Check out the latest comic on Page 4 Issue 7
RIMSON The Florida Tech
The Official Student-Run Newspaper•since
1967
TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2019
INDEX
Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Campus Life . . . . . . . . . . .5-6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SPRING
Community mosque holds memorial for New Zealand shooting olivia mckelvey \\ staff writer
Students often have to wait several minutes for the one working elevator to arrive with any available space.
Crimson // David Thompson
Crawford elevators continue to break down david thomspon \\ managing edtior
Both elevators in the Crawford building have recently been out of service, with the one on the left being out of order for more than a week and the one on the right periodically breaking. The elevators are “completely worn out,” according to an emailed response from Dewey Yeatts, the director of facilities management. Despite the expiration date being Aug. 8, 2018 on the Florida Certificate of Operation inside the elevator on the right, Yeatts stated, “There is no safety issue. All elevators are inspected by a third party inspection service. All are up to date.” Kyle Owens, a freshman aerospace engineering major, said he sees an elevator broken down “almost every day,” and he didn’t expect that when he came to Florida Tech.
“When touring, I was never brought into the building,” Owens said. “But if I was, and I was told that the elevators break easily, then it would’ve allowed me to question the safety of the building.” Pauline Cosson, a junior studying sports management, said she usually ends up taking the stairs because “it takes a lot of time for the elevator to come” and that there is always a crowd waiting for it. “I usually try to get to Crawford a bit early so I am not late [to class] if the elevator takes a long time to come,” Cosson said. Yeatts stated that he is not aware of any current issues regarding students and faculty that cannot physically go up the stairs but will “appropriately address any issue.” Owens said he doesn’t “feel the safest” when using the elevators
because they break “all the time.” He mentioned once when he had to take the stairs because one of the elevators was not working. “I was running late to class, and I wanted to use the elevator to get to the sixth floor as quick as I could,” Owens said. “The only elevator working was already filled with students, so I had to run up the stairs.” Yeatts stated the new elevators that are set to replace the “worn out” pair in service right now have been in “design and fabrication for months” and should be delivered sometime in April. Owens said he thinks it is great that the Crawford elevators are being replaced. “It allows us to have new elevators
Elevators on page 5
More than 300 people of various faiths gathered inside the Islam Society of Brevard County (ISBC) on March 23. Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, Baptists, Muslims and others gathered to honor the 50 lives lost in the mosque shootings that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15. Many leaders from the community such as a rabbi from Viera, a retired Brevard County judge and others attended to lead prayers and speak at the service. Amongst those attending were Florida Tech juniors Natalie Tria, a forensic psychology major, and Bayan Saleh, a biomedical engineering major. Both Tria and Saleh are members of the ISBC. “It was truly a ceremony of cultural inclusion to demonstrate that the community can come together for a greater cause despite our differences,” Tria said. After numerous prayers were said, the mosque invited people from the crowd to come forward and share their thoughts. Tria was one voice that stepped forward. “I spoke because I wanted to let people know that I study offenders
mosque on page 6
Two community members holding signs in support
Photo // ISBC Facebook page
Students form club to promote College of Business
sonja micheals \\ staff writer
Students formed a club to run social media for Florida Tech’s Nathan M. Bisk College of Business this spring. According to Kollin Upton, a senior studying business administration, the College of Business Social Media Team consists of about 10 students aiming to increase outreach and engagement to current and potential students. Upton started the club and now serves as its administrator, meaning
@FTCrimson @FTCrimson crimson@fit.edu
that he performs secretarial tasks and other “behind-the-scenes” work. Upton said the group meets once a week to think of ways to promote the College of Business. The discussion and schedule revolves around events happening that week. “We do things like student spotlights, or event spotlights, where we recognize events going on around campus,” Upton said. He said that the student spotlights help appeal to prospective students
by showing what current students are accomplishing. Since the club’s formation, the members have created an Instagram account for the College of Business, floridatech_cob. “It’s been about a month and a half,” Upton said. “Our Instagram presence has grown notably.” He explained that the group began with a mass email to seek members. Interested students volunteered to participate, and Upton said the
SPORTS ON PAGE 7
students continued with it because they enjoyed it. The group includes international students and at least one nontraditional student, according to Upton. He said that having members from different backgrounds helps provide different perspectives in their planning. Upton says the group being most-
BUSINESS on page 6
Our Mission: Live, discover and report the truth.
2 CAPS ISSUE 7
APRIL 9
The Triumph of the Overworked Panther Ryan Daniels \\
CAPS Outreach Columnist
Before E.M.B.E.D. the material
Here we are again… Exam Season. Right when we start to make plans for our wonderful summer break, we face one last hurdle for the semester. Multiple choice, essays, fill-in-theblank…we know the drill. It can be difficult to plan, especially when the very idea of a final exam may be anxiety provoking. We all begin to get out our calculators to find the number that gives us that 89.5 %. But there are other things we can do! We can learn techniques and strategies to triumph over that test and get ready for the summer that awaits. Some of the most common of these strategies can be remembered by using the following acronyms before, during, and after exams.
Evaluate Manage your time so that you study areas you are less familiar with. Finding time specifically for studying will also help with procrastination and distractions. Memorize There are many different ways to memorize material you’ve learned during the semester. Besides acronyms, you can use writing and repetition, flash cards, or using your imagination to create a link between the material and a particular visualized image. Believe “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” Perhaps use a morale-boosting mantra like “I can do this” or “I worked hard and deserve this” to recite while you’re studying and before the test begins. Eat Even during intense study sessions, it is important to consider your health. Eat a nutritious breakfast before the test and pack smart snacks for ongoing energy. Look for foods that offer complex carbohydrates, rather than simple sugars that will lead to a crash. Dream Get a good night’s rest! You will retain more information with a full night’s sleep as opposed to staying up and cramming all night.
During Push A.H.E.A.D. Analyze Don’t rush through! Read the directions thoroughly and read all answers before making a choice or beginning the essay. There is nothing worse than putting time into a question and realizing you are not solving for x, or the essay is off target. Slowing down can help you stay focused. Happy place If you find yourself becoming frustrated, take a breath and relax. Repeat your mantra or picture yourself in an environment where you feel very relaxed and happy. Early Arrive early to your testing location! Feeling rushed will only amp up the anxiety. Pack everything you need for the exam the night before and set the alarm so you can leave on time. Articulate Again, there’s no rush! Just because you see that first person turn their test in, doesn’t mean there’s need to panic. There’s no bonus for finishing first, so take your time to articulate your answers on an essay or make notes to help answer a multiple choice question. Determine Just because the test starts with #1 does not mean that has to be your starting point. Familiarize yourself with the test content after you receive it, and don’t be afraid to skip questions and come back to them later. Determining your best strategy can help you not only manage your allotted time, but it may even help jog your memory for previous questions!
Corrections At The Florida Tech Crimson, it is our policy to promptly correct errors within our publications. If you find any factual errors, please contact Editor-in-Chief, Eleanor Mathers, at lmathers2014@my.fit.edu
After Go to B.E.D. Breathe Take time to relax! The test is over! Specifically, you may want to use our previously introduced method of: “5 second inhale, 5 second hold, 5 second exhale.” You can repeat this as many times as you need to feel calm and relaxed. Envision Even after the test is over, it is important to keep an optimistic outlook and envision success over failure. Many students can get anxious about certain responses they did or did not write, but remember that you studied and tried your best. Now it’s time to envision the grade you hoped for! Debreif After receiving your grade, it may be helpful to debrief and consider what sections of the test you excelled on, and which you may need to work on in the future. This is also a good time to reflect on the effectiveness of your strategies while you were taking the test.
To get some more tips and learn about coping with exams and test anxiety, please join us at our “How to Prepare Like a Panther” event taking place on Wednesday, April 17th from 7:00-8:30pm in Evans Hall, Room 202. Test anxiety is a common experience, and sometimes it can seem like your whole semester of work comes down to a single exam. Remember, when you study and prepare, test taking is putting to paper what you already know. We hope this article guides you Panthers in your studying endeavors and helps you triumph over this final trial!
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REVIEW
A Casual Review
available on PC and Xbox One. As always, here is a list of
new games that I recommend looking into:
Xiao Liang
The Perfect Game for ARPG Fans
With the confirmed release of Diablo Immortal later this year, I figured it would be a good time to talk about Grim Dawn, a game that is closer to the classic actionRPG experience. Developed and published by a rather small independent developer named Crate Entertainment, Grim Dawn is an ARPG game that focuses on loot gathering and character building. Before I get into the gameplay, I think it is a good idea to look at some data and make some comparisons so that I can explain why I think it is “a good ARPG game.” Grim Dawn is often described as a “spiritual successor” of Diablo 2 by many members of its community and critics, which says a lot about the game. Diablo 3 is a sequel to Diablo 2 developed by Blizzard Entertainment, the company that is known for making highly praised games such as World of Warcraft and Starcraft. The development of Diablo 3 took the company around 11 years to finish, and only one major and one minor expansion pack have been released ever since it’s initial launch. The last expansion pack of Diablo 3 was released five years after the initial release, and it bearly had any content. Crate Entertainment, on the other hand, announced the development of Grim Dawn in 2010 and later revealed that there were only two full-time employees in the company on their kickstart page. Grim Dawn was eventually released in 2016. Crate
Grim Dawn Official game poster
Photo // Crate Entertainment
Entertainment has released two major and one minor expansion packs for the game in just three years. While Diablo 3 is not necessarily a bad game, it is hard to think of a reason why a small company with 13 employees and mostly crowdfunded budget can spend almost half as much time to make a similar, if not better, game than a multi-million dollar company with a huge amount of resources. There is definitely more information that needs to be looked at when it comes to comparing two similar things. With that out of the way, let’s look at the gameplay. Grim Dawn has its own unique style of world design and choice of music. Like the title suggests, the visuals and soundtracks of the game are grim and often gives the player a sense of dread. The world is falling apart and people are turning against each other, but there are still exotic locations to visit and cool gears to find. While elements such as storytelling and character designs are important to a game, I think what makes this type of ARPG fun is
the character and class customizations, and Grim Dawn is a very good example of this. From a gunslinging necromancer to a greatswordwielding mage, Grim Dawn offers its players a huge variety of choices. In Grim Dawn, the player gets to choose from one of the six bases plus three DLC classes once they reach to level two. Each class has many different skills for a player to choose from, and the play style within a single class can even vary from the player’s choice. In addition, the player will get to choose a second class specialization once they reach level 10, and the chosen class will be combined with the first class to become a completely new class. This means that there are a total of 72 classes for the players to discover and experiment with. On top of that, when the player get their first devotion point, they will meet the devotion menu, a passive skill system that allows the player to gain additional modifiers and abilities to further customize their character. It is also worth mentioning that Grim Dawn features replayable content such as endless dungeons, harder difficulties and online co-op up to four players. To conclude, Grim Dawn is an ARPG game with classic gameplay of the genre and a huge variety of customizations, and it is frequently being updated by the developers. The game is currently
stephen pickrom \\ "Peewee"
“Us” movie review
Marquise lewis \\ staff writer
After 2017’s “Get Out,” Jordan Peele came out with another twisted, bizarre splash of comedy and thriller in his latest movie “Us.” There are several ways to interpret this movie due to all the clues you may see. The movie starts off pretty interesting with a young girl finding her doppelganger in the woods. Only to find out that young girl was the main character battling against her doppelganger at an older age throughout the film You may recognize the actors of Adelaide and Gabe Wilson as they were also actors in the Marvel Studios film “Black Panther.” It was very interesting to see how they went from acting in an action-packed movie like “Black Panther” then coming back acting in a thriller movie. One thing was for sure, they really surprised me in how diverse their acting skills are. Throughout the film, the Bible verse Jeremiah 11:11 is seen. The verse says “Therefore this what the Lord says: I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.” With that being said, that verse should help give clues on certain things you may see within the movie. Jordan Peele did a great job in selecting the cast he chooses because they had to
take on two roles within the movie and did a great job. The regular family is what looked to be a middle-class African American family with college-educated parents. So you can see them speak as they are a well-educated family. Then having to play a role as a doppelganger who is completely opposite. The ability to display both normalities in the Wilsons and pure evil in the doppelgangers was astonishing. However, the person who deserves much recognition and an award for their acting is none other than Lupita Nyong’O herself. You’ll see why once you watch the movie. Jordan Peele’s uprise as a director and writer is beginning to blossom. I’m sure you all have seen his comedy skits in the Key and Peele series. With how the skits are made, you can see very brilliant stories, but never would I have thought that it could transition into great movies as well. Peele incorporates horror, comedy and special twists in his movies. He gives the audiences a chance to look back and think about the movie. To think of things that do pertain to the real world. Not many directors do that with theirs. “Us” is definitely a movie that needs to be watched more than once to get a full understanding of the film.
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Small turnout for Florida Tech’s first pride week encourages better planning for next year, Spectrum members say khemari howard \\ staff writer
The small turnout for Florida Tech’s first Pride Week encourages better planning for the event in the future, Spectrum members said. Pride Week is a week-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community at Florida Tech hosted by Spectrum, Florida Tech’s group for members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies on campus. Jacob Chesslo, a junior physics major and the president of Spectrum, said Pride Week, in its first iteration, had lower attendance numbers than expected. He said the lack of attendance could be due in part to the organization not being able to advertise the event effectively. He also said the group didn’t take advantage of other resources on campus such as Greek life, residence life or athletics to advertise events like sex ed boot camp. Chesslo said another factor that could have led to low attendance numbers was the week the group chose. Chesslo said one of the
common calculus tests coincided with sex ed boot camp, which he said he believed led to a small turnout. Hannah Blackburn, a senior astrobiology major, said along with many people she knew falling ill in the past week, the senior design showcase was approaching, which may have consumed time for her and her colleagues. She also said starting the event on April 1 probably wasn’t the best idea. “In retrospect, we probably should have gone for a different day,” Blackburn said. “Maybe we’ll go for earlier in the year next time.” Chesslo said the idea of Pride Week was pitched as early as the beginning of last semester, but planning didn’t start until January. He said the low attendance numbers didn’t discourage him from trying to do better for next year’s event. “There were probably only about a dozen people at each event,” Chesslo said. “But the experience of all of those who have attended has been amazing.” Pride Week at Florida
Tech took place during the week of April 1. “Pride is knowing who you are and being happy that that’s who you are. And also, being happy to let other people know that’s who you are,” Blackburn said. Blackburn was the former president of the Spectrum. She assisted Chesslo with most of the planning for the week. She said the group was inspired by the efforts of similar groups on other campuses around Florida. The idea to host Pride Week was originally Chesslo’s idea. Each night featured a different event hosted by the group. The week started with a movie night on Monday, April 1, followed by the president of Space Coast Pride, Cortney Thompson, as the keynote speaker on Tuesday. A game night was held on the second floor of the SUB Café on Wednesday. Thursday saw sex ed boot camp in the Hartley Room. The event scheduled for Friday, Pride Celebration, was
Spectrum Members at Brunch on Saturday canceled due to the increased lighting that came with the weather. Saturday morning, the group hosted brunch in the Harley Room catered by Panther Dining, and a drag show in the evening at the Rathskeller. Sunday was a spa day on the second floor of the SUB Café in the morning followed by a beach outing later in the afternoon. Chesslo said he and the rest of the group are already planning for next year’s event.
A discrete upgrade to Florida Tech’s surveillance system Christian martinez \\ staff writer
Residents of Roberts Hall recently noticed a brand-new security camera outside the dorm where there wasn’t one previously. This was one of the few noticed around campus, as it stuck out on the back entrance of Roberts Hall and pointing towards the bike rack. There is no visible camera by the front entrance of the building. Carlos Cepeda, a first-year computer science major and lab support services worker, said, “My bosses installed the cameras. This is their job. They call lab support to do stuff like this.” Cepeda appreciates the new camera outside of Roberts since he is a resident there, but would like to keep the cameras outside the building. Barry Cobb, assistant director of security, said, “Most of these cameras that were put in were replacements for cameras we’ve had all along.” Cobb explained that the hardware of the cameras degrades over time, requiring replacements of the cameras themselves every five or six years.
Crimson // Khemari Howard He said this event was something he dreamed up and he never thought he’d see it come to fruition. Chesslo said he believes this is a step in the right direction for the increased awareness and inclusion for the people of the LGBTQ+ community.
elevators continued in place to allow the building to be much safer when traveling in them,” Owens said. “I just don’t know why this wasn’t happening earlier when they first knew it was a problem.” According to Yeatts, the new ThyssenKrupp elevators will cost Florida Tech at least $336,000. Yeatts did not give an exact date for when the elevators will be installed. “It’s an ongoing thing,” Couperthwaite said. “Every year we are maintaining and adding more cameras.”
Behind the scenes look at security camera live feed. The IT department overhauled the system by replacing “about 35 to 40 cameras” with models from 2018 and 2019 that are all digital with no moving parts. The computers in the security office were also upgraded to monitor the livestreams. Cobb mentioned that the cameras are all over the place: in elevators, various floors in some of the dorms, watching bike racks and in parking lots. “They are there,” Cobb said, “If you walk around, you’ll see them.” Cobb said there were no
security incidents that pushed for the camera replacements, just a system that reached the end of its life-cycle. Thomas Couperthwaite, manager of lab support service information technology, said the installations were mainly done this past November. “That’s when we started the first few in the parking garage at Panther Dining,” Couperthwaite said. Couperthwaite said that some cameras were installed as recently as two weeks ago and that there are a few weeks until all of the camera installations are complete.
Crimson // Christian Martinez Some installations were as recent as a few days ago, such as the cameras installed to the roof of Evans Library on April 5. Couperthwaite said that the cameras vary in quality depending on where they are intended to be installed. Lower hanging cameras have a smaller resolution compared to rooftop cameras that are up high. Replacement cameras were easy to swap out with old ones, while new cameras had to have a new data feed set up so they could stream to the security office.
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Business continued and criminals when they’re at their worst,” Tria said. “I stand by the motto ‘by the people, for the people,’ and I wanted them to know that there is hope, and there are others like me that want to make a change to try and prevent these tragedies from happening.” The Atlantic reported that this was the worst terrorist attack to take place in New Zealand’s history, leading New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to react immediately. Within six days of the shooting, Ardern was backed by legislative support from her country in banning all assault rifles within New Zealand. In a live television announcement addressed to the nation, Ardern said, “The guns used in this attack had the power to shoot continuously. The times for the easy availability of these weapons must end. And today, they will." In addition to changing gun laws, Arden has also
helped pay for the funeral costs of the victims and honor the cultural traditions in which people of Islam faith be buried immediately. Ardern and investigators returned all the victims’ bodies immediately after autopsies were completed just five days after the shooting happened so their families could hold funeral services. When asked about how they thought the prime minister of New Zealand was handling the aftermath of the shooting, both Tria and Saleh strongly agreed that Ardern has been responding swiftly and respectfully. “She compares to no other world leaders who have also faced mass shootings within their own country,” Saleh said. “Almost six months ago the U.S. dealt with a similar shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburg. Yet, why is it that New Zealand was able to change laws within six days while this nation has not been able to do so in six months?” Saleh, like Tria, said she was also in awe of the amount of support outpouring from the community.
“I think the terrorist wanted us to be broken and hate each other, but what I saw was quite the opposite,” Saleh said. “At the memorial, you couldn’t tell the difference between a Muslim woman wearing a hijab or a Jewish woman wearing a hijab as a sign of respect, and that was something that I thought was really beautiful.” It has been nearly four weeks since the shooting, and people everywhere are still showing support, even in Brevard County. A week after the memorial service was held at ISBC, Saleh described a husband and wife that came in during Friday prayer with whiteboards that read, “We will keep watch while you pray.” Saleh said that her heart was touched, and knowing that this support was felt here within the community was something that left her speechless.
Business continued ly student-run allows for the content to be more relatable the student audience, since they are their own “target market.” “Students know what students want,” he said. The club is led by two student leaders. Upton said that having two leaders provides more than one “point of contact” for leadership duties. Drew Bastian, a senior studying global management, is one of the club’s student leaders. He said the club provides the students with marketing experience and a chance to use what they are learning, while giving them a say in how the College of Business is seen by others. The group is working to gain followers on the College’s Facebook and LinkedIn. According to Upton, the group has limited access to these pages, unlike the full access to the Instagram account. Bastian said the club
would like to improve the timeliness and accuracy of posts across these pages. “The future plans for the group, currently, are to grow the social media presence of the [College of Business], and to eventually hand the group off to other students that are as interested in learning about social media and how it can help in business,” Bastian said in an emailed response. He explained that the group does not currently have any other specific plans, but that he is “excited for the future.” “With all the different backgrounds we have working on getting information and content made, I feel like anything can happen,” Bastian said. According to Bastian, the club will be seeking new members in the fall semester.
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Women’s golf team drops Title IX complaint emily walker \\ staff writer
Florida Tech’s women’s golf team will not be filing a Title IX report after speaking with athletic administration. With the discontinuation of the women’s golf team but not the men’s team, the women’s team considered filing a Title IX complaint, as Title IX has certain standards that require universities to provide men and women with equal athletic opportunities. However, they found out the number of men’s and women’s teams met Title IX’s standards and decided to drop the case, according to Alexis Dizinno, a freshman in environmental science and a member of the women’s golf team. Dizinno said the team wasn’t given a reason as to why they were being discontinued and not the men’s team, even after their discussion with athletic administration. “When we found out
that the women’s team was being cut and not the men’s team, we questioned how that was allowed, and we asked around,” Dizinno said. “I think in the end, one of the athletic administration people had told us that that was the case and that it was legal, so we haven’t done anything to file a complaint so far. I don’t think it is possible.” Chris Saltmarsh, the women’s golf team coach, was emailed and called for comment but did not respond to the request. According to Daniel Supraner, the director of athletic communications, the discontinuation of tennis and women’s golf has left athletics with nine men’s teams and nine women’s teams. “With Title IX, they want what you’re giving to men’s and women’s teams to reflect the number of the student body,” Supraner said. “Title IX requires that we match that proportionality.” Bill Jurgens, Flori-
da Tech’s athletic director, said the decision to cancel women’s golf was based on the current and future success of the program. When making the decision to cut the women’s golf team, Jurgens said they considered who was currently on the team and who would be on it in the future. “A number of [the current] athletes will be graduating,” Jurgens said. “It will be very difficult to replace them with the ones we have right now.” Facilities, the present size of the teams and the number of athletes that would be affected were some of the main components considered when deciding what sports to cut, according to Jurgens. Jurgens said Athletics decided to cut programs because Florida Tech has a larger athletic program than similar sized universities. “It was an operational decision to try to downsize our athletic programs to be more
compatible with the size of the university that we have,” Jurgens said. “That was pretty much something that the university set in place that they felt was important for us to continue to be competitive in our sports program.” Before the discontinuation of tennis and women’s golf, Florida Tech had 23 varsity teams including the dance team. In the Sunshine State Conference, seven out of the ten universities have fewer teams. According to Dizinno, the discontinuation of the women’s golf team came as a surprise to them. Dizinno said the women’s golf team was called into a meeting with the athletic department a couple of hours before the announcement of their discontinuation was sent out to all of campus. Prior to the meeting, there had been no warning of discontinuing the team.
“It was super upsetting, especially for me as a freshman,” Dizinno said. “We just recently found out that they’ve been thinking about cutting the team for two years. There are two freshmen and two sophomores on the team who had not been warned about this and had no idea that this was happening, and we just felt neglected and overlooked.” Dizinno said the athletes on the golf team with scholarships will get to keep their scholarships. “They stopped giving scholarships two years ago, so this freshman class is the first one without scholarships even though they cancelled them a couple years back,” Dizinno said. While some team members such as Dizinno are planning to transfer universities due to the team’s discontinuation, the women’s golf team has been told they can play with the men’s golf team.
Men’s Lacrosse Sets Sights on SSC Title
Florida tech hammock club set high hopes for next semester
staff writer
staff writer
tyler jones \\
Currently sitting at a 6-3 record this season, the Florida Tech Men’s Lacrosse team has their eyes set on EmbryRiddle this Wednesday in hopes of keeping their dream alive of winning the Sunshine State Conference. After losing two straight games, the Panthers were able to defeat Palm Beach Atlantic by five goals this past Saturday. This was the first of five straight inter-conference games to finish out the season. Goalie Jake Hahn said the team is locked into focus and ready to secure the SSC. “The remaining five games are all sunshine state conference games and we know that these are games that we must win to keep the dream alive,” said Hahn. “Our conference is very competitive within itself to the point where anybody can beat anybody on any given day.” The Panthers have a 2-2 SSC record and need to win the remainder of their games and the University of Tampa to lose a game in order to win the conference’s regular season title. However, the goal doesn’t stop there; Ryan Lepp, a defensive player on the team, said that the team has aspirations of ultimately making it into the NCAA tournament. After the team fell short of their goal last season of winning the SSC, the team felt that there needed to be a change in mentality, according to Hahn.
However, with just two conference loss this season, the Panthers have taken a different mental approach that has led to their success this season. “The mentality that we brought to those games was that we thought we could easily beat those teams that we ended up losing to, which is not the case this year,” said Hahn. Hahn mentioned that his captains and coaches have placed an emphasis on discipline and not underestimating the opponent, regardless of their record. With the recent success, the team has also noticed a steady increase in fan attendance at home games. Lepp said the recent success and their style of play this season is the reason for the increased turnout. “I believe that we had such a great turnout against Rollins, which was our most recent home game because students were excited to see us go up against a good team in our conference,” Lepp said. “I believe that our next home game will bring an even bigger crowd because of the exciting comeback-style victory that the students got to experience on that day.” The teams next home game, as well as their senior night, is April 20 against Florida Southern. The lacrosse team encourages fan support as they close out the season and make a push for the SSC title.
seamus burns \\ A pair of freshmen have recently been attracting attention around campus by setting up hammocks in popular public areas. The most noticeable location has been over the wooden bridge by the botanical garden between the SUB and dorm quad. Kellen Sappington and Stephen Minnick have put forth efforts to make an official club out of “hanging-out and posting-up.” They initially set up under the bridge leading toward the Columbia Village dorms, but their time was short lived as security expressed safety concerns and put a stop to their social gathering. There are some spots on campus where hammocks can be set up, but the two freshmen said they believe that with more activity and popularity within the potential club, more areas will surface where students can gather for activities, like spikeball and slackline. “We have caught a bit of attention,” Sappington said. “It’s been mostly positive and supportive. A lot of people like to hammock, but getting enough people for a club to get started has been a bit difficult.” Starting a club on Florida Tech requires 10 members, and gaining students commitment has been the largest roadblock. Junior Ashley Letendre is president of the public relations club and said she understands what it is like
Kellen Sappington and Stephen Minnick hangout over the wooden bridge. managing a club in order to stay afloat. “I can see how a club such as hammocking might be hard to manage,” Letendre said. “You would need to find somebody who is a part of school staff to help and support.” Minnick said they haven’t gotten enough members yet to start trying to find a club advisor. “Honestly, gaining publicity, enjoying the day and people watching is all we want to do for this semester,” Minnick said. They have no plans on moving away from the main wooden bridge near the
Crimson // Seamus Burns
botanical garden. “I wasn’t nervous or worried, but I can see how some students might be concerned or confused while walking under them,” Tyler Donahue, a freshman, said. The two freshman plan to continue their tree-high antics into the fall semester and will also look further into becoming a club.
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APRIL 9
Congratulations! The Florida Institute of Technology’s chapter of The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi would like to congratulate those who have been elected to membership.
The 2019 Phi Kappa Phi Induction Ceremony and reception will take place in the Gleason Performing Arts Center on the Campus of Florida Tech from 7-9 PM on April 10, 2019. Family and friends are encouraged to attend. Nominees should arrive by 6:15PM to check in. Membership is by invitation only to Florida Tech’s top 7.5 percent of second term juniors and the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students.