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HISTORY
@TheStute
Friday, October 27, 2017
Staff Writer
ESC Casino Night • P6
Convention Cuisine Corner • P8
The Stute The official campus newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology since 1904, and creator of the Stevens mascot, Atilla the Duck.
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Established 1904
Exploring the Stevens archival ecosystem: Two exhibits offer a glimpse into Stevens’ rich past
by OLIVIA SCHREIBER
Opinion of SGA Tickets • P3
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At its core, Stevens is a future-forward institution as demonstrated by its investment in technology, research, and entrepreneurship. However, the Samuel C. Williams Library continues to shed light on Stevens’ rich past, serving not only as a provider of study space, but also as a museum showcasing the raw materials of history, most recently through the opening of two exhibits earlier in October. The first, titled “Early Campus Traditions and Activities at Stevens,” is situated on the first floor, just outside the Sam’s Place Reading Room and focuses on exactly that— the activities and traditions which instilled a sense of camaraderie and school spirit within Stevens students during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibit highlights the early days of the
Phi Sigma Sigma hosts Lip Sync in Debaun Auditorium
“do-it-yourself” tradition of the Stevens Dramatic Society as well as the university’s earliest publications, namely the student-run newspaper The Stute as well as the Eccentric and The Bolt, two competing yearbooks published by fraternity representatives, which ultimately gave rise to The Link after their “linking” in 1890. Another aspect of the “Campus Traditions and Activities” exhibit that might resonate with any student currently enrolled in Differential or Integral Calculus is its description of The Cremation of Calculus. Beginning in 1889, this tradition—involving proclamations of Ol’ Man Calculus’ crimes against the sophomore class, the public parading of an effigy of the “numerological overlord,” and his “death by pyre and bonfire”—marked the end of the required course for sophomore students and continued as a monolithic tradition well into the
1950s until the parading and subsequent bonfires were deemed safety hazards by the city and school administration. For Ted Houghtaling, the project archivist responsible for processing the collection, it’s a matter of “making sense of chaos.” When asked about the relevance of the exhibit’s topic, he noted “There is something about student traditions because in the present, there are kinds of activities and clubs still going on but there is this type of early, antediluvian era of Stevens that exists in this murky haze of the past.” Going into the project “completely cold,” Houghtaling reported that his findings within the archives were not necessarily unique to the Stevens campus. “There was this whole culture of tradition and school spirit […] and other things that were happening at colleges all over the country,” said Houghtaling, referencing the more physi-
cal traditions, such as the Cane Spree or Flag Rush. “So there is a general student tradition but you see it specific to engineering and ‘nerding out’ by burning calculus and effigy.” Houghtaling calls this exhibit chapter one, however he is interested in exploring the shift in campus traditions and activities in the second half of the 20th century. “I’d be interested in chapter two […] and to speak with people who experienced these things first hand instead of relying on primary sources who can’t speak for themselves.” While Houghtaling’s work showcases the masses, the second exhibit focuses in on the man who truly set the tone in Stevens’ infancy: Dr. Henry Morton, the first president of the university. Leah Loscutoff, Head of Archives & Special Collections, has always been
see EXPLORING • Page 6
Stevens hosts heated mayoral candidates forum
by CHRISTIAN BONAVITA Staff Writer
On Sunday, October 22, Phi Sigma Sigma hosted Lip Sync 2017 in DeBaun Auditorium. Students from inside and outside of Stevens’s Greek community packed DeBaun’s orchestra level to witness a great night of entertainment. Lip Sync is an annual event that has been hosted by Phi Sigma Sigma since 2011. At first, the competition was open to any group of 5 or more people, who were challenged to choreograph and lip sync a 5-minute performance of any song in front of a panel of judges that included members of the school faculty and campus police. However, Lip Sync quickly grew to become a tradition in the Greek community, and since then has become a battle between fraternities to determine the best performers on campus. Now, the performances are around 10 minutes long and include hilarious costumes and props, as well as complicated lighting cues and choreography. In recent years, Phi Sigma Sigma has implemented themes that all acts must follow. Past themes have included “Power Couples” and “Decades”. This year’s
Photo by Monica Moser
by MONICA MOSER Staff Writer
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theme was “Movie Soundtracks.” All Greek organizations had to act out iconic scenes from their favorite films and blend them with their favorite songs from the film. This resulted in a surprising range of performances; while some organizations chose to perform selections from musicals like High School Musical and Grease, others presented scenes from Shrek and White Chicks. Five fraternities participated this year: Alpha Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Sigma Nu, and Lambda Upsilon Lambda. After a crowd-pleasing night filled with blonde wigs and cartwheels, and a guest performance of two songs from one of Stevens’s a cappella group, Quackappella, the
judges decided Sigma Phi Epsilon should take home the top prize of Best Picture for their lip sync to Blades of Glory. Lambda Upsilon Lambda won Best Writing and Music for their lip sync of White Chicks. Lip Sync Chair of Phi Sigma Sigma and lead organizer of this event, Melissa Gibbons, was very happy with this year’s Lip Sync. She said, “The event was very successful as it raised over $1000 towards the Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation, which supports school and college readiness.” A sister of Phi Sigma Sigma since 2014, Melissa congratulated all the fraternities that participated and expressed her excitement for the planning of next year’s Lip Sync event.
The Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition and the Student Government Association co-hosted a Hoboken Mayoral Candidates Forum in DeBaun Auditorium on Wednesday. This event invited all six of the Hoboken mayoral candidates to answer questions submitted by the audience upon entering. The audience consisted of Stevens students and Hoboken residents. The six candidates in the 2017 Hoboken Mayoral elections are Ronald Bautista, Ravi Bhalla, Michael DeFusco, Jennifer Giattino, Karen Nason, and Anthony Romano. Student Government Association President Tommy Daly welcomed the crowd, highlighting the recent increase of student participation in Hoboken city affairs. Notably, the SGA’s Municipal Affairs Ad-hoc Committee has initiated Project 1870, a student voter regis-
tration drive with the goal of 1870 Stevens students registered to vote in Hoboken. Helen Manogue, Head of the Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition, spoke about the recent work by the Coalition, which has hosted public forums for mayoral elections for decades. Manogue introduced moderator Bob Bowdon, who has previously moderated past forums. Each candidate gave an opening statement, laying out fundamental ideas of their platforms to the public. Bowdon asked several rounds of questions to the candidates, who answered in random order. After all of the candidates answered, each candidate was allowed one chance to rebut. Topics included taxes, flooding, the Washington Street Redesign, infrastructure, Hoboken recreation, and (on a lighter note) their favorite takeout restaurants in Hoboken.Throughout the evening, some candidates were not afraid to directly call out their opponents.
Many cited actions and decisions that were made by their opponents while they served on City Council, the School Board, or other positions in local government or civic duty. The majority of accusations came from Councilman DeFusco in his opening statement. While most candidates attempted to refute these, Councilman Ballah remained silent on one specific issue. When DeFusco accused Ballah’s Lawfirm of accepting lobbying fees from Suez water, Ballah did not attempt to respond. While ideologies differed concerning top development priorities, they all agreed that infrastructure (including flooding management) and city recreation need improvement. They also agreed that the current construction on Washington Street is inconvenient and not well managed, however, they differed on the ways it could be managed more efficiently. The election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 7.