O’bagel raised their prices and got rid of the jalapeno cheddar cream cheese.....so annoying
We write Stevens history VOLUME CXXIII No. 24
HOBOKEN, NJ | APRIL 24, 2026
The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck. www.thestute.com TikTok @thestute Instagram @thestute facebook.com/stevensthestute NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
Holding Stevens Accountable BY THE STUTE
EC TechFest 2026 with Rachel Chinouriri BY ANTHONY CURCIOPETRACCORO, STAFF WRITER On April 8, as the end of the spring semester approached, Stevens Entertainment Committee (EC) hosted the highly anticipated musical event to kick
off the summer festivities: TechFest 2026 Each year, the student-run Entertainment Committee works to coordinate a memorable event filled with fun activities, performances from students, and top musicians. Previous years’ headliners included artists from various
genres, including T-Pain, Peach Tree Rascals, Neon Trees, and Dayglow. Each artist brought their own energy and excitement to the crowd. This year, the hype was certainly no different. In March, the entertainment committee hosted a “Battle of the Bands” event in Bissinger, where local
LOCAL NEWS The Hudson River fish are now mostly safe to eat BY SOFIA STOECKEL, STAFF WRITER Due to the declining amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the water of the Hudson River, the New York State Department of Health has now declared that catching and eating fish from the River is now mostly safe, with pregnant women and children under 15—the “Sensitive Population”—able to eat up to one 8-ounce meal a month of striped bass,
and the general population is able to eat up to four meals a month. PCBs are a group of man-made, synthetic organic chemicals consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine atoms. They get stored in the fat of the fish, so the Department of Health recommends you cut the fat off once you catch the fish and then cook it so that the fat melts off, which can lower the amount of PCBs in the fish by roughly 50%. The department still recommends
that the public should not consume Carp and Smallmouth bass from the lower Hudson because of PCBs and other possible chemicals, such as high amounts of mercury. New restrictive regulations were also introduced across the waters in New York, mostly surrounding the levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) detected in some fish. PFOS was once a widely used surfactant in fabric protectors,
SEE FISH PAGE 3
Will Hoboken have stricter short-term rental policies for FIFA? BY JOSEPHINE CHOONG, SECRETARY As New Jersey prepares to host the rapidly approaching FIFA World Cup, numerous concerns were raised about the nearby housing options for the grand event. Compared to its neighbors, Hoboken has a more lax approach to Airbnb rentals. But with over a million incoming soccer fans, new legislation
may help protect Hoboken residents and renters. Kearny, Union City, Secaucus, and other towns had stricter bans, limits, and fines for short-term rentals compared to Hoboken. For Jersey City, shortterm rentals are only allowed at the host’s primary residence. Additionally, the owners must live onsite for most rentals with mandatory registration, inspections, and a liability insurance requirement.
NEWS (2-3)
SCIENCE (6)
FEATURE (4)
PULSE (10)
EC TechFest 2026 Learn more about how the Entertainment Committee added to TechFest this year and how Rachel Chinouriri was! Earth Day! Discover the way Stevens recycles and how you can be more proactive and sustainable for our planet!
Artemis II lands? Brain cells? Wildlife diseases? Read about what’s going on in the world of science. Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.
Meanwhile, North Bergen limits short-term rentals to only certain owner-occupied houses while requiring an annual permit and documentation. In contrast, Hoboken has no regulations on short-term rentals, and with nearly 300 houses available, it created a huge surge in demand for rentals. To catch the hype, Airbnb is currently offer-
SEE FIFA PAGE 3
musical acts, composed of Stevens students, competed for a spot to open for the headliner. Each band performed for students, followed by a voting session to determine the three bands playing at TechFest. This year, there was an excellent mix of genres that surely appealed to everyone on cam-
BRADY SANSOTTA FOR THE STUTE
pus. Although last year’s TechFest brought rain, this year’s event was hosted on a warm day with cloudless skies. The road crews started bright and early, setting up the main stage in the River Lot with artists’ equip-
SEE EC PAGE 2
About a year ago, students organized with the hopes of holding Stevens accountable to divest its endowment from companies or investments that are or have violated international law and human rights. With little progress being made by the university, the Holding Stevens Accountable protest was held on March 25, 2026, at Stevens Park, to bring awareness and attention to the ongoing issues. SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine), an organization that has been involved with the divestment process, took to Instagram, promoting the protest and highlighting “a year of activism”. The Stevens Divest From War (SDFWI) is a student-organized campaign with the goal of urging Stevens to remove any and all investments that are tied to companies allegedly complicit and involved in war crimes and violations of human rights. This initiative first began to gather publicity in 2024, when students asked for transparency in the universities, investments, and partnerships. A timeline of events: December 6, 2024: Students for Justice in Pal-
SEE DIVEST PAGE 2
NATIONAL NEWS House passes aviation act BY NIHIRA PATHAK, STAFF WRITER This past week, the House passed the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act. The bill was introduced on February 21, 2026, as a response to the collision that took place in January 2025 between an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk that killed all 67 passengers on board both aircraft. The ALERT Act has the backing of key leaders, as well as major pilot organizations. The act would require all aircraft that fly near airports
to install safety instruments capable of receiving data about aircraft in the vicinity. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been recommending such technology since 2008. Some aircraft currently have technology that broadcasts their current location, but not the technology fit for collision avoidance. Many believe that had the American Airlines jet had the collision-avoidance technology, the fatal accident may have been prevented. Under the ALERT Act, military aircraft will be required to install collision-avoidance technology by 2031, with
the exception of fighters, bombers, drones, and other special-mission aircraft. The House bill also addresses helicopter route safety and separation requirements, both of which were determined as probable causes of the 2025 crash. GOP leaders fast-tracked the bill after the Senate’s version, the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, failed by one vote following the Pentagon’s withdrawal of support. Many families of the victims, however, believe this bill should
SEE ACT PAGE 3
Hungarian election results end Trump-endorsed autocracy BY RÉKA WEINACHT, STAFF WRITER Viktor Orbán, the heavily right-leaning politician who has served as the prime minister of Hungary for the past 16 years in a row, was defeated in a landslide election on Sunday, April 12. The opposition leader, Péter Magyar, head of the Tisza party, won over twothirds of the vote. Preliminary election results, with 98.9% of the vote counted,
some votes remaining to be counted, coming from nationals living abroad, showed that the Magyar Tisza Party had won more than two-thirds majority in the national assembly. Of the 199 seats in the national assembly, 138 are now Tisza, 55 are Fidesz, and 6 have gone to Our Homeland, a small far-right political party. This means that Magyar and the Tisza Party have a supermajority in the assembly, allowing them
to make sweeping changes in the months to come. At least 133 seats of the supermajority are required to make changes to the constitution. Hungary holds parliamentary elections once every four years, during which the members of parliament, or national assembly, are elected by voters. The prime minister is then formally
SEE ELECTION PAGE 3