my mom is a bad parent for wanting to know where I am. But I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask why “always visible” became the norm, or why it followed me from a house I wasn’t allowed to drive alone into a dorm room 300 miles from home. At some point, being trusted to exist without a dot on a map should be part of growing up, not something you have to negotiate for.
an intern for multiple entertainment companies such as Song Suffragettes and Starstruck Entertainment, and she even wrote music for the show Hamster & Gretel alongside Phineas and Ferb co-creator Dan Povenmire. Her discography combines theatrical storytelling with a pop sound, creating her own genre of “musical theater pop.” Many of her songs cover topics ranging from misogyny and violence against women to LGBTQ+ acceptance and relationships. One of the things I really admire about Melina is her ability to convey an intriguing plot through music. A great example of this is her song “Will I Survive the Night?,” where she creates drama and suspense in the instrumental, leaving
the audience to wonder if she’ll escape from the “horror movie scene” she claims to be in. Her usage of imagery in her songwriting is incredible, and I can clearly visualize the scenario she describes in her songs. My favorite songs are definitely “Never Acting at All,” “Leftovers,” and “Ghost Light.” These three artists are so inspirational to me, and I admire their ability to discuss meaningful topics through song while embracing their authentic selves. Their music empowers me to love myself unconditionally and advocate for myself and the people around me. I look forward to seeing Adéla, Chrissy Chlapecka, and Melina KB continue to release great music, and I hope you’ll consider giving them a listen, too!
ON SHUFFLE
Female empowerment through song
BY EMILY FANIZZA ‘29 As a woman, I find it really inspirational to see many talented girls express themselves through music. A lot of my close friends sing, play instruments, or produce and write their own songs, and I’m truly impressed by how much creativity and artistry they put into their work. That’s why I would love to share some up-and-coming female artists who embrace
their femininity while telling their own stories through song. The first artist I want to talk about is Adéla, a ballerina turned pop star who recently released her debut album PRIMA. You may recognize her from songs such as “Ain’t in LA” and “Nicole Kidman,” as they’ve started to blow up on Instagram and TikTok. One thing you might not know about her is how she got started in music. In 2023, Adéla joined Dream Academy, the competition show that eventually led to the creation of the global girl pop group KATSEYE. Despite working hard and excelling in dance evaluations, she was eliminated from the show after receiving the least amount of votes from fans. This set-
back proved to be the catalyst for her solo career, leading her to release her debut song “Homewrecked” in September 2024. I really like how Adéla’s music can be explosive and jaw-dropping while also being so vulnerable and raw. One second she’s doing intense floor work, and the next she’s opening up about her “one-sided” love of ballet. Some of my favorite songs of hers are “KGB”, “Superscar,” and “Fantasize.” Chrissy Chlapecka is another artist I’ve been listening to lately. She started out as a TikTok creator, mainly participating in #BimboTok, a subculture that reclaims the “bimbo” stereotype as a means to support feminism and satirize the problems women face in the
daily world. Her early music reflects these ideas in songs such as “Alpha” and “10 Boyfriends,” highlighting her femininity while poking fun at the harmful stereotypes constantly placed on women. In her recent album Christine, she still keeps her feminine persona, but she focuses more on themes of self-acceptance and queer relationships while maintaining a futuristic and celestial aesthetic. I really like how she embraces her sexuality and empowers women to be the most confident versions of themselves. I highly suggest listening to “Cassiopeia,” “Aria,” and “Passionfruit”! Last but not least is Melina KB. Before fully committing to being an independent artist, Melina was
Friday, October 2
9
Opinion FOODIE FINDS
The Brick: a cozy getaway
BY PRISHA VAGVALA ‘28 The second you walk into The Brick, the red brick walls, rustic decor, and warm atmosphere make you feel like you stepped into a warm, cozy cabin. The piz-
za encapsulates that feeling: comforting, warm, and reliable. The best part of The Brick is that they stay open until midnight, and the crowd there always has this amiable, familiar energy. Hot take: I may love The Brick even more than Napoli’s, and though they sit side by side, these days I’ve been drawn to The Brick, as the familiar atmosphere, attentive staff, and mouth-wateringly good pizza slices are impossible to resist. What makes their pizza taste so good is the thick slices of fluffy, doughy crust and generous sauce with heaps
of cheese melted on top. The amount of barbecue sauce they put on my favorite barbecue chicken slice is truly the perfect ratio, and something about the combo of the warm, melted mozzarella and smoky barbecue sauce is immensely satisfying. Every bite is euphoric, and that is how you know it’s good pizza. It’s not just another cheap slice of pizza that tastes like cardboard, but a whole experience. Somehow, the crust under the actual sauce and cheese part of the pizza is perfectly pillowy, while the actual crust is crisp and slightly charred.
FOR MATH’S SAKE
Various thoughts from a very busy week
BY CHARLES BEALL B.S. ‘23 & PHD STUDENT In part because it was such a busy week for me, and because I am not always great at planning ahead, this week’s column will be a semi-coherent mishmash of thoughts on “balancing” a busy schedule and staying sane through the stress and sleep deprivation. I hope to return with some more math-heavy concepts in the coming weeks, but right now I am in a hotel room about to begin another research travel event. This event, titled “Autumn School,” is a new variant of research get-togethers different to ones I have written about before—conferences and workshops—so I am excited to see what new experiences it will bring. In any event, though, the schedule will be busy, and it took some time to travel to the venue. The trip is well worth it, as I am writing this with a great view of the Baltic Sea in Germany, but it comes with trade-offs, as I am also writing this severely jetlagged. On top of that, I spent
the week preparing for the Autumn School, along with grading the first exams for MA 221, working through another set of recitations for that course, and trying—not all that successfully—to get some more research done. My sleep schedule has been all over the place as a result, with an odd mix of late and early nights and late or early mornings depending on my energy levels. I also had a variety of extracurricular activities this past week, including meetings and rehearsals with some of the clubs I’m still involved in on campus, planned social events with friends, and even an unplanned night out on Wednesday, featuring some karaoke! Like the travel and work experiences, these social interactions were all well worth it— more on that later—but not made for a schedule whose jampacked nature I would struggle to maintain for even a month, let alone the entire semester. But I have found that the way to accept a busy and at times stressful set of days is to enjoy the moments of excitement and fun, while looking ahead to the moments of rest and recovery that will at some point arrive. On the first point, exciting experiences can come even from the busiest things, like witnessing one student in recitation explain to another the solution to a problem, coming up with a new way of explaining my
The fluffiest slice I’ve had from them is probably their Sicilian pizza, which did not disappoint. Most Sicilian-style pizzas I’ve tried have been too saucy, but this was not the case. The sauce was the right amount; I got a good cheese pull from the pizza, and every bite was fluffy, sponge-like, and scrumptious. The Brick doesn’t just stop at pizza, though. They have multiple appetizers, salads, wraps, burgers, sandwiches, and pasta, although I honestly haven’t tried much other than their pizza. And based on the raving Google re-
views, their other options are amazing and worth going back far. The one non-pizza item I did try was their soft, pillowy garlic knots, and trust me — no pizza chain can beat them. They were basted in a thick layer of garlic and butter, not in a sickening way, but in a mouth-melting way. It was like taking a bite out of a cloud. The garlic knots with the fresh marinara were just truly impeccable. After trying these garlic knots, other garlic knots seem too tough or just aren’t soft enough. Even though The Brick isn’t near campus, the long-
ing to keep coming back hits me constantly, and for the rest of my time at Stevens, I will definitely be abusing my visits there. It is unfortunately really far from the main part of campus, but if you’re closer to the Castle Point side, it shouldn’t be too long. Anytime you go, the staff is super friendly and kind, not to mention super quick. The Brick is truly underrated and worth checking out, whether it’s a midnight run or grabbing lunch for the day. Sitting there and eating your toasty slice of pizza is truly an experience you cannot miss.
THINKING FRAME
The Gentlemen
research for the poster session at this week’s Autumn School, or getting my poster printed just in time thanks to the help of the Fielding Lab. And of course, fun also comes from those social experiences. I could’ve canceled or said no to more of them knowing how busy my week was, but I preferred the chance to see so many of my friends, try some nice carrot cake, spend some time in the bowling alley, and sing some karaoke. These are the kind of moments I really missed over the summer when I was away from Stevens, and having this time with such great people helped restore my focus for the work and travel preparation I had throughout the week. So to conclude, I would say that “balancing” one’s schedule can sometimes (often?) be a fruitless endeavor, but accepting it helps me to get work done when I can. Accepting it also helps me to be kind to myself when I need a break with friends, or some reprieve via sleep. It helps me to stay calmer in stressful moments and combat the catastrophizing thoughts I tend to have, especially around preparing for travel and making progress on research. I’m not sure if this will work for everyone, but I hope as the semester gets busier, you can cultivate or continue practicing a mindset that allows for excitement, joy, and calm in a jam-packed schedule.
Many crime films are about the lowly protagonist trying to get in. The Gentlemen is about what it costs when a kingpin tries to cash out and leave the business. The Guy Ritchie film follows Mickey Pearson, played by Matthew McConaughey, an American who built a vast marijuana empire under England’s aristocracy. He wants to sell his empire, retire, and disappear. If you’ve watched the film before, chances are that what comes to mind isn’t one single scene. It is rather the feel of the film. You remember the sharp suits, snippy dialogue, and a sense that in every conversation there is either a deal or threat being made. Like many other Ritchie films, the world of this movie is convincing and raw, making you believe it is truly happening. The film’s structural choice is its style of narrative. Fletcher, a private investigator played by Hugh Grant, presents the story to Mickey’s right-hand man, Ray, as a screenplay that he wrote. So that means we are watching a film about a film
being pitched. This means that nothing can be fully trusted. He is going to embellish and invent new characters, and the so-called “truth” is in the hands of the framer. By using this gimmick, Ritchie conveys that in this world, whoever controls the story controls the power. At the center of the film is Mickey’s desire to leave the crime world. He wants to take the empire he built, hand it off cleanly, take his money, and leave. But the characters around him don’t let that happen so easily. Buyers emerge with alternate motives. Rivals smell blood and want in. A tabloid editor wants to expose his empire. Mickey is surrounded by people who will benefit from him continuing his empire, and the harder he tries to leave, the more they push back. What makes this film really shine is its obsession with class. Mickey not only built a successful marijuana empire, but one underneath the nose of the English aristocracy, hiding many of the farms under estates of noblemen. Ritchie loves to explore how the upper class presents itself and how it truly survives. Many of the noblemen that rent their land to Mickey are broke, desperate, and willing to look the other way as long as they get their rent money. That, I believe, is the irony of noblemen condoning illegal activity. The Gentlemen ultimately is not a glamorization of a criminal life. It is a film
with death the same way. It’s a hard concept to grasp as despite religion and beliefs, we have no concrete answer of what comes after our lives in this world. Some believe in heaven, some in reincarnation, some believe your energy is expelled into the universe, while others just think of it as an infinite nothing. This uncertainty and the absence of a loved one frequently leaves people in a lost state, as if to ask “What now?” Recently, my cousin’s grandfather passed away. While he wasn’t my grandpa, I still saw him at most family gatherings and spent time with him as a child. As a little girl that was raised Catholic, being invited to their families’ Passover was a completely new experience for me. With patience, Grandpa Ben explained the traditions to me and the core beliefs of Judaism. Little me never truly thought about what comes after
death — I just thought of heaven and hell as I’d been taught in CCD. But now I reflect on those times with Grandpa Ben, and I hope that the afterlife is exactly what he dreamed, regardless of what it’s truly like. When I first found out about his passing, I messaged my cousins to check in on them, and one wrote that he felt like it hadn’t yet hit him. He lives far away from where he grew up, where he most frequently saw his grandfather, and after talking to him I feel that grief is strongly associated with memory. The news of someone passing never comes happily, but the realization of the meaning of death is a completely separate experience. Once you’re back in the environment you so frequently saw your loved one, you suddenly realize this gap. Something that’s not quite right — that’s missing. Almost as if you were to wake
up one morning and the songbirds weren’t singing. Almost as if your morning coffee lost its scent. Almost as if your bag feels lighter than normal. There is this sense of unease as we feel something isn’t quite right, and then it hits you, they’re really gone. The weight of the realization hits and depresses you far more than any trivial thing. Suddenly, you feel the weight of the loss. I think that the custom of hosting funerals is interesting. It’s supposed to be healing and almost a resolute moment for mourners, but in my experience, the mourning doesn’t truly occur until I’m reminded of the person. It’s once I see a flower my nanny would’ve loved and realize I can’t call her to show her that I feel the absence. It’s not until I get a wonderful item on a great sale that I think of my Grandmother’s pride and effort to save every penny
BY VEDHESH A. KAMARAJ ‘28
about how the ones at the top are the last ones allowed to leave the game. Guy Ritchie turns the crime-drama genre into a story with a sharp narrative, wit over brutality, and characters who seem neither good nor bad. The movie reminds us that the world is built on leverage, and any move at the top has an impact down the chain. While typical crime dramas show you how to win, this one shows you that winning and getting out are almost never the same thing. So if you have a free afternoon, throw this movie on for a twist in the crime-drama genre. It is a film you can watch twice: the first time to follow the plot, and the next to catch the things you missed on the first watch. The dialogue is witty, and Ritchie hides some of the best jokes in the background. And let me tell you, you’ll be talking in a British accent for the rest of the day after watching it.
while helping the most people. To those who’ve recently lost someone: Loss hurts. It feels strange, and you might not understand why or what’s going on, but the reasoning won’t change the emotion. Maybe understanding the reasoning will give you clarity, maybe it will deepen the severity of your emotions. But at the end of the day, it’s most important that when something feels not quite right and you feel weary, give yourself the grace you deserve. Everyone mourns in their own time.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB.COM
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS
Star Lily
BY CLAIRE DEANS ‘29 The Victorian Language of Flowers was used for decades to relay feelings that people had a hard time expressing or were too embarrassed to share. Each flower has its own meaning and each color further explains the emotions they imitate. The flower we will be looking at today is the Star Lily. With six delicate white petals, the flower mimics the appearance of a star. The flower is wild and occurs naturally in prairies, grasslands, and mountain meadows. When
bees try to pollinate this flower, they have been observed to fly rather erratically afterwards. In the Victorian Language of Flowers, the Common Star Lily symbolizes death and poison. My roommate, Lauren, loves stargazer lilies. They are one of her favorite flowers, and upon the search for their meaning I realized that they don’t date back far enough to have been used in the Victorian Language of Flowers. Turns out they are a hybrid created by cross pollination in the late ‘70s. So, while they have a modern day meaning, the closest I found from flowers of the Victorian era in books and online was the Star Lily. It’s crazy to think that such a small, unsuspecting flower from the mountains could symbolize something as heavy as death, yet its poisonous nature deems it so. No one person deals
PHOTO COURTESY OF BUDBURST.ORG
Friday, October 2
10
Campus Pulse
Lindsey Zaretsky ‘29
Rishab Sharma ‘29
Matthew Bun ‘30 “Downstairs UCC”
“Honeygrow”
“The bridge”
ROVING REPORTER
By Brady Sansotta and Aryan Basetty Kit Suba ‘30
Edward Lin ‘30
“Babbio 2nd Floor Lounge”
“Where do you study, other than the library?”
Katie Tan ‘29
Sofia Beys and Tara McAuley ’30
Andrew Manges ‘29
“My room”
“UCC”
“My bed”
“Clark Tower dorm”
Puzzle Page
Dominic Souza Kings Tour
Mini Crossword Down: Across: 1.Precipitation that typically 1. Unwanted emails happens during the winter 2. Related to the nose 5. U.S. international airline 3 .To happen exactly when expected that ended operations in 4. Cries or whines 1991 6. Small water particles 7. Character encoding floating in cold air directly standard used to allow above the ground computers to exchange data consistently 8. Attacks or mangles 9. Formal conjunction for 'for fear that'
Traverse each square one by one in any of the eight directions (like a king in chess) to spell out the answer. The starting and ending squares are bolded. Every letter will be used exactly once. The clue below the grid designates the lengths of each word.
I
M
A
E
P
L
M
A
A
T Music Artist [4-6] *Puzzle instructions by Stephen Pachucki
Hidden Links
Cryptolist
Inspired by the British game show Only Connect, the goal of this puzzle is to find the hidden connection between four seemingly abstract clues. Each answer will use trivia, wordplay, logic, or some combination thereof. The solution is always more specific than “nouns”, “places”, etc. What do the following have in common?
The following list has been translated using a basic substitution cipher. For example, if E represents T in one word/phrase, it will represent T in all the words/phrases in the list. No letter maps to itself. The list is alphabetized. Hint: start guessing things in the category and see if any of the letter patterns match up.
Torque
Monkey
Pipe
Allen
Ball
Bank
Flake
Birds
Boxing
Baseball
Tennis
Golf
*Puzzle instructions by Stephen Pachucki
Sports
RTCARTEE
WNNPRTEE
PAVVQD
RNIQVZ
ZNEW
DNLLAY
LYQLSAP
KNLSAJ
FYACPEQVZ
*Puzzle instructions by Stephen Pachucki
Sudoku
ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLES CROSSWORD
Difficulty: Hard
CHAIN REACTION Play Ground Breaking
CRYPTOLIST
Down
Music Genres
Side
Classical
Pop
Electronic
Hip Hop
Jazz
Rock
Road
HIDDEN LINKS Grenade, Finesse, Count on Me, Treasure → Bruno Mars Songs 20 min, 1979, One More Hour, Clocks → Songs with time related titles Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, Trujillo → Metallica Last Names