[The Stute] November 12, 2021 (Issue 10, CXIX)

The Stute

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VOLUME CXIX No. 10

HOBOKEN, NJ | NOVEMBER 12, 2021

The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck. www.thestute.com Instagram @thestute facebook.com/stevensthestute NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904

PERFORMING ARTS RESUME WITH IN-PERSON SHOWS Music tech graduates launch The Birdhouse, NJ production company

Off Center transitions back to fully in-person productions

BY GIANNA CALLEGARI, OUTREACH CHAIR

BY CHRISTA RUIZ AND TREVOR DAMEIKA As student life at Stevens returns back to normal, the Stevens comedy club, Off Center, has fully transitioned back to in-person productions. Their most recent show on November 5 has been the third they have hosted in-person this semester since the pandemic. Reverting back to in-person productions has been a challenge due to the COVID-19 restrictions and other changes the pandemic brought upon them.

Nonetheless, the club has returned to near normal circumstances.

In an interview with The Stute, Matthew Brantl, the current president of Off Center, described Off Center’s progress this semester and the obstacles they have faced. When asked about the biggest challenge that came with resuming in-person operations, Brantl specifically mentioned that the complexity of the shows they put on has caused some trouble.

“Stricter deadlines [... and] mentally, we have to coach members on performance and be able to remember all our lines,” Brantl stated.

When the pandemic was in full swing, almost everything in life became more lenient.

Presently, the pressure of going back to normal has been pushing Off Center’s productions to become more professional as well.

Brantl also spoke about how they provide food during productions, which is a financial factor they now have to take into consideration that they did not have to worry about during the pandemic. They also lost their loft storage space, which was located in the back of Edwin A. Stevens (EAS) Hall, and are now currently working on finding a new backstage storage space.

Despite the setbacks of virtual meetings, Off Center was still fully functional during the pandemic. While the club operated differently than they would have under regular circumstances, they were able to maintain a sense of normalcy. “We still put on four shows a semester even though [they were] limited in capacity,” Brantl said. “[It was] extremely difficult to maintain attendance levels, but enough to keep functioning.” As president, Brantl made his best effort to keep the club up and

SEE OFF PAGE 3

COURTESY OF STEVENS DRAMATIC SOCIETY

SDS prepares for upcoming shows of She Kills Monsters

BY NICOLE GIARDINO, CONTRIBUTOR After a lack of in-person shows due to the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stevens Dramatic Society (SDS) is back in full swing with their newest production, She Kills Monsters. Gianna Callegari, the Senior Member at Large on the SDS e-board stated, “She Kills Monsters is a journey of overcoming grief. As an audience mem-

ber, you will be transported to a world of fantasy as the story’s protagonist mourns the loss of her sister, and aims to find out more about her late sister’s life.”

Written by Qui Nguyen, the play is set in 1995 Ohio, and tells the story of two sisters, Agnes and Tilly, played by Stevens students Kiera Kennedy and Trinity Lundemo, respectively.

Agnes is extremely ordinary, while Tilly, by expressing herself through liking magic and defeat-

BY SANJANA MADHU, MANAGING EDITOR In the midst of the semester, students have turned to the student-created app Quae, which enables users to create polls for others to vote on and respond to.

Polls gauge student interest on a variety of topics, one of them being building hours, introduced by 3/4 Industrial and Systems Engineering student Daniel Wadler.

Wadler’s post, titled “Should The Library And Other Buildings Be Open Later” was posted two months ago and received a total of 56 votes, of which 55 voted “Yes.” The poll detailed that the current library hours were insufficient, especially for commuter students or those working on group projects.

Another question, posted by 3/4 Quantitative Finance student Eden Luvishis, polled students about their opinions on how late academic buildings should stay open. Luvishis’ poll received 47 votes, with the leading choice being “All night.”

Wadler’s motivation for posting the poll came from his own experiences. He told The Stute, “I was working on an assignment with people in Babbio and it was only about 11pm when a

man told us we have to leave so they could clean up and I got very frustrated because we lived on opposite sides of Hoboken.” Throughout the process of passing this initiative, Wadler spoke with members of the SGA as well as Brendan Probst, co-founder of Quae. Wadler additionally detailed that he “wanted Babbio to stay open later but the library opening longer is even better to be honest [... and he] posted on Quae because I don’t fully know what SGA is doing

OPINION (7-9)

U.S. proposes new EPA rules Types of acne & treatments SCIENCE (5)

The Conversation Spoiler Alert Off The Press Book of the Week Girl Talk

Daylight Saving Time Using AI to spot fake news

PULSE (10)

Byrne views The Birdhouse as “something similar to Tiny Desk Concerts or Audiotree Live.

OPINION (6)

The Stute Editorial Senioritis Not Financial Times (NFT)

SEE QUAE PAGE 3

Each week The Stute will be posting a question on Quae, relevant to the week’s news.

Be sure to vote!

SCIENCE (4)

Read more about The Birdhouse, NJ Production Company

for students so this is a cool link.”

One member of the SGA who spearheaded the initiative after the Quae post was Yiding Yang, the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) on the SGA Cabinet.

Yang stated, “As VPAA, I mainly work with Vice Provost David Zeng to communicate issues concerning the student body. The original concern expressed by Dan was the lack of study space

The results of the first Stute quae poll:

Read more about She Kills Monsters and see photos Read more about Quae

SEE SDS PAGE 2

Student initiative to extend library hours comes to fruition after Quae poll

NEWS (2)

NEWS (3)

ing evil, is everything but normal. Tragically, Agnes’ family dies in a car crash, leading to Agnes deciding to learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons (DND) in order to find out why Tilly loved it so much. Agnes, through playing this game with her sister’s character, Tillius the Paladin, swiftly learns things about Tilly that she didn’t know before.

In the game, each character is reflected by someone

Recent Stevens graduates, Sergio Scardigno ‘21 and Martin Trogani ‘21 have co-founded The Birdhouse, a music production company based in NJ that features live music performances and interviews with artists. The company launch is a result of Scardigno and Trogani’s work at Stevens for their Music and Technology senior thesis projects “The Birdhouse is a production company that aims to capture the magic of a live music performance you wouldn’t get in a recording,” said Scardigno, “During my last year at Stevens for thesis, I had the idea to do a live video session with an artist or band, recruiting my friends from my hometown to help with the filming.” Trogani got involved at the start of the project through “handling everything audio-related,” according to Scardigno. For their senior thesis, the pair made a video with Phoneboy, a band spearheaded by Stevens students, which is now known to be The Birdhouse’s first video.

“I actually play a few roles within Birdhouse. As it stands, I handle all visu-

Roving Reporter Crossword

al editing/post-production, and act as director on set,” said Scardigno. He is also involved with PR and outreach for The Birdhouse. Trogani is the company’s producer and primary audio engineer.

Also on the Birdhouse team are Stevens students Khianna Byrne (graphic designer), Aaron Lerch (audio engineer), Whitney Dyer (interview personality), as well as David Vincent (cinematographer) and Danny Rinaldi (director of photography) from Montclair State University.

Lurch explained, “My role at The Birdhouse is A2, or second audio engineer [...]

This includes choosing and placing mics appropriately, working with the band to get them whatever they need,

SEE BIRDHOUSE PAGE 3 COURTESY OF THE BIRDHOUSE

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Friday, November 12

News Masthead Volume CXIX No. 10 Executive Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF......................................................................NATALIE TODARO ‘22 BUSINESS MANAGER................................................................JORDYN RAMELLI ‘23 MANAGING EDITOR....................................................................SANJANA MADHU ‘23 LAYOUT EDITOR.................................................................................KEENAN YATES ‘24 OUTREACH CHAIR................................................................GIANNA CALLEGARI ‘24 DIGITAL MANAGER...........................................................................BEMIN SHAKER ‘23 SECRETARY.........................................................................ZANE THUMMBORST ‘23

Editorial Board NEWS EDITOR...........................................................................TREVOR DAMEIKA ‘23 SCIENCE EDITOR..................................................................RAYNA INDELICATO ‘23 OPINION EDITOR...................................................................ROSHNI REVANKAR ‘22 HEAD COPY EDITOR.............................................................GIANNA CALLEGARI ‘24

Operations Board HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER....................................................CAROLINE MONTANA ‘22 SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER........................................................VANESSA HUERTA ‘23 WEBMASTER....................................................................................JOANA FARDAD ‘22

Staff & Contributors Katie Bloomer Matthew Brantl Estefania De Caires Matthew Cunningham Nicole Giardino Jackson Hudgins Tasha Khosla Melissa Kosar Erin McGee Winston Lee

Rafael Lee Li Grace Miguel Pooja Rajadurai Christa Ruiz Stephanie Searing Leigha Tierney Emma Tong Diem Trinh Peter White Jessica Wu

Contact Us GENERAL EMAIL...........................................................EBOARD@THESTUTE.COM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF..........................................................EDITOR@THESTUTE.COM ADVERTISING............................................................BUSINESS@THESTUTE.COM OFFICE................................................................STUDENT CENTER ROOM #302

Corrections

NOTICE A MISTAKE? Email us at eboard@thestute.com.

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SDS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE1 who was a part of Tilly’s life. She Kills Monsters uncovers lessons of coping and dealing with loss as Agnes advances in her DND skills. In the game, each character is reflected by someone who was a part of Tilly’s life, revealing unknown pieces of Tilly’s personality to Agnes. The people who play the game are free to express and be whoever they want, providing them with a safe, open community space.

When asked about the decision for choosing She Kills Monsters, SDS President Charlie Beall explained, “We wanted to choose a show that would be a lot of fun to put on and incorporate a lot of movement especially after being stuck in our dorms and apartments for a year and a half, and this show had lots of humor and exciting moments, particularly in fight choreo [...] this show I think does a really good job portraying grief and how difficult and messy it can be to overcome it, which is very timely over the past year [...]

We hope the show conveys this forward-looking message about overcoming and conquering grief and doing so in a unique way.”

When asked about her experience with this production, Lundemo said, “First, this show has been an incredible experience and I love the cast and crew dearly!

This is my first semester in SDS, and my first play (ever) so it has been a great learning experience.

SDS is welcoming, kind, and extremely talented, and I feel very lucky to have gotten cast with a role in SKM. Performing live after a long time with no theater is surreal, and I can feel everyone else’s excitement too. I took a chance auditioning, and I am so happy I got cast as Tilly. I have grown a lot as an actor, performer, and person with this role, and I can only hope that I convey her as the great character she is.”

Agnes’ boyfriend, Miles, is played by Stevens student Nicolas Re. When asked how it feels to be back performing live theatre again, he explained, “Being back is kinda crazy. I’m always engaging in live theater (whether it’s as a viewer of a performer) and having that taken away for the past two years has really sucked.

I honestly thought it would be more of a slow transition back into it, but everyone was so excited to get back that we were really able to just pick up where we left off and it feels great!”

Lundemo further explained that “My favorite part of playing Tilly is how she has a young and imaginative spirit, which I find in myself. I love the story that SKM tells, and think that the cast does a fantastic job playing each character.”

Re added, “My favorite part about playing miles is probably how over the top he gets to be while also staying grounded at certain points. It’s fun to see his character arc throughout the show.”

The rest of the student-organized cast is as follows: Chuck – Christopher Oliver; Vera – Leticia Gonzalez; Orcus – Cameron Clifford; Kaliope – Carolyn Wang; Lilith – Micaela Cardile; Steve – Alexander Markoulis; Narrator – Derek Petti; Farrah the Fairy – Luke Magette; Evil Tina – Rachel Germain; Evil Gabbi – Rachel Seasonwein.

Callegari additionally explained SDS’s decision on putting on the show: “When picking the show, the e-board and I incorporated the society’s opinions, interests, and feedback into our decision. We also wanted to make sure we picked a show that could be modified along with COVID-19 safety rules, and have tried to make the process safe for everyone involved. We also thought that She Kills Monsters had a breathtaking message of grief and loss that the audience might relate to after returning from the pandemic.”

While the performers do not have to wear masks, all audience members must wear masks throughout the duration of the show. Performances of She Kills Monsters will be held on Thursday, November 11, at 9 p.m., Friday, November 12, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, November 13 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the DeBaun Auditorium. The show is free with Stevens ID, $3 for other students and seniors, and $7 for general admission.

COURTESY OF STEVENS DRAMATIC SOCIETY AND NICOLE GIARDINO FOR THE STUTE

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News OFF CENTER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE1 running in the midst of the pandemic. Now, his focus is shifting back to putting on in-person productions once more.

Moving past the difficulties the pandemic presented to Off Center, their in-person shows have been successful, including the most recent show on November 5. Brantl said that there were around 100 people in attendance at their 45 minute show, and they gave away four prizes for contestants who participated in their raffle. He also stated how there were ten different sketches, all of which were written by various members of the club. “We had 17 people involved in performing and [in the] background technically. We even had SITTV to film the show,” Brantl said.

Through the challenges the improv group has faced and with in-person comedy productions still running smoothly, a promising future seems on target for Off Center.

QUAE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE1 during later hours on campus. The easiest solution to this was to open the library for longer, which will be done in phases and be open until 2 a.m.”

Yang additionally stated that “it was a very smooth and easy process” in bringing the issue to administration. “I met with David and proposed different solutions such as keeping the other buildings open late, but that would not be feasible due to staffing costs and cleaning routine. Extended library hours is something that would

COURTESY OF MATTHEW BRANTL FOR OFF CENTER

address the problem and student workers can be hired for later shifts.”

Extending library hours is one of many initiatives that students have proposed using Quae. Other measures introduced by students include emergency on-campus housing, hybrid night classes, increased availability of COVID-19 testing on-campus, and more.

Quae has also created an “Initiatives” section on the app to accommodate proposals by students that gain popularity. The Stute will keep readers updated on other changes to campus that originate in Quae.

BIRDHOUSE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE1 troubleshooting audio issues, etc. [...] Being part of the team also means helping out with whatever needs to get done.”

Byrne, who is a Visual Arts and Technology major, is responsible for The Birdhouse’s graphic designs. She said, ”The main logo used for all of the Birdhouse social media, videos, stickers, and business cards was created by me.

The team works together to create videos of artists performing live, as well as interviews with these

artists to provide insight to fans.

According to Scardigno, “some artists just have that extra special thing about them you can only experience live. What we do is shoot these artists on video doing live takes of their music, in an attempt to capture that special thing in an intimate way.” In comparison to other production companies, Byrne views The Birdhouse as “something similar to Tiny Desk Concerts or Audiotree Live. They essentially want to promote music artists— large and small scale—by filming them in live sessions.”

Quality and authenticity are highly valued by The Birdhouse, as

their goal is to “bring people super high-quality content of their favorite artists,” according to Scardigno.

“We want to really shrink the distance between fans and the artist by bringing the audience something intimate and special.”

Although the production company hasn’t hosted events yet, they are looking to in the future. They are also planning for more sessions with new artists, both full-length and small-scale.

Students interested in The Birdhouse can follow them on Instagram @birdyhousey and follow the link to their YouTube account at youtube.com/thebirdhousey.

Students register for Spring 2022 semester

BY KATIE BLOOMER, STAFF WRITER Registration for the Spring 2022 semester opens today for all undergraduate students, using Workday. Seniors and priority registration students were able to sign up for classes on Monday, and registration for Juniors opened Thursday.

This was the second year Workday was used as the platform for registration. Previously, SunGard Tsrvweb, commonly called “Web Self Services” through myStevens, was used for class selection. According to administrators involved with the transition to Workday, the previous program was not able to handle the online traffic of Stevens’ student body, resulting in delays and slow response times. Web Self Services also lacked compatibility with mobile browsers and had extensive security defects which allowed students to hack into the program, administrators said. These problems resulted in Christophe Pierre, the former provost, taking the step to transition to Workday. In an October 2020 announcement, Pierre said, “Workday is a major step forward that will simplify the lives of our students, faculty and staff. Its introduction represents an important milestone toward our goal to make Stevens more student-centric.”

Avery Aquino, a first-year biomedical engineering student, was able to register for classes on Monday due to her status as a Pinnacle Scholar. “Physical-

ly registering for classes was the easy part,” Aquino said. “Actually forming a nice schedule and even backups was more stressful.”

Nikita Rana, a junior who completed registration on Monday, said, “My experience registering classes this year was very smooth. [...] With the click of one button, all my classes were set.” She further explained that Workday was easier to use than Web Self Services because it streamlined registration and reduced the previously hour-long process to five minutes.

After the first registration day using Workday, students were interviewed for their reactions on the new system in an April 2021 Stute article. Asim Qureshi, a Mechanical Engineering major, stated that Workday reduced website crashes and many of the difficulties previously associated with scheduling, which resulted in Workday being a “welcome change.” The consensus was that “the Workday system was less stressful and streamlined their registration concerns.”

A benefit of Workday is that it allows the user to pre-save schedules prior to registration time. Students can make multiple schedules with different classes so there are alternatives if their ideal classes are already full. If the user has a premade schedule, once registration time has begun, clicking “Register” will automatically register the student for all of the requested classes. If any of the selected classes do not go through or are already full, individual classes can be chosen.

JOIN THE STUTE! We’re fun!

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BIRDHOUSE

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Friday, November 12

Science U.S. proposes new Environmental Protection Agency rules

BY ESTEFANIA DE CAIRES, SCIENCE WRITER At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the United States announced the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) guidelines that will crack down on oil and methane gas. Methane is the second-most important greenhouse gas and these new rules will form the centerpiece of the US approach towards fighting climate change. These proposed guidelines will cover new and existing inf ra st r uc t ure —includ ing production, processing, storage, and transmission.

What is the goal of the guidelines?

The EPA hopes that the new guidelines and programs will reduce methane emissions by about 41 million tons, avoid 12 million tons of smog-forming pollution, and prevent 480,000 tons of air toxics all through the year 2035.

In order to achieve this, the EPA will require states to reduce methane emissions coming from the hundreds of thousands of existing sources. Each state can implement a different plan, but it must include significant steps toward reaching the goal.

What are the guidelines?

The first proposal is the creation of a monitoring program, whose job is to find and repair methane leaks from well sites and compressor stations. These leaks are known as “fugitive emissions,” and the

Environmental Defense Fund found that the leaks contributed to 2.3% of the country’s overall natural gas output in 2015. The monitoring program would cover 300,000 well sites across the country; this would also help prevent the loss of money due to fuel leaks.

The next guideline that the EPA proposed is the transition to zero-emitting technologies for pneumatic controllers. A pneumatic level controller works with a control valve to provide liquid level control in oil and gas production. Under this guideline, all new and existing pneumatic controllers at the different stages (production, processing, transmission, and storage facilities) will need to have zero methane and VOC emissions. Currently, almost 30% of all methane emissions from oil and gas systems come from the emissions released by the pneumatic controllers in each stage.

The third guideline is to eliminate the venting of associated gas from oil wells.

According to the EPA, oil wells frequently produce natural gas as a byproduct. With no way to sell this gas, companies just vent it.

In 2019, the associated gas from wells released 40,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere. The proposed guideline will require owners and operators of the oil wells to route the gas to a sale line instead of venting it.

Other guidelines include strengthening the requirements for storage tanks and broadening the type

of pneumatic pump in order to further decrease the amount of methane released into the atmosphere that stems from the oil and gas supply chain.

Are these guidelines enough?

While these new guidelines proposed by the EPA are definitely a step in the right direction, it is still not enough to limit the damage climate change can cause.

This proposal, presented by the US at the COP26, is only the United States’ action plan; there are 192 countries in the UN with their own plans of action.

The countries that are the major contributors to greenhouse emissions have promised to reduce emissions by a certain percentage (each particular to that nation). However, even if all of these 192 countries follow through with their promise, the rise in temperature will be limited to 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, almost double what was agreed in the Paris Climate Accord.

There is still no clear consensus on how this rise in temperature will affect our future. The Joint Global Change Research Institute has created five models of what the future can look like depending on the course of action we take.

Brian O’Neill says that in no prediction model will we reach an apocalyptic world, and we are currently not on the path of the worst prediction model.

Nonetheless, it is clear that action needs to be taken, maybe even more drastic than the new EPA rules, to fight climate change.

COURTESY OF THE BBC.

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SPEAKING AT THE COP26 CONFERENCE. COURTESY OF ANDY BUCHANAN FOR GETTY IMAGES.

Types of acne and their treatments

BY DIEM TRINH, STAFF WRITER Have you ever found yourself waking up and seeing a huge red spot on your face?

It can be excruciating when you try to touch it or pop it, right? It is a pimple, a characteristic of acne. Acne happens when the pores on the face are clogged with oil (sebum), dead skin cells, bacteria, ingrown hairs, or hormones. It is a common skin condition among adolescents that affects approximately 17 million Americans yearly.

However, not all pimples on a person’s face are the same; they are different and each has its own treatments.

Blackheads, or open comedones Blackheads get their name from their black-specks appearance.

According to Healthline, blackheads happen when “a pore is clogged by a combination of sebum and dead skin cells.” Although the rest of the pore is being clogged, the top remains open to the air, making the sebum oxidize at the surface and causing the black color. To treat blackheads, wash your face with a beta-hydroxy acid (BHA), such as salicylic acid, which unclogs the pores by penetrating them. Additionally, overthe-counter retinol is also worth the try because it is a form of vitamin A that breaks up cells that form the clogs and reduces future clogged pores.

Whiteheads, or closed comedones Similarly to blackheads, it is formed when a pore is clogged with sebum and dead skin cells. However, rather than staying open in the air, the top of the pore is covered by a thin layer of skin and looks like a white bump or spot. Salicylic acid and overthe-counter retinol also work well to cure whiteheads.

Papules Papules are red, inflamed lesions that are sensitive and painful. They start out solid, but they may later fill up with pus and turn into a pustule.

According to McMahan, you should avoid irritating the area. When cleansing with warm water, avert scrubbing your skin and be gentle. You can also wash your face with a cleanser containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.

Pustules Pustules can form when

the walls surrounding your pores deteriorate. They are typically pus-filled and can be white or yellow in color.

They are most commonly caused by bacterial growth in clogged follicles. While it may be tempting to extract their pus, doing so can result in acne scarring. You will not need any treatments for smaller pustules as they will go away on their own, but topical benzoyl peroxide or sulfur-based face washes can help. With more severe cases, dermatologists may prescribe either topical or oral antibiotics. Oral minocycline and clindamycin (topical) are some examples.

Nodules Nodules form when clogged, swollen pores become more irritated and enlarged. Nodules, as opposed to pustules and papules, are located deeper beneath the skin. These acne lesions are typically 1 to 2 centimeters wide. Isotretinoin (Sotret), an oral medication, will most likely be prescribed by your doctor or dermatologist; it is a vitamin A derivative that is taken daily for four to six months. It can treat and prevent nodules by reducing the size of the oil glands within the pores. Steroid injections directly into the nodule are another option that can quickly reduce inflammation and pain.

Cysts Cystic acne is said to be the most severe form of acne.

Cysts can form when pores become clogged by a combination of bacteria, sebum, and dead skin cells. Clogs form deep within the skin, deeper than nodules. They are filled with fluid or pus and can be large, red, and painful to the touch. It is also more likely to leave scars. Cysts are commonly treated with the prescription medication Isotretinoin (Sotret). A cyst may be surgically removed in severe cases.

Although acne is a problem that commonly affects us, there are still treatments for it. Being patient is the key to treating different types of pimples. Seeing a dermatologist is recommended to get more accurate advice and prescriptions. Additionally, consistently having a skincare routine and products that suit specific skin needs will speed up the acne treatment process.

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Friday, November 12

Science It’s that time of the year again (Daylight Saving Time)!

BY JESSICA WU, CONTRIBUTOR Last Sunday, November 7, at 2 a.m., all clocks were turned backward by one hour, giving many of us 60 extra minutes of sleep and temporarily adding an hour to our normally 24 hour day.

This event marked the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST), a nearly nine-monthlong period of time where all clocks were turned an hour ahead of time to quite literally “save daylight.” For this reason, it’s called Daylight Saving, not Savings, a common mistake many make when referring to the event. DST begins in spring during the second Sunday of March, when all clocks are turned ahead one hour in a process referred to as “spring forward,” and ends during the first Sunday of November, when clocks turn back in a process called “fall back.”

For example, over the summer a day might begin at 7 a.m. when it is “actually” 6 a.m. and end at 7 p.m. when it is “actually” 6 p.m. Because the sun sets later during the summer, individuals would still have enough daylight after 9-to-5 work hours are over.

During Daylight Saving Time, the eastern side of the U.S. and Canada (including New Jersey) use Eastern Day-

light Time, or EDT. During the rest of the months, Eastern Standard Time (EST) is in effect.

The concept of shifting time to save daylight was first proposed (quite satirically) by Benjamin Franklin, but the practice first began in Germany as an attempt to conserve fuel in the midst of World War I. While a few places in the U.S. followed suit, it was not until the Uniform Time Act in 1966 that Daylight Saving Time became widespread across the country.

Since then, Americans have been dutifully changing their clocks to match the change in daylight.

With most smartphones today handling the adjustment automatically, the process has become even more seamless.

So the ultimate question is, does it work?

The rationale given by most supporters of Daylight Saving Time is that it gives an extra hour of daylight to individuals. During World War I and World War II, this was especially important as individuals staying up later would have to use more coal for light. Countries reasoned that with DST, more daylight would reduce the need for artificial lighting and heating, which in turn would reduce energy consumption. Various studies exploring oth-

er benefits of DST have been conducted since then, linking it to a decrease in certain types of crime like robbery and sexual assault, since less individuals are out after dark, and a decrease in fatal vehicle accidents due to better visibility when driving.

However, the process doesn’t come without its share of issues. Similar studies investigating DST have actually casted doubt on its effectiveness of reducing energy consumption. A study done by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2007 revealed that DST was attributed to saving about 1.3 terawatt-hours of electricity that year, or about 0.03% of

the national amount of nearly 4000 terawatt-hours. In a world heavily reliant on electricity as a resource, many consider this amount to be too small to be significant.

Another prominent issue comes from an often overlooked demographic: farmers. While DST gives us more daylight in the evening, it does so at the expense of daylight in the morning. Farmers did not benefit from this change, as they tended to prefer conducting their work earlier in the day.

Additionally, the abrupt switch in time confused their farm animals and made production more difficult.

The main issue

for many is that the process of saving daylight is done in a single sudden switch overnight.

This change disrupts a person’s sleep, and therefore their internal circadian rhythm, which leads to health issues.

Studies have shown that the switches in time correlate to increased traffic collisions, heart attacks, and mental illnesses, although the effects seem to drop in frequency in the weeks following the switch.

If you look at the discourse online, the issues with Daylight Saving Time seem to crop up more often than its benefits. A few appear frustrated with the complexity of DST, and oth-

ers are adamant that it is useless. Many people want to get rid of the practice entirely. Some states in the U.S. have a different idea; they propose changing times permanently to Daylight Saving Time, arguing that the main issue comes from the sudden time changes.

With a permanent switch one hour forward, the same benefits would still be in effect without the associated drawbacks.

The debate is still ongoing, but one thing is clear: Daylight Saving Time isn’t going anywhere soon. For the rest of us, we’ll just have to get used to earlier sunrises and colder evenings.

COURTESY OF CAROLINE MONTANA FOR THE STUTE

Stevens Researchers use AI to Spot Fake News

BY ERIN MCGEE, CONTRIBUTOR Fake news, untrustworthy tweets, and all manner of rumors have recently made headlines in news, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the World Health Organization and the US Surgeon General have called for a crackdown on COVID-19 misinformation. With COVID numbers remaining high and the potential for a vaccine mandate for large businesses, the importance of accurate, verified information is more evident than ever. A solution to this problem may lay with innovations in artificial intelligence.

Stevens researchers worked alongside AI expert Dr. K.P. Subbalakshmi to tackle this problem using artificial intelligence.

The team was able to train the algorithm to recognize fake news by using thou-

sands of tweets and performing a “stance detection” on it. Previously, algorithms assumed that users agreed with the links and sources they were sharing on social media. Now, with stance detection, the algorithms are able to differentiate whether people agree or disagree with the posts they are sharing using linguistics. According to Dr. Subbalakshmi, “Stance detection basically compares two pieces of texts and says whether these two pieces of texts are in agreement with each other or not. This is particularly useful when you are trying to understand if a tweet that includes a link to a news story is fake or not.”

By using this logic, the team used over 24,000 Twitter posts, using stance detection in order to label them into data sets that were either supportive or dismissive of the articles and news stories

they were attached to. These articles were also compared against reputable sources to determine if they were credible or fake news. They then used this database of information in order to test and train a new AI—one that would use the cues from the training posts to determine if the tweets are spreading misinformation or not.

The AI does not determine whether the articles or tweets are factually correct, as doing so would require a constant update of new research, news, and events which is particularly hard to accomplish during a pandemic.

Instead, it uses the linguistics from the tweets it was trained from to find the “stylistic fingerprints” of fake news. This includes less scientific and more emotional, or bombastic, language, which is described in the dataset used to make the algorithm.

Factors such as publication,

length, or authors can also play a part.

The team saw great success with this new AI, as it has been more successful than others of its kind with about an 88% accuracy rate.

This is a significant improvement from the previous AI tools used for the same goal.

When it comes to the use of AI in stopping misinformation, the future is certainly bright.

Particularly with the combination of AI and linguistics, there are many potential aspects to look forward to. As Dr. Subbalakshmi explains, “There are quite a few exciting things already going on with linguistics and AI: AI can summarize large documents into manageable bites of information, AI can generate language that looks very real, it can translate between different languages, detect emotions from written/spoken words, etc. It is poised to

do a lot more including detecting hate speech, detecting language-related diseases in people (Alzheimer’s, depression, suicidality) and much, much more!

It is a very exciting area of inquiry.”

The team has also noted that using this

technology for videos would be an area for future research, as the current work is based solely on text. This research project has proven to show the ways in which AI may be able to improve the health and safety of our world today.

DR. K.P. SUBBALAKSHMI, AI EXPERT AT THE STEVENS INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU

6

Friday, November 12

Opinion THE STUTE EDITORIAL

Re-building The Stute, hoping for stability The current office for The Stute, in the Student Center, is the third office I’ve been in as a member of The Stute, and it won’t be the last. The long-term home of The Stute will be in the University Center, and soon we’ll be moving there, in the same area of campus where the original Jacobus office was. Hopefully, it will have less bugs than Jacobus.

Our current office basically has two sides: one has all our computers and the other is an open workspace. But our computers haven’t been working since the 2019 cyberattack, and after trying to get them working this semester, it seems like it’s not a beneficial use of our time to continue. We’re now trying to make our laptops work for us instead of against us, especially when it takes special software and many hours of sitting at our laptops to get the paper out. As a result, half our office

is basically unusable, and with a growing staff it’s been tough to figure out how to make our workspace the best it can be.

After the cyberattack came the start of the pandemic, which really disrupted our club even more than any of us think. So much of how our staff learns comes from observing others, in-person conversations while we’re all together instead of direct messages, and problem solving things in a group. As a newspaper, our online only publication during the pandemic caused us to lose our sense of urgency with getting the paper out. We’ve had to rebuild that this semester, with everyone learning or relearning that things need to move at a faster pace, with more weight put on each decision and getting things done. I feel that we are getting to where we need to be, but it’s still a struggle.

On top of all this, our deadline

this semester for submitting files to our publisher was pushed up 7 hours, from midnight to 5 p.m. on Thursdays, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s completely wrecked our organization. I don’t think I’m being dramatic here: a major part of The Stute’s culture is Thursday production. It used to be that the office is open from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. during which we have pizza, staff members come and go when they can to help out, we play music, we gossip, we stress about getting the paper out, and the e-board is together until late at night. And while those long Thursdays were tough, I’m devastated that it seems we’ve completely lost them. While we’ve tried to replicate them to be on Tuesday nights, it’s not the same if the paper isn’t due at midnight.

Serving as Editor-in-Chief for the time I have has been extremely rewarding, as I’m sure I’ll write

more about next semester as I prepare to hand over the torch.

But there will always be a sense of disappointment that it wasn’t what I observed it was going to be through watching past Editors in “normal” times.

I’m trying my best to rebuild what I feel like we’ve lost over the past two years. I think it all comes down to stability: things feel rocky, schedules we’ve been used to have been changed, our office isn’t working for us, and so on. I look to the University Center, hopefully the last big office transition in a while, as a time to get stable again. Maybe the past two years have been just a giant transition phase. Maybe things needed to get tough in order to get easier later. Maybe we are thriving, and I’m a pessimist. Either way, I think the toughest part is behind us, and slowly but surely we’re moving back up.

Natalie Todaro ‘22

Editor-in-Chief

SENIORITIS

‘Tis the season

BY GRACE MIGUEL ‘22 November. It is one of the busiest months of the year in my opinion. Halloween decorations are hastily taken down and replaced with Christmas trees and twinkle lights, and you can finally begin to acknowledge the Christmas items in Macys and TJMaxx that have been on the shelves since the first week of September. All the while, Thanksgiving is ne-

glected and forgotten.

Thanksgiving is not the most exciting holiday especially compared to Christmas, but I’m still a believer in giving it the attention it deserves. I view Thanksgiving as a time to rejoice and get together with family. It’s a day to dress-up and catchup on what we did over the summer, discuss our favorite Netflix series and what’s on our watchlist, eat delicious food and simply enjoy each other’s company. One can argue that these are all things you can do on Christmas. My defense to that argument is that Thanksgiving food trumps Christmas food.

The thought of turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing makes me salivate. Of course, I cannot forget the homemade apple pie, farm-

made pumpkin pie, and delicious pumpkin bread that is set on the table after dinner. By that point, the button on my pants is ready to pop off but the aroma of sweet apples and cinnamon excites my hippocampus to the point that the only logical decision is to eat the pie. My family always hosts Thanksgiving and therefore we inevitably have leftovers for days. I never complain.

Of course, Christmas has its perks with filet mignon (at least that is what my family makes) and gingerbread cookies, but Thanksgiving food has my heart.

I digress, enough food talk and more holiday talk.

Once Halloween is over, many folks go straight into Christmas mode. While I love Christmas time, I hate going into Christmas mode

that early. The reason for that is because I love fall.

The second I start playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” fall is officially over. This year in particular, I feel like we went from summer to semi-winter weather. We’ve had an exceptionally warm October and therefore the changing of the leaves has been delayed—further delaying my full enjoyment of the season. Now that we’re out of 70 degree weather, I can finally wear my oranges and reds with my suede boots nearly everyday. Fall is such an underrated season, similarly to Thanksgiving. There is so much beauty in the season and people only enjoy it for a week or two because they’re anticipating one single day in December that will be over

within 24 hours.

Nearly everyone living in the metro-area has the “go, go, go” mentality. Our minds are moving a million miles a minute, planning the next big thing for tomorrow, next week, or next month. It is so easy to fall into the trap of looking ahead and forgetting to look at what’s in front of you. We are so tense because we are nervous about what tomorrow may or may not bring. I am guilty of it too. Take five minutes today and go for a walk outside. Don’t look at your phone and don’t listen to music. Simply observe your surroundings and clear your head. Just like some of us look forward to Christmas before Thanksgiving even occurs, slow down and appreciate the things along the way.

NOT FINANCIAL TIMES (NFT)

Taking a crystal clear stand

BY ROSHNI REVANKAR ‘22 It’s been more than a month since I wrote my last column on the irony of investing in “responsible” companies. As an investor or just a college kid paging through the news, it helps to look at whether or not institutions are really walking the walk when it comes to climate change.

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) is a 12-day conference held in Glasgow, Scotland where more than 200 countries were represented. We saw many key figures like U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among many others.

The COP is held to ensure countries are committed to mitigating climate change every five years, prompting national pledges on how countries are limiting the damages of climate change.

However, it was hard to ig-

nore the wishy-washy nature of this conference.

The strength of conferences like this one is often undermined by countries failing to sign agreements created to help the environment. The pledge, “Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement,” has been signed by more than 20 countries, but is missing signatures from major producers and consumers of coal energy like the U.S., China, India, and Australia. Furthermore, the texts do not implore urgency to the matter, allowing countries to phase out coal by the 2030s “or soon thereafter,” which significantly downplays the severity of non renewables impact on climate change.

The U.S., especially, falters on its national policies towards green energy.

The Biden administration has been particularly concerned with being carbon free by 2035, but also concerned with making sure to not upset coal-producers states. This past week, the administration was able to pass a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that sets aside $225 billion towards clean energy investments and revamping the energy grid.

However, the initiative surrounding improving the energy grid (which makes the largest dent in slowing down climate change)

soured after a reduction in funding for the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), which would make the goal to be carbon free by 2035 much more attainable.

Energy companies celebrated their profitability due to the supply shortages and the rise in demand for coal as the temperatures slowly drop across the world, and cities return to the hustle and bustle.

According to the International Energy Agency, more than 140GW of coal plants are currently under construction, and 400GW are currently being planned.

Despite the funding opportunities available to boost renewable energy grids, there is still a large gap between the abilities of renewables powering cities and homes and the demand for electricity, resulting in coal and other nonrenewables filling this void— shrouding any attempts to a greener future.

Practically speaking, to make the aggressive change towards mitigating climate change requires a more strategic approach to incentivizing producers to revamp the power grid completely. Such a policy cannot be attained with a meagre—granted its in billions—production incentive to utilities. Due to a gap between supply and demand,

JOIN THE STUTE! Tuesday GBMs @ 9:15 PM in the Student Center Room #203 Open to everyone!

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY Jk we’re just using this to fill space

:) we see many institutions profiting from the arbitrage available in prices that have surged as high as $150 per ton for high-energy Australian coal. When such profitability opportunities still exist, and as we continue to face harsher winters due to climate change, the flimsy agreements and high talk at COP26 seem to groan nothing but dismay.

In other more positive news, the SEC has put the anchor down on not letting companies reject shareholder proposals to take more active roles in mitigating climate change and social governance. This policy will likely lead to more resolutions being filed that would ideally lead to more approvals by the SEC. In the past, companies have been able to downplay the importance and role that they can take as corporations to improve human rights issues and help the environment. The biggest arguments were micromanagement, and that usually proposals were filed by opponents of the organization. Now, the current environment and administration seems to be more perceptive of their investors, keeping caveat venditor in check in markets.

Not to be a debbie downer, but I wonder if such a policy will actually be what investors and sharehold-

ers desire. The agreement comes with a clause that targets issues like greenhouse gas emissions to be determined by whether “proposals transcend ordinary business of the company with their broad social impact.” This means that whether or not a proposal that can very much likely boost society is determined by a subset of individuals at the SEC — and whether or not they believe that the social impact presented in the proposals are worthy of discussion.

To me, this requires building standards upon which a proposal is accepted or rejected — when in reality, many proposals are equally important! To make standards, will mean defining the limits and opportunities for every single industry, for every single sector, and for every single company that is publicly traded.

While the power to impact company operations in the hands of shareholders may seem nice, it does not appear to me to be the olive branch it poses to be.

So while we may celebrate the progress being made in mitigating climate change through our administrations and the companies we are shareholders in, it requires us to continue forcing institutions and corporations to have a much clearer stand.

Come and eat pizza

We’re not crazy

We promise

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

7

Friday, November 12

Opinion OFF THE PRESS

THE CONVERSATION

Parents Visit Local Student

2021 New Jersey Election Results

BY OFF CENTER The pressure continued to mount on a local student this week after a conversation with his parents revealed he was responsible for filling several hours on a Saturday afternoon while his family visited. The phone call was peppered with lines like “There’s so much to do in New York City,” and “I’m sure you know all the best restaurants around,” but in fact the student had not been to the city all semester. His parents are coming in with high expectations having planned activities for Saturday morning, Saturday evening, and all day Sunday, but left a huge gap on Saturday afternoon.

We caught up with the local student who was postponing several important homework assignments to research activities in the area.

“My dad said there was a cool art museum in the area, but immediately followed it up with saying that I probably wouldn’t be interested,” he told us. The student informed us that of course he wouldn’t be interested, not because the museum would be boring but because the Pinnacles took a trip there so it was a tainted location.

Nonetheless, it would have ended the continued hours

of yelp reviews and google maps time estimations.

“The yelp interface is really counterintuitive and ineffective, I might apply for an internship with them just so I can change it,” the student told us, poring over a thick notebook labeled Things I Might Be Able To Suggest For This Weekend.

Our suggestion of using tripadvisor instead was rejected with a hearty “That little owl is gonna steal all my data and ruin my hopes and dreams!” Google Maps was deemed by the student to be an effective measurement of transportation times, “unless you’re taking NJ Transit and then it’s just a random number generator.”

We helped the student brainstorm new ways to think of activities. From selecting letters from a hat and seeing if they could be unscrambled to form a place to typing letters into the search bar one at a time and seeing what autocomplete thinks, every avenue of idea generation was explored but alas we were unsuccessful.

As a premier journalistic institution, we don’t have to idea-generate our news, as we only report on the facts, so our skillset was poorly suited to this exercise.

On a side note, if you have any tips for completely real news, please bring them

to our office. Anonymous tips are accepted via paper airplane if necessary, but please no remote-controlled cars as the noises scare our punctuation editors.

Towards the end of our interview, the student received yet another call from his father. The phone sat on the desk, ringing and vibrating incessantly, but the student just stared. Dramatic music began to play in the background as the phone continued its jolly tune. “Pick it up; it’s fine,” we told the student. “No,” he said. “He’s going to ask where he should park.” After a few more notes from Jingle-Bells (the student is in the Christmas spirit already), it went to voicemail and we presume remains unreturned to this day.

The publishing of this article is a cry for help on our behalf for the student who told us to only publish the article if he had not found an activity yet. As this article comes out on Friday, his parents arrive tomorrow morning and have high expectations for a Saturday afternoon filled with excitement and quality time.

Anyone with ideas is encouraged to submit them to our office where we will sort through the ones that might interest our parents before passing the rest on to him.

GIRL TALK

Dance Moms: What happened to my favorite show?

BY JORDYN RAMELLI ‘23 I grew up watching Dance Moms. After long days at school, my sister and I would intently watch our television, waiting for an episode or two of Dance Moms to air on Lifetime. It was our favorite show—the costumes, the dances, the drama, the dancers. Everything about Dance Moms was fascinating to us. We would fangirl over the girls, wishing we could be as talented as them. To younger me, it was a 10/10 show.

Now looking back on the episodes, I feel a little bit different. Watching in 2021, I can’t help but notice the exploitation of little girls by producers and by their dance instructor, Abby Lee Miller. While I loved the costumes and dances when I was young, now some of them don’t sit right with me. Looking from a mature viewpoint, I don’t love Dance Moms as much as I used to.

One of the most infamous Dance Moms’s episodes is in the second season, episode nine: “Topless Showgirls.”

It was taken down soon after it aired because it was extremely inappropriate for

young girls. Dance teacher and choreographer Abby Lee Miller decided to take a risky, burlesque number to competition. Miller explains to the girls that it’s “all about crotch and boobs.” She tells them the main idea of the dance is “I’m hot! I’m mean!

You can’t have me! You can’t afford me!” I believe this is extremely inappropriate to say to little girls — no girl should have the thought of being sold. Although some mothers voiced their distaste for the dance, they still decided to put it on stage, and some of the mothers even enjoyed the dance. The girls are dressed in nude bras and skimpy, sparkly bottoms. They are holding feather fans in a way to reveal what is underneath; it is supposed to show the illusion of the girl’s being nude showgirls.

Season one, episode two: “Wildly Inappropriate.”

The title says it all. In this episode, Miller decides to choreograph a provocative number for her young dancers. While teaching them the number, she states, “you have to be really hot, sexy” and “More butt. It’s all about the butt,” to girls as young as seven. One mother explains, “The gestures and the movement in the dance is unacceptable […] when the girls went down and opened their legs, I almost walked out.” While Miller thinks of it as a fun and hot number, I certainly disagree. Their costumes are extremely skimpy; one mother asked, “Where’s the

rest of her costume?” The girls are dressed in tight shorts and tight crop tops, with thigh high socks.

When exploiting young girls on live television, it’s putting them in danger.

In 2015, a 36 year old man named Phoenix Sundown was arrested for sending pornography to the P.O. box of dancer Jojo Siwa. Months earlier he “posted photos of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart online, tagging the dancer in the images with the caption ‘#futuregoals,’” according to Vice Magazine.

In 2016, Joe McKinstry was arrested after trying to break into Miller’s studio to read poetry to the dancers.

He had an infatuation with dancer Mackenzie Ziegler, sending her creepy messages on Twitter. Dancer Chloe Lukasik said, “Back in the Pittsburgh studio, there would be people coming all the time, and we actually did have a security guard.

They would travel with us to competitions.”

Looking back on my former favorite TV show, I feel extremely different. While I used to love the complexity of the dances, the mama drama, and the girls, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable with some of the choices for the dances and costumes. In addition, the inappropriate exposure put the young girls in danger of stalkers and pedophiles. While Dance Moms was a show I enjoyed as a child, the unfair treatment of little girls for the public to see is unsettling and uncomfortable.

BY PETER WHITE‘25 AND JACKSON HUDGINS ‘24 Introduction After Election Day 2021, a few states in the union have yielded interesting results. First, Virginia elected a new Republican governor just one year removed from a ten-point margin in favor of President Biden. Then, an expected victory for incumbent governor, Phil Murphy, in New Jersey turned into a photo-finish, with a final estimated margin of just 2-3% and 65,000 votes according to the Associated Press.

Governor Murphy’s campaign is now urging their challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, to concede defeat. Ciattarelli’s campaign has said it will not concede, and will make its decision regarding a recount request only when the complete counting of ballots is completed.

This week’s installment of The Conversation will focus on this race which has potential ramifications for all Stevens students.

The Campus Liberal, Peter White, and Campus Conservative, Jackson Hudgins, will discuss the implications of the 2021 New Jersey election in the following sections, followed by a united synthesis in the conclusion.

Campus Conservative, Jackson Hudgins The election results here in New Jersey would certainly be a shock to those who observed polling in the months preceding November 2. In nearly every single poll, Jack Ciattarelli trailed Governor Murphy by an average of 7.5 points, which is a formidable polling advantage, even more so considering Murphy is the incumbent. However, on Election Day, it was very clear that the unpopularity of many Democratic Party policies and an emphasis on the problems that matter to voters led to a much closer race. Phil Murphy ultimately carried the state by only 2.5 points, a startling departure from the predictions of pundits and politicians nationwide. Every county in the state—with the exception of Hudson County—swung toward the GOP compared to the 2020 Presidential results. This swing is an excellent sign for the GOP in 2022 and provides a roadmap back

into the suburbs.

Most of the swing to the GOP was driven by suburban areas, former Republican strongholds, and rapidly red-shifting counties in South Jersey. In Atlantic, Cumberland, and Gloucester Counties, voters shifted from a 7-, 6-, and 2-point win for Biden respectively to a 10- to 12-point win for Ciattarelli. Morris County, a historic stronghold for the Republicans, swung from 4-point Democratic win to a 12-point Republican win. Finally, Bergen, Somerset, and Passaic counties—suburbs that have leaned Democratic since the ‘90s—swung from double digit wins for Democrats to single digit margins. This consistent swing back to the Republican party is a testament to the party’s emphasis on the issues that matter to voters; education has become a vital issue postCOVID, and the Democratic party has rightly been seen as having much less care about students’ interests and more about union interests. In addition, Biden and his agenda’s popularity has cratered in the recent months, as many Americans disapprove of the job he is doing and have very little confidence that the country is on the right track. Given the Democratic party has trended leftward in recent years, suburbs that voted for Biden instead of Trump feel and will continue to feel betrayed, as Biden ran as a moderate, not a progressive.

This sentiment will almost guarantee that Republicans will continue their gains in 2022.

Campus Liberal, Peter White A trend that was disastrously brought to light in the 2016 presidential election has again continued to terrorize the Democratic party in the 2021 elections.

The Democrats lead in early polls, just as Hillary Clinton did in this election forecast by fivethirtyeight, showing that the American people believe in what they think the party stands for. Then they don’t actually campaign on those issues, and instead campaign on the fact that their party does not have Donald Trump. Finally, after the Republicans

actually do campaign on issues like taxation, which was Ciattarelli’s primary platform, the race goes completely different than the polls predicted.

Although Phil Murphy is by no means a standard Democrat, his progressive policies and record didn’t seem strong enough in this election to overcome the language used by Republicans. The problem plaguing the Democratic Party is not that they are too left leaning, it’s that they are not leaning into the characteristics that make them popular. The party that has been the party of immigrants, of the LGBT community, and of African Americans in the past now fails to pass laws benefiting any of these groups, while controlling both chambers of Congress and the executive office. The party at least partially got behind the Black Lives Matter movement, but then failed to pass any supporting legislation.

These are the issues that push voters to give the liberal party an advantage in polls, but when they inevitably back off their potential progressive victories, their agenda becomes slimmer and slimmer.

Just as this narrow victory for Phil Murphy should be encouraging to Republicans, it must be taken as another dire warning for the Democrats. They have to fully commit to improving life for America’s marginalized communities. They have to campaign on the issues and not on the people.

Conclusion Although it is ultimately just one election, both sides seem to agree that it will have large ramifications for the future of American politics. An undeniably strong showing from the rRepublican party putting forward a very conservative candidate against one of the most progressive governors in the nation, suggests a successful campaign strategy, while the Democrats will have to regroup. A lot of this discussion has centered around broad political strategy but it is important to note that this election will have an impact on everyone who lives in or goes to school in New Jersey, including us Stevens students.

8

Friday, November 12

Arts & Culture PASSION FOR FASHION

Beauty products I use that my eczema likes

BY MELISSA KOSAR ‘22 As I have gotten older my skin has become more sensitive, changing in appearance and texture. I am struggling with eczema now as my skin has dried out no matter how much I moisturize it. Until recently, I have been struggling to find the right products—a long list of prescribed creams, overthe-counter lotions, among many more that do not enrage my overly sensitive skin. With the pandemic and quarantine measures that kept me comfy on my couch,

I could get away with little to no make up for days on end.

But returning to life in-person has forced me to be more serious about my skin sensitivity. As I am heading out more, I have more of a need to wear makeup on a regular basis than I did last year.

And while I am certainly not complaining about getting dolled up, I’ve had to find products that won’t cause any outbreaks. Of course, I am no expert and won’t ever claim to be; however, these are simply some insights on what has worked for me.

Even for those who don’t typically have sensitive skin or suffer from eczema, I urge you to pay close attention to the products you use on your skin. Many beauty products contain harsh chemicals that aren’t really good for anyone.

These are some that certainly make my skin happy.

When I realized I had eczema it developed in the

worst place possible…my face. Wintertime is always the toughest for people with dry skin. If there’s one thing that can make you feel insecure it’s a breakout on your face. Initially I cut off all makeup products. I tossed whatever I was using before; I didn’t want to take any risks not knowing what was causing my breakouts. I spent a lot of time with a fresh, all-natural face, allowing my skin to breathe and fully recover. But when I returned to makeup, as many 21-yearold gals would do, I knew I needed something clean and hydrating. In a previous article I wrote back in the winter, I mentioned the Elf hydrating face primer. I tend to only use the primer when I am really doing a full look.

I have found that having that hydrating barrier between my skin and my makeup, makes for a better experience all-around. Any primer

SPOILER ALERT

Why Jujutsu Kaisen leaves an impact

BY EMMA TONG ‘25 I have been watching anime for approximately six years now, and throughout this time I have gone through many phases of anime-watching from shoujo, romance, slice of life, and shounen, where it all begins. The shounen anime that I started off watching were Fairy Tail, Blue Exorcist, and Soul Eater. However, around 2017 to 2018, I stopped watching shounen anime, falling behind on many releases during this new wave of shounen including anime like Boku no Hero Academia (or My Hero Academia for you who like the English name), Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen.

However, during my time at Stevens, I have met many wonderful people who encouraged me to give these newer shounen anime a try.

With the new Jujutsu Kaisen movie coming out later this year, I decided to give this anime a watch.

Now, another reason why I was hesitant to watch shounen anime is due to my experience with the genre.

Many newer shounen anime feel predictable due to their various tropes, making them tiresome to watch.

However, Jujutsu Kaisen does something that defies this, providing some-

thing new and unique to the genre.

What attracted me to Jujutsu Kaisen was that it caters very well to an experienced anime audience. The intense color palette, gruesome curses, monsters, and horror-inspired grotesque scenes filled with blood and wrinkly, veiny, and disturbing monsters help draw in older anime fans. This is unique in a shounen anime which seeks to not scare but be horror-esque.

Unfortunately, a defining characteristic of female characters in shounen anime are over-sexualization and underwhelming action scenes. In the case of Jujutsu Kaisen, while there is no sexualization of the female characters, the female characters’ value in the plot is still diminished. Jujutsu Kaisen does have powerful and admirable characters like Nobura and Miwa — however, this is only up to episode 15, and I haven’t finished the show, so my opinion may change. At no point are they sexualized, and Nobura feels like a real girl, albeit a wicked jujitsu sorcerer too.

However, there are some concerning characters. One character, Toji, who is physically aggressive, keeps asking men about their type of girls and destroys them if they are not similar to his tastes. I didn’t really enjoy these conversations, but I think it served to add to his character personality of being a jerk while also having no one to share his taste in girls.

The complicated but realistic characters are another benefit of the show. Rarely do you see shounen and

shoujo anime being very realistic; however, I believe they can be fun and enjoyable either way. The fact that Jujutsu feels realistic is amazing in and of itself.

Its ability to build realistic mood with complex characters makes us feel a world of our own.

What really distinguishes Jujutsu Kaisen from other shounen anime is how it conveys the morality of its characters. For those unfamiliar with shounen anime, they usually not only revolve around fighting and cool world building, but also around the beliefs of the characters influenced by their past experiences.

For example, the backstory and morals of each character are incorporated in stories about their complicated pasts, which may span several arcs or episodes. On the other hand, Jujutsu Kaisen tells the story and beliefs of the characters up front, so you spend more time seeing them develop their personality from that backstory and challenge them to accept the hard truths of their world. In comparison to older shounen anime, Jujutsu Kaisen follows the new trend of following faster-paced backstories and deeper focus on character development.

All these interesting factors brought back to me my lost love for shounen anime. The excitement, the intrigue, and the connection I felt with the characters all made me appreciate this new generation of shounen anime. So if you want a realistic and gritty—but also insightful—version of a shounen anime, go watch Jujutsu Kaisen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ONE ESPORTS

works well when you really need it. Elf makes a range of face primer to put on before you apply any foundation.

While there are even better brands out there with better primers, so far for me, this one gets the job done, and is usually only around $7 at any drug store.

I knew I needed to steer clear of powders on my face.

Powders over liquid makeup are known to dry out your skin more. Because my skin is excessively dry, liquid makeup suits me better. If you are on the opposite side of the spectrum and you suffer from oily skin, it might be best to stick with powders to avoid excess oil accumulation. For me, the Rare Beauty liquid foundation, liquid concealer and liquid blush is perfect! With liquid makeup, a little bit goes a long way.

I only need a few drops of each around my face to blend together a polished look. For

anyone unaware, Rare Beauty was founded by the queen herself, Selena Gomez. Not only is this brand clean from harsh chemicals, but it is completely vegan and cruelty free. These qualities are ones that I try to look for to ensure I am not only keeping myself and my skin safe, but doing my part for a better future.

Another brand to highlight that has always preached its clean and cruelty free agenda is bareMinerals. bareMinerals was a pioneer for clean beauty within the cosmetic industry. Over time, they have found a way to develop clean products that don’t skimp on quality. Until very recently, I have steered away from any eye makeup as my eczema becomes most severe on my eyelids. It wasn’t until I discovered their simple ingredient eyeshadow palettes that I felt comfortable using prod-

ucts on my eyelids again. I purchased their mineralist eyeshadow palette in the shade named “Rosewood.” It includes neutral tones alongside shades of pink, perfect for a variety of looks. I have not found any discomfort or lack of quality when using it either. Thank goodness! For so long I have stuck to very simple makeup consisting of just foundation and mascara which suffices for my day to day. But some nights when I want to dress up a little more, I have this palette.

Additionally, from bareMinerals I use a clean strength & length mascara.

Living with a skin sensitivity such as eczema is difficult at times but thankfully there are tons of products out there that make it easier!

Consciously choosing what to use on your body is a great mindset to develop. After all, it is up to us to take care of our own bodies.

9

Friday, November 12

Arts & Culture THE DOODLING DUCK

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Art is in the eye of the artist

The book you read when when you love spies and crazy adventures

BY POOJA RAJADURAI ‘23 A few weeks ago, myself and my friends visited the Chelsea art galleries in New York City, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

A self-certified doodler, much of my Instagram feed is often populated with works of artists of my choosing. For example, I rejoice in the the intersection between Indian culture and visual media; still life (especially when the composition highlights a very ordinary tool in our everyday lives); in the realms that look very similar to what I might see outside my window, but different in that they are home to fantastical beasts that roam with as much confidence as pesky pigeons might; and almost any type of art that features nature in greenery. This highly curated feed pleases me in the ways that I wish to be pleased while retaining the

element of surprise and innovation that art will bring to new eyes. However, an art gallery is quite the opposite.

An art gallery will shock, startle, and surprise you in varying degrees of pleasantness while retaining an, albeit inconsistent, element of relatability. And it is wonderful.

There were galleries my friends and I stepped into that immediately captivated us. Pictures of familiar scenes overlaid on other scenes to render a figure altogether separate from the merged scenes had us excitedly talking while another utilized sculptures that somehow seemed to house a life within them, the same way our bodies do, had us enthralled in silent wonder.

However, there were other galleries that didn’t elicit emotional reactions or seem to show technical prowess.

One friend, after stepping into a gallery to investigate its potential to interest the rest of us, returned to say, “It was full of lines.” Not one to take another’s words for my own, I also investigated the gallery and felt adamant to agree. Yet I did. In this gallery, one white canvas merely contained a black line that curved a little bit.

I agree, it can be difficult to draw geometric shapes on

paper because it requires more patience to get the edges of the shapes clean than one might believe. But is it really enough to merit renting out a whole gallery in NYC to display geometric shapes and lines?

As I went on through more galleries picking out what I believed to be worth the time and effort to install pieces for other viewers, I came to the realization that these pieces weren’t laid out for me. This realization sank in after viewing one particular gallery which had been organized to be a sensory experience. In one dark room beyond the visiting room, viewers could step into her dimly lit workspace that had motion detectors around the room to trigger speakers which would either play some cacophony of sounds or a recording of her voice speaking. As more and more people filled the room, the room would get louder because more people would trigger more sensors. It occurred to me that we had stepped into her mind. The more people in her mind, the louder the thoughts, words, and opinions would get. The “workspace” we stepped into could be discerned to reveal that every element had been carefully placed in its spot, so as to reveal the

recesses and compartments of her mind. Of course, everything had been set up so that I and the rest of the viewers could come and see what the artist ultimately wanted to display. But I was no longer standing there for myself. It was my privilege to get to know someone else’s vulnerabilities, fears, ideas, and mind.

I think a lot of the time, we as a collective are afraid of what we don’t know. So when we can’t understand someone’s art, we blame ourselves (“Oh I’m not an artist”) or the artist (“How can this piece actually mean anything?”). But to be able to view what a person can show when faced with a blank canvas, forcing oneself to reckon with one’s own vulnerabilities, fears, ideas, and mind, is a united feeling like no other. So even if it is an assortment of geometric shapes, we should bring the same enthusiasm we may bring to a child’s painting of geometric shapes. Because that person, no matter what their age might be, has braved the task of challenging themselves to putting a piece of their selves on the paper. May we not get so lost in our ability to choose which art appeals to us that we lose the beauty of this sacred element of art.

603 Washington Street, Hoboken NJ 07030

Looking for delivery person and employees

BY STEPHANIE SEARING In 1947 during the aftermath of World War II, American girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and about to be thrown out of her family. She is also hoping that her cousin Rose, the sister she never had, is still alive after disappearing in Nazi-occupied France.

When Charlie’s family ships her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, she escapes and heads to London to start to uncover the truth about what happened to Rose. In 1915, Eve Gardiner aches to join the fight against the Germans.

One day she is offered this when she is recruited as a spy. After training, she is sent into occupied France, working with Lili, code name Alice, also known as the “queen of spies” as she runs a network right under enemy noses. Thirty years later, Eve’s life has been ravaged as a betrayal tore apart the Alice Network. When a

young American girl comes knocking on her door asking questions, Eve is forced to face her past and uncover her own truths.

I absolutely LOVED this book, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It’s a bit of a long one, but the way it’s written is so beautiful it was hard to put down. The perspective it was written from was different from other books that I have read and I think it really added depth and mystery to the storyline. Another thing that is very interesting about this book is that some of the characters are actual real people; for example, Lili was an actual person and the actual “queen of spies” during World War I. The parts including her were either based on things that actually happened or did happen with very minor detail changed to include the characters in the book. I truly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading even if historical fiction isn’t your thing.

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10

Friday, November 12

Campus Pulse

Brittany Seelman ‘22 “I have no thoughts on the SGA.”

Ryan Musantry ‘25

“I don’t know. I’ve been here for like 11 weeks.”

Ylva Gasch ‘25 “What is the SGA?”

ROVING REPORTER David Li ‘22

“The SGA is definitely an organization I don’t pay much mind to.”

Melody Chu ‘25

“I don’t know much about the SGA honestly.”

What do you think of the SGA?

Nicholas Smith ‘25 “We actually have really strong student government here.”

Megan Dion ‘24

“I get emails from them but I don’t know what they do.”

Anjali Joy ‘25

“It’s cool to see them listening to us and getting things done.”

ACROSS: 1 2021 Netflix survival drama (2 wds) 6 Ice ___ or ___ cheese 9 Transfers to a new place (2 wds) 10 His real name is Montero Lamar Hill (3 wds) 11 One who takes care of a child while the parent is away 12 Not yet revised 14 Opposite of west 15 “Goldilocks and the ___” (2 wds) 18 Wheels you bring with you in case of a flat (2 wds) 20 Hindi word for “tea” 23 Kids’ activity (2 wds) 24 Lincoln ___: connection under the Hudson River 26 First president of South Africa Nelson 27 PlayStation 4 competitor (2 wds) 28 Where water is found in a desert

LAST WEEK’S CROSSWORD ANSWERS: Across: 3) 999 5) 121 7) 21 8) 001 9) 19 10) 180 12) 456 14) 77 16) 720 18) 31 19) 118 20) 01 21) 108 23) 905

Down: 1) 29 2) 12 3) 911 4) 900 5) 314 6) 116 11) 867 12) 512 14) 711 15) 718 16) 789 17) 005 22) 05 24) 04

cuffing szn is here personal ads in the stute $5 so we can pay trevor and buy snacks we have no money

29 “I’ll Be There for You” for “Friends” (2 wds)

DOWN: 1 There’s two in an academic year 2 Promotes, on Reddit 3 One of Santa’s reindeer 4 Kendrick with a palindromic name 5 Type of flask 6 Reserve, slangily (2 wds) 7 2022 Hyundai ___ 8 Assorted 13 He has played Andy Dwyer and Star-Lord, and he’s going to play Mario and Garfield (2 wds) 16 Director Steven 17 Brave 19 They’re used to make nut milk 21 “Star Wars” character (2 wds) 22 It contains Spain and Sweden 23 ___ shrimp 25 Wheel and ___