The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck.
Happy Thanksgiving from The Stute!!
We write Stevens history VOLUME CXX No. 11
HOBOKEN, NJ | NOVEMBER 18, 2022
BUILT ON COMMUNITY OUTREACH, SUSTAINABILITY, MENTAL HEALTH, AND STEVENS PRIDE
Paulina Georgoutsos
BY ANNA DABROWSKI, CONTRIBUTING REPORTER A new Student Government Association (SGA) President and Vice President of Operations (VPO) have been elected. Paulina Georgoutsos, who will be serving as President, and Alex Stanczak, who will be serving as VPO, have stepped up to the podium of facilitating the SGA throughout the next year. Georgoutsos and Stanczak felt that their campaign “went swimmingly.” Both candidates publicized their campaign through the Instagram account @paulinaandalexsga2023, where they acquainted themselves with the student body. The account conveyed important information about nominations, voting, and the duo’s goals for the SGA. Georgoutsos and Stanczak also held a town hall where they answered questions about their upcoming plans for the year and received valuable feedback regarding the SGA from students and current
Vice President of Operations: Alex Stanczak
Lambda Sigma Upsilon EC seeking Latino-Based Fraternity grad and undergrad established at Stevens involvement Much like their LSU preBY OZ AGUINAGA, decessors, these students felt NEWS EDITOR in Winter that the campus had underCampus is welcoming a represented ethnic minority new fraternity to campus. groups that were not get- Wonderland ting the support or services necessary to promote their academic achievement at school and personal growth. They established Lambda Sigma Upsilon to serve as a family away from home and as a support network for minorities. One of the founders, Valencia, never intended to join a fraternity let alone create one. But, as a Latino in a predominately white institution, he felt there weren’t enough choices of groups to bond and share interests with. The members of the new chapter just a week after their creation held their first community service event. The members are committed to upholding their values and increasing their presence on campus. The members are diving right into things with a weeklong series of events called “Upsilon Week” from November 28 to December 2., our week of events is called “Upsilon Week”. Here are the events that will be held for that week: Monday will be a round-table discussion
NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
GEORGOUTSOS AND STANCZAK ELECTED SGA PRESIDENT AND VPO
President of SGA:
The 81st chapter of Lambda Sigma Upsilon (LSU) was recently established on Oct 26, 2022. The new Latino-orientated Greek organization was founded by Stevens students David Rocha ’24 from Roselle Park, NJ, Juan David Valencia Ayala ’24 from Union City, NJ, and Steven Aponte ’24 from Paterson, NJ. Lambda Sigma Upsilon was built around four main virtues. These goals are academic excellence, cultural awareness and diversity, being role models to the community, and brotherhood. Additionally, the LSU national philanthropy is to fundraise for HIV and AIDS research and awareness. The process to get the chapter started was no easy task. Representatives of LSU’s expansion program aided the students in their endeavor to establish a chapter on campus. The founders also received a lot of local support from the local chapters at New Jersey City University and Seton Hall University.
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Improving access to restrooms for women at Stevens
BY CLAIRE HANNAN, NEWS EDITOR
After members of the Stevens community repeatedly voiced concerns regarding the lack of women’s restrooms in academic buildings, new women’s restrooms were added to the third, fifth, and sixth floors of Burchard. Additionally, the Student Government Association (SGA) added free menstrual products to all women’s and gender-inclusive restrooms. Both of these restroom-related changes are intended to benefit the Stevens commu-
The annual Winter Wonderland, a Stevens holiday-season tradition featuring food and drinks, performances, giveaways, and a variety of winter-themed activities, will be taking place on Wednesday, November 30, from 7 to 10 p.m. In preparation for the event, which was known in previous years as the Stevens Tree Lighting, the Entertainment Committee (EC) is looking for involvement from undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of capacities. One perennial feature of the Wonderland is the Winter Village, which invites Stevens’ cultural and religious organizations to exchange traditions, share food, and present giveaways to the student body. EC will allocate a table at the Village and $175 to $200 in funding
SEE EC PAGE 2
SEE QUAE PAGE 2
BY KATIE BLOOMER, OUTREACH CHAIR
OLOF PERSSON FOR THE STUTE
NEWS (2-3)
SCIENCE (6)
EC’s Winter Wonderland Read more about the activites, competitions, and more information about the upcoming winter spectacle annually hosted by the Entertainment Committee
Theres a science behind gratitude? Read about this and astronomers finding the closest black hole to Earth PULSE (12)
FEATURE (4)
Read more about how to celebrate Thanksgving if you’re staying on campus and tips for Black Friday
Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly crossword puzzle and sudoku
creating a more aware, and sustainable student body and campus.” Mental Health: “Continuing the trend from this past year, we plan to promote mental health initiatives through events, campaigns and resources available on campus. It is critical that students know they are not alone in what can sometimes be a stressful environment. In our term, we want to ensure that students have easy access to resources as well as a support system for student mental-well-being.” Stevens Pride: “Finally, our last goal, Steven’s Pride, aims to promote a stronger campus community to allow for students to have the opportunity to feel part of a larger group. As advocates for the student body, it is important to us that all Stevens students are able to thoroughly enjoy their time here.” Georgoutsos and Stanczak also have various internal goals such as filling all of the senate seats and hosting a New Jersey Student Government Conference.
Quae’s newest release: daily polls Recently, Quae, the voting app used to give Stevens students a way to vote on campus issues, released a statement announcing their new feature: Daily Polls! This new addition gives the public a new way to interact with their leaders and hopes to eventually give leaders a better insight into their community. A press release from Quae says the daily polls will potentially cover “current events, ask specific questions, or inquire about demographic information,” and this will “help administrators build a sample set for Quae’s soon-to-be-released analytics engine.” The daily polls will function similarly to most daily features commonly seen on mobile apps, with new variations released each day and a streak that gets extended every time you come back. The press release also hinted at a reward system being implemented to give users more incentive to come back each day. Co-founder Sam
BY BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH, STAFF WRITER
SGA members alike. The SGA has four overarching goals for the year: “community outreach, sustainability, mental health, and Stevens’ pride.” Their goals are further explained by Georgoutsos below. Community Outreach: “In the past year, we have successfully co-hosted events with many organizations around campus. We plan to expand this effort by continuing to collaborate with these organizations but also take it a step further by integrating ourselves into the Hoboken community. By getting more involved with the overall Hoboken community, we can start to create a stronger network and a more unified campus-city relationship.” Sustainability: “In terms of sustainability, as the world shifts to a more sustainable lifestyle through EVs, carbon emission reduction, clean up campaigns, and more, it is important that Stevens follows suit. Over the next year, we plan to heavily promote sustainability from an educational and demonstrative standpoint with the hopes of
nity by making the specific improvements that have been sought after, primarily by the student body. According to Stevens, original facilities were evenly balanced between men’s, women’s, and gender-inclusive restrooms. However, an ordinance passed by the City of Hoboken required all single-occupancy restrooms to be gender-inclusive. This led to a noticeable shortage of women’s restrooms in multiple academic buildings, such as Burchard. Although this is a step
SEE WOMEN PAGE 2