[The Stute] October 6, 2017 (Issue 5, Volume CXV)

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Volume CXV

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Issue 5

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STEVENS

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Featured:

• Las Vegas Shooting • • Men of Color Luncheon • Garba • • Yahoo security breach • • House of ‘Que • Freshman Debate •

HISTORY

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Friday, October 6, 2017

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Established 1904

Recent Stevens alumni named finalists in Collegiate Inventors Competition by ELINA TUDER Staff Writer

KSA Chuseok • P6

Hall Brawls • P7

Stigma Free Week • P8

Every year, the National Inventors Hall of Fame sponsors the Collegiate Inventors Competition. What is remarkable about the 2017 competition is that Stevens team was named as one of the six undergraduate team finalists in the nation for their senior design project, CerebroSense. The seniors involved in the project were Maria De Abreu Pineda, Andrew Falcone, and David Ferrara, under the guidance of their project advisors, biomedical engineering professor Dr. Vikki Hazelwood and Dr. Glen Atlas, an anesthesiologist at UMDNJ in Rutgers. The seniors decided on this project after Dr. Glen Atlas explained brain pulsatility; the brain’s change in radius due to swelling, trauma, and other sudden changes, which is currently measured by surgeons placing a finger on the patient’s exposed brain and then deciding whether they believe the brain’s radius is changing

Photo courtesy of stevens.edu

and whether any immediate action is required. This practice leaves a copious amount of space for human error and can take up to 10 minutes. This can prevent a full recovery since the brain should not be without oxygen for more than two minutes, and it can cause complications after surgery. Team member Andrew Falcone said, “When the team heard this, we immediately said that there needed to be a better way to do this, as it baffled us that there was not a piece of technology to improve

The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series: Is Artificial Intelligence Good or Evil? by ANGELINA ZACCARIA Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 4 p.m., Dr. Oren Etzioni, the Chief Executive Officer of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, gave a lecture called “Is Artificial Intelligence Good or Evil?” as a part of The President’s Distinguished Lecture Series. He is a professor at the University of Washington, and he received his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1991 and his B.A. from Harvard in 1986 as Harvard’s first-ever student to concentrate in Computer Science. Dr. Etzioni’s lecture was focused on what A.I. really is, as opposed to common perceptions perpetuated by science fiction, as well as possible ways to solve ethical issues stemming from artificial intelligence development. Dr. Etzioni emphasized that intelligence and autonomy are two very different things. This is an especially important distinction with regard to applications of A.I. in weapons. He described A.I. weapons that can fly halfway across the world and kill someone as “the stuff of nightmares,” but pointed out that “the nightmare has to do with the autonomy. It’s very scary to have a weapon that can make a life or

death decision without a human in the loop. Intelligence is not the problem – it’s autonomy. Intelligence in weapons can actually prevent mistakes like we’ve had and do have when civilians have been killed.” He stressed the importance of avoiding not intelligent weapons, but autonomous ones. Although many people are frightened by the idea of autonomous A.I., most artificial intelligence is not autonomous, only intelligent. Dr. Etzioni said that his seven-year-old is more autonomous than any A.I., and that “to understand what is harmful and what is not really requires common sense, and remarkably, that is one of the hardest things for us to give to the machine. There really are no machines today with even a modicum of common sense.” Dr. Etzioni argued that trying to slow down A.I. development in the U.S. will only lead to other countries such as China overtaking us. Therefore, we should attempt to guide the direction and guidelines of this rapidly developing field. He suggests that instead of attempting to regulate the field itself, we should regulate its applications, namely in cars, toys, and robots. Self-driving cars need to be regulated due to the risk to human life,

and A.I. toys could pose a threat to privacy without regulation – Etzioni gave the example of information a child might tell to an A.I. Barbie. He presented three rules that he believes should govern A.I. regarding legal responsibility, full disclosure, and privacy. If someone’s self-driving intelligent car crashes into someone else’s car, they still have responsibility. Just as “My dog ate my homework” is not a valid excuse, neither is “My A.I. did it.” Dr. Etzioni was adamant that an A.I. should disclose that it is not human so as to avoid fooling people online into believing that an A.I. is a real person. Privacy is a huge issue with A.I. because it has

the capacity to gather large amounts of data that must be used responsibly. For instance, when someone doesn’t want to see a Google Ad anymore, one of the options for telling Google why he or she doesn’t like it is “ad knew too much.” Dr. Etzioni also explained that a major issue in the development of A.I. is that it can easily pick up on and amplify human bias in its training data because it attempts to compress data to generalize and help it make future decisions. Dr. Etzioni’s answer to the question “Is Artificial Intelligence Good or Evil?” was simple: A.I. is neither good nor evil. It’s a tool, and the choice is ours.

Photo courtesy of stevens.edu

upon the monolithic way of measuring pulsatility for a surgery that pertains to one of the most complex organs of the body”. There are currently approximately 160,000 open-brain surgeries in the US per year, and roughly 20% of those result in complications, which is detrimental to a patient’s health and finances. Complications cost up to an additional $2 billion annually. The team was determined to develop a device that would provide accurate measurements within 60 seconds, de-

crease the pervasiveness of surgical complications, and lower costs. CerebroSense can be brought into the operating room and be pointed at the brain from two to twenty inches away, never mandating physical contact. The device then projects sound waves towards the brain and completes the measurements in 30 to 60 seconds with an accuracy of less than 0.3 millimeters. Although the group has already won first place at

see FINALIST• Page 7

Freshman SGA Senator candidates debate by MARK KRUPINSKI Business Manager

Twenty freshman senator candidates crowded the front of Burchard 118 on Monday, Oct. 2, for a debate to attempt to convince their fellow classmates why they should be elected to one of nine freshman senator positions available. The debate was moderated by Olivia Schreiber, chair of the Stevens Honor Board, and a member of the Stevens election committee. Members of the Student Government Association (SGA) developed questions to be asked at the debate. Each question was approved by Schreiber. The questions in the debate encompassed four topics: The Role of the SGA, The First Year Experience, School Spirit, and Academics. Due to the number of candidates, the freshmen were split into four groups of five candidates. Each group was asked two questions and had one minute to respond. Following that, there was a two-minute rebuttal period following the responses. Then, the debate was opened for questions from the audience. The first group to debate included James Fong, an electrical engineering major who stated his previous experience in JROTC would help him, Tamer Asfar, a

Quantitative Finance major who had already attended two SGA meetings, Elina Tuder, a computer science major involved with The Stute and The Link, Matthew Cunningham, a computer science major who writes a weekly column in The Stute, and Julia Meyn, a naval engineering major who is involved with SITTV. The first question asked the candidates how all students, particularly transfer and commuter students, should be welcomed to campus during freshman orientation. All of the candidates agreed that it is difficult for everyone to integrate between groups during freshman orientation. James and Elina both noted that club meetings at night are a problem and suggested that more clubs should meet in the middle of the day. Matthew stated it was important to note that there is a difference in how transfer and commuter student should be treated as they have different hardships. Second, the candidates were asked, “As Stevens is the innovation university, how should innovation and entrepreneurship be fostered at Stevens?” Matthew stated that getting involved with research and entrepreneurship should be emphasized more during orientation. Additionally, Matthew,

see DEBATE • Page 6

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Letter to the Editor Policies

Opinion

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 2

The Stute Editorial

The importance of loving one another Hello from my desk at work. This Monday morning was supposed to be just like any other old Monday morning. It’s around 8:30 a.m. and I have just started up my computer. As it boots, I go to the central hub and get water and/or coffee. Once my computer has booted, I usually head straight to my email to see what’s on the itinerary for today. I have two hours until class so I try to start on whatever tasks I have to do as early as I can. Not today. When I woke up this morning, I saw that something happened in Las Vegas. Something urgent and most likely violent as patterned by the last couple of years. No, instead of heading to my inbox, I go straight to Reddit. Have you ever been in so much disbelief that you naively think everything is fine? That nothing truly awful has happened because, after all, it is (insert current year here) and that doesn’t happen here in (insert current country

here). Sure enough, the front page was exactly what I had feared. A mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas. This shooting is being described as the most deadly mass shooting in the modern United States of America. Hundreds of innocent people ultimately paid the price for enjoying a concert. There’s something especially cruel about this because music symbolizes love and unity, something this shooter seems to care very little about. I truly feel a divide in this country about every issue of every size. Whether it is gun control, citizenship, immigration, it really seems like a true 50/50 divide among our fellow Americans. Even now, the debate about gun control is yet again on every major news outlet. What I do not believe, however, is that we are divided on what happened in Las Vegas. It is clear and directly in front of us and now is not the time to point fingers. Violence is not the answer. The gunman wasn’t con-

cerned with the political views of his victims, and he most certainly wasn’t concerned with the opinions of everyone watching. He only carried hate and violence. I see this as a reminder that nothing really matters other than how we treat each other. Hate is indifferent, so why do we choose that over love? We have a tendency to allow a very small group, or one person for that matter, to divide us as a people. I’m not sure where I found this analogy but I carry it with me everywhere and every day: “A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.” There is strength in numbers and even more strength when we are all compelled by one goal, to love and protect one another. Unity is the single most powerful weapon against tyranny and oppression. It costs nothing and can save infinitely. As I browse through the internet, I am showered with harrowing stories of people losing their loved ones, many being injured, but

most notably, the volunteers helping. Even during the attack, there were people running around tending to the wounded and saving others. Volunteers, everyday human beings, helping one another in crisis. People risking their own lives and safety to help others. No gunman or tyrant can overcome the power of compassion and unity. We are all capable of this, but we continue to allow our differences to divide us, even though we all share a common goal. I leave you with this. There is no excuse for mindless violence. Our best bet against the evildoers that share the planet with us is love and unity. Only after we acknowledge the importance of being united can we expect to work as one powerful force to eradicate evil.

Tarik Kdiry Editor-in-Chief

Mind of a Freshman

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The one about bad days

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by MARY RUANE

Freshman Business and Technology Major

Bad days are inevitable. No matter how hard you try, sometimes things go wrong, and that’s okay. How we deal with the things that are going on around us says a lot about who we are. Some people find it easier to confide in

others, while other people tend to shut down and close themselves off from the rest of the world. But it’s not always that simple - people don’t just have one reaction to every bad event that comes their way. They don’t express their emotions in the same way each time something bad happens, because humans are complex. There’s always a struggle to try to figure out who we are, but we’re constantly trying to figure out and understand other people too. How do we expect to understand what other people are feeling, if more than half the time, we have no idea what’s going through our own minds? We react

to other people’s moods and emotions. Every relationship is a give and take - it’s why we clash with some people and why we get along with others. We listen to people’s problems and try to talk about how their situations affect our lives. We love making everything about ourselves, and we love to hate people for things out of their control. How do we expect other people to open up to us if every time they do, we judge them and try to make their problems our own? Bad days are okay if you surround yourself with the right people. You’re allowed to hide away in your dorm watching Netflix for days because you

don’t want to be with your friends. You’re allowed to overcompensate by being even nicer to everyone around you than usual. You can have a bad day and not have to apologize for it despite everyone around you making you feel like it’s abnormal to be feeling horrible because you’re entitled to your feelings, no matter what anyone else has to say on the matter. Now, I can’t say that any of this is scientifically accurate or anything of the sort. Hell, my assumptions and opinions are just as good as yours. This is just the mind of a freshman, wondering what’s going on in this world.

Senioritis

Leaving your corner

by OLIVIA SCHREIBER Senior Chemical Biology Major

You know what I like? A good quote. I’ve heard brilliance uttered by threeyear-olds, and come across lines of text which conjure up those small, red “100” emojis in my mind. To those who can sum up the current state of humanity in just two or fewer sentences, I applaud you. So, here we are. It’s week

6, and I want to share a quote with you that was first introduced to me while on the inaugural Global Service Initiative trip to Jamaica over two years ago: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” No, I did not quote myself, but thank you for thinking that. Folks, that’s Mark Twain for you. He had a way with words, didn’t he? If you need some help with analysis, no fear, Shakespeare! (does anyone remember that?) Consider me your

personal Shmoop. Twain is arguing that in order for us to gain understanding of all inhabitants of this strange place we call “Earth,” we need to actively push ourselves beyond the doorsteps of our homes and experience the homes of others. I used to think that Twain’s travel involved a plane ticket to a different country or traipsing across the contiguous United States with nothing but a camera, pen, and paper. My experience this past weekend pleasantly proved me wrong. I joined Diversity Education - AKA Jacquis Watters, who is singlehandedly knocking it out of the park - and a small group of Stevens students for a small trek across the Hudson River to East Harlem for

a workshop and ink-printing session at El Museo del Barrio. I had never heard of this museum, which saddens me because it sits at the northern end of Museum Mile, often overshadowed by the museum giants: the Guggenheim, the Frick, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Our tour guide Leslie, an artist herself, began our early afternoon excursion with an explanation of El Museo del Barrio’s mission. She noted the purpose of El Museo goes beyond its literal translation to “museum of the neighborhood,” serving as a space dedicated to highlighting and preserving the art and culture of the Caribbean and Americas. After piquing our interest, Leslie led us through the “up-

town: nasty women/bad hombres exhibit,” which was constructed and curated as a response to language that was expressed during the presidential debates leading up to the November 2016 election. One piece that Leslie discussed was one of her own, called “Uptown Humble Heroes.” Using polyester thread and vellum, she threaded images of caretakers of children she had encountered in uptown Manhattan, representing the unpaid women who are mostly from the Caribbean basin, Mexico, and Central America. As the group moved on, I lingered by the piece, examining the extreme detail and experiencing the outcome of an artistic’s dexterity. A short bus ride

transported me across the Hudson, but more importantly, whisked me to a space that gave me access to hear, see, and witness the beauty, pain, and resiliency of another culture. This type of learning does not mandate airfare or a journey to a faraway land; all it called was for an open-mind and enough curiosity to go beyond the gates of Stevens. This week, let’s peek outside our “little corner of the earth.” For some, that might be your dorm room, campus grounds, or the general Hoboken community. In the end, what matters most is that initial translocation. Move your body, engage in a new space, and make Mark Twain’s advice a mantra by which to live.

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 3

Technically Speaking

Xiaomi Mi Mix review

by DAVID HOROWITZ Freshman Cybersecurity Major

I love smartphones. If you’ve read my column before, this probably does not come as a surprise. To help my addiction, I utilize T-Mobile’s original JUMP plan, which I’ve had since 2013. The original JUMP plan allows for something very unique: you can upgrade your phone every 6 months, with the removal of the old balance on the old device. Essentially, you pay a monthly fee on the phone, and can remove the remaining balance when you upgrade. Once you upgrade, you get a new monthly fee. T-Mobile changed the plan multiple times afterward in order to make it more profitable, but I got to keep the old one.

I’ve had a number of diverse devices on this plan, including the LG G Flex, HTC One M8, iPhone 6+, Blackberry Priv, Samsung Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 7+, and LG V20. The largest downside to this plan is that I am unable to use devices that are not sold by T-Mobile, such as the Google Pixel and other more exotic phones. I’ve always wanted to experience a unique device, and so I made a purchase outside of my plan: the Xiaomi Mi Mix. And, to my surprise, it has been my favorite smartphone to date. The Mi Mix is a unique device for several reasons. It has a 6.4-inch display, which looks absolutely massive in comparison to other smartphones. However, it was the first device with flagship specs to feature a nearly bezel-less design. It has a similar body size to the iPhone 8+, which has only a 5.5-inch screen in comparison. I love the size of the screen, as it allows for tons of information to be displayed at once or an immersive video watching experience. On the topic of bezels, it

basically only has one at the bottom of the screen. This presents some interesting quirks. For one, the earpiece has been replaced with a speaker that vibrates the frame of the phone to make a sound. It does not sound as clear as a normal earpiece, but it gets the job done. Additionally, the front-facing camera is positioned at the bottom instead of the top. This was very awkward to get used to and still can be on occasion, but I don’t mind it nearly as much anymore. Some sacrifices were clearly made to meet the design they wanted. Even with these sacrifices, I still prefer this design over the iPhone X or Essential phone, which both have notches that cut into screen real estate. The build is also unique. It is made of a shiny and reflective ceramic that is very similar to the material Apple used in a special edition of an Apple Watch. This surface gives off a premium look, and to add to said look, 18 karat gold is used to accent the camera and fingerprint scanner on the rear. Unfortunately, this material is not very strong

Musically Inclined

and extremely prone to fingerprints, so much so that a case is included in the box with the phone. Speaking of the camera: it sucks. A lot. It performs significantly worse than the camera you might find on any other flagship and even many mid-range devices. It lacks detail, dynamic range, and has subpar camera software to round it off. Using a Google Camera mod can help the situation, but it is still lacking. Besides the camera, everything else is great. It has 256 GB of storage, 6 GB of RAM, a Snapdragon 821 processor, a headphone jack, and a huge 4400 mAh battery. These specs are still considered very high end, even though this phone is now a year old. To go along with these specs, it runs the Xiaomi Android skin, called MIUI. I typically dislike any heavy Android skin, and I didn’t mind this one very much at all. That being said, I took full advantage of the ability to unlock the bootloader and flashed a stock Android ROM. This made the overall experience of the phone even better.

Although I love this device, I don’t think I can recommend it to the average consumer. It is larger than what the average user wants. It is more fragile than the average smartphone. It lacks most US LTE bands, which means it only works well on TMobile and will not get the best service. It has a lackluster camera. And worst of all, it is not sold in the US. I picked it up used from a website called Swappa, but it can be purchased new NEW!

Photo courtesy of Maqaami.com

from China for about $500. Importing a smartphone that takes multiple weeks to ship is a scary proposition. Despite all of this, I love this phone. I love the battery size, the custom ROM development community, the screen size, the unique design, and the plentiful amount of RAM. I also love that Xiaomi is starting to show the world that they can create amazing flagship devices, too: diversity in the smartphone world is always a plus.

Spoiler Alert .

Pink Floyd’s discography

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

tell a story, like “Queen’s Night at the Opera”, or connect their songs like “Abbey Road” and “Dark Side of the Moon”. Recently, I’ve been revisiting all of Pink Floyd’s discography and narrowed it down to my favorites: “Animals”, “Dark Side”, “The Wall”, and “Wish You Were Here”. Each one is a shining example of how an album should be made. The biggest difference is the tone that each album has. Yes, they all sound like Pink Floyd, but they’re also drastically different. For example, “The Wall” feels more like rock album with heavy use of guitar, and “Dark Side” leans more towards a psychedelic experience with tracks like “Time”, “Brain Damage”, and “Eclipse”. My personal favorite album is “Wish You Were Here”.

beg for the antidote, which only Poppy has. Before doing so, however, she eliminates all of the Kingsman agents other than Merlin and Eggsy, who are forced to work with the Statesman, their United States cousin organization. The sequel is star-studded, with the likes of Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, and Elton John. The sequel definitely has more comic book-type tropes than the first film. While the first film did have colorful exploding heads and a one-shot action sequence to the tune of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird, the sequel takes it a step further by “reviving” Harry Hart, who was shot in the face by Valentine in the climax of the first film. There was some sense of urgency in the action scenes in the first film that isn’t really present in the action scenes of the sequel. The suspense of the action is rooted in the character’s risk of death as opposed to the “countdown” timer suspense littered throughout the first film. Although I enjoyed the first film significantly more than the sequel, the overall experience of

by FRANCESCO LOMBARDO Freshman Music and Technology Major

I’ve always thought the best way to listen to music was by purchasing an album. If an artist put their songs in a specific order they intended it to be listened to, they should be listened to like that. Albums, for me, are the best way to categorize music, and the best way to discuss it. It’s much easier to compare an artist’s various albums than individual songs, for example. I also absolutely love it when albums

Its incredible structure and variation really make it stand out. The transition from “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” to “Welcome to the Machine” is so well done, and Pink Floyd manage to mix two extremely different songs into one. The length of the album is also a strong point. I’d much rather have a shorter album that is pure perfection, than a long one that can sometimes drag when you want it to get to your favorite songs. “Dark Side,” for example, is a fantastic album, but songs like “The Great Gig in the Sky” and “Any Colour You Like” can sometimes be a bit slow, while I feel that “Wish You Were Here” just flows much better as an album. All in all, I think Pink Floyd’s entire discography is fantastic.

Photo courtesy HDWallpapers.com

by KOBY GARCIA

Junior Visual Arts and Technology Major

From the producer of Kick-Ass (2010) and XMen: First Class (2011), Matthew Vaughn brings us the sequel to the everentertaining 2015 actioncomedy, Kingsman: The Secret Service, with Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Because this film series is loosely based on a 2012 comic book series by the same name, printed under Icon Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics, you should go into the movie with a familiar set of expectations. While the first film focused on the impending doom of a privatized internet—with some brainwashing involved— the second film deals with an underground drug dealing business, known as “The Golden Circle.” Poppy, the leader of the Golden Circle, played by Julianne Moore, sabotages her own drugs to infect users and force them to

watching The Golden Circle was satisfying. While none of the characters seem to demonstrate any notable change from the start of the film to the end (other than Harry regaining his memory, a character death, and a betrayal), the American characters seem to have some interesting traits. The English characters of Harry, Eggsy, and Merlin all act in favor of the greater good, but multiple American characters prioritize their image, fame, money, revenge, and politics over the safety of others and of the world—even the character of the President in the film. While that reading of the film is what I found most enjoyable, my favorite parts were the numerous Elton John appearances and references littered throughout the film. Some of the buildings are named after his songs, the two robotic dogs are named Bennie and Jet, a few of his songs are included on the soundtrack, and Elton John himself is in the film, kidnapped by Poppy, and even has some action scenes of his own. Here’s to hoping Kingsman 3 will include the rumored Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the villain, but until then, that’s a wrap.

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Campus Pulse

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 4

Roving Reporter What’s your favorite fall activity?

“Drinking apple cider outside in a sweater”

“Apple picking”

Nicole Fosko

Charles Benthin

“I like raking leaves, raking leaves is fun”

“I love Halloween, getting ready for Halloween”

Matt Bauer

Polling Pierce How sad are you about Crepe Guru moving?

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Join We meet Tuesdays at 9 p.m. and Thursdays at 6 p.m. Chime in with ideas, articles, literature, opinions, poetry, and for free pizza!

“Does coffee count? Like pumpkin spiced coffee” Jessica Valenzuela

“I like fall events like Oktoberfest kind of events” Jimmy Sweeney

Strips

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 5

News Debate

Continued from front page

Tamer, Elina, and Julia all suggested having a class or seminar designed specifically for entrepreneurship. However, each had their own approach. Matthew stated that “creativity can’t be taught”, and Elina suggested that each major should have it integrated into their existing classes. Tamer and Julia suggested a specific class or seminar for all majors. In contrast to everyone else, James emphasized his point by standing and stated that the basics need to be learned first before entrepreneurship can be considered. The second group of candidates consisted of Harup Singh, an engineering management major who commutes, Austin Luo, an engineering undecided major who is involved with the Chinese Student Association (CSA) and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), Zamen Akmal, a biomedical engineer who is on the crew team, Daniel Kang, also a biomedical engineer who stated that he’s running for Senate because “every voice isn’t being heard”, and Phillip Jamison, an engineering management major and a member of the College Republicans. The first question for this group of candidates was, “what would be the first issue you would attempt to solve as an SGA senator?” Harup, Daniel, and Phillip all stated that there needs to be more social events. In contrast, Austin and Zamen called for more physical campus improvements; Austin advocated for more study spaces, and Zamen advocated for more waterbottle filling stations and the existing SGA legislation for a smoke-free campus. Austin’s idea was ambitious and called for converting the drydock behind Castle Point Hall into a study space. Even if the other senators were not as ambitious with their plans, they all recognized the need for more study spaces. The second question for them was, “Since the SGA is working to develop campus traditions, what campus traditions that they would try to establish on campus?” Each candidate’s suggestion revolved around sports, including having a pep-rally. Zamen, however, noted that it doesn’t have to revolve around sports. Instead, he wished to replicate the general excitement of club fair. Harup agreed with this point and said, “the fall festival was awesome”. The third group of candidates consisted of Mark DiSpigna, a Quantitative Finance major who stated he’s running for SGA because he’s not involved on campus yet, Stephanie Roberson, a math major who has already attended SGA meetings, Lauren Chen, a

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 6

business and technology major involved with the Chinese and Korean Student Associations, Gupreet Singh, an engineering undecided major who works at the STEP office, and Allen Best, a software engineering major is working to establish a software engineering club on campus. The first question they were asked was why they were running for SGA: Was it or for a specific initiative the SGA is taking, or something they felt the SGA was neglecting? All of the candidates said that the SGA is doing a great job. A few noted there were areas to improve. Mark felt the SGA could improve its communication, while Allen felt the SGA could show better support to new RSOs trying to form. Then, Olivia asked the candidates what the SGA could do to better unify the school. Each candidate had a different approach. Mark said the SGA should play to their strengths and recognize the musical talents of the community. Lauren agreed with this statement and added that “music and food are universal languages”, citing ethnic club events. Stephanie said that students should have a greater opportunity to reach out during orientation. Allen and Gupreet both emphasized how volunteering brings people together. However, all of the candidates agreed with each other, and Mark was glad that they were all on the same page and could move on in “an innovative way.” The final group of candidates consisted of Madison Gemma, a Science, Technology & Society major who is a member of the girls’ softball team, Fahad Choudhary, a biology major who is currently a participant in Stevens LEADS, Kayla Folz, a Science, Technology & Society Major in the accelerated law program and member of the College Republicans, Nicholas Tom, a chemical engineering major who plays club soccer, and Zack Schaber, a mechanical engineering major who is a member of WCPR and the Audio Engineering Club. Olivia asked the candidates how the freshman quiz should be implemented. Madison and Kayla both had not experienced a freshman quiz due to their major; however, they both recognized the difficulty of them and suggested giving more information about them or taking the quizzes during recitation. Other candidates, such as Nick, believed the freshman quiz was at a great time, while Fahad believed they should be earlier to help commuters. Kayla proposed the idea of having a “testing center”, allowing students to plan their own days and assist students with disabilities. The final question asked the potential candidates what additional workshops should occur during Stevens orientation to help

students prepare for their first semester. Both Zack and Nick loved the “handson” approach and said that it needed to be emphasized. Madison and Fahad believed there needed to be workshops on public speaking. Kayla believed that orientation could be done more efficiently as a lot of information was repeated; she suggested workshops on how to use professors as resources and how to explore Hoboken and New York City. Other suggestions included a workshop on how to study and a workshop for community service. This question ended the formal debate, the floor was then opened for audience questions. One audience member asked the freshmen candidates how they would make the schedules better for commuters, specifically for clubs. Multiple solutions were brought up: Elina and Harup stated that clubs are not taking advantage of the academic breaks and that clubs should use them more. James suggested to “negotiate” with clubs to accommodate for commuters. Kayla proposed a “universal schedule” of club meetings. Madison proposed a week of club activities. The next question came from an SGA senator who asked how recitations should be improved. All of them cited a difference between all TAs. Stephanie noted that for Math, you were on your own, while in Physics, the TA taught. Zamen and Gupreet were both critical of having graduate students as opposed to undergraduates as TAs. In contrast, Mark stated that he had no complaints about TAs as they “know more than me” and instead criticized lectures. However, he did cite there needs to be improved communication. The last audience question asked about a controversial issue at Stevens: the naming of the Gianforte Family Academic Center. The audience members asked how they thought the SGA handled the situation and if their response could’ve been more impactful. Matt said the response “made [him] kinda livid,” and called the response “kinda heinous.” He proceeded to cite his experience as a member of the LGBTQ community in Arkansas. He said Stevens should not be associated with Gianforte’s behavior, and the SGA should detest this design. Zack noted that the decision to name the building after the family didn’t fix any of the issues. Madison, Mark, Elina, and James all stated that the SGA handled the hard-todeliver message very well. Following the last question, SGA President Tommy Daly thanked everyone for coming out and for an amazing debate. The freshman Senate elections are open until Sunday at 9 AM.

Join the Stute! Jacobus 212 Tuesdays at 9

Finalist

Continued from front page

the Johnson & Johnson 2017 Engineering Showcase, when they initially began the project they did not know what they were getting into, other than committing a lot of time and effort to assiduously working on the endeavor like the rest of their peers. The implications of the project became more evident once the first prototype was finished, as David Ferrara stated, “ Once we completed the prototype, all three of us knew we had something that could be truly impactful. It was at that moment we started to see the value of the work we were doing,

and how gaining local attention was only the beginning.” All three members of the team have graduated, but they are still in constant contact with their academic advisors, Dr. Hazelwood and Dr. Gray, their clinical advisor, Dr. Atlas, and the student scholars who conducted further research this past summer. The project is still advancing as Maria De Abreu Pineda and David Ferrara said that the team of summer scholars “had an opportunity to further improve certain areas of the project, explore new avenues, and add new features, including the integration of a pressure transducer, which we are now incorporating into the system.” The team members are now prepar-

ing to present their project at various national conferences. The team is honored to be one of the six undergraduate finalists in the 2017 Collegiate Inventors Competition and is motivated to keep research going in order to implicate this project on a larger scale. Although medical devices have a difficult time making it onto the market, the team is optimistic as research will continue and animal studies will begin in early 2018. Before the device can receive FDA approval it will need to pass pre-clinical and clinical tests and convince brain surgeons and anesthesiologists of its utility, but once it does it can make a significant impact in the operating room.

KSA hosts ‘Chuseok’, Korean Thanksgiving by CHARLES ZWICKER Staff Writer

On Wednesday, October 5th, the Korean Student Association (KSA) hosted Chuseok, known as “Korean Thanksgiving” in English. The evening began with a game of Ddakji, a popular children’s game, and then food was served. The food included traditional Korean foods, such as Korean walnut cakes, rice cakes, and kimbap. Kimbap is essentially Korean sushi, but usually includes a different type of meat, such as beef, chicken, or sausage, which are all cooked unlike sushi. If you’re interested in sushi, but can’t get past the raw fish, you might want to try some kimbap! KSA meets every other Monday nights at 9 pm, in BC210, with their next meeting being October 16th. They will also be represented in the World Night Market, on October 18th.

Photos by Cole Yarbrough

News

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 7

2013 Yahoo breach larger than originally thought by CHARLES ZWICKER Staff Writer

Another week, another information breach. Or, in this case, some new information about Yahoo’s 2013 security breach. On October 3rd, Yahoo released a memo that their 2013 breach, previously believed to have affected “at least 500 million” accounts, actually affected every single one of its 3 billion accounts. Essentially, if you had a Yahoo account in 2013, your account was compromised. Yahoo says that the information stolen was encrypted using the MD5 algorithm, which was considered insecure even at that time. As a result, it’s likely that the hackers were able to unencrypt the pass-

words stolen. Following the breach in 2013, Yahoo’s top lawyer resigned, and then-CEO, Marissa Mayer lost her 2016 bonus. Yahoo was acquired by Verizon Communications four months ago. Verizon’s offer dropped by $350 million after it was announced that 500 million accounts

were compromised. The terms of the deal required Verizon and Yahoo to share equally the legal costs from the data breach, so it is likely that Verizon will also take a hit from all of this as well. It may be four years too late, but if you have a Yahoo account, including Flickr, go change your password.

Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

Diversity office hosts Men of Color luncheon

by NASIR MONTALVO Staff Writer

This past Wednesday, October 4th, Jacquis Watters (Diversity Educator) partnered with Rommel Espinel (Web Services Librarian) to host the second Men of Color (MOC) Luncheon. The luncheon provides a safe space for men of color to build relationships and express any thoughts related to being a person of color (POC). The luncheon was held in Room 204 of the

Library. After the attendees ate food prepared by Stevens Dining, Rommel Espinel opened the luncheon and reinforced the idea of the event being a safe space, and to open up about being a man of color. He then gave everyone a chance to introduce themselves, including two other guests: Kurtis Watkins and Quain Bevens, who work as the Assistant and Resident Director for Campus Housing, respectively. They gave their perspectives on

being a person of color in the job industry, ways to handle racial profiling, and many other topics raised during the event. The upperclassmen present also shared tips for freshman about navigating Stevens as a POC. Before the event closed, Watkins, Bevens, and Espinel encouraged the attendees to reach out to them for anything they might need in the future. The next MOC Luncheon is currently scheduled for the end of November.

SigEp and DPhiE host annual ‘Hall Brawls’ by SARAH HOOGENBOOM Staff Writer

After arriving on campus more than a month ago, the freshman class has finally settled into their dorms and discovered what it means to live a Stevens lifestyle. This includes mastering the hike up the Frank Sinatra Drive stairs, creating the best Pierce ice cream sandwich, and achieving a personal best of coffee consumption in a week. With numerous new achievements, taking a 4-hour break from school and joining forces with hall neighbors to compete for the cutthroat title of “Hall Brawls Champions” is only another achievement to add to the list. Organized by Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) and Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE), 165 freshmen represented their respective dorm halls and battled it out in four Hall Brawl competitions: Volleyball, Tug-OfWar, Ultimate Frisbee, and Alaskan Baseball. In past years, the funds were donated to Big Brother Big Sister of America, but Sig Ep and DPhiE decided this year they wanted to make a change closer to home. From dorm-storming and participation fees for Hall Brawls, $800 were donated to the Hoboken Homeless Shelter this year. Not only do these two organizations host the annual Hall Brawls, but brothers and sisters also volunteer their time throughout the school year to help prepare and serve meals to those less fortunate in Hoboken. Sig Ep brother and one of the Hall Brawl coordinators, Brandon Wong, emphasized that not only do brothers organize large volunteer dates during each semester but

Photos by Olivia Schreiber

“at least two Sig Eps volunteer at the Homeless Shelter every week.” After all the competitions and the battle scars, only one hall was victorious. Castle Point Hall 4th floor earned the title of “Hall Brawls Champions,” a title they will hold until the next class of freshmen fill the same four dorm halls and achieve the same discoveries of the Stevens lifestyle.

News

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 8

Phi Sigma Sigma and CAPS present Stigma Free Week by RAMI KAMMOURH Staff Writer

Last week Phi Sigma Sigma and Alpha Phi Omega worked in conjunction with Stevens Counseling & Psychological Services to promote Stigma Free Week at Stevens\. Student Organizations and individual students were encouraged to sign the Stigma Free Pledge in order to encourage the elimination of biased judgment of other students and members of the community. Stigma, or societal disgrace, is propagated misinformation that may deter

but also afraid of seeking help in order to deal with their disorders. For this reason, Stevens Counseling & Psychological Services found it necessary to bring the week-long event to campus in order to ensure that members of the Stevens community dealing with mental illnesses feel comfortable seeking help. This year’s Stigma Free Week comes roughly a year after the inaugural ceremony of ‘THRIVE’, an initiative to end mental health stigma on campus, during which Stevens was declared a “Stigma-free campus” by former New Jersey governor Richard Codey.

Photo courtesy of Stevens Institute of Technology

people from being and expressing themselves. Stigma is particularly impactful on people with mental illnesses, because not only are they misguided by stigma,

In an effort to encourage members of the community to seek the help they need, CAPS organized depression screenings on Wednesday in their office on the 7th

floor of Howe, the library, and Jacobus Lounge. Additionally, CAPS and Samuel C. Williams Library held Resilience Bootcamp on Thursday, an event meant to teach skills useful for “bouncing back from setbacks”. CAPS offers free and comprehensive counseling and psychological services that provide shortterm therapy. Anyone who feels as if they may be dealing with a mental condition or feels in need of emotional support is encouraged to visit their office. In addition to holding events to promote mental wellbeing, sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma and brothers of Alpha Phi Omega held tablesiting sessions throughout the week for people to sign the Stigma Free Pledge by the 6th and 9th entrances to campus and in Pierce Lobby. Students who signed the pledge were given an “I Pledge to Keep Stevens Stigma Free” button as well as a free lollipop. The Stigma Free Pledge was signed by Phi Sigma Sigma, Alpha Phi Omega, the Student Government Association, Lambda Upsilon Lambda, CAPS, The Office of Student Life, and hundreds of individual students. Moving forward, CAPS will be holding monthly events aimed towards addressing mental illnesses in a continued effort to keep Stevens a stigma-free campus.

IUA hosts Garba in Walker Gym by AUDREY DSOUZA Outreach Chair

On Friday, September 29 the Indian Undergraduate Association (IUA) hosted Garba in Walker Gym. Garba is a type of dance specific to the Gujurati culture to celebrate Navarati. Many Indian students on campus attended the event, including a large amount of graduate students. Many girls wore bright colored traditional Indian clothes for the celebration, called “chanya choli.” This garment comes from Gujurat, the same place from with the festival originates. Attendees were able to dance, enjoy delicious Indian food and sweets, including naan, rice, gobi manchurian, and gulab jamun, and reunite with friends over the annual fall celebration. “The event was great,” said IUA secretary Ramya Sudhakar, “over 300 hundred people showed up to the event.”

58 dead, hundreds wounded after Nevada shooting by DAVID ROGERS Staff Writer

Before 10 p.m. local time on Oct. 1, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas, NV. Paddock was perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, facing Las Vegas Blvd. The shooting killed 58 people and wounded over 500 people, 120 of whom were still hospitalized on Wednesday. This marks it as the bloodiest mass shooting among civilians in American history. Among the wounded are at least three off-duty po-

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) concluded that he used a ‘bump stock’ accessory, which uses recoil from commonplace semiautomatic weapons to simulate fully automatic fire. Authorities released a public bulletin, searching for his two vehicles and a possible accomplice. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo asked the public to provide any videos of the shooting they have, many of which were already uploaded to social media. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, although authorities have not found any evidence linking him to ISIS or any other foreign terrorist network, and authorities

reassess their counter-terrorism strategies. President Trump visited Las Vegas on Oct. 4, praising the Las Vegas police for saving lives. “The police department, they’ve done such an incredible job. And we’ll be talking about gun laws as time goes on. But I do have to say, how quickly the police department was able to get in was really very much of a miracle. They’ve done an amazing job,” Trump said before leaving hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. The president visited survivors and the operations center of the LVMPD, praising the “indescribable” job of medical workers. Democrats have begun

Photo courtesy of ABC News

lice officers from Southern California. Despite a quick response from the police, they were unable to apprehend Paddock, who killed himself when confronted by police. The attack lasted a little more than ten minutes. Police also reported a “suspicious device” further down the street but later determined it was not an explosive. The attack appears premeditated and thoroughly planned. Paddock was checked into the hotel since Sept. 28 with at least 23 firearms in his room. Between his hotel suite and home, police found 47 firearms, which he accumulated over the years since 1982. Video footage from the attack indicates he may have used an NFA Class 3 fully automatic weapon, unlike other shooters. After investigating Paddock’s weapons, the Bureau of

still do not know his motive. Paddock’s girlfriend, who was overseas during the attack, was taken in for FBI questioning at LAX airport. Investigations involve several facts about the killer that distinguish this from other mass shootings, including his age, wealth, weapons, and transferring $100,000 overseas before the attack. The shooting sparked another series of discussions on how to protect large, open crowds. Counter-terrorism expert and Cal State San Bernardino Professor Brian Levin suggested more police departments employ the tactics of, among others, the LAPD and NYPD by stationing precautionary snipers on rooftops. Experts say that after the attacks on Las Vegas, Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert, and others in France and Germany, many countries will

pushing for more national gun regulations. Trump declined directly discussing the issue, aside from the above quote. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they will “look at things that may actually have that real impact” when national gun regulations are discussed. Some Republican House members have come out in favor of further regulating or banning bump stocks. Immediately after the attack, much of the surrounding area was closed, including McCarran International Airport and the I-15 freeway. The Las Vegas metropolis mobilized to help victims recover by donating blood and money to survivors. Jason Aldean, who was scheduled to perform at the time of the shooting, has cancelled upcoming concerts out of respect for the victims.

Fire near Holland Tunnel increases local traffic by MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM Staff Writer

Photo by Ramya Sudhakar

Last Friday, Sept. 29, an industrial building fire caused structural damage to the NJ-139 westbound ramp near the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, closing three westbound lanes. According to the Port Authority of NY & NJ, it has caused significant delays and heavy gridlock throughout Manhattan, Jersey City, and even parts of Brooklyn. Public officials began proposing plans to alleviate some of the traffic and congestion while the ramp undergoes repairs. Most officials have recommended to the public

to use mass transit if possible. Cities are ensuring that buses, light rails, and trains can accommodate the rise in use. “There was a slight uptick in customers utilizing our #68 bus route to Jersey City for transfers to/from PATH during morning and afternoon peak periods,” said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman, to NJ.com. “Anecdotally, operators report an uptick in ridership with no accounts of exceeding capacity.” For Stevens, the increased traffic has created an inconvenience for commuting students. Timothy Griffin, Chief of Stevens Campus Police Department, said in an email

that commuter students should “be prepared to experience severe delays around the Holland Tunnel area, both to and from the Hoboken area, especially during rush hour.” Due to the lane closures, traffic in the afternoon and during rush hour has resulted in “total gridlock,” which has been an inconvenience for Stevens students who have to commute through or near this area. “Commuters are strongly urged to make alternate plans and to use mass transit whenever possible.” Repairs to the ramp began shortly after the fire caused the damage, but the lanes are expected to be closed for at least several weeks or more.

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Opinion Continued

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 10

Cuisine Corner

Queue’d up at the House of ‘Que

by MARKO DJAPIC

Junior Chemical Biology Major

With mid-terms coming up, I think everyone on campus has been feeling the crunch. Whether it’s biting your nails, chewing your hair, or playing your 50th game of PUBG without even checking canvas, everyone has a coping mechanism. For me, I’m a huge stress eater, and I love comfort food. That’s why I picked the most comfort place

I could find, the House of ‘Que right on fourth and Frank Sinatra Drive. I usually stay away from the riverfront because well... river means BOUJEE. Which is why I was so excited when I checked the menu for House of Que and found it was actually affordable, and not in a Bear Burger way. The value deals alone are enough to pique your curiosity (5 pounds of wings for $55!!) but if you’re not buying for 4 the individual meals are well priced as well. On top of that, while their interior is classically country/southern décor, you can also get a seat outside and enjoy a meal on the water. Truly, college is the time to live decadently. Between the 5 pounds of wings, the Long Horn combination plate, (serves 8) and the Pithouse Pick (serves 4), I was at a loss. Is everything here

CONTACT & INFO House of Que 340 Sinatra Drive Hoboken

Sun. – Wed. 11 a.m. – 12 a.m. Thursday 11 a.m. - 1 a.m. Fri. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. (201) 706-8755 Texas sized? Fortunately, they also have a sandwich/burger menu and a smoked meats menu, both of which deliver hard. Going for maximum southern aesthetic, I got a Sloppy Texan, while my friends got a half smoked chicken and a signature HOQ

Photo courtesy of House of Que

Photo courtesy of Marko Djapic

burger, respectively. Of course we also got a singular order of wings, to test out the waters before we ever commit to a bucket. We got our order taken just as the band was kicking off “Achy Breaky Heart”, and we had our wings right by the time Cliff’s fist was telling Bill’s lip that he never liked him anyway. Digging in, my heart could not have been less achy; the muscular, crispy wings were slathered in a generous amount of chipotle BBQ that zinged your mouth with southern heat while slapping you with the smoked out power of the chipotle. I’m not usually a wing fan boy but credit where credit is due: I’d buy TWO buckets. By the time we finished our line dance and sat down, our food was already out and waiting for

us. Biting in to the Sloppy Texan I figured I could forget my table manners, and started absolutely savaging it. The shredded brisket and ground beef were incredibly high quality, and everyone knows the first step in good food is good ingredients. On top of the wonderfully prepared smokiness of the meat, the chili-inspired seasonings gave the burger the kind of Tex-Mex feel that I wasn’t expecting, but gladly welcomed. However, the true tour de force for me was the House of ‘Que signature sauces, and boy oh BOY are they something. Part one gave a more traditional barbecue taste with more accented tartness, while part two gives a mustardy sweetness behind an onion and garlic inspired savory-ness that is mild enough to

Food: Service: Location: Price: $ make you think it’s not in there. Both were perfect, either slathered on my brioche bun or on the side with my fluffy yet crunchy fries. My friends’ dishes did not fail to wow either. Whether you want to go out on an affordable date on the water or you’re trying to leave all your table manners at home, House of Que is a delicious, southern inspired joint perfect for your Texas needs. Also, unlike places in Jersey City, it’s right next to lower campus. The only requirement? You better like barbecue.

Scientific Curmudgeon

Stevens nuke expert discusses Trump and North Korea

by JOHN HORGAN CAL Professor

My Stevens colleague Alex Wellerstein, an historian of science, has become a go-to expert on nuclear weapons, published in The New Yorker, Washington Post and elsewhere. His blog, Restricted Data, and NUKEMAP website, which lets you carry out virtual nuclear strikes, are enormously popular. He and two Stevens colleagues, political scientist Kristyn Karl and oceanographer Julie Pullen, recently got a grant for “Reinventing Civil Defense,” which aims at rethinking U.S. responses to nuclear threats. Below are excerpts from a Q&A I did with Alex in August for Scientific American. See the full interview at https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/ nuclear-expert-considersrisks-of-conflict-with-northkorea/ --John Horgan Horgan: If President Trump sought your advice on North Korea, what would you say?

Wellerstein: I think Trump in general could benefit greatly just by learning to empathize with other human beings. It appears to be a core character defect of his, and it’s a scary thing given how much of policy is about understanding consequences, and that typically requires empathy. For nuclear matters it is absolutely essential: you need to be able to understand what the other fellow is likely to do, what they are attempting to accomplish, what they will see their “options” as being. It is clear that the North Koreans see the development of a nuclear deterrent against the United States as an existential issue. They are probably not wrong about that — the US has a reputation for causing a lot of trouble with regimes it judges as being against its interests, but it gives nuclear-armed states wide latitude. As the North Koreans have developed a mostly credible capability to threaten the cities of our allies, and maybe even our own cities, then the time of trying to imagine a non-nuclear North Korea has probably passed for the time being (maybe someday in the long future, when they feel less threatened, we can imagine such a thing). That doesn’t mean they are likely to attack the USA. They aren’t. They know that to do so would be suicidal. We need to make clear what conditions would re-

sult in unacceptable results for them, and they need to make clear the same for us. In both cases, there need to be options that, while not ideal, can be lived with, e.g., the North Koreans can’t think that starting a war with South Korea would be acceptable, and we shouldn’t think that we can force them to change their regime or get rid of their weapons. For deterrence to work, it requires the “alternative” to the use of weapons to be at least somewhat acceptable. This very basic idea seems not to be something Trump understands; his transactional, “deal” way of thinking doesn’t seem to allow for mutually beneficial solutions, or even mutuallygood-enough solutions. North Korea does not seem any more irrational than any other state with nuclear weapons, and we have managed to make do with fairly irrational, nuclear-armed states before (when China got the bomb in the early 1960s, it was in the middle of the Cultural Revolution, and pretty far from a stable, rational state). But if you force them into a corner, if they think that their central government is in imminent danger of “decapitation,” they may do something rash. Horgan: Is a nuclear attack becoming more thinkable to you? Do you think, in your gut, there will be an attack in your lifetime?

Wellerstein: What I find most worrying about our present time is the apparent decrease in the salience and power of the “nuclear taboo” in the United States. The American public seems more willing than it ever has since the end of the Cold War to consider using nuclear weapons to achieve its policy aims; read Scott Sagan and Benjamin Valentino’s recent paper on this point. The current US President seems to have no self-control, no sense of personal (much less

national) consequences, and no sense of the dangers of war or even nuclear war. It is easy to imagine scenarios in which he might be convinced that a nuclear weapon might be a palatable option to use, and there are essentially no legal checks (and very few possible practical checks) on his ability to order such an attack. It is a bad thing to have to say, but I find him much more unpredictable and disturbing along these lines than, say, Kim Jong-un,

Vladimir Putin, or any of the others in the “rogue’s gallery” of people that get worried about with regards to nuclear weapons… I would like to believe that the attack on Nagasaki was the last time that nuclear weapons would be used in anger. Over a very long time horizon (say, centuries) that seems very optimistic given what we have seen so far of human beings. Is it optimistic for the next decade? For the next three years? I don’t know. I hope not.

Opinion Continued

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 11

Campus Liberal

Campus Conservative

In response to the “Announcement on Naming of the Gianforte Academic Center”

by MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM Freshman Computer Science Major

Last Thursday, the Stevens Board of Trustees announced that our values have a price tag. That if a donation is high enough, the Board is willing to name our buildings after just about anyone. That if Greg Gianforte waves $20 million at us, the Board is willing to brand his heinous name onto our campus — whatever it takes to receive a check. Apparently, the decision to name a building after Greg Gianforte was not taken lightly. It took “hundreds of hours” to come to this decision: instead of naming a building after ‘Gianforte,’ naming it after the ‘Gianforte Family.’ (Not a solution at all.) The Board of Trustees, uncomfortable by criticism, assembled an ad-hoc committee to consider the naming of the Academic Center, a way to deflect attention away from themselves. This committee took comments from the public and, supposedly, reviewed how the actions of Gianforte would reflect on the Stevens community. I say “supposedly” because no committee minutes, no committee agendas, no committee doc-

uments — no information about the committee — have yet been made public. When I asked for information from the committee, the single response I received was, “The work of the committee is confidential.” The work of the committee — the committee that decided the reputation of our university — hid behind closed doors. Even after the announcement, I asked for more information. Yet they insisted everything remains sealed. But thankfully the Board of Trustees and the committee provided some proof that they’ve been attentive to the community’s concerns. For example, the committee noted that “$1.9 million has been directed to organizations” that are “pro-life advocacy and [support] heterosexual marriage.” It was one of the first points made, and it’s all I needed to know that the committee didn’t actually care about the concerns of the Stevens community. Because I am not only upset that Gianforte “supported heterosexual marriage.” I am upset that Gianforte has supported businesses that kick out gay people for being gay. I am upset that Gianforte actively supports legislation that restricts an LGBT couple’s right to adopt. That Gianforte actively detests a transgender person’s need to use their correct restroom. That Gianforte supports heinous things like LGBT conversion camps. I am upset that the Stevens Board of Trustees reduced my entire life’s struggles to three words. For all my life, I’ve been a full-time fag who has lived in

the Deep South of Arkansas. I’ve been harassed. I’ve been bullied. I’ve been abused. I’ve been kicked out of businesses, and I had to switch high schools twice for my safety and well-being. Two of my closest friends spent months in LGBT conversion camps, and now they struggle to believe they are good enough to be part of a family. I moved thousands of miles away from my home to Stevens so that I could escape the isolation and the horror of my backward-thinking community. Yet I guess I can’t get away from some of it. The Stevens Board of Trustees and The Committee are willing to hide some of their prejudices in parsed language and misrepresented ideas, and that is something with which I can’t agree and which the students of Stevens should detest. We have a responsibility to keep talking about the Board of Trustees’s decision to bolster Gianforte’s name on our campus. I refuse to believe that their decision ends this conversation. It doesn’t. We as students shouldn’t comply with an unjust decision, sweeping away the morals of the Gianforte family name on our campus. It’s important we continue fostering a community that is aware of what is going on at our university. Having these difficult conversations with friends and colleagues may seem small and it may seem inconsequential. But by doing so, we reaffirm that we stand for inclusion, for diversity, and for openness. We reaffirm that we will never stop fighting for what’s right.

Please let this be the last time...

by ALEX MURTAGH Sophomore Civil Engineering Major

As I’m sure you’ve all heard, because you read every article in the Stute, the naming issue surrounding the new Academic Gateway complex has been settled. Maybe. Hopefully. As President Farvardin stated in his email to the Stevens community, “both parties have kept the best interests of Stevens,” which should be the top priority. Becuase Stevens desperately needs the money in order to continue its upward trajectory, and no one else offered the same amount or more in donations, there really was no other option. While the Stevens community was extremely divided between either the lone name of ‘Gianforte’ or no name on the building, the board of trustees was able to make a third option that met perfectly in the middle. Simply by adding the word family, the issue was swept under the rug. This makes me curious though, will students in 4 years actually know who the Gianfortes were? The only name on an academic building I recognize is Babbio, and I really didn’t

know that much about him until I went back and did a good amount of research. The best guesses I have for other buildings on campus are past Stevens presidents, but I’m not really even sure. Honestly, I would be quite impressed if four years from now if any students would remember this incident and exactly what happened, as the name of the building becomes more and more irrelevant over time. That’s part of why the SGA response felt a little unnecessary. To be as frank as possible, I don’t really care what the SGA has to say. Farvardin’s response was the only necessary one, and it went on long enough, to respond to anything that may cause concern. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the SGA was involved in the committee representing student the body, but it’s like a broken record just repeating what was said in a slightly different, more opinionated fashion. What Gianforte did was entirely wrong and should be outright condemned by everyone. You never have the right, under any circumstances to strike someone first, unless there is a clear and present danger to either you or someone else. In this case, striking a reporter, although he was extremely aggressive and was wrong in how he behaved, that does not mean that he deserved to be assaulted. However, the guilty party was still able to admit to wrongdoing and make amends both in and out of the courtroom. Had it not been for this situation, I would likely not be writing this article as

the issue was settled prior to the assault, and in my opinion, the name of the building would be slightly less awkward sounding. Gianforte has his right to free speech, no matter what that speech may be. In this case, Gianforte donated to multiple causes that many in the Stevens community believe to be against our values as a school. But does that mean that we do not value free speech, our first amendment right, emphasis on first, above anything else? This gives us as people the unique right to be as right or wrong as we may please, with a few limits. And those limits do not include “hate speech”, only slander, libel, or direct threats. Gianforte did not break any of those, so therefore, he has the right to speak. But being wrong in the public square can lead to some positive change. Afterall, as Milo Yiannopoulos says, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” If you are wrong and people know it, there is no way they would support you. Maybe if those who oppose Gianforte actually brought him here to speak to the student population, there would have been a much different outcome. Perhaps he would have convinced people to support him, or maybe his followers would have turned their backs. I’m not here to argue whether or not his policies are right or wrong. It’s important to remember the words republican and conservative are far from synonymous. I am only here to say his name should be on that building as per a conservative perspective.

forming. Almost everyone stated, “the SGA is doing great”. This only brings into attention that they haven’t seen the SGA perform yet to have an idea of what a “great SGA” is. This answer, coming from someone who has little experience with the SGA, only builds into the ever-present image that the SGA cannot effectively communicate with the student body, The main focus of having the freshman candidates debate in the first place is useless. The SGA expects freshman senators to be able to work on issues throughout the school and be among the most knowledgeable people on the campus. However, they throw them into the role without regard to their lack of experience, and limited time on campus. You could say, they’re still getting used to Freshman year, let alone Stevens. Freshmen have been here for a month; they lack experience. Senators are supposed to enact change and represent the student body effectively from their

first meeting, and not have to learn on the job. These candidates debating will effectively become members of the SGA within the next week, and it is clear that they are not ready. They have not yet been educated on what is required of an SGA senator. This debate only highlights they have not been given proper guidance by the current SGA. Fundamentally, the only expectation that we can derive from this debate is that the freshmen who win are the most popular on campus; there is little to do with views and ability to function as an SGA senator. Don’t waste the student body’s time by having a debate that highlights things we already knew. The SGA by having a freshman senatorial debate demonstrates still hasn’t figured out how to have an active line of communication with their own constituents. This is shown to be the case because only 17 Freshmen

SGA Roundup

Why debate?

by MARK KRUPINSKI

Sophomore Computational Science Major

The freshman Senate debate: it’s supposed to give each senator a chance to state their platforms and their aspirations as a senator. However, most freshmen have little knowledge of any issues affecting the student body, so what does this debate accomplish? Well, let’s see what the current senators state about the debate. One senator, Jesse Priest states, “we didn’t get any prior knowledge and asked very serious questions and I think it was great to see them on their toes and come up with a response.” Members of the SGA should

be informed on any issue. Promoting that among current freshman only leads the SGA to stagnation lead to poor decisions. Promote knowledge among freshman – especially among those who you want to “lead” the school. Senators, even in meetings, should come to the “debates” during the meeting with knowledge about the topic at hand. No freshman has enough background and capability to answer whether new RSO’s should be able to have a larger budget than $1,000 per semester. With questions like that, which are deep in nittygritty SGA policy, it’s hard to agree with SGA Vice President Cat Oesterle’s statement that the debate is “not crazy intense.” It isn’t just generic questions like “what are some qualities of a good leader” – which frankly you learn nothing about the candidates; they all tend to agree. Sure, some senators are in support of changing the debate, but those are few and far in between.

Melanie Caba brings up the idea of instead having a speech instead of a debate. For a speech, the candidates could research issues so that they could develop informed opinions and responses about campus life. However, very few senators came out in support of her ideas, thus leaving the flawed, ill-informed debate in practice. So that’s enough about the debate in the past, how did it go this year? 21 candidates vying for 9 spots on pretty much the same platform? Certainly, it went well – just like it did last year. Candidates outnumber interested freshman at the debate. This year’s debate was moderated by Olivia Schreiber, the chair of the Stevens Honor Board. Olivia asked questions of the candidates that were developed by SGA senators, with a small section for audience questions at the end. The SGA asked general questions about how to improve Stevens, but most students lacked the experience and knowledge required to

effectively communicate and give “acceptable” answers. For example, one question asked candidates how entrepreneurship and innovation could be improved at Stevens. Multiple candidates suggested adding a class, which already exists (MGT103). Another question asked candidates about how to improve Stevens. One candidate stated empty classrooms should be opened for study spaces, which fails to take into account how most classrooms are booked at almost any and every time. Multiple candidates suggested an academic break, which already exists. It’s clear that the SGA debate highlights the inexperience of freshman candidates, and thus, the SGA as a whole (which seems to be the notion that they can’t remove – I wonder why?). These are the people that will become SGA senators and will guide the student body as a whole. However, the question that was the highlight was essentially asking how you think the SGA is per-

continued on thestute.com

Sports

Friday, October 6, 2017 • Page 12

Softball Boasts #2 GPA in NCAA

Efforts of Aversano and Henry lead Men’s Soccer over F&M

ON DECK IN SPORTS

Saturday

Stevens Sports Information

Stevens Sports Information

SSI - The Stevens Institute of Technology softball team posted the second-highest grade-point average among all 412 NCAA Division III teams last season with a 3.675 GPA. A banner year for the Ducks, 2017 also marked the first time the team has ever been ranked in the national Top-25 poll. Stevens finished behind only Newbury College, which earned a GPA of 3.695. The Ducks placed fifth among teams from the NCAA’s three divisions combined. “I know I speak on behalf of the Stevens athletic program and the entire institution in saying how proud we are of our softball studentathletes, said director of athletics Russell Rogers. “To finish so high in the Easton/ NFCA All-Team Academic

Award for all of NCAA Division III is simply an amazing accomplishment. This team continues to set the bar extremely high both on and off the field and truly exemplifies the essence of what intercollegiate athletics is about.” Upper Iowa University (NCAA DII) posted the top college GPA with a 3.813, while Byron Nelson (Texas) High School (4.916), for the fourth consecutive year, and Trenton (Mich.) High School (3.858) led the high school weighted and unweighted categories, respectively, as the Easton/NFCA Top 10 Academic Team rankings for the 2016-17 school year were announced. The rankings recognize the academic prowess of softball teams across seven membership divisions. Gar-

nering the highest GPA in the other college divisions were Western Carolina University (NCAA DI - 3.673), Newbury College (NCAA DIII - 3.675), Siena Heights University (NAIA - 3.780) and College of Southern Idaho (Junior College – 3.686). It marked the second straight year for Newberry and Siena Heights, while Southern Idaho returns to No. 1, a spot it held in 2014-15. NCAA Division III 1. Newbury College – 3.695; 2. Stevens Institute of Technology – 3.675; 3. Amherst – 3.654; 4. Otterbein – 3.649; 5. Saint Mary’s College (Ind.) – 3.633; 6. UW-Stout – 3.631; 7. Marywood – 3.620; 8. Texas-Dallas – 3.607; 9. Macalester – 3.600; 10. Johnson & Wales – 3.592.

Field Hockey Wins Barn-Burner with New Paltz SSI - The Stevens Institute of Technology field hockey team outgunned SUNY New Paltz 5-3 in a back-and forth Wednesday night matchup in Hoboken. Cassidy O’Hearn and Victoria Alvarez scored two goals apiece for the Ducks in the game. Katti Thomasian added the other goal and also assisted both of Alvarez’s scores. O’Hearn netted the first goal at 7:05 with an assist from Alvarez on a good pass from the end line after Alvarez had gained the zone. The Hawks scored the next two, grabbing the lead away with goals by Carly Croteau and Kaitlyn Gunter at 13:02 and 25:57, respectively O’Hearn then knotted the game up with an incredible play, whacking the ball out of midair after Hannah Silvestri’s shot was tipped to shoulder-height in front of the cage

Two minutes later, Alvarez scored when she gathered a rebound in front and slammed it home for the goahead goal With 0:00 on the clock at the end of the first half but Stevens taking a penalty corner, Thomasian ripped a shot from the outside off Regan Littell’s insert into the plywood to end the half and double the Duck lead to 4-2. It would turn out to be the game-winning goal New Paltz’s Serena Capsello got the Hawks back within one at 50:23 of the second half by tipping in a shot by Gunter Five minutes later, Alvarez and Thomasian hooked up again for some insurance, with Alvarez again tipping in Thomasian’s shot Stevens’ Drew Lustig made two defensive saves within a minute of each other in the second half to help preserve the Stevens lead. She is leading the Empire

8 and second in the nation with seven defensive saves this season Nicole Mottole made an additional five saves in goal for the Ducks “I’m so proud of the way we played today,” said head coach Meredith Spencer-Blaetz. “We were hunting for a good win and they worked for it for 70 minutes. We weathered some storms from New Paltz in the backfield but we responded big when we needed to. A lot of players contributed but Drew Lustig was a particular star tonight with two defensive saves and some key stops.” The Ducks will travel through upstate New York for a pivotal Empire 8 weekend with games at Houghton College and Nazareth College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The matchup with the Highlanders will begin at noon on Saturday.

SSI - Junior Daniel Aversano broke a scoreless tie for the second game in a row and junior Aaron Henry posted his fourth clean sheet of the season to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Franklin & Marshall College Tuesday in a non-conference match. Though this was just the fourth-ever matchup between the programs, the victory snapped a two-game winning streak in the series for Franklin & Marshall. Stevens’ last victory over the Diplomats came in 1969, in the first meeting between the teams (courtesy of Franklin & Marshall Athletic Communications). The victory was the second consecutive for the Ducks,who improved to 6-4-1 on the season. Henry (6-3-1), the reigning Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Week made five saves in the victory, including a diving stop in the sixth minute and a brilliant save from point-blank range on F&M’s Jason Tonelli in the 65th minute. Christopher Amoruso (1-1) made four saves for the Diplomats, who fell to 4-5-1. Pivotal Point After a scoreless opening 45, Aversano’s fourth goal put the Ducks on the board. Senior Jonas Melendez played a crossing ball to the middle of the field, where the Allendale, New Jersey native timed his kick perfectly, connecting for a onetimed shot that found the back of the net. Staked with a lead, Henry took care of the

rest, making three saves to preserve the victory. Inside the Numbers F&M controlled possession, leading to a 2110 edge in shots, including a 13-5 margin over the game’s final 45 minutes. The Diplomats earned 12 corner kicks, including three over the first seven minutes. Stevens earned four. Henry took over the E8 lead in goals against average with tonight’s clean sheet. The Fayetteville, Arkansas native now has a 0.878 GAA. Melendez’s assist was the second career point for the Old Bridge, New Jersey native. Freshman Cristiano Hockey led the team with three shots, with two being on net. Neither team received a caution. Unsung Heroes Continuing a season trend, the defensive corps kept the Diplomats’ top two scorers off the sheet. Jim Connolly, ranked first in the Centennial Conference in assists only registered two shots on goal, while Jason Tonelli, ranked fifth in the conference in points, also only had two shots on goal. From the Sidelines “Immense team effort to best a national powerhouse. The team effort and collective work rate was the best I have seen in my time here.” Up Next Stevens returns to the friendly confines of the DeBaun Athletic Complex for a conference matchup with Sage College Saturday afternoon. Live stats and video links on StevensDucks. com. Note: The game will be streamed via Facebook Live.

Duck Country Scoreboard Stevens

Opponent/Event

Score

Result

Saratoga Invitational Saratoga Invitational Marist Show VS Utica College Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic ITA Northeast Regional VS Amherst College Mason-Dixon Collegiate Classic ITA Northeast Regional @ Utica College

N/A N/A N/A 1-4 317 N/A 0-3

5th 7th 5th L 4th Complete L 7th

10/3

Men’s Cross Country Women’s Cross Country Equestrian Field Hockey Men’s Golf Men’s Tennis Women’s Volleyball Men’s Golf Men’s Tennis Women’s Tennis Men’s Tennis Men’s Soccer

10/3

Women’s Soccer

Date 9/30 9/30 9/30 9/30 9/30 9/30 9/30 10/1 10/1 10/1 10/2

ITA Northeast Regional @ Franklin and Marshall College VS Vassar College

627 N/A 8-1 N/A 1-0 1-1

Complete W Complete W T

Stevens Sports Information

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Highlander Invitational 11 a.m. Houghton, NY

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Highlander Invitational 11 a.m. Houghton, NY

FIELD HOCKEY

@ Houghton College 12 p.m. Houghton, NY

MEN’S SOCCER

VS The Sage Colleges 1 p.m.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

@ Nazareth College 12 p.m. Rochester, NY

WOMEN’S TENNIS

VS Elmira College 12 p.m.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

VS Nazareth College 11 a.m. VS The Sage Colleges 4 p.m.

Sunday FIELD HOCKEY

@ Nazareth College 11 a.m. Rochester, NY

WOMEN’S SOCCER

@ St. John Fisher College 1 p.m. Rochester, NY

FOR MORE INFORMATION, HEAD TO: STEVENSDUCKS.COM STEVENSREC.COM