[The Stute] October 7, 2022 (Issue 5, Volume CXX)

We write Stevens history

Marques Brownlee ‘15 kicks of Duck2Duck series

BY OZ AGUINAGA , NEWS EDITOR

Stevens recently launched Duck2Duck, a new series of events that brings back alumni to discuss life after Stevens. The frst event brought back Marques Brownlee ’15, an online con tent creator known for his tech-review YouTube chan nel, MKBHD, boasting over 16 million subscribers. He

is also a semi-professional frisbee player in the Amer ican Ultimate Disc League.

He also is widely considered to be one of the best tech re viewers online. What many people don’t know is that before all the success and fame, Brownlee was just another Stevens student at tending classes and playing on the ultimate frisbee team.

Brownlee was one of the frst graduates from the School

Blue Violets cannabis dispensary gets closer to opening on Washington Street

BY KATIE BLOOMER, OUTREACH CHAIR

Co-founding couple, Maxwell and Lauren Chang Thompson are taking steps to open the Blue Violets can nabis dispensary on Wash ington Street. With approval from the city’s Cannabis Re view Board, the pair spoke before the Planning Board at City Hall to review their plans and address questions and concerns. Blue Violets has gotten closer to open ing a dispensary in Hoboken than any previous shop’s attempts. For some of their highlights, this business is woman and New Jersey resident owned, founded by medical and legal profes sionals, and has a progres sive social responsibility plan. They stand out with an attempt at making cannabis use a luxurious experience, as seen based on their web site.

Blue Violets boasts its goal: “It is our mission to become one of New Jersey’s fnest cannabis dispensa ries through our focus on exceptional product quality, unique consumer education, and positive community im pact.” This statement met

opposition at City Hall when residents voiced their con cerns about a cannabis dis pensary being in close prox imity to All Saints Episcopal Day School, Hoboken Char ter School, and Stevens In stitute of Technology. More specifcally, resident Mary Ondrejka stated that open ing a cannabis dispensary would “alter the fabric of the neighborhood.” Another resident, Elizabeth Urtecho, questioned why Washing ton Street specifcally was chosen. The Thompsons responded that the location was picked due to availabil ity as well as the proximity to Weehawken, which is ex pensive, has a ban on canna bis sales, and is their town of residence.

Another concern in volved the store’s method of accepting customers in such a small space due to the fear of a queue extending out the door. The Thompsons point ed to their appointment-only model which will be followed for the foreseeable future. It was later mentioned that al though a queue is not tech nically allowed, many other businesses on Washington

of Business. He majored in Business and Technology with concentrations in mar keting and information sys tems.

Brownlee has been mak ing videos for 13 years now. Whenever he wasn’t doing homework or playing fris bee, he was making videos, even during the summer, when most students will take up internships or go on vacation. Although he never

intended to make a full-time career out of his passion, his dedication to content cre ation and love for technolo gy paved the way.

Brownlee is no stranger to interviews. He was just a teenager In December 2015 when he interviewed profes sional NBA basketball play er Kobe Bryant. Since then, he has gone on to interview high-profle personalities such as President Barack

Hoboken proposes $27 million in city improvement projects

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

At Stevens, inevitably, the school works closely with the city of Hoboken. Hoboken policy ultimately impacts Stevens campus and students. On Septem ber 21, the city council of Hoboken proposed a $27.5 million bond ordinance to fund projects to improve the community in the up coming years. These proj ects include parks, trans portation, sustainability, and infrastructure. A vote will need six out of nine members to approve the system. Most of the money will directly benefit the cit izens of Hoboken and the students of Stevens.

The first bond will con sist of $6,025,660. The first aspect of that money will be $1,298,000, giv en to purchase an electric rear loader with the needed charging system. The vehi cle’s primary use will be in improving the many parks in the city of Hoboken. Ad ditionally, $1,195,000 will go into said improvements. $1,382,660 is set aside to renovate Hoboken’s town hall and to create art ex

hibits around Hoboken. The rest of the first bond is aside for paving, primarily Madison Street, 9th Street, and 11th Street.

The second bond would be for paving and art around the city. The main focus of the paving would be at Sinatra Drive, Court Street, and Castle Point Terrace.

Much like the previous bond, the third bond would be devoted to infrastruc ture; this includes a resto ration of the water mains, drainage systems, and the general efficiency of the systems. Most of this would be on Madison Street, 9th Street, 11th Street, and Castle Point Terrace. The rest of the money from the third bond would be used on art.

The fourth bond is a total of $1,288,760 and is designated toward trans portation. Some will go to purchase transit vehicles, the development of new parking lots, parking per mitting systems, and other transportation advance ments.

This bond program

Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. In December 2020, Brownlee was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 for the technology section.

Brownlee has grown his brand beyond the at-home tech reviews we’ve all come to know. He has a podcast, Waveform: The MKBHD

Career fair plagued by long lines and wait times

BY BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH, STAFF WRITER

The Stevens Career Fair was on September 21. It of fered students the opportu nity to learn about diferent industries and potentially get their foot in the door for an internship or job position. However, not ev eryone who attended had the chance to interact with employers, primarily due to excessive waits to enter the venues.

At its height, the wait to enter the Tech Flex Au ditorium in the Universi ty Center Complex (UCC) stretched across the UCC’s ground foor, up the lob by stairs, out the main entrance, and across the grounds of the towers to wards Howe. Attendees who entered the line could expect about an hour of standing under the beating sun in their formal wear to get a chance to talk to com panies like Samsung and JPMorgan.

Even worse was the wait to enter the Canavan Are na, which some students say was multiple hours long

SilverStrides gets elder Hoboken residents active

BY ANNA DABROWSKI, CONTRIBUTOR

The inaugural Silver Strides 1 Mile Walk/Run was held on Pier A in Hobo ken this past Saturday, September 24. Erin Kreis, Founder of SilverStrides,

said that the event was a big success with an attendance of “43 participants rang ing from 4-80 [years old].” Some local celebrities also attended, such as Coun ty Commissioner Anthony Romano, who had Kreis as

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STUDENT

CAREER

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by midday. Attendees braved the 80-degree weather with the hope of talking with representatives of companies like Johnson & John son and Crestron—and many nev er made it to the doors at all be fore the fair closed.

A couple of days following the event, Cherena Walker, Executive Director of the Stevens Career Center, sent an announcement to the Stevens community via email

VIOLETS

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Street are pardoned when a queue does form and it would be unrea sonable to hold this possible oc currence against the Blue Violets, especially when there is no reason to believe it will be an issue. Addi tionally, they are planning a soft opening to reduce a sudden infux of customers and gain more infor mation about the level of interest. The dispensary will be open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with four or fve employees in the store at a time. The ground foor will have a capped capacity of 14 people at a time.

Despite the numerous concerns from residents, the Blue Violets cannabis dispensary was unani mously approved by the commis sioners on the board. Another can nabis dispensary was scheduled to present at the City Hall meeting but was postponed to October 13 due to time constraints.

apologizing for the issues and promising that the Career Center would work to “better structure” future fairs. She also announced the creation of a “Career Fair Re sume Book,” giving the chance for students to submit their resumes to any employers interested in receiving the compilation, with the promise that recruiters were enthusiastic about the idea and would reach out to students whose resumes piqued their interests.

Attendance was tracked in ad vance via Handshake. The email noted that over 2,200 students were in attendance. The space

limitations of each venue were presumably known in advance by the organizers. It’s possible, then, that the average length of time students spent in a venue talking with employers signifcantly ex ceeded organizer expectations.

At this point, it seems that the options for organizers with regard to future Career Fairs include ei ther a simple expansion of venue space, a time extension or stag gered entrance system with res ervations, or remote alternatives, like Zoom sessions or a continua tion of the Resume Book.

NOTICE A MISTAKE?

a guest on his show Stick @ Nite, and Councilman Phil Cohen. Kreis is excited about the future of the app and believes that this frst event was “a big step towards con necting with the local 55+ commu nity.”

grandparents’ dedication to stay ing healthy and created the Sil verStrides app. The app is free to download from the App Store or Google Play.

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refer ences

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Policy

All members of the Stevens community are able to submit a stand alone opinion piece (otherwise known as an Op-Ed) to be published in The Stute. Op-Eds must be between 400 – 800 words, but longer sub missions 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 pub lish 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.

that the author approves the fnal version, The Stute reserves the right to edit Op-Eds according to our copy editing

de fned in our policies.

SilverStrides is a walking app targeted toward older adults. Kreis developed the app through the Stevens Launchpad acceler ator program, and felt that there was a need for “products specif ically designed for older adults.”

Kreis’s grandparents committed to staying active regardless of their age barriers as a way of promoting their health. Her grandmother had a hip replacement a few years ago and decided to make walking a habit. Kreis was inspired by her

The app has a relatively sim ple user interface, making it per fect for technologically inexperi enced adults. On the app, users can schedule walks with friends, connect with other walkers, and track their progress. Kreis is also preparing to launch some new fea tures such as notifcations and the ability to connect the app to ftness watches, as well as some premium features on the horizon.

In addition to the inaugural Walk/Run, Kreis had a vendor booth at the Baltimore County De partment of Aging Get Ready! Get Set! Get Fit! 5k/1M Run/Walk on September 18, which was an amaz ing way to introduce SilverStrides to her home community. In refer ence to these recent milestones,

Kreis stated that “The face-to-face conversations I had at the recent SilverStrides events were very encouraging. Not only did I get positive feedback on the direction SilverStrides is heading, but also, I was touched by the stories of all of the participants.” Kreis also explained that when building a startup, the most important com ponent is talking face-to-face with as many users as possible. Due to the age range of her users, this was not possible during the COVID-19 pandemic, making these in-per son events especially meaningful.

Kreis is thrilled with the im pact her app is having on its us ers, “Whether it was a competitive runner transitioning to walking or a family trying to exercise more together, meeting potential users was the best motivation I could have gotten. I am more excited than ever to keep building Silver Strides.”

COMIC CORNER

PHOTO COURTESY OF @STEVENSDUCKS ON INSTAGRAM

BROWNLEE

Podcast, and a new car-focused YouTube channel, cleverly called: AutoFocus. He now has a produc tion team and studio that help him create content.

At the end of the event was Q&A session open to the attendees. It was at this point that he revealed his interest in creating technology in the near future. What that en tails, we don’t know as he didn’t re

veal any more information on the matter. He also advised students to have a digital fngerprint, spe cifcally having their own YouTube channel or website so as to display their skills and passion to prospec tive employers. A lot of attendees asked him tech-related questions.

Brownlee really showed how humble he is when an attendee asked for a photo. He came down from the stage and took a BeReal selfe alongside the attendee. Mar quees Brownlee talked a lot about his life after graduating, and the tech industry, but he also imparted

some wise words of advice: “fnd ing something you’re passionate about often requires trying a lot of diferent stuf, but once you fnd that thing it kind of becomes a no-brainer.” For Brownlee, that no-brainer was technology and content creation. We should all as pire to be a little bit like Marques Brownlee, but this shouldn’t be confused with imitation. The event was a success and the Stevens community looks forward to the next Duck2Duck event. The full event can be accessed on the Ste vens YouTube Channel.

comes amid Hoboken’s advance ments in the civil aspects of the city. Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s propos al to reduce pedestrian deaths and other initiatives regarding public safety fuel the develop ment of safer and more efficient roadways. Additionally, as glob al warming becomes more of a threat, the city’s push for more environmentally friendly and green initiatives is increasing.

A hidden benefit of these new bond projects is the continuation of the city’s work to put mon ey back into the citizens. Better roads and infrastructure help those who use the systems, and

public art encourages the hu manities and offers jobs for art ists. These projects also benefit the students of Stevens. Many students find themselves on Cas tle Point Terrace and 9th Street often, while many use the public transportation system and the public parks.

Although these projects may increase traffic during construc tion periods or close some parks during the renovation process, the long-term benefits of these projects will outlast the small in conveniences without question.

The city will likely continue its work on the betterment of the quality of life for its citizens. The future of Hoboken will continue to improve and benefit both citi zens of the city and the students of Stevens.

Polio in New York City

BY TANYA AVADIA, CONTRIBUTOR

The once eradicated polio virus, otherwise known as po liomyelitis, has caused a state of emergency in the state of New York. Health officials have found the polio virus in several water samples taken from four adjacent counties in the state. Additionally, there is one con firmed case of polio in New York, the first in the country after a whole decade. This has health officials, policymakers, and citizens alike worried for several reasons. Firstly, the fact that a case of polio has been reported after a long pe riod of time is concerning giv en the improvements in polio vaccines and vaccination rates.

Secondly, the uncertainty of how to stop the spread of this virus and get people to practice safety measures is also crucial but troublesome.

Polio is a virus that dates back to 1580 BC. While it can infect anyone, polio primari ly affects children and causes paralysis and weakness in the arms and legs. The virus can spread through fecal matter, close contact with those infect ed, and saliva. There are many strains of the polio virus, but through the development of vaccines, many of them, such as the three types of wild po lioviruses (WVPs), have been eradicated. Prior to the devel opment of vaccines during the 20th century, polio affected 1000 children every day world

wide. This pushed the need for a preventative vaccine to be made and distributed. Cur rently, children get four doses of the polio vaccine starting at two months of age. If they did not get vaccinated early, after the age of four, they are to get three doses of the vaccine.

While polio was largely eradicated from the US in 1955, occasional cases have occurred before. However, the severity of the situation in New York state should not be underestimated, despite there being only one case so far. Healthcare Com missioner Dr. Mary Bassett stated for BBC News that “for every one case of paralytic po lio observed, there may be hun dreds of other people infected.” Polio is spread through close

contact and through objects.

Therefore, polio remnants be ing found in the waters of four counties puts a great deal of people at risk. The New York health department believes the solution is to ensure that peo ple get vaccinated. Currently, state officials are working with people in the healthcare indus try to raise the vaccination rate from 79% to 90% across the state.

With polio being such a feared and life-threatening dis ease, it is important to note its symptoms. Most people affect ed with the virus will not expe rience any symptoms but those that do may have a sore throat, fever, nausea, and/or stomach pain which usually shows up after three to six days of infec

tion. Paralysis happens to 1 in 200 people infected but can be extremely deadly. It can leave people unable to move their body and in severe cases un able to move muscles needed to swallow or breathe, causing death.

The state of emergency de clared in New York should not be taken lightly. There is only one case of polio in the state, but it is the first in over a de cade in the country. Addition ally, the contamination of the water system in four New York counties puts many people at risk of contracting the virus. The best possible preventative measure as of right now is to get vaccinated and practice healthy habits such as washing your hands frequently.

Stevens Society of Physics Students takes astronomy camping trip

BY ERIN MCGEE, SCIENCE WRITER

Despite the remnants of Hurricane Ian moving through the Northeast this past week end, one Stevens organization braved the weather in the name of science. The Society of Phys ics Students (SPS) took their astronomy-based camping trip, which every semester serves as a chance for students of all majors and interests to observe the stars far from the light pol lution of Hoboken.

The group traveled to a campsite in Wawayanda State Park, an almost 35,000 acre preserved area of North Jer sey. While not completely free of light pollution, moving away from the bright lights of New

York offers significant im provement in the ability to see the night sky. Last spring, SPS was also able to travel to Cher ry Springs State Park, a true dark sky zone in Pennsylvania, known as one of the best places to stargaze on the East coast. Places such as Cherry Springs boast the ability to see Aurora Borealis, the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, the ISS, and hundreds of constellations.

The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) estimates that only around 10% of Ameri cans have seen a truly dark sky, one such as Cherry Springs, that is completely free of light pollution. The IDA maintains a verified list of dark-sky com munities, parks, and even ur ban areas that use responsible

lighting methods that do not disturb stargazing. Their goal, to “protect the night” for future generations, rests in educating the public and policymakers about how to responsibly light our cities in a way that allows more people to appreciate the night sky. SPS carries this goal as well, with higher-level phys ics students bringing telescopes and sharing their knowledge of astronomy with the rest of the group.

Despite the clouds of this past weekend, early October usually lends itself to a great deal of skywatching. Jupi ter and Saturn remain visible throughout the beginning of the month, forming a trian gle with Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in the sky at this

time. Distinguishing between planets and stars can be diffi cult, however stars will appear to ‘twinkle’ in the sky, where as planets do not. This is due to the vast distance that light from stars travels, causing it to be much more affected by pass ing through particles in the at mosphere than the light from planets. The moon this year is also in its first quarter, a ben efit to skywatching, as the light of the moon can often serve as a source of light pollution itself.

The tradition of the astron omy camping trip is a long one within SPS and one that is trea sured within the club. Fresh man Danny Martire says: “I had so much fun talking to peo ple, learning about camping, and living in the moment. Not

having cell service, rather than being annoying, made it even more memorable.” The club also uses the camping trip as an opportunity to spark curiosity around astronomy as a whole, as well as a chance to build a community around people who are interested in physics, no matter their major. Anastasia Pergament, the club’s presi dent, said, “This camping trip is my favorite part of the fall semester. Every year new faces join to enjoy the beautiful fall hikes and learn about the stars from peers studying astrono my. Hopefully, everyone comes away having learned some thing new and having made a new friend. Those people are the ones who come back every year.”

PHOTO

DANNY

BY RUTHIE MULLISKY, CONTRIBUTOR

On September 23, seven Ste vens alumni were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, mark ing the frst induction ceremony in nearly three years due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The seven alumni were Thorpe Aschof, David Decker, Britta ny (Fuller) Jones, Ellyn (Griggs) Barth, Ron Maurer, Todd Sheri dan, and Melanie Volk.

Aschof ‘28 was a dual-sport athlete, lettering in both baseball and basketball. He played com petitive baseball well into his 30s; after graduating he played in the Metropolitan Basketball League. He spent 30 years as an engineer at Con Edison while also serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and later became a fight instructor. He is the third alum nus who participated in intercol legiate athletics during the 1920s or earlier to be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Decker ‘10 was one of the top goalkeepers in the extensive his tory of the men’s lacrosse program at Stevens. Accumulating 503 saves over a career of 45 games, he ranked ninth in the program’s record for all-time saves. In 2008, his best statistical season, he tal lied 185 saves across 17 games to earn a national sixth-place rank ing in save percentage (0.664) and a national seventh-place ranking in a goals-against average (6.50), and these rankings stand second and frst respectively in Stevens’ history.

Jones ‘10 was a dual-sport ath lete, participating in both basket ball and volleyball. While playing basketball, she amassed 1.373 ca reer points over 116 games, lead ing to her being ranked fourth in program history, along with 719 rebounds, 116 blocks, and accu mulating 213 three-point baskets. While playing volleyball, she col lected 243 kills and 108 blocks over 36 matches, a great feat con sidering she only played for the team during her senior year.

Barth ‘11 was a three-year

BY KAI WONG , CONTRIBUTOR

Within the past week, the Stevens Men’s Soccer team ex tended their winning streak to eight games by defeating Wid ener University and King’s Col lege (PA.) in a shutout fashion.

On September 24, the team ex tended its winning streak to sev en games by defeating Widener University 1-0.

Senior Bruno Andino drove a header back into the middle of the goal to give Stevens the lead in minute 45. Sophomore Adam Berrocal drove a pass deep into the six, where Andino complet ed the critical play. The Ducks could also not have completed the shutout without senior Jus tin Cross posting five saves, a career-high.

A week later, on October 1, the team was back in action ex

starting goalie on the feld hockey team. She helped the team win its frst conference victory, frst con ference championship, and frst NCAA win. She accumulated 247 saves over 63 games and ranked among the top in the program in goals-against average, shutouts, and victories. Barth is also the only goalie in program history to have a goals-against average of under one. She was also a member of the track and feld team, earn ing accolades for her performance there as well.

Maurer ‘87 spent three years with the men’s lacrosse program, accumulating 498 career saves, ranking ninth in program his tory. He ranks among the top single-season performances in Stevens lacrosse history from his save percentages of 0.652 and 0.651 in 1984 and 1985 respec tively. He received many individ ual awards, such as the John Sim Award for the senior who contrib uted most to the sport of lacrosse, and the 1987 Gear and Triangle for the best athlete of the gradu

ating class.

Sheridan ‘10 was a member of the men’s soccer team and posted a record of 37 goals and six assists across 81 matches. He was a key player to the team, as the program reached the postseason in each of his four seasons. Additionally, with his help, the team in 2006 went 18-0-3—marking the frst season without a loss in 66 years. He co-holds the program record for goals in a single match, four goals, which is from his perfor mance in 2006. Moreover, one of his most unique feats is that he ended his college soccer career with a goal in his fnal shot.

Volk ‘09 was a member of the women’s volleyball team, helping to achieve four consecutive ap pearances in the NCAA tourna ment. She amassed an astonish ing 1,493 kills and 202 blocks over 151 matches, leaving her among the program’s top in both career kills and total points. In 2008, she was the recipient of the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year award and an honorable mention

All-American from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

In addition to recognizing the Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, the President’s Cup was awarded to the wrestling team. This past season was one for the books, as current alum, Brett Kaliner be came the frst national champion in program history following a 29-0 season. Alongside Kalin er’s accomplishment, senior Kyle Slendorn and junior Stefan Major received All-America honors fol lowing their performance at the NCAA Division III national cham pionship, and the team placed ffth of 70 teams at the national championship with only three wrestlers competing. Coaches Joe Favia and Anthony Bonaventura were named the National Wres tling Coaches Association South east Region Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.

This is the second time the wres tling team was awarded the Pres ident’s Cup after winning in 2017.

The President’s Cup was frst awarded in 2006.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Juniata College Huntingdon, PA 7 p.m.

SAT, OCT 8

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

DeSales University Invitational Center Valley, PA 10:30 a.m.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

DeSales University Invitational Center Valley, PA 10:30 a.m.

MEN’S SOCCER vs Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 12 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY vs Wilkes University Hoboken, NJ 1 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Messiah University Huntingdon, PA 1:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S SOCCER vs Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA 2:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs University of Mary Washington Huntingdon, PA 4 p.m.

eight game winning streak

tending their winning streak to eight games by defeating King’s College (PA.) 2-0.

In the MAC Freedom open er, the Ducks struck first in the 14th minute by Andino. Andino received assistance from senior Emerson Kuzemka, who played a long ball down the right side of the field. In the 82nd min ute, sophomore Emerico Ves pucci scored the Duck’s second goal with an assisted cross from Graduate student Adam Silva.

In both games, the Ducks controlled the field position bat tle. In their game against Wid ener, the Ducks accounted for 12 shots and six corner kicks, while Widener only had nine and three, respectively. The Ducks claimed the upper hand again in their game against King’s Col lege. Producing another 11 shots and six corner kicks in the sec ond half alone, the Ducks out

shined the Monarchs.

Stevens improved to 8-0-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC Free dom conference. The Ducks are the only remaining undefeated team in the MAC Freedom con ference.

The reigning MAC Freedom Champions hope to keep their

streak alive as they prepare to take on Fairleigh Dickinson Uni versity in a conference match-up Wednesday, October 5, on home turf at 7 p.m. Fairleigh Dickin son is currently on a three-game winning streak but the Ducks are historically undefeated against the Devils.

MEN’S GOLF

Royal Lakes Fall Invitational–Round 1 Flowery Branch, GA Time TBD

MON, OCT 10 MEN’S GOLF Royal Lakes Fall Invitational–Round 2 Flowery Branch, GA Time TBD

TUE, OCT 11 MEN’S SOCCER vs Delaware Valley University Hoboken, NJ 7 p.m.

WED, OCT 12

WOMEN’S SOCCER vs Delaware Valley University Hoboken, NJ 7 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY vs FDU-Florham Madison, NJ 7 p.m.

THU, OCT 13

WOMEN’S vs Drew University Madison, NJ 7 p.m.

SAMUEL C. WILLIAMS LIBRARY

Stevens archives: documenting our present

In an interview with The Stute, Head of Archives and Special Collections Librarian

BY TASHA KHOSLA, FEATURES EDITOR

Leah Loscutof and Archivist and Digital Projects Librarian Ted Houghtaling shared more about documenting the pres ent.

As Loscutof summarized, “We want students to realize that we’re interested in docu menting their life and mem ories at Stevens so when they come back someday they can see themselves in Stevens his tory.” Some recent examples of projects the archivists have done have related to COVID-19 and how students adapted to the pandemic. Additionally, Houghtaling mentioned, “Stu dents feel like there’s no place for their memories which is what we’re trying to address.”

Both Loscutof and Houghtal ing acknowledged that there are “gaps of representation in

the archives.” To address this, the archivists have actively been collecting more material on groups that have been mar ginalized throughout history to broaden their collection.

Q: Are you documenting the new buildings on cam pus, like the University Center Complex (UCC)?

“We document just press re leases and the major announce ments so far. We work with other departments on campus as well like the Department of University Relations […] even tually those photos that they take will come to the archives where we’ll have access to them.”

Houghtaling added, “we also keep an institutional history spreadsheet that keeps track of buildings like when they were erected, when they were torn down, events, when student organizations were founded, when academic departments were founded. So there’s an en try for the UCC. So that’s like a

living document for whatever we fnd for some major Stevens events.”

Q: Do you have any up coming projects you would like to share?

“Next month on October 19, there’s a professor of music at the University of Oxford who used a lot of collections here at the archives to write a chapter of her book and it kind of cen ters on a former Stevens pro fessor. So we’re gonna get her to give a guest lecture about her book but also about the history of the type of research that this professor did at Stevens […]

The fact that a pretty prominent sound studies researcher want ed to devote a whole chapter on this guy is really cool and in teresting and that’s the kind of stuf we as archivists like, when historians use our collections to shine a light on unknown parts of history and bring them to life.”

Loscutof and Houghtal ing noted that many outside

Teaching librarians continue to empower and educate young undergraduates

BY OZ AGUINAGA , NEWS EDITOR

October is National Infor mation Literacy Month. Ste vens librarians are taking this month to attend freshmen ex perience courses to teach stu dents how to evaluate, access, and use information ethically. Recently, we have seen a rapid rise in the amount of informa tion available, but there’s also been an equal rise in misinfor mation, perhaps even more so now due to social media plat forms. Stevens librarians hope to empower students with the critical thinking and research skills necessary to combat mis information in the digital age.

Information literacy ob jectives have been a part of the freshman experience cur riculum since 2011. However, Stevens librarians have been instructing research sessions

for at least 30 years. Profes sors from the College of Arts and Letters will often invite a librarian to teach the class-spe cifc information and research methods. This is especially cru cial for students to learn during their formative years as an un dergraduate. It is these founda tional methodologies and in structions that will underpin all future research and education students’ endeavors—whether it be in college, their career, or their personal life.

In today’s modern society, there is a misconception that anyone with access to the in ternet has all the information disposable to them at the touch of their fngertips. Discovering the information you need is not as easy as coming up with a keyword and entering it into a search engine, that is if you hope to get quality content. Search

engines like Google do provide a lot of information, but reliable sources, like academic journals, newspapers, and books, are in creasingly put behind paywalls.

So, while some people thought the internet would make li braries obsolete, it is quite ac tually the opposite—libraries and librarians are invaluable resources to a community. Like Romel Espinel, Web Services Librarian, said, “This is where a library is critically important to the university community because librarians curate, col lect, and subscribe to quality information sources that sup port the educational mission of the university.” Stevens librari ans are committed to ensuring students have access to reliable sources and have the knowhow skills to formulate proper, educated, opinions about the world.

researchers do in fact use the archives in their publications, books, articles, etc. They de scribed the archives as “very in terdisciplinary” and Houghtal ing emphasized, “What we want to stress is that it’s not closed of to the public. We keep these records because we want them to be used. We don’t want to keep them in some attic space on the third foor where no one will ever see it. You have to make an appointment to come see it of course, but we want people to come in and use them for their research or if they’re just interested. You don’t have to be writing a history book to come see our collections.”

As Loscutof reiterated, “We’re all about access. We’ve been giving this writer from Hoboken Girl who just posted an article about dogs of Hobo ken […] There’s endless topics [and] so many diferent angles to the history. We’re always learning more ourselves.”

A topical example of the

relevance of archives that Houghtaling mentioned is Liz zo playing a crystal fute from the Library of Congress. He explained that Lizzo’s concert is “the perfect example of what archives are all about. [It] is to have them be used and have them be activated. Because there’s some people who are like ‘I can’t believe they let her use that. It’s gonna cause ir reparable harm to the object’ […] But it’s like no, what are we all doing this for if not for it to be used and brought to life? And it’s great for the Library of Congress because look at this person bringing it to a difer ent context.” “Bringing this to a younger generation where it can be more relatable and in teresting as opposed to being very standofsh,” fnished Lo scutof.

All Stevens students are rel evant to Stevens’ history and the archives will continue to provide insight into the lives of students for years to come.

KAIDEN GOZ FOR THE STUTE

you overly critical?

you like to point our people’s mistakes?

Feature

Research at the Samuel C. Williams Library

BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

At Stevens, an essential re source for the students going about their academic endeav ors is the Samuel C. Williams library, located in the center of the campus. Bearing ma terials ranging from books to tutors, the library is a one-stop shop for questions and inqui ries regarding all disciplines. I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Linda Beninghove, the Library Director, and Ro mel Espinel, the Web Services and Teaching Librarian, about their opinions and experiences

about research at the library and their opinions on the fu ture of the library here at Ste vens.

The frst stop of research at the library is the extensive col lection of books, journals, arti cles, and databases ofered. In the traditional sense, students can rent and borrow books and access online copies to aid the educational curriculums here at Stevens. However, the unique part of the library is the databases Stevens has access to. Dr. Beninghove explained, “Students have access to hun dreds of thousands of journals through databases that provide the latest research in all felds but especially in engineering,

science, technology, and busi ness. Students also have access to thousands of newspapers and magazines.” Additionally, students can request materials through the Interlibrary Loan/ Document Delivery. This sys tem allows Stevens to exchange materials with many other uni versity and institutional librar ies to best support learning, not just at Stevens but in education in general.

However, the library is keep ing up with society as technolo gy advances. The library ofers Stevens students a chat service to communicate with the li brarians virtually, allows stu dents to access materials virtu ally on and of campus, and has

the equipment to rent— laptops with Solidworks and MatLab displays to use larger screens. However, if students like being more traditional, they may use some of the printers and scan ners available.

With the technological ad vances the library is current ly utilizing, I asked about the plans for the library as the de cade progresses. Dr. Bening hove said, “Along with Stevens’ new 10-year strategic plan, the Library is continuously plan ning how to best support the academic programs, faculty, and students. We are looking at expanding our information and data resources inspired by our students and faculty and

powered by the latest in infor mation and instructional tech nology. Physically we hope to update the Library into an even more student-centered, mod ern, and creative study and research space where students can learn and explore in a com fortable study environment.”

The library is a keystone of the Stevens campus and com munity. Ofering materials for research both in person and virtually, students can always go to the library to aid in their academics. The librarians wel come any questions and curios ity into the library system. For more information, please visit the library in person or visit the library’s website.

UCC vs. library: how the library has changed due to the addition of the UCC

BY TODD BECHTEL, CONTRIBUTOR

With classes well under way this semester and profes sors quickly handing out tests and assignments, Stevens stu dents have been hard at work studying to keep up with their classes. The recent addition of the University Center Complex (UCC) on campus has allocat ed more spaces for the student population to complete their coursework, particularly with the study rooms on the fourth foor of the sky bridge in the residential area and the confer ence rooms on the second foor of the UCC.

In the years before the com pletion of the UCC, the pre miere study location at Stevens was the Samuel C. Williams Library, which is located in the middle of campus and has three

foors of dedicated study spac es. Library Director Dr. Lina Beninghove and Web Services and Teaching Librarian Ro mel Espinel still believe that to be true this semester, as “data seem[s] to indicate that stu dents are visiting the Library at the same or maybe even higher rate[s] than last year.” The li brary also has many resources for students to use outside of studying, such as the Research Desk to talk to librarians about course assignments and cur rent research and collections of books, articles, and textbooks located in-person and online.

This semester, however, they plan to change strategies to cater to more students while still being an open space for students. With feedback from their yearly survey, the library wants to “prioritize study” by designating each foor of the

library to a diferent volume level, with higher foors being quieter spaces and lower foors being more social spaces. Dr. Beninghove and Mr. Espinel still believe the library will be a place for students to attend events and social gatherings, as it has been for many years, but want to also focus their at tention on making the library a welcoming study place to help more students.

The UCC has certainly ce mented its place in the com munity as a new studying spot for students, but the library still aims to give resources to students and accommodate their needs for their classes. It seems the UCC and the library can both coexist on campus as social and study spaces, and the library is adapting to the change in order to help students as best as possible.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DIVISION OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

Opinion

What happens to a dream deferred?

This past week, I was lucky enough to score two free tickets to the opening night of A Raisin in the Sun, written by playwright Lorraine Hansberry. While I’d heard of the play before, I had absolutely no idea what it entailed or the period it was set in. Walking into the theatre, the stage comprised of a quaint depiction of a rundown living room adjoined to a kitchen. To my surprise, 99.9% of the play took place in this ramshackle set, with only one small set change for the last scene.

The play followed a black fami ly living in the southside of Chicago during the 1950s and told the tale of how people want to improve their cir cumstances, yet have distinct opin ions of how to best reach their goals.

With each member of the family hav ing unique aspirations, a lump sum of $10,000 in insurance money, and difering ideas of how to spend said money, was the main subject of the play. The show was brimming with themes of love, familial obligation, poverty, race relations, assimilation, money, and probably many other things my brain just glossed over. I think I went through every possible emotion throughout the play: excite

ment, sadness (a singular tear was shed), shock, disappointment, frus tration, happiness, etc. It truly was a spectacle of a show.

The actors were phenomenal too—their performances were truly like no other I’ve seen. I’m usually easily distracted during shows, but A Raisin in the Sun didn’t provide me with even a single moment of mental silence. I was enamored by the soul ful emotions, the one-of soliloquies, and the natural chemistry of the characters manifested.

After the play, I realized that my biggest question was never an swered—what did the title mean?

After a quick Google search, the fa miliar poem, Harlem, by Langston Hughes appeared.

What happens to a dream de ferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore— And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

OF A FRESHMAN Dear Fall…

the chill of the wind, the slow fading of the insects that bothered me during the summer…it all reminds me of you. You show me the beauty in change and new beginnings.

Or does it explode?

I hadn’t read this poem since high school. And after reading it more re cently after the play, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. It brought back memories of a lot of my own “lost” goals and dreams. With less than one year left of my undergraduate years, I thought a lot about what I had initially wished to discover about myself and the world around me in college, and whether I’d actually fulflled those goals. The visuals in Hughes’ poem of old dreams dying struck a nerve.

Ultimately, the message of A Rai sin in the Sun, coupled with deeper connotations from Hughes’s poem, has brought over a greater sense of motivation within me. It has reignited my fre for further intellectual stimu lation and passion for my work from a deep vault. The visuals in Hughes’ poem of old dreams dying struck me.

So what’s the point of my talking about some play that’s seemingly only appreciated by high school English teachers? And why should you care that it’s personally motivated me to be better? All good questions.

From what I’ve seen across Ste

vens, there’s an unsaid lull in student interest and involvement. It’s hard to get people to show up to meetings, no one wants to take responsibility for their actions, and there’s a blurring of the lines between wanting to accom plish something and actually accom plishing it. Sometimes, it’s easiest to create goals, but never follow up on them; it gives us a sense of triumph without taking any real action be cause hey, at least we’re planning to do it, right?

Do not mistake my observations for me trying to congratulate myself for being better. I’ve also struggled with a lack of motivation, especially towards extracurriculars and clubs— I’ve made stupid mistakes, taken the easy way out, and forgotten to com plete important tasks. I’ve tried to claw my way out of the dull sinkhole, and I’m happy to have found reasons to motivate myself again, but I still have a long way to go.

Sometimes we all need something that reminds us why we do what we do, and why our goals, although de ferred, should not be forgotten. Re member why you got involved in the frst place, and rejoice with that feel ing.

The last frst month

learn. I have made so many new friends and learned so many things since I came to college. But for some rea son, I can’t let go of the past.

BY TANISHKA KAPOOR ‘26

Dear Fall,

I love you. You are prob ably my one and only true love. I love how Hoboken suddenly goes from 70 de grees with the sun beat ing me down to 50 degrees the next day as you make a grand entrance with wind that creates tears of great joy in my eyes.

You remind me that there can be a new start to everything. You remind me that it is okay to let go of the past instead of having it weigh me down constantly. The leaves symbolize your presence, and I love seeing the way they slowly change from green to orange-brown to dark red, until they fnal ly break free and sway their way to the ground. Every step I take on the lawn be tween buildings reminds me of your presence. The light crunch under my feet,

You represent all shades of orange, brown, red. You bring so many things to so many people: a spooky fes tival flled with candies and surprises for Halloween en thusiasts, constant orders of Pumpkin Spice Lattes for the Starbucks workers, and the rings of laughter for the families that come to gether for one special night in a special season. Great things happen when you are around, which is why I love you so much.

But tell me, how do you do it, Fall? How do you re lease everything so easily knowing for sure that there is a beautiful experience af ter you let go? How do you come to terms with the slow approach towards the sea son of brutal coldness? How can you be so confdent that those leaves will come back again? That there would be beautiful greenery again? That there would be a sea son flled with the best festi vals and joyful events? How can you be so fearless and carefree?

Teach me, Fall. I want to

I have always been accus tomed to change, but college seems to be a whole other adjustment. How do I start new? Everyone says that you could be whoever you want in college because you get a fresh start. But who exactly am I? What does that even mean? In my frst month here, I learned that college teaches you about who you are. What it means to be surrounded by your friends, but alone at the same time.

It shows you your capabili ties to live by yourself. Can I be fearless and carefree?

Like you, I want the conf dence that there is beauty after letting go. That it is okay to let go of the past and trust others and open up to them. That it is okay to open up to change. I’ve learned a lot from you, and I want to learn more as I embrace your presence through the cool wind on a sunny day. You have taught me so many lessons, Fall.

You taught me that in or der to restart, it is necessary to move on. And I love you for that.

Thanks for everything, Tanishka

Pumpkin carving contest

BY OFF CENTER

—SATIRE—

Wow, that was quick and to everyone’s surprise as to how it got here so fast despite it coming at the same time of year every year (with a 1 day margin of error for leap years), it’s October! All over campus, pumpkins were visible in the form of spicy lattes and bread. As more leaves from trees populated the grounds, the crunching became deafening and some professors were even seen raking the lawn near their classrooms to reduce noise for their students’ tests in a remarkable display of com passion and acknowledge ment of the necessity of si lence.

With the onset of fall came a brand new event,

the speed pumpkin carving challenge, where contestants were given a series of large, sharp, and pointy tools and told to carve a design into a pumpkin as quickly as pos sible. The frst student to get close enough won a free entrance to the UCC towers without a resident letting them in. We were on the scene for the event last Sun day.

“LOOK OUT!!” came a cry just in time for our editor to duck under a massively over sized machete that defnitely is only allowed for military people in the jungle. Unfor tunately, the duck caused him to step on what we hope was a severed hand but no one we approached was will ing to claim it as their own. Multiple people were missing hands and we’re not a crime

lab or narcs so we don’t have fngerprinting technology to fgure out whose they were. The hand is now soaking in alcohol on display in a cool glass jar in our ofce, and our science experts are hard at work to make it sentient like the hand from the Add ams Family.

Moving on to the judg es station, several students with progressively larger knives in their teeth were sitting at a table and were de lighting in the opportunity to dramatically take the knife and stab it into the pump kins presented before them.

“I’m just glad I even made it to this point. So many of my friends are in the hospital or lying on the feld,” said a one-footed contestant on his way to the judges table.

“Put the orange beast on

BY CHARLES BEALL ‘23

The month of September few by, and I didn’t realize until just now that it is the last frst month I will have experienced as an under graduate at Stevens. And thinking back, the past three Septembers before this one have all been a blur too.

Freshman year, I was very excited to learn new things and meet new peo ple, and I made good prog ress toward that goal. I do remember feeling like I still didn’t quite ft in, but I was already involved in several aspects of campus life and felt confdent that, eventual ly, I would.

Sophomore year, the month was marked by the haze of a full semester on Zoom while I was cooped up in the room I grew up in back home. Classes were fairly boring but still okay, and I missed my Stevens friends

Sanjana

the table!” commanded the middle judge as our con testant struggled to lift the hulking orange mass with some cuts that resembled a face if the looker forgot what a face looked like. “UN SATISFACTORY,” came the verdict seconds later. Large guys who we are pretty sure were just hired for this event quickly frog-marched the contestant into a dungeon and we haven’t heard from him since.

After a few hours and a couple of duels between vampires and werewolves that somehow ended in the creation of a werepire, it was time for the fnals. All of the contestants looked like the type of guys to beat up our editors for an annoying question, but whimpered when the judges called their

but got closer with my fami ly. I resolved to break out of this dull routine by taking more walks and reading and writing more.

Junior year, the thrill of being back on campus and the craziness of full-on in-person life again made this frst-month rush by. I had multiple leadership po sitions that I struggled to balance, but I was more mo tivated than ever to serve in them, and I felt the support from now old friends.

In retrospect, Septem bers have been a mixed bag for me, fuctuating between good and bad like the weath er between hot and cold. Be cause of this, I’ve realized how important Septem ber is. It sets that baseline for what is to come, with a chance to reassess and read just goals before getting too deep into the school year. It may be daunting that there are still several months to go, but it’s a good feeling for me because I realize there is lots of time ahead, and I’ve made it through the frst, and thus, in many respects, the hardest month of all.

Of course, there remains the difculty of that reas sessment and readjustment going forward. My goals for the coming month are to bang out my graduate pro

gram applications (more on that in my next article!), take more walks while the weath er is still reasonable, and in troduce a bit more structure into my daily schedule by blocking out times to com plete specifc tasks. Will all those goals be met? Maybe. But right now, I’ve conclud ed that these are the main areas I want to tackle.

And there are things from this September that I want to carry on too. The overall work-life balance has gone surprisingly well for me, and I’ve enjoyed the oppor tunity to act in the SDS Fall Play (come see it November 3rd-5th), write for this col umn, and “For Math’s Sake” (check it out next week for more cool math), and try new restaurants and cofee shops in Hoboken (try Bon Banh and Mojo).

September has that spe cial quality of providing a lot even if it feels like a little. It’s not the perfect month, but it’s that frst piece of data to help us navigate the rest of the uncertain year. It’s likely that every month will require this, but one month has to set the tone, and this month when school begins has taken on that role. I am thankful to September for that.

carvings “feeble” and “de crepit.” None of the contes tants seemed to have much longer before needing a blood transfusion so when the winner was announced, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked for a nurse with an IV. Don’t tell the judges we said this, but we think the guy who got second should’ve won, the mouth had way more def nition than the winner. His carving didn’t have teeth or gums, and he defnitely had an illegal spoon that allowed him to scoop out the seeds faster.

Clearly, spooky season is in full swing now, and we could be more excited, but that would require drugs so for all practical and legal purposes, we could not be more excited.

AN

Advertise in The Stute

The environment hates business majors

take product development and businesses into consid eration as a whole.

BY KATIE BLOOMER

This title is entirely click bait, but in all seriousness, a lot of what business majors are taught works against the environment. After all, most companies want to increase proft margins by whatever means necessary. Sustainable packaging, fair wages, and durable design are often the frst things to go when trying to reduce costs. If you are a business major, or a business minor like me, it is especially im portant to be aware of this and fght for sustainabili ty to be a focus, or at least

I am taking microeco nomics this semester for my entrepreneurship mi nor, and it quickly became clear that sustainability was not a priority in the least. When given a fake menu and asked to iden tify the option that would best handle a price raise, I immediately turned to one of the numerous ham burgers listed. Since there were a bunch of hamburger options, who cared if one of them was slightly more expensive? Anyone who re ally wanted that ingredient combination would be will ing to pay extra and every one else would just order a diferent option. Nobody would be greatly impacted, and the restaurant could make a few extra dollars.

It turns out, the correct answer was to raise the price of the veggie burger because it was the only veg etarian option and there

Poor credit and debt: how to swipe and tap your future away

important numbers in life—along with your birth day, social security num ber, and now phone pass word.

fore vegetarians would be willing to pay an exorbitant price. As a vegetarian, I found this to be frustrating. Not only because I don’t want to pay extra money, but because reducing meat consumption is benefcial for our already sufering earth. Restaurants should make vegetarian and vegan options cheaper so custom ers are encouraged to try options that result in less carbon than meat. Overall, it is disturbing that over charging vegetarians is “the right answer.”

Although this situation occurred in microeconom ics class, the lack of care regarding sustainability has nothing to do with any individual professor, class, or even company. The prob lem is deeply ingrained in our society. It’s the reason package-free products are not the norm, being a vege tarian is seen as nearly im possible, and sustainability is an afterthought. Our so ciety is not set up in a way

that prioritizes the environ ment, and now we need to work extra hard to make it that way.

The big question is: what can we do to fx this mess?

Obviously, there isn’t an easy answer or it would probably be solved already. It seems like advocacy is one of the best ways to promote sustainability and hopeful ly change the culture. Talk about the everyday changes you have made to help the environment. This could be through everyday conversa tions, social media, or any other form of communica tion. Support companies that are trying to be more environmentally conscious, especially small business es. Buy products that are unpackaged, use reusables, and research other initia tives that can ft into your life. Then, make it known that you do these things.

As a college student, I am constantly meeting new people. Even if I never talk to them again, mentioning

that I thrift my clothes or use a shampoo bar could spark their interest and encourage a sustainabili ty journey that otherwise would not have occurred.

I also try to introduce my roommate, suitemates, and friends to low-waste prod ucts that I use. My suite uses laundry sheets, a dish soap block, and a clothes drying rack. Nobody was previously against any of these products, they just didn’t know they existed or hadn’t thought about the ways they could help the environment.

The overall message is that one of the best ways to promote sustainability is to advocate for it both in the classroom and in everyday life. Share your low-waste products, fght for sustain ability and environmental ly conscious conversations within companies, and re member that the environ ment doesn’t really hate you simply because you are a business major.

BY JOSEPH AMES

What could $887 billion get you? It could buy you the Denver Broncos about 180 times over, all of Tes la’s enterprise value, or about 2000 of the world’s nicest superyachts if that floats your boat. As much as we can wish that $887 billion were representing an exhilarating potential acquisition or new indus try investment, it is instead the total credit card debt of Americans in 2022.

While this number in and of itself might be startling, consider the in visible cost of credit card debt: massive APR. For new credit cards, the aver age APR in Q2 of 2022 was 15.13%. For reference, this is about 5% higher than Warren Buffet’s returns for the last 20 years. When pairing these high APRs with the extended periods of time that Americans tend to carry this debt, trouble appears on the horizon.

The story does not end with the sheer volume of debt, but rather, it extends to the impact that this debt has on many consumers through the effect on their credit scores. That debt fig ure is one of—if not the— most impactful aspects on your credit score. Along with running over your limit is running too close to your limit. The general rule of thumb is about 30% of available, so if one were to have $5000 in available line per month, then 1500 showing up on the state ment date would be a safe amount.

So why do we care about credit scores? A credit score is amongst the most

One of the most im pactful aspects of credit is when applying for mort gages. A difference in score can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional money spent or saved. Another prominent way is the application for new lines of credit with a lower APR, higher cash backs, or more benefits (such as miles, etc.).

Finally and perhaps most important for every student reading this is re financing student loans. When it comes time to pay these loans off, many opt to pay off their government or higher-rate student loan with a lower-rate personal loan if found eligible. The credit score that one has heavily affects those rates offered, which ultimately dictates the amount of sav ings that one is (potential ly) able to enjoy.

So how can I fix my credit? First and foremost, avoid damaging it in the first place. It may go with out saying, but one of the most important lessons a young adult can learn is the importance of maintaining proper credit, spending, and saving habits. Next on the list is, of course, mak ing your payments on time for 6 months minimum. This demonstrates a hab it of good spending and responsible credit (thus making lending companies view you as a less volatile lending target). Also, avoid opening useless lines of credit with online retail ers. Be smart in searching for your credit cards (more on that here).

Overall, establishing credit is incredibly import ant. Do not let those huge debt figures scare you away from giving yourself a very solid leg up in life by begin ning to build good credit at a young age. Credit, like most things in life, can be a beautiful asset if done properly and safely.

Opinion | Arts and Culture

Artist Spotlight: Max Ernst

BY ITAI GELLER

When I was a kid, my par ents and I paid a visit to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg while we were visiting Florida on vacation.

At the time, I was old enough to know who Dali was be cause my art teacher had introduced us to his famous painting, “The Persistence of Memory,” an iconic sur realist painting featuring the famous “melting clock.”

Upon entering the museum, I was surprised to fnd that Dali painted a wide array of surrealist paintings, many of which deviated from the style of his most famous piece. Unfortunately, due to my

age and limited experience, I wasn’t very appreciative. I didn’t think much of Dali, or specifcally the surrealist ar tistic movement. Who could blame me, I was probably nine or ten years old. How ever, my point of view didn’t really change over time. As I explored new art styles, I became more absorbed with art that I felt comfortable an alyzing and writing about. As a result, I avoided surrealist paintings, because I felt like I had a hard time understand ing them. Thankfully, while I was doing my research for this week’s issue, I stumbled upon a perplexing painting by Max Ernst which may have changed my mind about surrealist art.

Normally, I try my best to write about artists that are obscure or underappreciat ed. In this issue, I somehow managed to choose an artist that started an entire artistic movement. Max Ernst was a German painter and sculp tor who was one of the frst members of both the dada movement and the surrealist

movement. Both dada and surrealism are art forms that focus on disregarding the constraints of western cul ture, rejecting societal norms, and thinking outside the box of the rational mind. Ernst’s belief in these ideals was like ly infuenced by his trauma tizing experience serving in the German army as a young man during World War I. Re gardless of how Ernst adopt ed these ideas, it is important to recognize just how unique his art is. Not only did Ernst experiment with a variety of diferent forms of media, but he also took artistic inspira tion from other artistic styles that he picked up during his studies. He also painted a multitude of diferent sub jects, not excluding portraits, landscapes, collages, and more from his portfolio.

The painting I included for Ernst is called “Saint Ce cilia (Invisible Piano)” and was produced by Ernst in 1923 while he was still living in Paris, France. It’s one of his more colorful paintings, yet it has this incredible eeriness to

it that really drew me in. The woman in the painting seems to be trapped inside a stone wall and is playing a stone pi ano with invisible keys. How ever, what’s truly interesting about this painting is how Ernst uses lighting to ma nipulate the perspective. One can tell that the woman is inside the stone wall because the stone wall casts a shad ow on her. However, we can’t tell if she is playing the stone piano with invisible keys to her left because a shadow is also cast onto the side of the stone piano. It’s an interest ing efect because it makes you question if the object to her left is actually a stone pi ano with invisible keys or an entirely diferent object. Is the woman playing a totally invisible piano? If so, what is the object to her left? As you can tell, I am already going in circles thinking about what Ernst is trying to portray. My past self would fnd this state of confusion annoying, but my present self is amused with the idea of patient obser vation. I want to fnd out what

Ernst was thinking when he was painting this piece; what was he trying to say? Mor al of the story: don’t take art for simply what you see. Take your time and really try to understand what the artist

is trying to convey, especially when presented with art that is highly conceptual and up to interpretation. If you see me on campus, tell me what you think, I’m still trying to get to the bottom of this one…

1917 BY COLE GARDELLA ‘24

Let me preface this re view by stating that I am not the biggest fan of war movies. Now that is not to say that I think all war movies are bad, there are some all time classic mov ies in the war genre, such as Saving Private Ryan and Apocalypse Now. For me personally however, I feel war films can feel a bit slower-paced at times,

which is probably what I would say is the main rea son why I don’t enjoy them as much as most do. So, when I was working at my local theater and putting up posters around Thanks giving of 2019, I had just finished locking in the poster for 1917, to which I complained to my cowork er that we were getting yet another war movie, as we had already gotten a de cent amount of mediocre ones that year. It was then that my coworker told me that the movie was filmed in such a way that it looked like it was all one consec utive shot, which really piqued my curiosity. So, on my break I watched the trailer for it, put it on my watchlist, and three months later after walking out of my showing for 1917, I told that same coworker

that I found the movie to be absolutely incredible.

It would be a disser vice to the director Sam Mendes and his crew if I did not talk about the cin ematography of this film. Does it really look like it was shot in one continu ous take? To put it simply, yes. Now obviously it was literally shot that way, but the cuts between shots are made during dark scenes or when the viewer’s point of view is obstructed, so although you can likely tell when a cut is being made, it doesn’t feel unnatural.

The use of color and light ing also greatly lifts the quality of the film’s shots, most notably during scenes with nighttime shots of vil lages only being lit by the bright orange fire of burn ing buildings.

Another side of the

film I wanted to discuss was the performance of George MacKay as Schof ield. Before 1917, MacKay was a relatively unknown actor, mainly appearing in smaller projects on Brit ish television shows, and to this day he still truly isn’t a household name, as he doesn’t really do a ton of projects. However, fol lowing the release of 1917, MacKay became one of the hottest actors in the world for a few months, and it’s easy to see why. His per formance in 1917 showcas es a true hero’s journey, as Schofield starts out as a more timid sidekick to Dean-Charles Chapman’s Blake, but, as their jour ney to deliver a message to another general across the battlefields whilst avoid ing enemy fire gets bleaker and bleaker, Schofield real

izes the true weight of the task delivered to him, be coming so fearless that he runs across an active war zone without any weapons or protection, because he knows it is what he has to do.

Like I’ve said, war mov ies are generally not my cup of tea, so it takes a lot for me to become really

invested in one, let alone call it incredible. Howev er, through its lead’s per formance, great score, and cinematography that you truly have to see to appre ciate, 1917 really amazed me, and I don’t feel like I need to go through a war to give it a definite recom mendation.

The brutality and suspense of a mystery waiting to be discovered, The Amber Room, by Steve Berry

BY VICTORIA YASHCHUK

Considered one of the world’s wonders, the Am ber Room was a mesmeriz ing beauty built in the 18th century, a chamber paneled with 10,000 lbs of pure am ber and decorated with mir rors and gold. Intended for the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Prussia, the Am ber Room remained in the Berlin City Palace until a group of Nazi soldiers loot ed the beauty during World War II. With Germany being closed in by the Allied Forc es, the Germans hid the am ber panels. To this day the amber has not been found, and a theory of the amber being bombed surrounding the mystery circulates.

The Amber Room is not only a mystery in the world that will never reveal its truth, but it was an inspi ration for Steve Berry to write about the secrecy and lengths people will go to for fortune. Using his imagina tion and the power of fc tion, Berry devotes the pag es of his novel to creating a riveting yet familial thriller where the reader searches for the Amber Room from three perspectives: the per spective of family and the perspectives of two incredi bly powerful men from Eu rope who let the allure of the amber get the best of them.

Christian Knoll and Su zanne Danzer—professional killers and antique claim ants - work for two prodi gious men, the leading men in a secret antique collecting circle for millionaires. With the Amber Room being the most desired possession, the leading men, Franz Fellner and Earnest Loring compete in desperation for the amber using their trust ed antique claimants. Who will fnd the Amber Room frst, Knoll or Danzer? In terestingly enough, that de

pends on the protagonists of the novel, the protagonists who just so happen to have a connection with the amber’s location.

The protagonist of the story, Rachel Cutler, pursues her passion and stubborn ness in fnding the truth behind her father’s—Karol Borya’s—death, knowing his death was connected to his knowledge of the Amber Room’s whereabouts. With her ex-husband, Paul, nev ertheless fueling his feelings for his ex-wife and joining in on the thrill, the pair travel to Germany with the assis tance of Chapaev, the last leading source to the Amber Room and Borya’s death.

While in Germany, Ra chel and Paul are deceived and followed by Knoll and Danzer in hopes of fnding the amber and killing the protagonists themselves when and if the amber is found. Traveling around Germany, the killers and protagonists unknowing ly fuel the tension between Fellner and Loring, which tests their acquaintance in a way unexpected to the men themselves, revealing a

truth menacing to even the millionaire circle.

With the mystery of Bo rya’s death, the millionaire collector’s circle, and the Amber Room being juggled by the characters, the rela tionships of the characters amongst each other are fercely tested along with their approaches towards each other’s lack of ethics and morals. Even though the plot follows a competitive two vs. two environment, meaning, Rachel and Paul vs. Christian and Suzanne, there is a certain attraction between the characters, whether that be between the protagonists or between a protagonist and antagonist.

It is safe to say that the reader not only indulges in the fctional thrill of ad venture and furtiveness but allows the reader to under stand the mind of each type of character presented in the novel. Thus, we as read ers can relate or become closer to each character as they share their intentions, doubts, and pain-flled ex igences that stir the wan na-be adventurer hiding in side all of us.

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Opinion | Lifestyle

Redhead season

BY ANAÏS BOUCHATTA ‘26

I’m not embarrassed to admit that color theory con fuses me even as an art ma jor. I wish I understood what truly makes colors work together. I know that blues and oranges work just as well as greens and red…but why? The diferent groups are familiar to me: analo gous, complementary, and of course monochromatic, but past that I get lost once again. It’s not like I’ll wear red with green anywhere, so why does this even come to mind?

Let me drop a bit of an art lesson here. The truth of this situation comes from the color wheel. It begins there and believe it or not is the answer to it all. The rea son behind the color wheel being able to do all of this is due to the ability to put the colors in order by wave length. The colors that came to be primaries are a part of Sir Isaac Newton’s prism experiments that lead to the

theory which discovered that colors came from the derivations of red, yellow, and blue. This discovery by Newton explains exactly why color comes from the diversion of light and the re fection we experience lead ing to diferent tones. On the visible light spectrum, red is seen at the beginning with the longest wavelength and least energy, whereas violet has the shortest wavelength and most energy, being on the end of the spectrum. The rest of the rainbow is found in between.

So that’s the science be hind it, but the juicy good bit is when designers and those in need express a cer tain vibe or feeling behind something. This is when the use of color groups comes to play. Color schemes also come from this thought process. So as people go to choose colors that look best together they might go to the harmonic schemes which expose a lot of difer ent combinations. Tetradic is one that I didn’t know ex isted but seems the most in teresting of them all. It’s the colors that connect when there’s a rectangle in the middle of the circle leaving only one color in between the points of intersection which give the person us ing this method four col ors that work well together. Monochromatic and com

plementary colors are more familiar as these are used in day-to-day experiences, but as anyone can infer these can be used to aid a specif ic emotion or atmosphere in art and other things like fashion or to simply deco rate a room.

While on the hunt for the theory behind it all, this shower thought actually frst began when I thought about why red hair matched fall so well– which then led me to brainstorm what col ors came to mind when I thought of fall. As my room mate went on about wanting to dye her hair red since be ing here, I was also wonder ing if I should go ginger (as I quite literally do at least a hundred thousand times ev ery year) and then I realized just how many people have gone red.

There’s the plummy reds, wine reds, and then the pop rock red look. Red has be come a fall color more than ever and this is not only because of Gigi Hadid last year, but a few “it-girls,” ac tresses, and infuencers of this generation hopped on the trend. As I dug deeper, I found more that remind ed me of how universal the redhead movement was. I’m questioning if this can even be called a redhead season, or if it’s a color that works for all. I even stalked my own Instagram and found

Is there really such a thing as “productive procrastination?”

manner.

a photo of two of my friends and me all having diferent shades of red hair last year. We dyed our hair three sepa rate times, but by the winter we all matched. Contrary to the Kool-Aid blue tips trend in 2017, I fully support any one who wishes to go red.

This is similar to the brown pandemic or the outbreak of monochromat ic looks—also called “gob lin-core” by a friend, mind you this is no complaint, just an analysis that it’s widespread throughout a lot of this year’s fashion). I am guilty of only wearing a spe cifc range of blues in middle school and early high school and I believe the choice of cool tones changed to warm in the last two years. This makes sense due to the early universal red dye experience that took over my senior year made monochromatic, neutral, and warm-toned outfts more desirable. The connection and reasoning between things, in general, is exciting, but with color, it’s a whole diferent realm of excitement. As someone who enjoys connections and fnding the reasoning behind things, this shower thought led me to a search that was satisfying in more ways than one. I hope this article also leads you to no tice redheads even more than you did before.

POEM Anything You’ve Ever Done Began in Utterance

BY ASWIN AGUINAGA, NEWS EDITOR

My words did not just take a few seconds of thought it took the ages of longgone heartbeats and even beating hearts now.

What I know and what I do I owe entirely to every one of you. I can’t speak of where your bodies are perhaps, six feet below and mysteriously ash or whether you’re way above sky blues watching down like we’re all tragic shows could they be sad hearing the same dreams from mind to mind, letting out whispers so I know, “that idea was mine”

Are anyone’s words by original design?

Each idea a borrowed seed worth a thousand words each echoes the human spirit since the beginning of the world.

Holding all heaven’s dreams and the love of past dears watered by dozens of

streaming tears airs of repeated talking breaths, nurtured with the light of human fires.

The fruits of ideas pa tiently await the right moon, when it’s finally spring, you could hear the fruit ring its tune and the fruit will utter the words and your world will once again know what it’s like to feel inspired by cosmic songs deeply desired.

There are some words long overdue, but the universe speaks through you.

And in time, what you’re meant to do will begin with words that are true.

We want to say this and that, do that and this and they tell me this amidst the confusion in several points of view, whatever the funny heart goes through, whatever the mind thinks through the first words that break through, will tell you what you’re meant to do. words always know you— Do You?

BY ZOE HACK ‘24

If you know me, you know that I’m constantly talking about my habit of “productive procrastination,” a term that I completely thought I came up with but upon a quick Google search, I now come to see that it already exists. When I say “productive procrastination,” I am referring to pushing of my most important tasks at hand and working through smaller, less important tasks instead. I fnd myself doing this almost on a daily basis, and while it is procrastina tion, could it actually be pro ductive?

As it turns out, I am not

original at all for indulging in this habit, as there are many articles online about this ex act topic. Productive procras tination, while it is a type of procrastination, it is actually considered to be good. There are multiple ways to structure your procrasti nation to convert it into being productive. One thing that I always do which boosts my productivity on smaller tasks while also feeling more ac complished is keeping a todo list. Throughout my day, I put any tasks that arise, no matter how small, on my todo list because I often fnd the satisfaction of crossing an item of very encouraging. Sometimes, tasks I add to my list are as small and insig nifcant as “text this person back,” or “cook chicken in the fridge.” These were things I was already going to do that day, but by making them ob jects that I can cross of and feel rewarded for completing, I am more likely to continue my work in a more efcient

In addition to just keeping a to-do list, it is important to make sure that all tasks are actually manageable. Often I become disappointed in myself because I wasn’t able to complete all the tasks on my to-do list and feel like a failure, but the real reason is that the plans I had for the day weren’t feasible in the frst place. It is so easy for me to fall into the spiral of “oh, well I didn’t get this fn ished, so I probably won’t get other things fnished either” and then get of-task and fll my time with unproductive tasks. But, by making sure that all of my goals are main tainable, I am less likely to fall into the trap of unproduc tive procrastination.

Something else that I do to “productively procrasti nate” is to break larger proj ects up into smaller tasks to make them more manageable and to count the delegation of tasks as a task itself. For ex ample: If I have an essay to

write I might break my tasks up as follows: Day 1:plan per sonal deadlines, Day 2:write thesis statement, Day 3:fnd quotes from the book, Days 4&5:write, Day 6:review. (Can you tell? I am current ly in the process of writing an essay for my humanities class, so the process is very fresh in my brain). By setting aside a day to take a step back and plan out the large, daunt ing task at hand, I not only have a more well-defned schedule for fnishing my as signment on time, but I also feel accomplished every day that I am working on it since there is a specifc goal to com plete.

While these are just some of the ways that I integrate the idea of productive procrasti nation into my work habits, I encourage you to both try the same and also fgure out oth er ways to boost productivity in the long run.

I know that it can be ex hausting to be a college stu dent with seemingly end less amounts of homework and almost no time to do what you want. The week ends are the one chance you get to really experience

the benefts of college life. But most of us, including myself, are guilty of wast ing this free time by stay ing inside binge-watching Netfix or spiraling over upcoming work. The best way to make the most of your weekends is to know what there is to do around Hoboken and make a plan during the week that you know you’ll follow through with. The good news is that there is always a ton to do around Stevens. If you pre fer to stay on or near cam pus, you can use DuckLink to discover what events the Entertainment Committee or other clubs are hosting. If you want to venture out,

you can look up fun things to do on diferent websites like The Hoboken Girl or the ofcial Hoboken city website. You could fnd even more to do if you ex pand to New York City. With all these options, it can be hard to know exact ly what are the best things to do. I would recommend choosing something cheap and to have a backup plan if things don’t work out. Some of my favorite weekend ac tivities have been going to Ikea on the free ferry from Manhattan, going to street festivals around Hoboken and Jersey City, and going to the various music events at Stevens.

BY ETHAN KLESCHINSKY

With such close proxim ity to New York City, there are a plethora of things to do during your weekends at Stevens. The options are endless in New York, you can get robbed on the subway, be chased by a crazy person

(speaking from personal ex perience), or go to a concert!

Along with activities to keep you occupied, NYC has some of the best food in the world, some options include a more expensive Mcdonald’s, Mi chelin star restaurants that will cost you a literal arm and a leg, or overpriced Times Square pizza, are you see ing the trend here? A trip to New York City can be costly to both your wallet and phys ical health, so if you prefer to stay on the safe side, there are a few options that might suit you better for the week ends. You could always take a weekend trip home consid ering there is a 66% chance you are from New Jersey.

You might have noticed that campus empties on the week end, so you could follow suit and join the herds of antiso cials that evacuate campus as the weekend nears. If you cannot make the trip home and don’t have the money for New York, the Entertainment Committee is constantly run ning events where you can get tickets for fun weekend adventures, that is, if you can get the tickets. With the En tertainment Committee buy ing approximately 20 concert tickets and giving 10 to their e-board, it will defnitely be a challenge to secure yours. But you have to put in the ef fort to have fun at Stevens! Good luck!