Caribbean Students’ Association collects donations for Hurricane Irma and Maria
// LINDSAY ISAAC SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR “We more or less have this motto in the Caribbean that goes, ‘Divided by water, united by culture,’ said Melissa Bramble, a Florida Tech master’s student from St. Croix, an island in the Caribbean She was sitting outside of the Panther Dining Hall collecting donations for other countries in the Caribbean affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Bramble, who goes by the name Millie, is the president of Florida Tech’s Caribbean Students’ Association, more
commonly known as CSA. For the last two weeks, starting Sept. 18 and ending Sept. 29, CSA has been hosting what began as an Irma Relief Fundraiser. “The original plan was for it to be a relief effort for Hurricane Irma and then Maria hit, so it transformed into a general hurricane relief effort,” Bramble said. “Usually the Caribbean will get hit by hurricanes, but not in such quick succession.” According to Bramble, all of the members of CSA came together to launch the relief effort. “Obviously, since we are CSA, there are some members who have family or
who are from the affected areas,” Bramble said. “There are a number of people from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dominica, St. Croix…There are a few Puerto Rican members. Some of them haven’t heard from their families,” she said. CSA collected $802 and hundreds of pounds of items such as cleaning supplies, food, medical supplies, hygiene products and clothing during the Hurricane Relief Effort, which ended on Friday. “It was a slow start, but it is snowballing,” Bramble said. “I would like to extend a special thanks to everyone
who has donated so far to our cause.” Bramble said CSA will still be accepting donation even though the collection at PDH has ended. “Contact csa. fit@gmail.com or mbramble2011@my.fit. edu. We will be happy to coordinate a pick-up,” she said. Leanni Tibbetts, a Florida Tech student studying aviation management with flight, directs six Caribbean Students’ Association groups within Florida. Tibbetts is from the Cayman Islands. CONTINUED ON 5
A problem STEMing from tradition Saturday's are for the books // MARY KOZAITIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF After asking a question in one of her civil engineering classes, Zoe Southwick got a response from her GSA that she never imagined. He pointed her out for being the only female in the class and the only one who was asking questions because she was confused. He advised she should not make a reputation for herself. This was the first day of class for the fall 2017 semester. This is not the only comment Southwick has received related to being a female in a 85 percent maledominated major. While working at her summer job at a civil engineering firm, she was the only female in her office. She worked as an inspector and mentioned to a painter that his job
was not up to specifications standards. He brushed her off while calling her “princess”, even though it is a required part of her job. According to the ngcproject.org (National Girls Collaborative Project), which encourages girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, women make up half of the workforce in the U.S., but only less than 29 percent of the STEM workforce. The numbers for women in engineering (15 percent of the workforce) and computer/mathematical science (25 percent of the workforce) make them stand out even more. Statistics like these may intimidate some women away from a traditionally known “man’s” career, but not all women. “Five labs in, I have CONTINUED ON 4
//DAVID THOMPSON STAFF WRITER Due to missing classes because of Hurricane Irma, make-up classes will be held Saturday Oct. 28, Saturday Nov. 18 and Thursday Dec. 7. Monica Baloga, senior vice president and provost, said that the make-up days have a lot do with making sure each class meets their accreditation requirements. “All institutions that receive financial aid funding have to be regionally accredited and that is a requirement of the U.S. department of education,” Baloga said. An email was sent out by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Florida Tech’s accreditation body, to Baloga and University President, Dwayne McCay, after the hurricane.
“[The email] basically indicated that there is an expectation that we meet the integrity of our credits awarded to students,” Baloga said. “It’s not a mandate, but it is an expectation that we meet the integrity of our credits.” The executive panel, composed of senior administrators, made the make-up days decision. Baloga also said she reached out to the deans of the colleges to help make the decision. “We did have discussions though they may not have filtered down to every single faculty member across the university, but certainly that discussion did filter down,” Baloga said. Baloga said making up classes on Saturdays is not unprecedented. CONTINUED ON 2
The Florida Tech Crimson
Members of CSA outside of PDH collecting donations for countries affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria. Photo by Lindsay Isaac
Issue 4 October 3 Fall 2017