Enjoy your Thanksgiving and break away from school!
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | NOVEMBER 21, 2025
VOLUME CXXIII No. 11
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
Professor Eric Ramos awarded NSF Grant for advances in Computational Algebra BY MATT SOLTYS, SCIENCE WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF RESIDENTIAL HALL ASSOCIATION
RHA launches new drop-in tutoring program BY GAVIN RUBY, OPINION COLUMNIST Due to recent budget cuts, Stevens’ drop-in tutoring has been cut. The Stute recently shed light on this, and in that piece, a new supreme has come into the picture to substitute what was recently taken.
After Stevens stopped the center, a few Residential Hall Association (RHA) members came together to discuss the possibility of implementing a newer drop-in tutoring to step in. After a month of planning, RHA had the opportunity to host the new tutoring center. The first day was met with a great turnout,
according to the president of RHA, Christine Chen, 2/4 Civil Engineering student. It isn’t certain that drop-in tutoring by the Academic Support Center (ASC) will be back anytime soon, but what is certain is that RHA will be hosting more sessions. Here, Chen answered some questions that students may have
about the new program. What is RHA’s purpose in its decision to bring back drop-in tutoring? “Part of RHA’s purpose is to support students on campus, and when we heard about the Drop-in tutoring’s hours being cut, we knew this decision,
SEE RHA PAGE 2
Mathematical journeys begin in unorthodox ways. This was the case for Eric Ramos, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Stevens, who gained an affection for mathematics in high school through a TV show. Numb3rs is a typical police drama with the added twist of one of the main characters being a math genius who uses his talents to solve crimes. Referring to this as his “supervillain origin story,” Ramos’ curiosity from the show would lead him to explore the field of mathematics and become a professional mathematician, earning his second grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Ramos began his graduate-level studies in the field of number theory, the study of integers, citing that it was “the oldest field and theoretically rich.” This took him to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he completed his Ph.D. under Jordan Ellenberg, professor of mathematics and accomplished author of titles such as How Not to Be Wrong: The
Power of Mathematical Thinking. Serendipitously, Ellenberg was the math consultant for the first season of Numb3rs, a fact that Ramos did not discover until later. Combinatorics, the branch of mathematics concerned with counting, is where Ramos would take his talents next. “It might sound simple, but there are still deep questions about counting,” he said. This would largely intersect with the research he was doing as an assistant professor at Bowdoin College in 2021 to earn his first grant from the NSF, LEAPS-MPS: The representation theory of combinatorial categories. The funding backed studies of networks of connected points to see their use in understanding how large groups of points with no direct connections can exist, and how information can be efficiently spread through these networks. The other major project involved looking at the complex patterns that emerge when multiple robots move randomly along these network tracks without crashing into each other. His newly earned NSF
SEE RAMOS PAGE 2
NATIONAL NEWS Senate passes deal to end longest historic U.S. government shutdown
What’s happening with New Jersey and SNAP?
PHOTO COURTESY OF LEGION.ORG
BY DISHA RANA, OPINION COLUMNIST
(ACA) insurance subsidies.
The longest government shutdown in U.S. history has finally come to an end after the Senate approved a contentious spending package in a 60–40 vote. The agreement, reached in November 2025, reopens the federal government and offers much-needed relief to millions of Americans who endured missed paychecks, stalled food assistance, and widespread disruptions to public services. Still, it has deeply divided Democrats because it entirely excludes their top priority: extending Affordable Care Act
What the Deal Includes The package funds most federal agencies through January 30, 2026, and separately approves spending for agriculture, military construction, and legislative offices. Importantly, it reverses shutdown-related layoffs and guarantees retroactive pay for hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers — an urgent step after weeks of financial strain. Nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will also regain funding, although certain
NEWS (2-3)
SCIENCE (6)
RHA Launches New Drop-in Tutoring Program Learn more about how the Residental Hall Association is helping students with offering drop-in tutoring hours FEATURE (4)
Thanksgiving! Read about Thanksgiving at Stevens and different kinds of pies!
Peru’s serpant mountain? James Watson has died? Iconic galaxies? 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.
court rulings mean some benefits may not restart immediately for all recipients. On the ACA subsidies, Democrats’ major sticking point, the deal offers no renewal. Republicans refused to negotiate on health care while the government remained shut down. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune pledged that the Senate would hold a vote on the issue in December. With the House—controlled by Republicans—making no such promise, Democrats fear
SEE SENATE PAGE 3
PHOTO COURTESY OF NJBMAGAZINE.COM
BY JOSEPHINE CHOONG, SECRETARY On October 31, New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency (effective November 1 at 12 a.m.) because of the suspension of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Murphy issued Executive Order No. 402, which established a coordinated statewide effort to provide food assistance by empowering state agencies to help vulnerable residents and protect public health and safety. More than 800,000
New Jerseyans rely on SNAP for their basic needs. Because of the pause on SNAP benefits, many may go hungry and are at risk of experiencing adverse health outcomes. This came into fruition on November 3, when the National Guard was deployed to deliver three refrigerated storage containers to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) in Hillside and Fulfill in Neptune, to increase cold storage capacity at critical emergency hubs. In Hillside, the National Guard is also supporting on-site distribution as families are lining
up for food. This is a joint operation between the Air National Guard, the Department of Health, the Office of Emergency Management, and the South Jersey Transportation Authority, working together to figure out logistics, storage, and transportation for perishable goods and food banks. “With more than 800,000 New Jerseyans relying on SNAP to put food on the table, the Trump Administration’s decision to suspend benefits has created a clear and present threat to the health and safety of our
SEE SNAP PAGE 3