Rock the Vote, Brawl with Halls SGA and Honor Board candidates ready themselves for elections, as freshmen take each other on in an epic inter-dormitory competition.
STUTE THE
The Stute The official campus newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology since 1904, and creator of the Stevens mascot, Atilla the Duck.
We write Stevens history.
Volume CXIII • Issue 6
Friday, October 9, 2015
TheStute.com
/TheStute
@TheStute
Established 1904
Sigma Phi Epsilon and Delta Phi Epsilon organize inter-dormitory Hall Brawls
Photos by Shannon McConnell
by OLIVIA SCHREIBER Outreach Chair
The freshmen at Stevens might be considered the most targeted students on campus. As the newest members of the Stevens community, they are willing to participate in all types of events, from preorientation city escapades and outdoor adventures to interdormitory dodgeball tournaments. It is no surprise that over 300 freshman students were recruited to participate in the annual Hall Brawls event, a campus-wide clash between the freshman dormitories sponsored jointly by the Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) fraternity and the Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE) sorority. Sig Ep holds Hall Brawls an-
nually, and the $10 participation fee benefits its national philanthropy called Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America. This organization connects children from all around the country with adults in an effort to build long, lasting relationships. Much of the organization’s philanthropic ideas correlate to Sig Ep’s own values. Sig Ep brother Vincent Raimondi has been involved in Hall Brawls since his freshman year, and firmly believes that this event does more than raise money for a good cause. “[Hall Brawls] builds good relationships between the freshmen, their RAs, and the Greek community.” Over 300 freshmen students partook in Hall Brawls, which constitutes approximately 40% of the freshman class.
Those who participated stayed together with their dormitory floors and competed in daring physical pursuits, including tug-o-war, volleyball, an egg race, and Ultimate Frisbee. Delta Phi Epsilon, Sig Ep’s sister sorority, was not involved in much of the planning but was, as Raimondi stated, “an integral part of Hall Brawls.” According to DPhiE sister Julia Guignard, the sorority was responsible for the behind-the-scenes action. The sisters committed themselves to publicizing the event through table-sitting, dorm-storming, and spreading the word. Sig Ep brothers and DPhiE sisters were spread amongst the various lawns of Stevens campus, helping mediate the competitions or supporting
their sorority-fraternity counterparts. WCPR provided their musical services, adding a fun component to what was an organized and efficiently-run event. “Last year, the weather wasn’t the greatest,” commented Raimondi. “It’s a beautiful day, and it helps make the event run much smoother.” The sorority and fraternity stressed that participation was a reward within itself; however, the floors that proved their physical prowess in the various games had the chance to compete against a team made of solely Sig Ep brothers. Who were the mighty victors of Hall Brawls? First place went to the fourth floor residents of Hayden Hall, second place to second floor Davis Hall residents, and four floors tied for third place, according
to Sig Ep brother Cristian Collado. Sigma Epsilon and Delta Phi Epsilon represent just oneeighth of the Greek life on Stevens campus. Thea Zunick, Associate Director of Student Life, noted that Greeks are responsible for much of the student activity at Stevens. “A lot goes on each week. I’d say Greek organizations sponsor anywhere between 60-70% of events on campus.” The 16 fraternities and sororities that make up Stevens Greek Life contribute much to the Stevens community. Zunick, as well as the Greek organizations themselves, is looking forward to the upcoming months which will be filled with events targeted to bring all members of Stevens together.
Goldman Sachs executive speaks on investment management a graduate of Princeton and Stanford, first began working for Goldman Sachs as a partner in 1993. Before working at Goldman she was also the CIO for Fidelity Management Trust Company. Over the course of her career, she has authored two books and frequently publishes articles regarding the dilemmas of portfolio management. In her lecture, MossavarRahmani highlighted four particular areas that encompass many of the issues commonly dealt with in investment strategy and management. The first of the topics covered the difficulty in dealing with specific market data and signals. In many ways, the financial market can be compared to a ship at sea amid a storm. It is not always easy to see where the ship is headed and is often left with little to no sense of direction. One of the most significant issues in finance is de-
ciding which data metrics one should focus on and factor into their investment strategy. The problem here is that no one investment strategy is omnipotent, and the same goes for data metrics. The assumptions made with that particular strategy or metric do not often take into account all kinds of changes that occur in the markets each year, month, and day. The result is a system geared to succeed under current market conditions, however those conditions can, and do, change without notice possibly resulting in significant losses to investors. In many cases, these changes in economic conditions often coincide with something called market regime shifts. A simple example of this would be either a “bull” or a “bear” market, that is a market inclined with momentum to perform well or fail, respectively. Market regime shifts can be much more
complex than this and can also include changes in regulations, governments and business structures. In a way, it is the culture of the economic system. Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani highlighted the current state of affairs with Emerging Markets (EMs) and the change in their central bank policies. Up until the start of the 21st century, most EMs set currency pegs but have begun to drop that system in exchange for a floating rate system. This regime shift, in regards to EMs, is one of the more recent changes in global economic history that has begun to come into effect with currencies like the Brazilian real that has experienced significant depreciation. The risk and uncertainty posed by these shifts is a very real aspect of investment strategy. If left unaccounted for it can make the difference between a profitable portfolio and a failing
business. One of Mrs. Mossavar-Rahmani’s most notable quotes came during the third section of the lecture discussing certainty, uncertainty and risk, “[the] biggest issues we are grappling with right now are what we don’t know.” Very recently, word has echoed throughout the world that China’s economy has not been performing as well as their government has so declared. Around August 24th, 2015, markets worldwide took a right hook to the chin caused by the shock of the new levels of uncertainty in the Asian market. More and more investors are coming to believe that China’s financial statistics are inaccurate and inflated, leading to indications that its growth rate might be dropping. Caterpillar, the corporation
Roving Reporter Columbus Day Plans?
Hoboken’s Bike Share Program to begin Friday
Letter to the Editor
El Capitan launches
Polling Pierce Favorite McD’s Breakfast?
R.A.G.E Lives On
Make Your Own Halloween Costume
Women’s volleyball looks to continue winning streak
Café Michelina review
The Stute Weekly Challenges
Book Share Program: Take a book, leave a book
Ladies: Do More, Apologize Less
Stevens Club Lacrosse dominates New Paltz
OPINION 2-3
PULSE 4-5
NEWS 6-7
OPINION CONTINUED 9
SPORTS 11
by JOHN-CRAIG BORMAN Staff Writer
On this past Wednesday, October 7th, DeBaun Auditorium was filled with a plethora of finance professionals and students all ready to listen attentively to the wise words of wisdom from an experienced Goldman Sachs executive. Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Goldman’s Private Wealth Management Group, delivered the sixth lecture of the President’s Distinguished Lecture Series. This initiative is meant to bring renown professionals from a variety of industries, such as cyber-security to environmental science to finance, to Stevens as an opportunity for students to engage in present day developments in these fields. Mrs. Mossavar-Rahmani,
see GOLDMAN • Page 7
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The rush of R.A.G.E. Surviving Assassins
Tobin, Nassif and Visca acknowledged by Empire 8