[The Stute]December 2, 2016 (Issue 12, Volume CXIV)

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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 CXIV • Issue 12

Friday, December 2, 2016

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Stevens holds Town Hall Meeting on Master Plan

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Established 1904

Meet TSA: Stevens’ newest organization by JAY RUNGTA Staff Writer

Stevens Academic Gateway, Courtesy of Stevens Institute of Technology

by ALEX MURTAGH Staff Writer

The Campus Life Committee of the Student Government hosted a town hall for the undergraduate student body to learn about the current and future campus improvements on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Robert Maffia, the Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations at Stevens, presented on improvement projects designed to help Stevens accommodate its recent growth. Many of the projects are expected to be completed within the next five years. Maffia began by covering all of the future projects that students can expect to see in the near future. First up was the completed renovation of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Engineering Center. The improvements helped create much needed student project work space as well as offices, instructional space, and research space. According to Maf-

fia, there were also improvements made to the storm water management system, thanks to a senior project from last year. Maffia hopes to incorporate as much storm water detention in all of the construction projects as possible. The meeting also discussed the North Building. Construction on the North Building has already begun behind Humphreys Hall and next to Jonas Hall. The building will be used as a “swing space” during the construction in the years to come. The Computer Science Department, currently located in Lieb Building, is scheduled to move there in the near future. Due to the modular construction method for the building, it will have a rapid build time and is expected to finish in May of 2017. The incomplete Babbio garage expansion discussed next. The expansion will take place on the east side of the building, facing the Hudson River. The

expanded garage will create 266 additional parking spaces and a recreational area for students on top. Stevens also plans to add a fabric facade on to the garage to make it more aesthetically appealing. Construction will begin soon and Maffia hopes to be finished before October of 2017. The Academic Gateway, possibly the most well known improvement coming to campus, will be coming to campus by May 2019. This new building will take the place of the Lieb building and the parking lot across the street from it. The new building will house 17 classrooms, 14 labs, office space, and instructional space. The building is currently on target to become a LEED Gold certified building. The Pond House, The Alexander House and The Lore-El Center were up next. The Pond House will be transformed

see MASTER PLAN • Page 6

Health Lecture Series held with Marco Lopez de Prados by VICTORIA PISKAREV Business Manager

Marco Lopez de Prados, a senior managing director at Guggenheim Partners, came to talk to Stevens students on Wednesday, Nov. 30 about the integration of mathematics and finance, and how certain economists’ choice of math may be inadequate for social situations. Prados discussed what it takes for practitioners and students to increase their chances for success in modern day finance. He began by providing an overview of how mathematics is involved in finance. However, he explained that there is a chance that the wrong math is being used. “Geometry, linear algebra, and calculus are just three subjects, but there is more math being used.” These subjects can be used in interesting applications in Newtonian Physics; however, in

economics, their application leads to several different problems: no repeating experiments, a single stochastic path, overfitting regressions becomes ubiquitous, and ultimately, financial markets are just complex adaptive systems. “Economics is a highly mathematical field, but there is math outside of econometrics and statistics.” He added, “Most of the most successful fund managers are mathematicians. And nobody knows about them because they don’t want to be know about.” Another big subject in finance is machine learning. Modern unsupervised machine learning methods study the structure of financial Big Data, and determine clusters of instruments that should share allocations. In a remarkable paper, De Miguel et al showed that the out-of-sample performance of the 1/N or “naïve allocation” beats the entire set of commonly used portfolio optimization tools. Prados made the presentation

Two years ago when Maria De Abreu Pineda transferred to Stevens from Bergen Community College, she felt what every new transfer student feels - not being a freshman, yet being “fresh” to the school. Understanding this gray area in which transfer students lie is what motivated her to create a network that connects the transfer student community and improve the transition. Working with other transfer students who felt the same way, Pineda co-founded the Transfer Student Association (TSA), of which she is currently president. Even though TSA has become a recognized student organization (RSO) only this October, they have held interest meetings and garnered support from the transfer student body since Spring 2016. This semester, TSA kicked off several initiatives to help new transfer students transition smoothly. The “Transfer Buddy Program” allows current students (both transfer and non-transfer) to serve as mentors for incoming transfers. A second program establishes “Transfer Ambassadors” — transfer students who go back to community colleges and provide students with tips regarding transfer and scholarships opportunities. In addition to these programs, TSA has held themed meetings this semester that cover a variety of topics. These included a

Staff Writer

interactive, debating with the finance and math professors and answering questions from students as well. He explained that it’s plausible to not partake in a traditional finance education and still be able to succeed in the financial world, especially for those with a heavy mathematics background. This event was sponsored by the Stevens School of Business. To find out more, contact Kimberly Ding at Kding1@stevens. edu.

see TSA • Page 6

Poetry Club founded at Stevens by JAY RUNGTA

Courtesy of Marco Lopez de Prados

“Scholarships 101 session” and a “Career Advice Workshop,” which were not only targeted towards the needs of transfer students, but were also beneficial to the entire student body. “During my first year at Stevens, I was covering one end by continuously going back to Bergen to help current students with their transfer and scholarship applications, but I was missing the other end,” says Pineda when asked about what drives her. “Although I am honored to be the president and co-founder of this association, it is the co-founding team: Ana, Julia, Ton, Juan, and Jing, the new leaders, and the current members who make me proud.” The TSA is also thrilled that they can begin to actively collaborate with other student clubs for events, since part of their mission is to connect the transfer student community with the rest of the Stevens student body as well. On Nov. 15 they held a Latin Dance Workshop in collaboration with the Latin American Association, and are also planning to end

With the purpose of fostering an appreciation of poetry and the arts on a STEM dominated campus, the Poetry Club was recently approved as an RSO by the Subcommittee Head Council of the SGA. The new RSO will hold poetry themed events and provide an outlet for Steven’s students to write and share their poetry. Poetry Club plans on holding Poetry Nights throughout every semester in order for students to share their poetry. Poetry written by students will be collected into zines (compilations of poetry of all sorts) for all to see and read. In order to ensure that Poetry Nights are as an enriching of an experience as possible, the Poetry Club has two unique officer positions on its eboard who’s primary respon-

sibilities involve planning and executing Poetry Nights and the organizing of zines. The first is an Editor, who’s role is to select work for and prepare the layout of zines. The second is a Crafting Chair, whose role is to create decor for Poetry Nights as needed. The newly formed Poetry Club is a member of the Arts and Music Subcommittee of the SGA, which strives to add to the culture of campus by providing opportunities for Steven’s student to explore and participate in the arts. The club wishes for students to have an outlet to write and appreciate poetry, even those without prior experience. Students interested in participating in club activities next semester and onward are encouraged to contact Poetry Club President Kelly McGowan at kmcgowa1@ stevens.edu.

see POETRY • Page 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Thanks Do you read the Stute? The end is near Gift of the city Ronald McDonald’s robot army

Roving Reporter What gift do you want for the holidays? Polling Pierce How excited are you for winter break?

Front page continued Castro dead Student debt to be forgiven KSA Ramen Night Etiquette night

OPINION 2-3

CAMPUS PULSE 4-5

NEWS 6-7

Chicken Factory Review: Eating around the Cluck Stars of Stevens:

ECAC Honors Wrestling takes two at the Garden Men’s basketball beats

Josh Pirog

Rutgers Newark

OPINION CON’T 8

SPORTS 10


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[The Stute]December 2, 2016 (Issue 12, Volume CXIV) by The Stute - Issuu