[The Stute] September 30, 2022 (Issue 4, Volume CXX)

The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck.

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We write Stevens history VOLUME CXX No. 4

HOBOKEN, NJ | SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Dr. Edmund Synakowski appointed Vice Provost for Research

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Student opinions on University Center Complex and residential towers

BY CLAIRE HANNAN, NEWS EDITOR

The opening of the new University Center Complex (UCC) has generated many reactions from students, both positive and negative.

Of course, the addition of a new campus space will inevitably have an impact on student life. In order to hear directly from students, The Stute asked the Stevens community to share their thoughts and opinions on the UCC and the residential towers via The Stute’s Instagram. The subsequent responses were mixed, with a majority of respondents critical of choices made by Stevens in both the construction and functionality of the facility.

A student living in the residential towers commented that “South Tower needs another elevator.”

Currently, the South Tower of the UCC contains 21 floors of residential living space with only two elevators to service those floors, which has led to some dysfunction during both move-in day and regular operations.

This also leaves the school liable to significant issues if one or both of the elevators become out of order. Several other students commented on broken equipment in the

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, CONTRIBUTOR Stevens has recently made a big announcement regarding the research held on campus. Effective November 16, Dr. Edmund “Ed” Synakowski will take his place as the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation for Stevens. His role is to coordinate between professors, schools, and the entire university to improve the opportunity and quality of research performed at Stevens. Dr. Synakowski will be succeeding Dr. Dilhan M. Kalyon, who has held the position since September 2020. Dr. Kalyon will retain his position as Institute Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Director of the Highly Filled Materials Institute in the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science.

The Vice Provost for Research and Innovation

SEE PROVOST PAGE 2

dorms, as well as the limited number of outlets. Some members of the Stevens community even commented that the new building “doesn’t replace Jacobus and Hayden,” referencing the two buildings torn down to make room for the UCC, while another student called the new space “overrated.”

Another student weighed in on the check-in system where residents of the South and Harries Towers are only allowed to check in one non-resident guest at a time.

In comparison, all other residence halls on campus have much looser systems where the number and name of students they bring in are not monitored. This student believes that “if checking in guests is a safety measure, it should be implemented in all the halls.”

Other responders also gave input on the food in the new UCC marketplace. Some approved, sharing their favorite items at the different stalls. Others voiced their dissatisfaction with the marketplace saying that the “food is awful.” Some have also had issues with long wait times and mix-ups at the different stalls.

The topic that garnered

SEE UCC PAGE 3

BEMIN SHAKER FOR THE STUTE

Stevens hosts balloon testing for Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

BY BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH, STAFF WRITER Stevens students and Hoboken residents may have awoken to a strange sight on the morning of Sunday, September 18: A large red bird and massive candy cane rising above Stevens’ Dobbelaar Field.

The event was the annual “Balloon Field Training” for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The two balloons that rose above the Debaun Athletic Complex were Red from the Angry Birds Movie and a smaller red and green-striped candy cane.

The purpose of the training was to provide practice to the balloon handlers who will be holding and walking with the balloons on Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving Day Parade handlers, who are employees of Macy’s and their friends and family, are all volunteers. Guided by orange traffic cones and apparently enjoying the pleasant weather, they made loops around the field with the balloons throughout the morning.

According to a fan website, the candy cane requires 20 handlers while Red the Angry Bird needs almost 100 to safely navigate the streets of Manhattan.

BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH FOR THE STUTE

NEWS (2-3)

OPINION (8-11)

Student opinions on University Center Complex and residential towers Read about student input on the most talked about buildings on campus.

A president in denial: how Trump is fueling domestic extremism Read the most recent op-ed submission received by The Stute.

PULSE (12)

FEATURE (6-7)

Check out photos from Fall Fling and the Fall Festival

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

This is the first balloon training to be held in Hoboken since 2019. Macy’s has held the tests here since at least 2005, with the aim of preventing accidents that have occurred at past parades due to poor handling and adverse conditions, including high wind speeds.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been a national tradition for almost a century, running in-person every year except from 1942 to 1944 and 2020, due to World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. This year’s parade, the 96th, is set to run on Thanksgiving morning, November 24.

ALPHA hosts career advice event with J&J Vice President

BY ADVAIT DANTULURI, CONTRIBUTOR On September 20, the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) hosted an event in the UCC Gallery room where Stephen Rivera, Vice President of Global Technical Accounting Advisory for Johnson & Johnson, spoke about his career path as a Latino.

ALPFA is a Latine-based national professional business society that aims to empower underrepresented Latine individuals and help develop them as leaders in

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPHA

the corporate world in every sector of the global economy. It also aims to support the development of similar organizations on our campus. ALPFA is not just limited to Latines—anyone can join!

According to Arlene Reynoso, president of ALPFA, the goal of the event was mainly to inspire other students, particularly those from racial minority groups, to see another Latine individual overcome his struggles and become such a prominent figure in corporate America. Rivera

SEE ALPHA PAGE 2

Quae continues expansion into Stevens and the Hoboken community

BY OZ AGUINAGA, NEWS EDITOR Quae, the brainchild of two Stevens students, Brendan Probst ’23 and Samuel Schmitt ’23, is a community voting platform all in the palm of your hand. The mobile app is still in its infancy but has already garnered attention from Stevens students and Hoboken residents alike.

Probst and Schmitt met in a course, and in a funny turn of events, decided to build an app to be excused from sitting the final exam. But this was just the beginning of their friendship. Both enrolled in the Launchpad entrepreneur program at Stevens, and it was here where they went from friends to business partners. The duo bonded over a central topic—representation.

Specifically, representation in local politics. They believe “representatives strug-

SEE QUAE PAGE 2

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News Masthead Volume CXX No. 4 Executive Board EDITOR-IN-CHIEF..............................SANJANA MADHU ‘23 BUSINESS MANAGER.......................JORDYN RAMELLI ‘23 MANAGING EDITOR............................. KEENAN YATES ‘24 LAYOUT EDITOR.........................................ISABELLA ZIV ‘24 OUTREACH CHAIR...............................KATIE BLOOMER ‘25 DIGITAL MANAGER...............................BEMIN SHAKER ‘23 SECRETARY......................................ZANE THUMMBORST ‘23

Editorial Board NEWS EDITOR.............................................OZ AGUINAGA ‘23 NEWS EDITOR.......................................CLAIRE HANNAN ‘24 FEATURE EDITOR..................................TASHA KHOSLA ‘25 SCIENCE EDITOR............................RAYNA INDELICATO ‘23 OPINION EDITOR..............................LAUREN GARRETT ‘25 SPORTS EDITOR........................................CHRISTA RUIZ ‘25 HEAD COPY EDITOR.....................GIANNA CALLEGARI ‘24

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Policy on Op-Eds All members of the Stevens community are able to submit a standalone opinion piece (otherwise known as an Op-Ed) to be published in The Stute. Op-Eds must be between 400 – 800 words, but longer submissions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To submit an OpEd please email eboard@thestute.com with your name and title (when applicable) or using our Google form (tinyurl.com/submit-t0-stute). For writers who wish to write an Op-Ed anonymously, please see our policy on anonymity.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to choose whether or not to publish a submitted Op-Ed based on a majority rule vote, and additionally reserves the right to edit Op-Eds for clarity or request authors to revise.

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QUAE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 struggle to get authentic feedback from their constituents on a consistent basis and citizens struggle to voice their concerns to their leaders. Quae solves this by encouraging citizens to vote every day.” The duo, inspired and with a mission, set out to build the app.

However, they weren’t without their obstacles. Neither of them had seriously built a mobile app, so there was an immense amount of planning. Not only did they have to focus on making a functional app ready for users, but also reach out to city representatives about the practicality and feasibility of their idea. The app launched in September 2020.

Even so, in the short while that

PROVOST

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 (VPRI) reports to the Provost, Dr. Jianmin Qu. The VPRI works across every school and department at Stevens to offer research to all.

The goal of the VPRI, according to Dr. Qu, is to “broaden the impact of the faculty’s research, identify beneficial partnerships with enterprises outside the university, and drive economic innovation and development.”

Dr. Synakowski is coming from a successful period as Vice President for Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During his time there, he developed the research program and was a tenured professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Before that, Dr. Synakowski was Vice President for Research and Economic Development and a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Wyoming. He introduced a new plan to improve the school’s research program there. Before entering the academic world, Dr. Synakowski was Associate Director of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy. During his time there, his work primarily involved organizing and budgeting projects through intra-agency cooperation and partnerships with outside insti-

ALPHA

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 explained the story of his career path, and how he struggled to get to where he is now. He started at the telecommunications company AT&T, but while working there he felt that he wasn’t moving up within the company. Faced with a difficult decision, he made the ultimate choice to leave the company.

He decided to veer into a different career by getting into the pharmaceutical industry, and finding his way to Johnson & Johnson. From his work at Johnson & Johnson, Rivera was awarded both the Industry Award and the Trailblazer Award.

After Rivera finished presenting, a multitude of students took the time to answer various

Quae has been out, Probst and Schmitt have managed to create a partnership with Stevens Student Government Association (SGA), making it the go-to platform where students can voice their opinions and engage in campus-wide matters. They can create polls where the results are then passed along to a representative in the SGA who can raise the concern. We have already seen the change Quae can bring to campus; just last semester, the library hours were extended due to a large portion of students voting on the matter.

Now, Quae is open to Hoboken residents. To ensure that only Hoboken residents may contribute to the Hoboken community forum, Probst and Schmitt have devised verification events. These verification events are weekly; the location of the event can be found through

their mailing list. The duo usually sets up around Hoboken where residents need only provide their state ID to be verified. Alternatively, Hoboken residents can verify online. Currently, all verification requires a $5 dollar payment to process.

Things are looking bright for the duo, Quae has made a lot of progress recently. Just this month they hired a head of marketing who will focus on community outreach.

They are also currently looking to get more people on the team. One thing is for sure; they may not be able to change people’s behavior— those that don’t care for politics— but as Schmitt said, “it’s not about solving these huge problems, it’s just to get them to check every day […] are there any problems people are facing today, can I help my fellow community members.”

tutions. Additionally, he served as director of the Fusion Energy Program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2006 to 2009 and as a researcher and research program leader at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from 1988 to 2005.

Dr. Synakowski’s list of accolades is as impressive as his experiences. He was awarded the Secretary of Energy’s Meritorious Service Award in 2017 and received awards for excellence in plasma physics research from Princeton University and the American Physical Society.

He earned his undergraduate from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University

of Texas at Austin. Additionally, he is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the United Kingdom’s Institute of Physics. Dr. Synakowski also holds over 160 peer-reviewed articles on topics including plasma.

Dr. Synakowski will be a great addition to the Stevens faculty considering his achievements and experience. Working closely with Dr. Qu, the Deans, and other members of the academic leadership team, he will lead Stevens’ research teams to further success and help develop the world of tomorrow. Please see the press release on Dr. Synakowski’s appointment for more information on Dr. Synakowski and research here at Stevens.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU

questions. “What advice do you have for people to advocate for themselves?” one student asked.

Rivera said that for people to advocate for themselves, never threaten, but always make a case for themselves whenever possible.

Another student asked, “Did you ever feel like a minority affected your workplace experience, and if it did, how did you overcome it?” Rivera explained how he did experience discrimination, but that only made him work harder.

He was motivated to prove that he deserved to be there, as some companies only hired diverse people so they could say, “well, we knew he was going to fail, so don’t bother hiring people like him.” Another question asked was “As young leaders, there is always room to grow, so how do we do a better job at supporting our peers through struggling times?” Mr.

Rivera said that we must be compassionate and patient with those around us and work at their own pace.

When we hear stories like Rivera’s, we should reflect on the discriminatory practices that plague American society and we should explore their negative impact on people of racial minorities. Overall, we should reassess the way we, and the people around us, act.

At the same time, we should take inspiration from people like Mr. Rivera to overcome our struggles to achieve our dreams and do our best, no matter how much the bigotry and bias from other people tell us otherwise, and help others that suffer through similar experiences. Rivera’s experience paints a story of a man willing to take risks and work hard to achieve his goals, one that can inspire millions of others.

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News UCC

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the most comments was the inaccessibility of student spaces within the residential towers. One commenter “[hates] that students can’t enter the lounges” because “they were supposed to be study spaces for everyone.” Currently, only residents of the South and Harries Tower can access the study and lounge spaces in the residential section of the towers. At most, the UCC can house 900 students and there are around 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students at the school, meaning that only around 11.25% of the student body has access to these spaces which were built with tuition from all students. The only way to get access to these resources is to become a resident of the towers which is currently the most expensive housing option. The consensus on this issue was that students “wish more spaces were open to all students… not just residents.”

The mixed reviews of the UCC reflect the logistical problems that can accompany the opening of a new building. The Stute will continue to collect feedback on the Towers if any changes are made.

RESPONSES COLLECTED FROM @THESTUTE ON INSTAGRAM, GRAPHIC BY ISABELLA ZIV

Hoboken launches zero waste initiative

BY TANYA AVADIA, CONTRIBUTOR With more people becoming aware and concerned about protecting the environment, many new policies have been enacted in order to combat carbon emissions and invest in alternative energy sources. The city of Hoboken has also taken a step in this direction by launching the Zero Waste initiative. This initiative was part of the city’s Climate Action Plan that was adopted in 2019. The Climate Action Plan aims to have the entire city of Hoboken be carbon neutral by 2050, and net zero energy by 2030, and it specifically focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Zero Waste initiative primarily deals with being resourceful and innovative while dealing with waste. The goal of this project is to better manage waste, preserve its value, reduce its negative environmental impact, and rely less on natural resources.

Through this initiative, changes will be made to the current waste management system. In Hoboken, businesses and residents alike do not have to pay any sort of service fee for waste removal. The city collects solid waste type-10 three times a week across the city and six times a week for limited business areas. Additionally, recycling for aluminum, paper, and plastic is done once a week and six times a week in limited business areas.

Hoboken also provides its residents with several free compost drop-offs which started off as one in 2019 and have expanded to 12 in 2021. For now, it is unclear how the implementation of this Zero Waste program will change the current waste management system, but the city of Hoboken has

put out a survey for Hoboken residents and businesses to share their thoughts and feedback.

To start off this Zero Waste initiative, Hoboken completed a waste audit to categorize the different streams of waste. The city’s hired consulting firm conducted the waste audit from September 19, 2022, to September 23, 2022.

The study was performed at 200 Harrison St. and the procedure included collected samples of wastes that were representative of the entire Hoboken community. A typical sample will have 200-250 pounds of waste, which is equivalent to about 20 bags full of waste.

The data collected included statistics on the quantity of waste produced by residents and businesses and the types of waste produced.

This information was crucial to find as it will later be used to create the Zero Waste Plan which is going to be a compilation of services, programs, and policies to reshape waste management in Hoboken.

With the audit study complete and experts and officials currently working on writing the Zero Waste Plan, the Zero Waste initiative is currently in progress. While it is not known when the plan will be finished, given the effort put forward by the city to gather data both quantitative (waste audit) and qualitative (feedback from residents and businesses), the plan will likely instate policies that are efficient and innovative.

The future of waste management in the city of Hoboken is certainly due for a change if the goals of the city’s Climate Action Plan are to be achieved. However, the success of these plans is only possible if everyone—city officials, experts, residents, and businesses—all make an effort.

Hoboken’s 20 MPH speed limit takes effect

BY TODD BECHTEL, CONTRIBUTOR Hoboken drivers will be slowing down on city streets due to a new policy change made this past summer. On July 7, Hoboken Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla signed a law that made all speed limits in Hoboken 20 MPH, lowering it from the previous speed limit of 25 MPH. The installation of new speed feedback signs on the outskirts of the city and restriping pavements to update the speed limit began on September 14.

The change is a part of Hoboken’s Vision Zero initiative, which Mayor Bhalla established in 2019 to lower all traffic-related injuries and fatalities in the city by 2030.

The biggest result of this executive order was the establishment of the Vision Zero Task Force, which creates policies and strategies in order to reach this goal, as well as the Vision Zero Action Plan created by this task force. The action plan, which was completed in March 2021, is a 120 page document that outlines all of the current traffic issues that cause crashes and injuries, the action items needed to create a safer city for drivers, pedestrians, and bikers, and the results of such policies in the projected timeline.

Since then, the task force has been implementing changes in Hoboken to keep citizens safer and reduce traffic-related injuries across the city.

Inside the report, the task force identified the high crash road segments in Hoboken and some common factors for crashes in the city. One of the main roads that had a high rate of crashes is Willow Avenue, which is why the city is keen on repainting the speed limit indicators in that area.

The downtown area of Washington Street was also a common area for crashes, as well as intersections on the edges of the city. One of the main trends in the city’s crashes is driver inattention, such as texting and driving, which was the cause of 71% of preventable crashes in Hoboken.

Emily Jabbur, the Council Vice President and Vision Zero Task Force founding

member, believes that “pedestrian safety is paramount for a mile square city,” and that the reduced speed limit will contribute to the many changes the task force has made since its creation in order to bring crashes down in Hoboken.

Other implementations since Mayor Bhalla began the task force back in 2019 include 461 high visibility crosswalks and 45 painted or concrete curb extensions throughout the city, among other improvements to Hoboken’s infrastructure. The task force and Mayor Bhalla will continue these efforts over the following months and years as they strive to reach their goal of an injury-free commuter experience in Hoboken.

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Friday, September 30

Science Happiness past the honeymoon

BY NICK SMITH, CONTRIBUTOR Moving into college is exciting. Whether you are a returning student or a first year we all are prone to experiencing “the honeymoon phase”; that initial wave of excitement we feel when starting something new, seeing and making new friends, and being around other motivated and energized individuals. This leaves us happy, excited, and engaged, feeling a great sense of our overall well-being entering the semester. However, two to four weeks after our happy honeymoon we often find ourselves already feeling overwhelmed, unengaged, and even depressed.

In a study looking at campus-based students in higher education, student engagement decreases by about 50% and does not recover due to the pressure of exams and other stress inducers that were not present earlier in the term. Not only do we see

less engagement after work picks up and our honeymoon period comes to an end, but we change our behaviors throughout the semester, resulting in a decrease in happiness. This particular study showed a distinct correlation between surveyed students’ levels of engagement and happiness throughout the term.

When simple things like homework and exams pick up, it is easy to find yourself isolated, engaging less in fun, and feeling overwhelmed. However, there is an antidote: simply preserving your happiness. Sustaining your happiness is most critical to your success, as happiness acts as an advantage and an engine for success.

A behavioral study, conducted by Cornell University, proved the importance of happiness in the most stressful environments.

The researchers studied a group of physicians at Henry Ford Hospital and found that those that were made to feel happy demon-

strated more creative thinking all while making faster, and more accurate diagnoses when compared to the control group.

In fact, the happy physicians made more accurate diagnoses twice as fast as the control group.

Better yet, the simple thing that had primed these physicians to be happy was candy. It was not any larger lifestyle change, cash incentive, or a vacation prior to the experiment. While cash incentives, fun vacations, and exciting times can certainly make us happy, we often forget—especially when under stress—that these are by no means the only things that can make us happy.

Now, it is easy to think that I am offering an implausible or fanciful solution. Unfortunately, Stevens doesn’t so generously hand out candy to combat our decreasing engagement. Furthermore, at the end of the day, homework is still there, and the exam date does not change just because you took a happiness

break. It is often thought that when work picks up, we must hit the books and isolate ourselves away from our friends, skip class to cram for the next exam, or spend all night in the library.

Happily, I inform you that there are ample ways to stay happy while attending to your academics. In fact, a study done by the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom found the learning behaviors making students happiest and most engaged were using social media as a learning tool, working with friends, and attending teaching sessions.

Learning to use personal social networks in an academic environment can be beneficial to classroom success as well as personal satisfaction.

The simplest of things, like giving a doctor a piece of candy, has the power to increase their happiness to the point where they perform better in multiple dimensions. Similarly, the small act of working with a friend on

your next calculus assignment and being engaged in a lecture can boost your happiness and yield the results you want to see.

Imagine the academic power we could all unleash if we were happy every time we sat down to take an exam or walked into a lecture. The untapped potential in our lives throughout the semester is our happiness, and sustaining it is vital to your success. Luckily, this is incredibly plausible without having to take a vacation or make some dramatic lifestyle change.

We often abandon even the small activities that make us happy when work picks up. We bail on the friends we see, the daily workout we used to do, and the fun activities we are so fortunate to have access to. But engaging in those simple everyday happiness boosters is vital to our success academically and socially. Happiness leads to success.

Not the other way around.

Internet service providers from outer space

BY QUENTIN JIMENEZ, SCIENCE WRITER Over the past few years, our lives have become increasingly more interconnected with technology and the internet.

We have learned to live while stuck inside our homes, using phones and computers to order food from restaurants, interact with friends and family, and earn a living. Almost all of our media can be streamed directly to our devices, TV shows, movies, and now even video games. Now more than ever, are people are realizing the importance of reliable high speed internet access, but there are still many who don’t have the internet speeds necessary to access these basic modern functions.

Over 40 million Americans alone go without high speed internet (anything more than 25 Mbps), and a majority of the reason is because of a lack of profitability. Most of these people live in rural areas where there is very little existing internet infrastructure.

Most providers don’t see these areas as profitable, since the cost of upgrading and servicing the remote cabling is not worth the few customers they would serve. This leaves rural customers in an cyberspace limbo, as the only providers available to them are often locally run and do not offer the speeds provided by fiber optic.

A few companies have been looking into solving the issue of lacking internet access by expanding beyond the restriction of cable connectivity.

Companies like Elon Musk’s Starlink are using new advances in satellite-based internet service to blanket areas of the globe in high speed broadband, aiming to provide reliable high-speed internet to a majority of the rural world.

With almost 2500 operational satellites and around 500,000 customers, Starlink has made it a decent way towards their goal of a 12,000 satellite array, but recent controversy has left many wondering if the compa-

ny is actually capable of meeting their goals.

The biggest blow to Starlink recently comes by way of the Federal Communications Commission, the federal agency in charge of regulating the deployment of internet infrastructure. The FCC decided to not grant Starlink’s application for 800 million dollars in government funding, citing a multitude of issues, from internet speeds to pricing structure.

The agency’s main concern was with the current speed of the service, which is sitting around 20 Mbps according to a plethora of customer reports.

This has left the FCC distrustful of Starlink’s ability to meet their promised capacity constraints while still providing upwards of 100 Mbps to all customers.

Viral clips of Starlink satellites in orbit have left others concerned about the technology, with some researchers fearing the numerous satellites could interfere with observations of the night sky. If completed, Starlink would more than triple the amount of artificial satellites that currently orbit earth, not including other satellite launches during that time. Musk assures that there would be a negligible amount of interference if any at all from the satellites, and there should be no cause for concern. With little available evidence about the effectaffect of these arrays, we will have to see if they have any impact on the visibility of the night sky.

While there does seem to be a few kinks to be worked out with the technology, the ability of Starlink to provide internet access has already been shown. Wired internet access will seemingly continue to serve those within its range, but satellites may be able to fill in the gaps where wires cannot reach. Although there have been some significant setbacks, satellite based internet service may be the solution to providing high speed broadband to people across the globe.

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Friday, September 30

Sports Women’s tennis wins eight titles at the MAC Individual Championships

BY RUTHIE MULISKY, CONTRIBUTOR The Stevens Women’s Tennis team competed in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Individual Championships over the weekend of September 17-18 at the Ralston Athletic Complex at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The team prevailed as a top contender, as they won gold in five of seven singles competitions and in three of four doubles brackets, earning the most first place finishes of any other team competing. Stevens women’s tennis now ranks third in MAC history, just behind second-ranked Elizabethtown College with 18 titles, after amassing 16 titles in just three seasons—a truly impressive feat.

The first day of competition proved to be triumphant for the team. Athletes in all 11 brackets advanced to at least the semifinal round, as the team collectively had nine advancements to the semifinal round and two to the final round. Third-seeded Agatha Malinowski, second-seeded Stephanie Untermeyer, third seed Polina Odintseva, second seed Emma Eguia, top-seeded Isabella Dona, and third-seeded Anya Sharma advanced to the semifinals in the No.1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 singles competitions, respectively. Malinowski advanced after a series of winning matches and a quarterfinal score of 6-0, 6-0. Odintseva advanced after a 6-0, 6-1 performance in the quarterfinals. Anusha Singh advanced to the finals in the No. 7 singles competition.

The team was strong in the doubles competition as well. Malinowski and Untermeyer were the No. 2 seed in the No. 1 doubles bracket and advanced to the semifinal round after an 8-4 and

8-0 performance in their first two matches. Odintseva and Dona in the No. 2 doubles bracket also advanced to the semifinals after an 8-6 win in the quarterfinal round, alongside first-seeded Eguia and Sharma in the No. 3 doubles bracket following an 8-2 win in the quarterfinals. In the No. 4 doubles bracket, Juliette Marchisio and Aliona Heitz advanced to the final round after an 8-0 win in the semifinal round. The end of the first day of the championships left the team in a favorable position for competition on day two.

The team’s second day of competition was even more suc-

cessful. Untermeyer, Odintseva, Eguia, Sharma, and Singh each won gold in their respective brackets in the singles competition. Untermeyer scored a 7-6, 6-0 win over Misericordia University, marking her first collegiate individual title. Similarly, Eguia acquired her first individual title of the season. Malinowski and Dona each finished second in the No. 1 and No. 5 singles brackets, respectively.

The doubles competition had just as impressive outcomes.

Untermeyer and Malinowski won their title after a close match, scoring 8-6 against top-seeded

Misericordia University. Eguia and Sharma won their No. 3 bracket, and Marchisio and Heitz won their No. 4 bracket after an 8-4 win over Lebanon Valley College. Additionally, Dona and Odintseva took second place in the No. 2 doubles bracket.

Women’s tennis finished with at least a second-place finish in each of their 11 brackets, securing five individual singles titles and three individual doubles titles. After the team’s strong performance at the MAC Individual Championships, women’s tennis seems to be headed towards an impressive spring season as well.

The weekend of September 17-18 marked the Stevens Men’s Golf team’s competition in the George Cangero Invitational in Farmingdale, NY, where the team placed sixth overall. Over two rounds, the team scored 591, which was 25 strokes behind the lead score from St. Thomas Aquinas College out of Orangeburg, NY. Stevens started the tournament shooting a 299 in round one of the competition. Gus Vickers led the Ducks, shooting a 73. Behind Vickers was Miles Philion with a 74, Eegan McDermott and Eduardo Terlaje with 76, and Punn Chittaratlert closing out the roster with an 81.

In the second round, Stevens improved by seven strokes from the opening round for a final score of 292. Similarly to the previous round, Vickers led the Ducks with a 70. McDermott followed with a 73, Philion with a 74, Terlaje with a 75, and Chittaratlert with a 76.

One highlight from the tour-

FRI, SEPT 30 MEN’S TENNIS ITA Atlantic South Region Championship–Day 1 Fredericksburg, VA Time TBA

SAT, OCT 1 MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Purple Valley Classic Williamstown, MA 11:30 a.m.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Purple Valley Classic Williamstown, MA 11:30 a.m.

MEN’S TENNIS ITA Atlantic South Region Championship–Day 2 Fredericksburg, VA Time TBA

MEN’S GOLF Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic-Round 1 Waynesboro, PA Time TBA

WOMEN’S SOCCER vs King’s College (PA) Hoboken, NJ 12 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY vs Misericordia University Dallas, PA 1 p.m.

MEN’S SOCCER

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM

vs King’s College (PA) Hoboken, NJ 3 p.m.

Men’s Golf places sixth at the George Cangero Invitational

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, CONTRIBUTOR

ON DECK IN SPORTS

nament came from Vickers, who tied for eighth place overall with a 143. The invitational is Vickers’ second straight competition in eighth place. In the opening 18 holes on day one, Vickers had scored three birdies, and also had three on the second day of the invitational match. Philion had three birdies and had pars on the final five holes, and McDermott had three pars and closed out his final match of the tournament

with a birdie on the par-4 hole.

Head Mens’ Golf coach Charles Papendick made many positive remarks regarding the team’s performance. In addition to congratulating Vickers on his leading performance for the team, Papendick praised his team stating, “I am pleased with our results this weekend. Our returning players are rounding into form and our newer players are acclimating to our schedule.” Papendick contin-

ued that the team will use what they learned at this tournament during practice to improve their performance.

The Men’s Golf team will continue to compete into October, and they have already competed in the FDU Fall Invitational, in which they took first place. Their next match will be round one of the Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic on October 1 at the Waynesboro Country Club in Waynesboro, PA.

SUN, OCT 2 MEN’S GOLF Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic–Round 2 Waynesboro, PA Time TBA

MEN’S TENNIS ITA Atlantic South Region Championship–Day 3 Fredericksburg, VA Time TBA

TUE, OCT 4 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs FDU-Florham Madison, NJ 7pm

WED, OCT 5 MEN’S SOCCER vs FDU-Florham Hoboken, NJ 7 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY vs Keystone College Hoboken, NJ 4 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Misericordia University Hoboken, NJ 7 p.m.

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENSDUCKS.COM, PHOTO BY MIKE MCLAUGHLIN

STEVENS SCOREBOARD DATE

TEAM

OPPONENT

LOCATION

SCORE

WED, SEPT 21

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

KINGS COLLEGE (PA)

AWAY

W (3-0)

WED, SEPT 21

FIELD HOCKEY

DREW UNIVERSITY

HOME

W (3-1)

FRI, SEPT 23

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE

AWAY

W (3-1)

FRI, SEPT 23

WOMEN'S TENNIS

ITA ATLANTIC SOUTH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP–DAY 1

AWAY

Completed

SAT, SEPT 24

WOMEN'S TENNIS

ITA ATLANTIC SOUTH REGION CHAMPIONSHIP–DAY 2

AWAY

Completed

SAT, SEPT 24

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE

HOME

W (3-1)

SAT, SEPT 24

WOMEN'S SOCER

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY

AWAY

L (0-1)

SAT, SEPT 24

FIELD HOCKEY

DESALES UNIVERSITY

HOME

L (1-2)

SAT, SEPT 24

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

BROOKLYN COLLEGE

HOME

W (3-0)

SAT, SEPT 24

MEN'S SOCCER

WIDENER

HOME

W (1-0)

TUE, SEPT 27

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

FDU-FLORHAM

AWAY

W (3-0)

6

Friday, September 30

Feature

THE FALL FESTIVIT

ETHAN CHE FOR THE STUTE

Friday, September 30

Feature

TIES HAVE BEGUN!

7

8

Friday, September 30

Opinion THE STUTE EDITORIAL

Growth within The Stute Perhaps the coolest thing about The Stute is the creativity we can have with it. From coming up with article ideas to figuring out the layout of the paper each week, The Stute requires ingenuity from all its members. Throughout the years, we’ve amassed a large collection of staff across different years with various majors and diverse interests. Every person brings new perspectives and ideas that have improved our paper.

A more extensive staff results in us producing better, more exciting, and engaging content for our readers.

I’m very proud to say that our staff has grown within the first few weeks of this fall semester.

Firstly, we’ve introduced two News Editors to our staff, both of whom have only recently become more active in The Stute but have immediately shown their interest in writing and taking on a larger leadership role within the organization. We’ve also introduced a new Assistant Business Manager, who will work closely with

our current Business Manager to learn the ropes behind managing our financials, budget, and outreach. Finally, we’ve more recently appointed a Sports Editor.

They, along with myself, our Layout Editor, and sports writers, have spearheaded the creation of our revived Sports Section in The Stute (which you can check out on page 5 of this issue). The Stute’s sports section perished during the pandemic due to a lack of sporting events, but I’m glad to say it has made its way back into our paper.

Moreover, The Stute has gained two new comic strip artists, whose work debuted in this issue of The Stute as well! Finally, The Stute has recently appointed a new Social Media Manager who will be supervising our TikTok account.

Speaking of TikTok, another one of The Stute’s goals this semester is to have more social media content; our main focus is to build a platform on newer social media apps, get more feedback from students throughout campus through social media, and

also promote the process of how we put the paper together every week. Shameless plug: follow @ thestute on Instagram and TikTok — I promise you that you won’t regret it!

Apart from writing and social media, we’ve had both old and new staff members interested in contributing to religious newspaper practices like creating the newspaper layout and copy editing. If you’re unfamiliar, making the newspaper layout is a precise process that requires an artistic eye and insane levels of patience.

Every title, byline, photo, and ad you see in this paper is carefully placed into files created by Adobe InDesign. On the other hand, copy editing is another meticulous process that requires a good eye for catching misspellings and grammar mistakes. While both layout and copy editing can be painstaking at times, they demand creativity and when done with other people, can be a lot of fun. It’s great to see students use their skills and be active in The Stute in a way that

caters to their interests.

And even beyond our staff, I like to think that The Stute is inclusive of the whole student body.

Anyone can submit a Letter to the Editor or an Op-Ed to The Stute detailing their opinions about pretty much anything. Everyone has an outlet to let their voice be heard in writing! Students are also able to submit news tips/ideas through the “Submit” form on our website. Coupled with these, it’s also great to see student opinions featured in Roving Reporter each week.

The best thing about The Stute is that we have grown into one big family, and it’s great to see that the family continues to grow each year. I still have a few more months in the position of Editor in Chief, but the thought of leaving this position and passing on the mantle will be bittersweet. In a few years, our staff will be replenished with new faces, but I’m certain they will carry the same passion and excitement for growing The Stute as we do now.

Sanjana Madhu ‘23

Editor-in-Chief

MIND OF A FRESHMAN

SENIORITIS

The (comic) book

Jobs, where do we go from here?

BY MOHIN PATEL ‘26 Tears welled and filled my eyes, blurring my vision as trails of snot rolled through my nose all the way down my face. I could feel my hand clutched around my dad’s leg, begging for his reconsideration. It was my first day at Sunday School, and I clearly had no intention of staying any longer. Having a religious family was plenty of fun before this point: exciting festivals, feasts every so often, and extravagant holidays were the norm.

However, my entire world f lipped upside down the second our car pulled into the parking lot of a building I had never seen before. The sign in front read “Brooklawn Middle School,” but I was only 10! There was no chance I was going to skip two years ahead to middle school, and even less of a chance that I would stay docile enough to accept

the cruel and unusual punishment of going to school on a Sunday.

Needless to say, my first impressions of the place were nothing compared to being thrown into a world I wanted nothing to do with. Before this point, I accepted my religious traditions only at face value when they would benefit me, like a child that accepts gifts on Christmas but doesn’t know the slightest bit about Jesus’ birth. I knew nothing of the many gods, their stories, and even less about their morals and lessons for humanity to use. At home I had every resource one could ever need about learning the ancient scriptures; however, they were never easy ground for me to step on.

One promising day, my grandmother brought me to the bookstore at the local temple and for the first time in the lengthy years I spent there, something caught my attention: a comic book! How on Earth was something so pure in this seemingly wretched place? A single second of judgment lapsed before I left my grandmother’s hand and picked the book up. Suddenly, a deluge of confusion surged through my

brain upon looking at the cover closely for the first time, with enough force to f lip my entire world upside down for the second time.

On the cover was one of the gods I had never given a second look to, one of the figureheads in temple and school that I had never truly understood or connected with. As I carefully dissected surprisingly complicated British-English vocabulary without the slightest trace of American slang, my eyes widened at the possibility that I was finally going to understand the religion I was born into. While belatedly comprehending the stories my family attempted to pass down to me by f lipping through those beautifully thin offwhite pages, I saw a world of possibility created by a medium through which I would finally understand my culture.

An entire section of my room’s bookshelf rapidly filled itself with every edition of comics that existed, bridging the gap between my parent’s generation and mine. They did what my entire family could not manage to do, all in the time of however long it took me to scan the front cover that one glorious day.

BY TREVOR DAMEIKA ‘22 Some of you may recall the recent Stevens Career Fair that took place on Wednesday, September 21. Hundreds of students throughout the day were in line waiting for their opportunity to speak with prospective employers and give them their resumes.

As a student, you may have waited in line for hours to see many well-known companies to “strut your stuff” and hopefully make an impression. As an employer, you may have not had the opportunity to meet with all those interested in joining your company. Either way, it’s over and everyone is left to reminisce on what could have been.

I accepted a job for next summer for a company I interned for this past summer, but the majority of those graduating and looking for internships at the end of this academic year do not

have a hopeful job opportunity yet. I was still planning on attending the career fair myself, but the moment I walked onto campus on Wednesday, I decided it was best for my academics to not wait three hours on a relatively hot day.

In better news, I do have the opportunity to submit my resume to the “Career Fair Resume Book” for employers to see. However, it does not help build that in-person relationship between employee and employer. This can be a huge factor when employers want that individual who will make an impression.

When I am online, I feel like I am someone that blends in. I do not feel memorable and it is certainly more difficult to make an impression on these employers that look at you for mere minutes. When I am in-person, I feel I can actually create a personal connection with an employer.

Although this chance for many in-person interactions was disrupted by thousands of people trying to get into the fair, you need to find your own way to make an impression on employers. From internships to full-time positions, you must have the experience to get them, but on many occasions, the connections you have and those that can

verify you as an upstanding individual are invaluable. If your connections will stick their neck out for you, show them your gratitude even though the opportunity did not work out.

When I was exploring internship opportunities last year, I applied to a company that spent weeks deciding who they would hire. On a Monday afternoon in April, I got a generic email from the company that I got denied.

I was upset after waiting so long for an opportunity that fell through, but I emailed my interviewer back, including human resources (HR), and I said thank you for the opportunity through the pain of getting denied… again. I got a call two hours later from HR saying “that denial email was a mistake” and I was being forward in the process. My current boss still recalls my thank you email that showed character and he forced through my hiring due to that display.

The subtle things matter and make impressions in a highly virtual world. Keep being you and do not change yourself for the sake of attempting to impress. Reach out to all your contacts, no matter how desperate. That is what you need to do in this environment. Let’s move on past the career fair, and focus on what we can control.

OFF THE PRESS

Lines for class

BY OFF CENTER —SATIRE— After the splendid, perfect, and all-around awesome career fair which did not feature any issues at all whatsoever except for the teensy little moment when a bunch of students who waited for hours did not even get in due to building occupation restrictions (although we fully support abiding by fire codes), Stevens was back at it again last week with a Fall Fling dance that featured a truly remarkable string quartet and an alcohol room that ran out of the beautiful nectar of life in the middle of the event. No one could have predicted that the aforementioned quartet would bring in such a massive audience but many of

the people who had to leave the area where the musicians could be heard and wait in line were dismayed to realize that they missed excellent renditions of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga, Themes from Ratatouille, and more for nothing but glasses full of empty promise.

In an unexpected move, Stevens approached us to investigate other places where lines could be used as opportunities or deterrents for students. We think they approached us due to our smashing good looks and impeccable wordsmanship, but they claimed, “It’ll be a cool bit you can write about.” This was an unmissable opportunity for us to contribute to the Stevens community in a much more

tangible way than journalism, so we could not afford to make a mistake. In our report, submitted just yesterday to the administration, we claim, “long lines to get into classes, especially for exams or labs, would be beneficial for student academic success. These lines should be long enough that students and professors frequently do not get into the classroom in time.” The idea here is, get this, people won’t have to attend as many classes. We feel comfortable putting it here because the administration doesn’t read these articles and anyone who would quote us as their primary source probably agrees with our plan.

The lines will be accomplished by setting all classroom fire code maxi-

mums to 3 people and making doors have a special, voice-activated passcode to enter that changes every day and is only posted on Workday. We got our cybersecurity division on the task of making all the passcodes something like “poopy baby” so that tells you how proactive we are. Ice cream trucks are being recruited to drive around campus and have really good ice cream so lines to get to the trucks block student walkways and noise makes it so no one wants to stay in class. This has the double bonus of having ice cream trucks on campus which are pretty sick.

The writer wants to throw in a joke here about lines that you can do instead of waiting in but has been informed by our chief editor

that we are only allowed one cocaine joke a semester and it’s reserved for the third issue in October. We have to keep a strict cap on the number of jokes we put in to uphold our unblemished reputation.

One place where everyone will want to be but somehow there won’t be a long line to get in and no one will be turned away is Off Center’s first show of the semester Under the C: How My GPA Fell Below 1.8 featuring sketch and improv in B111 at 9 p.m. on Friday, September 30 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 1. Disclaimer: Off the Press stands for the highest standards of academic integrity and rigor so we don’t recommend letting your GPA fall below 1.8.

But in case it does…

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR Letters should be addressing a published piece in The Stute or to The Stute in general thestute.com/ policies for the full requirements

9

Friday, September 30

Opinion MUSIC TO MY EARS

Every Noise at Once: Algorithms in the music industry and microgenre

BY KAYDEN CANNILLA ‘24 The prevalence of streaming services and the internet have changed the landscape of music. TikTok acts as a powerful promotional tool—if your song can soundtrack a trend or get picked up by a dance challenge, that virality translates to more listens than could ever before be achieved by small and independent artists. Spotify holds the largest market share for free music streaming platforms, and its algorithms are hugely inf luential for popular music. Last year, I went to a concert and the opener

commented that Spotify had put one of his songs on an indie music playlist, and it quickly became his most popular song. Spotify is constantly collecting data from listeners that develops its personalized recommendations, and the extent of its data collection is no surprise to anyone who explores their Spotify Wrapped. It uses this information to recommend similar artists to those that the listener may enjoy, create radios off of songs, and give suggestions on Discover Weekly.

By sorting listeners into groups like this, Spotify inadvertently creates microgenres, or large groups of listeners with specifically similar tastes. The concept of the microgenre was not created from digital music, but the internet has developed ways for the people within these subsets to find each other easily.

Every Noise at Once is a data visualization tool

that takes information from Spotify and attempts to make the scale of microgenres comprehensible.

The creator of the website, Glenn McDonald, explains that “The point of the map, as with the genres, is not to resolve disputes but to invite you to explore music.

It is an attempt—however uneven, idiosyncratic, and incomplete—to embrace this new state of the world, in which nearly all of humanity’s recorded music is streamable or downloadable, and give you a way

to find out what you don’t know you don’t know.” It’s a really interesting website to explore; the home page is just a spread of all the microgenres with examples and clicking on any of the genres leads you to a map of all the artists listed under the genre. I enjoy searching for a genre I like and listening to clips of songs from that genre I may have otherwise never heard before. At the bottom of the page, there is a list of other plots that give different ways to in-

teract with the data. For example, Genres in Their Own Words finds the most common words used in song titles, alphabetically sorted by genre, and Every School at Once shows the most common genres of larger colleges.

Algorithms like Spotify’s are designed to keep you listening, either so that you continue listening to ads to get to the music or subscribe for ad-free content, both of which make the company money.

While algorithmic recom-

mendations can work well, what’s the point of having access to 70 million songs if you only listen to the Top 100? McDonald explains the beauty of these visualization tools by saying, “We make maps to mark treasure when we think treasure is rare, and then, later, to remember where we’ve been, once we start to realize that there are treasures everywhere.” I encourage you to check out Every Noise at Once and see if you can stumble across a hidden gem.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EVERYNOISE.COM

SPOILER ALERT

Not very powerful, to be honest: The Rings of Power (Ep 1 & 2)

BY JULIA WIERZBICKI ‘23 I’d like to start this off by saying that I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I’ve read and watched the whole series multiple times, saw all The Hobbit movies on opening night, and was even Arwen one year for Halloween in middle school. That being said, I wasn’t all that excited for the new Rings of Power series when I saw it premiering on Amazon. I feel like there are so many stories to tell in the LOTR world, but in recent series from Marvel or Star Wars,

I found myself bored and uninterested in characters that I had previously loved on-screen. That being said, I was still hopeful that I would be proven wrong and that the newest installment in Tolkien’s world would tell a refreshing and engaging story. Sadly, my initial fears were proven correct.

Based on the first two episodes, The Rings of Power is a bland, watered-down version of the magic that the original Lord of the Rings had to offer and I’m not sure I’ll even finish the series.

My first big issue with the series was the number of plot lines occurring simultaneously. Whenever there are multiple plots, I find myself favoring one over the others, even if I try my best to get invested in them all.

The story taking my eye-roll spot for this series is easily the Harfoot plotline. I’m not sure if these creatures are supposed to be early

Hobbits, but the characters are annoying and I honestly don’t really care for them at all. The great thing about the Fellowship of the Ring was the fact that it started in the Shire but quickly moved out to start the actual adventure. That way, you don’t get bored of the Hobbits and their simple, quirky lifestyle.

The two Harfoot leads, Nori and Poppy, stay among their kind for the entirety of the first two episodes, and the whole atmosphere gets old fast.

Galadriel was one of my favorite characters in the original trilogy, and I feel like her character is very vanilla here. The writers try to make her rebellious and a strong lead, but even though her actions are somewhat heroic, it doesn’t really portray the strength I think they were going for. The actress they have playing her, Morfydd Clark, is perfect look-wise for the character,

but she really doesn’t give off the air of quiet, controlled power that Galadriel did in the Lord of the Rings.

Maybe that’s a purposeful choice, but I still find it frustrating to see such an iconic character fall short.

That being said, the show is not unwatchable. I did enjoy the effects and I think there is some good storytelling at play that could amount to something more.

That being said, I’m not overly excited to continue watching. I probably will, just because of how near and dear the series is for me, but I feel like this is just another stretched-out story that could’ve been a movie, but was instead turned into a dragging original series. All in all, the Rings of Power really needs to work on upping the “power” of its acting, script, and characters. Then, it might just be worth traveling across Middle Earth for.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NERDIST.COM

OP-ED

A president in denial: how Trump is fueling domestic extremism

BY QUENTIN JIMENEZ Almost a full two years after his loss, former president Donald Trump continues to refuse to accept the results of the most secure election in the history of elections.

Countless civil and criminal investigations surround the former president, including alleged tax fraud in Manhattan, racketeering and fake electors in Georgia, espionage in Florida, campaign finance violations, witness intimidation, obstruction of justice, and the Department of Justice’s widespread investigation into the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Throughout these investigations, Trump continues to fuel his extremist movement, endorsing candidates who agree with the “Big Lie,” encouraging supporters to harass and attack government officials working against the former president, and even acknowledging the uproar he is causing in a message to the Attorney General:

“President Trump wants the Attorney General to know that he has been hearing from people all over the country about the raid. If there was one word to describe their mood, it is ‘angry.’ The heat is building up.

The pressure is building up.

Whatever I can do to take the heat down, to bring the pressure down, just let us know.”

Yet his message continues to spread, and he continues to garner support from Americans and from fellow Republicans. Across the country, people are empowered by Trump’s claims, choosing a variety of different ways to support their former president.

Some are choosing to run for elected office, with MAGA candidates running at all levels of government, including senators, governors, attorneys general, and most importantly, secretaries of state. With 43 election-denying candidates in 27 states advancing to the general election, there is a good likelihood that our future elections will be controlled by

people who do not believe in democracy. One of these candidates, Republican nominee for Michigan AG and Trump endorsee Matthew DePerno, is currently under investigation for allegedly tampering with voting machines during the 2020 election. All of this while running for the position of the top prosecutor in Michigan.

Others however are choosing more violent means of expression. On one end of things, armed supporters are gathering outside FBI buildings protesting the treatment of the former president. Supporters continue to threaten FBI and DOJ officials involved in the investigations, including the federal judge currently assigned to the former president’s case.

Further, more extreme supporters are acting out their violence, including the domestic terror attack on the FBI field office in Cincinnati, and the QAnon supporter who attacked his family and was killed in a shootout with police.

And instead of suppressing these efforts, the former president is continuing to pour gasoline on the flame of election denial. He continues to lie on his social media platform Truth Social almost daily, spouting lies about the election and the investigations surrounding his affairs. He is gradually becoming more accepting of QAnon, recently embracing the movement on Truth Social and at his rallies. The former president knows what his supporters are willing to do, yet he leaked the unredacted version of a document containing the names of the agents working on his case, encouraging their harassment. He called President Biden an “enemy of the state,” alongside criticism of the entire executive branch’s corruption.

All of this while continuing to deny the results of the 2020 election, and without a single modicum of repudiation for the acts of his supporters. In his letter to the Attorney General, the former president asked if there

is anything he could do “to bring the pressure down.”

Trump knows what he needs to do, and is actively doing the exact opposite, silently supporting the violent and anti-democratic actions of his MAGA cult.

This deafening silence is giving rise to a new movement in America, cementing the Republican party’s fate, not as the party of Lincoln, but the party of Trump. Republicans, with and without Trump, continue to undermine the will of the public.

They push to gerrymander states in their favor, enforce voting policies that prevent minorities from voting, promote candidates who believe in the big lie, and continue to support the supreme court’s efforts to overturn cases on abortion, gay marriage, contraception, interracial marriage, and election integrity.

The party has become afraid of Trump, and the massive base of support that he wields, and it has led them to become a party that is opposed to the ideals of America and the people within.

These threats are all gravely concerning to our democracy, and they leave the country teetering on the edge of a cliff. And all of this before Trump has even announced his bid for the presidency, an announcement which will likely bring even more instability and division within American democracy.

America is once again approaching a crossroads, and it is up to us to decide which path to take. Just two years before the breakout of the American Civil War, the soon-to-be first Republican president of the United States Abraham Lincoln said: “A house divided against itself cannot stand …

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing or all the other.”

Make sure you make your voice heard in November, because this may be the last time anyone will be listening.

10

Friday, September 30

Opinion | Professional Topics SUSTAINABILITY

The story of my shoes

BY KATIE BLOOMER ‘25 If you know me, you are probably familiar with the Sperry shoes I wear nearly every day. They became my go-to in high school and have been with me ever since.

The black canvas has faded to become patchy, and the white soles are covered in irreparable scuff marks, but I still wear them religiously.

As the inside became worn down and I feared a potential hole in the canvas, I reluctantly began researching replacements.

My criteria did not seem extreme. I wanted a casual sneaker-style shoe that was sustainably made and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, initial searches did not have much luck. Everything was either insanely expensive, undeniably ugly, or both. After I was about to give up, I found Cariuma.

Cariuma has reasonably priced, cute shoes that appear to be more sustainable and ethically made when compared to its competitors. I chose a pair of grey, canvas sneakers. They were

similar to my Sperrys but refreshingly light in color.

Although I don’t usually make purchases without a few weeks of careful consideration, I immediately hit checkout because these shoes seemed like a saving grace after weeks of failed research.

After a few days, I got a notification from Cariuma that my shoes had arrived at Stevens. A few days after that, Stevens mailroom had sorted the package and emailed me to retrieve it. I practically ran to Howe, so excited to have new shoes that I could be proud of in terms of ethics and sustainable practices. After getting the box unpacked, I slid the shoes on and my smile instantly flipped. They seemed stiff beyond what is expected of new shoes. Although I had been wearing overly worn-out shoes for many months, there was clearly something not right about these. After taking a single step, my foot nearly flew out of the shoe. No matter how tight I tied the laces, they were just not fitting correctly. Apparently, the Cariumas were not the savior that I had thought they were.

After returning the shoes, I started the search again. This time, I also accepted the possibility that my ideal shoes might not be perfectly sustainable, but would just be a step up from typical company practices.

Still no luck. I gave up for

quite a few months until I recently took up the search again. This new attempt was prompted by the realization that the Sperrys will not last much longer and if I don’t replace them soon I will be forced to find an emergency replacement once they are no longer wearable. Being forced to buy a pair quickly could result in shoes that are made with unimaginably harmful practices.

Anyway, I started looking at shoes that are fairly popular among the youth and tried to find the most sustainable option. It turns out, those would be Vans.

According to Good on You, Vans monitors its water use, uses some eco-friendly materials, and has some supply chain tracking. These practices have earned them a ranking of ‘it’s a start’ which is right in the middle of the ranking chart. The Vans have not arrived, but I am optimistic that they will be

better than my experience with Cariumas.

Although it sounds like I just talked about shoes for 500 words, which I did, the real message is that being sustainable can take some time, patience, and the occasional failure. Technically making returns, like I did with the Cariumas, is not really sustainable because some companies will throw out old returns. I would like to believe Cariuma does not participate in this behavior since they make a point of being a sustainable company. Even though Vans might not be the most sustainable shoe in the world, I tried my best to make a choice that does minimal damage to the environment. After all, we can only do our best and hope that others follow.

The fate of the climate crisis most definitely is not solely based on my choice of shoes, but my actions can help motivate bigger change.

“THE SUSTAINABLE(ISH) SHOES I ORDERED”

THE CONVERSATION

FOR MATH’S SAKE

Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis: immigration policies

The prisoner’s dilemmais not just about prisoners

BY TASHA KHOLSA ‘25

BY MARISA POWERS ‘23

Introduction Over the past few months, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been bussing immigrants from Texas to Washington D.C., and more recently, having them disembark in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence. Likewise, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has recently begun a similar practice of flying immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard.

Campus Conservative, Marisa Powers DeSantis and Abbott’s griefs with the Biden administration are because of its failure to acknowledge the issue of security at the border. Since his administration took office, 4.9 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border. Part of their reasoning for sending the immigrants to these specific locations is the fact that they “did not consent to Biden’s open-borders agenda.”

DeSantis’ communication director, Taryn Feske, was quoted saying, “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies.”

Biden and his administration are condemning the

acts of DeSantis and Abbott, calling them “un-American,” “reckless,” and an “illegal stunt.” However in 2021, there were night flights transporting illegal immigrants to states such as Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. One specific example of this was in October of 2021 when planes of underage migrants were flown into Westchester County in New York on charter planes from Texas.

It can be seen as hypocritical now that Biden is calling DeSantis’ and Abbott’s actions “un-American” and “reckless,” when his administration was doing the same thing months ago.

I do not agree with anyone being used as a political prop that serves either side, and I think there are better ways to make a change. However, I do think that something needs to be done to call attention to the lack of security at our borders.

Campus Liberal, Tasha Khosla While I understand that DeSantis and Abbott were purposely trying to provoke public response towards Biden’s border policy, it absolutely should not have happened. The actions taken were inappropriate and insensitive, and the immigration situation should not be reduced to a publicity stunt to criticize the Biden Administration.

A major issue as well is that their ways of bringing attention to this political issue only make matters worse.

In DeSantis’ case, Martha’s Vineyard was not prepared for the arrival of these immigrants. According to CBS News, “Martha’s Vineyard does not have an immigration court where migrants can attend their asylum hearings or an immigration office where they can check-in to demonstrate their compliance with the terms of their release. The island also lacks large migrant services organizations that help newcomers integrate into local communities.” The point that DeSantis was attempting to make about the Biden Administration lacking resources is now lost as Massachusetts must instead scramble to rectify DeSantis’ egregious actions.

As for Abbott, the same applies. Transporting immigrants from Texas to New York City or Washington D.C. and then leaving them on the street is not going to solve the GOP’s grievances with Biden’s immigration policy. As President Biden condemned, “Instead of working with us on solutions. Republicans are playing politics with human beings using them as props.

What they’re doing is simply wrong. It’s un-American. It’s reckless.”

While the Biden Administration needs to address the border situation, Abbott and DeSantis’ actions were not the way of doing so.

Conclusion Both sides agree that the lack of border security and immigration resources needs to be addressed by the Biden Administration.

Moreover, both sides agree that Abbott and DeSantis should not be using these immigrants as political props.

BY CHARLES BEALL ‘22 Human interaction and decision-making are challenging to quantify. When we think about all the factors that play into a decision or encounter between groups of people—each person’s motivations, the amount of information each person holds, the cooperation between different people involved—the system quickly becomes a vast complex of inputs and outputs, with no clear function on how to get from one to the other.

Mathematicians, undeterred by this challenge, have managed to develop some solid theory behind decisions, particularly when risk and reward are on the line. This is known as game theory, and it’s likely that some of you have seen this in your classes. Some of the seminal works in the theory are by the great mathematician John Nash, who focused on “game” models related to economics—these works have become pillars of modern mathematical finance.

I’d like to describe a particular game that was developed in game theory’s infancy. Despite its broad applications, it has a very specific name: “the prisoner’s dilemma.” As you’ve probably guessed, the prob-

lem is commonly formulated as a scenario involving two prisoners who are suspected of committing a crime. Typically, these prisoners are presumed to be part of the same criminal gang, although the police have detained them in solitary confinement, so the suspects have no way of communicating with each other.

The dilemma is that the cops offer a bargain to each of the prisoners as they go to question them. If neither prisoner talks, then they will each serve a small sentence—let’s say one year— on a lesser charge. If one prisoner provides information on the other, however, they will be set free, and the prisoner who gets ratted on will serve a larger sentence—let’s say three years. Lastly, if both prisoners snitch, they will each serve a middle sentence— let’s say two years.

Even with a relatively simple situation (there are only four possible outcomes), it’s hard to say which is the optimal strategy for each prisoner.

What game theory tells us, though, is that the prisoners will inevitably choose to betray each other, snitching on the other and ending up serving two years each.

It would be in their best interests to keep mum and just serve one year. But the potential disappointment of staying silent and having the other prisoner rat them out and going scot-free while they serve the longest possible sentence overrides this desire for cooperation.

This dilemma can be generalized to many real-world cases, and the one I find most fascinating deals with policy to combat

climate change. Although this dilemma is now on a much broader scale, it retains the core features. The nations of the world would all benefit most by cooperating to reduce emissions and transition to clean, sustainable energy. However, even if an agreement is reached, there is no guarantee that all the governments involved will adhere to it. Rather than put in lots of effort to combat climate change while other countries continue to harm the planet, the governments of the world have mostly opted for maintaining the status quo or making emissions targets much lower than what scientists deem necessary to prevent increasing environmental turmoil in the coming decades.

What do we do about this? Game theory seems to say that there’s no way out of this result. But the climate change policy debate doesn’t have to be a prisoner’s dilemma. Governments could pledge more commitment and provide more transparency on their progress to reduce emissions. Developed nations could also provide financial support for clean energy projects around the world, not just within their borders.

The silver lining for the prisoner’s dilemma is that, if repeated, the prisoners would eventually opt to cooperate. We have done a lot of damage to Earth over the years, so cooperation on climate change may look like a damage control strategy. But fortunately, there is a way to break free of this dilemma in the long run—let’s just hope that this comes soon enough.

11

Friday, September 30

Opinion | Lifestyle GIRL TALK

THE DOODLING DUCK

The femininity of cats

The unbearable lightness in art, love, and living

BY JORDYN RAMELLI ‘23 I am sitting at my desk typing on my computer, acquainted by my lovely (but crazy) kitten, Kiwi. She is tirelessly trying to run across my keyboard, which almost always adds random characters to whatever document I am working on. Behind Kiwi is my notepad that my sister got me that reads “Crazy Cat Lady” across the top, which is a saying my friends have used to describe me on multiple occasions. As I sit and look at my notepad, I wonder to myself; why are cats often associated with women? I took to Google to find out some answers to my questions, and I thought this would be a perfect topic to write about this week.

While I was searching for answers, I found that there is a deep-rooted history between cats and women, sometimes for good and sometimes for worse. In Ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped and welcomed into society. Wild or domestic, they were seen as divine creatures for many reasons. Individuals invited cats into their homes because they chased

away unwanted animals and pests, such as mice and scorpions. Ancient Egyptian royalty often owned cats, which they dressed in gold and let them eat off their plate, so people of the lower class followed suit.

Cats were directly related to Ancient Egyptian femininity. As explained by Faye Sakellaridis in “Cats and Witches: A Magical History,” “Two widely venerated Egyptian goddesses, Bastet and Sekhmet, are feline deities. Bastet is quite literally the goddess of cats, depicted as a cat or a woman with the head of a cat, and presides over the home, fertility, and protection. To harm a cat was considered a crime against Bastet herself.” Similarly, Sekhmet is depicted with the head of a lion and is a fierce hunter. Because of this, cats were sometimes considered to be demi-deities.

In addition to Egyptian deities, cats are linked with other women in power in other cultures. Sakellaridis states “In Greek mythology, Diana, goddess of the hunt and moon and teacher of magic and witchcraft, shapeshifts into Lucifer’s beloved pet cat to gain entrance into his chamber and seduce him.

In Norse mythology, Freya, goddess of fertility, war, and death, would lead Valkyries into battle to collect fallen soldiers, riding on a chariot led by two formidable blue cats […] according to Hebrew folklore, Lilith […] shapeshifts into a black vampire cat named El Broosha, prey-

ing on newborn babies.”

While cats were admired in Ancient Egypt, they were widely disliked during the Middle Ages. Cats were frequently scrutinized for their unapologetic independence: many people saw cats as a sign of evil or a reincarnation of the devil. Throughout the Salem Witch Trials, cats were often seen as acquaintances to witches. From the 15th to 18th century, numerous women were accused of being witches and were killed, which included their cats as well. Black cats in particular were targeted and tortured.

Sakellaridis states, “Despite the lingering traces of black cat prejudice, cats have found their way back in the good graces of social opinion. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the popularity of all things cat on the internet runs parallel to the rise of the witch, and the reclaiming of the divine feminine. Let us witches honor our feline counterparts, who have historically been revered and demonized for our spiritual powers and iron-clad independence.”

Through my research, I found that cats have been linked to femininity and women for as long as time can tell. Although the Middle Ages were a dark time to be a woman (or a cat), many other cultures see cats as magical figures that assist females in power. Today, cats are admired and loved by many as wonderful companions. So, when someone calls me a crazy cat lady again, I’m going to take it as a compliment.

BY POOJA RAJADURAI ‘23 Over the summer I read Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which felt to me as pretentious as the title of the book. I could not understand what could be the point of illustrating a married man’s physical affairs with multiple women in excruciating detail, including a departure from the main narrative to explain the choices made by one of his former mistresses. The writing choices and allusions to theoretical ideas, some original and some posited by philosophers whose names I can barely pronounce, made for a wonderful thought experiment until I could bear the vehicle of delivery (Tomas, the male nymphomaniac) no longer.

But if there’s one thing about me, I love a good controversy, and Kundera and his ideas provide more than ample material to justify having opinions when in want of opinions. And so after some digging, one GoodReads reviewer explained to me what I had missed in the book all along. They wrote, “Having only one life to live, makes the life choices difficult and onerous. It is also because of this very fact of living only one life that these life choices do not have much weight in the bigger picture. And it is this irony which causes the unbearable lightness of being.” The irony considered in regard to relationships begrudgingly prompts un-

derstanding of how some people feel motivated to make choices in favor—or disfavor—of the grass being greener elsewhere. Those motivations, shaped by the unique experiences and personalities that define our respective truths, cannot be imposed on one another.

So while Tomas makes the choice, every single time, to sleep with a woman he has not slept with before, and his wife Tereza makes the choice to come home to him every night despite his hair smelling…unfamiliar odors, neither you nor I can will a change to their situation because none of us (Tomas and Tereza included) can tell you if there exists an alternative situation in which all parties feel wholly satisfied, because we cannot play out any other hypothetical and Tomas’ and Tereza’s current trajectory simultaneously.

We can observe a similar phenomenon in the relationship between Elizabeth Hardwick and famed American poet Robert Lowell. Hailed one of the most stylistic literary critics of her era and listed among renowned contemporaries such as Joan Didion, Susan Sontag, and Mary McCarthy, Hardwick has been praised for her essays, indefatigable command of prose, and her bestseller, Sleepless Nights. Her infamous marriage with Lowell resulted in his leaving Hardwick after a European excursion to be with another woman, Caroline Blackwood, and publishing segments of Hardwick’s correspondence to him after learning about his infidelity (imagine you texted your ex you’re finding out that they cheated and then they posted screenshots of your shock to their story). According to biographer Cathy Curtis, the essayist was so taken up with Lowell’s brilliance that she stayed with him

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM

for a number of years and even got on as friends with him following his departure from his Blackwood. Hence we observe that in much the same way Tereza stays with Tomas, so does Hardwick with Lowell. Despite the many indiscretions committed by the heros, both women make the choices they feel would satisfy them the most, the insignificance of their own lives mirrored in their limited affordance of choices they can compare their decisions to.

A more unfortunate replication of the unbearable lightness can be witnessed in the lives of the women who loved Pablo Picasso.

Anyone who knows anything about Picasso’s personal life knows he was, and please pardon the French, a complete asshole. Manipulative, deeply misogynistic, and emotionally abusive, Pablo took on a string of lovers over his lifetime, many of them generations younger than he - really, he makes Leonardo Dicaprio look like a family man. In fact, many of the people in his familial or romantic circle committed suicide, yet he was hailed, first and foremost, a genius (an opinion I hold in particular conviction: genius is a word reserved for men who have enough talent to supply evidence for its merit). Picasso had talent, no doubt. By age 16 he had mastered the skills and techniques of artists three to four times his age at minimum and thus had the rest of his—very long—life to create with wild abandon.

But under the pretense of Genius, Picasso has been excused for over 90 years of horrifying behavior towards those he considered subordinate to his art, namely the women, in his life.

While Tomas exhibits limited signs of Genius compared to Picasso’s partially earned epithet, one can observe how the allure of brilliance, passion, or attraction, as exhibited by Hardwick and Tereza, play into love for a person whose treatment of the people around them results in repeated heartache. And such is the unbearable lightness.

In the great mural of our lives, do we want to frame the incomplete picture of the object of our desires or leave, hoping the fortuitous events in our lives eclipse the seemingly insurmountable mark left by the people who first introduced color?

DEAR CLAIRE AND ETHAN...

Q: What do I do if I’m third wheeling?

BY CLAIRE HANNAN ‘24 A: Now that cuffing season has started, it’s likely that you might start noticing more and more of your friends coupling up. This isn’t an uncommon thing to happen, especially now that everyone is back to school and mingling with new people. It can be awkward when you suddenly

find yourself hanging out with a group of couples or you notice that your close friends are always with their partners.

You know it’s a good thing that your friend is happy, but it’s not cool for them to completely ditch you for their new relationship. If you’re feeling ignored, it’s a good idea to have an honest conversation about it. I would bet that your friend doesn’t even realize you’re feeling left out. A lot of times, people are so focused on their new relationships that they forget to keep up with their old ones. Don’t feel guilty asking for more time with a friend. All relationships are about balance, even friendships.

That being said, if you’re realizing that your closest friends are disappearing into relationships, it might be time to branch out. You could take this opportunity to meet new, interesting people around campus and create new habits for yourself. If you suddenly find yourself with a lot of alone time at night, you could join a new club and start going to meetings or explore the new UCC fitness space. If you find yourself with a lot of time in between classes, you could try starting study groups in the library with your classmates. Who knows, maybe while meeting new people on campus you might end up in a relationship yourself.

BY ETHAN KLESCHINSKY ‘24 A: As it begins to get colder, you will notice your friends getting into new relationships and you’ll find yourself constantly being introduced to new significant others of the people you have spent the last few months hanging out with. When this happens, your friend group will expand and you will be

introduced to a fun concept called third wheeling. Here’s the deal: Your friend still wants to hang out with you, but they also want to hang out with their significant other, so the genius idea is that they will do everything with both of you, turning you into the third wheel of their relationship bicycle.

Now for most people, this seems less than ideal, which is why I assume you came to us for advice, so I am here to help you out with navigating being the third wheel for your obnoxious friends.

You can deal with this problem in one of two ways: the first way is to get a significant other of your own.

This will allow you to go on double dates and, rather than being miserable by

yourself, you can take that special someone along with you to be annoyed by your friends together. This may be hard because I assume that you’re socially awkward and incapable of talking to the people you are attracted to. You’re probably saying to yourself, “That’s harsh, why would you think that of me?” and I answer with “You’re reading the advice column of the school newspaper, go talk to a human.”

So assuming option one falls through, your other option is to suck it up and resent your “friends” until you have an outburst, leading to your friends distancing themselves, and then you can start from square one and make a whole new group of friends. Good Luck!

12

Friday, September 30

Campus Pulse

Mark Huggins ‘24

Mia Petrolino ‘25

“Staggering. Accessible. Versatile.”

“Cool view, but need more elevators.”

Analisa Viterbo ‘26 “Overrated. There are better places around campus.

Oh, and they are getting rid of halal.”

ROVING REPORTER Jordan Doles ‘26 “The food is good. I like to choose what I eat.

And I like the soft serve ice cream.”

Madison DeMattia ‘22 “I think it’s pretty good! I like it!”

Sudoku

“What are your overall opinions of the UCC.”

Carrie Watkins ‘26 “It’s overcrowded and I’m afraid of the lookers.”

Michael Mauro ‘26 “I love it there. Food is amazing.

The gym not so much, Schaffer is better.”

Last Week’s Answers

Marcelo Cuya ‘26 “It should be open past 12”