Fall 15 Issue 4

The Florida Tech Crimson

SEP. 15, 2015 ISSUE 4

Photo properyy of today.fit.edu

STUDENT DEVELOPS REAL-TIME TROLLEY APP Student’s code is being integrated with Web Services’ Florida Tech app Alex Coultrup Managing Editor With the addition of courses in the Oaks building on Babcock Street last spring, trolley routes were extended to help students arrive in the classroom on time. But even with university-sponsored transportation, catching a ride to class has proven challenging.

A new website designed to be a one-stop resource for trolley-related woes will begin beta testing later this month, and should be ready to help students at large not long after.

Ikechukwu Asomugha, a senior in software engineering, is developing a program to get students more in touch with the trolley system.

“It all starts with the driver,” he said. While

students access the website through their phones, trolley drivers have an active app with them, tracking each trolley’s location.

Drivers already keep track of trolley usage, said Student Government Association President Jessica Cushman, a senior. This data reflects how many students use the trolley routes at differing times of the day.

With each trolley’s movements accounted for along regular routes, Asomugha’s program may fill the gap students need: predicting when a trolley will arrive at their location.

SGA had been discussing practical ways to make the idea of a trolley app come to life. Cushman got in touch with Asomugha after learning about his design through Lee Martucci, FIT’s transportation supervisor.

“We were thinking about bells in buildings and other crazy thoughts,” Cushman said, laughing, “but we decided on an app.”

Asomugha’s idea for the program originally was an independent, downloadable app with versions for iPhone and Android.

A meeting with Josh Culver, director of web services, ended in their decision to design it as a feature integrated into FIT’s preexisting app. Adding the trolley-tracker program to this app will make the experience more seamless for students, Asomugha said.

The program will perform several basic functions: students will be able to use it to select one or more routes that may lead to their destination. Meanwhile, the app uses vibrant orange numbers to count down the next trolley’s projected arrival at their

selected pickup location in real time.

The screen will display where the approaching trolley is coming from and where it’s heading to next.

Designing the application has been demanding, but development will be completed soon, Asomugha said. Over the last month or so, he has already written over 6,000 lines of code for the program.

The next step: testing the program. Asomugha plans to give access to the app to limited groups of students at a time. This will test the program’s capacity and see what kind of load it can carry so he can strengthen it as needed.

In the future, Asomugha hopes to add more features to the app. One day, it may include an automatic location feature, so students don’t need to manually select their pickup spot. v

Athletic Training Clinic to employ new injury prevention techniques Andrew Shipotofsky Sports Editor Audrey Gangloff Staff Member Injuries from Florida Tech Football’s season opener against Newberry have set the players back in their fight to win the game.

Players Mark Cato, Trevor Sand, Tevlin Kirkland, Gabe Hughes and Jaz Gamble were all helped off the field at different points during the game.

Cato, Florida Tech’s starting quarterback, dislocated his elbow before halftime and second string quarterback Sean Ashley was sent in to replace him.

“At first there are some nerves, there’s some adjustment to the speed, but really once the ball is snapped to you it’s really all about reaction,” Head Coach Steve Englehart said of Ashley going in mid-game. “There’s also some anticipation and some excitement to get that opportunity.”

The Florida Tech strength and conditioning program has

begun to emphasize eccentric motion exercises as well as looking at specific biomechanics in order to more effectively prevent soft tissue injuries in the legs.

Jay Johnson, head of Florida Tech Athletic Training said that besides the “epidemic” of hamstring injuries at Florida Tech, the next two biggest football injuries after concussions, are ankle sprains and shoulder injuries.

In order to best prevent injuries, Florida Tech Athletics is focusing their training routines on muscular endurance.

“Endurance-wise, like I said, they’re not just focusing on cardiovascular,” Johnson said. “… not just run run run run run, but to actually get the burn within the muscle, get that endurance within the muscle group itself.”

Ethan Tyler is the head strength and conditioning coach at Florida Tech. His injury prevention program highlights the small muscles that oversee the workload of the larger muscle groups most prone to injury — shoulders, hips and hamstrings.

“Injuries happen when the

movements are not efficient,” Tyler said.

Tyler’s philosophy focuses on athletes coming back as soon as possible, stronger than before their injury occurred. Tyler explained that the stronger the muscle is before injury, the more efficient the rehabilitation process will be.

Florida Tech Football faced off a tough D1 Football Championship Subdivision team in Southeastern Louisiana this weekend and fell 28-17.

The team was without Cato, and starting running back, Sand. v

2 - September 15, 2015

OPINIONS

the Florida tech crimson

CAPS PSA Sex: The do’s

Kendra Bartel CAPS Outreach Columnist

Sex! It’s is everywhere from movies, to television shows, to

music. It’s likely you will not go a day without hearing it mentioned somewhere, especially on a college campus. Whether you feel ready and comfortable to have sex, or you’re not ready, there are some things that are always good to know.

Make sure to check out CAPS’ event “Let’s Do It, Let’s Talk about

Do what you are comfortable with:

Communicate with your partner:

There is a common myth that the hookup culture is the way to go — all those one-night stands you hear about where there is no talking involved. However, did you know your sex life will actually benefit if you have a partner you can talk to? When you have someone you can communicate with, you are able to tell them what you may like or what you may not like. Over time, you both learn what each other may like and want, and in the end, your sex life and relationship will improve.

Say no:

Sex!” on Sep. 22 at 7p.m. in Olin Life Sciences, room 130 to learn more about what constitutes consensual sexual behavior, as well as do’s and don’ts of safer, satisfying, consensual sex. There will be prizes too!

Oftentimes, college students are told only what not to do. There are events, seminars and even fliers posted around campus explaining everything you should not do, and sex is not an exception. Friends may even tell you what you should not do during sex, or what went so wrong “that one time.” So what are some things you should do when having sex?

There is a common myth or perception that if you are in a sexual relationship with someone and you told them “whenever is cool” that you cannot say no. This is absolutely not true! If you are not in the mood, say no! Sex is about your pleasure and your comfort. If the person you are with or seeing cannot understand that, DO get rid of them. Any unwanted sexual contact is sexual violence.

Your sex life does not have to be all about exploring wild and crazy new things.

Sometimes you feel comfortable sticking with the same things for a while, and that is okay! It is your sex life for a reason! So do not be afraid or ashamed if you have not tried the newest position or toy. Your comfort is the number one thing!

Use birth control and protection: While your friends or significant other may say no, the statistics say yes. At the end of the day, being safe pays off, where taking that risk leaves room for, well … a risk! The risks with sex tend to be sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy, none of which are small problems. So be safe and not sorry!

Do ask for help:

Ask your doctor if you are experiencing any pain or discomfort during sex. Also, do get help if you have been a victim of sexual violence.

If you would like someone to talk to about sex, have been a victim of sexual violence, or fear you may be pregnant, know you are not alone and the student health center or student counseling center are here to help! We realize it can be uncomfortable to reach out for help, but we hope you utilize your campus resources when you need them.

Counseling Center: 321-674 – 8050 Health Center: Phone: 321-674-8078

Want to see your name in print?

Stop by one of our meetings at 6:30 pm on Mondays.

There's free pizza.

And smiling faces.

CAMPUS LIFE

3 -September 15, 2015

The Florida tech crimson

STORM CHASING AT FLORIDA TECH

Photo by Andrew Shipotofsky

Doppler-on-Wheels provides hands-on learning for Meteorology Dept.

Andrew Shipotofsky Sports Editor Imagine racing down the road in a truck with an 8-foot radar dish in tow, intent on catching the next storm system.

That’s what students in the Department of Marine and Environmental systems have been doing for the last week in the Doppler on Wheels 7.

“In July, I got an email from Josh Wurman and his crew from the Center for Severe Weather Research,” said Steven Lazarus, lead professor of meteorology on the DOW project.

He brought in the DOW on a education grant for his Remote Sensing class after several proposals while on sabbatical in Colorado.

“We were approved ... by the National Science Foundation and they were going to make that 2,000-mile ride to Melbourne,” Lazarus said.

DOW7, one of three fully-

outfitted storm-chasing trucks in the Center for Severe Weather Research’s fleet, has been parked next to the Olin Physical Science Building since Aug. 31.

A Doppler radar determines the location and velocity of storms, clouds and precipitation. The DOW setup allows scientists and meteorologists to bring this radar system along with them into storms.

This technology allows for a high definition view of the system compared to a more pixelated view on transitional radars, like the WSR-88D at the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

“The radar has dual polarization, which means it sends out pulses of electromagnetic radiation that both horizontal and vertical oriented,” Lazarus said.

Lazarus said this tells you a lot about the micro-physics of a cloud, showing the difference which between water droplets and ice, which are essential to lightning.

During this project, students from Lazarus’ class go to the weather service in the morning and work with professional meteorologists to where the best place is for potential storms to occur later that day. That information is then relayed to the class.

“We sit down with a forecaster from the National Weather Service for about an hour and get a briefing on that day’s storms,” Nick Lensson, President of the Florida Tech student chapter of the American Meteorological Society and a member of the class.

Students later in the day will then go out in the field and take their own measurements of the storm systems they chase.

“Students are actually in the radar at ground zero working through all the scan strategies,” Lazarus said.

Students were able to intercept a storm and gather precipitation data on a chase experience when the DOW was set up at the Eastern Florida State College Palm

Bay campus. “It was an awesome experience being out there on the first day,” Lensson said.

About 30 students will go through a 90-minute class inside the DOW to learn how it works and understand how to take data from it.

Lazarus said students are learning how to operate the dish, radar, set up scan strategies, as well as learning about plane position indicators and range height indicators — which are electromagnetic radar sensing systems that produce map-like images.

“We got to sit in and see where all the magic happens,” Lensson said. “It looks complicated at first, but when it was broken down, it was really simple and accessible to take measurements quickly when there is a storm.”

“The most exciting part about the DOW was how fast it scans. I did see some of the pictures; and the dual pole the images are just phenomenal,” Lensson said.

The ultimate goal of the research that is going on this side of the education is to look at the convection initiation, deep convection (thunderstorms), lightning, coastal showers, and coastal conversance.

Many students were also pleased to have inventor of the original DOW, Josh Wurman, on campus. Wurman is atmospheric scientist noted for his research on tornadoes, tropical cyclones and weather radar. He is also very wellknown for the television show, Stormchasers, on the Discovery Channel.

Wurman and his colleague spoke to students for about 75 minutes on Sep. 3 about their research and to get them excited about their futures in the field.

“I thought it was amazing,” Lensson said. “The video he has of an intercept and the pictures he had from supercells were just phenomenal, and work they do all year long and how they are able go all around the country and overseas was very impressive.” v

FEATURE:

Students study abroad in Puerto Rico Meredithe Hite Staff Member During the summer, students at FIT are given the opportunity to study abroad in various countries, experience different walks of life, and be a part of various research opportunities.

This summer, one of the study abroad opportunities was a biology research trip to Puerto Rico.

This abroad program was a summer commitment consisting of six weeks of classes and then a two-week trip in July.

Many were scientifically-focused courses as opposed to cultural impact preparation.

According to junior Morgan Billig, the lack of specific classes to prepare the students for the diverse culture was not too much of a hindrance in the overall trip.

But that does not mean the trip was not

Photo by Ebube Ubochi without difficulty in some small instances where the language barrier had an impact on communication.

“One night,” Billig said,“ we went into this small restaurant... we wanted to order, and I wanted hot sauce with my food, but I didn’t know what to tell [the waitress]. Because you can point at the menu and show them that ‘this’ is what you want, but when I wanted to ask for something specific, I didn’t know what to say.”

It was possible to get by with a little background in spanish, but according to Billig, “When someone spoke no English, it was hard.”

She said felt welcomed by the people who lived there.“They were really open to sharing their culture.”

She expanded, describing how the people there would share all different parts

of their heritage, such as displaying handcrafted pieces or telling stories of their lifestyles.

A particular cultural indulgence of the students was the food. There were roadside vendors that would sell different types of foods, from common fresh fruits to other cultural dishes.

“They had things called pichos,” Billig explained. “It was basically a stick of meat.

It was barbeque chicken or barbeque steak … it was really good.”

The students spent their time doing research, collecting and analyzing data, and snorkeling a lot. ““I learned so much about fish: now if I went snorkeling, I could recognize what every fish is and name it,” Billig said. “To me that was awesome, because now I know more about it even though it’s not part of my major. v

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Writing positions available in: - Breaking News - Campus Life - Sports - Entertainment/ Arts & Culture - Science and Technology Looking for page designers and photographers. Positions at the Crimson are paid.

Photo courtesy of Griffith College

5 - September 15, 2015

The Florida tech crimson

campus life

DOING IT BY THE BOOKS: Textbook options in the digital age Will Henderson Staff Member Technological advancements are affecting all aspects of life, and some of its greatest impact has been made in the realm of education. New tools can be seen everywhere, from online lesson plans posted to digital quizzes and plagiarism-detecting software.

The textbook industry, however, has managed to stay perennial. New options exist to enable users take full advantage of the Internet, and students now have more choices than ever before.

Ellie Turner, manager of the Barnes & Noble bookstore on campus, supplied some information about current trends of textbook acquisition.

“Rental is the most frequently asked for option. Around 85 percent of books going out the door are rentals,” Turner said. “It’s a game changer, and the students

are happy with it.”

Turner said that the problem with online textbook outlets like Chegg and Amazon is that sometimes students may either receive the wrong book, or receive the right one in poor condition.

E-books, however, are more and more popular with students because many classes require online access codes for their textbooks. Turner said the problem with these is that professors who hold open-book tests may not not allow students to use computers, so they would be better off with physical copies.

One student, who elected to be called Matthew, identified a relatively new way of acquiring textbooks. He acquires his textbooks online for free in the form of PDF files.

Matthew has gone through the more traditional path of buying textbooks, and has even rented them, but said the availability of

textbooks online from reliable sources, coupled with the price of physical books, has turned him away from the classic model.

Matthew admits that he “likes the hardcover textbooks, but the benefits of a digital copy outweigh the luxury of a physical copy.”

If Matthew can’t find a book online, he checks out the library’s reserve copy of it and takes pictures of the particular pages that his professor requires him to read.

Laws against copyright infringement prohibit what Matthew is doing, but when asked if he feels guilty he replied, “I feel my conscience is clear, because I am not using these files for personal financial gain but for my own intellectual advancement.”

Chris Page, a junior in the business administration program, has rented textbooks from Chegg since he began here at Florida Tech. He estimates his average cost for textbooks each semester

to be around $100 for four textbooks.

Page said he finds the concept of online textbooks to be a trade-off.

“If it was free, I would do it, but I usually don’t like online books. The fact that they are free would make it impossible to pass up,” Page said.

He said that in the past, he has had teachers who encouraged their students to acquire the prescribed textbook, but hardly used it for the class, instead posting power point presentations on Canvas with all the information in the book.

Page said that he has noticed a change this year. Teachers are working with students to use older editions, or cheaper versions so that students will not have to pay as much to get the textbooks.

An article that appeared in the Aug. 20 issue of The Economist, entitled “A Textbook Case

of Price-Gouging” outlined the reason for higher textbook costs: “Like doctors prescribing drugs, professors assigning textbooks do not pay for the products themselves, so they have little incentive to pick cheap ones. Some assign books they have written themselves,” the article stated.

This rise in prices is three times the rise in consumer prices.

The Economist offers cheaper alternatives to students. Foreign editions are cheaper by sometimes as much as 90 percent, and digital copies are usually more cost effective as well, “And if all else fails, there is always the library,” the article said.

Whatever their preferred method of learning, students have so many more options that they are no longer forced to pay the high prices of textbooks. More than ever, students have control over their own educational experience. v

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COLUMN Su Orhon Staff Writer

Every week, Su Orhon will interview a different international student on campus to see what things are like for an international student to go to school in a small city in Melbourne, Florida.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your reasons to choose Florida Tech among all of the other colleges.

My name is Julio Burbano. I am from Cartagena, Colombia and then moved to Saudi Arabia when I was 12. I moved to Florida three years ago.

I like to surf, play soccer and my favorite lesson is chemistry, which then became my major.

The reasons I chose Florida Tech among all the other universities was that I was familiar with the state, which I like a lot, the weather, being on the coast and diversity of the people, and then Florida Tech appealed to me the most because it has very good education.

So you told that you lived in three different countries, can you tell us more about the other countries you lived in and the reasons why you moved there?

As I mentioned before I moved to Saudi Arabia at the age of 12. We moved there as a family because of my father’s job, the petroleum sector.

It was a pretty big change since it’s a Muslim country, and they are pretty conservative compared to the Latin culture I was used to. Although living there was a very beautiful and different experience that gave me the chance to travel a lot. Frankly, I can say that I visited most of the countries in Asia and the Middle East.

What about your last stop, Florida? What were the reasons that brought you here?

The high school I was going to in Saudi Arabia was a little school and I felt like I was not getting enough experience and education I was supposed to. So for my Junior year I moved to Florida with my other siblings and finished high school here.

Since you are already used to Florida, what changes did you struggle with the most when you came to college?

Being adapted to the state helped me to go through the phase. Also I was used to doing my own laundry, sharing my personal space with other people and eating at a cafeteria from my previous experiences in boarding school. Only thing that changed was I no more had a supervisor and I took

all my responsibilities like paperwork or my personal shopping for food and clothing.

What are the biggest differences between the cities you lived in before and here?

In comparison with my hometown and Florida, I cannot say that there are huge differences. They are both coastal cities and have warm weather. Also, there are lots of Latin people besides the nice domestic ones living in the area.

Although in Colombia, people are more relaxed, there are not much rules, everyone just goes with the flow. But here you have to be careful about your actions and there is lots of paperwork.

On the other hand, if you look to Saudi Arabia I can state that they are exactly the opposite. They were conservative, they had different types of food and the society showed huge differences compared to people in America. I am happy though that living there made it possible for me to meet new people from different cultures and gain new friends all around the place.

I guess that you are pretty used to talking in English, but how do you feel about not being able to talk in your mother language on a daily basis?

Yes, you can say that I am pretty used to talking in English. Although by the time when before moving to Saudi Arabia I stayed in Houston, Texas for a while, and that was hard for me. I had a little knowledge on English and was insecure about my speaking abilities so I stuck with my Latin friends at the beginning. Later I figured out that practicing the language is the only way you can learn it so I became friends with Americans and my language got better. I do love to talk in Spanish whenever I get the chance though.

Now imagine that you have a chance that you could change things about Melbourne to be similar to your hometown; what are the first things coming to your mind?

Okay, I have to admit that this is a hard one. Even though I like the campus and the diversity of people inside, the city itself is a bit small and boring. I do not like that there are lots of rules that have to be obeyed and I totally hate the rain! I love the heat and the beach, and I love how the city is in Downtown concept where the buildings are small and looking cosy. So other than rain, there is not much I would like to change about Melbourne. v

6 -September 15, 2015

The Florida tech crimson

campus life

IT’S MAGNETIC:

Student develops a new kind of textbook Lindsay Isaac Staff Member “It looks like we have a visitor,” Tim Muth, a professor of courses in international business and finance at Florida Tech, announced to his BUS 1501 class on Sep 2.

Muth was leading a discussion on the importance of looking for ideas and information both in obvious places and outside of the routine locations, when Conrad Nelson, a sophomore studying biochemical engineering, entered the classroom.

“Conrad, tell them your story,” Muth said.

The class sat at attention and Nelson began to speak.

Developing the idea “It started two years ago, at the beginning of senior year. I thought that textbooks were useful, I just thought they should be easier to use,” Nelson said. “I didn’t understand why they needed to be so heavy or impractical.”

The weight of textbooks along with the inefficiency of carrying around an entire book when only sections of the book would be used during any given class period drove Nelson to search for solutions.

“We only need a few pages a day, which led me to ask, ‘What if we could take a book apart?’”

Nelson explained.

The only alternative to the traditional textbook that allowed for the removal of pages was the looseleaf textbook. The difficulty with looseleaf texts is that the pages could get easily lost or disorganized. E-textbooks exist as an alternative to print, but the two formats created vastly different user experiences.

Nelson was still looking for a print textbook. He just wanted a lighter and more cost-efficient alternative. If no solution existed, Nelson would create his own. Nelson knew that he would need to

take the book apart; the challenge was figuring out how to put the book back together.

Then, Nelson, who was in his senior year of high school at the time, had an idea. “What if,” Nelson asked, “I use magnetic sections?”

Nelson would break the textbook down into sections and attach a magnet to the spine of each section so that each part could be easily attached and detached, creating a cheaper and lighter solution to traditional textbooks.

“I just took two pre-existing technologies and combined them.

There are so many theories and so many ideas … One theory suggests that nothing is original. In this case, those people are completely right,” Nelson said.

What was original about the biochemical engineer’s idea was the combination.

“It is so simple. I just put the pieces together,” Nelson said.

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’ ‘Why has nobody else thought of this? Just now? Why did it take this long?’

Those are very telling phrases,” Nelson said with a smile.

“Once I had the idea and I made sure that nothing like it already existed, I had to apply for a patent,“ Nelson said.

Applying for a Patent A teacher from Nelson’s high school helped him write the patent.

“He has written patents before and he found out that I was trying to write a patent, that I had the technology and that I was passionate about it, so he offered to help,” Nelson said.

“He taught me how to write my own patent. Having a lawyer write the patent for me would have cost $10,000 at the least, but doing it myself only cost $450. The process took about 2 months from when I started to when I finally submitted the patent. I recently got patent pending, so now I am able

to share,” Nelson said.

There was a period of roughly 8 months after Nelson conceived of his idea where the student could not talk about what he was working on with anyone.

Approaching a Publisher Shortly after Nelson gained protection for his idea, the Massachusetts native approached Cengage Learning, a leading educational content company headquartered in Boston, to pitch his product idea.

“I had two meetings with Cengage,” Nelson said.

Initially, Nelson met with the Senior Vice President of the company.

“He invited me to come back to speak with the chief product officer, who told me that the problem they had with the idea was that the book was print,” said Nelson.

“The company profits more from digital content and digital sales.

The CPO even told me that until a year ago, textbook publishers, and he actually said this, ‘Didn’t give a s**t about what the students like,’” Nelson recalled.

“Students Prefer Digital Text” The company operated out of assumptions. Students, Cengage assumed, according to Nelson, prefer digital text over print text.

Nelson said he believed this was not the case.

An informal survey of the BUS 1501 class illustrated Nelson’s point: “Who in this classroom prefers e-textbooks?,” the engineer asked.

Only one hand in the back of the classroom was raised.

“That just goes to show that many students still prefer print.

It’s all very simple. The students want this. The complicated part is that the publishers do not have incentive to change,” said Nelson.

Nelson, convinced that

Student survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H8Y8FTK Instructor survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PRZ9BHX

many students still preferred print to digital textbooks, asked the CPO what needed to be done to persuade the CPO and Cengage of the value of Nelson’s product.

“They told me I needed a survey,” Nelson said. “The senior vice president of the company, Casey,” Nelson said, referring to him by last name, “told me that I needed to get 1,000 survey responses.”

“Then he chuckled and said that I could even try to get 10,000 responses,” Nelson said.

Getting Involved Nelson created two surveys: a student survey and a teacher survey.

“The student survey is for any middle school, high school or college on Earth, but preferably inside the U.S. and outside of Florida. The teacher survey is for any high school or college teacher, professor, instructor or department head,” Nelson said.

“My goal is to get between 10,000 and 100,000 responses.

I’m hoping to have that done in a month,” Nelson said.

Nelson has begun to reach out to schools across the country to ask for their help. “If each person gets at least 10 responses for the student survey or at least five responses for the instructor survey, 10,000 responses is certainly possible,” Nelson said.

“It’s amazing. I’m learning about the power of involving other people, because you don’t know what another person will be able to do,” Nelson said.

“And for quite a few people that I’ve met, it helps them personally as well. Everyone has ideas that they believe in,” the engineer said..

If you are interested in Nelson’s idea and you want to help him achieve his goal of 10,000 survey responses, you can find his survey on SurveyMonkey at the link listed below..

SCI/TECH

7 -September 15, 2015

Could dumb phones actually be smart?

Mobile phones that cannot connect to the Internet are still quite popular.

Will Henderson Staff Member

In today’s informationpacked world, and especially at Florida Tech, it’s rare to find a person who isn’t connected at all times. The power of smartphones has brought the world to our fingertips.

Whether checking Canvas for class assignments, emails or playing games, smartphones are a persistent feature in everyday life. A device that combines a telephone and a computer was first conceptualized by Nikolai Tesla in 1909, but wasn’t quite popularized until 2007 with the release of the Apple iPhone.

In the eight years after the first iPhone, multiple companies have gotten into the smartphone business, but its implementation has not forced the extinction of the “dumb phone.” Google defines a dumb phone as: “a basic cell phone that lacks the advanced functionality characteristic of a smartphone.”

Dumb phones are all around us.

Quartz, a digitally native news outlet focusing on business and designed for mobile phones, ironically provides data about the prevalence of dumb phones in the 21st century. Quartz projects the sale of dumb phones in 2015 to reach 590 million.

The article, entitled, “There is still plenty of money in dumb phones,” claims there are three main groups of dumb phone users; people who are getting their first phone, either young people or citizens of countries where cellular service is relatively new, people who don’t require a smartphone, such as everyone’s grandparents (mine are proud dumb phone users), and people who use an extra phone for work or travel.

Although it’s likely that dumb phones will be phased out in the near future, there is still a sector of people who find dumb phones to be their only logical option.

John Bocinsky, a Florida Tech senior biomedical engineering student, has had a dumb phone since he was in high school, and he currently holds a Metro PCS ZTE and service plan.

Bocinsky said the main reason he still uses a dumb phone is because of the price. The Metro PCS phone cost $40 without activation fees and it comes with a $25 monthly-unlimited talk and text plan.

He’s the only person in his family who does not have a smartphone, with the others adapting to a smartphone by paying a $10 monthly increase for an additional 2GB of data, as well as the cost of providing their own phone.

Eric Mason, another senior and friend of Bocinsky, talked about what it’s like being friends with someone with a dumb phone.

“He’s always asking to use my phone to check his email, because he doesn’t get updated,” Mason said. When asked if he feels disadvantaged, Bocinsky said that he really could use a phone with a navigation system when he gets lost in the car, and he has always wanted to give Tinder a try.

An Oct. 2014 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle talks about the advantages of dumb phones compared to smartphones, with the ability to disconnect being a key feature. Even celebrities are using dumb phones.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is a proud dumb phone user, seen on his small flip phone at Stanford football games.

Smartphones will always be on the front page of the news because of their constantly evolving features, but according to QZ.com, “even in the midst of the smartphone revolution, the vast majority of the world still uses dumb phones.” v

The Florida tech crimson

IS ADOBE FLASH

DYING OFF?

Christopher Pangalos Staff Member Flash was long the standard for browser based videos and games, being released in its earliest form in 1995 and passing through several names and companies such as Macromedia and finally Adobe in 2005. Today, with many websites switching to HTML5 for video, the more common use of flash is memory eating advertisements.

In addition, Flash has had more than its fair share of security holes in the past and some of the more recent ones have led to users and companies calling for Flash to be blocked in browsers.

One of the strongest early pushes against Flash came from Steve Jobs back in 2010.

In an open letter, he cited the reasons he would not support Flash on the iPhone, such as the fact it was proprietary and not an “open” standard like HTML5, CSS and Javascript.

He pointed out the security issues of flash which had one of the worst security records from Symantec in 2009.

He added that the video decoding used on most sites with Flash had a significant drain on battery life as well as the fact Flash was cross platform, so developers could not make device specific apps.

In November 2011, Adobe stopped new development on Flash Player for mobile browsers. Mike Chambers, a senior communications director at Adobe, explained that they would be focusing more on Adobe AIR for Mobile Applications and investing more in HTML5 as it was a better alternative for Mobile browsers.

He also noted HTML5 was continuing to grow even on PC browsers and the role of Flash would be changing. Android later followed up by stopping support for the Flash Player plug-in in 2012, effectively killing most rem-

nants of Flash Player on mobile devices.

On July 10 Adobe’s Security Bulletin announced three vulnerabilities in Flash Player, which could allow an attacker to gain remote access and total control over a victim’s computer.

According to Symantec, this was discovered after a 400GB cache of data was stolen from a hacking team. Mozilla responded by blocking the Adobe Flash plugin by default in its Firefox browser, though it later lifted the block to allow newer versions of Adobe Flash released after the exploit was patched.

Alex Stamos, security chief of Facebook, stated in a tweet on July 12, “it is time for Adobe to announce the end of life date for Flash and to ask the browsers to set killbits on the same day.”

Most recently, Google Chrome browsers updated after Sep. 1 will no longer autoplay Flash advertisements. A Google Ads team post on Google+ states that preventing autoplay on ads will improve performance for users, likely considering the reduced memory and battery usage.

A number of users also have formed a movement known as Occupy Flash at occupyflash.org, which states that Flash is an outdated standard and calls for users to disable Flash in their browser so that companies will stop supporting and developing apps for it.

It is important to note that even if Flash is blocked, it certainly won’t be the end for advertisers who would simply switch over the HTML5 alternatives. v

SPORTS the Florida tech crimson

September 15, 2015

Photo by Ebube Ubochi

Florida Tech volleyball starts off their 2015 season with a “W” Audrey Gangloff Staff Member With less than a month to prepare, the panthers hit the court running at the Flagler Invitational Sep. 4, finishing with a record of 3-0. The following weekend the team hosted their own invitational — their first since 2009.

Amy O’Brien, head volleyball coach, said their main goal returning home was to improve on serving, to have more aces than errors. “We’re hoping to bring that type of enthusiasm and fight and drive into this weekend.”

The panthers are used to being the visitors in a new town with trips to both Hawaii and New York City within the last two years. This

year they’re planning on making a name for themselves on their own court. “We’re ready to really just bunker down at home and take care of business here,” said O’Brien.

Volleyball is a very high energy game, and with some tough, hard hitting players on the team, O’Brien said that it’s the most exciting game that a student can watch at FIT.

For O’Brien, that excitement comes from how well her team and staff work together. “Were such a close-knit group, besides just wins and losses, we’re a family, and it’s just such an exciting time to be with one another.”

According to O’Brien, the team will have plenty of opportunities for team bonding, but they still have to do well in the conference

in order to reach their goal of winning a national championship.

“We compete in one of the toughest conferences in the nation and every single conference match is a battle,” O’Brien said. “It’s an exciting game, but we need to make sure that we’re taking care of our conference components to make it to regionals.” v

Former soccer player makes Football debut Andrew Shipotofsky Sports Editor

Looking onto the Florida Tech Panther Stadium field, fans seated on the stands would never have suspected that the football game they were watching was Drake Hillman’s first.

Before kicking an American football, Hillman was kicking the international football on Florida Tech’s men’s soccer team. Over his soccer career, Hillman scored 21 goals playing forward.

In the season opener against Newberry on Sep. 5, Hillman kicked the opening kickoff and

three points at touchdown. He also missed a 51-yard field goal attempt off the left upright in the closing seconds of the game.

“I knew there were two seconds left, but didn’t know the rules,” Hillman said. “I thought as I was running up, I better hurry up and make this kick. I found out afterwards that wasn’t actually the rule, that really didn’t affect anything, I think.”

“To put his leg into a 51-yarder off the left upright was very encouraging,” Steve Englehart, head football Coach at Florida Tech said.

“I told him that kick there is going to help us win games later on down

the road.”

After his four years of NCAA eligibility in soccer, Hillman was set to return this year as an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team. After a few of his former teammates had Chipotle with the wide receiver coach, Austin Silvoy, Hillman’s name came up as possibility at kicker position in need for some depth.

The position was rather thin after the death of Alex Brack in a car accident last year and Brion Ashley’s departure for personal reasons.

“His upside is still up there, [Hillman] has done a great job,”

Englehart said. “He had a couple weeks in spring practice where he was kicking and used to it, and he is natural. He got a strong leg, and he has been kicking a ball his whole life except it was round and now it’s oblong.”

Hillman said the transition was tough, but after staying in Florida this summer to work on the sport, he’s feeling more comfortable with the change in form.

Hillman said he’s been adjusting to the difference in kicking the two balls.

“The weight,” Hillman said, “and you lean a lot more to the left when kicking a soccer ball, as well as the follow through. In football,

you tend to bring your leg straight through.”

Englehart said he believes that with Hillman as well as freshman Kyle Gullikson, the kicking game will be stronger this season compared to the last few.

“The kicking game as whole, from a production standpoint, you see the potential there with some really good kickers and punters,” Englehart said. “For the first time ever, we were kicking the ball down to the one, two-yard line on kickoffs and almost hitting a 51-yarder at the end to win the game. Our punting was really good too.” v

Florida Tech Cheerleading returns this Fall with new coach Audrey Gangloff Staff Member The Florida Tech cheerleading team is getting a facelift.

“This year we’re out to make a name for ourselves. We want to redo the school’s outlook on us. We’re putting in a lot more work,” said returning sophomore back spot, Nicole Ward.

These changes will be possible thanks to a new full-time cheer coach, Alexa Sumner. Not only has she been dancing and cheering since the age of two, but she also comes with an NFL pedigree.

“I just retired from the NFL for the past four years. I cheered for the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers,” said Sumner.

Sumner’s main goal for the FIT squad is to turn the team into a competitive varsity sport.

“We are looking into right now being a building year, so we’re getting in the weight room, we are working with different trainers and we will be going to stunting classes and tumbling classes to really build their strength and their skill to be able to compete in the next oncoming years,” said Sumner.

Last year, for most of the squad, cheer was just something to do where you were on a team and got the best seats at football and basketball games, according to Ward.

This year, when asked if they thought cheerleading was really a sport, Ward, Chelsea

Reichard, sophomore base, and Becca Candelaria, freshman base all had the same response — “Come to practice!”

The squad had been practicing every day for 3 hours in order to prepare for their debut showing at the first home football game on Sep. 5.

Reichard feels that the squad is ready but that they still need to work on some things — “we were thrown four dances at us all new that we’ve never done before.”

Ward agrees that even for those that came in with some knowledge and experience working together, this year is a whole different mindset.

“Everything is starting from scratch. We’re getting new uniforms, we got new pompoms, we have a new coach, we have new dances. It’s going to be a big difference from anything that anyone has known of the cheerleaders,” said Ward.

Sumner said the biggest noticeable difference will be an increase in the level of difficulty for the stunts and tumblers.

“We just want to up the ante a little bit and just throw some things that everyone can really ooh and ahh at.”

According to the women on the team, it’s not all about the pompoms and smiles.

Candelaria explained, “it’s not just performing a skill, it’s also looking good doing the skill. It takes just as much energy and effort and teamwork as any other sport.”

All three women agreed that the hardest thing about cheer is that someone is always watching you and that you always have to be on

Photo by Audrey Gangloff The Florida Tech Cheerleading team on the Sep. 5 home football game. your toes.

“In most other sports, you’re able to be taken out and no one is going to look at you; they’re only going to be looking at people in the field or on the court. With cheer, you’re always there, you’re always standing, someone’s always looking at you. You always have to be aware that everyone’s going to be watching you,” said Candelaria.

Sumner explained that the initial purpose of cheerleading is to be a spirit squad, to get everyone pumped and ready for their games — but it has become more than that.

“They have to be gymnasts, they have to be dancers, they have to be weightlifters. These girls and guys, their bodies really have to be on key just as much as any other athlete,” Sumner said.

Sumner plans to start bringing the team to exhibitions this year to prepare them for real competition.

“They will be performing, they will be getting judged but they will not be competing against anyone else at this time. I think it’s a good building block for the team to just get their feet wet and then really dive into our competition

next year,” said Sumner.

Despite all the changes, Reichard is most excited to be making a new name for themselves this season.

Ward is excited for the squad’s new image as well.

“This is a growing year.

This year, we might not make the leaps and bounds, but by next year we will be a full 20 steps ahead of where we are now,” Ward said.

“Our team is fairly young, so it’s cool to see that we’re changing it and we actually get to be a part of the change.” v