The Florida Tech Crimson Spring 2019 Issue 8

Check out comics on pages 3&6 Issue 8

RIMSON The Florida Tech

The Official Student-Run Newspaper•since

1967

INDEX

Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Campus Life . . . . . . . . . . .5&7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019

SPRING

Campus organizations come together for Earth Week Emily Walker \\ Copy Editor

The Student Organization for Sustainability Action hosted Earth Week in collaboration with other organizations at Florida Tech from April 16-23.

Ana Castaneda, a junior in sustainability, has been a part of SOSA for three years and the president of the organization for the past year.

She said this year, she made the decision to host a fall Earth Day in addition to spring’s Earth Week.

“I think it’s very important to create an impact,” Castaneda said. “Let people know we are working toward certain environmental goals, create awareness. I think that’s the main goal of Earth Week or Earth Day.” Ken Lindeman, the advisor for SOSA, said Earth Week is a reminder to stop to think about how to treat the planet better.

“If you wanted to scale up, it’s like Mother’s Day,” Lindeman said. “Once a year, you stop hopefully and celebrate your mother, your father.”

Lindeman said because there is so much both he and SOSA want to accomplish, they have stretched Earth Day into Earth Week.

Additionally, he said sometimes they are asked by other organizations to speak about Florida Tech’s work on Earth Day.

The Surf Club hosts a surf class during their beach cleanup on April 20 for Earth Week.

Crimson // Emily Walker

SOSA partnered with groups on campus such as SGA, Squamish, the Surf Club, Flow Arts and the Ethos Garden Club.

They also worked with off-campus groups such as Odyssey Charter School and Brevard Electric Vehicles.

On Saturday, the Surf Club partnered with SOSA to host a beach cleanup and surf class.

Ashley Reitano, the president of the Surf Club, said the club does beach cleanups whenever they can.

“When we bring these three-gallon bags, people might notice how much trash they pick up and fill up these bags even though it seems like there doesn’t look like there’s a lot, and then there ends up being a lot really fast,” Reitano said.

Jared Nelson, a member of the Surf Club and freshman in planetary science, said community members began to help at Saturday’s event.

“We were out cleaning up trash, and some people were coming up to us, giving us their trash,” Nelson said.

“They were saying how this is really important, how the community’s really building and becoming more aware of the garbage that they’re leaving or more aware of the impact that they have on the beaches and stuff.”

Earth on page 7

Local Business and Non-Profit Raising Heart Awareness Olivia Mckelvey \\ Staff Writer

MediComp is looking to partner with Who We Play For in hopes of raising heart awareness, especially among young athletes.

MediComp is a Melbourne-based cardiac monitoring company.

Who We Play For, a Cocoa-Beach based non-profit organization, with a mission to eliminate preventable sudden cardiac death in the youth through affordable heart screenings.

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death, and by promoting heart awareness and providing affordable screenings to hundreds of communities, we’re able to prevent the loss of another young person to cardiac arrest,” Evan Ernst, co-founder of Who We Play For, said.

The story of Who We Play For started in 2007 after Ernst and his fellow co-founders lost a friend in high school who suddenly went into cardiac arrest on the Cocoa Beach High School soccer field and died the next day.

The co-founders of Who We Play For realized in their collegiate school

@FTCrimson @FTCrimson crimson@fit.edu

years that their friend's condition could have been detected through an electrocardiogram (EKG) screening, which would’ve caught an irregularity or major heart problem through measuring electrical activity within the heart.

“The U.S. is one nation that is behind in recognizing sudden cardiac arrest as an immense public health issue, and Who We Play For wants to change that,” Ernst said.

The Cocoa Beach NGO provides EKG screenings for the price of $20 versus the standard $150 the hospital would charge, according to Ernst.

To date, Who We Play For has screened over 100,000 athletes in over 500 communities and detected heart conditions in over 100 kids.

As Who We Play For creates more heart awareness within the community, their efforts have caught the attention of MediComp, a Melbourne-based cardiac monitoring company.

Maria Fernanda is a Florida Tech graduate student working towards her MBA in healthcare management and is also a MediComp employee.

“MediComp is looking to partner

with Who We Play For to work towards providing our cardiac monitoring devices for individuals after screenings have caught particular heart abnormalities,” she said.

Fernanda stated that when she first heard about her company’s interest in this local organization, she immediate questioned why Florida Tech student athletes weren’t doing this.

Who We Play For has partnered with various Division I, II, III and even NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) schools.

Ernst also stated the organization has tried worked towards partnering with Florida Tech before.

Jillian Collins is a senior majoring in chemical engineering and also a member of the swim team.

Collins has a rare heart condition called mitral valve regurgitation where her blood flows backwards.

Although her heart condition was not detected by an EKG, she still thinks heart prevention in young student athletes is a very important issue.

“You can never be too safe, and an EKG takes like five minutes,” Collins said. “After all, you never think some-

Good luck seniors!

thing is wrong with you until something is wrong with you.”

A question that begins to arise in this topic is if EKG screenings are provided to Florida Tech student athletes, should they be mandatory or optional?

“I think it’s a good idea,” Theresa Gadilhe, a junior in accounting a member of the women’s rowing team, said. “However, I think it should be optional because health is something personal and everyone has to be able to decide for themselves.”

Fernanda also raised a concern that if concussion testing is so prevalent and testing is mandatory for student athletes, why are EKG screenings not mandated?

Assistant athletic trainer and head athletic trainer for football, Joe Fiorina, agrees with Fernanda that there is immense value in EKG screenings for young student athletes. Yet, there are other factors involved in a decision like this.

“I would love for every athlete

Ekg on page 6

Our Mission: Live, discover and report the truth.

2 CAPS ISSUE 8

APRIL 23

The Panther Gives Back Out with the old, Ryan Daniels \\

CAPS Outreach Columnist Panthers are often thought to be dangerous and fierce creatures who only care for their own survival.

However, Dr. Mark Elbroch, lead scientist for Panthera's Puma Program and ecologist who spent 15 years studying panthers, found that there is actually a compassionate side to big, carnivorous cats.

There is even an instance

in which one of these fierce animals helped raise a baby baboon after its mother died!

The point is, we Panthers like to help each other out.

We care about each other.

Altruistic acts, doing things for others simply out of a desire to help, have been shown to activate important reward centers in the brain and relieve negative thoughts and feelings within ourselves.

We often attempt to be empathetic and help each

other out when we can, but sometimes we may not know exactly what can be done, or how our efforts can benefit most people.

With Earth Day on our minds, there are many simple ways to help both our environment and those around us.

Here are some ideas for expressing our gratitude for Mother Earth and our fellow Panthers:

Keep Our Beaches Clean!

We at Florida Tech are lucky to have beautiful beaches so close to us! Let’s do our part to keep it that way! Whether you volunteer for the many local “Adopt a Beach” cleanup efforts, or even just pick up that empty bottle from the sand and place it in a proper recycling bin, we can help make our beaches that much cleaner and safer for ourselves and the lovely creatures that call the beach home.

Be an Environmentally Conscious Consumer!

There are a number of ways we can help our environment just by changing our day-to-day consumer behaviors. For example, consider reducing your plastic use as many animals can die as a result of getting entangled or starve by consuming plastic they mistake for food. Cutting the plastic rings around soda bottles and cans before throwing them out and using paper bags or bringing your own reusable bag to your local grocery store, are some ways to help keep our environment safe just by slightly shifting your daily routine!

Simple Acts of Kindness!

Helping out our neighbors doesn’t have to be a grand gesture; even small, random acts of kindness can be something that immensely brightens someone’s day. Paying for the car behind you in the drive thru is a simple act that can help make someone’s morning just a little bit better.

The best part is that these efforts are often contagious! When we offer a helping hand, it inspires others to do the same. Some other examples include leaving change in a vending machine, letting someone in front of you in line, or even just giving a nice compliment to a someone you know or a stranger!

Whether it’s something large or small, simple or more challenging, every act of kindness can help you better our world in your own way.

Caring about each other and the world around us

makes everyone feel better, including ourselves.

The more people who choose to partake in this kindness, the more benefit for our world as a whole.

We at CAPS and the over-

all Florida Tech community want to make the world a better place, so let’s work together and be the change we wish to see!

in with the new!

Emily Walker \\ Copy Editor

Traditionally, the current editor-in-chief writes a farewell letter in the spring semester’s final issue of the Crimson.

However, Eleanor is currently working on our senior design project, so I’m going to introduce myself and talk about what an awesome boss she’s been I joined the Crimson in fall 2018 as a staff writer and became a copy editor at the beginning of this semester.

Growing up, I wrote novels and never dreamed I would get into journalism.

However, after taking Writing for Media on a whim after a semester in the psychology department, I realized my passion for journalism and switched majors to multiplatform journalism in spring 2018.

My time at the Crimson has brought me so much joy, laughter, inside jokes, late nights, and most of all, friends.

I’ve gotten to report on events I never would have attended otherwise, topics I would have been too nervous to bring up in the past and meet so many people I pass every day.

More than anything, it’s given me a second family in the staff.

During my time here, the amount of work Eleanor puts into the paper has blown my mind.

The work she has done behind the scenes in regards to guiding reporters to the right people, setting up tabling events, making sure we print the right number of papers and meeting with staff and faculty of Florida Tech all helped the Crimson run smoothly.

It takes an amazing person to get you prepared for the position she holds and the one I’m going to hold.

The work she has done this year showed her amazing

capability.

She took me under her wing when I joined the Crimson as a staff writer.

She and the team saw potential in me and invited me to the College Media Association conference in Louisville, Kentucky with a group of three other staff members.

Her confidence in me helped build me up into the writer and person I am today.

At the same time, she wasn’t afraid to tell me when I messed up.

She’s good at being blunt without being harsh, and whenever there’s a problem with contacting a source or getting an article in on time, she has always been understanding.

Her patience goes above and beyond what is required of her.

She has bent over backwards to make sure writers get their articles in the paper, showing patience and grace no matter how late an article is turned in or how many problems popped up along the way.

Growing up, I never saw myself as being a leader.

However, working at the Crimson and going from a staff writer to a copy editor and now to the next editorin-chief helped me grow more confident in myself.

During her time as editorin-chief, Eleanor taught me how to be a leader of the staff.

She wasn’t afraid to point out the staff’s mistakes and lead us toward being better writers.

At the same time, she made time to work with us if we needed the extra help and built us up as both writers and people. While she’s always been happy to joke around, deep down she cares so much about all of us as staff members and friends.

As I take over as editor-inchief, I hope to follow in her footsteps and inspire others the way she inspired me.

ISSUE 8

APRIL 23

CAMPUS LIFE

3

Students showcase creativity at Film Festival Emily Walker \\ Copy Editor

The FITV Student Film Festival showcased the creativity of the local community through film.

This year, the film festival took place at the Gleason Performing Arts Center and lasted a span of two days.

The festival accepted films based on 7 categories.

The categories being action, drama, comedy, documentary, meme, horror and sci-fi/fantasy.

Together with the showing of the films, the festival incorporated segments like Film Talk; where they discussed the many aspects of film and its importance.

Other segments included

Spotlight, in which winners from last year’s festival was showcased and Trivia where the audience was questioned on their film knowledge.

The festival ended with the awards.

Each film was judged prior to the showing and their results were revealed at the end of the festival.

The awards were given to the first and second place in each category and also best film of the festival, that being a Waltz of Despondency by director Cedieu Gantt-Exavier.

The awards included a trophy, filming equipment and also movie passes for Premiere Oaks, for anyone involved in the making of the films.

Alessandro Bonaiuto together with his cast recieving an award for his film "If WWI Was A Bar Fight". His film claimed first place for Action.

stephen pickrom \\ "PEEWEE"

A member of FITSSFF recieving an award for the film "EU vs. USA". The film claimed first place for Meme.

Photo // FITV Gabe Jankowski recieving an award for his film Photo // FITV "The Longest Time". His film claimed first place for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

Best film winner Cedieu Gantt-Exavier with Photo // FITV his mom celebrating "Waltz of Despondancy" winning best film and best Drama.

Rebecca Wilson together with her cast reciev- Photo // FITV ing an award for her film "Wherever You Go".

Her film claimed first place for Horror.

Ahmed Alnasser recieving an award for his film "Daily Journey"`. His film claimed first place for Comedy.

Ebube Ubochi recieving an award for his film Photo // FITV "Screen Time". His film claimed first place for Documentary.

Photo // FITV Photo // FITV

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APRIL 23

REVIEW

A Casual Review Xiao Liang

ANNO 1800

A Relaxing and Engaging City Builder After two not so successful Sci-fi themed releases, the Anno series has finally gone back to its roots.

Developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, Anno 1800 is a real-time strategy city-building game that is taking place during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.

In the game, the player assumes the role of a colonial leader of the crown, building up new economies and establishing trades as the game progresses.

What makes Anno unique is perhaps its competitiveness, unlike most city builder games, the player is not alone.

There are other AI or player factions that seek to prosper, and there is only a limited number of islands and resources, which means that the player needs to think and act strategically.

At the beginning of the

game, the player starts off in the Old World, which has a similar climate and environment as the majority of Western Europe.

In the Old World, the player needs to expand and industrialize the colony’s economy, as well as managing different classes of people.

Once the colony has developed to a stable economy, the player can then choose to venture into the uncharted seas of the New World.

The New World is vastly different from the Old World, the player will encounter new threats as well as new resources that are needed to fulfill the people’s demands.

The player will be working with the local populations of the New World, exchanging resources in order to become more powerful.

The game has many mechanics that need to be learned by a new player, such as trade routes, naval combat

Official game poster

Photo // Ubisoft

and chain of supplies.

Fortunately enough, the game did provide a campaign mode for new players to learn while having all the fun that the game has to offer.

The overall gameplay experience of Anno 1800 is quite relaxing.

Like most city builders, the players are in control of the pace of the game, even when there are competitive elements present.

A single game session of Anno 1800 can take a very long time to finish.

It will probably remind the players to take a break or get a coffee because they’ve been staring at the screen for too long.

While I believe that the game is very much recommended for people who are looking for a fun and relaxing game to play, I think that Anno 1800 is not a game worth spending $59.99 for.

The game can also be very demanding on the player’s PC and time, which are the things that most college students don’t have at the moment.

Missing Link REVIEW: Get yeti for a wild ride stephen pickrom \\ staff writer

It can be difficult to blend in with the crowd for a lot of people … and especially for a Sasquatch.

Stop-motion animation studio Laika released its fifth feature-length film, “Missing Link,” on Friday, April 12.

The film has so far received 90% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $16.2 million in the box office.

Adventurer and mythical-creature-discoverer Sir Lionel Frost meets an intelligent Sasquatch while traveling in Washington State, whom he dubs Mr. Link.

Wanting to no longer live a solitary life, Mr. Link wishes to find his long-lost relatives located in a fabled valley in the Himalayas known as Shangri-La. All the while, Frost and Mr. Link are being hunted by an assassin named Willard Stenk, hired by Mr. Lemuel Lint.

Throughout their journey, there are plenty of perilous situations and funny moments, and a special lesson to be learned about family and ambitions.

Both Hugh Jackman as Sir

Lionel Frost and Zoe Saldana as Adelina Fortnight, Frost’s former girlfriend, play their roles well.

Zach Galifianakis as Mr. Link provides a great comedic touch to a film from a studio that is usually darker in theme, such as “Coraline” and “Paranorman.”

Mr. Link’s physical comedy and overly literal mindset make for a character that’s fun to watch and listen to, and his interactions with the film’s other characters are comedy gold.

The film took quite a few turns that I wasn’t expecting, and there were plenty of expectation-subversion moments that caught me pleasantly off-guard.

The quality of the animation was stellar, as always with Laika. The frames blend together so smoothly that sometimes it’s hard to tell the film was done using stop-motion.

If you look hard enough in certain scenes, you can see the ever-so-slight changes in the textures of the character’s faces in close-up shots, and it really is amazing, especially

ing Link” is as memorable as “Coraline” or as impactful as “Kubo and the Two Strings,” but Laika still put together a good feature film that takes

Official movie poster

Photo // Liaka

the amount of detail that goes into every character’s design and figure.

The film is not without a few faults, though.

The main conflict seems somewhat forced in that the antagonists try far too hard to prevent the protagonist from achieving their goals.

There were also a few moments where the characters got caught up in exceedingly ridiculous predicaments, and sometimes the physical comedy was a little too on-thenose.

I can’t say that “Miss-

a nice turn from the studio’s Goth-like trend. I look forward to seeing what Laika does in the future.

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APRIL 23

CAMPUS LIFE

5

Panthers solve real-world problems marc kanneh \\ staff writer

Students utilized their knowledge gained through their years at Florida Tech to find solutions to real-world problems and present them at the Northrop Grumman Student Design and Research Showcase.

The event took place on April 12 at the Clemente Center.

“This was the first time that we could really put all of our knowledge to use and see everything we have learned since freshman year,” Emily Perron, an ocean engineering major, said.

Perron’s group, Reef Life, created an artificial reef that creates a perfect surf while also protecting the shoreline and promoting coral growth.

Perron said that the modular design was based off

of LEGOs so the reef could be configured in any shape.

"It feels really great to have won Best in Show for Ocean Engineering and to know that someone really appreciated our hard work,” Perron said. “I'm very grateful.”

Reef Life placed first in their category, but success did not come without challenges.

“Originally we tried 3D printing our blocks, and they took 20 hours each to make and kept failing,” Perron said.

“We had to make 100 of these blocks, so we had to find a different method of designing.”

Reef Life opted to use molds instead of printing to speed up their manufacturing process.

Dev Patel, an aerospace engineering major, presented the Perching Unmanned

Ahmed Okasha and Pan Cao demonstrating their on-board diagnostic device.

Crimson // Marc Kanneh

Monitoring Aircraft or PUMA. PUMA can act as both a rotorcraft and a fixed wing aircraft, giving it increased speed and maneuverability.

The aircraft has a clawlike landing gear, which allows it to perch like a bird.

“It’s designed to act as a mobile services platform for emergency service providers,” Patel said.

Computer engineering major, Ahmed Okasha and his team designed an on-board diagnostic tool for the formula electric team. “ Once they build the car, the engineers would basically just walk up and plug in the device to the car and be able to get all the readings that they need,” Okasha said.

The device would give battery voltage, temperature and charging state readings.

Okasha said that in the future, a radio can be added to the device so that it can stay on the car permanently and send info back to the engineers while it’s racing.

“It [completing senior design] feels satisfying, but there’s always that one part of you that feels as if you could have done more,” Okasha said.

Cooper Mitchell, an ocean engineering student, and his team built the foundation vessel SWATH. SWATH is a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hold vessel. The SWATH vessel was built to bridge the gap between large vessels and smaller vessels with not much over complications.

Mitchell’s project reached outside of ocean engineering and recruited the help of aero-

Exam Jam and study habits stephen pickrom \\ staff writer

Final exams are a consistent source of stress for college students across the nation.

Students can sometimes begin preparing for final exams several weeks in advance.

One of the stressors is the unknown elements of final exams: the possibility that there may be material on the exam that wasn’t covered during the course. Kenika Bouchelle, business marketing and aviation major, experienced this going into finals week.

“I always think that professors expect us to know more than what they’ve taught us during the semester,” Bouchelle said.

National trends show that students who repeatedly reviewed their course material and tested themselves regularly performed better overall in their course and on their

final exams, according to a study by .

Indiah Cornish, a sophomore studying astrobiology, prepares for finals by reviewing past material for mistakes.

“I go through all my past quizzes, all of my past tests, correct what I got wrong, and have all of those corrections down on a sheet, and then I go over them [separately],” Cornish said.

In addition, taking regular breaks is crucial to the way that Cornish studies.

“My breaks usually involve texting my friends and being, like, ‘Oh my god, studying is so hard,’ and you get your encouragement back,” Cornish said, “Like ‘you can do it!’ Get yourself a support system that’ll cheer you on when you feel like you’re dying.”

Cornish said that she usually loses a considerable amount of sleep while studying for finals.

As one might guess,

however, national trends sometimes don’t tell the whole story, as there can be more unconventional methods of exam preparation.

For instance, Kourtnee Fernalld, a junior in computer science, has two very different ways of handling overwhelming work and studying.

“I have literally taken my Adderall at 10 p.m. to stay up and finish code for an assignment and stayed up until 3 a.m.,” she said, “One time I was so overwhelmed with my workload that I went to sleep instead of doing any of the work, because I couldn’t handle it.”

It’s evident that final exams put stress on all students in some way. Florida Tech provides a way to help.

On Saturday, April 20th, tents, students, and inflatables dotted the grass of Crawford Green as Florida Tech held its Exam Jam, sponsored by C.A.B. Exam Jam is an event that

Emily Perron and Stephen Hammond with their artificial reef, Reef Life. space, electrical and computer engineers “It’s a great culmination of my ocean engineering degree,” Mitchell said. “We did coastal process, naval architecture,

instrumentation, material science and ship design and construction. It showed me to have a full range of experience to take with me into the job market.”

Malia Ashmead, Jamison Burch and Emanuel Rossi with the Osiris bioreactor.

helps students destress before final exams that featured several activities, food trucks, and music. Exam Jam has been run annually for six years and has a similar but smaller counterpart, known as Test Fest, in the fall semesters.

Several tents were set up on Crawford Green offering activities such as small

Crimson // Marc Kanneh

Crimson // Marc Kanneh

arts and crafts. An inflatable bounce house and a rocking surfboard, similar to a mechanical bull ride, were also present.

Students looking to blow off some steam before finals should set a reminder for next spring, when Exam Jam makes its return, or for Test Fest this fall.

CAB booth along with a bouncy house set up for Exam Jam on the Crawford greens.

Crimson // Stephen Pickrom

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ISSUE 8

APRIL 23

SATIRE

Students participate in Earth Day Over 4/20 weekend seamus burns \\ staff writer

Earth Day takes place on Monday, April 22nd, but students this year began their celebrations early when Easter Sunday and weekend festivities sparked inspiration.

As the semester comes to an end and students approach their finals with projects and studying, procrastinating from academia for the purpose of celebrating not only Easter but Earth Day as well was popular this past weekend.

With weather and climate being a major concern and issue among controversial topics, celebrating Earth Day has become more important as environmental protection calls for more attention.

Throughout the week, students from SOSA, the Student Organization for Sustainability Action, set up tents outside of Crawford and helped people walking by learn about proper waste maintenance and sustainability.

Taylor Greene, a junior sustainability major, is the vice president of SOSA and believes that a little effort can go a long way.

“Earth Day is big for spreading awareness,” Greene

said. “I think if everyone made a small effort to care more about the environment, there would be huge improvements.”

Becoming environmentally conscious was an overlying theme for the weekend as students openly expressed their love for all plants, trees, grass and even weeds.

Small efforts such as picking weeds from a flower bed, even if only grams at a time, could help the environment and make the world a prettier place.

Residence Life Sustainability Committee began growing a garden in 2017 that provided helpful sustainability practices for students to learn about as a part of campus life.

However, caring about the Earth remains a high priority to this day.

To be blunt, the situation regarding climate change and any controversy has been messy.

Climate change scientists have conducted studies since the 1960’s when Exxon hired the teams to study the environment.

Due to rising carbon emissions and insufficient waste management, there has been an elevated sense of urgency and people feel

more compelled to improve the damages to the planet as awareness spreads.

Joint efforts from the public and corporations are growing, and companies like Patagonia are growing popularity for their efforts made towards conservation and sustainability.

Going into Easter weekend with excitement for Earth Day made Saturday, April 20th feel like a holiday on its own.

Students were blazing with excitement, grinding out their frustrations and unifying their passion, making steps to a better Earth and creating awareness for a sustainable environment.

However, environmental talk without action is just blowing smoke.

The Earth may have a chronic problem, and deciding what is best for the Earth can be difficult when people debate so much about what is best for ourselves.

The definition of “healthy” should not be subjective, and while the Earth has no personal doctor, it is up to us to decide a necessary prescription for the most positive outcome, and create an Earth that people would want to marry.

sonja michaels \\ "An Inconvenient text"

EKG continued to have an EKG screening before their seasons begin,” Fiorina said. “However, at a school like Florida Tech, this is not exactly a feasible financial option and there could be difficulties with the universi-

ty’s athletic insurance policies.

I still would highly recommend to all athletes to get EKG screenings though.”

Companies like MediComp and organizations like Who We Play For are making waves and creating discussion within the community by aiming to promote healthy heart awareness throughout Brevard County.

ISSUE 8

APRIL 23

CAMPUS LIFE Student space program opens for the summer

7

earth continued

christian martinez \\ staff writer

Florida Tech and the International Space University - Center for Space Entrepreneurship (ISU-CSE) have partnered together to make a summer program for students to learn about the commercial space industry.

The Commercial Space Studies graduate certificate program will be led by Florida Tech’s Aldrin Space Institute (ASI) from June 3 through July 12, with classes located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Shawn Shirshekar, project coordinator at the ASI, said that the institute is trying to encourage students toward space research and flight.

“We want to give students rigorous training and policy

training so they become wellrounded to enter the space industry,” Shirshekar said.

“We’re trying to build a multidisciplined field of graduates.”

Shirshekar described the course activities as an intensive program with lectures, outside traveling in the area and other classroom situations.

The program’s website at isucse.fit.edu lists a 12-credit course of four classes: BUS 5027: Global Commercial Space Programs, ENM 5201: Space Technology and Systems, HUM 5131: Global Space Policy and Law and BUS 5025: Technological Entrepreneurship in Space.

“This is the first time the program is being offered here

[at Florida Tech],” said Natalie Buczek, an administrative assistant with the ASI. “So we are trying to get the word out to as many people as possible.”

Buczek said this program is directed more towards graduate students, although any student is “welcome to join as long as they put in the effort.”

She also described the program as a mix of space and business classes with entrepreneurship and flight management.

Buczek said that housing will not be offered, but options are being explored.

Shirshekar and Buczek confirmed that the director of the ASI, Andy Aldrin, will be teaching students at the

program through lectures.

There is a $20 application fee and complete instructions are on the program’s website.

The cost of tuition for the program will be $14,000.

A $5,000 scholarship application is available with the requirement of sending a statement of qualifications to registration@aldrinspace. institute.

“We want to give everyone a chance to get into the space industry,” Shirshekar said.

Only 50 students will be admitted into the program with applications due April 30.

Buczek said that about 20-30 spots are still available for applications.

Reitano said the goal during Earth Week is to get as many people to participate as possible.

“I think, personally, all of the things that I’ve been involved with for Earth Week have come out of groups and organizations making a big deal about having events that allow everyone to get involved,” Reitano said. “I think it’s important to let everyone to get involved.”

For the Surf Club, they encourage people to participate by teaching people to surf after they clean up the beach.

“It’s an awesome way to combine so that everyone comes out and learns about it and just by spreading that, everyone gets to be more involved and might notice what they do in their everyday lives,” Reitano said.

Earth Week wraps up on April 23. For Lindeman, the theme for the week is raising awareness that will impact people beyond the event.

“The planet isn’t interested in our economies and social dynamics,” Lindeman said.

“The planet has been operating for billions of years, and things are changing in many, many realms. Anything we can do to get people to stop for a moment and understand that we take a lot of things for granted seems to be helpful.”

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ISSUE 8

APRIL 23

SPORTS

Athletic Director says not to worry about more team cuts olivia mckelvey \\ staff writer

In early March, at the Student Leader Luncheon, President McKay mentioned that more athletic teams will be under evaluation for potential cuts.

However, Athletic Director Bill Jurgens has stated that student athletes should not be afraid.

“Although I can’t say if or when teams could be cut, the decision will divert all necessary attention,” Jurgens said.

“Student athletes should not be afraid. Any decision about reducing a program is going to be studied thoroughly. It’s a tough decision and it will be not be taken lightly.”

There are numerous factors that must be taken into consideration when an athletic committee, which consists of members of the school’s board of trustees, suggest “healthy recommendations for the betterment of the university,” Jurgens said.

Such factors include academic performance, athletic performance, retention and graduation rates, academic success rates, senior exit interviews, program requirements and facility needs and maintenance, according to Jurgens.

One of the recent athletic teams to be cut was women’s golf.

This past fall semester, women’s golf had the second highest overall team GPA with an average of 3.598.

Furthermore, two girls on the team will be transferring to Division I schools to continue their golf careers at the collegiate level.

As their last season comes to a close, all members of the team that are on athletic scholarships were informed their financial aid would continue until their graduation date and that they can choose to play on the men’s team.

On the men’s side of golf, sophomore Evan Thompson,

a student in entrepreneurship and a member of the men’s golf team, said he thinks they chose not to cut men’s golf because they were Sunshine State Conference champions last year.

“However, I think in the next five years, the school might cut the program because they will choose to focus more on academics rather than the continuation of athletic teams,” Thompson said.

Golf is not the only program that has been cut.

Florida Tech has discontinued three athletic programs since last summer.

Track and field as well as tennis are no longer athletic programs that Florida Tech will continue.

As more and more programs are reduced, students athletes have become concerned about their future at Florida Tech.

Pauline Cosson is a junior majoring in sports manage-

ment.

Cosson is currently a member of the cross country team and was previously a member of the track and field team before the program was cut.

“I worry that cross country could be cut due to the fact that our roster size is so small with only seven girls,” she said. “However, I’m hopeful they will let the program continue in the upcoming years, as the cut to another running-related program was made so recently.”

Another student concerned about cuts due to a small roster size is Tania Kottke, a senior majoring in business administration and management as well as a member of the volleyball team.

“On one hand, I’m worried because as of now with next year's incoming freshman, we will be ten girls in total,” Kottke said. “However, in order for us to practice against

each other and scrimmage, you need 12 on the court, so this makes training for games a bit harder. On the other hand, though, volleyball is a major collegiate sport. I view it as the female equivalent to a football program, and I don’t see Florida Tech’s football team being cut anytime soon.

Therefore, I’d like to think volleyball won’t be cut in the near future either.”

As numerous student athletes have expressed their concerns, the president’s office has stated that there are no additional details to share concerning this issue.

While there is still no answer as to if or when teams will be cut, Jurgens leaves the student body with this note: “Cutting teams at the university is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I love Florida Tech, I love the students, but sometimes I have to do things that are hard because it’s simply my job to do so.”

Florida Tech frisbee eyes national competition david thomspon \\ managing edtior

Florida Tech’s ultimate frisbee team will be competing in the Division III southeast regional tournament on April 27 and 28.

They need to place first in the tournament to move onto the national competition.

The Panthers went 4-3 in the Sunshine State conference game, good enough to move on to regional play.

Reed Antonich is a senior studying aerospace engineering and team member. He stated in a text message that they have been plagued by injuries this season.

Antonich said that after the first day of the conference games, they clinched a spot in regionals and took it easy through the rest of their games to avoid any more injuries.

“Health and injuries have definitely hurt our season immensely,” Antonich said.

“At one of our biggest tournaments of the year, we were missing four of our top seven players due to injuries. Luckily, them taking a few weeks here and there off have put them in shape to help us perform optimally at regionals.”

Antonich said a lot of their motivation this year has come from a late-season loss last year.

“We lost in semifinals last year at regionals by one point to the national champs, and only lost two upperclassmen,”

Alex Martin steps and throws a wide open backhand Antonich stated.

The team had a “rocky start” to begin this season, according to Antonich, but he said this may be causing other teams to overlook them now late in the season.

“The teams from our conferences learned last week that we finally got our mojo back,” Antonich stated. “We aren’t going in with the mindset that we have regionals in the bag, but we really have a good shot at winning.”

Fellow teammate Alex Martin, a junior studying aeronautical science with flight, stated in a text message that he also thinks they have a lot to prove at the regional competition.

“We're trying to go into regionals and prove to all the teams there that they should be worried about playing us,” Martin said. “With all our

Photo // Duncan Graham

players healthy, we’re going to have a really good showing at regionals.”

Martin also stated that this season has been a learning experience because of the injuries, loss of players and early struggles.

Hunter Davis, a junior studying computer engineering, also plays for Florida Tech’s ultimate frisbee team.

Davis stated in a text message that they have had more injuries this year than the past two years.

According to Davis, the Panthers usually have 18 to 20 healthy players for a tournament weekend, but they only had 11 players available for their last tournament.

“It puts guys who haven't played as much and don't have as much experience on the starting lines,” Davis stated.

“Freshman have been able to

step up more this year because of the number of injured players.”

Davis stated that he has “made some really good friends” that he definitely wouldn’t have made if it wasn’t for the ultimate frisbee team.

“I love this team,” Davis stated. “I came in as a freshman three years ago. I have had a history of playing team sports in high school, and coming here to a team that is really willing to teach new players was wonderful.”

Joshua Newman, a senior studying astronomy and astrophysics and member of the ultimate frisbee team, stated in a text message that he thinks his team’s full potential is not only making it to the national competition

but competing in them.

“There is no one in the southeast [division] I don’t think we can’t beat,” Newman said. “I honestly believe our potential is only what we limit ourselves to.”

The teams that Florida Tech will be playing against in the regional competition are University of North Georgia, Berry College, Stetson University, Embry Riddle, Samford University, Union University and Belmont University.

The Panthers haven’t beaten Berry College yet this season, according to Davis.

The schedule for the Division III regional competition hasn’t been released yet, despite the tournament being scheduled for April 27 and 28.

Reed Antonich leaps for the catch between two defenders

Photo // Michelle Krenger