The official newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck.
Four more weeks! Four more weeks! Four more weeks!
TheStute StevenstheStute
Volume CXVIII No. 22
Established 1904
April 9, 2021
BEHIND THE SCENES OF TECHFEST 2021 dance compared to in-person activities, and after a Staff Writer year of online classes, stuOver the years, TechFest dents suffer from media has been a Stevens tradition fatigue, specifically Zoom hosted by the Entertain- burnout. On the bright side, ment Committee (EC). Last according to Broytman, the year, due to the outbreak of online environment has alCOVID-19, EC was unable to lowed the team to explore plan the event, but this year, and get in touch with artthey’re back with the festiv- ists that may not have been ities! In a virtual environ- possible in an in-person enment, many changes have vironment. Scott reiterated been made to shift this inter- in a voice memo, “As much as the virtual environment active event online. This year, the TechFest does kind of suck…it’s really team consists of Olivia Scott cool that we have these new serving as TechFest Chair, opportunities as far as the Garrett Horwath as EC’s live Q&As.” She also added, President, Julia Dwight as “it’s not like a professional the On-campus VP, and Kar- interview…[you could talk en Broytman serving as the to these artists about] fun Music Chair. Danielle Max- things, dumb things that you son, the Student Life advi- would talk to your friends sor, also contributed heavily about.”w Another issue the team to the planning process. faced online was commuFor the planners, navigating the shift online has nication between members been a difficult process, but with different schedules. engagement and attendance Horwath added that in prewere the main initial concerns. Performances online Read the full story on thestute.com tend to attract lower atten-
BY JENNY FANG
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Vision Zero to improve pedestrian safety and upgrade traffic signals in Hoboken BY SANJANA MADHU Managing Editor
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, gridlocks and foot traffic saw a sharp decline this past year. Still, Hoboken is looking for ways to increase pedestrian safety, especially as the city transitions out of the pandemic. In August of 2019, with the goal of reducing traffic accidents and eliminating traffic-related deaths, Mayor Bhalla signed an Executive Order to instate the Vision Zero safety initiative. With the Vision Zero Task Force and the Vision Zero Action Plan, Hoboken hopes to see a full decrease in traffic accidents by 2030. On March 25, almost a year and a half after the signing of the Executive Order, Bhalla and Commissioner Anthony Romano announced that the city will
finally begin the construction process and work closely with Hoboken’s Department of Transportation. The project is estimated to take 12 to 14 weeks and will occur at the intersection between 11th Street and Willow Avenue. Hoboken is not the only city to implement Vision Zero; cities like New York City and Jersey City have also adopted this new initiative. The incentive behind Vision Zero is that “traffic-related injuries and deaths are preventable, and better planning, engineering, enforcement and education can result in a reduction and eventually an elimination of deaths and injuries.” Additionally, Vision Zero goes beyond new construction; the Task Force launched a website to update
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Photo courtesy of Caroline Montana for The Stute.
Stevens sororities include trans women and nonbinary students, pushing for inclusivity BY ROSHNI REVANKAR Staff Writer
On April 10, the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) will formally vote on whether to amend their recruitment policies to include nonbinary students by allowing individual sororities to determine “their definition of women.” On the Stevens campus, Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE) and Sigma Delta Tau (SigDelt) are working towards a more inclusive sorority experience, by including trans women and nonbinary students. Currently, the policy in place allows for any student who identifies themself as a woman to seek matching with a sorority. This policy covers transgender women but does not extend membership to nonbinary students. With the new amendment, nonbinary students can be formally eligible for membership in one of the 26 sororities under NPC.
Back in 2017, DPhiE approved a Trans Women and Gender Non-Binary Inclusion Policy, which ensured that along with trans and cisgender women, others to be considered for membership are “non-binary, gender nonconforming individuals who are committed to the advancement of womanhood.” With this policy change, DPhiE’s international executive director, Nicole DeFeo hopes that they can be on “the right side of history as we welcome and embrace current and future members,” while emphasizing ideals of sisterhood, inclusion, and justice. As DeFeo aspired, the reactions and experiences of nonbinary members of DPhiE have been overwhelmingly positive. Emily Su, founding member of the DPhiE chapter at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of many who were integral in the push for a nonbinary inclusion policy
in 2017. In their experience at DPhiE, Su expressed that they found “community and support with other queer members of Delta Phi Epsilon that just didn’t exist in other networks.” Empowered by the efforts, the Stevens chapter of DPhiE have also outlined multiple steps for inclusivity. Nina Caldarone, 3/4 Quantitative Finance major, is the current President of the chapter and states that they have “created new roles of Diversity and Inclusion Chairs within [their] chapter,” to create an inclusive environment for all potential members. Shannon Giarratana, 3/4 Business and Technology major, and Juliana Gaitan, 4/5 Engineering Management major are the D&I Inclusion representatives for the Stevens chapter of DPhiE and have mentioned various initiatives that they have im-
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Photo courtesy of Caroline Montana for The Stute.