Spring 2018 - Issue 4

RIMSON The Florida Tech

@FTCrimson @FTCrimson crimson@fit.edu

The Official Student-Run Newspaper•since

Issue 4

Our Mission: Live, discover and report the truth.

1967

Spring

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018

African American read-in brings Melbourne community together

Freshman hackers add to FIT’s hackathon winning ways

Markeema Crawford \\ s ta f f w r i t e r More than 200 people attended Florida Tech’s third annual A frican A merican Read-in, celebrating Black History Month by honoring the works of African American authors and musicians.

The event, which occurred on Feb. 9, consisted of performances from both faculty and students, as well as special guest.

Setting the tone for the night was a duet sang by students, Ebubechukwu Ubochi and Noboluwaduro Akande, current princess of Nigeria.

The duo said they usually performed African songs, but wanted to choose an African American song and “No One”

by Alicia Keys seemed to be the perfect fit.

Continued on page 7

The Hackathon in action.

Nicole kern \\ Staff Writer With a device called Drug Dealer, four Florida Institute of Technology freshman took home the gold in a Miami hackathon early this February.

Mechanical engineers prepare to win with altering baja vehicle Justin Hassel \\ Contributing writer Florida Tech mechanical engineering students get ready for their contest for the second year in a row in Kansas. As they’re in the process of building the Alternating Baja Vehicle.

The competition involves several engineering programs using their vehicle to compete in two – three competitions.

Every vehicle is tested on its acceleration, speed and how the vehicle moves.

The winner of the competition will receive a money award to their school. The Florida Tech team came close to winning last year, but the performance of their vehicle was off by few points.

This year the, Florida Tech mechanical engineering team believes they have a much

stronger and durable vehicle.

This vehicle must be able to sustain and survive any terrain,s the competition has different obstacles, with difficult externalities for each vehicle to go through.

“The main thing we have to pay attention to this time around is the suspension,”David Odele, a junior at Florida Tech, said. This was one minor problem they had in their last competition that caused them to lose.

The vehicle itself takes a year to make. It is first analyzed on the computer to help decompose the complexity.

Then, it goes into the connecter process where it gets built.

The vehicle almost looks identical to a go-cart. It’s

Continued on page 5

Page 3

Page 4

Florida Tech Couples

Jet car girl zooms to success

INDEX

STUDENT LIFE PAGES 2-6

Photo by Nicole Kern

Kyle Stead, Cody Clemons, Jake Harrison and Gabriella Oye are the “junior” hackathon team at FIT, one of two groups formed out of the Association for Computing Machinery.

MangoHacks was the first

hackathon they’ve competed in together as an FIT team.

MangoHacks is part of Major League Hacking (MLH), a nationwide collegiate level

Continued on page 5

Picture-perfect

Panthers

Ashley letendre \\ staff writer Almost every college student has at least one form of social media — some use it for fun, while others use it as a tool to advertise their hobby.

Despite there being a photography club, many students like to spend their free time taking photos of others as a hobby or for business. These fellow panthers display their pride for the school or the beauty of Melbourne through their photos.

One freelance photographer is a sophomore who has had several photos featured on the official Florida Tech Instagram. This student, LaurenAnn Graham, has around 1,500 followers for her Instagram (@x.laurenann.elizabeth.x) and posts pictures frequently.

Photography has been a passion of Graham’s for many

Continued on page 2

Student designs come to life at the Harris Student Design Center

Photo by Mary Kozaitis

Gio Benitez showing new equipment available do student use at HSDC.

Mary Kozaitis \\ Editor - in - Chief Envision an accessible place where many students, faculty, and staff can turn their creative ideas into a reality. The Harris Student Design Center, HSDC, at the Florida Tech Melbourne Campus is just that.

At the HSDC, students, work with the assistance of peers and mentors to see their projects evolve from design to production.

President Catanese opened the HSDC in November 2015, and since then it has rapidly expanded with a variety of modern tools and technology.

The HSDC is made up of 11,500

Page 8 Humans Versus Zombies Explained

CAMPUS LIFE PAGES 7-8

square feet of innovation with specialized workspaces and project rooms. There are four project rooms and one meeting room in the HSDC — each with its own distinct functionality.

The first one is a soldering room, equipped with four

Continued on page 8

Page 11 Florida Tech Lacrosse dominates with a 22-7 win over Malloy

OPINION PAGES 9-10

SPORTS PAGE 12

2 STUDENTLIFE ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

Picture-perfect Panthers Continued from front years. “I’ve been taking photos for three years. I have never charged someone for photos, but I was offered my paid position not too long ago. I was the second photographer for a wedding in New Smyrna, but that is the only time I have been paid for my work.

I usually do it to capture the adventures I take with my friends,” Graham said.

Graham also suggested some tips for other students who would be interested in starting photography.

“Start with a basic camera and focus on what you want to capture. I started by making boards full of pictures that I loved, so that I could get an eye for the types of photos I wanted to capture. This helped me visualize poses, people and scenery when out taking pictures. I think having the eye for capturing a picture is the most important thing, so training yourself to see it will greatly improve your skills.”

Another student with a growing Instagram feed and range of followers is sophomore, Teddy Mageto. Otherwise known as @Teddymageto with over a thousand followers, Mageto has begun his own work as a photographer. “I’m trying to make it into a side business. It’s more of a hobby,” Mageto said, “I usually charge $10 an hour for photoshoots.”

In order to perfect his images, Mageto uses tools alongside his Canon camera to add his own touch. He explained he especially enjoys editing as part of the process too. “That’s like the fun part.

I use Adobe Lightroom and sometimes Photoshop.”

For a majority of his photos on his Instagram account, he

just asks people if they want to take photos.

“Normally I just call people or DM them and be like ‘yo do you want to have a photoshoot?’” Although if anyone is ever interested in a photoshoot with him, Mageto said, “Literally DM me, if you have Instagram and look me up.”

Similarly, one student photographer has been specializing in creating videos and taking photos for his fraternity.

Joseph Luya, sophomore, uses his skill set to create ads for his fraternity or for himself. Luya uses a Canon T3i and also said there are other cheaper options ranging around $200 for students who want to take their own photos.

For anyone who wants to post “professional” looking pictures, Luya explained some tips he had. “Take a regular photo and blur out the background so only your subject is in the focus and the quality goes up. Also making colors a little more vivid help.”

Alongside students who want to save money, Luya also said that Photoshop gives student discounts for anyone who is in college. Also, if you are looking to go old-fashioned for photoshoots, Luya suggested using different cameras. “Depending on the shot you want to get, you can get all sorts of shots. You can use a Kodak, disposable camera for a vintage look or a polaroid. The raw quality is good.”

Likewise to Luya, another student has been freelancing for weddings and even competes in photography competitions. Danae Dekker, a junior in business administration, has had experience with photography ever since her fresh-

Graham taking pictures.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Ann Graham

One of Graham's photographs.

man year of high school.

“It all started with a photography class/club I joined, that was led by a professional photographer, Jenna Huttula.

I started apprenticing for her business in 2013 and I went on photoshoots with her every month. After a year or so I

EDITORIAL STAFF Mary Kozaitis — Editor - in - Chief Eleanor Mathers — Managing Editor Doug Scheoller — Copy Editor Audrey Gangloff — Copy Editor Abeer Janakat — Design Editor Lindsey Isaac — Social Media Coordinator

BUSINESS STAFF Sean Moroney — Distributing Manager

started branching and doing my own stuff; selling my pictures, taking photos for other people and entering my work in competitions. I entered three different contests, winning best of show in two out of those three,” Dekker said.

No matter the camera,

Photo by Lauren Ann Graham

anyone has the option and possibility to become a professional photographer in such a modern, technological age.

With all these panthers creating their own businesses and photography, it’s no doubt that FIT will remain “high tech with a human touch.”

WRITER STAFF David Thompson — Sports staff Lexi Bettermann — Sports staff Jeff Libby — Staff Kiayna O'Neal — Staff Noah Bland — Staff Ashley Letendre — Staff Annika Sundquist — Staff Markeema Crawford — Staff

ADVISER Dr. Ted Petersen — Communication Professor

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STUDENTLIFE 3 ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

Florida Tech Couples Lindsay isaac \\ Social media coordinator Valentine’s Day is over, but these couples who met at Florida Tech are still going strong. Here are their stories.

Aleida Higginson and Joshua Higginson We met as freshman when we both lived in Robert's Hall and were in the same Calculus one class. We would study together and had a lot of overlapping friends. We didn't start dating until our junior year at Florida Tech. Then, we dated long distance after we graduated—Josh in aerospace engineering and me in astrophysics. We were married on July 20, 2014, the 45th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon.

Alexis Miller and Peter Zappala Peter is my best friend and my person. We started dating during the summer after our junior year—that was almost 4 years ago! We lived in the same building freshman year, but really got to know each other when we became resident assistants on the same staff our sophomore year. We weren't super close, but we definitely got along well—and are both from up north and have pretty complementary personalities. Now we both supervise our own staffs and work on research in grad school here. One of the biggest things we love doing is hosting others—whether it is making breakfast and playing board games on a random weekend or having weekly home-cooked "family dinners" for friends during summer. We love sharing our time with others. Being with Peter makes me want to grow as an individual and also as a couple.

Gabby Stanifer and Chase Stein Chase and I met at a party my first semester at Florida Tech. At the time, neither of us were really looking for anything serious—so we just went with the flow. We both love being outdoors and going on new adventures. Our favorite outdoor activity is to be out on the boat enjoying the beautiful Florida weather!

Sierra Shively & Chris Carter "It all started one day by the pool at Florida Tech—and now, 4 years and 6 countries later, there's nobody I'd rather explore the world with."

Brittney Lamb and Robby Bridgeman Robby introduced himself to me during Freshman Orientation—come to find out we lived right next door to each other. From that day on, we did everything together. He’s my best friend. Since college, we’ve moved to the Greater Boston area. Robby is working as a systems engineer in the biomedical field, and I have a job I love at an accounting firm. I am so thankful that Florida Tech brought us together.

Nicole Ward and Nigel Alexander

Sherry Dietz & Ken Dietz

Nigel and I met in the most stereotypical way—he was on the basketball team and I was on the cheerleading team. A great friendship then became a great relationship. Nigel is now working in Georgia flying planes, and I’m finishing my last semester at Florida Tech. We’re still together.

My husband and I met at Florida Tech. We had our first date at Canaveral Pier and our first kiss on the beach while a rocket was shot off from the Cape (no lie!). In January, we celebrated 28 years of marriage. We got a lot more out of school than a degree.

4 STUDENTLIFE ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

Jet car girl zooms to success

Photo by Chuck Palmer // Facebook

Photo by Kat Redner // Facebook

Photo by Kat Redner // Facebook

Kevin Boodoosingh \\ s ta f f w r i t e r Imagine staring straight ahead with nothing in sight, but a smooth speed provoking a fourth mile stretch of road.

You hear the engine behind your seat sucking more air than you can even imagine and you feel the heat on the back of your neck.

As your heart begins to pump blood faster and faster each millisecond, the light goes green and you accelerate from zero to 280 miles per hour in less than five and a half seconds.

This isn’t an imagination for Kat Redner and her jet car.

Redner is a senior at Florida Tech studying multi-platform journalism and is an intern/team member of Larsen Motorsports Inc. as a driver/ S T E M c o or d i n at or/m a r keter.

“It’s pretty much

just getting your name out there and seeing if anyone invests in your dream as well.”

Larsen Motorsports Inc (LMS). is a high performance vehicle research and development center in Palm Bay, Florida.

In 2015, Flor ida Tech became the newest of the jet dragsters on the Larsen Motorsports team. This partnership between LMS and FIT came about as an opportunity for students at Florida Tech to see what it takes to put a professional race team on the road.

The drivers of the FIT jet car include Redner, who of three months ago became a licensed jet car driver and

Photo by Kat Redner // Facebook

Before becoming a driver Redner used to be a crew member for Elaine Larsen.

Elaine Larsen.

Jumping into a jet car and driving is not that simple, Redner explains. “I had never driven a race car before or

anything like that. I have a V6 Mustang, so stepping from a daily driver to a race car that goes from zero to 280 mph in a few seconds is a big jump, so

Photo by Kat Redner // Facebook

Redner's daily driver, a V6 mustang.

it's kinda crazy, but you work your way into it.”

The training course is done

by Chris Larsen, founder of LMS and head crew chief. It begins by Chris Larsen teaching the drivers all about the jet car and its functions and operations.

As the drivers become aware of what they are getting into, it’s time to fire up the engine. The initial fire ups are done on site at LMS and after that, the drivers head to the track and do engine-only runs.

“The first time we do runs it’s at lower speeds, so its like 70 mph. which is nothing, but it’s still kind of scary because you’ve never driven anything like that before. After that, you light the afterburner, which gives it so much more power.

So far, my highest speed has been 264 mph, which I did at the Citrus Nationals,” Redner said.

Some might argue that

there are cars that can go just as fast as a jet car, but as Redner explained, “I would compare a really fast car to a really fast jet car, but it’s just two different things because a really fast car can take a much longer distance to get to that speed, but jet cars really focus on quarter mile tracks. We have a much shorter period of time in the car as well. You go a lot faster in a much shorter amount of time.”

With the future ahead, Redner is focused on getting a sponsorship. “ I always say driving is the easy part, finding money to drive the car is the hard part. It’s pretty much just getting your name out there and seeing if anyone invests in your dream as well,” Redner said.

She is also taking a more educational approach to everything.

“We do a lot of STEM education. We go to different schools and teach kids about what we do here at Larsen Motorsports.

Brian Tocci, Director of Operations at LMS, explained more about the car.

“We nearly double the output of the engine from about 2200 lbs of thrust in the engine to about 4500 lbs, with our afterburner configuration.

We will go through about a gallon to a gallon and a half of fuel every second at full power and we will use about 18-20 gallons in a single run,” said Tocci.

Tocci goes on to say that 90 percent of the body is aluminum, where the other 10 percent is fiberglass, which include complex shapes, such as the nose and engine inlet cowling. He explained on a forced production rate, it takes about nine months to fully build the car from design to testing.

STUDENTLIFE 5 ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

Freshman hackers add to FIT’s hackathon winning ways Continued from front competition series held annually between August and April.

While individual MLH events take place at campuses across the country throughout the season, the team traveled to Florida International University in Miami to participate in MangoHacks.

During the 36 hour competition, the team built a prototype of “Drug Dealer” — a prescription medication dispenser that uses facial recognition and near-field communication authentication to accurately distribute pills to the user based on their doctor’s orders.

As Stead described, “We put our ID tag up to the scanner, it takes a picture of our face, and verifies that ‘this card belongs to me.’”

If the device confirms the user’s identity, it distributes the correct amount of pills for that particular time frame.

The pills would be delivered to the user in a style similar to rolls of coins or packages of Pez candies and inserted directly into the device itself to be organized and sorted.

“The idea was originally supposed to be like a Redbox sort of thing for pharmacies, but we realized it’s really cheap to produce,” Oye said.

This would make it a viable solution for in-home use, especially in cases involving people who take a large amount of medication daily, or the elderly who struggle to remember what pills to take and when.

“It’s about safety more than anything,” Oye said.

The device could be integrated in other ways, such as sending reminder alerts to the user or allowing the doctor to change the prescription remotely. In worst case scenarios, “If the person misses the deadline, it could send message alerts or start calling relatives to have them check in and see if everything is alright,” Clemons said.

Inspiration for Drug Dealer came from Express Scripts, a mail order prescription medication service and one of the sponsors at the event. Like Express Scripts, various companies such as GE, JPMorgan & Chase and Carnival Cruise Line sponsor MangoHacks and other MLH events across the country.

As Harrison described, teams are given a list of these sponsors along with an open ended topic or problem at reg-

istration. From there, teams can find ways to develop hacks that address those topics.

“Say that we have a law enforcement company sponsoring and a cloud computing company sponsoring. How can we combine the two and make it into a product?” Harrison said.

The device won the team several awards, including best hardware hack, best healthcare hack and the first place prize for the competition overall. At the end of the day, the team racked up over $2200 in prizes.

“It wasn’t the first hackathon in the season, but it was our first one,” Oye said. “We won as freshman, so everyone was kinda mad.” “ We w e r e c omp e t i ng against grad students – people who were well seasoned with years under their belt, and four freshman took first place,” Clemmons said.

The junior team win comes after several hackathons completed by the “big” team from FIT, including graduate student, Muntaser Syed, and senior, Chris Woodle. The big

The Hackathon in action.

team has competed in dozens of hackathons since organized over the summer, and has won prizes at every one since.

“There has not been an MLH hackathon this year that a Florida Tech team has been to and not won anything,” Syed said. While they may not have won first at every competition, the team has consistently brought home awards.

“We call it zeroth place,” Woodle said. Even if they don’t place, they’ve continued to sweep competition in sponsor or category prizes. At DragonHacks hosted by Drexel University, they won the most prizes for an individual team.

During NASA’s Space Apps Challenge, the largest hackathon globally, they were one of the world’s top teams.

Both the big and junior teams hope to continue this success in the coming weeks.

Soon they’ll be traveling to other MLH hackathons, such as ones at Virginia Tech and Florida State University.

“The only medals we don’t have are ones that say two or three on them,” Syed said. “It’s one or nothing.”

Photo by Justin Hassel

Students using the welding machine.

Mechanical engineers prepare to win with altering baja vehicle Continued from front small enough for one person to fit,with railing on it for protection.

“The vehicle this year is way better than last year’s. The way we processed it and the way we’re putting it together, there’s no way we can lose,” Harry Brown, a senior at Florida Tech, sadid.

Brown, has been involved in two competitions and has came close to winning every year. “I would love to go out with a win my senior year,” said Brown.

A f ter t he competition is over, the results take two weeks to get sent back to the schools.

“G et t ing t hose losing

results last year made me eager to get back into the shop and start building our vehicle for next year,” Obaid Hammadi, a senior at FIT, said.

The mechanical engineering program and the competition not only helps students come together while forming several ideas, but also prepares students for the future and tasks they could see in their future career. With the vehicle being enhanced and closely monitored this year, the Florida Tech mechanical engineering team hopes to bring home the win.

“This competition has been a lot of fun for me and I can’t wait to kill it at this year’s competition,” Zach Zishuo, a junior at Florida Tech, said.

Photo by Nicole Kern

Photo by Nicole Kern

The Major League Hacking 1st place medal won

by FIT students.

Photo by Justin Hassel

The student vehicle's chassis.

6 STUDENTLIFE ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

A fresh taste of Mexico from the Bronx Renee’s Pico De Gallo

Jordan Densler \\ Contributing Writer This week, Real Food Real Kitchens is bringing you a taste of Mexico. This recipe for pico de gallo comes from our guest Renee who lives in the Bronx.

She learned how to cook from her tía abuela (great aunt) as a teenager in Mexico and this was one of the recipes she passed down to Renee. Now we are passing it on to you.

Pico de Gallo is fantastic to make for any party, dorm room game night, or a simple snack. It is f lavorful, fresh, incredibly versatile, and so

easy to make! It can be thrown together in any kitchen and the only equipment you’ll need is a knife, a cutting board, and a little space to chop up the ingredients. No heat required for this spicy dish. Pico de gallo can be used on chips, to top tacos, on fish, in ceviche, and more. Let us know how yours turns out and share pictures with us on Instagram. Also be sure to watch Renee’s episode for her story and other great recipes on Amazon Prime.

Renee's Pico De Gallo Ingredients.

Photo by Real Foods Real Kitchens

*makes enough for six to eight people.

INGREDIENTS • Five small tomatoes • One medium red onion • Two to three jalapeños, de-seeded (depending on how spicy you like it) • Half bunch of cilantro • Two limes • Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS Chop tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, and cilantro to desired

consistency (we like it chunky).

Mix together in a bowl.

Squeeze one and a half limes and add the juice to the bowl, stir well.

Add salt to taste.

After putting together the ingredients Renee's Pico De Gallo requires minimum directions.

Photo by Real Foods Real Kitchens

CAMPUSLIFE 7 ISSUE 4

African American read-in brings Melbourne community together Continued from front “We usually perform at ‘African African’ shows,” said Ubochi.

“For this one though, we wanted to do something different, something African American and we went through many songs, but “No One” was the most comfortable and we thought the song could get the crowd involved.”

Not only did the performance get the audience involved, it turned out to be a crowd favorite with standing ovations and loud applause filling the building.

“Hands down my favorite performance was ‘No One’,” said Kiara Smalls, a senior at FIT. “ I love the way they were able to make it their own by incorporating a guitar instead of the usual piano.”

Felipa Chavez, clinical psychosociology professor at Florida Tech, had many women feeling phenomenal after reciting Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman.”

“I am phenomenal” freshman, Gabriel Lewis, said.

“That was powerful. It sent chills down my spine because so many young woman, not just black women, don’t even know how phenomenal they really are.”

Robert Taylor, associate dean and head School of Arts and Communication had his own powerful message to give as well. He recited “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Rev. Martin Luther King and said that he chose this particular piece because of its overall message.

“It’s powerful,” Taylor said.

“It says all the things that need to be said, that people may not want to hear or are uncomfortable with, but it needs to be out there.”

Another performance that stood out was a poetry/step routine done by three members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

“This is what we need,” said Keyshawn Brown, a sophomore. “I would love to be a part of something like this.

We need more black fraternities and sororities here on campus.”

Ju s t w hen t he n ig ht seemed like it could not get any better, dinner was served prepared by Claudette King, a Melbourne local. The section where the food sat was called “Zora’s Café”, portraying a meal that Zora Neale Hurston had described in one of her works. The meal consisted of collard greens, beef stew, white rice, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken and a special type of flatbread.

Junior, Aabirah Gadhi, an international student, was especially excited about the meal because she had never had one like it before.

“I have never had a soul food dish, but I am always excited to try American foods and soul food has been on my to-do list for a while. I must say the food was delicious. It makes me want to learn to cook this dish for my family back home,” said Gadhi.

To conclude the night, Hazel Walker, a professional poet who goes by her stage name, Hazel Poet, performed an original piece she came up with while sitting in the audience.

“It just came to me as I at sat there and I was like ‘I`ll listen to everybody and make a poem from the observance in the room’, and that’s where that came from. It all just comes together,” she said.

The event was able to bring together, not only the Florida Tech community, but also Melbourne locals.

“I came last year and I was quite impressed, so I came back again,” Anne Crowley, a Melbourne local, said. “It’s just great for the community, so oh

yeah, I’ll be back next year!”

The Vice Mayor of Melb ou r ne , Yv on ne M i nu s , was even in attendance and thought the event was great for the community.

“An event like this is very important for the community and I am just happy that FIT thought it was important enough to have it here because it’s very well needed. I’ll be back every year,” she said.

Joni Oglesby, prior Chief Diversity Officer/Title IX Coordinator, who has hosted the event in the past, said that although we are right here surrounded by the African American community, we have done little in the past to welcome the community on campus. She said we are now; we are seeing more and more of the community come on to campus and see the richness of diversity FIT has to offer.

And in turn, she sees the Florida Tech family of students and faculty are learning about the culture, so it is a win for both.

FEBRUARY 20

CAPS: 1-Week Panther Diversity Challenge Gabriela A. González and Lisa Stewart \\ Outreach Coordinators, CAPS Day 1 Head to the library and check out an intercultural book.

Here are some recs to get you started: Funny in Farsi -Firoozeh Dumas MiddleSex -Jeffrey Eugenides Citizen: An American Lyric - Claudia Rankine

Day 2 Netflix & chill by enjoying world cinema! Watch a movie filmed in a country other than your own. Consider these critically acclaimed flicks: Amélie (2001) OldBoy (2003) Trollhunter (2010) Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)

Day 3 Explore your own culture. Write a journal entry detailing how your various cultural identities, such as age, ability level, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, socioeconomic status, race, and gender, intersect and impact your life.

Day 4 Take a look at your journal entry from Day 3 and create your own diversity challenge activity to get in touch with your cultural identity. When you’re done, challenge a friend to do the same and compare experiences!

Day 5 Learn a new language! Whether you speak one language or six, learning a new language is a great cognitive exercise and expands your communication abilities. Check out Duolingo online or download the app to practice over 20 languages!

Day 6

Photo by Markeema Crawford

The read-in featured live music.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The World Wide Web is an amazing tool that helps us keep track of national and international current events. Online newspapers from all over the world are just one click away! Check out this newspaper database: onlinenewspapers.com

Day 7 What better way to explore different cultures than through their food! Get you aprons out and put your chef’s hat on, you are in for a treat. Go explore different international grocery stores around town and perhaps grab a fruit or veggie you have never tasted or seen before. Here are a few local stores you can visit: Thrifty, Kyung Sung Asian Market, Best India, or Middle Eastern Aromas. No car? No worries, try something new at the Panther Dining Hall!

Photo by Markeema Crawford

Ebubechukwu Ubochi and Noboluwaduro Akande preforming "No One" by Alicia Keys.

Bonus Day! Want to broaden your cultural horizon with other panthers?

Check out our upcoming event!

Find yourself twiddling your thumbs during the week?

WE HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU TO DO.

Join the weekly Crimson meetings on Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. in the newsroom (the back enterance of Grissom Hall) to snag a story and a slice of pizza.

8 STUDENTLIFE ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

Humans Versus Zombies explained Annika Sundquist \\ staff writer

Photo by Gio Benitez

A collection of tools, instruments and products at the HSDC.

Student designs come to life at the Harris Student Design Center Continued from front soldering stations. Each of the stations have the equipment required to work on various electronic projects. For those that do not have experience in soldering the HSDC staff members are willing to educate individuals on how to use the tools properly.

The second room, the programming and testing room, is equipped with microcontrollers, prototyping boards, oscilloscopes, function generators, and power supplies. Using these tools enables students to verify the functionality of the electrical components in their projects.

The third and newest room is the subtractive manufacturing room, which contains a belt sander and a computer numerical control tormach.

The CNC tormach is one of the most versatile machines in the HSDC. The tormach can input shapes and designs into a variety of materials, such as metal, with the use of computer programming.

The fourth room is the design room. The design room comprises of fast, powerful computers used for developing interactive projects, models,

visualizations, and other software tools to assist in creating your ideas.

One of the popular tools in this room is the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality set. It includes an interactive game that will guide beginners on how to use the set. Once you have mastered your skills, your typical method of designing will excel to an elite level with the incredible resources that Virtual Reality has to offer.

The HSDC offers classes for all Florida Tech panthers to learn how to safely use the equipment and develop new skills not offered in a classroom setting, such as manufacturing a PC board. In addition, there is a meeting room that many students use for their senior design meetings, equipped with a Mondopad which is used for web calls and presentations.

All the members of the Florida Tech community— students, faculty and staff are welcomed to access the HSDC for an array of projects. It is open from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

People can email the HSDC at hsdc@fit.edu to sign up for classes.

Photo by Gio Benitez

A replica of Iron Man’s arc reactor created in the HSDC.

Interested in shooting nerf darts at your friends? Does modifying nerf guns and going on missions to defeat zombies sound like fun? Does the child in you love to play tag? Then this may be the game for you!

Why is this game so popular? “Everyone has the fantasy of trying to survive a Zombie Apocalypse, you get to hit your friends, their friends are doing it so they join in,” said Andrew Greco, a senior in software engineering.

Humans versus Zombies is led by their Game Master, Andrew Greco. Greco has been a member of Humans versus Zombies for three and a half years of the seven years this club has been on campus. HvZ is an affiliation of CAB, so they receive their funding from them throughout the year.

Every semester before their main game they hold mandatory information sessions so that students that are interested can learn how to play and decide if it is something they are interested in.

Greco said, “So far, in terms of players, we have had 12 people or so show interest in learning how to play. But our last meeting will bring out the most people.”

One of these interested st udent s wa s sophomore Sarah Hopkins, a sophomore in mechanical engineering. She played in HvZ last semester and decided to return to the club.

“I’m technically a club member already, but for now, I just plan on playing the main game. I may play some of the mini games later on,” said Hopkins.

Several students seemed to share her interest as they arrived at the information meeting to hear how to play and where it is and is not acceptable to play on campus.

However, there are some students who have no idea what HvZ is, let alone what they do or how to play the game.

Brad Blankman, a junior in mechanical engineering, said, “I’ve seen them play the game on campus, but I don’t really understand it. I know there are rules and all the players seem really into it, but I just have no clue what’s going on.”

But what is HvZ? “It’s basically a big game of tag where humans try and survive to complete missions while the zombies try to tag humans and expand the horde,” said Greco.

The main game is made up of an entire week of supply

Specialized weapon.

Photo by Annika Sundquist

Photo by Annika Sundquist

Moderators and players pause the game while pedestrians travel through an active game space caches and missions. Supply caches allow players the chance to earn better weapons or unlock powers that they don’t have regular access to during the game by collecting tickets from the supply caches. The missions are more of a group based task, as the humans are sent out to fight the zombie horde and look for boxes or lost souls to complete their missions. If the humans fail the last mission of the game, the zombies win.

The members of the club get very into the game and storyline, and all players must sign the standard campus club liability form in case of injury while playing. There are some students who try out the club and find that the level of intensity is too much for them, like senior Patrick Larkin. “I just decided the club wasn’t for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t have fun, but my friends gave me a hard time so I decided being a member wasn’t worth it to me.”

The game is also moderated by the students that are involved. Moderators are to remain unbiased and help the game progress. All members of the club carry nerf weap-

ons, throwables such as socks to stun zombies and have the choice to carry weapons like swords.

Players must also wear their orange Human or Zombie bandana prominently displayed on their body so players know they are active in the game. Humans wear their bandanas on their arms while zombies wear theirs around their head to make easy and quick distinctions between teams.

Whether this is the first time you are hearing about HvZ or you have played before and want to get back into the game, Greco extended an invitation to anyone to learn how to play, sign up for their discord page, and add yourself to the HvZ PantherProwl page.

About his club, Greco said, “Seeing people work together as a team to accomplish missions, but also get cool moments in the spotlight where they pull off something amazing is my favorite part about Humans versus Zombies. I want everyone to get to experience moments like those.”

OPINION 9 ISSUE 4

Satirical Section:

FEBRUARY 20

real fake news Fake News Inspired by Real Events

Excavation of Crawford cellar reveals top secret practice site of professor garage band Doug schoeller \\ COPY editor It was revealed last week that the main purpose of the cellar below the Craw ford building was to be the soundproof site of a chemistry professor garage band called “Tin-Sync”.

It was suspected that there was a band practicing in the cellar at the clear sight of a full drum set, two electric guitars, and a keyboard positioned in the area when it was investigated. A vintage poster was on the wall that featured the faces of professors Rudi Wehmschulte, Kurt Winkelmann, Jessica Smeltz, and Alan Brown.

“Well we had some extra funding a while back and we all knew deep inside we wanted to jam. With a name like TinSync, I’d like to think we were pretty metal,” said Wehmschulte.

In addition to the poster was a setlist of covers that the band would play, including a cover of AC/DC’s “For Those About to Rock” called “For Those About to Rust.”

“Yeah so? In our spare time we like to let loose and shred some riffs. It’s not like we’re

alchemists,” said Brown.

“I’m really not sure how we were found out. We had the best spot and nothing that would bring attention to the area,” said Winkelmann. Upon closer inspection, there was in fact a sign at the entrance of the cellar that said “Not a

Photo by Doug Schoeller

secret garage band site.”

At press time, the cellar is being cleared out and the space

is going to be used for more trivial matters like testing nuclear weapons.

10 OPINION ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20

All Hail the King

To advise or Does Black Panther live up to the hype? not to advise (A spoiler-free review)

David Thompson \\ staff writer “Black Panther” is Marvel Studios’ 18th film released over the past 10 years. Their cinematic universe has quite the action-packed track record featuring, “The Avengers,” “Thor,” “Captain America,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” etc. “Black Panther” is a fresh take on a new character’s story that will leave you wanting more.

Chadw ick Boseman reprises his role as T’challa, also known as Black Panther, in this star-studded blockbuster. T’challa has just been appointed as King of his fictional f utur istic countr y, Wakanda. One of the great joys in this movie is the exploration of Wakanda the viewer experiences as the movie progresses.

The mysterious country, located in the central part of Africa, is seen briefly in previous movies but, in this film, we take a deeper dive into all it has to offer. Learning more about the people, traditions, and culture of the Wakandan people was one of the most interesting aspects of the film.

For every great hero, there is an equally great villain. Here is where the true strength of “Black Panther” is revealed.

Michael B. Jordan assumes the role of Erik Killmonger, the movie’s main antagonist.

As a huge comic book movie nerd, I don’t think I could ask

Micah Oltmann \\ S ta f f W r i t e r for much more out of a villain.

In a lot of superhero movies, the villain is mainly there just to bring the hero some conf lict but rarely are they fleshed out as well as Killmonger in this film. Michael B. Jordan owned the screen during every scene. His character was explored so well throughout the film, twists and turns galore. I even found myself almost rooting for him during parts of the movie. It is rare in a Marvel movie to grow so attached to a villain like you do in “Black Panther” with Killmonger.

Going into this movie, I was in the mindset that I was going to see a lot of expertly-choreographed fight scenes, breathtaking digital effects, and a story that would be overlooked because of those first two things. I was dead wrong.

While “Black Panther” is chalk-full of fight scenes and beautiful, digitally made scenery, the plot of the story is truly what makes this tale of the new Wakandan king a great one. Writer and director, Ryan Coogler, did a marvelous (no pun intended) job having a lot of simple stories between different characters build into a masterful overarching plot that is really well encapsulated in the third act of the movie.

Also, this wouldn’t be a

proper review of “Black Panther” if I didn’t mention the amazing acting and character development of the supporting cast. Once again, seeing all of the Wakandan tribes and their interactions with one another was truly a delight. I feel like no character was placed in the movie without purpose.

Even those with minor roles had a reason for being there and furthered the plot.

Special shoutout to Danai Gurira, who played a Wakandan warrior named Okoye. I would go out on a limb and say that she had the best fight scene in all of the movie. Her fighting style is the best choreographed and takes the most risks instead, which strays from the typical punching and kicking that we see so often in superhero movies.

To tie a bow on this barrage of “Black Panther” bullet points, if you haven’t already, do yourself the favor and go check out this movie. Even if you aren’t a huge superhero fan, I think that this movie is much more than just bringing a comic book to life. “Black Panther” is a fast-paced film driven by a well-developed plot, great performances, and awe-inspiring cinematography. Oh, and you might want to stick around after the credits roll.

Photo by https://www.clovertheater.com

Advisors are the first line of defense in feeling secure in your college career; however, most students think of an advisor as someone to just “f lip your flag” to enroll in classes.

Star ting in your f irst semester, you are partnered with your first-year advisor.

They prepare your classes, help you navigate your new school and advise the best course of action. After your first year, you are then paired with a faculty advisor who can help you navigate choosing classes, graduate on-time and help make academic choices like selecting a minor.

The National Survey of Student Engagement who annually survey both college freshman and seniors, report that 11 percent of freshman and 15 percent of seniors never discussed their academics with an advisor and 56 percent of freshman and 60 percent of seniors relied on sources outside of the advisor resources.

Even with students being resistant to getting help, the school continues to provide resources, and for good reason.

Sometimes an advisor is the push for students need to be the best they can be.

“My advisor is Dr. Crawford and I see her a couple times a semester,” Daniel Campos, said, a junior studying software engineering. “I find that when I go to see her, it ends up answering most questions I didn’t even know I had.”

Other students have not been as keen to the advising process, but are still happy to have an advisor. “My advisor is pretty cool, but I don’t think advisors really do anything [for the students],” Zachary Bartlett, a senior studying software engineering, said. “I only meet with my advisor before I register for classes to flip my flag.”

Whichever side of the fence you fall on, the resource is available to all students. If you don’t know who your faculty advisor is, you can find it by visiting PAWS and viewing your student records. Additional information is available by contacting your advisor or visiting the First Year Experience Office.

SPORTS 11 ISSUE 4

After rough road trip baseball sweeps Drury at home

Florida Tech Lacrosse dominates with a 22-7 win over Malloy Marquise Lewis \\ Contributing writer

Ryan Sinzenich, senior batter.

Lexi betterman \\ staff writer The crimson and grey participated in the Flagler Kickoff Classic at Flagler College Feb. 9 through the 11. While it was a rough weekend for the Panthers with close games, they were left with losses that resulted in a 1-5 record.

“I would say that we are off to a slow start, but I don't think it's anything we can't come back from,” junior pitcher, Ryan Allain, said at the time.

Junior outfielder, James Gronberg, said, “I believe our team has great potential and has the ability to beat any team when we play within ourselves and as a unit.”

After being announced fifth in the Sunshine State Conference 2018 Baseball Preseason rankings, the Florida Tech baseball team were determined to get things back in order.

Photo by Florida Tech Athletics

“I believe we were ranked a little low because of the amount of senior position players we lost. We will end up doing our job to compete for the top spot in the conference.

We came in third last year and this year's crew has a fighter’s mentality that will push us over the hump,” said senior pitcher, Ty Cohen.

Cohen also said this year is the toughest preseason schedule the team has played and he was not discouraged about the slow start. He stated that this team is learning a lot about to how be successful in the Sunshine State Conference by playing teams from solid programs.

“I am excited for our first home series. I’m hoping we are able to unlock our potential playing abilities as a team this weekend because it would be a lot more fun to do that at home than at someone else’s home field,” senior first base-

man, Michael Jenks, said.

The Panthers managed to find that potential in this past weekend in the three-game home series by sweeping Drury University, bringing them back to a 4-5 season. Their offensive performance helped them win handily, outscoring the Drury Panthers 28-8 over the course of the three games.

This Wednesday Feb. 21 the Panthers have a rematch against Flagler at 6:00 p.m. then they face off in a threegame series against the University of Tampa in their first conference games of the season this Friday and Saturday Feb. 23-24.

For more on the Florida Tech Panthers and upcoming games, check the Florida Tech athletics page on www.floridatechsports.com.

FEBRUARY 20

Flor ida Tech Women’s Lacrosse won in their first home opener against Malloy on Feb. 9 with a score of 22-7.

“It’s always good to get the first win in our season opener.

We need to keep that energy up throughout the rest of the season,” Jenna Katrina, junior midfielder for Florida Tech, said.

Leading the scoring of 22 goals in the game with six was sophomore midfielder, Lauren Tybor, and behind her with five goals was senior attacker, Sara Grenier.

Defense was also exceptional w ith senior goalie, Stephanie Stuart, having seven saves out of 14 attempts. “We lit a fire tonight and I think it’s going to keep growing,” Stuart said.

The Panthers are starting off hot with a national ranking of No. 6 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association D-II preseason coaches poll. This is the program’s highest preseason rank-

ing in program history.

“We were really excited to come in at the number and hope to raise it,” Taylor Marshall, Assistant Coach for Florida Tech, said. “There are a couple teams ahead of us that we play regularly and we think have a good shot of beating them.”

The crimson and gray are looking forward to staying on a roll as they face off Limestone University at Saints Field on Feb. 23.

The first conference game will be played against SSC champions Florida Southern at home on Mar. 24. Katrina said they have never won against them and if they beat them they will definitely win the Sunshine State Conference.

“We can for sure keep this up for the remainder of the season. This was a great game to show us what our offense can do and it shows that we are a powerhouse of an offense that can definitely put up 20 plus games,” Cristina Marani, junior attacker for FIT, said.

Photo by Florida Tech Athletics

Ryan Sinzenich, sophomore midfielder .

F ree S peech W eek TUESDAY, FEB. 20

Public Records!

• 4:00pm, Link Room, Evans Library • Workshop on public records with Dr. Yuran and Dr. Kirschenbaum

Lawyers and Journalists!

• 5:30pm, Link Room, Evans Library • Debate with real-life lawyers and journalists about the First Amendment

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21

THURSDAY, FEB. 22

Friday, FEB 23

Free cookies!

Learn about tenure!

Free Lunch!

• 12:30 – 3:00 pm: The Free Speech Wall will be set up outside the SUB

• 5:30pm, Link Room, Evans Library

• 11:30am – 1:00pm, Crawford Green

• Presentation will teach exactly what tenure is and what it means.

• Jersey Mike’s subs and pizza!

• Write whatever you want on the wall, and we’ll give you a cookie!

Keynote with Hurricane Katrina photojournalist • 5:30pm, The Hartley Room • Ted Jackson, photojournalist who did extensive coverage on Katrina in 2005 • Presentation on free speech, as well as stories from the disaster.

• All you need to do is forfeit your First Amendment rights! It’s that simple!

12 SPORTS ISSUE 4

FEBRUARY 20