STUDENT DESIGN New center scheduled to open in late October THE FLORIDA TECH CRIMSON
OCT. 7 2015
ISSUE 7
Photo by Ebube Ubochi
The signage will officially be Harris Student Design Center, due to Harris Corporation’s $1 million donation last this January. Rebekah Duntz Editor-in-Chief The Student Design Center has slowly appeared before our eyes over the course of three months, and is now scheduled to open in late October or early November. “I have class next door to it at the machine shop,” Curtis Marsh, a senior in aerospace engineering said. “I like it so far. It looks like a hangar.” Marsh is on the Formula SAE team, which will be going to Michigan International Speedway this May to compete in the design series. He and his teammates, like many other seniors participating in capstone projects, will be spending a lot of time during the spring semester in the new facility.
“I’m aerospace, but I’m working on the mechanical project,” Marsh said. “The other aerospace, like Mars Rover, Mining Bot, all those teams are going to be needing space too.” In the past, Marsh said the machine shop didn’t have a lot of room for all the students to build the parts they needed and there was a lot of competition for time. “Having the machine shop and the design center at the same time will be very good,” Marsh said. “It takes time to build parts. That’s mostly why people were complaining in the past.”
The specs: Florida Tech started designing the building one year ago,
and university architects obtained the permit to start construction in March. The metal building arrived in late June. “It’s gone together fairly rapidly at a cost of just under $1.9 million,” said Greg Tsark, the university architect. That number includes everything in the project development from construction and planting to furniture and the $1 million donation received from Harris Corporation this January. But the cost to the university for the building was only $900,000 of this total. “For under a million dollars, it’s a really remarkable asset,” Tsark said. The facility totals 11,600 square feet, with the main high bay, four smaller project rooms to the side, a lobby, bathrooms, and an ideation room.
“And 8,000 of that is basically a big high bay, which is basically a big high-tech barn,” Tsark said, laughing. “And so in that high bay, we have a lot of room to construct and fabricate whatever you guys dream up.” In the high bay area are storage racks, a spray booth, an overhead crane, function generators, welding stations, and compressed air and power throughout, which are available in floor boxes. There will also be storage space for the projects for when they’re not being worked on. As for the smaller project rooms, Tsark said they’re there are four rooms that are meant for more sensitive projects that don’t necessarily want to be in the messy, dirty high bay space. “Each project room is designed to hold three teams, so those
four project rooms could potentially hold 12 capstone projects.,” Tsark said. The ideation room will be a kind of brainstorming hangout, complete with a mondopad, floorto-ceiling whiteboards all the way around the room, and flexible furniture that can be rearranged however students want it.
“A nod to our past”: The branching metal tree on the corner of the building is an architectural nod to our past, present and future.
CONTINUES PAGE 3
Students forge friendships, start cycling group through app Started on Yik Yak, now we’re here: the story of #BikeGroup Alex Coultrup Managing Editor For a small group of Florida Tech students this fall, sharing the great outdoors with their peers started atypically: on Yik Yak. It all began when Noah Keaton, freshman and physics major, shared a photo from his sunrise beach bike ride on the anonymous, location-based mobile app. “Because I was bored here, I decided to go one time, and I posted pictures of it, and people were like ‘Oh I would have gone with you; you should have told me,’” Keaton said. Though he didn’t think other students would show up, Keaton waited outside Clemente Center with his bike the next morning. “No one showed up the first time,” he said. “Because you know, on Yik Yak, people don’t
trust other people, or they just don’t follow through.” But after posting photos of the sunrise from this ride, more users commented, expressing that they’d like to ride with him. Freshman Andy Griscom said he missed the first group, but still wanted to join in and bike to the beach next time. “I hadn’t seen the original post,” Griscom said, “but I was like oh, crap, can we do this again?” Keaton arranged a second ride and the students met outside Clemente Center at 6:30 a.m. #BikeGroup was born. “It was us, Xavier and Mario the first time, and we’ve been doing this every Saturday,” Griscom said. “We’ve had people come and go, but it’s usually the same four or five people.” Griscom said that he’s not a morning person by choice, but
having several 8:00 a.m. classes has forced him to adapt. “It’s nice to get up in the mornings and do something, you’re fired for like the first 10 mins, then the physical activity wakes you up and you feel great. Since PDH doesn’t open until 8:30, we sometimes just sleep on the beach for a little bit.” The group members have varied, and their biggest group has had eight riders. “We say hi to each other all the time. I guess you could say I’ve made friends,” Keaton said. “We haven’t hung out too much aside from biking.” Keaton, a Miami local, said he wasn’t always the kind of person who would arrange such a way to interact with strangers. “I’ve changed recently to become more social after I spent a year in Spain for an exchange program,” he said. “And there I just
had to become more open. So you have to kind of approach people.” Griscom is the only person who’s been going on rides every single week, Keaton said. He explained that it’s been a unique experience to meet people he otherwise might not have befriended. But both Keaton and Griscom agree: meeting people via Yik Yak is a risk. “The thing is, you don’t know who or what they are, so you’re taking a big risk. If you decide to meet someone at the dining hall for a meal, it’s different,” Keaton said. “Nothing bad is going to happen at the dining hall.” Despite the risk, Griscom said he wasn’t worried since the group meets in the center of campus. He describes himself as an intermittent Yik Yak user, opening the app occasionally to see what’s
going on around campus. “It’s interesting to see what people are actually thinking, so people say things that they wouldn’t otherwise say, which can be disappointing sometimes to see, but for the most part, it’s not too bad.” Even with apps like Yik Yak, common courtesy should be observed, Keaton said. “One thing is, don’t say you’re going to do something if you’re really not gonna do it. That’s for Yik Yakkers. Dedicate to what you say, stick to what you say.” For all involved, the Bike Group has evolved into an interesting break from otherwise potentially monotonous weekends. “I started biking just to do something,” Keaton said. “Because it can get pretty boring if you’re not doing something.” v
2 - October 7, 2015
OPINIONS
the Florida tech crimson
CAPS PSA: The Legal Drug Kendra Bartel CAPS Outreach Columnist
Did you know that alcohol is considered a drug? Many college students have learned this over the past few years and have also started calling alcohol the “legal drug.” While it can technically be considered a legal drug, this does not mean that it is 100 percent safe or that there are not rules and laws around alcohol. To learn more about safe partying, be sure to come out to the CAPS’ event “One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila … Floor” on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Olin Life Sciences Building, room 130 (auditorium). Here you can learn about safe partying and how alcohol and drugs can affect your personal, social, and academic life. There’s also the chance to win a fun prize! So what are some laws about alcohol you should know?
Drinking Laws Vary By State: While there are some alcohol laws that are consistent across the United States, not all laws are created equal. It is important that you know what the
laws for alcohol are in your specific state. This article references the Florida alcohol laws. You can find more about alcohol laws in Florida here http://www.alcohollaws. org/floridaalcohollaws. html.
Drinking Laws Vary By College: If you live on campus, or spend a good deal of time with friends on campus, it is important you know rules about drinking at your college. The rules for Florida Tech can be found in the Student Handbook, and also at this link: http://www.fit.edu/ studenthandbook/print. php#policy_5593
Open Container Laws: Many students do not realize that any bottle of alcohol already opened cannot be placed anywhere in the vehicle’s cab area. This means that all previously opened bottles of alcohol must go in the trunk. This also means that under no circumstance can you drink an open container of alcohol in the car whether you are driving or someone else is driving.
This is also true when using any means of public transportation.
Public Intoxication Is
You Must Always Comply With Blood-Alcohol Content (BAC) Levels:
Being publicly intoxicated is not allowed under any circumstances, so it’s always important to control your alcohol intake! While others may do this, there are many negative outcomes that can occur. So, take precaution when it comes to your safety! If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol and/ or other substances, do not be afraid to ask for help by contacting the student counseling center (CAPS)! To request services, call 321-674-8050 or walk into the center, which is located next to the student health center, on the corner of Country Club Road. and University Boulevard. You can also check out CAPS’ groups and other outreach events on the website at www. fit.edu/caps, as well as other helpful links on a variety of college issues. CAPS is just one of many resources at Florida Tech that supports maintaining a happy and healthy you! v
In Florida, the maximum BAC is .08 percent. Once your BAC level reaches .08, you are considered intoxicated and will be considered driving under the influence. If found to be above .20 percent, the repercussions become much more harsh such as jail time and loosing your license to drive permanently.
Do Not Leave The Club With Your Drink: You are prohibited to leave a club, or bar, you are in with an alcoholic beverage. If you leave the club with your drink in hand this is considered an “open container,” as well as “drinking in public,” which is not allowed (illegal?) in the state of Florida. This includes walking to another club. The easiest way to avoid getting in trouble is to simply finish your drink or throw it away before leaving a club.
Basically a No Go:
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.
3 -October 7, 2015
CAMPUS LIFE
The Florida tech crimson
STORY FROM PAGE 1 “The steel tree, it’s kind of a metaphor of two palm trees that we have on our campus,” Tsark said. “And it’s sort of a nod to our past and to our history, our humble beginnings. We thought posting that on the corner of the building would be a nice thing.” Tsark was referring to the University’s first president, Jerome Keuper, and his passion for collecting Palm Tree Species. “So it’s like an upside down family tree,” Tsark said. According to campus lore, Keuper once traveled the world collecting palm tree seeds, which played a role in the founding of the campus’ Botanical Gardens, for their preservation. Tsark said they plan on growing vines up the tree as well.
Exact opening dates: As for its exact opening date, Dr. Pierre Larochelle, the associate dean of the college of engineering, is in charge. “It will certainly open this semester, in all likelihood sometime in late October or November. The exact date is still to be determined,” Larochelle said in an emailed statement. In a Student Government meeting on Sep. 23, Larochelle said that students would not be able to get card swipe access to the center, and there would always
need to be an employee present, but that hours would be extended. Larochelle also said the hours will be extended during the busy times and build-up to the annual Northrop Grumman Engineering and Student Design Showcase. Tsark said the center will have a giant illuminated beacon on the outside of the building that will be on to signal when the center is open, and off when the center is closed. Marsh said the beacon seems like a nice touch, but he’s worried about the hours, and he and his teammates are anxious to start using the facility as soon as possible. “At the building stage, let’s just say we’ll be like ghosts. We’ll be living inside the machine shop. We’ll be building all night long,” Marsh said. “Because what they say is we have to do what we have to do to make sure it’s successful. There is no failing. We have to get it done.” Marsh joked that there should be a coffee machine in the new center. “Past teams have been building up to the hours of the design showcase, haven’t slept in like three or four days,” Marsh said. “They’re like, zombies in the design showcase presenting. This is what we do. People are tired. Lack of sleep. So it’s a lot of work, but it’s engineering.” v
PHOTO BY EBUBE UBOCHI
Above: Construction is expected to be complete wihtin the next week, according to Greg Tsark, university architect.
Above: The floor detailing is an architectual detail added in. The equation shown is Power = work over time, meaning power is the rate at which work gets done. The finesse and attention to detail seen in tiling shows commitment to student work.
Take the shot. Become a student journalist.
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 - October 7, 2015
The Florida tech crimson
campus life
Local elementary students scheduled to visit main campus Shantel Hanna Staff Member It has been almost 15 years since the first-ever mentoring visit from University Park Elementary to Florida Tech. Seventy-eight sixth graders, alongside their teachers, will be visiting Florida Tech’s main campus, scheduled to kick off Oct. 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The itinerary of events consists of a physics presentation by James Gering, instructor and director of laboratories, Department of Physics and Space Sciences. Their next stop will be an Athletics presentation and interactive activity organized by Mandi Bennett, director of Student Athlete Development. Students will then stroll over to indulge at the Panther Dining Hall on the tab of Gary Hamm, vice president of Enrollment Management. The four classes of sixth graders will also enjoy a complimentary campus tour, carried out by communication students who have volunteered their time. Judith Strother, professor of communication at Florida Tech, has been the liaison with University Park Elementary since operation ground zero, 15 years ago, under the leadership of President
Lynn Weaver. “Anytime you help others, it’s a blessing and I never get tired of seeing the joy and awakening in the children’s eyes [during their visits],” Strother said. University Park Elementary is officially considered an adopted school under Florida Tech, which was previously acknowledged and awarded to the stature by President Weaver back in 2000. The adoption by Florida Tech is its effort to assist the City of Melbourne in improving U.P’s image as a frozen school with a “C” rating and to raise college awareness to the students of U.P. Elementary. “Because of the background of the school, the students don’t know their options of going to college. Just having them on campus and showing them where they could be makes it worth it,” Strother said. “I hope they realize that college is a possibility for anyone that wants to attend. Many of our students never go to a college campus and therefore are unaware of all of the academic programs available to them,” Principal Donna Entsminger of University Park Elementary also pointed out.
Photo by Ebube Ubochi Over 70 students are scheduled to visit the campus on Oct. 9. U.P. Elementary’s current rating as a school is still a “C” average, given it has fluctuated throughout the years for various reasons. Principal Entsminger has been working with Florida Tech since 2002, two years after the adoption. She said believes Florida
Tech’s efforts in engaging with U.P. don’t go unnoticed within the community or with her students. “I do know that the community we serve is aware of the relationship between Florida Tech and U.P., and this is certainly considered a favorable one.” Principal Entsminger said.
Florida Tech and University Park Elementary also partner to host an annual Halloween event for the surrounding community. “Our community appreciates the commitment that Florida Tech has made to give students a safe environment to trick or treat and just enjoy all of the festivities.” v
Photo by Rebekah Duntz
6 -October 7, 2015
campus life
The Florida tech crimson
Yik Yak posts about Gleason’s ‘death’ prove untrue Rebekah Duntz Editor-in-chief
The Yik Yak posts that sent much of the campus community into confusion and grief were proven untrue at about 5 p.m. on Oct. 2 At around noon, the anonymous location-based app Yik Yak blew up with posts about Gleason, the campus’ beloved feral cat usually seen around WFIT, being hit and killed outside Crawford Science Tower. The posts began with a person ‘admitting’ he hit a cat outside Crawford, and they escalated from there. Yik Yak was filled with posts about the cat all day. Another anonymous poster claimed he or she had been a
witness to the incident, that a red mustang hit the animal; and still another poster claimed Facilities picked up the dead body and disposed of it. Facilities Operations confirmed they did not received any reports of any dead animals on campus, according to Carlos Rivera, lead groundskeeper at Florida Tech. Security also confirmed they did not receive any reports of any incidents on campus where an animal was hit. “We’ve got five officers out there, if that would have happened today, they would have instantly heard of it,” Sgt. David Cash said. “If it would have happened, we would have called either Animal Control, or Greg Peebles’ office or Grounds.” Perhaps this is the trouble with anonymous-based mobile applications.v
IN PHOTOS: Rathskeller event showcases student talent Alex Coultrup Managing Editor Students gathered at the Rathskeller on Oct. 1 to join their peers for the first in a new series of campus events: Open Mic Night. Keith Lovett, a senior in business administration and marketing, runs a full-service eventplanning company and organized the show. “I came up with the Open Mic Night after speaking with two older gentlemen who grew up in this area and them telling me how the Florida Tech Rathskeller was the ‘turn up’ spot back in the day,” Lovett said in an emailed statement. Performances included mu-
sic in various genres, a poetry reading by Will Allen, and stand-up comedy by Doug Schoeller. At least 50 students attended the event, most of which signed in to enter Lovett’s In addition to providing an entertaining event to the campus, Open Mic Night can create opportunities for up-and-coming artists on campus, Lovett said in an emailed statement. “I also hope that from the event, artists who want to do something with their talents can network with other artists, he explained.” “The Rat” has the perfect amount of space and features for special events, Lovett said. v
Many seniors attended the Fall Career Expo on Sep. 30, where over 80 employers and alumni were set up to talk to students in the Clemente Center.
7 -October 7, 2015
SCI/TECH
The Florida tech crimson
Black Hat Conference offers glimpse into the future of hacking Christopher Pangalos Staff Member
Each August, information security experts, hackers and others come together for the Black Hat Conference, which includes lectures and demonstrations showcasing software exploits and new methods of hacking. This year’s conference covered several notable endeavours, while also addressing open internet and software laws. One demonstration at the conference showed that a printer, among other devices, could be
used to transmit radio signals containing data stolen from its network. According to Network World, Ang Cui, a researcher from Red Balloon security explained that this is done by quickly toggling I/O pins on chips in the printer which causes capacitors within UART chips to vibrate generating radio signals. The printer cable is then used as an antenna and the signal can be picked up via a radio
receiver. Cui called this system a Funtenna and showed it could be used along with code to send digital messages. According to PC mag Cui’s method still had limitations as his example required a 10 feet cable and malware to already be loaded on the device. Also shown at the Black Hat conference was a Jeep Hack by Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek. According to Wired, this was discovered earlier this year and showed that through an exploit hackers could remotely control many of the Jeeps functions ranging from small things like the windshield wipers and radio to major things like the steering and transmission. According to Tom’s Hardware, Miller and Valasek did this by rewriting firmware and exploiting an open port.
Satellites transmissions aren’t free from modification either. According to Network World, Colby Moore showed at the conference that Globalstar transmissions could be intercepted and modified to provide false information. Globalstar offers asset tracking which is typically used by businesses wishing to keep track of their trucks locations as well as wilderness hikers. After studying the transmission system Moore found that the data was unencrypted and that he could inject additional information into the stream being sent to the satellite. Moore explained that this method could potentially be used by hijackers who could steal a truck then send back their own location to the satellite indicating it was following its normal route. Kyle Wilhoit and Stephen
Got a big idea? Share it with us and we may write about it. crimson@fit.edu
Hilt presented their research into gas pump hacking at the conference. According to SC Magazine, they set up honeypot gas pumps in several companies so they could monitor attacks on them. Wilhoit and Hilt found there were several different types of attacks on these pumps, the majority of which occurred in the U.S. They ranged from DoSing to changing pump identifications. According to Tom’s Guide, one name change read “H4CK3D by IDC-TEAM” referring to a group known as Iranian Dark Coders. Willhoit and Hilt also pointed out that while it was possible, none of the attacks attempted to actually destroy the pumps, for instance by changing tank volume. It does however still show the danger of having these devices accessible. v
SPORTS the Florida tech crimson
October 7, 2015
Skier-turned-Cross Country athlete starts season strong
Audrey Gangloff Staff Member Kirsten Axelsson is used to being one of many. With her humble fortitude and steady perseverance, this freshman on the cross country team has found a way to make herself stand out. In her first three collegiate races, Axelsson made her way from a 12th place finish, to a top 10, and finally to runner-up status in her latest showing — and she’s not done yet. “It was a good race, I think,” Axelsson said. “I’m not that happy with the time, but of course I’m happy with getting second. But I think that I can do
better.” Axelsson finished her 5K at the Moccasin Invitational Sep. 26 at 19:30.70, coming in second place out of 77 competitors. Though she was unhappy with her time, Axelsson’s score helped bring the Panthers to a third place finish out of eight teams. Axelsson has been running for almost her whole life, but until three years ago the only running she did was in the summer. For the rest of the year she was up in the snow, on a pair of skis. The Swedish native from Skänninge switched from cross country skiing to running when she realized not only that was she
better at it, but that it was more fun for her. “To be a very good skier, you have to have really good technique,” she said, “and I don’t think I like that so much.” Axelsson said she likes to train hard but would rather focus on improving herself and her times than work on specific techniques. In preparing for her first collegiate season, Axelsson said she trained a lot over the summer. The transition from practicing at home to practicing on a rigorous college schedule was not a hard one for her. Axelsson said she has always trained rather hard and would
even run farther distances when training at home than she does for training on the FIT team. Coming to study in the U.S. means more to Axelsson than just developing in her sport. She wanted to do something different, to get a new experience and meet new people. So far, Florida and the Florida Tech community have had a good impression on her. “People are very nice here,” Axelsson said. “You always hold open doors and say good morning or say hello to each other. It’s a little bit different than home because we don’t do that.” Axelsson has also spent some
time at the beach, saying that she likes the beach here because back home it’s not often that they get good beach weather. More than the beach and the nice people, Axelsson’s best experience to date is getting to travel for away races with the whole team. Her latest team travel experience was to Tallahassee, Florida for the FSU Invitational where she came in with yet another impressive top-10 placement at 19:03.60. Axelsson was the first Sunshine State Conference runner to cross the finish line, coming in seventh place in front of 100 other competitors. v
Panthers fall to Palm Beach in tenth game of season Andrew Shipotofsky Sports Editor Despite an early lead in the Sept. 30 match, men’s soccer suffered a loss against #5 Palm Beach Atlantic. Behind a potent attack on transition, the Sailfish scored four unanswered goals that put the Panthers in too deep. “They’re a good team,” said Panthers head coach Robin Chan. “At the end of the day, they were clinical in the final third and we weren’t. We created chances, got into some areas, but didn’t execute. It’s definitely a tough one
to accept, but there’s no argument they deserved to win.” Florida Tech seized the early lead in the 16th minute of the contest when Josh Thomas’ cross into the box connected with Trey Collins for a header into the net. Since Collins move to the forward position, after the concussion injury to Adin Kavara, he has connected with the net in three consecutive games. “We start to progress him in the next few days,” Chan said of Kavara’s injury after the match. “As long has he progresses okay, he should be available on Saturday. Sam [Sawyer] and Adin are obvi-
ously important parts of the puzzle for us, hopefully those two guys give us a little bit of energy when they return.” The nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, at 5.5 goals per game, answered with a goal in the 27th minute off the strike from midfielder, Tom Gavin. Less than eight minutes later, Jermaine Metz notched his third goal of the year to give the Sailfish a lead that they would never relinquish. In the second half, the Panthers came out with much more energy, after being flat in the first half, but a poor turnover took all
the air out of the room. On a oneon-one, NCAA Division II leading goal scorer, Lucas DaSilva, got the best of Panther keeper, Chris Page. “Obviously, it took a little wind out of the sails at that point, but it’s a 90-minute game,” said Chan. “The one moment there is disappointing but, again, they punished us for those little moments and we didn’t do the same at the other end.” The Sailfish would go on to score one more goal in the 89th minute. While there may have been discrepancy on the scoreboard, the Panthers had their chances getting off 14 shots compared to 15 from
Palm Beach Atlantic. In the loss, Page secured four saves in net in his first career start for the Panthers. Quite a tall task for the freshman against the No. 5 team in the nation, while starting goalkeeper Mitch Thorn took a day off. “We felt Mitch needed a break. He was looking tired and stressed,” Chan said. “It’s the conference we are in, back-to-back hard games,” Chan said. “We understand that and hopefully embrace that challenge because we have to.” v