Election drama is my favorite kind of drama.
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | NOVERMBER 14, 2025
VOLUME CXXIII No. 10
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
SGA elections: Meet the Candidates BY ITAI GELLER, OPINION EDITOR
PHOTO COURTESY OF NICOLE CHEUNG
Stevens Dramatic Society reenacts Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None BY SOFIA STOECKEL, STAFF WRITER Running from November 6 to 8, Stevens students have put on the play And Then There Were None. This play is based on a book by Agatha Christie, first published in 1939 with over 100 million copies sold worldwide since. It was re-
written for theater later by Christie herself, with the ending changed slightly to be less “grim.” There will be full spoilers for the play and novel ahead, so if you want to see the play or read the book without knowing what happens, stop reading here. And Then There Were None is about 10 people trapped on an island as each of them gets brutally
Leadership Conference inspires students to Rise and Redefine BY SERENA PANUCCI, NEWS EDITOR The 2025 Leadership Conference: Rise & Redefine, held on November 7 at Stevens Institute of Technology, brought together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests for a day of learning, reflection, and collaboration around modern leadership. The event was organized by the Lore-El Center with support from the Office of Student Culture and Belonging, Graduate Student Life, Undergraduate Student Life, and Development and Alumni Engagement. This year’s theme, “Rise & Redefine”, emphasized the importance of inclusive leadership, coalition-building, and emotional intelligence in an evolving professional landscape. The conference invited attendees to reflect on how leaders can empower others across disciplines and identities while cultivating more equitable communities. The program featured a full schedule of sessions designed to balance inspiration, skill-building, and networking. Following morning check-in and NEWS (2-3)
SDS reenacts And Then There Were None Read about how the Stevens Dramatic Society showcased Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None! FEATURE (4)
Community Service Learn about how you can get involved in the Hoboken Community this Thanskgiving!
opening remarks, participants attended three workshop blocks focused on collaboration, communication, and identity in leadership. A luncheon and networking break allowed for informal connections before the day concluded with a keynote address and reception. Among the event’s featured speakers were Dr. Connie Mariano and Dr. Victoria Farris, both of whom offered distinct perspectives on leadership through their professional and personal journeys. Dr. Mariano, the conference’s keynote speaker, delivered a powerful talk drawing from her career in medicine and public service. A retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, she was the first military woman to serve as White House Physician to the President, the first woman to direct the White House Medical Unit, and the first Filipino American in U.S. history to achieve the rank of Rear Admiral. She is also the author of The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents—A Memoir. Throughout her address, Dr. Mariano encouraged attendees to lead with in-
SEE RISE PAGE 2 SCIENCE (6)
Leg shaking? Long distance running? More protein? Read about what’s going on in the world of science. PULSE (10)
Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.
murdered in different ways for unknown reasons. Each of these people has a secret, though; each of them has murdered someone before arriving on the island. As each person begins to fall they start to turn on each other, wondering who may be the one killing everyone. The tension starts to peak when there are only five of them left, and as they all
sit and stare and suspect each other, it builds a lingering feeling of dread. The cast members of the play portrayed this distrust and anger well, each of them playing their various roles to their extremes. The title of the play and novel are a reference to a rhyme published in the
SEE SDS PAGE 2
The politics of Twitter: how a politician’s tweeting strategy
With the advent of Stevens’s annual Student Government Association (SGA) election, the time has finally arrived for students to cast their votes! This marks the second consecutive year of contested Student Government elections. Each candidate duo spent the past week campaigning against one another for the positions of President and Vice President of Operations (VPO), culminating in the Vice Presidential debate, which took place on November 13, and the Presidential debate on November 14. As outlined by the SGA, the responsibilities of the President include serving as a primary representative of the Stevens student body to University administration, interacting with SGA board advisors, appointing and overseeing the SGA cabinet, and setting a strategic vision for the SGA. The Vice President acts in a supporting role, serving as a liaison between the Cabinet members elected by the President and Senate members representing the different schools at Stevens, while also guaranteeing transparency between all branches of the SGA. Additionally, the Vice President meets with committee chairs and works to improve internal operations. In an effort to
BY NIHIRA PATHAK , CONTRIBUTOR A key part of politics is creating an individual voice, brand, and affiliation. In the last decade, we have started to see a shift in the methods used to create a politician’s brand. Social media platforms, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter), have to be carefully curated, as they become a reflection of the politician’s stances, supporters, and proponents. Most political strategies take social media into account, and political moves are also hosted on social media platforms. With these advancements in mind, Benjamin Leinwand, Assistant Professor of Mathematical Science at Stevens, was able to use social media politics as an
application of a new model. The researchers analyzed 475 members of Congress. The members analyzed had at least 10 tweets between the dates of February 9 and June 9, 2022. The model was not given any information on the members’ political affiliations, status, or party. All members were organized into three groups by the model, all of which fell along familiar political affiliations. The three groups can be defined as the following categories: (1) Senators, (2) Democratic Congresspeople, and (3) Republican Congresspeople. Person A and Person B were defined as connected if one tweeted at the other or retweeted the other person.
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Noah Wachtel (2/4), Presidential candidate, and Thomas Paolillo (2/4), VPO candidate Campaigning under the motto “Students to All,” the duo seeks to connect students to resources on campus that they may not be aware of, such as student discounts, faculty connections, campus organizations, and the Hoboken community. They cited the intimidating aspects of college as a “roadblock” to individual and collective success for students, suggesting new initiatives to alleviate these stresses. This motive is inspired by Wachtel and Paolillo’s shared challenge of seeking involvement on the Stevens campus as firstyear students. If elected as President, Wachtel hopes to combat this issue by “leverag[ing] […] Cabinet members […] to […] run committees or have committees under them that accomplish […] goals,” to improve the campus environment. Paolillo hopes to support this effort by incentivizing open lines between
SEE SGA PAGE 2
LOCAL NEWS NY and NJ Election Results BY JOSH BODENSTEIN, STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU
learn more about each campaign’s candidate profiles and initiatives, The Stute spoke with the candidates at the Meet and Greet event, which took place prior to the Vice Presidential debate on November 12.
You weave through campus after a late library session, your mind still buzzing with formulas and deadlines, when downtown voters are turning over something big — something with echoes right here in your life between Newark, Hoboken, and the Hudson’s edge. On November 4, the ballot boxes in both New York City and New Jersey clicked shut, and the map shifted in ways that could affect your rent, your commute, and your weekend skyline view. In New York, the name on everyone’s lips is Zohran Mamdani. The 34-year-old state assemblyman overtook former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s well-funded campaign, which focused on the safety and security of schools and the city overall, as well as Republican Curtis Sliwa, who campaigned on lowering taxes and ensuring equal housing. Mamdani won the mayor’s seat with just over 50% of the vote, compared to Cuomo’s roughly 42%. He will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest in over a
century. His platform centered on rent freezes, free buses, and affordable housing. New Jersey didn’t stay quiet either. Across the river, Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy pilot and congresswoman, clinched the governorship against Jack Ciattarelli, keeping the Democratic line intact in the state house. Sherrill’s campaign focused on continuing Governor Phil Murphy’s transit and housing initiatives — expanding NJ Transit reliability programs, introducing targeted property tax relief, and creating incentives for affordable housing near college hubs like Hoboken and Newark. On the trail, she visited North Jersey campuses and small businesses, framing her platform around ensuring the state remains “livable for the next generation”. Ciattarelli, by contrast, emphasized fiscal restraint and school choice, arguing for a return to balance in the state. For students, these competing visions address issues that directly affect campus life
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