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We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ |April 19, 2024
VOLUME CXXI No. 25
BEN KNOBLOCH, NEWS EDITOR
MADISON HELLER, STAFF WRITER
SEE SUCCESS PAGE 2
NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
Sara Klein and Bob Maffia discuss student housing
New Core Curriculum: SUCCESS With the unveiling of the new academic curriculum for incoming first-year students, Stevens hopes to prepare students for exactly what the name says: success — the Stevens Undergraduate Core Curriculum Essential Skills for Success (SUCCESS). The aims of the program are to prepare students for the demands of college life (study skills, how to deal with mental health, time management, etc.) and to help them thrive in the constantly evolving workforce. SUCCESS is an important part of the current 10-year strategic plan for improving the university’s position as a national leader in education. Part of that is improving the academic experience in a way that will promote future career success. As Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Faculty Affairs David Zeng describes it, the new curriculum “will transform our undergraduate education and really enhance our students’ experience and success. They will have a better experience if they are better prepared. They will have more opportunities to succeed if they are better
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Campus improvements coincide with Admitted Students Weekend EVAN PAPAGEORGE, STAFF WRITER Prospective students saw the beauty of Castle Point at Admitted Students Weekend on April 13 and 14, where they learned about the various academic and social endeavors possible while attending Stevens. As many current students noticed, campus saw a significant level of upkeep and major developments in long-standing projects, raising questions as to whether this past weekend was viewed as a deadline; here is a quick rundown of some campus projects in the past few weeks.
One well-known project that has been ongoing for a long time includes the new Palmer Plaza and the SS Stevens Anchor. Starting in the Fall 2023 semester, this project was planned to be completed in early February. However, the project was repeatedly delayed, with the team citing inclement weather preventing concrete and water feature work completion. Luckily, the project team finished the anchor and fountain within a week of the start of Admitted Students Weekend. Another significant portion of campus that saw a considerable facelift in the past few weeks is the aes-
thetics of the buildings, including refreshes of paint, decals, and signage. For example, the University Center Complex (UCC), the lobbies of the South, Harries Residential Towers, and streets saw new coats of paint as the UCC and Schaefer Athletic and Recreation Center saw new decals on the doors. Additionally, buildings with ongoing projects, like Walker Gymnasium, saw the installation of signs explaining the ongoing work with renderings of the final product. One last far-reaching project that is very visible
SEE IMPROVE PAGE 2
The state of on-campus housing has been in flux in recent years as Stevens has gone through a significant period of transformation. In the span of a few years, students experienced the demolition of Jacobus and Hayden Halls and the rise of new residential towers as part of the University Center Complex (UCC). As the University gears up for another stretch of growth and development and expounds on future plans, many students have wondered what other areas of campus will see upheaval. The Stute had the opportunity to speak with Vice President for Student Affairs Sara Klein and Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations Bob Maffia about the future of on-campus housing and how it will be affected by the big changes in store. The Stute: In the past, how has the University approached large-scale construction projects that impact student housing? For example, how did the school plan the demolition of Hayden and Jacobus Halls in preparation for the construction of the UCC, and how was the temporary housing reduction solved? Projects that affect student housing are planned well in advance, usually two years or more. As you
know, housing selections and assignments must be done with full knowledge of the buildings and rooms available. To prepare for the demolition of Jacobus and Hayden Halls, we first needed to create a temporary Student Center, which was located in the former Alexander House (now named Martha Bayard Stevens Hall). That meant having to plan, design, and renovate that building, which started in early 2018. Once that was done, we relocated the Student Center services, allowing us to start the demolition of Jacobus Hall in January 2019. Before we could demolish Hayden Hall, we had to wait until the students moved out at the end of the Spring semester of that same year. Leases were put in place in several buildings in Hoboken to replace the temporary loss of beds, and the shuttle service was expanded to transport students to and from campus. S: The Year 1 Report for the 2032 Strategic Plan says that “Programming and schematic design has begun for a multipurpose building to replace Davis Hall,” and outlines the space breakdown of that building. Can you tell us more about that? Stevens is currently evaluating a number of fac-
SEE HOUSE PAGE 2
RDS testing meal swipe donation with Feed the Flock PSEG gift begets new A community meal plan community swipe bank. Stu- pus Dining Grub Hub Meal KAYDEN CANNILLA, program has been in the dents with a Tera Bite meal Plan account,” said BalCenter for Sustainability OPINION EDITOR works for some time, and plan, a group that includes lantyne. If students have a BEN KNOBLOCH, NEWS EDITOR As part of a $1.45 million gift from the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) Foundation, Stevens will be further investing in sustainability programs and research activity. The centerpiece of this initiative is the new Stevens Center for Sustainability, which has opened its primary office space in the Babbio Center. To learn more about the gift and the new Center, The Stute spoke with Director Dibyendu “Dibs” Sarkar and Program Manager Rosita Nunez. Dr. Sarkar and Dr. Nunez noted the long history of collaboration between Stevens and PSEG, the parent company of PSE&G, which began over 20 years ago when the foundation made a gift to the university to open the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE). Although now defunct, that organization aimed to improve technical education at the K-12 levels and preceded other efforts from PSEG to advance responsible activity in its home state. “[PSEG] gave some funding to promote green energy research to some of the faculty members,” said Sarkar. “We decided to actually ask NEWS (2-3)
Campus improvements coincide with Admitted Students Weekend While many students expressed positive views on the work, some raised questions over why this only happens in preparation for Admitted Students Weekend. FEATURE (4)
Happy Earth Day! Learn about the environment.
them for a larger chunk of money to build this Center. The University Office of Development did this; [Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations] Jenna Nimar is really responsible for getting this initiative on the road. Jenna and I worked on this together to ask PSEG for quite a large amount of money, and came up with some ideas for the programs for the Center. So, they funded three programs for us to develop, all three of which are geared towards environmental justice initiatives.” The first of these three initiatives, he said, is to conduct research into so-called “environmental justice communities,” which are areas that have been adversely affected by necessary but unpleasant infrastructure buildups, such as landfills and industrial sites. “They have a huge need for technological innovations there that can ultimately result in increasing their quality of life,” Sarkar explained. As a New Jersey-based energy corporation, PSEG has focused its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts on environmental justice communities in Newark and other North Jersey cities. “As a company based
SEE PSEG PAGE 2 SCIENCE (6)
Who is Lucy? Sulfuryl fluoride emissions? The Great American Eclipse? 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.
The Office of Residential & Dining Services (RDS) is offering a new program called Feed the Flock that allows students to receive meal swipes from a community pool of donated meal swipes. This program aims to address the issue of food insecurity among Stevens students and allows those with excess meal swipes to provide them to those in need. The Stute spoke to Trina Ballantyne, Dean of RDS, for more information.
with the help of Stevens Dining Services, Stevens IT, the Office of Student Support, the Student Government Association (SGA), Residential Hall Association (RHA), and students from the Office of Student Culture and Belonging, the program is currently being piloted with hopes ironing out any issues for the start of the Fall 2024 semester. A form is currently live, and it allows students to donate up to 10% of their plan’s meal swipes to the
HOBOKEN NEWS
most first years, can donate up to 23 meal swipes to their peers. Currently, snack swipes are not a part of this program. Any student can request meals with minimal restrictions. Students can request one to three meal swipes, with a maximum of three requests per semester. The transfer of meal swipes is not immediate: “It may take up to two business days to be processed and see meals added to your Stevens Cam-
meal plan, they “must have no more than three Meal Swipes and/or $20 dining dollars in their account to request meals.” The form is intended to be discreet and indiscriminately provide meals to those who request it. Stevens Dining Services has preemptively donated meals to kick off the community bank, so there are currently available meals for
SEE MEALS PAGE 2
NATIONAL NEWS
Hidden gems of the Biden Administration Hoboken Public Library slashes student loan debt SEAN ANDERSON, STAFF WRITER The Hoboken Public Library (HPL) contains a trove of books, magazines, journals, and movies free for library cardholders to borrow at their pleasure. Availability extends far further than the limits of the building, too, as items can be borrowed as long as they exist in any branch of the Bergen County Cooperative Library System. But, in an effort to supply the community with more, the library has expanded what can be checked out with the new “Library of
Things.” The Library of Things is a new offering by the HPL that allows cardholders to take advantage of renting items beyond those typically expected to be found in a library. Some item categories offered fall into other forms of entertainment, including video games, lawn games, electronic devices for music, and movies. Others include useful tools, including kitchen equipment and other general tools. Looking to watch a rented movie from the library
SEE LIBRARY PAGE 2
JEREMIAH CHINWENDU, STAFF WRITER One of the biggest promises President Biden has been making both throughout his presidency, and long before it, has been the relief of student debt for those struggling to pay. Biden’s previous effort to cut student debt was rejected by the Supreme Court as an overreach in power, leading to the development of a new plan. With the new plan, the Biden administration hopes to enact by this fall, nearly 30 million borrowers will
see their debts either reduced or completely forgiven. The proposal is still being finalized and has to gain the approval of the Supreme Court in order to be put into action. Those who will benefit from this plan wait patiently for news of its progress as we get ready to vote in this year’s presidential election. Information on the plan and whom it aims to help comes from Erica Green of the New York Times and the correspondents of National Broadcast-
SEE DEBT PAGE 2