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Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2016
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More than 800 students from different insitituitons attended the 10th semi-annual HackRU, a 24-hour marathon coding event. Competitors had the opportunity to attend Tech Talks as well as create unique projects at the event. COURTESY OF GEORGETTE STILLMAN
Students practice coding, design skills at 10th HackRU SOFIYA NEDELCHEVA
and 17 with about 800 students in attendance, the majority of whom were from Rutgers. The remainder hailed from different institutions ranging from local high schools to the University of Maryland, Temple University, Drexel University, Stony Brook University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Cornell University.
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Hundreds of students gathered to practice their coding and design skills at the 10th semi-annual HackRU. The 24-hour software and hardware design event, took place at the Rutgers Athletic Center on April 16
HackRU is the second oldest student-run hackathon in America behind PennApps, which is run by the University of Pennsylvania, said Michelle Chen, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and the executive director of the event. HackRU is seeking to better itself not in terms of money or hackers but rather in terms of quality, she said.
One way they are working to improve its quality is through Tech Talks. Tech Talks are 30 to 60-minute long technical seminars or workshops that are given by either representatives of sponsors, alumni, on-campus organizations or the Undergraduate Student Alliance of Computer Scientists (USACS), the
organization that runs HackRU, Chen said. “This year we ramped-up our tech-talks. We have over half a dozen going on during this hackathon,” she said. The panels focus on central topics, she said. Introductory talks were SEE HACKRU ON PAGE 5
Community discusses impact of marijuana use
Students travel to exotic locations for leadership class
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JULIAN JIMENEZ STAFF WRITER
Students may not always know what to do or how to react when dealing with social issues, but a course is teaching students the skills and knowledge to do so. “International Relations: Leadership for Sustainability,” a course offered by the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, centers around the idea of teaching its students how to lead, said Mary Nikola, director of Leadership and Organizational Development within the Office of the Dean of Agricultural and Urban Programs. While it is essential for students to learn the fundamentals of leadership, she said students should also have the opportunity to travel to learn how to apply these skills. “Needless to say, it’s a global world. And when our students graduate, chances are they’ll have the opportunity to work in a multicultural environment — maybe even
Students in “International Relations: Leadership for Sustainability” visited St. Croix in the Caribbean Islands to learn from officials in the nation. COURTESY OF DEREK NOAH work overseas,” Nikola said. “They need to be really thinking (about a) much broader context than that.” She said her students work on problem solving, how to influence others and networking. “In all honesty, we teach them how to shake hands (and) how to make eye contact,” she said. “You never know. Tomorrow you might get on the bus or walk into a classroom and there’s one person you’ve
been dying to talk to because he or she represents an internship opportunity for you or job opportunity.” But that is not all her students do. As part of the class, students take an eight-day trip to St. Croix in U.S. Virgin Islands over spring break. While there, students learn how to apply their leadership skills, she said. SEE CLASS ON PAGE 4
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among young people in the United States, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Marijuana is commonly found in the form of green-brown dried up parts of the Cannabis sativa plant. The drug includes the bud, seeds, stem and leaves of the plant. People can smoke marijuana as rolled cigarettes, in pipes or eat it in food form. Additionally, many people use vaporizers to avoid inhaling the smoke from the drug. Using a vaporizer is often more clean and does not involve burning the marijuana, according to a website on portable vaporizers. A vaporizer heats the marijuana at a temperature that does not burn the drug. The essential oils which contain the same active ingredients boil until vapor is created that can be inhaled, according to the site. The resulting vapor contains the active ingredients that will make a
person “high” without the chemicals found in the smoke. Using a vaporizer is not necessarily safer than the other personal uses of marijuana, but it is the least risky option, according to the site. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there are both short term and long term effects that marijuana has on the brain. When someone smokes marijuana, the main chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) goes from the lungs straight into the bloodstream and then into other organs. An individual experiences the marijuana’s “high” when the THC binds to the receptors responsible for pleasure, time perception and pain, according to livescience.com. Some short-term effects include an increase in appetite, problems with memory and learning and distorted perception. While the shortterm effects of using marijuana on the brain can be temporary, the drug can make it unsafe to drive while under the influence of marijuana.
VOLUME 148, ISSUE 49 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • CLASSIFIEDS ... 7 • SCIENCE ... 10 • DIVERSIONS ... 11 • SPORTS ... BACK
SEE MARIJUANA ON PAGE 4