The official student newspaper of florida Tech
Fall, issue 5
October 15, 2013
New homecoming traditions begin with football, dance Homecoming dance to be on fourth floor of parking garage
dance,” Richardson said. Richardson also said that the committee wanted to be “innovative,” so they chose the fourth floor of the parking garage. “We’re announcing the king and queen at the dance this year,” Richardson said. “It has seemed like the dance was something that came after homecoming and wasn’t a part of it.” Richardson planned to announce the king and queen at the dance this year to make the homecoming dance the official end of homecoming. One of the events Richardson is most enthused for is Taking Back Sunday, this year’s homecoming concert. “We are flying them out from their tour to play. And then we are flying them back to continue their tour. Homecoming Fest is their only show they are playing in Florida and it’s free.” Bino Campanini, assistant vice president for Alumni Affairs, handles homecoming on the alumni side. “The students provide the financial backing to bring in the band, and Melbourne Mainstreet provides the infrastructure,” Campanini said. “This year we have Taking Back Sunday, as chosen by the students. We find out through our concert promoter what kinds of bands are in our price range and who is available around this time.” The Campus Activities Board donated $20,000 to fund Taking Back Sunday. The rest of homecoming’s $66,000 budget came from various sources, such as corporate sponsors like Audi of Melbourne, Meg O’Malley’s and Geico. Homecoming begins on Tuesday, Oct. 22 with the opening ceremonies in Columbia Village at 6 p.m. With the football program in place this fall and a new site for the dance, this year’s Homecoming should spark some panther pride in students on campus.
Hershlay Raymond Editor-in-Chief Last year, the Alumni Association inaugurated “Homecoming Fest,” a festival held in downtown Melbourne which aimed to unite both current students and alumni alike. The festival came together due to a partnership with Student Government Association, the student homecoming committee and Melbourne Mainstreet. Homecoming Fest marked a major change in Florida Tech’s homecoming. This year, there are even larger changes. “This year is going to be the best because we have an actual football game,” said Duke Richardson, a sophomore in communication and the 2013 homecoming chair. “Everyone is really fired up for the Panthers.” Rodney Bowers, the dean of students, is looking forward to football as well. “Football is a major part of homecoming. Now Florida Tech’s homecoming can be a part of the tradition all universities have.” The homecoming football game against Warner will be a part of the packed last day of homecoming which includes the parade, the tailgate and the homecoming dance. Richardson is enthusiastic about the changes the homecoming committee has made for this year, including the homecoming dance, which will be located on the fourth floor of the parking garage. “The dance is on campus this year because Levelz is closed,” Richardson said. After the shutdown of Levelz, the night club the homecoming dance was held at over the last few years, the homecoming committee scrambled to think of another location. “We didn’t want to do it in Clemente because it would feel like a middle school
Parking poses problems for students, faculty
Photo by Efram goldberg Officer Morrison and the rest of Florida Tech Security are on the lookout for parking violations.
Rebekah Duntz Campus Life Editor Everyone has raced the clock for a chance to get a decent parking spot at least once or twice— whether that person is a commuter in the morning, a member of the faculty or a hungry student taking a risk at losing a spot during lunch time. From any standpoint, the parking situation on campus is an issue that needs to be dealt with. At any time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., people can be seen circling the campus parking lots for an open spot. It’s a common happenstance to be walking to a car and having the feeling that someone is slowly following you—and someone is following you—because they want your spot. “Parking is finite,” said Kevin Graham, head of security. “We are putting together a committee to look at parking to see what can be done to relay concerns for all of our parking customers.” This committee will be meeting periodically to, “look at projec-
tions of parking and incoming students,” Graham said. The undergraduate admissions are 10 percent larger this year and the parking lots are at 99 percent capacity, showing that the campus is vastly expanding. As more students enroll, the parking situation becomes more complicated. “You see what we’re up against: a finite number of spots and an infinite possible number of customers,” Graham said. “Discipline in parking will help deal with the finite number of spaces. We don’t want to write tickets, but tickets are the only way we can let students know if they’re doing something wrong.” Other solutions to this problem are in the works, but these are not easy fixes and will take some planning and funding. In the future, there could be another parking garage constructed near the Olin buildings to help alleviate the heavy parking congestion on the south side of campus. Both the freshman garage and dining hall garage were designed to go up another floor, if need be. In the dining hall garage elevator,
there’s even a “fifth floor” button, even though there is actually no fifth floor. Greg Tsark, vice president of Facilities Operations and university architect, will be alongside Graham on the parking committee. “My job as a planner is to make recommendations and show where parking could be improved,” Tsark said. “I think that these are all potential projects that do not have a timeline yet. Some of the things right now, on the management side, are managing who can park where.” From an architect aspect, Tsark said the object with parking is to have all the cars on the perimeter of campus, and all the pedestrians on the inside. “It’s a pedestrian oriented space,” he said. Another parking issue at hand is the controversy over the “executive passes” being sold. Students and faculty can purchase a $750 parking spot and technically “lease” the spot of their choice for a year, including parking zones normally restricted from student use.
See Parking, pg. 3
Shutdown hinders students, but doesn’t prevent progress Kelsey McMullan Sci/Tech Editor For most students on campus the only exposure to the government shutdown they get is from the news or late night TV programs. Other students have to adjust to life with restricted resources. “I get data from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association,” said junior Nicholas Spiva. “I download data from them and I have a program, the NOAA Weather and Climate toolkit, that talks to NOAA and analyzes the data and puts it into a visualization so I can look into it. The day the government shutdown happened I realized I couldn’t open the application or use any of the data I had.”
“I happened to get lucky and saved one picture the day before,” Spiva said. “Had I not saved that one picture, I would be almost completely out of work. I’m doing what I can with the one picture.”
The US government has been shut down because Congress has not been able to agree on certain bills that are trying to be passed, which includes how the government spends money.
One of the most controversial parts of debate has been the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.” Brevard County’s representative in the house, Congress-
See shutdown, pg. 7
Photo Property of USA.gov This message greets visitors trying to access www.nasa.gov.
rick Stottler field displays new lights See lights, pg 8
man Bill Posey (R.), has stated publically that as long as federal employees are furloughed, he will not accept a paycheck, but will keep working for his constituents. Florida senator Bill Nelson (D.) is still accepting his paycheck according to his website, however CNN reports that he will donate his salary to a local charity. Florida’s other senator, Marco Rubio (R.), is still accepting his pay as well. Also dealing with depleted resources is Florida Tech’s Army ROTC. “For us here, we are continuing to train and educate our cadets,” said Lt. Col. Troy Glassman. “All of our workers right now are working. There is very minimal impact to our day to day operations.”
OPINIONS................... 2 Campus life........ ..... 3 SCI/TECH............. ..... 6 See photos pg 5 sports................. .....8
Check out the campus life photo spread