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[The Stute] October 18, 2019 (Issue 6, CXXI)

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New Stute every Friday | thestute.com StevenstheStute Volume CXVII Issue 7

October 18, 2019

TheStute Established 1904

Dinner with Need a flu shot? Get one Malena Higuera: The now. BY MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM first Latina to graduate from Stevens

urban resilience. Urban resilience, a term popularized in the recent decade, refers to a local government’s ability to plan and respond to natural hazards. “A good recovery is that it can prevent or minimize damage due to its high resistance,” the United Nations described on the forum’s website. “It also means that the lives of the city’s inner circle

It’s coming, and it’s scarier than anything this Halloween. Flu season. About eight to ten million people in the United States came down with the illness last year, with half of them sick enough to see a doctor, according to estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data suggests that anywhere from 12,000 to 56,000 Americans died from the flu in 2018, more than any year in recent history. The rising severity, and how widespread the virus has become, has caused panic among experts. It has also prompted administrators at Stevens to encourage students to make healthier changes in their lifestyle. “This is the time of year that Student Health Services typically sees many students with mild illness and colds,” said Maggie Cunning, Director of Student Health Services, in an email interview. “Change of season, fatigue, and stress can play a role in mild illness; this is not an unusual occurrence. It is particularly important to get adequate sleep, eat a balanced diet, and wash your hands frequently to help your immune system stay strong.” But as necessary as it is to include healthy practices in everyday life, it is especially important for students to get a flu shot. “Stevens refers students to locations right next to campus that offer flu shots covered 100% by Stevens Student Health Insurance and also by most private insurances,” said Cunning. “There are numerous places in Hoboken that offer flu shots with no appointment necessary and they are all within walking distance of campus.”

In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, Diversity Education and the LatinX Council hosted “Dinner with Malena Higuera ’75,” where Malena Higuera spoke about her experience as the first Latina to graduate from Stevens. Higuera is a high-level executive in the cosmetic industry. For over 25 years, Malena’s creativity and business savvy have brought success at companies like Revlon, Coty, Honeywell, Ajinomoto, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, P&G, Elizabeth Arden, Unilever, and more. Today, Higuera is Managing Partner at MAldecoa & Associates, LLC. Prior to these accomplishments and her time at Stevens, Higuera immigrated from Cuba in 1968 with her family a year into the evacuations triggered by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Higuera was among the first class of women admitted to Stevens when the university became co-ed in 1971. During her time at Stevens, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and her master’s degree in Management Science, as well as serving as the Secretary of the Latin American Association. After asking Stevens students attending the event for their names, majors, and backgrounds, Higuera began with words of advice: “One piece of advice that I give you, more than anything else — I give it to a woman, I give it to a man — just go out there. As much as you

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Jennifer Gonzalez, Hoboken’s Director of Environmental Services, represented the City at the International Urban Resilience Forum. Photo thanks to the City of Hoboken.

Hoboken joins other top cities at International Urban Resilience Forum BY MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM It wasn’t long ago, really, when kayaking to class was seriously considered by students. With enough rainfall, and with Hoboken’s aging sewer system, residents of the Mile Square City sometimes had to trudge through several inches of flooding when walking out their front doors. But that was over a decade ago. Now, after years of sewer upgrades, two wet weather pumping stations, two resiliency parks, and an increased focus on green infrastructure, the se-

verity and frequency of flooding have dropped dramatically. That Hoboken’s sewers can handle the waste of residents on a daily basis — plus the occasional downpour or major storm — is a testament to its resilience. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Earlier this month, Hoboken was invited by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to attend the “International Urban Resilience Forum.” Hoboken was joined by other top cities around the world to discuss and share best practices in

Perspectives: Nina Ioanis

NSBE hosts NJ Regional Conference

BY MARK KRUPINSKI

BY AUDREY DSOUZA The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) hosted the 2019 Region I New Jersey Zone Conference on Saturday, October 12 in the Babbio Center. At the conference, students could engage in professional development, leadership development, and technical development as well as have opportunities to network with fellow collegians and professionals in the field. There were 47 professionals and students in attendance, in addition to Regional Board members and presenters outside of NSBE. The theme of the conference was “Fusing Power and People” and was chosen early in the planning process. “We were thinking about how we wanted the conference to help bring the NJ chapters together and strengthen the leadership pipeline,” explained Ha-mil Hutty, NSBE’s Conference Planning and PR Chair. “I thought the theme was perfect, because NSBE’s mission is to increase the number of culturally-responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community,” explained Shania Taylor, who is currently serving as the NJ Zone Chair. “If we retain the power within each one of us as black professionals, then we can achieve our mission,” Taylor said. The keynote speaker was Kwame Baptiste, a Stevens alumnus and former Region I Professionals chair for NSBE. According to Taylor, Baptiste spoke about his Stevens experience where he was juggling multiple jobs to pay for school, one of them be-

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BY ALFONSINA SANTIAGO

Photo courtesy of stevens.edu

River Terrace power outage confusion On October 8, students living in the River Terrace Suites received an email from Residential and Dining Services stating that, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 19, there will be a power outage in their buildings in order to provide “temporary electrical service for the Student Housing/University Center project.” About six hours later, those same residents received an email from Facilities and Campus Operations stating that, “These buildings will need to be vacated during the power outage,” confus-

ing several students as it directly contradicted the previous email from Residential and Dining Services that stated, “There is no need for you to vacate.” A reminder email was sent out by Residential and Dining Services on October 16 and included some suggestions for places to go while vacating the building, including “Go home,” among other suggestions such as Pierce Dining Hall, the library, Mindfulness Meditation with the Hoboken Historical Museum, and volunteering at the Hoboken Homeless Shelter. Eden Luvishis, a freshman resident of

News - page 2 Malena Higuera (continued)

Pulse page - 5 Roving Reporter

News - page 3 Perspectives (continued)

Opinion - page 6 Spoon University

News - page 4 National Coming Out Day

Opinion - page 7 Spoiler Alert

BY CHARLES ZWICKER

River Terrace, stated that she was “disheartened reading this, since it is obviously impossible for me to go home,” since Luvishis is from California. “I was upset that the university makes the assumption that most people here can go home, especially when they are trying to attract more diverse students.” The latest correspondence from Residential and Dining Services states that they “encourage all students to vacate the building,” but students can remain in their rooms, and someone will be posted in the building to “perform Fire Watch for the duration of the outage.”

Opinion - page 9 Off The Press Sports - page 10 Soccer

“I was actually really not interested in the SGA prior to my introduction [to the VPSI role],” said Nina Ioanis, current Vice President of Student Interests (VPSI) of the Student Government Association (SGA). Ioanis has served in a plethora of leadership positions in multiple cultural organizations, such as the Social Chair of Filipino Association of Stevens Tech (FAST) and Public Relations Chair of the Ethnic Student Council (ESC). Now, she has taken on a larger-scale leadership position as the Vice President of Student Interests — the individual who oversees every Recognized Student Organization (RSO) on campus and, as Ioanis calls it, “the knower of things.” Originally, Ioanis was not interested in pursuing the position of VPSI. “So the ESC president at the time had asked me a little earlier in the year like, Oh, Dakota had been looking for a successor, and I think you’d be a good fit for the position so you should talk to him. Are you interested? Blah blah blah, that type of thing,” said Ioanis. “At that point I wasn’t really interested at all.” At the time, Ioanis aspired to be the next ESC President — but after the restructuring of the ESC within the SGA, Ioanis became interested in “branching out” and in the VPSI role. “I’m like super scared of being caught in a bubble,” said Ioanis. “I know Stevens is really notorious for bubbling groups […] so I thought joining the SGA would be a good way for me to branch out — and it has been. I’ve met a lot of interesting people.” On the ESC e-board, Ioanis pushed for more “collaboration” between different organizations. “I wanted to bring in more out-of-subcommittee orgs into our events too, but it was kind of hard to coordinate schedules,”

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October 18, 2019

News THE STUTE VOLUME CXVII - ISSUE 7 STAFF BOX EXECUTIVE BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF............................................AUDREY D’SOUZA BUSINESS MANAGER......................................MARK KRUPINSKI MANAGING EDITOR.......................MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM LAYOUT EDITOR...............................................NATALIE TODARO OUTREACH CHAIR...........................................ANDREW KINNEY EDITORIAL BOARD COPY EDITOR............................................ANGELINA ZACCARIA HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER..............................COLE YARBROUGH MICHAEL PREFER SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR..........................ELINA SIMON PEPA TUDER TRISTAN BACANI SCIENCE EDITOR......................................DYLAN JAMES MOON SPORTS EDITOR..............................................TREVOR DAMEIKA WEBMASTER........................................................JOANA FARDAD SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATOR.........................SERIK CZARNECKI STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS ALEKSANDAR DIMOSKI ALFONSINA SANTIAGO BRANDON SEIDMAN CHARLES ZWICKER DAVID BELLAH DIVYA UNNAM ELENA MALOVA ETHAN CHE GREGORY KANE JACK KOSTELNIK

THE STUTE POLICIES LETTER TO THE EDITOR LETTERS MAY NOT EXCEED 500 WORDS IN LENGTH AND MYST BE FULLY ATTTRIBUTED WITH NAME AND TITLE (NON-ATTRIBUTED LETTERS WILL BE ON A CASEBY-CASE BASIS, BUT THE AUTHOR’S IDENTITY MUST BE MADE KNOWN TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF). ALL LETTERS MUST BE EMAILED TO EBOARD@THESTUTE.COM. THE STUTE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO NOT PUBLISH ANY LETTER SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION. THE OPINIONS IN LETTERS SENT TO THE STUTE WITH THE REQUEST TO BE PUBLISHED ARE THE SOLE OPINIONS OF THEIR AUTHOR(S) AND DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF ANY MEMBER OR PERSON INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF THE STUTE. THESE OPINIONS ARE NOT ENDORSED BY THE STUTE AND THE CONTENT OF THE LETTERS ARE PRINTED IN THEIR ORIGINAL, UNEDITED FORM. A DISCLAIMER WILL ACOMPANY ANY LETTER THAT IS PUBLISHED IN THE STUTE STATING THIS INFORMATION. CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS FOR CORRECTIONS OR CLARIFICATIONS FOR ANY ARTICLES IN OUR NEWSPAPER, PLEASE EMAIL THE EBOARD. DISCLAIMER ALL OPINIONS, STORIES, AND EDITORIALS REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE AUTHOR(S). THE STUTE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL LETTERS AND ARTICLES SUBMITTED FOR PUBLICATION FOR CLARITY AND FACTUAL ACCURACY, OR NOT PUBLISH THEM. NO PART OF THE STUTE MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF. CITED REFERENCES

URBAN

Continued from page 1 can continue even if the damage occurs, and that it can quickly return to its original state or beyond.” Representatives from San Francisco, Tel-Aviv, Seoul, others — and, of course, Hoboken — spoke about their cities’ best practices in urban resilience. These practices include replacing non-porous surfaces with green space whenever possible, mitigating flood risk with upgraded sewer infrastructure, and updating emergency preparedness in cases of extreme natural disaster. These conversations on urban resilience aren’t new for Hoboken. The city has been committed to urban resilience for a while now. Four years ago, the United Nations named Hoboken a role model city in its “Making Cities Resilient” campaign. This campaign, which Hoboken joined six years ago, launched in May 2010 in response to the intensifying worldwide climate crisis. The United Nations posits that real risks exist, and will worsen, if local governments don’t make immediate, envi-

DINNER

Continued from page 1 can say, ‘I’m from here and I’m from there,’ just be a good professional.” She stressed the importance of proving yourself, as, “it is what will get you places.” She also expressed her everlasting belief that Stevens is one of the best in the country, a university that will “open doors.” In honor of Latinx Heritage Month, she expressed her belief of how the “Latin community and minority community in this country are very powerful,” following up with more wisdom: “The more you get to know people, the more you realize one thing: we all want the same things and we’re all very similar, no matter where you are.” Her opening statement closed with telling the crowd of young students to cherish their friendships and to enjoy the time they will spend at Stevens. Higuera described her early life in Hoboken as well as her experience before leaving Cuba. Her father took her out of school in 7th grade due to the political situation, resulting in Higuera spending her final year in Cuba as what she describes as a “housewife.” Once she arrived in Hoboken, she was met with the obstacles of not speaking English and missing out on school after leaving in 7th grade. With the help of her aunt, she was enrolled in the 9th grade and graduated Hoboken High School on honor roll. At the time, Hoboken consisted of a long lineage of families of European descent, but there was also a Hispanic community of mainly Puerto Ricans and Ecuadorians in which Higuera grew

ronmentally-focused infrastructure changes to their cities. Ahead of other major cities across the United States, Hoboken proposed and enacted its Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan in October 2013. Back in 2013, the increasing severity of flooding had created significant challenges for Hoboken’s stormwater management system. Between 2002 and 2012, for example, “the City recorded 26 dates with greater than 2 inches of precipitation and tides of 4 feet or higher,” Hoboken said in their strategic plan. But it wasn’t just flooding that prompted Hoboken to pursue an ambitious green infrastructure plan. “It was also water quality and public health benefits,” said Jennifer Gonzalez, Director of Environmental Services, in a phone interview. “Green infrastructure can filter pollutants to improve water quality.” Green infrastructure approaches water management more effectively than traditional “gray infrastructure” methods of treating rainwater. While traditional stormwater infrastructure — say, piped drainage and water treatment systems — is designed to simply move urban stormwater away from the city, green

infrastructure reduces and treats stormwater at its source while delivering environmental, social, and economic benefits. In Hoboken, for example, green infrastructure means redesigning Washington Street with rain gardens — sloped, linear areas designed to concentrate and collect stormwater while also filtering out dirt and debris. “Our goal is to keep excessive amounts of rainwater from entering the sewer system during the rainstorm,” said Gonzalez. By installing green infrastructure, less rainwater enters the sewer system during a storm and flooding is less likely. Hoboken also has been, it seems, adding parks everywhere. Not only do these parks add open space in a dense city, but they also double as green infrastructure. Taking up a total of five acres of former industrial land surrounded by Madison Street, Adams Street, 12th Street, and 13th Street, the Northwest Resiliency Park will become Hoboken’s largest park and “will include above ground green infrastructure and a flood detention system underground,” according to a release from the city. It will have the capacity to hold two million gallons of rainfall and include a skating rink, athletic

fields, and more. Significant progress has been made, and more projects are underway, to include green infrastructure in Hoboken. “We’ve accomplished a lot,” Gonzalez said, “but there’s certainly more we can do.” This means more park space that also reduces flood risk and new rain gardens to ease pressure on the sewer system — and advancing conversations at an international level, like the one in Seoul, to encourage other cities to take on urban resiliency initiatives. At the end of the International Urban Resilience Forum, Hoboken and 15 other cities signed the “Seoul Declaration to Strengthen Urban Resilience.” The declaration encourages cities to partner together to build cities that are resilient to present and future natural disasters. “Investing in disaster risk reduction and resilient infrastructure helps to minimize future losses,” the declaration says, “and also ensures that disruption in people’s lives are kept to a minimum. As the world becomes increasingly urban and climate change brings greater uncertainty, city and local governments will play a leading role in addressing existing and new shocks and stresses.”

up. When asked if there was any discrimination or racial tension between the groups, Higuera explains that back in ’60s and ’70s Hoboken, “The immigrants, they were really good people and working people, but the culture was different. There was no hatred, there was just a lack of understanding.” Before landing her spot in the first class of female students at Stevens, Higuera wanted to become an architect. However, due to her traditional upbringing, she was unable to attend college outside the neighborhood. Her mother pushed her to apply to Stevens, which at the time was male-only. Miraculously, one day in her homeroom class, her teacher announced that Stevens was beginning to accept applications from women. While telling this part of her story at the dinner, Higuera joked, “I always tell everybody that ‘Stevens accepted women because my mother was praying so hard.’” Through a remedial program and her strong math skills, Higuera earned her spot as Stevens. “We were really fighting, the 19 of us, to be engineers.” Higuera remembers her and her fellow female classmates having to constantly ask the administration to not interfere in their education, as they did not want special treatment or attention. She states, “At some point the deans were making a big deal of us. They wanted to help, they wanted us to succeed because if we had been a failure — could you imagine? And the girls stopped that, we did not want to be treated differently. We were shining in our work and accomplishments.” Though 12 out of the 19 graduated, all the women did well at their time at Stevens and were also active in student clubs. At the

time, Higuera admits, she didn’t realize the impact that she and the other women were having on the future of female Stevens students: “We were just studying, we didn’t have time to think!” Higuera is thankful for her experience as one of the very few females at Stevens, as it is what helped her survive being the only female engineer in companies and hopes that women at Stevens now can also use their experiences to succeed in the workplace. The highly anticipated question of the evening was asked to Higuera: How was your life after Stevens? Like her opening statement, she began by emphasizing the ability to be very flexible and to learn different things. In answering the question, Higuera told us stories of the many jobs and opportunities that have come from graduating as a chemical engineer, and her own personal endeavors where she had to juggle her roles as a wife, mother, and professional. After leaving Exxon and having her first daughter, she quit working entirely and was out of the workforce for four years. Higuera shared her turmoil with the sentiment that a woman could not re-enter the workplace after leaving for a few years, and her inability to travel due to her now ex-husband’s traditional views. However, by sticking to her philosophy, Higuera threw herself forward, not only succeeding in becoming the only female director in the world for a Japanese cosmetic company but coming back to chemical engineering at the request of another company after 20 years of holding important business jobs! Higuera laughed while sharing, “I haven’t done engineering in 20 years, so my kids are like ‘Mom, you’re crazy if you think you can go back to

engineering,’ and I’m like, ‘we’ll see.’” She continued to share insight through her countless positions in different companies, and told the students, “You get a job, you think you know what you want, but it doesn’t take you that way. Then somebody calls you and says, ‘two Japanese people are looking for someone to manage this.’ It opens your whole world. You just have to take the opportunities and learn.” Networking, Higuera states, made her last five jobs possible, as she was personally recommended by her employers or even friends at other companies. “My life is crazy. I quit a job and then I end up going to the same job years later. As a matter of fact, the day that I left Revlon I stood in front of the building and said, ‘One day I’m gonna come back as a vice president,’ and son of a gun, I did. It was so accidental.” Despite her limited college options, Higuera truly admired Stevens for what it gave her. She describes the ’60s and ’70s as being a “crazy” time in the world, and Stevens made her feel safe. When a student asked what her favorite thing was about Stevens, Higuera reminisced, “Stevens has a certain Old World elegance that I like. It had a tradition. It had a discipline. I have never regretted it.” She shares that whenever she has a problem or is stressed, “I come to Castle Point. I always find it. And I hope you guys do too.” If you missed this event, you can come and meet Higuera when she presents her opening keynote at the LeadHERship Conference happening in Babbio on November 16. For those interested, registration will open soon for all students, faculty, and staff for this all-day conference.

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October 18, 2019

News NSBE

Continued from page 1 ing acting as Attila the Duck for Stevens even while taking a semester off. Another presenter was Sabrina Sanichar from the Stevens Career Center, who presented a workshop titled “Finding an Internship and Interviewing Techniques.” The workshop provided students with tips for conducting an internship search and addressing the self-assessment of values, interests, personality, and skills aligning with their career goals. Students also learned how to create a strategic job search plan and how to successfully pitch their experiences and skills during an interview to make a positive first impression. Regarding planning of

the conference, Hutty said, “We had started planning in July, when our New Jersey Zone e-board was only one person, and we planned throughout the summer. We were making changes up until the night before the conference.” The conference provided different chapters of NSBE in New Jersey the opportunity to get to know each other, especially members of different e-boards. Seven chapters from New Jersey were in attendance: Stevens, TCNJ, FDU, Princeton, Rutgers – New Brunswick, NJIT, and Rowan University. In addition, students from three chapters in New York: Baruch, NYU, and RPI, had joined. The event took up all conference rooms in the Babbio Center during the Saturday it was held. “We would host it again, but it is also interesting to go to other schools and see how they do their conference,” said Hutty. He explained fur-

ther that the New Jersey Zone Conference “allows for the members of NSBE to get to know each other, whereas the regional conference is quite different and would definitely not fit in a school because of the size.” NSBE, on the national side, also has the goal of increasing the number of black students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in engineering annually to 10,000 students by 2025. According to the NSBE website, the vision of this goal is to enable “all black students [to] envision themselves as engineers.” Students can get involved with NSBE by going to events and reaching out to the Stevens e-board members about how they can get involved. Its next event is called “Know Your Major” and will take place on October 24. They will be discussing careers related to the majors at Stevens, specifically STEM majors.

PERSPECTIVES Continued from page 1

said Ioanis regarding her efforts on the ESC e-board. Now, as VPSI, she wants to promote collaboration between different organizations. “A big goal I had for the [Leadership] Connects was to promote more of a networking opportunity between presidents because I think a big thing with not being able to do things on campus is not knowing who to reach out to to start the gears going and the coordination happening,” said Ioanis, “so I’m not sure if it was accomplished, but a big goal of mine was to make sure that presidents knew each other and orgs knew about what other orgs were doing.” Ioanis encourages not only organizations but also other students to branch out of their normal circles. She especially tries to push freshmen, as they have not fallen into their Stevens habits yet, but she acknowledges that this can be difficult. “It’s hard to get people to come out to events when they don’t already know people that are going,” said Ioanis. “It’s hard to reach out to people who may want to be involved or have interest in a certain club or don’t necessarily know the people in that club.” Even if someone is heavily involved in a club, she still encourages them to branch out even more: “It’s great that they get so involved in one club and stay there their whole college career, but I know a lot of people later wish they could have done more areas, club-wise.” While Nina Ioanis is the current VPSI, overseer of over 100 organizations on campus, she recognizes that students still may be involved in other ways. “Student involvement is doing something other than being a student,” she said. Student involvement may also include having an on-campus job, working off-campus, or involvement in Greek life. “You’re here to immerse yourself in a network that is provided to you by the Stevens campus or the Stevens student body, and

INFLUENZA Continued from page 1

According to Student Health Services, flu shot locations include CVS, Walgreens, Tucker Drugs, Medicine Man, Willow Pharmacy, and Riverside Medical Group. Most places accept insurance, but uninsured students can still get a shot for between $10 and $50, depending on the location. Where: CVS Address: 59 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: 201-798-1889 Hours: Mon-Sun open 24 hours, walk-in’s Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now Where: CVS

Photo courtesy of Shania Taylor

Address: 210 14st., Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: 201-420-3286 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-9pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

meeting people outside of the classroom is very important, especially like when you’re trying to learn those soft skills that you need for working,” said Ioanis. One of her goals for the future — whether during her term as VPSI or after — is to promote large-scale subcommittee-wide events, like how the cultural organizations coordinate for Unity. “I still want to pursue that, but I don’t think I can do that while I’m VPSI because there’s a lot of management stuff that I have to be doing at the same time,” she said. The responsibilities of the VPSI include handling the New Organization Process, chairing the Committee on Student Interests, and serving on the audit committee, as well as other responsibilities. Yet, she sees these large-scale events as more of a possibility at Stevens in the future due to the increasing size of the student body and the resulting larger student activity fund. For anyone interested in becoming VPSI and taking the reins, Ioanis has a long list of suggestions — all revolving around knowing the ins and

outs of running an organization. “Definitely learn how a club works […] in whatever club you’re closest to, see how their e-board functions, know how they do certain things, know what they do when they have to work with the Office of Student Life,” said Ioanis. “Befriend older people in clubs, so you have people to reach out to when you have specific questions about how clubs work and what’s going on in certain clubs in terms of the people-to-people interactions and how things work — how things work in practice and not just the technicalities of what’s written in the Constitution. It’s good to be around in the Office of Student Life a lot, and it’s good to be around a lot of different students who are involved in a lot of different things just so you know what’s happening.” But the most important thing is reaching out to Nina about the position. “I love talking to people about my position,” she said. Ioanis is still waiting for someone to tell her they are interested in taking the reins and become the next “knower of things.”

Photo courtesy of Nina Ioanis

Where: CVS

Where: CVS

Address: 811 Clinton St., Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: 201-420-4825 Hours: Mon-Fri 8-9pm, Sat. 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

Address: 1200 Harbor Blvd., Weehawken, NJ 07086 Phone: 201-330-8163 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm (need to call for appt) Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

Where: Walgreens

Where: CVS

Address: 101-105 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: 201-830-2410 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 10am-6pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

Address: 714 Summit Ave., Union City, NJ 07087 Phone: 201-866-2745 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

Where: Walgreens

Where: CVS (inside Target)

Address: 1320 Shipyard Ln Ste 3-Ste4 Phone: 201-876-0040 Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 10am-6pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

Address: 100 14th St., Jersey City, NJ 07310 Phone: 201-499-0018 Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat and Sun 9am-6pm Price: Insurances accepted; un-insured pay $40.99 Availability: In stock now

2019-2020 Locations Courtesy of stevens.edu


October 18, 2019

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News Diversity Education hosts National Coming Out Day Celebration BY MARK KRUPINSKI Diversity Education hosted a National Coming Out Day on October 11 which featured watching coming out episodes from TV shows, signing the purple coming out door, photos with Attila, and crafting origami. “This was an opportunity to continue to celebrate our LGBTQ+ identities and build community,” said Liliana Delman, Assistant Director for Diversity Education. The National Coming Out Day celebration was only one event in Stevens’ celebration of LGBTQ+ National History Month. Other events this month included a Professional Gender Affirming Clothes Swap, a spoken word performance by Kay Ulanday Barrett (a poet, performer, and educator navigating life as a disabled pilipinx-american transgender queer in the U.S. with struggle, resistance, and laughter), Safe Zone Training, and a Lavender Luncheon. Later in the academic year, Diversity Education will be partnering with St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church for a Transgender Day of Remembrance Memorial Service in November, and with student organizations

for Pride Day in April. The celebration was an example of the recently increased amount of LGBTQ+ resources and events at Stevens. “I’ve received positive feedback from students and alumni regarding the increased resources, organizations, and events for LGBTQ+ students on campus in the past couple of years,” said Delman. Current resources include the All Gender Restroom Map, the Guidance on the Rights of Transgender Members of the Stevens Community, and Name, Gender and Pronouns Changes at Stevens. Other events include ally trainings such as Safe Zone and monthly meetings of transgender and gender non-conforming students at Stevens. Additionally, there are three organizations serving the LGBTQ+ Community: Torch, oSTEM, and TranSIT. “New clubs like oSTEM and TranSIT are in the process of becoming full RSOs and are providing more specialized support for students, which allows Torch to not have to scramble to do everything by itself,” said Julia Martin, President of Torch. More information on LGBTQ+ resources at Stevens can be found at https://www.stevens.edu/LGBTQ.

THRIVE Community Wellness Fair BY ANDREW KINNEY A slew of student organizations, Stevens programs, and a wide array of local organizations gathered in Walker Gymnasium yesterday for the annual THRIVE Community Wellness Fair. The Wellness Fair was organized by Stevens Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Graduate Student Affairs, Undergraduate Student Life, and the Office of Wellness Education, and was aimed at promoting wellness and connecting students with the larger Hoboken community. Healthy refreshments were provided, and students could enter a raffle for high-quality water bottles and Stevens-branded yoga mats. The organizations in attendance were varied in both what they were and why they were attending. Some were there primarily for outreach. The Recreation representative was promoting intramural sports and making students aware of the fact that many P.E. classes can be attended by students and faculty who aren’t actually enrolled if they are looking to stay active. Email Brittney Carty at bcarty@stevens.edu for more information. The Stevens Dietitian, Karly O’Brien, MS, RD, was encouraging students to eat less meat by finding healthy plant-based protein options for a few meals a week (“flexitarianism”). The Hoboken Public Library was distributing flyers for a number of events they are hosting, and the Hoboken Historical Museum was similarly talking about their new Augmented Reality exhibit. The JED Foundation was spreading awareness about their suicide prevention programs and talking about their work on the Stevens Mental Health Task Force. Other organizations were looking to recruit students for various kinds of volunteer work. A handful of Stevens students were signing attendants up for the Hoboken Volunteer Ambu-

lance Corps, where they themselves volunteer. The Hoboken Community Center was looking for Student Volunteers to provide training for computer usage and online services, such as email. Interested readers can contact the Community Center at 201-963-4100 for information on how to get involved. The Mile Square Theatre was looking for student ushers and reminding students of its discounted $12 student ticket price for all shows. Go to milesquaretheater. org to get started, and remember that volunteers get to see the show for free! The Theatre was also advertising its acting and improv classes, which let participants take their first class for free. The Hoboken Housing Authority informed attendees of all the services it provides to Hoboken residents, largely focusing on providing housing for low-income Hobokenites, and was looking for both student workers and possibly even an intern. Contact Daniel Perez at dperez@myhhanj.com with any inquires. The Hudson Pride Center, located at Christ Hospital in Jersey City, was similarly looking for both volunteers and interns, while also promoting the wellness services they provide for LGBTQ+ individuals in need. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County was also looking for volunteers for programs such as tutoring, mentoring, and sports. Contact Judy Desilets at jdesilets@bgchc. org for information. The Hoboken Historical Museum was also looking for (paid) student workers for their House Touring event this upcoming Saturday. Reach out to Robert Foster at rfoster@hobokenmuseum.org to sign up. There were more organizations looking for volunteers, but unfortunately The Stute was not able to speak with them all. Finally, some organizations were simply there to promote the general wellness services they provide. Planned Parenthood was providing information about the many services

they provide in the interest of reproductive health. Some of the closest clinics are in Newark, Montclair, Paterson, and East Orange. Cassanda Lenza from Healing on Hudson was there to talk about the mental health services she provides, stressing that the transition to college can be taxing on students. The local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous was spreading information about where to go with concerns about alcoholism, emphasizing that there are over 30 AA meetings per week in Hoboken. Go to aa.org if you or a friend needs to find a meeting. ShopRite was informing attendees of the free nutrition services they provide in-store, from recipes to consultations. The Hoboken Government was distributing reusable bags and information about recycling in Hoboken to promote sustainability: wellness for the city itself! CAPS was also there to talk about their mental health consultations. Overall, the Wellness Fair was a valuable event for students in attendance. Many other organizations were in attendance in addition to the ones described in detail above, all eager to talk to students about the resources and opportunities they provide.

Photos courtesy of Cole Yarbrough and Elena Malova


October 18, 2019

5

Campus Pulse

Maria Manoussakis

Adal Munshi

Liz LaParch “No. I don’t think that they reach enough “I feel like they do. They advertise it well.” “They gotta do more. We need better advertising.” students.”

ROVING REPORTER Do you think Stevens does enough for mental health? Nicole Strezewski

Lu K e Langner

“The person there was typically a marriage counselor; we don’t need that.”

Jon Darlak

“They preach mental health awareness, but don’t create an environment that supports it.”

Alexei Ohotin

Jackson Kent

“Yes, there’s a lot going on. Every time I go “I get emails all the time... That’s pretty “They’re usually very prompt when I conto the bathroom I see the sign.” much it.” tact them.”

Comic by Gregory Kane


October 18, 2019

6

Opinion Stevens Spoon

The NYC viral hit makes its way across the Hudson Michael Prefer

Artichoke Pizza

96 Hudson Street – $$

Stevens Spoon

As a fan of all things pizza, I jumped at the opportunity to head over to the newly opened Artichoke Basille’s Pizza with my fellow Spoon University members. Artichoke Basille’s Pizza, known better as Artichoke Pizza, was started in 2008 by two cousins, Francis Garcia and Sal Basille, in NYC and has since made a name for itself off the back of its specialty Artichoke Slice and Crab Slice among much more. Considering the amount of Late Night Show press and major newspaper articles covering the place, it was about time they ventured into some New Jersey locations. Let’s jump into the details. The restaurant is a decently sized classic-style pizzeria located at 96 Hudson Street, which can be a hike for students living further uptown. Inside is a typical pizzeria look — brick walls, some small tables, and some outdoor seating, Overall it’s a smaller space than Gio’s or Benny’s, so I’d say it is more of a grab-a-slice-n-go type experience. All the slices seemed to be around $6 too, with my meal of two slices and a can of soda coming out to around $13; that is a bit pricey, but I’ll jump into that later. I knew one of the slices I tried had to be the Artichoke, considering I’ve had this type before in my hometown, and it quickly became one of my favorites. (On a side note, the Artichoke joint in my town is an unrelated restaurant also called Basille’s that supposedly first opened up on Staten Island in the ’80s… interesting). The Artichoke slice at Hoboken Basille’s is characterized by a thicker crust and being an overall larger slice, with mozzarella, artichoke, and some other seasonings all brought together by a creamy Alfredo-like sauce. I found the slice to be excellent and right in line with the

Sun – Wed: Thurs – Sat:

Pros: · Good variety in slices and unique pies · Brilliantly executed Artichoke slice · Surprisingly great regular price Cons: · Location is further from campus · Pricey · Artichoke slice can be controversial, not everyone will like it

Above: Outside of Artichoke Pizza on Hudson Street. Their new location places them close to the PATH. Right: One of Artichoke Pizza’s pizzas, freshly served taste of other artichoke pizzas I’ve had, with a very unique and strong flavor. It definitely was very strong in dairy flavors with the cheese and sauce, and it was also an overall very heavy meal in general. The best thing about the slice’s heaviness though is that it definitely makes up for its $6 price tag, at least in my eyes. You may not find this pizza worth it though, if you’re like one of my fellow Spoon members who found the pizza overall too strong and thus not worth the price at all. The Artichoke pie is in general not as easy of a slice to like,

but if you do, you’ll love it. The margarita slice I got was surprisingly great, accounting for the fact that

it’s not one of its most advertised pizza varieties. It was exactly what you’d expect out of a plain or margarita slice

anywhere: a good balance of mozzarella cheese, traditional tomato sauce, and crust. The tomato sauce in particular was a highlight because it had just the right amount of acidity and sweetness to it, something that’s harder for just any pizzeria to nail down. It was also much lighter than the Artichoke slice, which can be a good or bad thing, so take that as you will. I would add though that the slice’s lightness does make it harder to justify with a $6 price tag. Location is further from campus Artichoke slice can be controversial, not everyone will like it I would love to give Hoboken’s new Artichoke Pizza a 9/10 based on its wonderful execution of the Artichoke and Margarita Pies, but considering some of these cons that definitely are significant, I am giving Artichoke Basille’s Pizza a respectable 7.5/10. Up Next: Something to consider for the future is trying out the other touted slice: The Crab Pie, as well as trying the original Artichoke Pizza itself in the East Village Disclaimer: This column is a collaboration between The Stute and Spoon University. It will be published both in The Stute and on Spoon’s website, and will be written by different authors week-to-week.

Outside and Around The World

Nyege Nyege Tapes’ electronic re-interpretation of Ugandan courtship songs Jack Kostilnik

Junior Music and Technology Nyege Nyege Tapes’s most recent release, Electro Acholi Kaboom from Northern Uganda, brings light to a style of music from 2003 to 2008 in the northern Ugandan cities of Lira and Gulu. The Acholi people are a nation of Luo people who live in South Sudan and northern Uganda. During traditional Acholi courtship, different dances are performed to give the men an opportunity to demonstrate their physical prowess to the women. However, the Larakara has morphed over time and is now played at wedding ceremonies to celebrate the marriage of a couple. Larakaraka bands require large groups of people for instrumentation, and during the early 2000s, these electronic re-interpretations of Larakaraka songs emerged as an alternative to the expensive full bands due to a shortage in manpower which was a result of the ongoing civil war in northern Uganda. The re-interpreted songs soon became popular at local clubs and still play a prominent part in the nightlife of Lira and Gulu. The songs on this compilation are from 2003 to 2008 and feature some of the most popular artists from the genre. The producers of these songs use traditional Larakaraka sounds like percussion, ankle-bells, and calabashes, which are a type of hollowed-out gourd played as a percussion instrument. There are also liberties taken, like faster tempos, which can be heard on all the songs in this compilation, and call and response vocals, which can be heard prominently

11 a.m. – 3 a.m. 11 a.m. – 4 a.m.

on songs like “Awinyo Bila” and “Rwot Moo.” My favorite song on the compilation featuring this added call and response vocal part is “Tum Pa Ocii” by Jeff Korondo. The percussion used on the beat for this song reminds me a lot of early 2000s French-Polynesion electronic music, which I thought was interesting given that Uganda is a landlocked country. Korondo was one of the most prominent vocalists in the scene of the early 2000s. Almost all of the songs on the compilation are upbeat and cheerful, and use major chords with bright synths and samples. My favorite song on the compilation, “Bandera Pa Kaka” by Bosmic Otim, is by far one of the happiest African Electronic songs I’ve heard in a while, and the infectious call and response of the line “bandera pa kaka” put a smile on my face the entire time. The use of acoustic instrumentation on this song makes it one of the most enjoyable for me on the compilation. Although his song on the compilation is upbeat, Bosmic Otim uses his music for political activism. For almost two decades now, Otim has been playing across Uganda and singing about AIDS, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and corruption in the government. Otim is a huge celebrity in Uganda and is one of the pioneers of this genre. Music as activism is a large part of Acholi culture, and Otim is no exception. In a 2008 interview by The Brooklyn Rail, Otim had this to say: “But ours is not through guns. Our guns are the microphones. The mic is the biggest weapon.” Otim represents a generation of Ugandans who are tired of war and are using music as activism in the 21st century.

BY Michael Prefer


October 18, 2019

7

Opinion Spoiler Alert

Steven Universe: The Movie

Tristan Bacani Freshman

Biomedical Engineering As a kid, did you just love cartoons? Did you watch endless hours of Cartoon Network, going down the rabbit hole towards an endless binge? Well, as a legal “adult” I can say I still do the same. Animation to me is an art form that honestly has no age. So when Steven Universe: The Movie came out, I was hyped. A movie based on one of the greatest cartoons ever? Yes, please! Make that a musical and I am even more excited. So watching this movie made me feel like a kid again and gave me that sugary cereal excitement that only cartoons can give me. Just an FYI, if you haven’t watched Steven Universe then go do that now…. Okay, done binging? Then let’s go! The film starts off two years after the events of the last season. Steven is now 16 years old and has gained a serious upgrade: a neck. More worn down, wiser, but still with that youthful energy, Steven returns home from Homeworld to start his happy ending with his family, declining an offer to become the Pink Diamond. But the happy homecoming is cut short when a new challenger enters the ring. Meet Spindle, an unknown gem that seems to have a huge hatred towards Steven and the gang. She comes bearing a giant injector, one that in the span of a few hours will wipe out all life on Earth. Ready to fight, Spindle cuts them down

This delightful musical shows exactly why so many have fallen for Cartoon Network’s empathetic gem of a show. Photos courtesy of Variety.

quickly and causes Steven’s powers to go on the fritz with her weapon. Though the Crystal Gems regenerate, they have lost all memories of their lives on Earth, rebooted to factory setting. Spindle is also reset, becoming a happy-go-lucky “best friend” which is a far cry from the villainous gem she came as. But Steven has a plan and puts them back together, making Am-

ethyst know that she isn’t alone, teaching Pearl that obedience isn’t everything, and teaching Garnet the power of love. Spindle also relearns her true identity and backstory, remembering that she was a playmate for Pink Diamond, Steven’s mother. Pink left her alone on a planet for 6,000 years, telling her not to move and to be happy. This broke that happiness inside of Spindle, caus-

ing her insanity. Steven promises to be her friend, and Spindle is quick to trust him, but then she goes back and expedites the end of the world. Steven, without his powers, faces off against Spindle, and Spindle beats him bloody. Steven, defeated, asks himself why he hasn’t been put back together, as he is powerless and alone. He realizes that he must change to regain his abilities

and grow up a little bit. He regains his powers and beats Spindle, who comes to her senses after Steven talks her down. But the world is still in ruins. That’s when Steven realizes his powers can fix the world by kissing the ground back to life. Spindle obviously wants to change for the better and wants a fresh start. So the Diamonds, who originally came down to Earth to live with Steven, say they will bring her back with a place in the palace just for her. The film ends with Steven, the gems, and people of Beach City (the town where the show takes place) rebuilding and living in the future. Rebecca Sugar, the creator of the show, really made something special. The songs are amazing, the animation and story are superb, and it has a message about not being static or living in the past that resonates with all ages. Steven Universe: The Movie is truly a gem.

Black Effect

“Black Leaders” with Joshua Hector, Grant Fowler, and Porschia Morrow

Nasir Montalvo Junior

Business and Technology Why do we have spaces designated for minority groups? After hundreds of years of fighting for desegregation, why would we separate ourselves? These questions plagued me as I pursued the Intercultural Center. I had to ensure that the community understood this was for everyone since there was the misconception it was not. In fact, I was trying to do the opposite of the center by uniting all people with a focus. I think about our identity-based organizations now, and how they are also fighting for allies to join their organizations. Yes, this is necessary. Necessary to continue spreading the missions of these organizations. But I think about the mission of these organizations and their core purpose, which is to unite their people with a focus. I will never understand what it means to celebrate with brothers and sisters as part of one Ummah. I will never understand what it means to be accused of terrorism because of the creator I believe in. That experience is not mine and it is not for me to invade. However, I can empathize, love, and fuel that community as best as I can. James Baldwin, writer and activist, says the following in the introduction to Nobody Knows My Name: “The questions which one asks oneself begin, at last, to illuminate the world, and one become one’s key to the experience of others. One can only face in others what one can face in oneself. On this confrontation depends the measure of our wisdom and compassion.” Organizations, spaces, and intercultural centers were never meant to make you or me the outsider. In fact, it is to bring us in. But in bringing us in, they ask us to look within ourselves and question our own

identities, and where we fit in the puzzle of helping a community celebrate their own. In this article, I am highlighting the presidents of the three most prominent Black organizations on campus. While their organizations’ missions are to build community, networks, and brotherhood, they all operate through a focus on Black culture. Joshua Hector is the President of Black Student Union, and identifies as Dominican and Haitian. Grant Fowler is the President of the Phi Theta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and identifies as African-American and Jamaican. Porschia Marrow is the President of the National Society of Black Engineers, and identifies as African-American. All have a wide range of other involvements and have established themselves as leaders on campus. Today, they speak of their roles within the Black community at Stevens. Nasir Anthony Montalvo: How do you interpret your organization’s mission and how do you fulfill that mission? Joshua Hector: I interpret BSU’s mission as embracing, enriching, and sharing the Black culture here at Stevens. Whether that be through food, entertainment, things that are in the news, educating different African-American cultures, Black stigma, Black stereotypes, and all things of that nature. I go about fulfilling it through events, as well as having a platform or open forums to discuss these topics. Not only with Black students, but with the entire Stevens general body. Grant Fowler: Alpha’s mission statement has a lot of facets to it, but I’ll start off with developing leaders. Leadership is in a constant state of teaching people what’s right and wrong, so teaching people that it’s okay to be uncomfortable is something I promote. Promoting brotherhood is something part of all Greek life: creating a family that’s not necessarily blood-tied or directly related to you, but creating a family type of environment in a place where you might otherwise feel uncomfortable. The last thing, community outreach, is mainly about going out and getting involved. Porschia Marrow: For NSBE, our mission statement is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black engineers who succeed professionally, excel academically, and positively impact the community. We host workshops to aid your professional skills, we teach you how

to talk to recruiters. We do study sessions with members here to help you. And we like to do things with local schools so that students have people to talk to, and so these students have the resources available so they can go further in life than they would have. NAM: How did each of your organizations specifically help you get to where you are today? JH: BSU definitely helped me break out of my comfort zone. It definitely was the start of the domino effect that gave me the rest of the positions I have now, like being a Resident Assistant and chartering a chapter here with Alpha Phi Alpha. I was able to nurture a leadership aspect I didn’t believe I had. GF: I would say my experience is the opposite of Josh’s, since before Alpha Phi Alpha, I had positions in BSU and NSBE. I wanted to unite all of my experiences, in terms of the family and professional aspects from those organizations. That’s why we chartered here, and it made me realize that if you push for initiative, you can fulfill your journey and make a lot of connections. PM: BSU provided the social aspect with the Black community I needed, but NSBE was definitely that personal and professional growth that I think we all need when we come to college. It also gave me a way to get to know people in administration, and know who to talk to about issues I have. NAM: What role does your organization play in creating a better Stevens as a whole? JH: BSU brings the energy and family aspect to Stevens. We can represent the Black community as a whole. We can be the loudest, we can bring the energy. Because we’re proud to be who we are. And shed our light in the best way possible. GF: I’m not gonna lie and say Stevens didn’t use the Alphas to recruit more Black and Brown people. But the reason I want to be here is because there’s a lot of things that get you into Stevens, but there’s not a lot of things that make you want to stay. Especially when I first came here, POC were happy or going through the motions of their first two years, but the last two or three are like you’re standing in the jail yard like “man, get me out of here.” Everyone: [laughs] GF: So yeah, BSU and NSBE do create those aspects of family, but there’s more needed in terms of social aspects and impacting the Stevens community. PM: NSBE is all about professional

skills, so that role we play on campus is that we give not only Black people, but anyone that comes to our club, the chance to better themselves professionally. And since our conferences are specifically looking to hire minorities, we’re giving students of color chances that may not have been available to them. NAM: Some things we lack at our school, mainly due to size and space, are specialized Black houses, councils, programs, etc. Basically any resource outside of the cultural organizations. Do you see this changing? If so, why? If not, why not? JH: In terms of what we need, I think we’re taking a good step with the Intercultural Center. They are definitely trying to make that step. But I feel they’re kind of brushing it to the side as a means to satisfy us and not do anything else. I think they don’t really get it. We’re just starting to get Diversity Education back up again, but it had to take students and faculty to push for this. But without this push from community members, there will be no change. And they will be okay with whatever. There needs to be actual change. GF: I agree with everything Josh said. It’s always been an exchange with Stevens. It’s always been ,“Why do you want this? What’s the purpose of it,” and then it becomes, “How can we tweak this for our gain and for our university?” and it’s fucked up. Stevens is a temporary pitstop. You come here, do your time, and then you move on. JH: Like prison. GF: [laughs] Yeah, you literally come in, do your time, and then go find that job that’s gonna bring you money. Stevens should be more “home-y.” And make people want to be here. I’m in my last year and it’s not so bad here, but I don’t know if previous seniors could say the same. If we wanted a house or anything, it’d have to be funded by alumni. PM: It’s hard to get things from administration unless they understand what it means for them. Just for a conference we had this Saturday, I had to answer a whole bunch of questions just to get it approved. At this point, I take what I can get and work some magic. NAM: What can administration do to better support y’all? GF: Just talk to us, seriously. JH: Honestly, we’re treated like a statistic. GF: It’s like a zoo. Like “look at them, they’re doing the work.” PM: It’s fucking weird. GF: It is! We’re not on display.

PM: They treat our events like it’s a Black-only event. And they’re open to everyone. You can come. But they’re like, “No we don’t want to come, we’ll be the only white people there.” NAM: But how do we feel? PM: [laughs] Me in every class. At any point ever here, I feel uncomfortable too. NAM: Do you have any advice for current and prospective Black students at Stevens? JH: 1. Be yourself. It’s cliche, but you want to have your own impact. Have passion with whatever you’re doing. 2. Always reach out to your other Black students. We’re all here to talk and socialize. A lot of people think we’re mean or problematic, but that’s not true. We’re all here to help. Black students here have problems with breaking out of their shells, especially on that first day. I felt like that, I didn’t have a community at first. But I was willing to go to events and talk to people and get different perspectives. GF: I would just say don’t be bound by what you did in high school. Learn about what you want to do, who you are as a person. Don’t think because you’re Black or whatever your identity is you’re restricted to that place — explore everything. People forget that you’re supposed to be learning in college. You should not come out of college the same way you came. PM: Go to everything. Go to all the clubs, meet everyone, go where you feel comfortable and feel the most accepted. Wherever you’re surrounded by people who share the same ideas and goals as you. You don’t have to join a specific group or club just because you think you might fit in or that’s who you ran with in high school. Also, my dad always said, “Do what you came here to do.” You came here to go to college and get an education — make sure you get your education. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and make friends, but make sure you’re doing well academically. JH: Start off strong, on a good note. Because if you do, you’re just gonna ride that wave as time goes by. Especially if you’re an engineer. GF: We all suffer together. PM: We all got the drive. Everyone: [laughs] This interview has been edited and condensed. Keep in mind that these viewpoints/experiences are mine and the interviewees’ and are not necessarily representative of those of the Black or Brown persons at Stevens and beyond.


October 18, 2019

8

Opinion The Stute Editorial

To those hoping to be President (ft. some of my friends) Sometime last semester, I wrote a piece titled “To those in elected positions.” At the time, I had been on The Stute’s e-board for about two years and the President of CPAC for almost a year, and had wanted to share my observations with up-and-coming student leaders a few weeks before unified elections week. This piece is somewhat of a “Part 2,” so you should read that first before proceeding. Many younger friends will come up to me and say they respect me and want to hold the positions I hold someday. It’s sweet, but they only say that because they haven’t been a president before. While it might seem glamorous from the outside, being a president can be a thankless and lonely job. Don’t get me wrong — you will gain so many precious memories during your term. I am so grateful for the positions that people elected me to, because they allowed me to grow into a completely different person than I was when I first got to Stevens. But there are just as many all-nighters in the office and overwhelming days when I can’t help but wonder what my life would’ve been like if I just dropped everything and had no responsibilities outside of work and class. Being a president is not easy. You have to be the type of person who is always around. The person who goes to every meeting, makes sure everyone does their part, and has a good friendship with most, if not all, members of the organization. If you don’t have that level of commitment, you are not ready to be president. This is

the foundation for respect. It is difficult to become an impactful leader who drives change if those who you lead don’t respect you as someone who has done enough to be in charge. I am not trying to deter anyone from running. In fact, I want to encourage you to run. If you have really big ideas and believe you’re the best candidate, your club needs you. Don’t be afraid of commitment — get excited and go all in to make it yours! There aren’t enough student leaders at Stevens, so by making a decision to run I’m already proud of you. College is only four (or five) years long and the term is only for one year (unless you re-run). I just want to warn people who might be in it for the wrong reasons — like only to boost your resume, for clout, or just for shits and giggles — the bigger the club, the higher the stakes, and the more commitment it will require to make sure it’s running smoothly. I wanted to feature some of my friends’ thoughts on this topic. As club presidents for student orgs, I figured their perspectives might help you too. Rachel Cipkins has been the President of Stevens Women in Computer Science (SWiCS) since Spring 2019. She was previously the Public Relations Chair before becoming President. Yoohan Ko has been President of Stevens Robotics Club, formerly known as Stevens Hobby Robotics Club, since Fall 2018. Nazrin Akther is the current President of the Muslim Education and Cultural Association (MECA). She was previously the Events Coordinator before becoming President.

Alex Murtagh is the Founder and President of the Martial Arts and Self Defense (MASD) Club as well as the President for Chi Epsilon (XE), the Civil Engineering Honor Society. Thanks everyone for agreeing to provide your input! Audrey DSouza: Why did you want to be president? Nazrin Akther: I wanted to make sure that MECA was continuing to improve for the Muslim students on campus. Since we are a relatively new and small club, it’s important that our outreach is better and that our events are more appealing and relevant for the members of the club. I felt that there weren’t many others willing to make the time and effort commitment to make the club better. I am hoping to make the Muslim community closer and to make MECA have more of a presence on campus. Rachel Cipkins: My goal is to make sure SWiCS has a sense of community by adding more social events to our schedule. I want to make sure people who are not just CS majors feel more welcome attending our events as well! AD: What makes being president worth it for you? Alex Murtagh: More than anything, I enjoy seeing people have fun doing what they love. For MASD, just being able to give people the space they need to practice and build a small community is really exciting. I think XE is a really important organization because our members excel in the classroom, so we offer them opportunities to have fun and put their knowledge

to the test through networking events. Yoohan Ko: For me, it was never directly my intention to become President, but I recognized that at an engineering school such as Stevens, there is an immense demand for engineering-related extracurriculars such as robotics club. I was just excited to create more extracurricular robotics and engineering projects and opportunities for the student body. When I see students engaged in projects and learning, and then seeing those students pass it along, it’s all worth it. AD: What advice would you give to people who want to be president of your, or any, club? RC: Make sure that being president is something that you really want to do before running for the position. If you don’t think you are ready yet, try another position out first before making that decision. NA: When you become president, be prepared to deal with e-board members who are not taking up their roles and responsibilities. You need to lead and be assertive. There will be a lot of opportunities to meet new people and do a lot of things and shape the club how you want to, so go crazy and have fun too. AM: For anyone that wants to be president of any organization, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Serving as president is obviously nice for your resume, but your main purpose is to serve the members of the organization and advance the goals of your organization. So basically, be passionate and willing to put in the work to see your club improve!

YK: Be consistent in attending meetings and always be proactive in participating in projects and getting involved in the organization in any way. More than technical expertise, when I look for the next president, I’m looking for a student that shows initiative and shares the same vision to lead the robotics club. I would love to see our club grow even more into a prominent, recognized club at Stevens. I hope that this piece can be useful for anyone running for any position at any time. If elected, the future of your club is yours to write. Whatever happens, good or bad, will be your legacy. In a crisis, e-board members (even if at fault) won’t be held accountable, you will. Don’t be too nervous. Even if you don’t win the title, know that it your passion and ideas can still make big changes and a big impact on the lives of fellow students. You might not get exactly what you want, but that just means something even greater is waiting for you in the future.

Audrey Dsouza

Editor-in-Chief

Senioritis

Addressing the important issues Koncerning students

Mark Krupinski Senior

Computational Science We have our weekly Stute meetings on Tuesdays. During the meetings, we go over assignments, give any important announcements, and then a few of us usually hang out in the office afterward to chat. We all catch up on each other’s weeks, complain about homework, and, of course, share the latest campus tea. “What if the tapping was tonight?” someone remarked. Nah, it can’t be tonight. But what if? Trying to find the tapping takes a lot of effort if you go in blind. We had no leads — it wasn’t worth the time. Eventually, we all decided to call it a night and head home. We took the

elevator down from the 7th f loor to the lobby and returned the office key. Someone told us to look outside the entrance of Howe — and there it was. Seven individuals dressed in black entered the Howe Center and briskly walked into the stairwell closest to the entrance of Howe. We knew it could only be one thing — the tapping ritual of Khoda, the secret senior honor society on campus. Yup. We recognized a known member, in the front. One of us even shouted “Hi!” to one of the individuals in the line. He did not even acknowledge us. He just kept walking forward — from the entrance of Howe to the first set of the doors upstairs. I’m not a stranger to this. I’ve seen parts of multiple Khoda tappings before. It’s a brisk walk around campus with stops at various landmarks. However, every other time we had some sort of lead that the tapping would be occurring. This time, we had nothing — we just ran into them. It gives you a rush uncovering a secret on campus almost accidentally. Later, a member skirts around the question if you ask anything remotely related to the society. The rush comes from the secrecy associated with Khoda — finding something that you were not supposed to find. In the past, Khoda

used to be a lot less secretive about its members and initiatives. The Stute would publish the names of the newly tapped individuals in both the Fall and Spring. The Stute would detail the individuals newly elected to the executive board. The Stute would sometimes even provide details from their initiation banquets! My favorite part is how Khoda’s initiatives would sometimes be detailed within The Stute. For example, Khoda used to conduct interviews with every freshman to help promote campus involvement. Additionally, the Khoda members served as public advocates for the formation of multiple organizations, including the Inter-Dormitory Council and the Student Review Board, both of which are now defunct, and the Student Council. The organization also helped with parking violation appeals and senior career interview signups, as well as organizing freshman elections. Khoda had an active role and actively worked to better the Stevens community. Sure, Khoda got its fair share of criticism — and in hushed circles still does today. First, in 1936, The Stute claimed that “personal feuds and fraternity politics” had excluded many outstanding men from Khoda membership. Addi-

Mind of a Freshman

The Stevens Plague is taking over

Julia Wierzbicki Freshman

Mechanical Engineering I’m not going to lie — when I first heard about “the Stevens Plague,” I was pretty skeptical. Sure, people get colds around the change in season, but how bad could it actually be? Well, after just having come from a chemistry lab midterm where over half the class was sniffing and coughing throughout the exam, I’ve decided that the Plague is, in fact, for real. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, basically the Ste-

vens Plague is a mysterious illness that spreads throughout campus at the start of every year. It’s most likely caused by the new incoming student population, and the new stresses and eating habits weaken people’s immune systems. If you, like myself, have been struck by only the minor symptoms of this illness (cough, congestion, maybe a headache), then consider yourself lucky. I know many friends who have been rendered completely incapacitated with pounding migraines and complete exhaustion. The Stevens Plague takes many forms, ranging from a mild inconvenience to being downright awful. So during these dangerous times, it’s important to protect yourself against the possible spread of germs. If you know someone who has caught the Stevens Plague, you need to stay away. Not all the time, obviously, but definitely don’t get too close. Although it may sound mean, it’s crucial to make sure that you’re not aiding in the spread of unwanted germs. If you do hang out with those people, be extra careful around meal time. Hand sanitizer is also a must. If you don’t have any, I know the Entertainment Committee has been giving out sample sizes at their events, so keep an eye out for those.

Oh, and if you do have the Stevens Plague, please cough in your elbow! I don’t know when this stopped being a part of common courtesy, but the amount of people I’ve seen coughing out in the open is really quite scary. It’s been proven that droplets from coughing can be spread as far as six meters and stay in the air for as long as 10 minutes, so please keep that in mind. Honestly, the best way to prevent the spread of the Stevens Plague is to remain smart and courteous. Especially if you’re using a communal bathroom, it’s so easy to spread germs and get your entire floor sick. Be sure that you wash your hands consistently and use hand sanitizer before every meal. If you have your own bathroom in a dorm or an apartment, Lysol is your best friend. Don’t be lazy when it comes to cleaning or it’ll definitely catch up to you. It’s good to think on the bright side, though. With the return of the Stevens Plague comes the reminder that fall is finally here, and that means Thanksgiving and winter break are just around the corner. So stay healthy, study hard, and keep reminding yourself that the semester is half over and it’ll be December before you know it!

tionally, they claimed that Khoda had become “ineffective” and was then a “mere social fraternity” whose membership was no longer an honor. The criticism f lared up for a time then subsided — usually for about 10 or so years. The only media between these bursts would be membership announcements or discussions on the current actions of Khoda. Typically individuals — whether The Stute or a letter to the editor — would criticize Khoda for its membership selection, not doing anything, or just blatant corruption. In the late 1970s — around the time when membership selection for Khoda was no longer published in The Stute — The Stute claimed that “dirty politics are definitely going on in Khoda” regarding its member selection, as five of the six recent inductees were from the same fraternity and came from the same campus background. (I’m going to stop here since this is a GIANT rabbit hole, like 10,000 words long — please reach out if you want to learn more about the past of Khoda and its portrayal within the media!) The last “public” action by Khoda was hosting a Leadership Conference in 1992. Since then, it has remained largely out of the public eye. No membership notifications. No initiative notifications. According

to the Khoda Constitution, “Khoda is a leadership honor society which addresses important issues concerning students and student organizations.” Shouldn’t an organization that serves the students by helping solve their issues and better the student-centric experience be on the ground, interacting with students, and be held accountable to students? As The Stute once said, “[The] need for secrecy is a myth perpetuated by the members of Khoda themselves.” Khoda has little accountability to the student body and vaguely “exists.” The Student Government Association serves as the advocate for students across campus. Why does Khoda need to exist? I’m a big fan of transparency. It would only benefit the student body for Khoda to come clean, reveal their members, and talk about how they are working to better the student body. We criticize the administration for their lack of transparency, so why shouldn’t other students follow suit? “Khoda will remain secret, partially because of the initial thrill of its members of belonging to such an organization and also because of the misconception that more can be accomplished in this manner.” — Mike Wolk, The Stute, 1975.


October 18, 2019

9

Opinion Off The Press

Scientific Curmudgeon

Nobel Prizes announced, and I win

John Horgan Professor CAL

Pardon the bragging, but I just won a bet I made 17 years ago with physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku. In 2002, I bet Kaku $1,000 that “by 2020, no one will have won a Nobel Prize for work on superstring theory, membrane theory, or some other unified theory describing all the forces of nature.” This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, which recognized solid work in cosmology and astronomy but nothing related to a unified theory, was Kaku’s last chance to win before 2020. Kaku and I made the bet under the auspices of Long Bets, which calls itself a “public arena for enjoyably competitive predictions, of interest to society, with philanthropic money at stake.” Long Bets is a project of the Long Now Foundation, which entrepreneur Stewart Brand and others created in 1996 to promote “long-term thinking.” Folks like financier Warren Buffet, neuroscientist Christof Koch, physicist Freeman Dyson, inventors Ray Kurzweil and Gordon Bell, businessman Eric Schmidt, psychologist Steven Pinker, and actor Ted Danson have made hundreds of bets on predictions involving science, politics, the environment, economics, sports, you name it. Proceeds of bets go to a charity chosen by the winner. Kaku and I each put up $1,000 for our wager. Since I won, $2,000 goes to the Nature Conservancy. If Kaku had won, the money would have gone to National Peace Action. Below is the argument that I presented in 2002, which provides background on the quest for a unified theory and my reasons for doubting it will be discovered. In purely intellectual terms, a unified theory of physics would be the greatest

of all scientific achievements. It would culminate the ancient human quest for knowledge, which began when the first of our ancestors asked, “Why?” It would yield the basic rules governing the entire universe, from the smallest to the largest scales. It would tell us how the universe came into being and why it took this particular form, which permitted our existence. It might even reveal our ultimate cosmic fate. At least, that’s what seekers of a unified theory hope, and what I used to believe. In the early 1990s, I came to suspect that the quest for a unified theory is religious rather than scientific. Physicists want to show that all things came from one thing: a force, or essence, or membrane wriggling in eleven dimensions, or something that manifests perfect mathematical symmetry. In their search for this primordial symmetry, however, physicists have gone off the deep end, postulating particles and energies and dimensions whose existence can never be experimentally verified. The Superconducting Supercollider, the monstrous particle accelerator that Congress canceled in 1993, would have been 54-miles in circumference. Gaining access to the infinitesimal microscales where superstrings supposedly wriggle would require an accelerator 1,000 light years around. (The entire solar system is only one light day around.) It is this problem that makes me confident I will win this bet. The Nobel prize judges have always been sticklers for experimental proof. The dream of a unified theory, which some evangelists call a “theory of everything,” will never be entirely abandoned. But I predict that over the next twenty years, fewer smart young physicists will be attracted to an endeavor that has vanishingly little hope of an empirical payoff. Most physicists will come to accept that nature might not share our passion for unity. Physicists have already produced theories — Newtonian mechanics, quantum mechanics, general relativity, nonlinear dynamics — that work extraordinarily well in certain domains, and there is no reason why there should be a single theory that accounts for all the forces of nature. The quest for a unified theory will come to be seen not as a branch of science, which tells us about the real world, but as a kind of mathematical theology. By the way, I would be delighted to lose this bet. John Horgan directs the Center for Science Writings. This column is adapted from one originally published on his Scientific American blog, “Cross-check.”

Gateway is haunted OFF THE PRESS Off Center

In a surprising turn of events that is ironically very in-theme with the season, the partially-opened Gateway Hall is already infested with ghosts, ghouls, and other such paranormal pests. While spectres of this nature are more commonly associated with older buildings — or, indeed, buildings that have finished construction — experts have assured us that the building is in fact haunted. The first signs of spectral infestation started during the first week that South Hall opened, when wide-eyed students entered hoping to see the fabled Gianforte/Gateway Hall finally completed. “I was having my first class in the new building,” said a troubled student, “when suddenly the teacher started floating away! He’s still up there, too. I think he’s gone above Babbio by now.” Similar phenomena have been reported since the building’s partial opening, and a veritable flock of floating professors have been bobbing above campus for quite some time now. Currently, the Hoboken Fire Department is attempting to retrieve the victims using long poles with hooks at the ends. As of yet, the identity of the ghosts is a matter of debate: some scholars believe that they are the lost souls of the dozens of workers who died in the OSHA hell-fire that was the erection of Gateway. Others say that the ghosts are merely leftovers from Lieb Hall, the building that was demolished to make space for Gateway. Still others posit that the spirit haunt-

ing Gateway is the ghost of Lieb Hall itself. “Lieb is punishing us for our hubris!” spouted a creepy-looking student huddling in a dark alleyway. “We did not appreciate it for the architectural marvel that it was, and now it is wreaking its horrible vengeance upon us! Woe! Woooooeeeee!” Sources have told us that the ghosts are the real reason that the other half of Gateway remains closed. “We barely managed to contain them in the North Hall,” said the leader of the Stevens Paranormal Taskforce, a group that has remained largely useless until this development. “They put up a hell of a fight, though; it took weeks to get the smell of ectoplasm out of my uniform. The only way we managed to get them out of the South Hall was by putting a shower in the basement. Of course, ghosts are very respectful of other people’s privacy, so they all left the premises once they knew someone was naked.” Luckily, Off the Press has a special training program for these very situations, and we were able to get an exclusive interview with one of the ghosts haunting Gateway. The ghost in question is one Geoffrey Pritchard, a stablehand from Castle Stevens who died in 1864 of simultaneous cases of malnutrition, cholera, and having his head kicked in by a horse. The following is a cutdown transcript from the interview. Off the Press: What is your opinion on the new building? Geoffrey Pritchard: *Ominous mumbling* OTP: Do you feel your rights as a spectre have been violated as a result

of the construction? GP: *Low moaning, the sound of chains* OTP: How has this impacted your daily life? GP: *Floats down into the floor, re-appears from the ceiling* OTP: I see. And how do you feel about the building’s design? GP: Honestly? Not a fan. The administration has taken a hard anti-ghost policy on campus as a result of the hauntings. “Anyone found harboring a spirit, ghost, lost soul, or any other incorporeal being will be immediately suspended and their tuition will be made forfeit,” announced an e-mail sent to all students this week. “As safety precautions, the chains around the skeleton of Edwin A. Stevens have been tightened, and the blood runes in the basement of Howe will be doubled for the foreseeable future.” These policies have angered many students, especially those of spectral-American descent. “I feel like the school isn’t taking my needs into account,” said Lauren, a 2/4 Chemical Engineer who is on a Student Visa from the afterlife. “Sure, I possessed a few people, but they got over it! And they only lost, like, 80% of their bodily fluids!” Off the Press cautions everyone to stay calm during this turbulent time on campus. Much like sharks, bears, and particularly aggressive badgers, ghosts can smell fear and will attack without hesitation if they sense weakness. Also, if anyone sees any otherworldly activities inside of Gateway, call us right away because that sounds really cool and we’d all like to see it.

Advice You May Not Need

On arguing

David Bellah Junior

Business and Technology Growing up, I liked to argue. I wanted to win debates, even if it meant attacking someone personally. My closest friends saw this side of me the most. After all, with your close friend, you can say anything, because at the end of the day you were best friends and “a little” arguing wouldn’t change that. So, for many years, my best friends dealt with me antagonizing them, insulting them because it was funny, and starting fights with them because I was bored. At some point, on a random Thursday evening, my three friends had enough. During an argument, I told one of them that no one cared about their opinion unless it was about sports. Now this one insult wouldn’t be enough to sever a relationship, but this was the millionth insult my friend had heard from me within that year, and I guess it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. My friend didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night. In my head, I kept telling myself that it wasn’t a big deal — he knew I was just messing around, and we would be on good terms by tomorrow. Tomorrow came around, and when I tried to talk to him, all he said to me was how annoying I was and that he didn’t want to be around me if I just wanted to argue and say stupid things. After hearing that, I realized that maybe your best friend isn’t someone who puts up with you because they’re your friend. At some

point, a best friend will stop talking to you if they feel like you are constantly trying to win an argument or make a dumb insult. Over time, I grew to care less about arguments or having the funniest insult. Things between my close friends got more pleasant, and, shockingly, hanging out became more fun (crazy, right??). In college, I have a friend — let’s call him George. George likes to argue, probably more than me. George will start discussions about anything to see if anyone will disagree so he can tell them all the reasons why they’re wrong. Sometimes it’s entertaining to see, because George is smart and hilarious. Other times, especially when you’re the one arguing with him, George can be very unpleasant. One day, George and I debated over the death penalty. After going back and forth, I changed the subject because clearly the argument was going nowhere. About an hour later, George brought it back up and told me why I should reconsider my perspective. We argued for another 30 minutes, and I started getting annoyed. At that moment I had to tell him, “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say — I don’t think either of us is going to convince the other and I think we should leave it at that.” George followed that up with, “I get what you’re saying but…” and proceeded to argue with me. I cut him off and told him I know he likes to argue and I know he likes to win, but I do not want to be around him if that’s all he wants to do. “It’s just annoying,” I said to him. At that point, he looked confused, as if I didn’t realize he and I were just having a simple debate. As if I didn’t realize that at the end of the day, he and I would still be friends even after having “a little” heated discussion. But George proceeded to apologize and say, “you’re right.” George and I haven’t had many debates since that day. I enjoy hanging out with George a lot more since he learned that having a friend was more important than winning an argument. Main message: If you love to argue for the sake of winning, remember that your best friends can only take so much. Focus on friendship and less on winning — your friends will thank you for it.

Become a columnist! Passionate about something and interested in writing about it? Contact eboard@thestute.com


10

October 18, 2019

Sports

ON DECK IN SPORTS FRI, OCT 18 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs St. John Fisher College New Jersey Challenge 6 PM Hoboken, NJ

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs Catholic vs St. John Fisher New Jersey Challenge 8 PM Hoboken, NJ Photos courtesy stevensducks.com

SAT, OCT 19

Women’s soccer extend their winning streak and are now ranked No. 18 in NCAA D-III By TREVOR DAMEIKA Six wins in a row for the Stevens women’s soccer team. Through each game, the Ducks have shown strong versatility and perseverance. Every player is looking for much more this season, and their record sure proves it. They currently have a 8-3-1 (winslosses-ties) record and have a No. 18 ranking in NCAA Division III. Since September 15, the Ducks have not lost a game. Fending off teams like No. 13 ranked Arcadia and FDU-Florham, the Ducks have been

unstoppable. To start their winning streak, on September 21, Stevens traveled to Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a closely-contested match. With both goals being assisted by sophomore Ally Wanzor, seniors Julia Panko and Gabby Saade scored extremely early goals in the match as Stevens held off Scranton 2-1. Then, the Ducks returned home to face off against Vassar and Arcadia. Four different players — sophomore Fiona Matthews and freshmen Olivia Panko, Gabby Saade, and Ally Wanzor — found the back of the

net and led Stevens to a 4-1 victory against Vassar. In arguably the most thrilling match this season, Stevens took down previously undefeated No. 13 ranked Arcadia 1-0 in double overtime. Fiona Matthews gave the Ducks the lone goal that propelled them to victory. After the thrilling upset, the Ducks had to go to Pennsylvania again to face off against Misericordia University. In this match, Julia Panko was able to score a late winner to come away with the win and send Stevens home happy. Back in Hoboken, to continue

Photos from stevensducks.com

Having six straight away games prior to their match against Wilkes, the men’s soccer team has not had the best luck. They started the season 5-0-0 (wins-losses ties), but after the away stretch, their record sat at 6-3-2. Then, on October 12, their first game back in Hoboken, they took on Wilkes University. The Ducks came ready and prepared to take on Wilkes. Having a total of 23 shots, Stevens was firing on all cylinders. Having goal-scoring depth, four different Ducks scored goals for Stevens in the 4-0 victory. To set the tone, sophomore Sean Masur scored Stevens’ first, while juniors Stephen Johnson and Kevin Brito also scored early in the first half as the Ducks built a 3-0 lead. Masur scored as he rebounded his own headed shot back into the net. This opened the scoring for the Ducks as they were en route to a productive first half. Freshman Bruno

vs King’s College 5 PM Wilkes-Barre, PA

FIELD HOCKEY

the winning streak, Stevens played against Wilkes University and FDU-Florham on October 12 and October 15, respectively. Ally Wanzor and freshman Catalina Abusada scored to send the Ducks over Wilkes University. Then, in a midweek matchup, junior Erica O’Kelly scored her first goal of the season and clinched Stevens’ six-game winning streak. These games were vital in the women’s soccer team season. It skyrocketed the Ducks to No. 18 ranked in NCAA D-III. This team looks ready and prepared to keep that ranking.

The men’s soccer team dominate Wilkes and improve their record By TREVOR DAMEIKA

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Andino had two assists on the day that solidified Stevens’ lead. He provided his first on a nice cross to junior Cristiano Hocken, who directed Andino’s pass to Stephen Johnson. Johnson sent it flying into the back of the net and gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead. A few minutes later, Kevin Brito crossed the ball, and it was mishandled by the Wilkes keeper and the ball went in the goal. This concluded the Ducks’ onslaught in the first half as they went up 3-0. In the second half, the Ducks were able to shut down Wilkes and get one last goal. For Andino’s second assist of the day, he played the ball into the box, where sophomore Mason Boenning collected his first collegiate goal in the 87th minute. The Ducks totaled four goals for the first time this season. With this win, Stevens’ winless skid ends at five games, and it propels the Ducks to 7-3-2 on the year. It was an important conference win and a perfect homecoming.

vs Wilke’s University 5 PM Wilkes-Barre, PA

MEN’S SOCCER vs King’s College 7:30 PM Wilkes-Barre, PA

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON STEVENS SPORTS VISIT STEVENSDUCKS.COM

CHECK OUT THE DUCKS ON INSTAGRAM!

@STEVENSDUCKS #ALLRISE

DUCK COUNTRY SCOREBOARD DATE FRI OCT 11 FRI OCT 11 SAT OCT 12 SAT OCT 12 SAT OCT 12 SAT OCT 12 TUE OCT 15

TEAM WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL FIELD HOCKEY WOMEN’S SOCCER MEN’S SOCCER WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL WOMEN’S SOCCER

OPPONENT UNIVERSITY OF ST.THOMAS RV UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN MISERICORDIA UNIVERSITY WILKES UNIVERSITY WILKES UNIVERSITY AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY FDU FLORHAM

SCORE L (1-3) L (2-3) L (1-2) W (2-0) W (4-0) L (1-3) w (3-0)

Love sports? The Stute is looking for Sports Writers and Photographers to attend games and write about #StevensDucks ! Contact us at eboard@thestute.com if you’re interested in joining the team.


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