[The Stute] November 20, 2015 (Issue 12, Volume CXIII)

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United by Tragedy With the passing of two students, the Stevens community unites as one to remember the loss of classmates, friends, and fellow Stevens students.

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 12

Friday, November 20, 2015

TheStute.com

/TheStute

@TheStute

Established 1904

Gateway approved by Zoning Board by RAMI KAMMOURH Staff Writer

The Hoboken Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to approve Stevens’ application for three variances regarding the Academic Gateway Complex this past Tuesday. This vote marked the end of a seventeen-month debate between support and opposition to the project and will allow Stevens to move ahead with the construction of two new academic buildings along Hudson Street. Tuesday’s hearing, held at the Hoboken Multi-Service Center, was the last of six hearings regarding the application. For the past few years,

Stevens had faced the challenge of placing an academic building on residentially-zoned land. The two proposed buildings, dubbed “The Academic Gateway Complex,” are planned to be built in place of Lieb as well as the 6th Street parking lot, an area Hoboken has zoned strictly for residential usage. Before constructing these buildings, Stevens first had to seek approval from the Hoboken Zoning Board, which resulted in several public hearings for members of the community to share their opinions on the matter. Originally submitted in May of 2014, Stevens’ application was met with much opposition from Hoboken residents. Many believed the height of the proposed build-

ings would obstruct their view of the New York skyline. Some also took issue with the proposed “sky bridge,” a glass walkway meant to connect the two buildings which would be positioned over a public street. In response to these concerns, Stevens changed the design of the buildings to make the proposed buildings blend more with other buildings on Hudson Street. Despite the changes, there was still much opposition to the design; Stevens now needed to apply for variances, official requests for exemption from City rules, in order to gain approval for construction. Although there was much opposition to the Gateway Complex, there was also a large amount of

Stevens Institute of Technology

support shown at the hearings. Many of those in attendance were Stevens administration, faculty, and students, as well as Hoboken residents who believed the project would be of benefit to the local community. Many argued that

G&T awards most ethical team on campus by FARHANA BEGUM Staff Writer

A group from the The Stute was just named “Most Ethical Team at Stevens” after competing in the 2015 Ethics Bowl, co-hosted by both the Gear and Triangle Society and the Honor Board this past Wednesday, November 18. Students from various organizations came together to discuss ethical issues on topics such as military use of force against civilians and proving U.S. aid to foreign aid. Six teams worked hard to prove clear comprehensible arguments, but in the end only one team could hold the title of “Most Ethical Team at Stevens.” As teams, judges, and moderators gathered together in Morton 103, there were hums of anxiety and preparation building up among the participants. Whispers of strategy and methods filled the air as jokes of “forfeiting”

floated in the background. All teams were given the prompts beforehand but were unaware of which order the prompts would be presented to them. All judges were given the prompts ahead of time and scoring sheets to provide point values for each team’s performance. Members of the Honor Board served as judges and designed prompts for the competition. Stevens faculty also participated to be judges at the Bowl, including Professor Middleton, Professor Mullan, and Professor McCormack. Six teams participated in the competition including The Stute, Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, three teams from Off Center, and one team named the Unethical Ethicalists. The competition took place in several locations, including Morton 103, Jacobus Lounge, and Hayden Lounge. In each room there were three judges, one moderator, and two teams competing against one another.

Stevens has contributed greatly to the local economy as well as given back to the community in many ways and that it should be allowed the opportunity to improve its aca-

see GATEWAY • Page 6

Stevens mourns the loss of 2 students by FRANKIE GUARINI Editor-in-Chief

All judges were also given the prompt ahead of time and given scoring sheets to provide point values for each team’s performance. For each case, one team was given one minute to read the prompt, one minute to discuss and come up with an argument, and three minutes to make an opening argument. The opposing team was then given one minute to discuss with their team members and two minutes to present their rebuttal. The initial team was given one minute to make their final remarks.

The judges were then provided four minutes to ask questions and two minutes to give scores. Overall, the teams worked together and depended on each other for support and arguments before presenting. Judges asked complex questions, bringing up issues such as the current state of Syria and the idea that many military targets are placed within civilian regions. The teams recognized the complexity of the question, as

see ETHICS • Page 6

This past Sunday morning, sophomore Ian Rahimi and senior Bryan Fitzpatrick passed away. Both students were electrical engineering majors. A memorial will be held for Fitzpatrick on Saturday, November 21 at 2 p.m. in the Bissinger Room on the fourth floor of the Howe Center. Information regarding a memorial for Rahimi will become available within the coming weeks. The Counseling Center is available for students coping with the loss of these students on the 7th floor of the Howe Center. For additional information, students may call the Counseling Center at 201-2165177.

Computer Science Club hosts “Wheelhouse Tech Talk” by HOUSTON MIGDON Staff Writer

The Computer Science Club held its most recent talk in a steady stream of open computer science events this past Wednesday night. The club has seen great success with some of its more recent events, including “Bash Basics” and “Google Hangoutreach.” Wednesday night’s “Wheelhouse Tech Talk” focused primarily on the following question: What does it mean to be a modern software developer? Speaker Nikolai Chowdhury founded the the company “Wheelhouse”, a platform designed to provide guided and advanced training for software engineers in order

to make them “more successful and well balanced.” Originally an economics major in college, Chowdhury became a selftaught software engineer. He now claims to have seen every aspect of the software development field, from front and back end design to the implementation of his own product which launched early this past October. One of the most interesting aspects of the event was finding out how little the Computer Science Club knew about one of the most widely used programming tools available called “Git,” a tool that served as the subject for a prior CSC event this past semester. After quizzing attendees on some of the more advanced aspects of the pro-

gram, members were surprised to learn the average within the group was about fifty percent. Chowdhury expected this outcome and was quick to advertise the merits of Wheelhouse in training aspiring developers in these kinds of fields. Chowdhury gave out t-shirts with the phrase, “You don’t know Git” to the students with the highest scores on the quiz. The event closed with not only with free stickers, but also advice for aspiring software engineers in vital programming areas, such as communication, planning, quality, deployment, and the monitoring of code. The CSC plans on hosting many more events similar to this one, and hopes for great attendance in the future.

Roving Reporter What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?

The Stute Reviews: Arcadia

Houston Migdon

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Impact of death on society Pulse modernizes drumpads Food Review: Tacoesque

Polling Pierce How many hours are you traveling for Thanksgiving?

OPINION 2-3

PULSE 4-5

Responding to terror

SGA to hold open forum

Letters to the Editor

When you lose someone What is a holiday tree?

Arabagian makes NCAA Championships Varsity Box Score

Cannon returns to Castle Point

Not With Those Shoes Men’s fashion 101

Club Sports News

NEWS 6-7

OPINION CONT’D 9

SPORTS 10-11


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