[The Stute] December 8, 2023 (Issue 13, Volume CXXI)

3rd place santa comp and intramural battleship!

We write Stevens history VOLUME CXXI No. 13

HOBOKEN, NJ | DECEMBER 8, 2023

Club sports subsidies

SEE SPORTS PAGE 2

NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904

Undergraduate Academics launches research portal to boost student involvement

ARTHUR SERRA, STAFF WRITER Every semester, each undergraduate student is charged a $230 Student Activity Fee (SAF). This SAF is then put at the discretion of the Student Government Association (SGA) to distribute around school to help run, as the name suggests, student activities.

A conservative estimate of 4000 undergrads creates $920,000 to be spread around. This means that every year the SGA and its budget committee manages just shy of 2 million dollars.

However, as much as that sounds, the fund is having a harder time every year to supply all of the student activities that want to be put on. The school is expanding significantly in terms of club participation year after year. Once we consider that inflation is having a significant effect on how far 230 dollars for each student goes, it’s no wonder that we’re starting to see some budgeting problems.

How the budget works in simple terms is that there is a list of “line items” that must be paid for with the SAF. These include the Entertainment Committee, which must make up 16% of the budget, and diversity programs such as the Lore-El center. These line items make up well over

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EVAN PAPAGEORGE, OPINION EDITOR

KEVIN CASTNER JR. FOR THE STUTE

Students participate in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

BY TANYA AVADIA, BUSINESS MANAGER The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been a central part of the holiday festivities for those in the New York and New Jersey area. For many, it is something that families watch together on Thanksgiving morning, either in person or on TV. However, what many students might be unaware of is the

relationship between the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Stevens. Every year, under the guidance of Dean Kenneth Nilsen, students have the opportunity to be a part of this spectacular parade. Students can choose to what degree they would like to participate and undergo training accordingly. The Stute had the chance to interview Kevin Castner Jr., who was heavily involved

in this year’s cohort of Stevens students working the “Ronald McDonald” float.

When asked about the origins of Stevens involvement, Castner Jr. explained how Dean Nilsen has been partaking in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the past 30 years, and is known by many students for his love of the parade.

For this reason, it is now a

SEE PARADE PAGE 2

Research is one of the easiest ways for students to further their education beyond what is learned in the classroom. While the curriculum here is renowned for producing skilled engineers, the participation in research at Stevens is significantly lower than that of other institutions, especially among undergraduate students. To help increase undergraduate involvement in research, the Office of Undergraduate Academics (OUA) recently announced the creation of an undergraduate research portal. To learn more, the Stute spoke with Stephanie Hierrezuelo, the Assistant Director of Pre-Professional Programs for OUA. The new portal, housed on Microsoft SharePoint, combines multiple systems into a streamlined interface. The portal was announced via email by David Zeng, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Faculty Affairs, on November 28. OUA’s website will house the portal along with instructions on how to use it, as well as other tips on how to go about researching on campus. The website also outlines steps for Pinnacle and Clark scholars, but the new portal is

open to all undergraduate students.

The portal consists of a list of active research projects on campus sorted by date added. Each list item includes the project’s title, a quick description, the school, department, qualifications needed, the number of open positions, the advising professor, and their email. Additionally, users can filter the projects by the advising professor, school/department, total spots, and spots available.

If a student finds an exciting project with open spots, the next step would be to contact the professor with the provided email.

However, OUA—in partnership with IT—is taking this initiative further than the new portal. As a part of their push to create more equitable opportunities for undergraduate students to get involved in research, up to a $1,000 stipend is available for students with an approved project and advisor. According to the announcement email, “If you [any undergraduate student] identify a project aligning with your interests, we encourage you to reach out to the faculty member overseeing the project to discuss your potential in-

SEE PORTAL PAGE 2

New Palmer plaza to freshen up campus Ducks in Ohio: RHA attend leadership

BY BEN KNOBLOCH, in front of Palmer. To learn placement of concrete and conference for Central Atlantic Universities more about the project, The asphalt walkways, which NEWS EDITOR

Construction scrims have sprung up around the east side of Palmer Hall as work begins on a new plaza and series of walkways around the first-year dormitory. The new work, part of the larger campus beautification initiative which has provided a facelift to various parts of campus in the past few years, will put out of commission the network of pathways connecting Palmer with the library, Howe building, and Martha Bayard Stevens lawn through February 6.

The end result of the renovation will see a new fountain, series of landscape plant beds, and paved plaza to spruce up the area

Stute spoke with Kurt Wagner, Senior Project Manager of Campus Infrastructure and Engineering. He offered a deeper dive into the motivating factors behind the changes, as well as how exactly the new space will improve campus for students in the Spring semester.

“This project is a continuation of our campus-wide initiative to upgrade our softscape and hardscape elements,” said Wagner.

Hardscope refers to the nonliving elements of landscaping, like pathways and walls, while softscape refers to plants and other living elements of campus beautification. He noted that past work has focused on the re-

were previously predominant on upper campus, with red and gray paving stones such as the ones that line Wittpenn Walk. It was decided that the pathways between Palmer and Howe would be next in line for this treatment, as they otherwise would have been due for repair.

Wagner described previous phases of the beautification effort. “[We] began with creating the walkway from the Ninth Street entrance up Babbio Drive and ending at Humphreys Hall. This was done several years ago. We then added the walkways servicing Alexander House, which

SEE PLAZA PAGE 2

ISABELLA ZIV FOR THE STUTE

NEWS (2-3)

SCIENCE (6)

FEATURE (4-5)

PULSE (12)

Students participate in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Kevin Castner Jr. shares his memorable experience.

Dealing with finals season Songs to add to your productive playlist, how to say no, remembering to eat, and best places to cry on campus.

Super black hole?

Brain monitering devices?

No more groundwater?

Read all you need to know about the world of science.

Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.

EVAN PAPAGEORGE, OPINION EDITOR

Over Veterans Day weekend, 12 delegates from Stevens traveled to the University of Cincinnati in Ohio to attend the Regional Leadership Conference (RLC) of Central Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls. RLC is an annual conference that helps develop leadership, inclusion, planning, and perspective skills to bring back to their respective schools to further the efforts of their Residen-

tial Hall Associations.

The residential system of any university is foundational to the student experience.

Dorms are the first and last thing residential students see before tackling a day packed with academics, athletics, and more. Housing falls under the Department of Residential Education and Residential Life (ResEd).

Student involvement in ResEd, aside from RA positions, takes the form of a student organization that plans events and represents the student body, The Residen-

tial Hall Association (RHA).

RHA and their subordinates on the Hall Councils act as the students behind living and spending time at Stevens associated with the living on campus.

RHA and Hall Council work together to plan events between floors, halls, and as on-campus residents. Each resident hall—like River Terrace, Davis, Humphreys, Jonas, Palmer, Castle Point Hall, and Lore-El Center— elects members to their hall

SEE RHA PAGE 2

PCB and jewelry! Here’s an inside peak at the third Women’s Makerspace Workshop

BY AVA WANG, MANAGING EDITOR This past Friday, December 1, marked the third installation of the Women’s Makerspace Workshop series. The workshop reserved ten spaces in the ABS Engineering Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and attracted women ranging from firstyears to seniors with a variety of backgrounds.

The December 1 workshop agenda was structured to provide attendees with a comprehensive introduction to soldering. Post completion of requisite MakerCenter safety training, workshop

attendees were led through an introductory presentation to soldering by Alicia Kearney and Nataly Jimenez. Kearney and Jimenez took the time to explain the dos and don’ts of soldering with detailed pictures — something I envy the first-year workshop attendees for having experienced prior to the dreaded Engineering Design II robot!

Attendees were then invited to try their hand at soldering techniques on a range of media, from printed circuit board (PCB) and resistors to necklaces and rings.

Each of the different mediums offered unique challenges: the solder not wanting to

stick to the jewelry, and the trouble of actually getting the wires through the hole for through-hole PCB soldering. Kearney and Jimenez expanded the repertoire and troubleshooting capabilities of those in attendance, and created a welcoming environment where attendees could bounce creative ideas off of each other.

I opted to make an amalgamation of the two mediums offered—mini PCB earrings—a craft that required some branching out into the MakerCenter tool drawers for. All students, after com-

SEE MAKER PAGE 2

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News Masthead Volume CXXI No. 13 Executive Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF......................................ISABELLA ZIV ‘25 BUSINESS MANAGER............................TANYA AVADIA ‘26 MANAGING EDITOR.......................................AVA WANG ‘25 LAYOUT EDITOR................................NICOLE GIARDINO ‘25 OUTREACH CHAIR..........................KAYDEN CANNILLA ‘24 DIGITAL MANAGER................................RAFAEL LEE LI ‘25 SECRETARY.............................................CLAIRE HANNAN ‘24 HEAD COPY EDITOR..............................KEENAN YATES ‘24

Editorial Board

NEWS EDITOR.........................................BEN KNOBLOCH ‘25 SCIENCE EDITOR.........................................ERIN MCGEE ‘25 OPINION EDITOR............................EVAN PAPAGEORGE ‘26 SPORTS EDITOR........................................CHRISTA RUIZ ‘25 FEATURES EDITOR................................TASHA KHOSLA ‘25 PULSE EDITOR........................................MIA PETROLINO ‘25

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Staff & Contributors Arthur Serra Daniel Hogan Amanda LaFrancois Meghana Mamadapur Douglas Sousa Riyana Phadke Ruthie Mullisky Abby Jacobs Justin Lema Victoria Yashchuk Zoe Hack

Charles Beall Itai Geller Anna Dabrowski Advait Dantuluri Josie Strano Stephen Pachucki Jack Scherban Liz Sepulveda Jiya Jaisinghani Shreya Roy

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SPORTS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 half of the operating budget the SAF allows for. The remaining ~400,000 is to be split up between Club Sports, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), and certain non-RSOs like Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity. Having a pooled resource for clubs is a smart way to make sure clubs have the resources they need to make activities possible for all Stevens undergrads. However, one of the major reasons that the budget is starting to run into problems is club sports.

In recent years, club sports such as lifting, men’s lacrosse, and climbing and mountaineering (CAM) have been significantly subsidized by the SGA, as they do technically count as a student activity open to all undergraduates — a requirement to receive fund-

PARADE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 custom for students who express interest in working the parade to be recruited by Dean Nilsen for the big day.

Stevens students can take on various roles, as explained by Castner Jr., “I was the only current student who was a balloon handler to my knowledge,” stated Castner Jr. He went on to say how Alex Rubino, a recent graduate from Stevens, was another balloon handler. In addition to current Stevens students helping out, two older alumni played a big role on the inflation team.

Everyone, despite their unique roles, all supported the “Ronald McDonald” balloon.

ing from the SAF. The controversy begins when we consider just how much money club sports receive given the size of their teams.

60% of a club sport’s budget can be subsidized by the SGA, the remainder must be paid for in dues.

The sum subsidized for the coming semester (Spring 2024) has totalled up to nearly $150,000.

The amount of funding received by club sports ranged from $4910.84 for Crew, or as much as $37,215.00 for Ski and Snowboard, but most clubs received around 7 to 9 thousand dollars. If we consider that many clubs have a relatively small membership, most club sports members end up receiving a lot more in terms of subsidies than they end up paying with their student activity fee, meaning those not taking advantage of club sports are essentially subsidizing those who do.

On the other hand, arguments for having large subsidies for club sports are pretty clear. A lot

of students are not qualified or willing to play sports at the varsity level. Subsidizing club sports lowers the financial barrier to entry and opens the opportunity to join to a larger demographic.

These students still want to compete for their school, and club sports offers them a venue to do so. Sure, it costs more money per person than other clubs, but it is simply a part of the cost of college to pay for club sports. Furthermore, if we subsidize club sports now, hopefully more members will join, which will make them cheaper in the future — if dues remain the same.

Both sides have good arguments, but it is something that has yet to be discussed in an open forum by the student body.

Should club sports be subsidized is a question that must be answered in coming months if we want to maintain ever-increasing RSO costs.

Being involved in a massive event such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is actually fairly easy if you attend Stevens.

There is no formal selection process. Instead, if you are interested in participating in any capacity, reach out to Dean Nilsen early on. Castner Jr. explained how the Dean is looking for a massive army of ducks to partake in this tradition for next year.

The last question that many people would likely have is in regard to the preparation necessary for taking on a role within the parade and the time required for it. Castner Jr., who was a balloon handler, shares that there were several optional trainings throughout the year that allowed him to get a feel for what the job entailed. For other, more involved roles such as being part of

the vehicle or inflation teams, a lot more trainings and times were required. Additionally, there would be an obligation to help set up a day in advance depending on your team assignment.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been the perfect segway into the holiday season. Getting the chance to partake in such a momentous event can be incredibly rewarding.

Castner Jr. told the Stute how his favorite part of the parade was waving back to little kids who were eagerly waiting and excited to see the Ronald McDonald float. For this reason, and because of the great energy everyone brought, Castner Jr. definitely recommends that anyone on campus even slightly interested should give the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade a try.

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PORTAL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 volvement. If the faculty member agrees to supervise a student in their listed research project, Stevens will provide the project with financial support of up to $1,000. This support covers various research-related expenses, including student stipends based on project hours, materials, sup-

PLAZA

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is now Martha Bayard Stevens Hall, Williams Library, Wittpenn Walk, and the paths connecting Wittpenn Walk and the Howe Circle to Williams Library.” He said that the work will continue after the Palmer plaza is complete, with subsequent work focusing on putting pavers on the path connecting the University Center Complex with Schaefer Athletic Center.

Passerby can see that large construction vehicles have already begun the process of removing the concrete and asphalt walkways

plies, software and conference attendance. There is no limit to how many undergraduate students a faculty member can support. There is also no restriction on the major or school of a student. The funding will be available until the allotted 100 positions have been filled.”

OUA’s new portal offers the chance for students to go beyond their typical education with vast-ranging benefits: communication skills, research skills,

and risk management, all very appealing to potential employers and graduate programs. The new portal and stipend allow students of all interests, academic progress, primary, or background to participate in research that benefits them and can help make the world a better place.

If you have questions, please contact Stephanie Hierrezuelo, Assistant Director for Pre-Professional Programs in the Office of Undergraduate Academics.

connecting Howe Circle, Palmer, and Stanley Drive. “The work involves [...] replacing them with a gravel and concrete substrate, then installing the new paver bed. It also replaces the circular landscape bed in front of Palmer with a water element, which is a sponsored gift from President and Mrs. Farvardin.” Released concept art fills in additional detail, including several benches and planting beds lining the new plaza and filling in the space in front of Palmer, which previously lacked notable adornment.

Despite the aesthetic improvements the work will produce, there will be some inconvenience for residents of Palmer Hall and

other pedestrians for the next two months. Wagner cautioned that the only accessible entrances to Palmer are on its west end. Additionally, pathways between the library, Martha Bayard Stevens, and Howe Circle will be blocked off.

Wagner closed by noting that the driving force behind the change was student feedback regarding Palmer Hall’s appearance and the aspiration to improve the aesthetic experience of being on campus. “It is our mission to make the living and learning experience on campus as pleasant as possible. We feel that a warm and inviting landscape and hardscape contributes to this goal.”

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News RHA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 council. Hall Councils work with RHA, whose E-Board plans events, voices issues and complaints from the students to the administration, and keeps Stevens’ housing up to the students’ standards, along with the rest of the region and country.

Part of the RHA’s job is participating in the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH). Stevens is part of the Central Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls chapter of NACURH, which includes schools from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. These organizations bring together the RHAs of different colleges and universities. They help RHAs advocate at their schools, provide resources for RHAs, host conferences, and create a standard of living and events at nationwide residential programs.

The Stevens delegation left early on Friday, flying from Newark Airport to Cincinnati-Northern-Kentucky Airport. Residential directors were advisors and members of part of the RHA E-Board, hall council members, and general body members. The conference included presentations throughout the week-

end. Students of member schools submitted program proposals that fit into the annual theme: “Bridging the Leadership Gap,” exploring aspects of leadership to teach the delegates from around the region.

Part of RLC is also a Boardroom.

In the Boardroom, RHA presidents and National Communication Coordinators (NCCs) discuss and vote on matters of importance to RHAs in the region. Discussions this year included inclusivity, hosting for upcoming conferences, and compensation for RHA E-board members.

Beyond the formalities of the conference, there were also socials for students who identify as first-generation, LGBTQIA+, minorities, and events for the whole conference like a dance, drag show, clothes-pin trading (like pin trading at other events), and the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, and banquet.

After speaking with some of the Stevens delegations, they agreed that attending the conference was a great experience, and the skills learned will be valuable in bettering the RHAs and Hall Council.

RHA looks forward to attending the Regional Business Conference over Presidents’ Day Weekend in February and continuing their use of the skills learned at RLC to make Stevens a better and more enjoyable place to live and learn!

MAKER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 pletion of safety training, are welcomed to use the MakerCenter for both academic and personal endeavors. The MakerCenter offers a laser cutter, 3D printers, welding, and soldering along with a multitude of other machining opportuni-

PHOTO COURTESY OF RHA

West New York fire on Thanksgiving On Thanksgiving Day, a threealarm fire broke out in an apartment building in West New York, NJ. Flames broke out at around 5:30 p.m., leaving 10 families and 20 people displaced. An explosion and subsequent collapse of a neighboring building’s roof left 10 firefighters injured, including two severe injuries requiring hospitalization. An investigation into what caused the fire is currently underway by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force.

The building located at 5222 Bergenline Ave which sits at the corner of Bergenline and 53rd Street, is a three-story residential building. The fire broke out in an apartment above the pharmacy on the first floor.

Within minutes after the flames were first reported, first responders from the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue were on the scene. Responders reported seeing heavy flames and smoke coming out of the building. To gain access to the flames, firefighters had to scale a neighboring building and fight the flames from the roof of the neighboring building. As the firefighters were battling the flames from the neighboring building, an explosion coming from the burning building rocked both structures. Just then, the roof collapsed in on itself, reducing the building to rubble and injuring 10 firefighters, with injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to broken bones. The injured firefighters were sent to either Jersey City Medical Center or Hackensack University Medical Center.

Firefighters continued to battle the flames and continued to pull residents from the burning building. Approximately three hours after the flames started at around 8:30 p.m., the fire was considered under control.

The investigation by the Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force has found that the fire originated in an apartment bedroom. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but at this time no foul play is suspected.

David Donnarumma, Chief of North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue, spoke about the firefighters that night. “The courageous efforts of our firefighters were instrumental in preventing any loss of life during this incident.

I’m incredibly thankful that all of these dedicated members of our department are expected to recover and that there was no loss of life among residents or firefighters.” Richard Turner, Chairman of North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue’s Management Committee, also commended the firefighters, stating, “The

PHOTO COURTESY OF ABC7NY.COM

made the event shine in my eyes.

Making connections with those in other organizations and the feeling of having someone in your corner when you walk into a GBM for the first time breaks down a lot of the intimidation factor of joining.

Thank you to Kearney and Jimenez for the organization, thought and preparation that goes into such an event! I look forward to seeing where the fourth workshop goes.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RHA

LOCAL NEWS

BY DANIEL HOGAN, STAFF WRITER

ties. If you haven’t been this semester, I highly recommend checking out the new fleet of Bambu 3D Printers.

Aside from building up technical skills, these Women’s Makerspace Workshops are a great opportunity to reach out to other women on campus, and raise each other up.

It was the casual conversation between attendees sharing their experiences on and off campus that

heroism of these firefighters is a testament to their commitment to our communities, and we are thankful every day for the work they do to keep us all safe.”

As for the displaced families, the Red Cross is working with them providing food, medical assistance, and a place to stay. Four residents were admitted to a hospital for minor injuries but have since been released. All residents of the building were able to make it out safely with the help of the firefighters.

Still, the Thanksgiving Day tragedy poses challenges for those who have lost both their homes and their belongings, as well as those who were injured in the explosion. “It’s a sad day for the township of West New York.

They with their residents, cause people are displaced, they lost their residences and lost their belongings,” said Donnarumma.

“It’s a difficult day for the firefighters, not because we had to work but because of the injuries.

Now their families will be suffering as well.”

Bribery accusations complicate 1st Ward election

BY ARTHUR SERRA, STAFF WRITER November 7 was election day here in the United States. Although there were no races for Congress or U.S. President, local and state officials across the country were elected to office. This includes here in Hoboken where we had elections for the six council members who represent the six wards of Hoboken. More on that first election, and the election process here in Hoboken, can be found on The Stute’s website.

Although five of these elections went smoothly, no one in the race for Ward 1 received the 50% + 1 majority required to win the election. This means that for the past month, candidates have continued to campaign for a runoff election that occurred on December 5. It was in the middle of this month that accusations arose claiming that one of the candidates, Paul Presiziano, was bribing voters to use mail-in ballots to elect him.

The veracity of these claims is unknown, but regardless of the truth, this is simply another example of how dirty and underhanded Hoboken politics can be.

Mail-in ballots became widespread to allow Union soldiers to vote during the 1864 election; President Lincoln hoped that they would secure him a second term, which they did. More recently, those who believe that the election was “stolen” from president Donald Trump have considered mailin-ballots as a form of election fraud. However it has been proven from independent, third party sources that mail-in ballots themselves are perfectly safe. However, what isn’t safe is people bribing others to vote a certain way.

The current controversy surrounding the runoff election is exactly that. Supposedly, support-

ers of Paul Presiziano or Paul Presiziano himself have offered $50 bribes to tenants in a Hoboken building in order to sway the election in his favor. Supporters of his opponent, Rafi Cordova, quickly helped those within the building send a formal letter to the New Jersey Attorney General reporting these bribes.

Obviously, any form of voting bribery is illegal, and opposed to all the democratic ideals of this republic. However, where this story becomes even more murky is following the counter accusations from supporters of Presiziano.

Current council members Tiffanie Fisher and Ruben Ramos have also sent a letter to the NJ Attorney General’s office, voicing their opinion that the accusations towards Presiziano and his supporters are baseless, and that Cordova is in bed with Hoboken Mayor Bhalla. What lends credence to their argument is that the letters accusing Presiziano of the fraud came out on the same day that mail in ballots were meant to be received and cast. Observers have noted that this seems like very opportune timing, and coincidences are rare and far between, especially in politics. Furthermore, Bhalla has made a $2,500 contribution to Cordova’s election campaign, and has made, according to Fisher and Ramos, “deceptive statements and misinformation to win.”

The runoff election ended up being taken by Paul Presiziano.

Presiziano’s main goal in running was maintaining a balance of power between supporters of the mayor and independents. The various accusations regarding vote-buying have yet to find a definitive answer, however investigations are ongoing. We hope that Paul Presiziano serves Hoboken with distinction, and that authorities get to the bottom of this controversy.

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Feature

IT’S FINALLY FINALS!

IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOUR FRIEND IS BEGGING YOU TO GO TO A PARTY ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT BEFORE AN EXAM HERE’S HOW TO SAY NO.

With finals season rapidly approaching, we often find ourselves stretched thin between social, academic, and personal responsibilities. It is easy to become overwhelmed, so we must prioritize certain duties over others. In other words, if your friend is begging you to go to a party on Wednesday night before an exam, here’s how to say no.

Generally, we prioritize goals that have an approaching deadline or that meet the needs of others. This can lead to less time being spent on important tasks, and more energy spent keeping “busy.” To stop spending time on unnecessary tasks, we can implement prioritization strategies.

One strategy is to have a master list with every task, from doing your laundry to writing a research paper. Writing down every goal can help you organize which goal is more important than another, and thus makes it easier to decide which tasks to prioritize.

It is also effective to categorize each task based on importance and urgency. If a task is urgent and important, it should be done first. If a task is important but not urgent, you should schedule a time to complete this task. If a task is urgent but not important, try to delegate the task. If it cannot be delegated, complete the task immediately in as little time as possible. Lastly, if a task is not important or urgent, remove it from your list altogether.

Besides our priorities, unexpected events can occur that are time-consuming. Whether it be a friend asking to grab dinner or assisting a club in setting up an event, it can be difficult to say no. It is easy to have the urge to please people or feel guilty saying

no, but time is the most valuable resource. Steve Jobs once said, “It’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.” By saying yes to everything asked of you, the responsibilities can add up and create additional stress, clouding which tasks are truly important.

One way to say no in a polite way is to respond with, “No, not yet.” With this approach, you are insinuating that you will complete the request when you have free time, without directly saying no. Another way is by stating, “Let me check my calendar.” This does not sound aggressive yet shows that you are attempting to find space for the task. Based on what your (hopefully organized) calendar shows, you are able to say yes or no. A third way to address an untimely request is by responding, “I can take care of that task for you but I also have this other task. Which is more important to you right now?” This response is mainly applicable when speaking to someone in a position of authority, presumably higher than yours. The response highlights your hard work and priorities, often eliciting understanding from the other person. Other ways to say no include, “This week won’t be possible, but we can consider it for next week,” or “I can help you with this once you’ve done that.” You can also offer to find someone else to do a certain task.

All in all, it is important to prioritize your mental health and responsibilities, without worrying about those of others. By effectively mapping out what needs to be done, you can prevent burnout and manage your commitments during finals season.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NY POST

BY MEGHANA MAMADAPUR STAFF WRITER

PHOTO COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

How to say no

Top 5 places to cry on campus

BY KAYDEN CANNILLA, OUTREACH CHAIR Finals can bring on a lot of pent-up emotions with heightened stress and little time to take stock of your mental health.

Crying is a quick and easy way to release that stress, with the benefit of releasing oxytocin and endorphins. Repressing emotions is linked to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and negative mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Social psychologists describe crying as “a way for unburdening oneself, i.e., for both expressing one’s suffering and, in a sense, reducing it”. Stevens has a 55acre campus; plenty of space to let your emotions out.

5. Gateway First Floor Chairs 4. Dorm stairs (Jonas sexile corner)

Honorable Mention: Bathroom floor (Burchard)

3rd Place: Library Third Floor

3. Library Third Floor (in public or the private study rooms) 3. Towers Lounge 2. Wellness Center Quiet Room Honorable Mentions: Stute Office Gateway Showers Bathroom floor (Burchard, Babbio, EAS in that order) 1. The Cannon/Wittpenn Walk: The average December windspeed for this area is 12 mph, with a max of 30mph.

Walking around, admiring the Manhattan skyline, tears will fall whether you’re emotional or not.

1st Place: The Cannon/Wittpenn Walk

5

Friday, December 8

Feature Fighting finals food fatigue

BY DOUGLAS SOUSA STAFF WRITER

week because it’s easy, quick, and you know it’ll be solid every time. Though this may sustain you temporarily, this can lead into that monotony that tells our body to stop craving food and lull you into food fatigue. Some great on-campus options for a unique meal are the build-yourown sandwiches and salads from America’s Cup, the unlimited food available at Pierce, and the Rotate station at the UCC Marketplace. It could even be a good idea to try cooking something yourself and making one of the biweekly recipes from our resident chef (and Outreach Chair) Kayden Cannilla’s column.

Switching up your order often can keep you more interested in eating and who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite!

Maybe eating on campus isn’t your thing because you live off-campus, or you just really don’t like the food here (no one blames you). Meal prepping on weekends for the upcoming week is a practical, efficient way to fight food fatigue. Making a large batch of a few different

meals so you can package them up to spread out throughout the week will not only save you time during the day, but also make it convenient to have a few options for each meal. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but having a few containers of spaghetti, sandwiches, or stir fry and rice ready to go in your fridge is a huge help when you’re overloaded with schoolwork and your eating alarm goes off, assuming you followed tip number one.

At the end of the day, food fatigue is a very real thing that can happen to anyone, and being prepared is the best way to fight it. These three tips are a great start to getting yourself ready for finding time to eat during the finals season grind, though there are a number of other ways to keep yourself from falling into food fatigue that may work better for you. Find what works and stick to it as best you can. Good luck on finals, enjoy the last days of warm-ish weather, and remember to eat something!

ISABELLA ZIV FOR THE STUTE

Here we go again, another finals season and another fight to stay afloat among projects, presentations, exams, homeworks, while trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep at some point. Notice anything missing from that list? Something arguably more important than any of the others, but it somehow gets pushed to the bottom of the priorities for a lot of students around this time in the semester: Eating!

The involuntary psychological phenomenon where one loses interest in eating is called food fatigue. It can happen when you feel you’re too busy, focused on the task at hand, or even just too unmotivated to take some time to stop, find some decent food, and eat it. Food fatigue can even happen when you’re simply just bored of the food options you have available. This leads to that lack of motivation or desire to eat that can cause some pretty negative side effects. However,

there are a few ways to fight food fatigue during the overwhelmingly busy finals season. I’ll lay out a few here. Why don’t you grab a snack and see if any can help you out?

The first, easiest, and maybe most seemingly ridiculous tip is to set an alarm. When you’re working on assignment after assignment, then studying for exam after exam, time can really start to run away without you even noticing. Having an alarm set to remind you to eat something every few hours is a great way to break away from staring at your laptop for hours. Whether it’s just a granola bar or a sweet, sweet swipe into Pierce from a freshman with more meal swipes than they know what to do with (take notes freshmen), just having something in your stomach will help fight off food fatigue and could even improve the quality of your studying.

That brings me to the next tip: trying something new! Maybe you’ve been getting the same chicken parm sub from Piccola Italia everyday for the past

Songs to get you through finals: study like you’re spicy brained

BY AMANDA LAFRANCOIS, CONTRIBUTOR Getting into the right headspace to buckle down and study for upcoming finals, I have always turned to music. But finding the right playlist or genre is always a roadblock and an easy way to procrastinate. I will stop my studying to take half an hour to make the perfect playlist and then lose all motivation to study.

This seemed to be an unbreakable pattern until one day I saw a TikTok about how 154 bpm music can help people who are neurodivergent focus better.

Being neurodivergent myself, that was enough for me, and I immediately turned to Spotify to find myself a playlist. I did find that faster paced music helped

to cancel out some of the circling thoughts and key me into the tasks I was working on.

Besides TikTok, there are more credible sources that support the use of music that has a higher tempo. One study quotes that the use of higher music tempo increases the foot traffic in grocery stores and the gross sales volume. In complicated decision-making tasks, it was also found that the decision accuracy was higher when music with a higher bpm was played. Music also stimulates the parts of your brain that produce dopamine (something that can be scarce during finals season) and are responsible for memory storage and recall. Because music interacts with so much of our brain, it can strengthen neural pathways helping with well being and

learning. All of this just goes to show what a powerful tool music can be.

So if 154 bpm music can help a spicy brained, easily distracted engineer like myself, you might as well give it a try. This bpm is not necessarily created by loud guitars or screaming singers but by the backbeat to songs. And although I do enjoy music that screams at me, music with this bpm ranges in all genres and styles so you are bound to find something that scratches your itch. I have specially curated a playlist with a variety of songs that have this magic tempo.

Hopefully these can help me and you keep on track this finals season. Happy studying and rock on.

Featuring Taylor Swift, Greta Van Fleet, Queen, Fall Out Boy, and more!

ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF THE OTHERS, BUT IT SOMEHOW GETS PUSHED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PRIORITIES FOR A LOT OF STUDENTS AROUND THIS TIME IN THE SEMESTER: EATING!

6

Friday, December 8

Science Brain-monitoring device takes guesswork out of anesthesia

BY RIYANA PHADKE, SCIENCE WRITER

Researchers at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital are finding that combining brain monitoring equipment with drug-dosing algorithms could one day help anesthesiologists give patients just the right dose of anesthetic to stay sedated for the duration of medical procedures. This is called a closed-loop anesthesia delivery (CLAD) system.

Many patients’ biggest fear when undergoing surgery is

waking up in the middle of it.

Physicians and anesthesiologists do not want this either, as it often leads to more stress and complications in an otherwise easy procedure. Because of this, anesthesiologists will often give more anesthetic than necessary to keep patients sedated during medical procedures or when a patient is on lifesaving care.

While this is normally acceptable, sometimes anesthetics can be harmful to sensitive groups. “The common practice of using constant infusion rates can lead to overdosing,” the re-

searchers wrote. “This observation is particularly relevant for elderly patients who at standard propofol infusion rates readily drift into burst suppression, a profound level of unconsciousness associated with postoperative cognitive disorders.”

Studies also point to the idea that long periods of anesthesia in young children may cause behavioral problems.

A new, automated delivery system known as CLAD is being developed to help doctors administer the right dose of medication to each patient. CLAD

technology looks at the data directly from the brain while the patient is unconscious, whereas anesthesiologists often rely on indirect markers such as heart rate or blood pressure to determine unconsciousness.

The researchers collected these data-collecting brain markers by measuring changes in neural spiking activity while animal subjects were unconscious.

They also looked at local field potentials (LFPs) which are large scale rhythms that the spiking produces.

The new device was tested

initially by computer simulation to determine how the machinery would work under realistic conditions. After the first tests were run, the CLAD system was performed on rhesus monkeys.

The monkeys were administered propofol, a common anesthetic.

Over the experimental duration of 125 minutes, the CLAD system was independently allowed to take over for 30 minutes. The goal was to see if the brain monitoring device could bring the animals to a precise level of unconsciousness for 45 minutes, change them to a different level for another 40 minutes, and then bring them back to their original level for 40 more minutes. The doses were automatically adjusted every 20 seconds to ensure this happened. By changing the dosage so rapidly, researchers could ensure that the monkeys received just enough drug to stay sedated for 125 minutes. These findings were posted in PNAS Nexus in late October.

The Picower team acknowledged that there is more work to be done to make this type of anesthesia monitoring more suitable for human use. One of these steps is basing the current system off of an electroencephalogram (EEG), which can be measured from the scalp.

The team could then determine markers for unconsciousness based on the data of human brain rhythms rather than monkey LFPs. It is interesting to note that, while the current technology is trying to maintain unconsciousness, it can also help wake patients up.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.SCIENCENEWS.ORG

Uh-oh…no more groundwater?

BY ARTHUR SERRA, STAFF WRITER It’s a commonly heard concept that if wars in the 20th century were for oil, wars in the 21st will be for water. As climate change increases global temperatures, the need for water will increase.

More water will be needed to water plants in hotter temperatures, more water will be drunk by humans, amongst a variety of other knock-on effects that the increase in global temperatures will create.

This is commonly known and true.

What is similarly known, but not necessarily true, is that countries in the first world like the United States will be minimally affected by this potential global water shortage. With our vast military and economic power, coupled with some of the most abundant natural resources in the world, it would make sense that we would be fine.

This idyllic dream sadly does not measure up to the facts recently reported by the two New York Times articles published within the past few months on American groundwater.

We here in the United States rely overwhelmingly on groundwater to supply our cities and our farming industries. Groundwater is normal fresh water stored within vast underground aquifers, which are natural rock formations created over millions of years.

Over time more water trickles back into rock formations naturally.

The sheer amount of groundwater in the United States is one of the reasons our farming industry is so powerful — we have freshwater available all over the country.

However, in recent years, our supply of groundwater has diminished for a few reasons.

Firstly, we’re simply using way too much water. Nearly half of all

groundwater aquifers have decreased significantly in volume since 1980, and 4/10 reached record low levels in the past few years. Too much depletion of these aquifers can be particularly dangerous because they might self-destruct if water levels drop.

These rock formations are used to having the water pressure inside of them. If not enough water is within the aquifer at one point, it may collapse in on itself, thus either decreasing how much water can be in the aquifer or completely stopping holding water at all. Part of the reason that we’re pumping so much water is simply because plants need more water these days.

Hotter temperatures mean plants need more water to survive. Tack on that hotter temperatures mean less snow dropping in the winter to drain down the mountains in the spring, and you have a problem. There are ways to alleviate this problem; modern technology can be applied to farms to make them require less of this transparent gold. Unfortunately, those solutions require money, and that leads us to our second problem: politics.

A combination of lack of regulation and political control over the pumping of groundwater is significantly contributing to the problem. In part because we never needed them, and in part because of the deregulation that has occurred since the 1980s, we tend to have very little regulation surrounding groundwater pumping.

What few state regulations there are tend to be weak and the federal government doesn’t have oversight over those regulations. This means that farmers and corporations can pump as much water as they want — cheaper than those tech upgrades in the short term.

When there is some kind of politi-

Supermassive black hole feedback observed

BY ERIN MCGEE, SCIENCE EDITOR

FIRSTLY, WE’RE SIMPLY USING WAY TOO MUCH WATER. cal control over the pumping process, it is often corrupted by big corporations, or it allows for big farmers to control the bodies that regulate their pumping. The former can be seen in Nevada where gold mining company Barrick Gold Corporation, which has a major mine. Mostly through significant campaign contributions, they were able to defeat a state-bill that would’ve limited how much water they could use in their shafts and refineries. The latter can be seen in Kansas’s Groundwater Management District 3, where 13 elected men serve on its board. These men who are elected officials aren’t elected by the general body, but by their peers and large landowners.

In an area with 130,000 inhabitants, only 12,000 are allowed to vote. And despite their aquifers quickly losing water, the amount of pumping has only increased.

Simply put, groundwater is crucial for the future of this country. Lack of regulation, corruption, and overuse of water is creating a problem that we will face within our lifetimes.

In the center of a galaxy far, far away (13 million light years to be exact) lives a black hole. At the center of the Circinus galaxy, this object has a mass millions of times that of the sun, so large that nothing can escape its pull, not even light. Research into this galaxy has resulted in huge achievement in physics — and possibly brought us a step closer to understanding black holes.

Almost every large galaxy we know of has a supermassive black hole at its center, even our own.

In fact, the 2020 Nobel prize in physics was awarded to several physicists (including the 4th woman in history to win the prize for physics) who proved conclusively that there is a black hole at the center of our galaxy by observing the stars close to the center orbiting it. In 2019, this black hole was famously photographed; our first image of a black hole ever.

These black holes are often considered the ‘engines’ of galaxies. Particles, dust, and gas from the galaxy are drawn towards the center by the immense gravitational pull of the black hole. This matter begins to orbit the black hole, falling into the mass. This creates a kind of ‘disk’ of particles surrounding the black hole, which physicists refer to as the ‘accretion disk’. This disk is the common collection of stuff that you will see around a black hole in almost any artist’s rendering of what these celestial bodies look like. As the matter gets closer to the center, it begins to speed up, causing friction, and temperatures up to several million degrees. This creates

what astrophysicists call an active galactic nucleus — which brightly emits more than most stars in the galaxy. When the black hole finally swallows the matter, it is turned into energy. This energy is then sent out back into the galaxy, which affects the formation of new planets, stars, and solar systems. Black holes are the most efficient system in nature when it comes to converting matter into energy: about 50%, which is several billion times more efficient than something like petrol.

Recent research from Tohoku University in Japan has made even more strides in the research of these accretion flows and the structure of a black hole itself. By taking high resolution measurements at the Atacama Large MillimeterMilimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observatory, a massive array of radio telescopes in the Chilean desert, the group was able to actually capture the accretion flow heading into the black hole located at the center of the Circinus galaxy. By studying an area of the accretion disk, very close to the black hole that was several light years in length, the team was able to pinpoint exactly where the flow was heading into the active galactic nucleus. This discovery marks the first time this has been captured, and an important step to understanding the accretion mechanisms themselves.

Black holes have always been something of fascination for everyone: physicists to science fiction enthusiasts. Discoveries like this one represent a step forward to better understanding our universe — making science less a thing of fiction.

INTERESTED IN SCIENCE JOURNALISM?Join our Science writing team!

Reach out to Erin McGee, Science Editor (emcgee@stevens.edu) for more information – No experience necessary to write • thestute.com/category/science –

7

Friday, December 8

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM (SHOT BY CARLISLE STOCKTON)

Sports

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field competes in TCNJ Winter Opener

BY RUTHIE MULLISKY, SPORTS WRITER

Stevens Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams both had a very successful season opener after attending The College of New Jersey’s Winter Opener held at the New York City Armory on Saturday, December 2. Although team scores were not compiled, many individual athletes posted very impressive results following the event.

On the women’s team, this meet marked the collegiate debuts of first-years Isabella Shanley, Kate Cen, Maya Lapinski, and Anacarolina Ventura. Senior Kristen Williams won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 9.09 seconds after shaving off almost three-tenths of a second from her preliminary time of 9.36 seconds, marking the second-fastest time of her career. Senior Laura

Mathews followed Williams in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing third in the finals with a time of 9.15 seconds. Additionally, Shanley finished 13th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.19 seconds and fifth in the 300-meter dash with a time of 42.21 seconds. In the 600, senior Jacqueline Lulaj finished fifth with a time of 1:42.68, setting a new personal best, while sophomores Isabel Vogel and Taylor Enes finished seventh and eighth respectively, with times of 1:44.09 and 1:45.49. In the high jump, Lapinski and junior Caroline Tighe tied for third place, making a height of 1.57 meters, while sophomore Maggie Previglian and senior Allie Canciani tied for eighth with a height of 1.52 meters. In the pole vault, sophomore Alexis Merola finished in third place, successfully clearing three meters. Additionally, sophomore Stephanie Ryazano-

va placed close behind Merola at fourth, also clearing three meters, but needing only one extra attempt to do so. Finally, in the weight throw, graduate student Ashley Muliawan finished fifth, throwing to 12.28 meters, clearing the 12-meter mark two times and setting a new personal record.

On the men’s team, this meet marked the collegiate debuts of firstyears Doug Winant, Tyler Hackett, George Maroun, Joshua Lim, Chris Persico, Justin Gajewski, and Ryan Paradine. Winant finished sixth in the 60-meter dash out of 46 runners, finishing in a time of 7.23 seconds, while sophomore Connor Robinson followed shortly after, finishing 10th with a time of 7.30 seconds.

In the 300-meter dash, sophomore Kyle Savino finished 19th, with a time of 36.48 seconds. In the mile race, Paradine finished 10th with a

time of 4:39.55, while sophomore Mark Bigsby finished 18th with a time of 4:48.94. In the 5000-meter, sophomore Mick Barbi finished 20th with a time of 17:02.14. Additionally, in the high jump, Lim finished sixth, clearing a height of 1.87 meters, while also finishing 14th in the triple jump, making it to 12.35 meters. In the pole vault, Persico tied for 11th place, clearing a height of 3.85 meters, while senior Andrew Anantharajah and sophomore Kyle Miller both cleared 3.85 meters but each required more attempts, and were both tied for 15th. In the weight throw, senior Colin Keady finished sixth, throwing 14.20 meters on his first attempt and setting a new personal record.

Both teams will return to compete in Lehigh University’s two-day Fast Times Before Finals meet on December 8 and 9 in Bethlehem, PA.

ON DECK IN SPORTS

FRI, DEC 8 WOMEN’S AND MEN’S TRACK & FIELD Fast Times Before Finals–Day 1 Bethlehem, PA Time TBA

SAT, DEC 9 WOMEN’S AND MEN’S TRACK & FIELD Fast Times Before Finals–Day 2 Bethlehem, PA Time TBA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Both Women and Men’s Swimming produce a MAC Swimmer of the Week

BY ABBY JACOBS, SPORTS WRITER On Monday, December 4, following a three day invitational hosted by The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), juniors Kai Wong and Edward Platonov, from the women’s and men’s swimming teams respectively, were announced as honorees the MAC Swimmer of the Week award. The title is the first weekly award of Wong’s career and the first of the year for Platonov.

The TCNJ Invitational began on Friday, December 1, when the women’s and men’s teams competed against TCNJ, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Suny New Paltz, and West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

The first day of the meet included the preliminaries and finals of the 500 Free, the 200 Individual Medley (IM), and the 50 Free. The 7 p.m. finals also included the 200 Free Relay and the 400 Medley Relay. The wom-

en’s team saw first in their bracket, and the men second in theirs, with a respective 326 and 215 points.

Saturday, December 2, were the preliminaries and finals for the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, and 100 Back, with the 6 p.m. finals making time for the 200 Medley Relay, as well as the 800 Free Relay. The second day of the invitational saw consistency for the Ducks, as Women’s Swimming again took first with 702 points, and Men’s Swimming took second with 533.5 points. The Ducks’ victory was largely ensured by sophomores Gabby Tyler, Natalia Brunetti, and Adriana Bertolotti winning their individual races, and senior Keenan Yates, along with Wong, Bertolotti, and Brunetti winning their relay. For the men, Platonov’s victory in the 200 Free ensured their placement in second for the day and was also the team’s first win of the meet.

On the final day of the invitational, Sunday, December 3, Women’s Swimming amassed 997 points, and

placed second in their bracket, while Men’s Swimming took home third with a total of 770 points. The day consisted of the preliminaries and finals for the 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, and 200 Fly, along with the addition of the 1650 Free and 400 Free Relay in the finals. Women’s Swimming took multiple wins, including those of junior Sophie Patz in the 200-yard backstroke, Wong in the 100-yard freestyle, and Brunetti in the 200-yard butterfly, but narrowly

lost the meet to TCNJ by a mere eight points. Throughout the weekend, they secured nine first-place, eight second-place, and 11 third-place finishes.

The Ducks are now on winter break, their next meet not being till Friday, January 12, against No. 5 NYU, in the DeBaun Aquatic Center.

This will be immediately followed by a second meet against NYU on Saturday, January 13, this time in New York.

Colby College Hoboken, NJ 1 p.m.

SUN, DEC 10 MEN’S BASKETBALL Middlebury College Hoboken, NJ 1 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM

STEVENS SCOREBOARD

LIN)

DATE

FRI, DEC 1

SAT, DEC 2

SUN, DEC 3

TUE, DEC 5

TEAM

OPPONENT

LOCATION

SCORE

WOMEN'S SWIMMING MEN'S SWIMMING WRESTLING WRESTLING WOMEN'S SWIMMING MEN'S SWIMMING MEN'S BASKETBALL WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEN'S FENCING WOMEN'S AND MEN'S TRACK & FIELD WOMEN'S SWIMMING MEN'S SWIMMING WOMEN'S FENCING MEN'S BASKETBALL

THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 1 THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 1 NEW STANDARD CORPORATION INVITATIONAL–DAY 1 NEW STANDARD CORPORATION INVITATIONAL–DAY 2 THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 2 THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 2 HOOD COLLEGE TRINITY COLLEGE (CONN.)

AWAY AWAY AWAY AWAY AWAY AWAY AWAY HOME

1ST OF 4 2ND OF 4 3RD OF 15 2ND OF 15 1ST OF 5 2ND OF 5 W (85-66) L (59-70)

ALUMNI MATCH TCNJ WINTER OPENER

HOME AWAY

COMPLETED COMPLETED

THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 3 THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY INVITATIONAL–DAY 3 ALUMNI MATCH BROOKLYN COLLEGE

AWAY AWAY HOME AWAY

2ND OF 5 3RD OF 5 COMPLETED W (75-52)

8

Friday, December 8

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9

Friday, December 8

Opinion THE STUTE EDITORIAL

Mid-semester delivery crisis For an excruciating seven weeks, The Stute found itself in the midst of a mid-semester crisis, with our delivery person stepping down from their position unexpectedly. Usually, the job of the delivery person is to wake up at the crack of dawn every Friday, pick up the wagon from The Stute office, collect the shipment of papers from the Howe Center, and distribute the papers to 24 campus rack locations. It can be a tough routine, totaling about an hour and a half of manual labor, and it is not a glamorous task by any means.

This is not intended to read as a job posting, I just want to show the amount of work that goes into this position.

Typically, a federal work-study student fills this role, which helps streamline the payment process and ensures continuity. However, we found ourselves without a paid worker for a seven-week stretch, putting the responsibility to The Stute’s E-board and more specifically, me.

As the editor-in-chief of The Stute, I felt responsible for all the issues coming up and felt like I was failing at my job. When I wasn’t able to find someone for the job, I felt obligated to do it myself. However, unlike a normal delivery person, neither I nor the other members of the E-board were getting paid. Regardless, I knew I had to step up to the challenge. While there was a bit of ex-

citement at the prospect of delving into a side of The Stute I had never experienced before, it was far from my ideal way to spend a Friday morning at 7 a.m.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, a silver lining emerged in the form of unwavering support from fellow members of The Stute’s leadership. I would like to specifically shout out Ava Wang, Kevin Castner Jr., Claire Hannan, and Kayden Cannilla. In the face of adversity, they not only rose to the occasion and took turns delivering but also banded together, often delivering papers in pairs. What could have been a tedious and burdening task turned into an opportunity for camaraderie and shared ex-

periences on those early Friday mornings. Their willingness to step up when needed the most was a testament to the commitment of our team.

Fortunately, we now have a dedicated delivery person for the remaining issues. However, the period when we didn’t have someone to deliver papers proved to be a unifying experience for The Stute’s leadership. In adversity, we found solidarity, turning an unfortunate situation into an opportunity to strengthen our bonds and make the best of a challenging circumstance. I am very grateful to have such a great team who will step up when it’s needed most to support me and each other.

Isabella Ziv ‘25

Editor-in-Chief

MIND OF A FRESHMAN

A Stevens New Year’s resolution

BY JUSTIN LEMA ‘27 Would you change anything about your Fall semester if you could go back and relive it again? I think this question helps us reflect on how accomplished we feel about the semester. With finals right around the corner, I think we might get caught up

in the pressure of late-night studying. While writing this, I am also looking at my todo list cluttered with many tasks that are due this week or have been forgotten about.

For the freshmen on campus, including me, I know that we had our ups and downs this semester filled with both enjoyment and stress, but luckily, Winter break is also quickly approaching. I personally feel that I should have put myself out there more often, but I knew that the college transition would be difficult.

However, beyond the exams and the projects, this month of holidays will bring us closer to our friends and family. I have made amazing

friends this semester and I hope that we have all made lasting memories with our friends who may be for lifelong. Many of us will spend the holidays with our family, and it will be a great way to catch up with our family members. As family is important, I believe that any pets you take care of will also be happy to spend time with you for the break.

However, we should explore Hoboken and New York City for the holidays right now before Winter break. One of the amazing perks of attending Stevens is how quickly it takes to go to New York City and explore popular spots like Rockefeller Center. I person-

ally think that such an experience would be amazingly better when it snows. The snow, paired with beautiful lights on Washington Street, is a spectacle to experience, but we have not gotten a heavy snowfall yet. If you ever look closely at a snowy night, it really feels like time is slowing down with how peacefully and gracefully the snowflakes fall. This is an experience that I would like to have in Hoboken right after my finals because I will need a moment of tranquility for myself.

As I write this article, I realize that this will be my last article for this 2023 year, and soon enough, it will be 2024.

It is difficult to believe that

2016 was just eight years ago when it really feels like only four years have since passed.

And in less than a month, we are all going to fall victim to the “last year” jokes. Some examples of them include the phrase “I have not seen you since last year,” knowing full well that the person has seen their friend just yesterday. I will know because I have also been the person to use these jokes before despite knowing how they resemble the classical dad joke. Although, it is that holiday season when our spirits will be filled with joy, love, and unity, so prepare all your amazing jokes for the family dinner.

Lastly, the New Year will

roll around and, like many of you, I will be making my own New Year’s resolution.

With the hope of developing a stronger mindset, I am already planning my resolution to be a goal where I can work on my mental and physical abilities. These New Year resolutions can be difficult to accomplish, as I struggled after five months just this year. No matter the setbacks, I will always look forward to the New Year because while I know that I will not change from day to night, I know that with small successive steps, I will reach my goal. And so, despite it being early, what is your resolution for the New Year?

with any kind of “ideal” final.

For all the reasons above, I think time should not be a factor. You will never be better at performing calculations quickly than a computer; that’s what they were built for. Especially with fears that AI is being used to shortcut or cheat, a final should be designed to test the ways that humans are more capable than computers. Reasoning, creativity, modeling a system, and making reasonable assumptions for analysis; that is what we are built for. It was quite far into the design spine until I understood design thinking in this way. At a surface level, you can get by remembering which equations to use and the steps to solve them to get the answer. A lot of students choose STEM because it’s logical; follow the method and you will get your solution. However, it’s not about finding one right

answer or methodically following a process. It’s the idea that there are many ways to solve this problem, and by leveraging the equations that govern it, you can know more about how it works and use it to your advantage.

I haven’t yet made up my mind about what resources should be available before a final: ideally, a student should be able to ace it referencing only the course material and required texts. Being able to bring your own annotated notes into an exam seems to be a reasonable approach, as closed-book exams are not indicative of how most of these problems are actually solved. The format is similarly loose: an exam may only evaluate what you know one time on one day, it is not a representative sample. Projects seem to be able to gather more information about cumulative learning better, but

it can be a much more significant time commitment in completion and grading.

I have yet to do my routine of calculating the minimum grade I need on a final.

I’m less concerned about needing to pull it together at the last minute. In freshman year, my virtual finals were marked by exploring the liminal spaces on campus: after hours in first floor Gateway South, empty classrooms, and the hallways of Jonas.

It seems impossible to eliminate all stress from finals, no matter the format of the project or exam. Stress never dissipated as my finals moved in person, just changed how I experienced it. Your grades are important, but not as much as your overall experience of the semester and the learning you’ll take from it.

Surviving is something to be proud of on its own.

SENIORITIS

What’s the point of finals?

BY KAYDEN CANNILLA ‘24 Finals season is upon us, that necessary evil aiming to measure a semester’s worth of learning.

Evaluating students’ cumulative knowledge is a difficult and stressful task for both the student and the professor. Test-taking doesn’t always indicate how much you’ve learned in the course; it might measure how well you can memorize or regurgitate information rather than think critically and ana-

lyze a problem. A final should exemplify the tenets of the course, the major deliverables you will take away and use outside the course: “in real life.” This isn’t to say that academics should be wholly career-focused, but more that students should know the reason why they’re learning this in the first place.

For three years of my engineering degree, I took tests as assigned, often running out of time and sometimes getting sick in the middle of them. This had rarely happened in high school, so I put it off as adjusting to the difficult material. Though it continued to happen throughout every semester, it felt like asking for accommodations was the easy way or that I didn’t deserve it if I could still get good grades in the “normal” amount of time. I put up with the physical effects of stress because I was

still doing well in my classes; I assumed it was just a byproduct of the rigorous courses. I was spending so much of the exam time just trying to ground myself and not lose my breakfast rather than analyzing the problem in front of me. Finally, after a particularly brutal Thermal Engineering exam, I reached out to the Office of Disability Services. I was able to sort out accommodations for 1.5x time and a less distracting, less stimulating environment. This has vastly improved my test-taking experience, and I encourage anyone in a similar situation to talk to ODS now and set yourself up for next semester.

The exam environment is not the point; solving problems fast is not nearly as important as having a well-thoughtout approach, and you don’t get extra points for suffering.

It’s difficult to come up

COMIC CORNER

BY JOSIE STRANO

10

Friday, December 8

Opinion ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Silent Canvas: The misunderstood truth of the photorealist reality

After the Fire by Will Hill: a gruesome novel about hidden truths

Will Hill wrote After the Fire, based on real events, addressing the siege of a cult once known as Branch Davidians. In his novel After the Fire, Will Hill tells the story of the downfall of an extremely religious cult.

The story is told through the eyes of Moonbeam, a 17-year-old teenage girl who reflects on her life growing up in said cult and her life after its downfall.

In the novel, Will Hill allows his readers to gain insight into the psychological terror that being a part of a cult entails. Growing up in the cult, the “Lord’s Legion,” Moonbeam was trained to obey orders and endure strict punishments as a way of developing self-control. According to Father John (the cult leader), this was the only way to enter Heaven. Father John was a cruel, self-proclaimed prophet who took over the former leader, Father Patrick. He preached about the wrongdoing and evilness of the world outside of the “Lord’s Legion.”

As one would expect, all members of the “Lord’s Legion” were not allowed to cross the fence (or any enclosing barriers) or speak to Outsiders, as anyone on the opposite side of the said fence was thought to be

that her eyes have seen many horrid things that her words cannot fully grasp.

Nevertheless, Moonbeam opens up to Dr. Hernandez about her experiences, ultimately questioning her once-strong loyalty to the “Lord’s Legion” and her newly-found (and growing) loyalty to herself. The voice of Father John was very stubborn in Moonbeam’s mind, causing Moonbeam to question her role in the outside world, the world she once called “The Servants of Serpenta.”

Moonbeam recalls meeting Nate, a new “Lord’s Legion” member. The two grow very fond of each other; Moonbeam is intrigued

by Nate’s views on life, and such views make Moonbeam question the intentions of the cult. After Nate leaves the cult, Moonbeam considers leaving the cult herself.

The novel continues to portray the impact of harmful situations on innocent, misled people. It shows the cunning game of trust and loyalty. Moonbeam’s coming-of-age story shows the gruesome psychology behind knowing what is real and what is deemed to be real.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOODREADS.COM

BY VICTORIA YASHCHUK ‘26

“The Servants of Serpenta.”

The downfall of the “Lord’s Legion” is a massive fire that burns down the compound and kills most of the cult members.

The massive fire is followed by shootings between the surviving cult members and government agencies.

The mystery, however, is how the fire started.

Hill strategically formats his novel by creating a parallel between the past and present through Moonbeam. In the book’s present time, Moonbeam and her friends are being taken care of in a rehabilitation center after the FBI’s siege of the “Lord’s Legion.”

Emphasizing the mental precariousness of cult aftermath, Hill incorporates Luke, a “Lord’s Legion” fanatic. Luke was raised in the cult. So, he had no real-world experience, only what he had been told and taught by Father John. At the rehabilitation center, Luke wished that he perished in the fire so he could be gifted entry to Heaven.

Because of this, Luke and Moonbeam are direct opposites of each other, especially as Moonbeam’s character develops. Moonbeam slowly establishes a safe and comfortable relationship with her psychiatrist, Dr. Hernandez, after many (daily) interviews. Another important character, Agent Carlyle from the FBI, works with Moonbeam and Dr. Hernandez to thoroughly investigate the “Lord’s Legion” compound.

Suspense is built through the fact that Moonbeam does not share much about her life in the cult, even though everyone (including the reader) knows

GIRL(ISH) TALK

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: stop comparing women!

BY CLAIRE HANNAN ‘24 I haven’t talked about it yet in this column, but I’m a part of the Stevens Women’s Swim Team.

Swimming has been an important part of my life since I joined a summer team about 14 years ago.

For most of my time in this sport, I genuinely hated going to practice and swimming for fun. I only stuck with it for one reason: I loved competing. The thrill of racing other people and pushing my body to its limits was addicting. I don’t know why or when, but at some point over the past two years, that all changed.

Although I no longer dread practice, and I could lap swim forever without getting bored, I’ve fallen out of love with competition.

Still, as much as I dread the competitive aspect of competitive swimming, I’m still on the Stevens team for another few months,

so I’ve been searching for the things that make this worth it (I promise this has something to do with being a girl). Over the weekend, I was at a three-day swim meet, and it was a struggle to get motivated for my races. One way that athletes get motivated is by creating competition within the team. It’s an effective way to improve performance for a team, and it used to work great for me when I was younger. It feels good to chase after another person’s times and come out on top. This weekend, my coach pointed out that another swimmer was creeping up on me during our races. An old version of me would have taken that as a challenge and focused everything on beating her.

Instead, I only felt happy: happy that she was doing so well, happy that the two of us were going to score points.

One thing about the Stevens Women’s Swim Team is that we have a lot of girls who are great at the 200 backstroke. We usually stack A finals (the fastest, highest-scoring race) with majority Stevens women, and it’s constantly changing who’s the best at the event. The 200 backstroke also happens to be my best event. You could think of

it as unlucky that I have so much talented competition. This weekend, we had seven girls score in the 200 backstroke, and afterward, in the warmdown pool, one of my teammates said, “Can people just stop comparing us!” and something clicked for me. I was happy that someone else felt the disconnect that I have around competing with my teammates. When you’re competing with someone, you’re rooting not only for you to do well but also for them to do poorly. It’s pretty simple what changed: I no longer see myself as an individual swimmer but rather as a part of an incredible team of women.

When they succeed, so do I. The only real reason competing is still worth it is to see my teammates thrive, and I realized that a lot of the girls I swim with feel the same. When I go into a race with them, I don’t feel like there’s a pressure to prove myself, I feel supported. I know that they’re putting their all into the race, and I owe them the same to help score as many points as possible. So the boys can keep the comparisons and competition if they want to, I think that the girls would be much happier swimming as a team.

BY ITAI GELLER ‘26 The photorealism movement was born as a counter to the widely popular abstract expressionist movement, which gained substantial ground in the mid-20th century. For those of you unfamiliar, photorealism is an art form in which the artist uses modern media from photography or other digital technology to reproduce the physical reality that has been captured. While this artist movement is not as distinguished, photorealist paintings have been celebrated throughout the contemporary era. An excellent example would be Ken Danby’s “At the Crease,” a photorealist painting portraying a hockey goalie from the 70s preparing to face a shot on net. Danby’s piece was most widely celebrated in his home country, Canada, where the sport of hockey was born. While photorealism has made its mark in the history of contemporary art, it commonly goes unrecognized or unrepresented. I believe that many would argue that the main reason lies in photorealism’s “emotional neutrality.” Despite being an art form, it is often argued that photorealism lacks a creative process because the artist is painting an image from a photo reference.

However, I think that the meticulous focus of photorealism represents a dedication to a memory or feeling

that is unrecognized.

Prior to discussing the expressive nature of photorealism, I want to point out the meticulous nature of this artistic style. Richard Estes, by far the most well-recognized photorealist painter, was best known for his ability to depict reflections in his pieces. A good example is his painting “Double Self Portrait,” in which Estes uses oil paints to replicate a photograph of a storefront on which his reflection is visible in the store window, along with the cars, the stores, and the trees behind him. It’s incredible how precisely Estes is able to replicate the naturally occurring phenomenon of reflection simply using oil on canvas. These convincingly real paintings are not only highly detailed but also incredibly time-consuming.

Oscar Ukonu, a Nigerian ballpoint pen photorealist artist, is known for his nearly three-dimensional portraits. Each of his large-scale pieces takes upwards of 100 hours to complete. This level of attention to detail requires a level of patience most human beings simply don’t have, but the results are stunning. In Ukonu’s “Blue Boy,” the stream of water flowing down the subject’s face is so realistic that he appears frozen in time. I find

it even more impressive that the piece is monotone, which means Ukonu is crafting the reflections of the water using the negative white space in the canvas and micro shading using the ballpoint pen.

Although one could reasonably question the emotional value of photorealist pieces, the skill and diligence of those who practice this art style cannot be challenged.

While it may seem difficult to derive an underlying meaning from Estes’s urban exploration or Ukonu’s blue portraits, other photorealist painters address more challenging subject matters.

Denis Peterson, a New Yorkbased photorealist, typically depicts individuals who face unfortunate conditions, among them homelessness and genocide. Peterson’s use of perspective and hyper-realism forces the viewer to reflect on the human experience and the contrast between the reality of the viewer and the individuals depicted in the painting.

Photorealist artists recognize the emotional commitment inherent in portraying a feeling or emotion experienced in a specific moment.

Their paintings serve as a vessel, allowing observers to glimpse their unique perspective on a situation, landscape, or individual.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIART.ORG

OFF THE PRESS

A Stevens Institute of Technology Christmas Special (Part 2)

BY OFF CENTER -SatireAttila the Duck, Hailey Hawk, Spaghetti, Meatballs, and all of the characters of famous public domain books turned around to find Santa Claus staring at them.

“See, this is the exact problem I have with you selfish abominations! All you care about is trying to claim whatever thing you can, no matter how big or small, because material possession to you is only a means to your own selfish pleasure! I’m done being Mr. Nice Santa, clearly this world doesn’t deserve presents because it just increases greed! And the only reason why you bother doing nice things is not because it is from the bottom of your heart, but rather because you just want my gifts! That’s not true kindness!”

“But, Santa!” cried Atilla. “We know that sometimes, we end up messing up things, but we don’t mean to be mean, we just sometimes make mistakes! But we still try our best to do our best!

You have to forgive everyone!

People are better than you think, everyone isn’t some kind of bad, selfish person!”

“Never!” boomed Santa.

“Let me ask you a question: did you come here to make me feel better, or did you come here to try to make me

give you presents again?” Attila stammered as he knew it was the second reason. Santa then blew everyone back to Hoboken and the rest of their hometowns using his magic wind breath.

“I can’t believe it, from now on, Santa is never gonna give us presents again!” cried Hailey. Spaghetti and Meatballs started to cry as well, with tears coming out of their ears.”I guess he does have a point, though. We are so focused on trying to best each other and trying to accomplish things for our own selfish desires, we sometimes forget about the people around us!”

“You know, maybe we should just try to be good for the sake of being good rather than try to expect presents or something!” said Atilla. “It is important to try to give to others and stand up for what is right; we have let our differences and desires separate us rather than bring everyone together!”

“That’s a great idea!” yelled Spaghetti and Meatballs.

From then on, though Santa Claus never came back to deliver presents to anyone, Attila, Hailey, Spaghetti, and Meatballs started to try doing good things for the sake of being good. They shared with each other, they donated clothes and food to the home-

less, they started charities to fund important causes, they cleaned the streets, and did many more things. Soon, other people in Hoboken started to notice the good deeds the gang performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people in Hudson County started to notice the good deeds the people in Hoboken performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people in New Jersey started to notice the good deeds the people in Hudson County performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people in the United States of America started to notice the good deeds the people in New Jersey performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people in North America started to notice the good deeds the people in the United States performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people living on the planet Earth started to notice the good deeds of the people in North America, and this inspired them to do great things as well. Soon, other people on other planets started to notice the good deeds the people on planet Earth performed, and this inspired them to do great things as well.

11

Friday, December 8

Opinion UNMASKING: AN AUTISM STORY

The view of the world: Autistic representation in media

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE ‘26 In recent years, a quiet revolution has been taking place in the media realm, one that is not of the typical Hollywood reports but by the gradual emergence of authentic autistic representation. As filmmakers, writers, and producers increasingly recognize the importance of diversity and inclusion, portray-

ing individuals on the autism spectrum in movies, television, and literature has undergone a profound transformation.

In the world of old, autistic portrayals were narrow stereotypes, perpetuating harmful misconceptions about autism.

Today, we witness a rising tide of narratives that ref lect the rich diversity of the autistic experience.

This shift is not merely an exercise in political correctness; it is a powerful testament to the potential of media to shape public perception and foster empathy.

One of the most significant impacts of authentic autistic representation is the breaking down of stereotypes that have long

plagued the autism community — that individuals on the spectrum are either socially inept savants or disconnected geniuses in media. Such one-dimensional depictions failed to capture the true spectrum of experiences and contributed to societal misunderstandings and stigmas.

Recently, however, we see characters like Julia, the beloved Muppet with autism on Sesame Street, who brings a nuanced and authentic representation to children’s television.

The success of shows like Atypical and Parenthood further underscores the potential of media to challenge preconceptions and offer a more accurate portrayal of the challenges and triumphs of being

autistic.

Beyond breaking stereotypes, authentic representation is a powerful tool for fostering understanding and empathy.

Media can humanize an often misunderstood community by showcasing the everyday struggles, joys, and aspirations of characters on the spectrum.

When audiences connect with well-rounded, complex characters like Sam Gardner in Atypical or Dr. Shaun Murphy in The Good Doctor, they are offered a window into the lived experiences of autistic individuals, fostering a sense of empathy and compassion.

The impact extends beyond entertainment and into the real world.

As viewers become more familiar with the diverse faces of autism, societal attitudes can shift. This increased awareness can lead to greater acceptance and inclusivity, creating a more supportive environment for individuals on the spectrum in schools, workplaces, and communities. However, the journey toward authentic representation is challenging.

The industry must prioritize the hiring of autistic actors, writers, and consultants to ensure that narratives are not only accurate but also sensitive to the diverse range of experiences within the autism community. Additionally, avoiding the pitfall of presenting autism as a monolithic experience

is crucial; recognizing and respecting the individuality of each person on the spectrum is essential for meaningful representation.

The impact of authentic autistic representation in media cannot understated. As the industry continues to embrace diversity, it has the power to reshape societal attitudes and dismantle stereotypes. By telling stories that ref lect the true richness of the autistic experience, media becomes a catalyst for change, fostering a world where everyone is seen, heard, and understood.

The silence is breaking, and the voices of the autism community are resonating louder than ever.

FOR MATH’S SAKE

Giving and wrapping gifts with the help of optimization

BY CHARLES BEALL B.S. ‘23 & PHD STUDENT Now that the holiday season is upon us, the spirit of gift-giving is in full swing. Meanwhile, we students are finishing up our Fall semester classes.

As a result, I hope to combine these two topics by discussing some of what I’ve learned from MA 630, a course on mathematical optimization, and how it applies to choosing and—

more importantly—wrapping the perfect gift.

Optimization is a concept many of us are familiar with since an early taste of it appears in the introductory calculus courses most of us take at Stevens. A beautiful part of optimization is that we can determine whether some quantity is optimal (the best out of any possible outcome) based on the behavior of derivatives (or, in the multivariable setting, gradients) of certain other quantities.

More precisely, if this quantity, usually called the objective function, has a derivative or gradient, we know that any optimal solution will be at a point where the function’s derivative (or gradient) is zero. We can also include constraints, which

are important when we’re trying to bound our objective function in some way or only have so many resources available to us.

A seasonal example of this is the problem of wrapping a gift so that you end up with the least amount of paper waste.

Here, the objective function will be the surface area of the gift that you are trying to wrap, and the constraints would be a bound on how much paper and tape you have, or a limit on how much waste you want to have (it could be anything really, depending on what sort of constraint you care about).

Many other people have thought about this, to the point where even companies have released memos to their employ-

The end of the semester (and year) certainly comes with a range of a lot of different emotions. What I’ve most frequently referenced to people who ask how I’m doing since we’ve come back from Thanksgiving break is a meme that keeps popping up on my Instagram feed lately. It basically says something along the lines of the best way to categorize the few weeks of classes between Thanksgiving and Winter break is like the final lap of a race in MarioKart where the music gets really fast and everything is extra stressful. While finishing out the year strong may sound like a daunting task, here are some ways to help you push through into a wonderful 2024!

The first thing you should probably focus on is closing out the academic semester to the best of your ability. Speaking as a grader, go back and finish assignments that you did not complete in the past and you may be able to earn some more credit back to help boost your grade (but

cipient’s happiness while minimizing the monetary cost (if the giver is on a budget). Fortunately, optimization gives you the tools to do this if you can define an objective function and constraints.

The objective function might be way too much work to derive (I’ll leave it up to the readers to craft their own unique objective function for each recipient), but I hope that at least the gift-wrapping techniques are a practical help for you during the holidays. I also hope that you are all able to optimize your rest and recovery after a long semester — you got through lots of difficult experiences in courses and extracurriculars (as well as this article), so you deserve a break!

Holiday activities

Wrapping up 2023

BY ZOE HACK ‘24

case when we cannot take derivatives of our functions. This is the case of nonsmooth optimization, which also has its conditions and strategies for finding the optimal solution or set of optimal solutions.

And it’s not even that far off from the smooth case — instead of gradients, we rely on a set of so-called subgradients that help us deal with points at which the objective function or constraint functions don’t have derivatives. I won’t go into the details as much here, but the upshot is that with nonsmooth optimization at our disposal, we can tackle many more problems.

One difficult problem might be choosing which gift will maximize the re-

THAT’S A RED FLAG!

LIFESTYLE HACKS

you should’ve already been submitting all of your assignments). Speaking as a fellow student, make sure to utilize all opportunities that you have to showcase your skills at the end of the semester, including completing optional assignments and extra credit opportunities.

When it comes to studying for finals, you’ve guessed it: I am once again going to harp on the importance of utilizing all of your resources! Take advantage of office hours hosted by your professors and teaching assistants, as well as the resources they provide for the course. Other things to look out for are sessions or tutors available from the Academic Support Center or review sessions held by other organizations. Also, make sure to plan out how you will spend your time leading up to finals for each class to make sure you feel confident and ready for any exams you have.

One thing that (at least for me) brings some additional stress towards the end of the semester is packing up to go back home for a few weeks. What do you need to pack? But what if you might need this too and don’t want to leave it in Hoboken? These are questions that too often circle around in my brain. I have two main tips that I think are useful when it comes to packing. First, start early!!

You know that you’re going to be moving back home

ees on how to wrap gifts properly. There are also many YouTube videos that demonstrate how it’s done — if you’re reading this article online, you can watch some here and here.

What’s common about all these strategies is their use of optimization to find the optimal strategy.

It becomes a bit more complicated when you introduce constraints — these are when Lagrange multipliers enter the picture, and slightly different equations have to be solved. These equations will nevertheless involve derivatives (or gradients) of the objective function and functions that quantify the constraints.

What I found fascinating about optimization is that optimal solutions can also be found in the

soon, so why not start to make a list of what you will need when you’re back? Another thing that I do (to the benefit of my future self at the end of NEXT semester) is try to go through everything I brought with me this semester and set aside a “take home and stay home” box. Here, I try to aim for things that I rarely, if ever, used this semester so I can start to reduce clutter for myself when I move back in.

After being packed up and ready to go, it’s important to remember to spend quality time with your loved ones if you’re going home this winter break!

And by this, I definitely do not mean sit down next to your brother on the couch in silence and send each other memes on Instagram (although I will definitely be guilty of this in a few weeks). Some fun ways to spend quality time could be trying a new recipe together, watching a movie, playing board games with the family, going on a walk, going somewhere new together, window shopping, and honestly, so much more.

Cherish the weeks together that you are given because before you know it, you’ll be back in Hoboken. Also take time this break to reach out to some friends who you haven’t seen in a while in an effort to reconnect! Winter break is long anticipated, but by following the above tips, we can be well-rested and well prepared for it!

BY ANNA DABROWSKI ‘26 As the semester comes to a slow and painful close, it may feel impossible to enjoy the holiday atmosphere of Hoboken and New York City. Final essays, projects, and tests consume every waking moment, so how are we, as students, supposed to embrace the holiday cheer? Sometimes, it may be better to embrace the small things, like a holiday drink at a local coffee shop, rather than the more touristy attractions like Rockefeller Center.

As someone who has ventured out to look at “the tree,” I can confidently say that it is overhyped.

For one, the crowds are intolerable and keep you a great distance away from said tree. If you are assertive and push your way through the crowd, the gates surrounding the tree are still super far away from the tree. For me, seeing the tree once was enough because you can’t exactly revel in awe of how large it is when the closest you can get is still

super far away.

I recently visited the Winter Village in Bryant Park, and let me just say that it was borderline traumatic. I would definitely recommend going during the week in the middle of the day because to say the village is crowded right now would be an understatement.

When I visited during the evening, I was pushed back and forth by crowds and felt in danger of experiencing a crowd surge. The market boasts tons of delicious food stalls, but the lines for any one stall can take hours. Additionally, let’s be real, a broke college student can not afford anything at the market.

A hot chocolate is twelve dollars, and a decent meal could be up to thirty dollars. I’m sure the market would be nice if you go in November before the tourist hype starts, but for now, I’m going to say it is not worth it.

So where should a broke college student with limited time go to experience the holiday cheer? I am a big supporter of going to the Times Square Macy’s to look at the Christmas decorations. The shopping center is decorated very elaborately, and the building is so big that even if it is super crowded, you can still breathe. Additionally, you don’t have to buy anything, so it’s basically a free viewing experience

of a winter wonderland.

Another fun option could be visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), which is pay-whatyou-will for students. The Met sets up a humongous Christmas tree with an 18th-century nativity scene at the base of it.

Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, the display is beautiful and historically interesting. Other museums throughout the city also set up various holiday displays, just google search and you will find plenty of stuff to go see.

If you do not have the time to take the PATH over to the city, embrace the holiday experience in Hoboken. Grab a cup of hot chocolate from your favorite local coffee shop or from Merry Hot Cocoa Bar, a pop-up seasonal kiosk located at Pier A Park. Explore Hoboken and walk around to view the various Christmas displays the city and residents have put up. Volunteer for a cause you are passionate about, and spread the spirit of helping others less fortunate than you. Have a Christmas movie night with your friends, and embrace the nostalgia of childhood films like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.

Most importantly, relax and take the time to take care of your mental health this finals season. We are almost there, ducks!

12

Friday, December 8

Campus Pulse

First Last ‘26 ‘26 Maggie Neumann

“This is what a two line response should look like “Everything at once.”

It has different spacing than one line responses.”

First Last ‘26‘26 Luke McKenna

“Roving“Areporter response” fun time.”

FirstKotadia Last ‘26 ‘27 Charmy “Pain, cry, stress.”

“Roving reporter response”

ROVING REPORTER

By Rafael Lee Li and Mia Petrolino

too bad.

“Roving“Not reporter response”

“In 3 words describe how finals are gonna be?”

Thomas First Haemmerle Last ‘26 ‘25

Jenn First Alexander Last ‘26‘26

Theo First Rogalski Last ‘26‘27

Nicole First Last Yuan‘26 ‘27

“Overwhelming, “Roving reporter empowering, response” challenging.”

“Roving “Stressful reporter but rewarding.” response”

“Roving “Wish reporter me luck.” response”

Jake First Aylmer Last ‘26 ‘24

Sudoku Puzzle Difficulty: Medium

“Sleepless.

“Roving reporter Caffeine... response” Help me.”