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

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

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