The
Technician bulldogs.kettering.edu/technician
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February 17, 2019
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Volume 134
An Interview For Electric Cars
Issue 2
Jered Baker Staff Writer If you care about the automotive world at all, you know that electric cars are on the rise. If you don’t care about cars, and you don’t live under a theoretical rock, you at least know of Elon Musk. Electric cars are vehicles that are powered by, typically, a lithium-ion battery pack that is situated in a T-formation (Chevrolet Volt), small block (most plug-in vehicles), or most prominently, the skateboard configuration (any Tesla vehicle, Chevrolet Bolt, Rivian Automotive vehicles, etc.) where the battery of the car is flat and lays below the floor of the vehicle in the chassis. Modern electric car history starts in the 1970s in response to the oil crisis, spurring the US DepartPhoto of a Tesla Model 3 Courtesy of https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-model-3/
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What’s Inside
Cost of Class
How Much Does Kettering Cost You?
What Has Kettering Given Me? Jerico Markel Assistant Editor As a graduating Senior only taking 12 credit hours, I have a lot of time to sit back and think. Inevitably a great many of my thoughts have turned to my past experiences here at Kettering University. In the first place, I never once considered joining a fraternity when I was in high school, nor did I ever consider becoming a part of the Student Government. To top it off, I actually joined and became Editor-in-Chief of a collegiate newspaper. What the heck were you doing, high school me? How did you not anticipate any of this? Well, looking back I can’t say I’m surprised by where Kettering, or life in general, has taken me these past five years. Even as an unengaged firstterm Freshman (I may have failed Calculus I due to a lack of note taking, or effort in general), I showed interest in the goings of the university. The moment I first heard of breakfast with Dr. McMahan I signed up, and was, as I’m sure many of you were as well, quite pleased with the individual I met. That’s not to say everything Dr. McMahan does is perfect, but as a University President I admire his passion for the students and drive to improve both Kettering and the Flint community. During my pledging term (ΒΘΠ) one of my brothers was mugged out by Einstein’s. The following school term, I was surprised to see that Campus Safety had nearly tripled in size. More examples aren’t really needed. Dr. McMahan’s passion is as self evident as it is contagious. While I’m on the topic of passion, I must bring up the staff here at Kettering. The professors I’ve studied under, the members of Student Life, the
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Kettering Dining Services Who Are They?
The Editing Process 6
In Pictures
Thompson Hall staff, the Financial Aid Office, and many many other faculty and staff seem to share this burning passion for helping students on their journey through college. There are a number of people employed here at this university without whom I would have either flunked out or chosen a different path. I must give special credit to the Math Department, as I spent an average of two hours per week in certain professors' offices. At one point I actually started skipping Thursday lecture for MECH-300 to attend a Math professor's weekly study session in the Sunset Lounge. Yeah, Differential Equations was that rough. Supposedly this article was going to be about what Kettering has given me, but instead it turned into a walk down memory lane. To get a little more on-topic, I’m going to talk about some advantages Kettering has given me over BSMEs from other colleges. To start, there is Kettering’s 11-week schedule. You know, the one that is 4 weeks shorter than the average 15-week college semester. I enjoy this condensed schedule, as after I started my first co-op I discovered that work deadlines are actually longer than class deadlines at Kettering. What’s with that? It makes work seem more like a part-time vacation than an actual full-time job. Speaking of jobs, a few more great advantages at Kettering are the interpersonal connections and the ability to start work Continued on Page 9
Spider-Man Movie Review
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Kettering Dining Services Katie Gillies Staff Writer Wow! That meal was delicious! I am so glad that I have an on-campus meal plan. Okay, okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but here at Kettering, we have a meal crew that cares a lot about its students. They work really hard to ensure that the students here on-campus are fed not only good tasting food, but healthy food as well. Kettering University’s dining services are here to provide a good service to the students through a variety of meals that are
Photo Courtesy of kettering.edu able to be customized by the students. To learn more about how Kettering Universities dining service operates, I did an interview with Mark Sandru, the General Manager of Kettering Dining Continued on Page 2
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February 17, 2019
The Technician
Campus news
Kettering Dining Services Continued from front page Services, as an agent of Sodexo, the food-service company that contracts with Kettering University. Sandru has been working this position since January 2017. His everyday work is primarily ensuring that the student’s dining needs are met. He makes sure that the company can provide all of the meals that they plan to provide as well as programs the menu boards before meals, and hires the staff that prepare the food. Mark is also the point of contact for all food service-related concerns. For example, if you have a food allergy or any dietary restriction you can contact Mark to let the food workers know of your needs. He will sit down with you and discuss what they can do to provide you a better service along with informing you about what your options are if you cannot eat what they are serving that day. Often times these options are customizing what they are currently serving or requesting that they make you something else. Customization is one of the key concepts that the workers are trained to do. For example, I am allergic to dairy. I can go up to the grill in the Sunrise Café and request a sandwich without cheese on it and whoever is working there will make me a fresh sandwich. However, the idea of customizing is supposed to be a little bit more. You do not need to have any dietary restrictions to request a different type of food or to ask them to make yours just a little bit different. The staff that are employed by Sodexo care a lot about the students and are willing to help. However, in return you need to show them respect; use your manners and treat them like human beings, because they are. If you don’t like something or the juice has run out, tell the workers in a nice way instead of just complaining to your friends at your table. The workers will make you new food or they will refill the juice. The problem here just comes down Call us!
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The
Technician Preston Buszka
Editor-in-chief
Jerico M arkel
Assistant Editor
Nathan Schleh
L ayout Editor
to us as students not communicating with the workers. Personally, I have had a really good experience so far this term with my meal plan as I have come to know the workers and understand how the café operates. It never hurts to ask their name and tell them thank you or to just simply say, “Hey, that was a really good burger you made.” It honestly brightens the workers day when the students show them appreciation. Even if you are not comfortable complimenting them in person, you can fill out a card giving a compliment to a worker themselves or even a card with some general feedback on how you feel the dining service is. These cards are located on the wall next to the cashier that swipes your card when you enter Sunrise. When talking about how food selections are chosen for the Sunrise Café, many ideas were brought up. For the most part, meal options are chosen to fit a variety of different palates on any given day. They have to consider who is eating in the Café and what that population likes to eat. All foods served in the Café fall into one of the following categories: popularity, healthy and variety. For a bit more explanation, they know what foods are popular among the students and usually have at least one popular choice per meal. They try to have a healthy choice at every meal, and they try to serve a good variety of food to the students to keep them happy. After all, who wants to eat a hamburger every day? This ties back into customizing because if you do not like what they have to offer, you can always ask them to make you something else. In the Sunrise Café, they also have themed days such as Mindful Monday, a healthier option than normal, Taco Wednesdays, and on Thursdays they usually serve dishes that have an Asian flare to them. Sodexo also supplies the workers and food options for BJ’s Lounge in the basement of the Campus Center. While this menu is set in stone, BJ’s has a specials menu that they offer every week. This menu is chosen by the workers on a weekly basis. However, if you would like something as a special you can make a suggestion to the workers down there and they will consider your suggestion when making the menu for the next week. You can also get the meal exchange in the C-Store. For this, you can get a sandwich, wrap or salad, a bag of chips, or fruit and, a fountain drink. Take note that your total meal swipes are good for the whole week, Sunday through Saturday and do not expire if you don’t use one on any given day in the C-Store; however, one can only use one swipe for Einsteins/BJs/Sunrise per meal time. Another topic discussed during this interview was a potential possibility to expand on Kettering’s meal-exchange offerings. As of right now, there is no plan to include Little Caesars or Jimmy John's in on the meal exchange. This is because the restaurants themselves would have to undergo some major Continued on Page 8 Faculty Advisor Rebecah Pulsifer
Adam Lecznar
Copy Editor
Robert Lyman
Distribution Editor
Sydney Shirah
Campus Life Section Editor
Jered Baker
Auto Section Editor
Staff writers Katie Gillies Elise Atkinson
Special Thanks To Betsy Homsher & Myra Lumpkin & Cheyenne Chapman
Preston’s Perspective Preston Buszka Editor-in-Chief Game Struggles So, you want a crossword, eh? Well, my friend, more thought and effort goes into creating games than one might think. With anything we do at The Technician, we try our very best to accommodate our reading audience's preferred taste for the newspaper. We don’t often hear about the games until there is something wrong. For example, the crossword from the first issue of this term (Vol. 133, Issue 1). I happened to create it from scratch, as trying to find a good “copy and paste” web form is difficult, and it presents various challenges for publishing in a newspaper. For example, citing where it came from, inputting hints and words, limits on clues and words, advertisements, and more. So, I decided to create them from scratch on a spreadsheet. I create the hints and then spell out the words letter by letter, and then try to cross the words into an answer key. After the key is made, I copy it on to a new tab and just erase the words. I do apologize as there was a word where I missed a square on what was printed, but the answer key reflected the correct spelling length, so, whoopsies! I appreciate your understanding of the struggles and apologize for any inconvenience. For the record, if you want a specific game or have any comments about the games, please email us at aTechnician@kettering.edu, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. It's Cold! “Winter 2019,” they said, “Cold,” they said. Who are they? Where are they? Why are they? They are probably my Mom, but nonetheless, she does have a valid point. One can look up and request historical weather data from the National Weather Service (NWS) website (weather.gov) for free, and that is exactly what I did (because I’m a nerd (and proud), but also to make a point). On the days Kettering
Submissions Policy The Technician encourages any interested students to attend staff meetings. Meetings for Winter 2019 will be each Monday and Thursday over the lunch hour in The Technician office, located on the 3rd floor of the Campus Center above the Sunrise Café. Student submissions are encouraged and will be published if their material is in the public interest. Submissions or letters to the editor from faculty and administrative entities will be published if space is available. The Technician reserves the right to edit any and all submissions for brevity and clarity. Anonymous submissions are rarely published and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Individuals wishing to publish anonymously should consult the Editor-in-chief. The deadline for the upcoming issue of The Technician is 9th Wednesday at 12:20 pm, during the Winter 2019 term. Expected distribution is 10th Tuesday. Send submissions to aTechnician@ kettering.edu
February 17, 2019
The Technician Mondays & Thursdays @ 12:20 P.M. Campus Center 3rd Floor, next to Student Life
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The Technician
Campus News University canceled classes, the minimum and maximum observed temperature for those days (overall on 1/28/19, 1/30/19, 1/31/19) were 22°F, -2°F; 2°F, -14°F; and 3°F, -14°F. As my Mom would probably say, that is very cold. With the wind chill, frostbite can occur in about ten minutes of exposure. Now, some may say that we shouldn’t cancel classes. However, I spoke with President McMahan Wednesday, January 30th during lunch, and we spoke about how class and non-essential service cancellations work. He specifically touched on how he does not want to cancel classes if he does not have too (along with input from other individuals in the cancelation process). “There will always be people who are upset that classes are canceled,” he mentioned, “but we as an organization have a responsibility to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe from various hazardous conditions.” He mentioned how he and other members of the executive staff drive around to see how the weather conditions are on the roads, and that they take into account the weather conditions and forecast. On that note, based on the data I received from the NWS, there were no other days that there was a day with classes where the temperature dipped that low (as of 2/13/2019). Some days observed temperatures that were still cold, but not -14°F cold. So, on behalf of my Mother, thank you, Kettering. On a similar note, when I spoke with President McMahan on that “snow day” Wednesday, he talked about how the University has an obligation to also provide food to the students living in the residence hall. It was a legitimate concern for me of, “Am I going to have food to eat today?” As the rest of the university was at reduced operation, Kettering Dining Services (KDS) was in full swing. I asked President McMahan about how most of the staff didn’t have to report to school, but why KDS did. He said that Kettering University has an obligation to ensure the resident students' nutritional needs are met during the cancelation of classes, and Sodexo, the company that staffs KDS, has a contractual obligation to provide the food service to Kettering University. He also touched base on the KDS staff having to trek here in the weather, but since Sodexo provides the staffing, it is up to them to make the determination if whether or not to ask staff to report. In a separate interview with Mark Sandru, General Manager of Kettering Dining Services, he said that most of the KDS staff is local, and they worked together to alleviate possible staffing shortages due to the weather. Teamwork makes the dream work! In conclusion, again, on behalf of my Mother, thank you to Kettering University for keeping us safe, and an excellent thanks to Kettering Dining Service, for keeping us fed! Before I forget, my Mother did mention to me to make sure to wear clothes and bundle up, and such, in the cold. Well, I did do this most of the time; however, “occasionally” it may have slipped my mind that not wearing shorts outside when it -5°F is a bad idea. As it turns out, it is. Please remember to wear appropriate “It’s really cold out” clothing as you go about your day, folks. Thank you. Sincerely, The Voice of My Mother In The Back of My Head Editor Woes If you thought getting games and such into the
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newspaper were bad, people asking me about putting things into the paper is worse. It is the policy of The Technician to accept any submission, whether it be a picture, comic, puzzle, article, notice, press release, or even a question to our email, aTechnician@kettering.edu. After that, we review it to see if it meets the quality and content standards of The Technician. If it does, we publish it. If it doesn't, we work with the author to see if it can meet our standards, and if not, we don’t print it. As a note, we do not accept anonymous submissions; however, authors can request that their name withheld if we do publish their content. What perturbs me the most if someone asks me, “Can you put _________ in the newspaper?” 99 times out of 100 I say something along the lines of “Perhaps.” Perhaps, you say Preston? Yes, perhaps, because you can say something like an abstract idea to me, but the finished product could be something completely different. I don’t like to stifle creativity, so it is better to submit something that you may not be sure about than not at all. Don’t worry, we’ll help you out. Here is my little caveat to still not stifle your creativity, but some food for thought: keep in mind that the whole of Kettering University and the internet can read this newspaper, and the university has policies on specific substances, activities, etc., that can be conveyed on campus, as well as local, state, and federal laws that must be followed. Hint: we adhere to and are bound by the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Food for thought. Not stifling... Vacuuming Your Schedule If you made it this far (in life, in school, this article, etc.), you (hopefully) understand the importance of time management, like using a calendar. But sometimes, it gets messy. Or, maybe, you haven’t used it in a while, and it is lonely, a little dusty maybe. Well, it is time to vacuum your schedule! Clean it up. Organize it. Dust and wipe it off. Make all shiny, and clean. Keep it that way. Update it. Use your Kettering Email calendar. It’s free! Faculty, Staff, and fellow Students can look at your schedule (in a not creepy “I can only see if you’re free/busy (by default)” way) to see if you can meet. It’s that easy! Very cool. Efficient! Keep track of your classes, assignments, reminders, and more. Have fun. You can do it. I believe in you. Have a lovely day!
Technician Open Forum The Technician will be hosting an Open Forum on 7th Thursday (2/21/2019) from 7:00 PM-8:00 PM in the Cribathon (AB 2225). Students and Faculty are encouraged to participate. Hong Da and Drinks will be provided. RSVP on our Facebook Event and be entered into a raffle for a $75 Amazon Gift Card! Disclaimer: The winner will be chosen at the end of the event. Any member of the Kettering Community (Student, Faculty, or Staff ) is eligible to win. The winner must RSVP before the listed time below, and be present at the time of the drawing in order to win. Members of The Technician staff, advisors, and their immediate family are ineligible to participate. RSVPs will be accepted no later than 2/21/2019 at 6:30 PM.
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The Technician
Electric Cars
An Interview For Electric Cars
February 17, 2019
cold weather, bringing the 0-60 time from 4.5 seconds to well over 8 seconds during last week’s -50° wind chill. The car also loses range, some sources reporting a decrease of up to 30%, meaning 90 miles. I personally never had problems with this as my car is usually topped off, but I can see this being a problem if one has a long commute to work. Other than this, which really isn't even a significant problem for me personally, I really have no gripes with the EV. The infrastructure for charging is also weak at the moment. For a specific example, charging at home was very easy for me, but charging at Kettering was a big pain. When I got here beginning of Winter 2019, the charging station was out of service, and it took daily visits to get the problem resolved, but the whole time my car was sitting at 15% battery, and I had nowhere to charge it. The station is also very expensive, charging my car at 16 miles per hour, for $2.50 an hour. Preface: This is specifically about the car I drive, a 2: What are the top three differences that are Tesla Model 3. It may not be entirely comparable to noticeable to you between owning an electric other EVs, but it’s my only experience with one. vehicle versus a conventional ICE? 1: What are your top three favorite things As I mentioned above, the main differences would about driving an electric vehicle? Three least be the saved time and money through no maintefavorite? nance, and charging at home, meaning I don’t have One of my favorite things would definitely be the to worry about spending gas when I want to take a free charging that’s offered at Kettering as well as the drive somewhere or help someone out with a ride. reduced cost of transportation in general. After runThe ride is also significantly quieter, with no engine ning the math, operating my Tesla costs 35% as much making noise, and also feels a lot more responsive as my old vehicles, which had a fuel mileage rating with the accelerator responding instantly.
gasoline-powered vehicles, a light layer of salt and slush from the winter roads plastered on its sheet metal, just like every other car. If the Model 3 weren’t so instantly recognizable from the amount of social Continued from front page media coverage this particular car and Tesla Motors as a whole has garnered, it would blend in just fine ment of Energy to try and jumpstart efforts for al- with any other vehicle on the lot. With not too much digging, I was able to find ternative energy vehicles. The first modern Hybrid vehicle was produced in a General Electric research out that the owner was Kuwar Nagpal, a Freshman laboratory in 1982. Audi created a hybrid concept II Kettering student. Kuwar also holds a board posinamed “Duo” in 1982, but it never saw production. tion along-side me on the Thompson Hall AssociaToyota debuted the iconic Prius at the Tokyo Motor tion Executive Board. At our last meeting, I asked Show in 1995. The Prius nameplate has lived on to Kuwar if he would be interested in a brief interview become the most successful hybrid vehicle globally. about his time as an EV owner and the experiences GM and Nissan both sold electric vehicles, the Gen- he has had with his vehicle. Kuwar was enthusiastic eral Motors EV1 and the Nissan Altra EV, but nei- about the opportunity to share his thoughts. ther were successful nor did production last more Interview than two and four years respectively. (http://edisontechcenter.org/ElectricCars.html) Even recently, electric cars and hybrids have held a stigma of being ugly, uneconomical, econoboxes that are made purely as compliance vehicles to government fuel economy regulations. But all of this changed in 2008 when Tesla unveiled the Tesla Roadster: a fast, sexy, all-electric, two-seat sports car with unparalleled performance that could beat established nameplates of the time, shattering the perception that electric meant boring and uninspiring. Today, Tesla is no longer an anomaly in the automotive world as many of the world’s most prominent automakers are racing to put out their own electric vehicle, or entire line-up. Volkswagen, post-Dieselgate, is planning on a whole family of electric cars called the "I.D. Line". Ford is planning an electric vehicle based on the current generation Mustang called the Mach1. GM has the Chevy Bolt and is preparing many more electric vehicles. Audi has unveiled two gorgeous vehicles, an SUV and a coupe, while Mercedes also unveiled an SUV. Porsche is putting their Taycan EV into production this year. This only completes part of the list. None of these vehicles have any semblance to electric cars of the past. They are technological marvels with beautiful body lines, long ranges exceeding 250 miles per charge, fast charging capabilities, and enough new car tech to make even a technology savant’s eyes spin. The future is clear. Electric cars are here to stay. But what does that mean for you and me, and current drivers of conventional gas-burning vehicles? If you’re like me, you’ve probably never driven an electric vehicle before, and no, a go-kart does not count. Sitting inside of one at an auto show and “oohing” and awing” is probably the closest any of us have ever gotten. We see their praises from industry reviewers and owners alike, and that’s fantastic, but it doesn’t help us too much. Here at Kettering, we see a wide range of cars sitting in the student parking lots, from the classic college-kid car being an early 00’s Honda civic, all the way to brand new BMWs and Mercedes. However, if you’ve taken more than five seconds to scan the wheels on the lot this term, you may have noticed something new. With its handsome, blue, grill-less face, the Tesla Model 3 sits amongst a sea of other
of 31 MPG highway. Another is for sure the instant acceleration. While Internal Combustion Engines take time to deliver power once the gas is pressed, electric cars instantly send that power to the wheels in less than five milliseconds. Lastly, related to the first, saving time going to the gas station is also wonderful. Personally, I struggle to balance the need to go to the gas station with being too lazy to, so being able to come home and charge my car without going out of the way is very nice. Furthermore, the car has 0 maintenance schedule, meaning I don't have to do oil changes, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, etc. This saves me both time and money. As for least favorites, the car is impacted a lot by
Photo of Audi Duo Courtesy of www.dyler.com 3: Fast forward into the future and it's time to trade in your car for another. Would you purchase another electric car, an ICE, a plugin hybrid, etc, and why? I would for sure buy another EV, and almost certainly another Tesla. The Model 3’s acceleration numbers are unparalleled for EVs in its cost bracket right now, and I imagine that staying true for a while. The rapid acceleration is my favorite thing about the car by far, and any car that can do it faster and not cost more than 60k is most likely going to be an EV. Plus with the host of extra benefits, going back to a
February 17, 2019
The Technician
Electric Cars
traditional ICE would be hard. 4: How convenient is the charging infrastructure that you have experienced during the time of your ownership? Is there enough? What would be improvements that you would like to see? My only experience with charging infrastructure was at Kettering, which was a very poor experience to be quite honest. However, that was because of a ChargePoint station, which is an independent company that is not associated with any particular EV-producing company. My experience with an official Tesla Supercharger was very, very good. On the way back from home, I noticed I was a bit low on miles, so I stopped at a supercharger on the way, put my car on charge as I went and bought groceries for an hour, and when I came back my car had +120 miles for only $6. I’d like to see superchargers in more places, as the nearest one from here is 25 miles away, but it’s understandable that they aren’t, since Tesla vehicles here are not very common. I definitely think ChargePoint is terrible and don’t want to see them expand, so hopefully, another company comes up and spreads charging stations further. Author’s Note: It was later noted that for every hour that the Tesla is on a Kettering affiliated ChargePoint charging station (there are two around campus), only 16 miles of range were added per hour at the cost of $2.50 an hour. First off, this seemed very odd to me because as far as I was aware, ChargePoint chargers were at least level two, meaning they support 240V of power and can supply 19.2 kW / hour, or roughly 70 miles of range. ChargePoint’s website also states this as well, and the model of charger Kettering has on campus is an All-Purpose CT4000-series Level 2 Charging Station. However, as reported by Plug In America, ChargePoint chargers that are installed using federal grant money do not support full level 2 capacity and max out at 6.6 kW or 26 miles of range an hour. If this is the case, it makes a lot more sense for the lack of range being supplied to Kuwar’s Tesla. At this point, it is unknown the deal that Kettering reached with ChargePoint to install these chargers or who sets the price of use for the stations. However, it is my personal opinion that while it is fantastic that Kettering has electric car charging stations on campus, the current setup is flawed and grossly price gouged in an area where there are only two other ChargePoint stations throughout the city of Flint, and one Wind Charger station. Only one of the ChargePoint stations is public, the 3201 E. Court St. location, while the other is operated privately by the University of Michigan Flint. The Wind Charger is also on a business lot and is unknown if it is open to public use. 5: Overall, where would you like to see the technology go in the next ten years? I’d definitely like to see the technology go faster.
4.5 seconds for a 0-60 is very good, and Tesla promises a 2020 EV that will do it in 2.0 seconds. Other than that, I’d like to see more competition, as the big companies still are half-a**ing EVs and putting out low-quality vehicles that follow the same formula as their ICE cars have for 20 years. 6: How has the cold weather affected your vehicle? The cold weather definitely affected the acceleration, and apparently, the range that I thankfully did not have any problems with, but other than that, there was almost no impact. I could start the heat from my phone before I got in the car, so I was able to avoid that, but compared to an ICE, there was little to no difference. 7: Are there any tips or tricks that you have learned to drive with to improve your range?
Photo of a Mercedes EQC Courtesy of http://cars. usnews.com/cars-trucks/mercedes-eqc-profile For my car, all the work is done already. The car automatically regeneratively brakes while your foot is not on the gas, quite hard actually, meaning you rarely have to press the brakes if you drive in a controlled manner. This by itself makes the range extended a lot, especially for city driving where starts and stops are very common. 8: How has your general car maintenance changed? Is it better or worse? It’s gotten better definitely. Like I said above, the car itself doesn’t need any fluid changes other than wiper fluid. From what I’ve seen historically, even the Model Ss and Model 3s from 2012 still have almost no maintenance done on them. The cars, being electric with very few moving parts, tend to just work. 9: Do you believe, with the current state of technology, that the cost of an electric car is worth the premium price tag that is generally associated with an electric vehicle? Yes or no, please explain why. I personally think so, or I would not have bought one. After running the numbers, over ten years my EV will save me close to $15,000 in fuel costs, and another good sum in maintenance I no longer need. This means the cost of the car is offset a lot, and almost becomes as cheap as mid-tier ICEs, with all the aforementioned benefits. 10: The Tesla Model 3 is arguably one of the most controversial vehicles every created, having well over a half-million pre-orders when
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the books opened back in the first quarter of 2016. The company itself has a polarizing CEO who has placed himself in the history books, being in the news nearly every day since the company went mainstream with their vehicles. This has launched the automotive world forward in a race for electric vehicles. Do you feel like you are driving a future piece of automotive history/world history? Are you satisfied with your car? What are the things that you would change if you could? I very much wouldn’t change anything. I definitely feel like I am driving a piece of automotive history, even if at the moment it feels a bit futuristic. The Model 3 is an iconic car and is instantly recognizable anywhere. It’s one of the first cars that came with Autopilot in it, which gets better every day, and whose data will eventually lead to full self-driving. In my opinion, it’s widespread popularity is what drove other companies to start investing into EVs and selfdriving, like Porsche’s electric Taycan, and Cadillac’s Supercruise program. I very much agree with Elon’s vision for Tesla, which is to say that Tesla may eventually fail and its role taken up by other competitors, but Tesla will always be the first to have done it and will have greatly accelerated the pace at which it was done. Can you say that without the competitive pressure Tesla creates, that GM, Ford, Chrysler, and the host of other foreign brands would be moving forward with EV research and production at the rate they are now? Author’s Finals Thoughts: I’ll be frank. I love electric cars. I think they are amazing. I do honestly believe they are the future. I think Tesla has done a fantastic job jump starting an industry that, for a while, had become very comfortable sticking to their norms and producing lackluster products. Does all that credit go to Tesla? No. It doesn’t, but it’s enough of a chunk of the pie to be recognized. I know that it’s not realistically feasible for everyone to have an electric car. I drive a Subaru. It currently isn’t an option for me to go electric, as much as I would love to. There are barriers and boundaries for everyone. The price point is a clear glaring issue for many people up front, but there’s also range anxiety and general infrastructure issues, and overall, the technology needs to get better, and it is. Also, the current power grid that the United States has currently cannot support it. It would overload and go up in flames. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t start moving in that direction. (Giddy-up Kettering. Might want to start making some investment plans…) Overall, it is exhilarating for me, as a self-proclaimed auto-enthusiast, to see something new and exciting rolling the local streets. We live in a time of extreme of rampant technological advancement and seeing the beautiful things that designers and engineers are creating for consumers makes me very happy to be at a school where we can all be directly involved with it. Yes, that was a Kettering plug. Regardless, I’m here for it.
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The Technician
Through the Lens
February 17, 2019
“The progression of editing the Newspaper, starring the Editor-in-Chief, Preston Buszka� Photos Courtesy of Katie Gillies Stay tuned! More to come in the third edition, brought to you by this one.
February 17, 2019
The Technician
Through the Lens
Above: Members of The Technician staff pose for a picture in the Cloud: the KU Cloud. A special thanks to Viola Sprague for the behind-the-scenes peek! Top right, down: Residents and Staff of Thompson Hall had a great time at one of the recent Hall Events: “Karting While Intoxicated.” Students played Mario Kart whilst wearing “Drunk Goggles” to see how the effects of alcohol can have on one's ability to drive a motor vehicle. Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Residents Pictured: Grace Allen Emma Mucciante Hunter Fanson Ethan Sitzer Photos Courtesy of Preston Buszka Disclaimer: The Technician does not condone nor endorse the consumption, possession, or sale of alcohol. The event described above was for educational and informative purposes, and no alcohol was present pursuant to the Kettering University Alcohol Policy.
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February 17, 2019
The Technician
Campus News
Kettering Dining Services Continued from page 2 changes to be able to produce enough food that they can continue to serve the public as well as the student population. Another issue with this idea is that Kettering currently has a contract with Sodexo to staff our restaurants and these companies are separate from Sodexo. BJ Bucks are not accepted at either Little Ceasers or Jimmy John's as well because of the situation above. All BJ bucks go back to Sodexo, so since neither company are partners with Sodexo, they cannot accept the currency. However, you can use your BJ bucks to buy gift cards from the C-Store for both Little Caesars and Jimmy Johns for 18 BJ Bucks for a $20 gift card. In the end, all you have to do is talk to the workers and they will try their best to help you out. The workers are supposed to accommodate to your dietary needs, and they will as long as your request is reasonable, and you actually make a request. The workers do not know that you need something different to eat if you do not tell them. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any movement for adding Little Caesars or Jimmy John's to the meal exchange anytime soon, but the meal plans are for the benefit of the student. Having a meal plan allows you to have the convenience of meals being cooked for you giving you more time to do other things such as study or meet up with friends. Sodexo is striving to succeed at meeting the students’ expectations. If they aren’t please let Mark know so that he can work towards improving the students’ dining experiences.
to attend a single class. A quick Google search reveals that you can lease a 2019 Chevrolet Corvette from Wally Edgar Chevrolet (33.1 mi from my current location) for $902 a month provided you have excellent credit, average 12,000 miles annually and get a 36 month lease. Or you could just take a loan out for it and pay $1,329 a month for 60 months. So fun fact, the only thing standing between you and a corvette is a class at Kettering. Alright let us bring this into full swing. The U.S. president makes $400,000 annually. Assuming 91 hours per week and 49 weeks per year we can say that the president makes roughly $89.71 per hour. This means that an hour of one class ($105.07) at Kettering University is worth more than an hour of the U.S. presidents time. Now mind you this is only looking at the president’s hourly pay, not total salary. So what if you spent as much time in class as the president does at work? That would cost you $468,507.13 for a single class. Ouch. Needless to say a single class at Kettering is worth a lot. It’s enough to buy you a corvette and more costly than having the U.S. president work for an hour. While I can understand feelings of “I don’t want to be here” or “hooray a snow day!” I would implore everyone to remember that we are here for a reason and forgetting that reason can be very, very costly.
Technician Staff: Jered Baker
The Cost of Class Jerico Markel Assistant Editor Due to a series of recent snow days, I have decided it is appropriate to perform a cost breakdown of a course here at Kettering. The values used are based on the tuition charged to a Freshman I student in Summer 2014 (i.e. My tuition) and will be used in several comparisons. These values are not adjusted for inflation. To start with Kettering charges a total of $36,980 per year for students taking 16-20 credit hours. That comes out $18,490 per term. Assuming the average student takes 16 credits per term we can break that down to a cost of $4,622.50 per class. Dividing that by 44, the hours of lecture a class has in a given term, we get a low low cost of $105.07 per hour! So a 2014 freshman taking 16 credits is paying Kettering $105.07 for every hour he/she has lecture. This is where the fun starts. If you took that $18,490 and turned it into a stack of quarters it would stand 308 ft tall. Given that the Bell Tower is roughly 70 ft tall that would make the quarter tower about 4.4 times the height of the Bell Tower. Alternatively we can look at the cost per hour. Say we have 4 weeks in a month so 16 hours of a single class. That’s a cost of $1,681.12 per month
Jered Baker Auto Section Editor Hi, my name is Jered Baker. I’m a Jr. 2, IE major. I like warmth so I don’t know why I came to school in Michigan when I had the option to go to Florida or Arizona. I’m the VP and Treasurer of Thompson Hall Assembly Executive Board (THA E-Board), a member of Kettering Entrepreneurial Society, a Front Desk assistant in Thompson Hall, and a new member to The Technician. I enjoy reading late at night when I should be sleeping because I have an 8 a.m. class, free-writing off of prompts, working out, and taking my dog for walks. Post-graduation, I hope to work for an automotive original equipment manufacturers designing vehicle interiors to be more occupant-friendly using the study of ergonomics and biomechanics.
I joined The Technician to do something that I’ve always enjoyed but haven’t done much publicly: Writing. Writing has always been a hobby of mine since middle school when my class was half forced to take an extra English class. I chose creative writing and wasn’t disappointed with what I got out of the course. Bringing this to Kettering, I hope to write about the automotive realm and related stories.
Retraction of “Scavenger Hunt” Preston Buszka Editor-in-Chief Members of the Kettering University Community, it is with is with great disappointment that I must retract the Scavenger Hunt from our first issue of this winter term (Vol. 133 Issue 1). Due to an unfortunate delay in the distribution that was not in the control of The Technician, the deadline to submit pictures with our newsstands passed before the newspaper was disseminated. However, I am pleased to announce in its stead a Meme Scavenger Hunt! Please see “Meme Scavenger Hunt” for more details on that. Sincerely, Preston Buszka. Editor-in-Chief, The Technician.
Meme Scavenger Hunt The Technician is elated to announce the “doover” of our second Scavenger Hunt! From now until March 6th, 2019, students are encouraged to seek out or create memes! Students must submit (at most) five original or otherwise attributed memes to our email, listed below. The memes must relate to Kettering University in some way, shape, or form. The memes will be judged on a zero to five scale (five being the best) in the categories of Originality, Humor, and Quality. The student whose memes score the most points will win a $50 Amazon gift card and have their memes published in the 3rd Edition. In the event of a tie, the highest total Humor and Quality score will be used. Tasteless, plagiarized or inappropriate memes will be disqualified. Please send all memes to, atechnician@kettering. edu. Disclaimer: The winner will be based on the total number of points awarded by The Technician staff in the categories of Originality, Humor, and Quality on a zero to five scale ( five being the best); thereafter judged by the highest total Humor and Quality score in the event of a tie. The scavenger hunt is open to Students of Kettering University only. Members of The Technician staff and their immediate family are ineligible to participate. Submissions will be accepted no later than 3/6/2019 at 12:20 PM. Tasteless, plagiarized or inappropriate memes will be disqualified. Non-original content must be attributed to the original author.
February 17, 2019
What Has Kettering Given Me? Continued from front page in a field before you go full time. The connections are how you find and get jobs (it’s all about who you know). Working in industry as a student lets you discover if you actually like that industry. As an example, I started as a Process Engineer on a paint line for valve bodies. By the start of my second co-op term there, I already hated my life. Thankfully, that company saved me the trouble of quitting and let go of all 3 of their co-ops. Moving forward, I found my present and soon to be full-time employer at a job fair hosted by Kettering (those connections again). I didn’t know squat about what they did (machine tooling by the way) but they seemed devoted to the co-op program and open to training me from square one. Four years later, I’ve decided to base my career on manufacturing and even picked up a minor that Kettering technically doesn’t offer for it. And let us not forget the biggest advantage over other colleges: that we have actual work experience. Not part-time like Baker College. Not a single 4-month stint like the University of Toledo. Actual years of experience. I know a lot of us use the term “the Kettering advantage” as a joke. I certainly do it myself, but we should remember that there is an actual advantage. How big of an advantage is up to you, as a student, to determine through your choices and actions.
help wanted Online Editor, Section Editors, Staff Writers, Staff Photographers, and more Positions Open! No experience necessary! Hands-on training available!
Do you like writing, taking pictures, making comics, or creating puzzles? Do you have a knack for asking questions and have a healthy interest in the things that go on at Kettering? Do you want to make a difference in today's media atmosphere? Do you want to practice your journalistic ability? Do you want to hold people and organizations accountable for their statements and actions? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions, then The Technician is right for you! (Even if you didn’t, you should still consider it, read on for more) At The Technician, it is our responsibility to the students, faculty, staff, and campus at large to report on the news, events, clubs, changes, and more, affecting the students, faculty, staff, and campus at large of Kettering University. This may not be for everyone, but all are encouraged to join us at our twice weekly meetings or submit content to us, no matter the experience. Having your works be published in the newspaper is a great achievement and working on the newspaper is just part of the wonderful experience one earns at Kettering. Our top-notch editorial staff can show you the ropes and assist you in expanding your skills as an interviewer and writer.
The Technician
ART
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American Life in Poetry: Column 725 By Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004-2006 Marge Saiser, who lives in Nebraska, is a fine and a very lucky poet. With the passing of each year her poems have gotten stronger and deeper. That's an enviable direction for a writer. This poem was published in The Briar Cliff Review and it looks back wisely and wistfully over a rich life. Saiser's most recent book is The Woman in the Moon from Backwaters Press.
Weren't We Beautiful growing into ourselves earnest and funny we were angels of some kind, smiling visitors the light we lived in was gorgeous we looked up and into the camera the ordinary things we did with our hands or how we turned and walked or looked back we lifted the child spooned food into his mouth the camera held it, stayed it there we are in our lives as if we had all time as if we would stand in that room and wear that shirt those glasses as if that light without end would shine on us and from us American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www. poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Marjorie Saiser, "Weren't We Beautiful," from The Briar Cliff Review, (Vol. 30, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Marjorie Saiser and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2019 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. The Library of Congress does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. Call us! 810-762-9728 Find us on Facebook! www. fac eb o o k . co m / Th e KU Tec h n i c i a n
Check out The Technician Online! b u lld o gs . k et t er i n g. ed u / Tec h n i c i a n Look at previous Issues! www. issu u. co m / Th e Tec h n i c i a n
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The Technician
Reviews & Pop Culture
A Review of SpiderMan: Into the SpiderVerse Swinging into Theatres, It’s Spider-People! Elise Atkinson Staff Writer Even with a cornucopia of superhero movies premiering last year Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse stands out. The secret ingredient: your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. The Spider-Man story is not unfamiliar to most viewers. Peter Parker has existed for 50 years and has been showcased in several films through that time. Viewers won’t be bored with this retelling however. The directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman and writers Rodney Rothman and Phil Lord have made sure of that. Peter Parker isn’t the hero this time. Spider-Verse plays with the idea of a multiverse, with each world having its own version of Spider-Man. Each arachnid hero separate until a breach in the space-time continuum. Our main Spider-Man is an afro-latino, hip hop loving, middle schooler from Brooklyn named Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). Miles’ ordinary life forever changes when is bitten by a radioactive spider, just as he starts a new year in a boarding school away from his police officer father (Brian Henry) and his nurse mother (Luna Velez). Great responsibility is thrusted upon him after he’s given a mission by Peter Parker (Chris Pine). With help from a host of cross dimensional SpiderPeople, including Peter B. Parker ( Jake Johnson), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Ham ( John Mulaney), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) Miles must become a Spider-Man of his own while facing down Doc Ock, Kingpin, Prowler, and Green Goblin. This picture was a delight to watch. The dialogue is clever and realistic, never pausing too long and keeping to the idea of show not tell. The plot is humorous yet keeps time for emotional beats. The art direction is especially admirable. The animation stands out among live action CGI superhero movies that seem to be the norm these days. Each frame is bursting with detail and color, the animators clearly taking advantage of the medium to its fullest. A combination of low frame rates and both 3D and 2D elements to make it feel as if you’re watching a living comic book. The character design is especially admirable, a mix between cartoonish and realistic. The medium is a refreshing return to form. A loud, bold soundtrack rounds out the film. Sunflower, by Post Malone, is featured alongside Brooklyn-esque beats and a song sung by Spider-Man himself in the credits. To top it all off the film proclaims an inspiring message. Leaving the theatre, the audience feels as if they too, can be Spider-Man. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse NYT Critic's Pick Directors
February 17, 2019
it before you were able to use it. But now there’s an instant with “take an extra turn” on it. But that wasn’t all the text. With a sinking feeling, I read on. “If Nexus of Fate would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, reveal Nexus of Fate and shuffle it into its owner's library instead.” It was at this point that I threw my phone across The spider lineup of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), the room! This was abGwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Miles Morales (Shasurd! Extra turn effects?! meik Moore), Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage). Magic has plenty of those. Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures Cards that can’t enter the Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman graveyard without something else happening inWriters stead? Magic has plenty of those, too. Putting them Phil Lord, Rodney Rothman both on the same card? Not only is this mind-bogStars glingly powerful, it is also next to impossible to deal Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala with if you aren’t also playing blue spells. How this Ali, Brian Tyree Henry made it out of R&D is still entirely beyond me. Rating Nexus of Fate immediately and predictably (no, PG really, Bryan Gottlieb from StarCityGames explicRunning Time itly called this as his prediction for the state of Stan1h 57m dard in an article on August 6th) returned Turbofog Genres to viability in Standard. Most telling of the probAnimation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi lems to come; however, was David Williams’, an American professional card player, notes on how to sideboard his Bant Turbofog against the three best decks in the format at the time (BR Aggro, monoG Stompy, and BG Constrictor): “Do Nothing.” Robert Lyman Nexus of Fate single-handedly created the ability for Distribution Editor players to take a deck that hadn’t been majorly relThose of you who follow Magic: The Gathering evant in years and turn it into a deck whose strategy are probably divided on this issue, but I for one am for changing things up between games against the glad that this nonsense is finally ov- oh, wait. It’s three most powerful decks in the metagame is to do not. Look, let’s just talk for a minute about Nexus absolutely nothing whatsoever! This isn’t even mentioning the fact that every time of Fate. Wizards of the Coast(W0tC) released Core 2019 you cast Nexus of Fate, you have to shuffle your lion July 13, 2018. As players semi-excitedly looked brary. And while that might take less than a second through the spoilers in the weeks leading up to the on "Magic The Gathering Arena", that didn’t stop set, one card in particular jumped out - the boy-a- a player named Witchking from looping Nexus of Fate for two hours without any hope of winning the box promo. This threw a red flag for me immediately - and not game (as the only cards left in his library were Nexus just for me. The buy-a-box promo is not available of Fate) against two-time world champion Shahar for purchase any other way than by buying an entire Shenhar. Eventually, the conversation around Nexus got to booster box, and even then it’s only available as long as the store in question still has them. The fact that be so high-profile that WotC banned it - from bestWotC had allowed a card that was virtually unob- of-one digital matches only. What’s more, the out tainable in reasonable quantities to be such a topic of cycle ban announcement specifically mentioned of conversation was setting off alarm bells before I “viewing experiences” in the reasoning behind the ban - which means that Twitch viewers have had even saw the card for the first time. And then I did. “Nexus of Fate” was the name. a direct effect on a banned/restricted decision. Okay, so it’s going to mess with something in a big Which, as Mike Hatcher, a youtuber, pointed out, way. Oh, look out, this thing costs seven. Blue spells is unprecedented. Tune in next week, when yet another game comthat cost seven mana never do 'little' things. It’s instant speed, so even more powerful. “Take an extra pany makes an absurd decision that turns into a PR nightmare. turn after this one.” No. Never before had there been an instant card with “Take an extra turn” printed on it. Sure, there were a few artifacts that put instant-speed extra turns on a stick, but all of those had requirements that meant either skipping turns beforehand or giving your opponent an average of two turns to remove
The Nexus Debacle
February 17, 2019
The Technician
Comics & Solutions
Comic Courtesy of xkcd.com
Puzzle Solutions
Sudoku Solutions in Order Comic by Elise Atkinson
Your Ad Here! Seriously. We will put your ad in this newspaper. Contact us at aTechnician@kettering.edu Or stop by on Monday/ Thursday during the lunch hour to talk about it.
Bottom Picross
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February 17, 2019
The Technician
Puzzles Crossword Puzzle III: Revenge of the Words
Sudoku
Down 2. President of Kettering University from 2005 - 2011 5. President of Kettering University from 1960 - 1976 6. President of Kettering University from 1950 - 1960 8. Current Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs 12. Current Vice President for Kettering Global Campus 13. Current Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students
(C) 2019 The Technician of Kettering University, Flint, MI Created by, Preston Buszka
Across 1. President of Kettering University from 2011 - Present 3. President of Kettering University from 1991 - 2005 4. President of Kettering University from 1976 - 1991 7. President of Kettering University from 1919 - 1950 9. Current Vice President for Administration & Finance 10. Current Vice President for University Advancement and External Relations 11. Current Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing Services 14. Current Vice President for Instructional, Administrative & Information Technology
Picross
Note from the Editor-in-Chief:: We have been made aware of an error in the first Edition's large picross puzzle. We apologize for the inconvenience and have corrected it in the bottom left. Thank you for your understanding.
Picrosses Courtesy of Nintendo