| Issue 10 | Volume 144 | Tuesday, November 10, 2015 | theavion.com |
Jack Taylor/The Avion Newspaper Onion Co-Founder and longtime Editor-in-Chief, Scott Dikkers, spoke to students in the IC Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 3. An Honor’s Series event, the funny man spoke of the early developments of the publication and where he sees the Onion in the future. The Avion had an exclusive interview with Mr. Dikkers after the event, which will be posted later this week on our website, theavion.com.
Onion Co-Founder Comes to Campus Scott Dikkers, a longtime Editor-in-Chief of the satirical newspaper, shares his favorite stories...
Himani Parekh Staff Reporter The Onion began as a poorly performing little venture to be funny; it is now one of the most popular humor news outlets. On Tuesday, November 3, Scott Dikkers, second speaker in this year’s Honors Series and co-founder of The Onion, told the story of the humor newspaper’s creation and his own journey with the publication. To a room full of engineering, aviation, and space lovers, Dikkers spoke of
his love for comedy, his start as a comic strip writer, and his acquiring of The Onion publication from its two initial creators Tim Keck and Chris Johnson. As The Onion began to grow, the publication began to acquire writers, people who worked for no pay and came from the unlikeliest walks of life. One writer was an alcoholic. Another lived in his mother’s basement. One of the writers once spent three weeks apparently feeding her cats. These people wrote comedy because they wanted, or
as Dikkers put it, because they needed to do so. They were already cynics; now they had an outlet. Over time, and with The Onion’s growth, some of these original contributors went on to have successful careers in writing and producing humor television. Shows such as The Colbert Report and The Daily Show all have or have had former Onion writers as producers and head writers. Intriguingly, when The Onion initially started to gain traction and make profit as a publication, Dik-
kers was, in fact, homeless. All the money The Onion made went into paying the writers and running the publication. Nevertheless, Dikkers described that time as his happiest because he was, in essence, living his dream, running a successful humor publication. Today, The Onion is more of a modern publication, with a corporate end and a publication end, all housed in offices in Chicago. Legal issues are handled professionally, not in the ramshackle manner of the original Onion, full of
inexperienced writers who just wanted to create comedy. The turnaround rate is much higher, with young employees often leaving to pursue careers in humor television writing. However, Dikkers says he stands by the principles that guided him then as now: live your dream; invest your passion, not your money; and be prepared to scrap everything. The former Editor-inChief ’s story was punctuated by wonderful slices of humor and garnered much laughter from the occu-
pants of the packed I.C. Auditorium. While Dikkers’s life centered around the worlds of humor and publishing, ones very far away from the aviation, space, and engineering worlds, his story served as a reminder that pursuing one’s dream, even if it means taking actions without any clear fallbacks, safety nets, or pre-approved end results, is perhaps the most important part of shaping one’s own life and quite possibly creating something very new and very interesting.
Jupiter Possibly Expels a Rival Gas Giant Keenan Thungtrakul Staff Reporter Scientists believe that there may have been a fifth gas giant planet that existed when the Solar System was still forming. If this planet actually existed, where is it now? A gravitational interplay between that planet and Jupiter could be the reason why it isn’t among the current gas giants orbiting the Sun. Astronomer David Nesvorny of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, originally proposed the theory in 2011. In he suggests that a fifth gas giant planet
existed during the formation of the Solar System. He points to a peculiar group of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt as evidence. The asteroids seem to always stick together and orbit the sun like a planet would. This so-called “kernel” is thought to be the remnant of some extra planet, an orphaned baby in a cold sea of rocks beyond Pluto. The kernel may have been thrown out of the solar system as a result of planetary ejection, where one planet’s gravity accelerates another planet to the point that it escapes the gravitational pull of the parent star. Nesvorny used a com-
puter simulation to go back 4 billion years to the formation of the planets. In the model, the bodies that made up the kernel were caught in Neptune’s gravity as it moved away from the sun to settle in its current orbit. According to Nesvorny’s calculations, when it was 2.6 billion miles from the sun, approaching its current orbit, Neptune jumped 4.7 million miles farther from the sun, freeing the kernel to fly off into the orbital position it occupies today. In explaining why Neptune would make such a drastic jump in its migra-
tion to its current orbit, Nesvorny says that only a gravitational field as big as that of a planet would be enough to pull Neptune further away from the sun. He adds that none of the other gas giants were responsible since their orbits never interacted with Neptune’s in a fashion as seen in the model. In a new study, astrophysicists at the University of Toronto point to Jupiter in explaining the ejection of the unknown planet that would have had a strong enough gravitational field to force Neptune further out during its migration. Previous investigations into the
possibility of giant planets ejecting each other did not consider the effects of such violent encounters with smaller bodies, such as the moons of the giant planets. Ryan Cloutier, lead author of the study concerning Jupiter, worked with his colleagues to create computer simulations of two particular moons, Jupiter’s moon Callisto and Saturn’s moon Iapetus. The simulations show the current trajectory of each moon, which was used to measure the likelihood that each moon produced its current orbit as a result of the host planet’s ejecting of the hypothetical fifth planet.
Such an ejection would have caused a significant disturbance in the moon’s orbit. The results of the simulations show that Saturn would not have been able to eject the planet since the disturbance would cause too abrupt of a shift in the orbit of Iapetus, a shift that is difficult to reconcile with its current trajectory. Jupiter, on the other hand, is capable of ejecting the fifth planet while retaining a moon with the orbit of Callisto. Therefore, scientists have reached the conclusion that Jupiter likely expelled another planet from the Solar System.
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The Avion
Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager
Andy Lichtenstein Micah Knight Cassandra Vella Michael Nisip Jack Taylor Shemar Alexander
Page Editors Front Editor Campus Editor SGA Editor Sports Editor Comics Editor Copy Editor
Andy Lichtenstein Jaclyn Wiley Micah Knight Zach Fedewa Keenan Thungtrakul Micah Knight Michael Nisip Jaclyn Wiley Andrew Bronshteyn
Staff Contributors Reporters Photographers
Keenan Thungtrakul Himani Parekh Zach Fedewa Billy Nguyen Jack Taylor
Staff Advisor Wesley Lewis, Asst. Director, Media & Marketing
Contact Information Main Phone: (386) 226-6049 Ad Manager: (386) 226-7697 Fax Number: (386) 226-6727 Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Business Manager Photography Editor Advertising Manager
editor@theavion.com managing@theavion.com news@theavion.com business@theavion.com photo@theavion.com advertising@theavion.com
Website: theavion.com
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New Telescope Gives ERAU and Partner Institutions Research Opportunties in the Canary Islands James Roddey ERAU Media & Marketing A joint international effort including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University recently transformed a decommissioned telescope in the Canary Islands off the coast of Northern Africa into a remotely accessible instrument for research, education and outreach. An agreement between the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) outlines how the groups will jointly operate the telescope, which has been inactive for a decade, after upgrades funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Led by Embry-Riddle, SARA is a consortium of colleges and universities in the United States that includes Florida Institute of Technology, East Tennessee State University, Valdosta State University, Florida International University, Clemson University, Ball State University, Agnes Scott College, University of Alabama, Valparaiso University, Butler University, Texas A&M
Commerce, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and now the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. Dr. Terry Oswalt, SARA Chairman, hosted the commissioning ceremony for SARA on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, along with members of the SARA Board of Directors, Dr. Rafael Rebolo, Director of the IAC, local authorities and scientists related to the project. “The commissioning of the SARA-JKT telescope represents a major milestone in the 25year history of the SARA consortium,” said Oswalt, who is also Chair of the Physical Sciences Department at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach Campus in Florida. “The telescope is better than new and will be accessible from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. We are especially excited about this new international partnership with the IAC and look forward to many years of scientific collaboration involving faculty, staff and students at all our partner institutions.” The 1-meter Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) was originally constructed by the United Kingdom, Ireland and the
Netherlands more than 30 years ago as part of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory to take advantage of the excellent atmospheric conditions afforded by this high-altitude volcanic island. It was decommissioned in 2003. In 2012 it was transferred to the IAC, and in 2014 an operating agreement for the telescope was reached between SARA and the IAC. “The addition of the JKT to the network of telescopes operated by SARA allows an extraordinary temporal coverage in the Northern Hemisphere,” said Rebolo during the dedication. “Adding a telescope in the Southern Hemisphere will help us all to do better science.” IAC staff will have access to time on the JKT as well as setting up collaborative projects with other SARA scientists using the other consortium telescopes, located at Kitt Peak in Arizona and Cerro Tololo in Chile. Since 1995, SARA has operated a 1-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory under an agreement with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The SARA 0.6-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo has been operat-
ed in partnership with the NSF, the Chilean astronomical community and Lowell Observatory since 2010. SARA astronomers have been using these facilities to pursue research ranging from asteroids to quasars; they are also used by students in the classroom and for public outreach events. Thousands of miles separate the three SARA telescopes. “Just as having two eyes gives depth perception, the SARA telescopes give us the ability to quickly measure distances and orbits for objects like potentially hazardous asteroids,” said Oswalt. “Because they are at different longitudes, we can stay focused on an object longer and we have a hedge against inclement weather at any given site. That’s hugely important to the study of objects that vary in brightness, such as pulsating stars like white dwarfs or transiting exoplanets.” Oswalt’s main area of study is white dwarf stars, the dense small cores of dead stars that no longer burn hydrogen. Learn more about the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy at http:// saraobservatory.org.
Embry-Riddle To Offer Reduced Tuition for Florida Students Melanie Hanns ERAU Director of Media Relations
The Avion is produced weekly during the fall and spring term, and bi-weekly during summer terms. The Avion is produced by a volunteer student staff. Student editors make all content, business and editorial decisions. The editorial opinions expressed in The Avion are solely the opinion of the undersigned writer(s), and not those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Student Government Association, The Avion, or the student body. Letters appearing in The Avion are those of the writer, identified at the end of the letter. Opinions expressed in the “Student Government” and “Student Life” sections are those of the identified writer. Letters may be submitted to The Avion for publication, provided they are not lewd, obscene or libelous. Letter writers must confine themselves to less than 800 words. Letters may be edited for brevity and formatted to newspaper guidelines. All letters must be signed. Names may be withheld at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. The Avion is an open forum for student expression. The Avion is a division of the Student Government Association. The Avion is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The costs of this publication are paid by the Student Government Association and through advertising fees. The Avion distributes one free copy per person. Additional copies are $0.75. Theft of newspapers is a crime, and is subject to prosecution and Embry-Riddle judicial action. This newspaper and its contents are protected by United States copyright law. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, in print or electronically, without the expressed written consent of The Avion. Correspondence may be addressed to: The Avion Newspaper, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, Florida 32114. Physical office: John Paul Riddle Student Center, Room 110. Phone: (386) 226-6049. Fax: (386) 226-6727.
November
A proposal to provide reduced tuition for graduates of Florida high schools who are admitted to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University was approved Friday by the Board of Trustees as the university celebrated its 50th year in Volusia County and 90-year history. “As the world’s largest and oldest institute focusing on aviation and aerospace – we are global, but it is a priority to provide access to a quality education for qualified students in our own community,” said Emb-
ry-Riddle Chairman of the Board of Trustees Dr. Mori Hosseini. “It’s not just about giving back, it’s about investing in our local talent and keeping them here in our state to continue solidifying Florida as an aerospace industry leader.” Effective August 2016, a 5 percent reduced tuition rate will be applied to new students who have graduated from high school and have been accepted at the Daytona Beach Campus. This falls in line with the nonprofit university’s other recent programs aimed at building and retaining a qualified, highly-skilled workforce on a local and state level.
Entering its second year, the Florida Scholars program provides affordable access to EmbryRiddle for more than 320of the state’s brightest students with degrees for in-demand careers in Engineering (Civil, Computer, Electrical, Software), Astronomy & Astrophysics, Space Physics, Business Administration and more. Sixty-four of these students are from Volusia County. Since inception in Fall 2014 the university has awarded nearly $6.5 million in scholarships as part of the program. Embry-Riddle’s Gaetz Aerospace Institute offers college courses and credits focusing in STEM (Sci-
ence, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at no cost to Florida high school students. Since its official launch in 2004, this concurrent enrollment program has grown considerably from a single academy to nearly 70 participating high schools with up to 20 courses in seven disciplines including unmanned aircraft systems and robotics, computer programming, engineering, flight physiology, computing in aviation and meteorology. “Creating opportunities and access for these students is a win for everyone,” said Embry-Riddle Interim President Dr. John R. Watret.
Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper
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The Avion
Upcoming Games: Tuesday No Games
Wednesday No Games
Thursday No Games
Friday
Sports Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle volleyball team dropped a four-set match to visiting Nova Southeastern on Friday, 25-23, 20-25, 18-25, 23-25. With the defeat, the Eagles are now 12-13 on the season, while NSU now stands at 17-10. Evelina Abdurakhmanova led all players with 19 kills and picked up nine digs, while Asya Oguz had nine kills and 12 digs in her first start as an outside hitter. Amanda Saunders added eight kills, six blocks and 14 digs while Ella Duggan chipped in five kills and six blocks. Tamires Ferreira tallied 41 assists, 15 digs and eight kills while Sumerr Paxton had a team-leading 21 digs. The Blue and Gold took the first set by ending the frame on a 5-2 run which included two blocks and a kill from
No Games
Monday No Games
Duggan, giving ERAU a 25-23 win and a 1-0 lead in the match. Set two was a backand-forth affair with seven ties and four lead changes. The final lead change came when NSU went on a 9-3 run to turn a 15-14 deficit into a 23-18 lead. The Sharks were happy to trade sideouts the rest of the way en route to a 25-20 win. Nova Southeastern took control of set three with a 12-1 run that gave the visitors a 15-6 advantage. The Eagles got within four (22-18) but NSU shut the door, winning the final three points to win the frame, 25-18. The fourth set featured 14 ties and five lead changes, with the Blue and Gold holding a lead as late as 19-18. The Sharks then won five of the next six points to take a 23-20 lead, but the Eagles fought back to trim the deficit to a
Ella Duggan , Sophomore, prepares to spike the ball over the net towards Nova Southeastern.
Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper
single point at 24-23. A Dana Holger kill ended the ERAU rally there, with NSU winning the set, 25-23, to clinch the match, 3-1.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow afternoon - Saturday, Nov. 7th as they host Lynn at the ERAU ICI Center starting at 4 p.m.
ERAU Volleyball Falls to Rollins, 3-1
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ERAU Volleyball Suffers 3-1 Defeat to Nova Southeastern
Women’s Volleyball vs Barry ERAU Daytona Beach, 7:00 P.M.
Women’s Basketball vs Ave Maria ERAU, 12:00 P.M. Women’s Volleyball vs Palm Atlantic Beach ERAU, 4:00 P.M. Men’s Basketball vs Warner ERAU, 7:00 P.M.
November
vs ERAU: 3 Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle volleyball team dropped a four-set match to visiting Rollins on Tuesday, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 20-25. With the defeat, the Eagles are now at 12-12 on the season, while RC now stands at 9-15. Evelina Abdurakhmanova led all players with 14 kills but also had 15 attack errors. Amanda Saunders added 13 kills and 13 digs while Erika Hinel chipped in six kills and five blocks. Ella Duggan had a match-high seven blocks (two solo) and Ashley Humphrey had six blocks. Tamires Ferreira tallied 36 assists and 23 digs while Sumerr Paxton had a team-leading 25 digs. Rollins used a 9-4 run to take a 14-12 lead
RC: 1 in set one and held off a late Eagle charge to win the frame, 25-23. Humphrey put down a kill late in set two to give ERAU a 23-22 lead but the Tars rallied for three straight points to win the set, 25-23, taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Embry-Riddle dominated set three from start to finish, opening the frame on an 8-3 run and winning three of the final four points to win the frame, 25-17. The Blue and Gold led set four early on, but a 5-0 run for RC in the middle stages put the visitors ahead, 20-15, and the Tars finished off the set with a 25-20 win to clinch the match, 3-1. The Eagles are back in action on Friday night as they host Nova Southeastern at 7 p.m.
Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Tamires Ferreira, Senior, sets the ball for Erika Hinel, Senior. Hinel is preparing to spike the ball towards Rollins.
B3 Sports ERAU Volleyball Can’t Solve Lynn in 3-1 Defeat
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Michael Pierce ERAU Athletics
and eight digs. The Fighting Knights ran out to a 10-point lead early in set one (14-4) and never looked back, winning the frame 25-16. Set two was a backand-forth affair with 12 ties and three lead changes. The Eagles used an 11-3 run to move ahead, 24-21, but Lynn rallied to score three straight points to tie it at 24. After trading sideouts, the Blue and Gold got kills from Oguz and Erika Hinel to win the set, 27-25. Lynn hit .412 in set
three and sided out 14 out of 15 chances en route to a 25-14 win and a 2-1 lead in the match. Set four saw the Fighting Knights jump out to a 9-2 lead and quickly push it to double-digits at 16-6. The Eagles scored six straight to cut an 11-point deficit to just five (23-18), but back-to-back errors gave LU the final two points they needed to clinch the set, 25-18. The Eagles continue this five-match home stand next Friday when they host Barry at 7 p.m.
ERAU Men’s Soccer Closes Season with 2-0 Decision at Cal State San Marcos The men’s soccer team ended their season with a 2-12 record. They will return to the field in the fall of 2016 to start their next season.
Jack Taylor/Avion Newspaper
Janelle Johnson ERAU Athletics The Embry-Riddle men’s soccer team traveled to Cal State - San Marcos for the final game of the 2015 season on Saturday, Nov. 7. The Cougars came out on top in the match, winning 2-0. The Eagles end the season with a 2-12 record while the Cougars finish at 7-8-2 on the year. The Eagles took the first shot of the game in the ninth minute as Daniel Gylfason fed the ball to Daniel McClintock up left side. He then crossed it into the box to a waiting Felix Lohmeyer, who headed it towards net but the chance sailed just wide. The Eagles had another opportunity on a cross in the 17th minute. Viktor Hafsteinsson crossed it towards the net, how-
ever it was cleared by the Cougar defense directly to Jason Van Achteren at the top of the box. Van Achteren side stepped several defenders and ripped the shot from range, hitting the crossbar square on. Another close chance for ERAU came as Joao Belmonte took a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box in the 25th minute. The shot flew into the box and forced the goalkeeper, Zach Sheppard, to make a high save as he punched the ball back into play. Despite the Eagles several close calls, it was CSUSM that got on the board first. In the 38th minute, Oscar Gonzalez slotted a shot past Jeff Bone as he was coming off his line. Down by a goal to start the second half, the Eagles had a chance in
the 59th minute. Eric LaVerne passed the ball off to Gylfason, who took it streaking down the side. Gylfason outpaced his defenders to cross the ball into the box towards Belmonte. Belmonte just missed getting his head on the end of what would have been the equalizer. Instead the Cougars increased their lead in the 71st minute. CSUSM struck again as Dustin Scibilla finished on a cross from Eddie Guerra to put the home side up, 2-0. The Eagles had several opportunities with the ball forward towards the end of the game but were unable to get off a shot to land one in the back of net, falling to the Cougars 2-0. This wraps up the season for Embry-Riddle. The Eagles will return in the Fall of 2016.
Left: An ERAU Eagle spikes the ball over the net at the game Saturday night.
Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper
The Embry-Riddle volleyball team dropped a four-set match to visiting Lynn on Saturday, 16-25, 27-25, 14-25, 18-25. With the defeat, the Eagles are now 12-14 on the season, while LU now stands at 14-12. Amanda Saunders led the Eagles with 15 kills while Ana Pajic (13 kills) and Asya Oguz (11 kills) also reached double-figures. Sumerr Paxton picked up a match-leading 13 digs and Tamires Ferreira tallied 39 assists
The Avion
In our October 27 issue, the Avion Newspaper ran a piece in our Student Life section regarding Blue & Gold Week Ambassadors. The publication has learned the photo corresponding with Trevor Rizzo was incorrect. The Avion regrets the error.
Comics and Games
Congratulations To: Colin Iverson For winning last week’s puzzle contest! Please stop by The Avion office to claim your prize.
Jet Fuel
The ‘controlled demolition’ theory was concocted by the government to distract us. ‘9/11 was an inside job’ was an inside job!
Before Next Issue: Enter The Avion puzzle contest! Submit your completed crossword puzzle to The Avion office in SC 110 before 5 p.m., Friday November 13, to be considered. Only students are eligible, please bring your student ID with your crossword.