March 4, 2016Volume 101, Issue 24nique.

net

ENTERTAINMENT

technique
News 2

SPORTS

Zootopia yields subtext p15 Senior day success

Opinions 6

Life 10

Entertainment 14

p20

Sports 24

KAPPA ALPHA THETA IS TECHS NEW SORORITY

LIFE

BRENDA LIN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
On March 1, the Georgia Tech
Collegiate Panhellenic Council (CPC)
announced that Kappa Alpha Theta
(KAT) fraternity, more colloquially
known as Thetas, have accepted their
extension invitation to be the newest
sorority at Tech.
The decision was made days after the
conclusion of a week of presentations
from three sororities Kappa Delta
(KD), Chi Omega (XO) and KAT.
These sororities were approached for
the possibility of extension by the extension committee after the NPC community unanimously voted to open the
campus for extension back in November. NPC elected not to extend in 2014
when our campus was first deemed to
be able to support another sorority. The
last sorority to be added to our campus
was Alpha Phi back in 2008, and they
officially colonized in April of 2009.
During each extension presentation,
each attendee was given a rubric to be
handed in at the end of the session to
disclose their thoughts on the presenting sorority in the following categories: academic support, new member
education, community service and
philanthropy, campus involvement, international alumni support and chapter
support. They ranked them on a scale
from 1 to 10 on whether the sorority
would be a good fit for Tech.
KD kicked off the presentations on
Monday in Clery Theatre. Their representatives emphasized KDs focus
on instilling confidence in women on
campus through their Confidence U
program. Their presentation also heavily focused on their work with Girl
Scouts of America and Child Abuse
Prevention, even going as far as finding
possibly beneficiaries if selected.

Top L: Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures; Top R: Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications; Above: Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

See GREEK, page 13

NEWS

Peterson holds town halls with BSO students, allies

MAURA CURRIE
NEWS EDITOR

Amid concerns following the

recent lifting of sanctions on Phi
Delta Theta, President G.P. Bud
Peterson held two informal town
halls with members of Black
Student Organizations (BSOs)
and allies.
Peterson began both events by
outlining the sequence of events
which occurred between the August racial incident and his decision to vacate the fraternitys
suspension. The Office of Student

Integrity (OSI)s process was initiated and the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (UJC) found that
the incident likely occurred but
that Phi Delta Thetas leadership
was not complicit.
The UJC then proceeded to
recommend a sanction of Suspension in Abeyance, which per
Techs policies is to be levied on
an organization only if its leaders are fostering environments of
misconduct.
The dissonance between this
recommendation and Techs
policies was not detected until
former chief justice of the Geor-

gia Supreme Court Leah WardSears reviewed the case at Pres.

Petersons request.
Sears concluded in her assessment that the UJC process is fair
and came to the correct conclusions about the Phi Delta Theta
case but that the sanction was incorrect and should be vacated.
Pres. Peterson vacated the
sanctions, and thereby lifted all sanctions on Phi Delta
Theta, on Feb. 24.
Students are now concerned
about the future of the August
complaint against the Phi Delta

See PETERSON, page 2

Photo Monica Jamison Student Publications

Students protest after a racial incident in Aug 2015. Concerns

have arisen following the lifting of sanctions on Phi Delta Theta.

2 March 4, 2016 technique

// NEWS

technique

ach week, this section of News

will include the coverage of
dierent aspects of bills that
passed through Student Government.
This will include the Undergraduate
House of Representatives, Graduate
Student Senate and the Executive
Branch of both government bodies.

The Souths Liveliest College Newspaper

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Brenda Lin
MANAGING EDITOR:
Nick Johnson

HASIT DEWAN

NEWS EDITOR:
Maura Currie
OPINIONS EDITOR:
Vidya Iyer
LIFE EDITOR:
Trishna Chandarana
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:
Kara Pendley
SPORTS EDITOR:
Harsha Sridhar

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

BILL SUMMARY
BILL
Asian American Awareness
YJ Band Ireland Trip
Roller Hockey Spring 16
Rowing Club Boat Purchase
North Ave Review Funding

DESIGN EDITOR:
Brighton Kamen
PHOTO EDITOR:
Tyler Meuter

AMOUNT
$20.24
$0
$2,384.32
$0
$3,3220

GSS
22-0-0
25-4-1
26-2-1
19-5-3
23-3-1

UHR
36-0-0
28-7-2
36-0-1
37-0-0
36-0-0

*Indicates amount passed by UHR. GSS totals differ.

HEAD COPY EDITOR:

Alexis Brazier
ONLINE EDITOR:
Kripa Chandran
WEB DEVELOPER:
Ross Lindsay
Founded in 1911, the Technique is the
student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is an official
publication of the Georgia Tech Board
of Student Publications. The Technique
publishes on Fridays weekly in the fall
and spring and biweekly in the summer.
ADVERTISING: Information can be
found online at nique.net/ads. The deadline for reserving ad space is Friday at
5 p.m. one week before publication. To
place a reservation, for billing information or for any other questions please email us at ads@nique.net. You may reach
us at (404) 894-2830, Monday through
Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

COVERAGE REQUESTS : Requests for

coverage and tips should be submitted to
the Editor-in-Chief and/or the relevant
section editor.

Copyright 2015, Brenda Lin, Editorin-Chief, and the Georgia Tech Board
of Student Publications. No part of this
paper may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the
Editor-in-Chief or from the Board of
Student Publications. The ideas expressed
herein are those of the individual authors
and do not necessarily represent the views
of the Board of Student Publications, the
students, staff or faculty of the Georgia
Institute of Technology or the University
System of Georgia. First copy free for
additional copies call (404) 894-2830

CHOCOLATE RAIN
The Chinese Friendship Association had requested some
funding for the buying of a chocolate fountain, in order to make
American students feel more at
home and comfortable.
However, SGA felt that this
use of money was not allowed
as per the rules, which insinuate

HASIT DEWAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

SERIOUSLY, IM FINE
On Feb. 20, a lone GTPD
officer responded to a report regarding incidences of drunken
shenanigans in the North Avenue East Apartments.
Upon arriving on the scene,
the officer was met by a concerned student who explained
that his friend had been drinking excessively throughout the
preceding hours.
To be more specific, this person had consumed a large quan-

that technically any less-specific

food item could also be used to
make a student feel comfortable.
Additionally, SGA felt that
less-expensive fountains existed
than the specific one that was
being requested.
As a result of these conversations, the chocolate fountain
component was deemed not a
tity of beverages alcoholic in
nature and pronounced in effect.
The officer noted that the student of concern was lying inside
a dorm room.
The student was draped across
a sofa, covered with a simple
blanket and positioned next to a
trash can.
Paramedics were called by
the responding GTPD officer to
address the situation.
However, upon their arrival
the student in question rejected
their offer of help.
Not-so-subtle nudging on
part of the officer, though, ensured that the student agreed to
let the EMS team do their job.
Because of the circumstances
regarding this persons trip to the
hospital, no formal charges were
levied against the student.
PHONE SNATCHERS
Feb. 24 is a day that will live
in infamy for one Tech student.
On this day, around a fairly
unassuming and normal evening
time of the evening, the victim
found herself walking down

good use of funds and was cut

from the bill, which passed.
NARWHAL HUNTING
The North Avenue Review
board requested money so that
they could print additional copies of their Winter 2015 issue as
it was in high demand.
Additionally, the funding
would support the printing of a
North Avenue Review issue for
Spring 2016.
However, SGA felt that money should not be given to fund
the reprinting of an older issue,
as interested students can find
the issue online if they want it.
The bill was amended with
this in mind and passed.
MESSY BUSINESS
The Asian-American Student
Association requested funding to help pay for a variety of
programs they will be holding this month as part of an
awareness campaign.
However, SGA saw fit to cut
some of their line items. Notably,
napkins, plates, cups and water
jugs were cut from the request.
The items were deemed as not
being covered under JFC policy.
Hemphill Avenue, near Crecine
Residence Hall.
Whilst walking innocently, a
pair of ruffians approached this
student and rudely snatched her
cellular device from her hands.
How will this person ever
survive days at Tech now? How
will she pretend to be busy while
walking down Skiles Walkway
and avoiding table-ers?
Alas, there are still questions
in this case which cannot be adequately answered.
Perhaps even worse than lost
material goods, the snatching
additionally left a small scratch
on this victims hand. This injury, though surely startling given
the unfortunate circumstances,
did not require further medical
attention or care.
The details of the incident
were broadcast to the broader
Tech campus via a Clery Act
alert issued shortly after the
incident occurred.
The suspects have yet to be
caught, but their photographs
are being distributed in hopes
bringing them to justice.

PETERSON FROM PAGE 1

Theta Fraternity, as well as the
adequacy of the current Code of
Conduct in handling issues of racism and intolerance.
A consistent concern among
students in attendance was regarding the message sent by lifting sanctions when the incident
was determined to have occurred.
All of Techs leadership are
committed to creating an environment that is safe, inclusive and
welcoming of every student on
campus, and well continue to do
that, Peterson said. We met with
a number of Muslim students a
few weeks ago to check in on their
experiences.
We had seven different listening sessions to try
to understand what the environment is like for women on
this campus.
Well continue with those activities, and this [town hall] is a
part of that effort.
[The racial incident] is not
alright. We did not lift the sanctions because we believed it was
alright. We lifted the sanctions
because our policies preclude us
from imposing sanctions in this
particular case.
Peterson, as well as Dr. Archie
Ervin, Vice President of Institute
Diversity, stressed the importance
of the Black Student Experience
Task Force, which was created in
August and whose final recommendations will be issued soon.
In addition, steps were taken
during Greek Advance events to
ensure that Greek leadership are
aware of diversity issues and how
best to prevent and address them.
One student inquired as to
Petersons personal opinions on
the Phi Delta Theta incident and
its resolution.
I vacated the ruling and lifted
the sanctions because thats what
our policy says, Peterson said.
Are there things we could have
done differently? Yes, I could
think of a whole bunch of things
... I wish this had never happened.
Its created a lot of angst for a lot
of people, but we are a community, and thats an important word.
We and the entire leadership
at Tech are committed to creating not a tolerating environment,
but an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students
here at Tech.

sliver

nique.net

Georgia Techs Journal of the Arts and Literature

art, n. - The expression or application of creative skill and
imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting, drawing, or
sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their
beauty or emotional power.
It is art that makes life, makes interest,
makes importance and I know of no substitute whatever for the force and beauty of
its process.
Max Eastman
More information can be found at erato.gatech.edu or by e-mailing erato@gatech.edu

I applaud the technique upholding freedom of speech in the silvers- even when it is a negative opinion of the technique itself
Does the baseball team get free scooters and is the school paying
for that? I see them parked outside the stadium every day with
riders on them
To the reasonable white people...shut up and listen. #ReadInTheNique
Im gay, and SJWs hate on ppl with wrong skin, gender, or ideas
doesnt represent me. I love everyone! Were all on Earth together!
Exactly how much of my money does someone else deserve?
Libertarianism 2016!
Hey Nick, Great Editorial. f*ck the assholes who are going to say
otherwise in the comments
I dont care about all that social justice stuff, I just want Leo to
finally get his due. FOH white people
chris rock killed it tonight, hot damn
why was matt damon clapping when chris rock brought up shooting black kids
i dont think white people in the oscars audience knew what to
do
The real mystery of the Oscars is whether Julianne Moore actually got her cookies
Experiment is used far too liberally by our lab classes
MSE majors are the best. fight me
Im so tired. So so tired
the weather is too nice for classes to happen so lets just not ok
technique blows, stop hating on white people

technique March 4, 2016 3

// NEWS

Inform Tech lecture held

MAURA CURRIE
NEWS EDITOR

To the idle onlooker or the

busy student, running an institute
of higher education may seem like
simple, dull bureaucracy.
A new lecture series organized
by Techs Staff Council is attempting to change that perception and
draw attention to the many moving cogs in Techs machine.
The first Inform Tech lecture
took place Feb. 23 and focused
on the structure of Techs budget.
Jim Kirk, executive director of Institute Budget Planning and Administration, hosted the lecture
in the Bill Moore Student Success
Centers Clary Theater.
Kirk addressed four primary
aspects of Techs budgetary operations: the basic structure, what the
operational budget is comprised
of, allowable uses for funding
sources and the budget outlook
for the fiscal year of 2017.
Techs budget is comprised
of two components: operations,
which funds consistent programs
like resident instruction, student
activities and auxiliary enterprises, and capital, which is one-time
expenditures only.
General operations money
comes from state revenues, tuition revenues, indirect cost
recoveries and student fees,
whereas capital for one-time
projects can come as grants and
other allotments from the state or
private donors.
Legally-allowable uses for
different types of funding are
best determined via a matrix
which can be found on Techs
Controllers Office website.
For example, per the matrix
departmental uniforms for GTPD
and housing may be paid for with
student activity funds, but not state
appropriated funds.

likely prove challenging, according to Kirk.

As a result, Tech is looking to
adopt priority-based budgeting,
in which existing funds may be
creatively reallocated to support new and expanded program
priorities.
Going forward, new initiatives
requiring funding will be subject
to more scrutiny in coming years
and must demonstrably contribute to Techs Strategic Plan.
Further, Inform Tech lectures
will occur quarterly.
Possible topics for these lectures, according to Director of
Undergraduate Admissions Rick
Clark, may include the Campus Master Plan, legislative issues or the inner workings of
Tech Athletics.

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

Jim Kirk gestures to his presentation on the Colors of Tech

Money. The first Inform Tech lecture focused on budgeting.

COLLEGE DAY

S1

MAURA CURRIE
NEWS EDITOR

GTPD RECERTIFICATION
The Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD) is scheduled
for on-site assessments to retain
their accreditation as a law enforcement agency.
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) will be assessing
community thoughts and feelings
regarding GTPDs work through
a public information session on
March 30.
Members of the Tech community are invited to attend the
session and offer their comments.
The session will be held in the Callaway Manufacturing Research
Center Auditorium at 6 p.m.
People unable to attend the
feedback session may also leave
comments via telephone or online
via the CALEA website.
ACC INVENTURE
Tech will host the first-ever
ACC InVenture Prize competition, modeled after Techs own
competition.
The inaugural event will be
held April 56 and will be the
same format as Techs competition. Teams from 15 participating
ACC schools will present prototype inventions to a Shark Tank
style panel of judges, as well as
tour Atlanta startups and meet
with entrepreneurs.
The first-place winner will
receive $15,000 and the secondplace winner will receive $10,000.

the techn

is MARCH 11th

IA
#A

How funds garnered through

the Georgia Tech Foundation
and other alumni sources depends largely on the intentions of
the donor.
The allocation of more general grants and contracts must
conform to certain criteria: a cost
must be necessary and reasonable,
as well as the fact that it must
align with the general intentions
and goals of the donor.
Techs primary budgetary challenge for Fiscal Year 2017 going to
be balancing faculty allocations
with a growing student body.
After the record size of Techs
class of 2019 it is expected that
future classes will have moderate
size increases, but accommodating such changes with no foreseeable increases in funding will

Additionally, a $5,000 Peoples

Choice Award will be given to a
fan favorite chosen during the
final round. As is the case with
Techs competition, the final
round will be televised from the
Ferst Center for the Arts by Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The winner of Techs InVenture Competition will automatically advance to the ACC level.

at the

NEW RANKINGS RELEASED

Scholarset, a Chinese academic network, has released its
annual ranking of global research
universities.
Harvard, MIT and Stanford
are ranked respectively in the first,
second and third slots.
Tech is ranked 107 out of the
top 300 research institutions
in the world. The University of
Georgia is ranked 236.
The rankings are derived from
four key metrics: total research
output, accumulated research
impact, research impact per unit
output and high-impact output.
SGA CONCEALED CARRY POLL
SGA distributed a poll to students to address concerns regarding bills currently working their
way through the Georgia legislature which would legalize certain
weapons on Techs campus.
4210 undergraduate and 1528
graduate students responded,
roughly 32 and 28 percent of
those respective populations.
Of those students, roughly
seven percent of undergrads and
68 percept of graduate students
support the passage of House
Bill 859, which would legalize
campus carry.
In-state students had slightly
higher levels of support, with approximately 30 percent of those
students favoring the bill.
With regards to House Bill
792, which would legalize electroshock weapons on college campuses, 48 percent of all students
said such weapons would make
them feel less safe to some degree.

ique

uzz
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e
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t
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4 March 4, 2016 technique

// NEWS

New Technology & Business minor launched

ALEX MCAULLIFFE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Denning Technology and
Management (T&M) Program is
adding a Technology and Business minor in fall 2016, and will
take applications from students in
the Colleges of Architecture, the
Sciences and Ivan Allen College.
With this addition, one of
Techs most well-known academic
programs will be open to all Tech
students, fulfilling one of Stephen
Dennings goals for the program.
The T&M Program is currently renowned for its engineering
and computing cross-disciplinary
coursework, as well as its corporate involvement and professional
networking opportunities.
The administrators of the program hope that the addition of
Tech students from more diverse
fields of study will benefit all the
students involved.
One of the programs goals
is to teach its participants to see
problems and projects from novel
points of view.
The program will remain the
same size (between sixty and seventy students per class) to preserve
the tight-knit community and
close working relationships that
students develop amongst themselves and their instructors.
The Capstone project is one of
the opportunities of participating
as a T&M student. In the second
year of enrollment, students work

in teams of three to five to address

a problem within one of the corporate partner companies, for a
period of six to eight months.
During this time they can
collaborate between teams, grow
their professional contacts, and
solve a real problem for a major
company that they can talk about
in their search for other jobs or endeavors in the future.
The Programs namesake, Stephen A. Denning, made a name
for himself in international business, and this is something that
the program is striving to continue cultivating in its new students.
All T&M students can attend
faculty-led trips abroad focused
on relevant coursework.
This spring break, some T&M
students will be traveling to Central and Eastern Europe to learn
about the transition of the region
from communistic to capitalistic
economies.
Anne Lynch, the Communications Program manager for T&M,
summed up what she sees as the
beauty of the program.
What [engineering students]
have said to me is that with engineering you build it or you dont,
Lynch said. With business problems there isnt one right answer
and that excites them.
They get excited about the unknown. They are coming in from
high level engineering courses and
finding an appreciation for a different kind of challenge, finding
a project-based approach instead

of a correct answer. After all, you

can have the best idea ever, but if
you dont know how to market it
and sell it, or know someone who
can market it, it might not go
anywhere.
The Technology and Business
minor is composed of 22 hours of
cross-disciplinary work based in
the Scheller College of Business.

One of the programs goals is to

be a part of campus that everyone
wants to participate in and this
new minor option goes a long way
towards making that a distinct
possibility.
The first application cycle for
students in the College of Architecture, College of Sciences and
Ivan Allen College is next fall.

Anyone with at least 30 credit

hours to be completed by the time
of starting the program is eligible
to apply.
Interested students are encouraged to visit the Technology
and Management sections of the
Scheller College of Business website for further information on
how and when to apply.

Photo by Elliott Brockelbank Student Publications

Tech has approved numerous new minors in recent weeks, one of which is Technology & Business. The minor aims to broaden opportunities offered by T&M to many other majors at Tech.

technique March 4, 2016 5

// NEWS

Mellon awards Ivan Allen College $1 million grant

TRISTEN ALLEN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Tech was recently given a
$1 million grant by the Mellon Foundation towards the creation of a new learning center
within the Ivan Allen College of
Liberal Arts (IAC).
The learning center, called the
Digital Interdisciplinary Liberal
Arts Center, will offer resources
for group and project based learning within liberal arts curricula.
The center will also expand the
digital areas of current programs
within IAC and within the IACs
School of Literature, Media and
Communication (LMC).
The Mellon Foundation is a
group that promotes higher education, the liberal arts and the
contributions of the humanities
and higher education to society.
They regularly give money to
institutes of higher education in
order to promote these goals.
The foundation has an endowment of approximately $6 billion.
The Mellon Foundation has previ-

MAURA CURRIE,
TRISTEN ALLEN

NEWS EDITOR,
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
BRITAIN BREXITS?
On June 23, the United Kingdom will hold a referendum

ously awarded grants to Tech, in

the years 1998, 1999 and 2006 in
amounts of $183,000, $240,000
and $282,000, respectively.
The Foundation has given a
total of 64 grants in the Atlanta
area to various organizations, totaling $25.5 million. These grants
have been given to Emory, Agnes
Scott, Oglethorpe, Morehouse
and numerous others.
The grant to Tech is the largest
the Mellon Foundation has given
in the Atlanta area since 2013,
when $1.5 million was given to
LYRASIS in support of an open
source collections management
system for museums.
The Digital Interdisciplinary
Liberal Arts Center will include
a number of offices within the
center itself.
Dean Jacqueline J. Royster of
the IAC and Professors Lauren
Klein and Carl DiSalvo will create
a Digital Humanities Studio to allow for practice-based research.
They will also develop a Civic
Engagement Laboratory in order
to allow outreach and applicationbased learning in the humanities.

This new project hopes to create more opportunities for IAC

students and will allow them to
engage in more project-based
learning experiences.
Royster also thanked the Mel-

on the question of leaving the

European Union.
The referendum will be open
to all citizens of the U.K. and will
include two choices to the question of the U.K. remaining in the
European Union.
This referendum, dubbed
Brexit by some, is similar in nature to the Scottish referendum to
remain a part of the U.K., which
returned a verdict of No by a
margin of one percent.
The U.K. Independence Party or UKIP, as they are also
known, are the largest supporters
of Britains exit from the EU, citing economic concerns as well as
issues of sovereignty in regards to
free movement and various measures mandated by the EU.

The U.K. government has

agreed to a number of concessions
by the EU if they choose to remain members.
These include new, EU-wide
regulations on the ability of member nations to block new legislation in the EU parliament.
In addition, other contentious issues include the continued acceptance of the British
Pound as an alternative to the
Euro, as well as a number of restrictions on migrant workers
entering the U.K.
According to the BBC, Britain
has expressed concern over the
EU becoming a United States
of Europe.
As such, Britain has negotiated
a stipulation that clarifies that the

lon Foundation in an official

statement released through Communications.
Mellon has our deepest gratitude for believing in our capacities to achieve, to produce and

to make a meaningful difference

both in facing global challenges.
IAC also provides over 55
courses capable of fulfilling Techs
global perspectives requirements
for all Tech students.

Photo by Basheer Tome Student Publications

The Mellon Foundation awarded a $1 million grant to aid in creating a new learning center. This is the fourth and largest grant that the Mellon Foundation have gifted to Tech.

U.K. will not be a part of an ever

closer union with EU states.
David Cameron currently supports the continued membership
of Britain in the European Union,
given the new concessions agreed
upon in talks between EU and
British Leadership.
The Labour Party, Scottish
National Party, Plaid Cymru
Party of Wales and the Liberal
Democrats all support the U.K.s
continued membership.
Public opinion polls conducted
by YouGov are extremely similar
to the results of the Scottish referendum on remaining in the U.K.
51 percent of respondants support remaining in the EU, while
49 percent support leaving.
This is not the first time that

Britons have been at odds or in

conflict with the EU.
Conflict brewed in the 1950s
when the EU was forming and
British trade with member nations amounted to a slim margin
of their overall transactions.
In the 1960s Britain became
interested in joining an early facsimile of the EU for trade benefits,
but did not join until 1973.
A London-based think thank
called the Centre for European
Reform concluded in a model that
British trade with EU member nations would have been 55 percent
greater had they not joined the
EU in the first place.
EU trade regulations are often
scrutinized for their sheer levels of
strictness and immobility.

Opinions
OUR VIEWS | Consensus Opinion

Increasing political accessibility on campus

the opportunity for students to be wellrounded individuals who can make decisions to change the political landscape of
the area that we live in.
No individual would be required to
partake in the political scene just as no individual is required to eat fruits and vegetables. This initiative would seek to help
students who wish to play a larger role in
local politics or even informing those who
are uninformed about the whole process.
The resources required to start this
initiative would be minimal. Sending out
emails reminding students to apply for absentee ballots would have a tremendous
impact because students tend to forget that
having the ability to vote is difficult when
not from the area. Additionally, informing students of important election dates
and having on-campus voter registration
booths would be a part of this initiative
to help students transform into politically
conscious citizens of America.

The Consensus Opinion reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board of the
Technique, but not necessarily the opinions of individual editors.

technique editorial board

Brenda Lin EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Nick Johnson MANAGING EDITOR
Maura Currie NEWS EDITOR
Vidya Iyer OPINIONS EDITOR
Harsha Sridhar SPORTS EDITOR
Kara Pendley ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Trishna Chandarana LIFE EDITOR
Brighton Kamen DESIGN EDITOR
Kripa Chandran ONLINE EDITOR
Ross Lindsay WEB DEVELOPER
Max Kaltman BUSINESS MANAGER
Alexis Brazier HEAD COPY EDITOR

Theres no freedom quite like

the freedom of being constantly
underestimated. Scott Lynch

Keeping students politically informed

There is an effort to get young voters to
partake in large elections like the primaries
and the presidential election. However,
taking part in smaller elections can have a
larger impact since those have a more direct impact on everyday life. As an institution that seeks to produce world-changing
leaders, Tech should take the initiative to
keep students politically aware.
We have politically active organizations
on campus; however, because they are affiliated with a political party, they cannot
serve as an objective source of fact. We
need an unbiased and authoritative entity
informing us of the political landscape.
It is certainly not necessarily the role of
the institution to push students to become
politically active citizens, but neither is
promoting healthy eating habits or better
mental health awareness. The goal of such
initiatives is to enrich a students life, and
informing them of local politics is no different. The institution is merely providing

technique

OPINIONS EDITOR: Vidya Iyer

Friday,
March 4, 2016

YOUR VIEWS | Online Comments

Another racism editorial

I love how the author made the sarcasm extremely
apparent for individuals who do not identify with the
oppressed group, so that theyre able to digest the
information appropriately. This should be taken as
information, not as an aggressive shot to your pride
and self-esteem. This article is based on academic
merit and real life experiences.

Nicholas Johnson
... how should we celebrate race? What is it about
having a similar skin color as a stranger that gives me
more in common with them than some other stranger
who looks difference? How should Americans of
European descent celebrate their race since, as you
say, race is an important component of
who we all are?

When you say Budweiser...!

Racial group-think is truly making america worse.
I have honestly tried to check my privilege several
times and I still conclude that I am not any more
privileged than the lowest minority. I have worked
hard to get where I am, and no one is really in a
position to debate that, so what does it matter.
Stop referring to people as groups, we are all
individuals... Individual choices are what matters
in this world, and anyone who says otherwise is a
coward and playing a victim.

Cut it OUT
Women at Tech

NOT THE LEO MEMES AGAIN! BY LANAH MARIE JOSE

OKAY FOLKS, I HAVE

TO APOLOGIZE...

One of the most useful things I learned at Tech as

a woman was how to deal with men professionally.
Men are different. They just are. And if you want to be
comfortable when there are more of them than there
are of you (which is true at the moment in most STEM
fields) its just easier to be one of the guys. Now if
the conversation ever got egregious I would stand up,
but sometimes you just have to let the small stuff go.
And ladies, be glad that The Ratio is what it is.

Mary Ann Burney Allen

Write to us:

letters@nique.net
Got something to say? Then let
your voice be heard with the Technique. Sliver at Nique.net, tweet us
@the_nique or check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/thenique. We
want to hear your opinion and want
to make it known to all of campus.
We also welcome your letters in
response to Technique content as well
as topics relevant to campus. We will
print letters on a timely and spaceavailable basis.
Each week we look for letters that

are responses to or commentaries on

content found within the pages of the
Technique. Along with these letters,
we are open to receiving letters that
focus on relevant issues that currently
affect Georgia Tech as a university, including its campus and student body.
When submitting letters we ask
that you include your full name, year
(1st, 2nd, etc.) and major. We ask that
letters be thought provoking, well
written and in good taste. We reserve
the right to both reject or edit letters
for length and style.
For questions, comments or concern, contact the Opinions Editor at
opinions@nique.net.

technique March 4, 2016 7

// OPINIONS

Dystopian novels could reflect our future

Please note: I ask that you do
not take this editorial at facevalue. If you have a differing
opinion, please share it. I want
to hear those opinions in order
to research them further. Once I
have done that, I will graciously
reassess my conclusions. I ask
that you do the same.
We all want to know what the
future holds. Many think that it
is shrouded in mystery and that
there is no way to know what is
to come. But what if I told you
that it was not so mysterious?
Let me pose a question: what
would it take for our society to
become a dystopian novel?
I say it is only a matter of
time. Dystopic novels are derived from reality, and that is
what makes them intriguing but
also makes them terrifying. Societies do not treat them as the
warnings they should be. Instead, many times, we play right
into them.
Many students are required
to read Fahrenheit 451 in
high school. In Fahrenheit
451, books have been outlawed,
and firemen are charged with
burning down the homes of
people who possess books.

Dystopic novels are

derived from reality, and
that is what makes them
intriguing but also makes
them terrifying.

KARA PENDLEY

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
The author originally stated that he wrote the novel out
of fear of America potentially
burning books, and I do not
believe that his fears were unwarranted. Books are constantly
being challenged, which means
there is a formal, written complaint to have the book removed
from public libraries, school
libraries, classrooms or even
college class material. These
challenges, of which there are
thousands each year, can lead to
the books being banned.
This is a real threat to our
freedom of speech. We allow
people to ban books that they
do not deem appropriate, many
times because of one word that
somehow invalidates thousands.

Many times, they are banned

for containing authentic history.
No piece of our history should
be blocked from us. History is,
by definition, a sensitive subject.
Publish our mistakes, or future
generations are bound to make
them again. This path of censorship will lead to a fire burning at
451 degrees Fahrenheit.
Another book that has exploded into popularity in the
past couple years is The Hunger Games. The novel is a lesson in socialism, telling a story
about a girl who lives in Panem,
a post-apocalyptic society in
North America. There are 12
districts ruled by the Capitol,
and each district has a certain
job to contribute to society. Ev-

erything is redistributed among

the populace.
Panem does not represent
a capitalist system but a tyrannical government bred from
socialism. In history, we have
seen that the government (the
Capitol) becomes a super-powered group showered in wealth
while the rest of the country becomes equal and impoverished.
Socialism is the first step to
this extreme.
While at first, closing the
gap between the rich and poor
seems like a wonderful idea; that
thinking is exactly what will be
our downfall. Yes, we can make
the gap smaller, but in doing so,
you make the rich poorer and
the poor poorer. At first that
seems somewhat counterintuitive, but I challenge you to look
up some of the studies that have
been done.
When so much is taken from
the rich, they lose their incentive
to grow wealth for society. Once
these people cease to create new
businesses which inherently
create new jobs that get people
off the streets where does the
money come from? We, as a so-

What do you constitute

as cheating?

JOSHUA SANTILLO
FIRST-YEAR MSE

Using other peoples work

without their consent.

See DYSTOPIA, page 9

Legalizing smart drugs Focusing on candidates

could be beneficial
foreign policies
If youre like me, and by like smarter or harder working, and
me I mean that youre a college it seems like there are, shouldnt
student, you probably know we give them to people who are
someone whos used stimulants conducting medical research. If
to help them study for an exam we could make the people who
or finish a paper.
are researching
And by stimucures for Cancer,

...
there
are
still
a
lants I dont
or Ebola, or Manumber of reasons why laria even slightmean caffeine.
To be clear
more effective
improving upon human ly
Ive never done
it would save
this. Chugging
intelligence might be countless lives.
a Monster has
same goes
worthwhile. The
always
done
for technologies
the trick for me
that are intended
MAX KALTMAN to let us combat
when I have to
BUSINESS MANAGER global warming,
cram at 4 a.m.
the night before
or travel to Mars.
a test. But I cant condemn the
If the world of sports, the area
people who do. Quite the op- where using science to make huposite. Far from thinking we mans better, is any guide then
should crack down on such be- one of the arguments against
havior, I think we should allow smart drugs is that they arent
it. I think we need to be doing fair. The reason that we ban stefar more to promote the creation roids in sports, and that Barry
of drugs that make humans Bonds is practically a punchline,
more productive.
is that it makes the playing field
Recently, a computer beat unfair. Theres something about
a human expert at the game of using performance enhancing
GO. I wouldnt necessarily have drugs that seems to go against
thought much of this. After all, the ideal of sports.
computers have been able to beat
Similar arguments could
grandmasters at chess for almost be made about drugs that in20 years. But GO is considered crease academic performance.
to be one of the most difficult Certainly we have enough of a
games for a computer to play problem with income inequalwell. So, this event represents ity as it is. The key difference is
a huge increase in the efficacy that life, unlike sports, is not a
of artificial intelligence. What zero sum game. If someone can
does this have to do with college hit a baseball 20 ft. farther that
students downing Adderall that doesnt necessarily make me enthey bought from their friends? joy the game more. But there are
Basically, computers are getting clearly advantages to having an
smarter and we arent, and I employee who can learn faster.
think we need to do something
Legalizing smart drugs
about it.
would be a good thing for soEven if our competition ciety. But even if you disagree
wasnt getting smarter, there are with me, the reality is that peostill a number of reasons why ple are going to use these drugs
improving upon human intel- anyways. Legalizing their use,
ligence might be worthwhile. or at least their use for this purFirst and foremost is that it could pose, would make people safer
save lives. If there are drugs and allow the for the developthat safely make human beings ment of more effective agents.

If you are still floundering on navigate a complex landscape on

whom to vote for this Novem- an international stage.
ber, let foreign policy tip the
One of the most important
scale.
of these leaders is U.S. president,
Though domestic policy who aside from maintaining dotends to fill more
mestic peace will
debate time as
also have to con
The
U.S.
is
a
major
candidates argue
tend with forplayer in determining eign affairs.
over gun control,
education, and
ideal
international policy U.S.The president
immigration reform, the fact is
and influencing the must be able to
that we live in
protectglobal economy. balance
an increasingly
ing the countrys
interdependent,
interests while
BRIGHTON KAMEN understa nd ing
interconnected
DESIGN EDITOR that the U.S. is
world, and the
United States is
just one country
in a unique position where small of many. Building walls to spechanges at a local level can have rate us from others or deporting
consequences at a global level.
a group of people is incredibly
The U.S. is a major player in petty and is not respectful of
determining international pol- other countries and cultures. A
icy and influencing the global rash international decision such
economy. Isolationism was ide- as firebombing an entire corner
alized by early U.S. presidents of the globe (looking at you, Mr.
such as George Washington, Drumpf) will not only drag the
but is an outdated concept in a U.S. into costly engagements,
world where every action by a but ruin its reputation with immajor country ripples out con- portant allies.
sequences from first world to
Being seen as stable is more
third world.
important than being seen as
Neither the U.S. nor our strong-armed, especially when it
policies exist in a vacuum. The comes to trade agreements and
World Wars and the Cold War economic transactions.
were harsh lessons in the need
Maintaining a stable foreign
for cooperation between coun- policy should be one of the top
tries or, at the very least, issues, if not the most importolerance while technol- tant. The U.S. may be the stronogy like the Internet and mul- gest country in the world, in its
tinational companies like Apple economy, military and pervasive
and Google have brought them culture, but we are not a hegetogether and linked their mon lording over other states.
economies.
Other countries such as
The interconnectedness of China and the European namodern countries and their tions hold as much clout and are
memberships to supranational just as determined to look after
organizations such as the United their own interests. We need a
Nations has forced every country president who can hold firm, but
to be a team player. This trend of play nice.
linking countries economically
To quote my politically-savand politically will only increase vy roommate, We can be a hot
in the coming decades, meaning mess at home, but internationalworld leaders must be able to ly we cant afford to do that.

DENNIS DEN HARTIGH

THIRD-YEAR IE

Using resources not outlined by your professor to

do a graded assignment.

KRISTEN GOLDIE
FIRST-YEAR UNDE

Being dishonest about

how you produced your
work.

SCOTT CLAUDON
THIRD-YEAR MSE

If the answers to the assessment are different than

if you were taking the assessment on your own.
Photos by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

8 March 4, 2016 technique

// OPINIONS

#OscarSoWhite

The controversy of the Oscars did not stop at just the

nominations. Chris Rock
and Sacha Baron Cohen both
poked fun at the Asian race by
commenting using overused
stereotypes to garner laughs
from the audience. While the
intent was not to hurt anyone,
we are trying to progress into
a society that is breaking away
from stereotypes and situations like the White Oscars.
These jokes just made it worse.

LAYLA GHAZI

ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR

Before I continue with what I
am about to say, I ask of my peers
reading my article to refrain from
calling me a radical feminist obsessed with politically correct culture or from asking me if I shave
my armpits. The answers to both
of the above are yes, I am a feminist who appreciates the differences present between others and yes,
hygiene is important to me.
I hate gendered language.
There you go. I said it. I think in
a time where we live in a society
that acknowledges political correctness, our conscious choice of
language should follow suit.
I hope most of you know what
gendered language is, but for those
of you that do not, gendered language is defined to be favoring one
gender over another, specifically
the masculine over the feminine.
By no means are masculine and
feminine the only genders recognized in society; however, for the
purposes of this editorial, which
is meant to express my personal
opinion on an issue, I will focus
on these two since I am personally
affected by each.
You may not even know that
you are using gender-biased language, but addressing a group of
individuals, consisting of men,

women and other genders, as hey

guys! is just one example of gendered language. Let me be perfectly clear: if there is a group of
individuals who do not all identify as male, you should not be calling them guys. Unless someone
has explicitly said they identify as
male, do not assume they want
to be addressed as one. I, for one,
love being a woman, and I would
like to be addressed with pronouns that recognize me as such.
Language is our major tool
of communication, and how we
choose to utilize it is essential to
seeing progress in our society. If
we continue to use systematically
oppressive language, such as gender-biased pronouns, then we are
allowing ourselves to fall into the
pattern of devaluing any progress
an oppressed group, such as those
who identify with the feminine,
have made.
Women and those who identify with the feminine have made
monumental strides in achieving
equality on most, but not all, levels of society (I am still holding
out for you, equal pay), yet if we
refuse to acknowledge women and
the feminine for what they are,
which is not guys, we are essentially undermining that progress

TECHS ON CAMPUS
PRINT RESOURCE!!!

Ha

nd
bo
o

ks
No

M
NA AIL S
ME ER
TA VIC
GS E
S

teb

ers

Puppy Patrol

The Georgia Tech Police

Department has created an
Instagram account for their
dog, Koda. We already knew
that we had an awesome police
department, but these officers
just stepped it up to a whole
new level. The Instagram account is filled with such adorable pictures of the little guy
that it makes you forget hes
actually a police dog. You can
follow this cute canine at instagram.com/gtpd_k9_koda.

Caught Cheating

This past week, students in

CS 3600 were called out for
working past time on their
midterm exam. To be honest,
this is a minor case of cheating. Cheating on this campus
is much more pervasive and is
definitely an issue that needs
to be addressed. Professor Jim
Rehg has emailed the students
and handled the situation incredibly well. More professors
need to hold students to a
higher level of integrity.

by reaffirming the fact that we live

in a male-dominated society.
You may be asking, Okay, but
what if my intention was not to
oppress women and those who do
not identify with the masculine,
and I really just did not want to
use the phrase yall? Great question. You probably were not aware
that some language is considered
to be sexist because we never talk
about the fact that English, in addition to many other languages, is
male-favored. It is not just males
that I have seen address a collective group as guys; in fact, more
times than not, I see many of my
female peers addressing others as
guys. That being said, now that
my beautifully written and insightful editorial has brought the
issue of gendered language to your
attention, it would be in the best
interest of everyone if you chose to
be more conscious of how you address a group.
Unique to our languages difficult grammar is its lack of genderneutral pronouns that appeal to a
single individual. I know I have
personally seen many red marks
on my English papers for referring
to an individual as they rather
than he/she, but the beauty of
language is that is fluid, able to
adapt to the whims of society.
We have the ability to change
how we address others and how
we communicate, so given this
unique ability, why should we
continue to use language that
may be offensive to some? The issue of gendered language is not
one where you can decide how
you want to address someone
because ultimately, the choice of
how someone identifies and is addressed is up to them.

Inv
Po ita
Br st C tion
oc ar s
hu ds
res

Leo, A True Sport

Our beloved Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar.

It took The Academy long
enough. Instead of being bitter
about the wait or even smug,
Leo decided to deliver an incredibly humble acceptance
speech, ending it with a powerful statement to not take the
world we live in for granted.
We all knew that he was a brilliant actor, but it turns out that
Leonardo DiCaprio is an allaround awesome person.

Language is our major tool of

communication, and how we
choose to utilize it is essential
to seeing progress in our
society.

nn

HOT or NOT

Being aware of our use of

gendered language

CO
CA UN
MP TE
US R C
& U ARD
S S
MA
IL

oo

ks

Ba

OUR VIEWS | HOT OR NOT

CONTACT US TODAY!!!
404-894-3570

www.pcs.gatech.edu
pcs@oit.gatech.edu

technique March 4, 2016 9

// OPINIONS

The anticlimactic tale of this once

unopinionated opinions editor
Ive finally come back. You
may be thinking, Uhh youve
been there the whole time. But I
havent. If you didnt know me before college, Hi, I am Vidya Iyer,
Ive come back and Im so excited
you finally get to meet me. Me.
Its strange to finally, after so, so
long, feel like me again.
The timeline is unclear, but I
think I started to fade away and
turn into the shell that most of
you got to know upon entering
college. Depression is a misnomer,
or maybe our use of it to describe
extreme sadness is just incorrect,
because depression couldnt even
spare me the feeling of sadness. I
was robbed of all feelings. I just
remember that I would think I
was having an off day and then
another off day and so on and so
forth until it became perpetual.
There were times I wanted to repeatedly punch a brick wall just so
Id be able to feel something.
This feeling of numbness permeated into all aspects of my life.
I confused this feeling with laziness because I couldnt bring myself to do anything, and from the
outside, Im sure that laziness is
what it looked like. I would sleep
almost all day never feeling fully
rested. Eating became a chore.
You know, heating it up putting it
on a plate, and then having to do

Depression is a misnomer
or maybe our use of it to
describe extreme sadness is
just incorrect ...

VIDYA IYER

OPINIONS EDITOR

the dishes? So I would eat a spoon

or two of peanut butter out of a jar
instead if I felt up for it.
What I missed the most was being able to care school, friends,
life none of it mattered, and
that bothered me. I couldnt bring
myself to form thoughts and opinions on anything. It was like there
was a filter blocking my mind
after a certain threshold it would
just shut down. If any of you pick
up the paper, youll notice that I
havent written many editorials.
Besides the fact that I wasnt bothered with forming fully-thought
out opinions, everything I typed
would feel fake my words were
hollow and lacked passion. In essence, this made sense, when I
couldnt be bothered to take care
of myself, what would enable me
to care about anything else?
I couldnt understand why this

would happen to me. I am the

luckiest girl in the world. I am
constantly surrounded by people
who love me people who would
give me the sun, moon and stars,
if they could. But I felt alone because no one could understand
the feeling of the ground falling
beneath my feet while the sky
came crushing down on me. I
wasnt able to breathe and take in
the moments around me because
I was falling into a never-ending
pit, like Alice, with nothing and
no one to hold onto.
Just like it came, it went away.
The scary thing is Im not sure
why, but Im doing better. There
have been days where I smile for
no reason. It feels so out of character that I sometimes think Im
possessed.
Im overjoyed that Im able to
walk and notice how green the

grass is and how the sun bounces

off the yellow flowers in front of
Tech tower. Ive rediscovered my
love for learning and for the first
time in forever I feel like I can
breathe again. I think that some
people take the beauty of everyday
life for granted, but its not a mistake that I plan on making.
Life, regardless of all the ups
and downs, is something that
should be fully experienced. If
youre lucky to have never experienced depression, take joy in the
anger that you feel, revel in your
passions and dont shy away from
sadness. Not everyone can experience these things.
I am lucky to have just snapped
out of my depression, and as such
I have no profound or sagely advice to give if youre experiencing
the same thing. Snapping out of
depression hasnt changed things
life still sucks, people are still
mean and shit still happens everything is the same.
The only thing that is different
is that all the pieces of this jigsaw
puzzle somehow fit together now.
For the moment, I am enjoying being able to stand on solid
ground because I am terrified that
this feeling of freedom could be
taken away from me any day and I
could go back to being a prisoner
in my own mind.

DYSTOPIA FROM PAGE 7

ciety, stop growing and slowly deteriorate into poverty until complete government control begins
to seem like a decent idea.
Uglies is another dystopic
novel that describes the degradation of our society. Individuals are
given cosmetic improvements to
make them pretty, but the general
populace does not know that the
surgery also creates lesions in the
brain to make them placid.
This book reflects on freespeech, individual thought and
their ties to the idea of physical
perfection. The focus of our society should not be on physical
beauty. We should also not strive
to be placidly happy all the time.
You cannot know true happiness without experiencing true
sadness.
Our thoughts and ideas are
what make us individuals. Every
time we are told what to think, or
more often now, what not to say,
the government is slowly turning
us into placid pretties. We are
encouraged to focus on sameness.
Differing opinions are discouraged to avoid hurting someone.
Great minds are willing to break
the mold and create a world better
than what exists now.
In the span of a few words, I
cannot hope to grasp all these
books have to offer. I encourage
everyone to read dystopian novels
with a new mindset. Think about
how we can work to prevent these
things from happening. Realize
the impact of your current decisions and what they are taking
away from future generations.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL

Showcase, Present, and Inspire

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH @ GT

gttower.org

Life

LIFE EDITOR:

Trishna Chandarana

Take a Tour on Their Magical Wings

ASSTISTANT LIFE EDITOR:

The Yellow Jackets Flying Club teaches members how to fly

in order to earn their pilots license. They also rent out their
planes and hold events for aviation enthusiasts. 411

Layla Ghazi

life@nique.net

technique

10

Friday,
March 4, 2016

TALKING ISSUES
WITH COLLEGE
DEMOCRATS &
REPUBLICANS AT
GEORGIA TECH
BY LAYLA GHAZI, ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR

Not only is it election season, but last Tuesday, March 1, was Super Tuesday. As
such, the Technique sat down with the president of the College Republicans, Meredith
Christianson, and the president of the College Democrats, Jake Orvis to talk politics.
Design by Ansley Marks Student Publications

Definitely small government is one of the biggest things that the

party pushes for. A lot of conservatives really believe that the government has gotten way to big and it needs to be scaled down. Power
definitely needs to be returned to the states because that is what our
constitution was founded upon. It really just boils down to smaller
government, less regulation at the national level and more at the state
level.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE

SOME OF THE BASIC IDEALS IN
YOUR PARTYS PLATFORM?

A lot of what the democrats believe stem from the idea that not
everyone starts on equal playing fields. Growing up, some people are
facing inherent challenges in living their lives and achieving things
because of their gender, race, sexual identity or their socioeconomic
class. A huge base of democratic principles is acknowledging that
from the beginning, that if you are growing up as a woman you are
going to face more challenges than a man, or if you are a certain race,
you are going to face more challenges than someone who is white. A
lot of democratic principles are predicated on that principle.

A lot of what has been discussed in the 2016 race is reflected in

our discussions on national security and immigration reform because
those two really go hand in hand right now. Especially with what all
is happening in Syria and other locations where we have seen issues
with terrorism, a lot of what we see is that it is easy for the party to
bring these issues to the forefront. A lot of times we see the focus
more on social issues when it should be on our fiscal issues, such as
taxes. Everyone always wants to reform the tax system, especially as
a tech student, it is important that we focus on this issue because in
the future, you know, we do plan on being successful and see where
our money is going.

One really big issue is Planned Parenthood, specifically womens

rights and what we define as womens rights. Republicans want to
defund Planned Parenthood, except Donald Trump, who surprisingly
said that Planned Parenthood does a lot of good. Even if you dont
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE TWO support abortions, it is important to realize that Planned Parenthood
is so engrained in society. Another big issue is ObamaCare. We have
BIGGEST ISSUES ARE FOR
Hillary Clinton who wants to build on and improve ObamaCare,
YOUR PARTY IN 2016?
making sure we get states to expand the coverage gap and we have
Bernie Sanders saying we need to completely overhaul the system and
make the system look completely different and cover more people.

Rubio is much more moderate than Trump or Cruz. He is willing

to listen to both sides of the issue before moving forward, and not as
hardline as a candidate like Cruz, who is the exact opposite. Cruz is
very establishment, very conservative and appeals to a lot of older republicans. Trump is very back and forth; some of his policies are very
conservative and others are very moderate, so it is difficult to totally
understand where he stands on the whole scale. A lot of his plans
and statements do not coincide as much as the other candidates. It
is interesting that Trump has never done anything in politics before.
This because a lot of people like the fact that he is a business man who
wants to fix things. A lot of people like that he is weary of politics and
false promises, so they really think he will change things.

Both Clinton and Sanders have very serious pros. I think Hillary
Clinton has some of the best experience for top presidents in the top
five for coming into the position. She has met almost every single foreign dignitary, and the work she has done as Secretary of State is really
invaluable. Bernie Sanders is promoting this populist democrat policy.
He has completely changed how the financial system works in politics,
which Hillary does as well. There is something attractive about him
that people really like; it could be his hair. There is this air of authenticity that people dont often times see in politicians, and that is easily
why he is doing so well with the youth.

Government needs to be a lot smaller, and a lot of policies that are

currently run by the federal government are not necessarily helping
things. The states really know how to manage more of the issues on
a smaller and more effective level. I think there should be less regulation, and what is scary about the Democratic Party is that they want
to put more regulation in place and more policies that seem like they
help people on the surface, but people find ways to take advantage
of them.
From the general consensus of the club and from those that I have
spoken to, a lot of the responses point to the party being more moderate than it used to be. Here at Georgia Tech, we see that too. A lot of
us are not as strong on social issues. We have a lot more open discussions on where our opinions lie, and that is why it is so hard for us to
pick any one candidate because we dont want someone who is just
going to do as the party says. For the young people, there are more
blurred lines between what the party believes and what they believe.
The results really depend on the primaries. I think Hillary is going
to win the nomination for the Democrats. Though there are a lot of
people for Bernie, they are very young. Older, establishment Democrats are for Hillary. For the Republicans, Cruz, Trump and Rubio
are all very close together. I know Trump has a small foothold right
now, but it will be interesting to see who the GOP chooses as their
Republican nominee. Depending on who gets the nominations, it
will really shift party allegiances.

WHAT DO YOU THINK

IS THE FUNDAMENTAL
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
FRONTRUNNERS OF YOUR
PARTY?

WHAT ARE SOME MAJOR

DRAWBACKS OF THE
FRONTRUNNERS OF THE
OPPOSING PARTY?

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE

FUTURE OF YOUR PARTY
GOING?

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING

TO BE THE OUTCOME OF THE
GENERAL ELECTION?

Top three candidates are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco
Rubio. The problem with Rubio is that he is not at all moderate, yet
somehow he has picked up this moderate label because everyone he
is competing against is so radical. Cruz epitomizes all of the negative thoughts people have about politicians, and a lot of Republicans
genuinely do not like him because he flips on issues. The Republicans
have set themselves up for a candidate like Donald Trump. We have
seen Republicans get farther and farther right, meaning they are coming out as more xenophobic, more racist and more sexist than before.
As far as the democrats go, I think they will continue to be the
most progressive socially and that reflects on economic issues as well,
and I think a lot of that goes back to the answer I had in the first
question. Not everyone is on the same playing field or with the same
issues, so democrats will continue to fight inequality, and that will be
a big part of their platform in the future.

I think whatever democrat that wins is going to crush it. The Republicans would have a chance in the general election if they put out
a Reagan-like republican; the country would be okay with someone
who is more of a moderate republican who does not have such a hardline on social issues and who is going to preach principles of limited
government and reducing national debt. The most moderate person
running is John Kaisich, who is not well spoken enough or moderate
enough to win.

technique March 4, 2016 11

// LIFE

Flying club takes members to the sky

TYLER MEUTER
PHOTO EDITOR

Taking an aerial tour of Techs

campus is an opportunity that
many Tech students did not know
they have access to. As a member of the Yellow Jacket Flying
Club (YJFC), the oldest continuously running collegiate flying
organization, this is one of its
many perks.
The YJFC was founded in 1946
by Tech students passionate about
fulfilling their dreams of flight.
Their mission was to provide students, alumni, faculty and staff at
Tech with opportunities to pursue
aviation interest through flight
instruction and aviation-related
events and activities.
In parallel, the Yellow Jacket
Flying Club, Inc. was established
so as to provide the club with the
advantages of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The YJFC is
grateful for the many donations
it receives that contribute to the
clubs ability to maintain a safe
and reliable fleet of aircraft.
Today the YJFC has 121 members with 81 of those members
having aircraft scheduling privileges. Due to the nature of the
club, most of our members are
Aerospace Engineering majors,
noted Coty Pinckney, fourthyear AE and Interim President
of YJFC. We also attract many
Electrical and Computer Engineering majors that are interested

HVZ: how to
survive as a
human
CHRISTIAN SHAHEEN
STAFF WRITER

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

Above is the view from one of the Yellow Jacket Flying Club planes as it flies over the city of Atlanta. New members can expect to pay $20 for a semester while returning members will pay $145.

in the avionics and simulators.

Overall we have a good representation of the Georgia Tech community as a whole.
The club owns, operates and
maintains four Cessna 172 aircraft
from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport
in Chamblee, GA. Two of these
planes, N203GT and N314GT,
are dedicated flight trainers for
individuals first learning how to
fly. The other two, N271GT and
N2105X, are designated as crosscountry aircraft that are avail-

able for advanced training along

with personal use by licensed
club members. With a nonstop
range of over 400 nautical miles,
N271GT and N2105X are perfect
for weekend trips to places as far
as Cincinnati or New Orleans.
Another tool that members can
train with is the Redbird TD2
flight simulator. Dhaval Dave,
ME 88, a YJFC instructor, commented on the benefits of having
this learning tool, Its good for
students who are starting off to

do a lot of training in a simulator.

There are motor and mechanical
skills that can be transferred from
this to actually flying a plane.
Since acquiring the simulator in September, more than 80
flight hours have been logged.
The Redbird can mimic emergency situations like engine failure and/or an engine fire; things
you wouldnt want to test in a real
plane. The simulator is free to
use for members and is a great op-

recipients. Fifteen representatives

of organizations walked to the
center of the stadium, each holding a novelty check.
We allocated this semester a
total of $20,000 which was the
largest amount allocated in Georgia Tech Student Foundation history, Mihm said.
There is an application process for organizations requesting
funding with several criteria, including that the initiatives benefit
the Tech or Atlanta community in
some way.
First, there is a written application with questions regarding
each organizations initiative, and
its end goal. After the applications
are graded, roughly 2025 of the

organizations are selected to present a pitch of a few minutes.

Project ideas that show a sense
of feasibility, responsibility on
the students behalf and innovation tend to get top priority when
choosing which groups to fund
each semester.
When grading proposals
we look for five main categories:
philanthropy, impact, feasibility,
sustainability and novelty, Milm
said. We try to find [groups] that
align with GTSFs goals and the
goals of Georgia Tech. We look
for organizations that embody the
motto of Georgia Tech, Progress
and service, as well as GTSFs
motto, Moving forward by
giving back.

As for physical items or events

we will fund there really is no set
criteria. For instance we funded
an aquaponics system that grows
plants and raises fish for food deserts in the Atlanta area as well as
funding an initiative to help with
profession development of freshman at Tech. Ultimately, we are
looking for organizations that fit
our goals to create an even better
Georgia Tech, Milm said.
After receiving funding, organizations are welcome to apply
again in following semesters if
they have new ideas. GTSF encourages any organizations and
initiatives that support its ultimate goal of giving back to the
Tech community to do so.

See PLANES, page 13

GTSF awards money to organizations

SHWETA BHAT

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
During the first time out in
womens basketball game in McCamish Pavillion on Sunday, Feb.
28, Georgia Tech Student Foundation (GTSF) representatives
presented checks to a variety of
on-campus student organizations
to fund their ideas.
Founded in 1986, GTSF has
been responsible for allocating
nearly $20,000 to Techs promising projects, initiatives and organizations every semester. Over the
years, it has awarded more than
$626,000 to 369 different groups.
In previous years there have been
up to 30 organizations that were
recipients of GTSFs allocations.
Of the committees in GTSF, it is
the Allocations Committee that
deals with selecting the lucky recipients of the checks.
The following organizations
were allocated checks this Spring:
Sting Hunger Now, Energy Club
at Georgia Tech, GT USLI, Industrial Design Society of America, GT Health Reach, Triangle
Fraternity, Transfer Student Association, Volunteers Around the
World, Teach Beautification Day
and Sustainable Aquaponics System. Not all of these groups could
attend the basketball game to receive their checks.
Sean Mihm, second-year
CHBE, along with Chief Executive Officer Priya Srinivasan,
fourth-year BA, Chief Financial
Officer Brandon Danzig, fourthyear EE, and Chief Operating
Officer Isaac Wittenstein, fourthyear ME, were at the basketball
game, awarding the checks to the

Humans vs. Zombies is an intense campus-wide game of tag

that lasts a week. Players are identified with a yellow bandanna,
and all players start as humans.
The original zombie (OZ) looks
like a human on the first day,
but can tag other players, turning them to zombies. Humans can
defend themselves by stunning
zombies with marshmallows or
socks. This semesters game starts
up on Monday, March 7, so here
are some tips and tricks on surviving as a human.
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
Zombies can appear where
you least expect them to be. They
lurk in the corners and could be
around every bend, so you should
make sure to keep your eyes
peeled as to avoid any ambushes.
Remember: those who keep aware
will survive the longest.
FORM ALLIANCES
Form alliances with other humans. There is strength in numbers, especially in open areas like
Skiles Walkway. Have a group
of humans that you walk from
building to building with.
By staying in groups, it will be
easier to avoid being attacked by a
group of zombies.
LOCK AND LOAD
Always, always, always be
ready to stun a zombie or even
multiple zombies. Keep yourself
armed and ready with multiple
approved stunning agents. Once
you stun a zombie, be prepared
to get on your way, lest you be attacked by another one lurking in
the area.
DRESS FOR SUCCESS
Wear running shoes and comfortable clothes so that you can
make a speedy get away in the
case that a zombie does find you
alone and unarmed. Wearing nice
shoes not meant for any kind of
exercise or form-fitting clothes is a
terrible idea if you wish to survive
this game.
HAVE FUN
Humans vs. Zombies is a
game meant for you to have fun.
So whether you are a human the
entire week or the first person the
OZ kills, make a point to have fun
with it.

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Above is a picture of the representatives of the organizations who received money from the Georgia
Tech Student Foundation last Sunday. 15 groups received checks, though not all attended the game.

RESPECT THE GAME

Dont be a jerk or hurt anyone.
Play fair and own up to the truth.
Dont continue playing as a human after you have been killed.
All rules and regulations can be
found at hvz.gatech.edu.

COLOR
Isaac Wittenstein
Joshua Lieberman
James Dorrier Coleman Jr.
Mitchell Kelman

Naomi Ergun
Samantha Becker
Sarah Lynn Bowen
Shannon Evanchec

Zhifeng Su
Siu Lun Chan
Timothy Woo
Ming Him Ko

Matthew Devlin
Ana Gomez del Campo
Garrett Wallace
Hailey Brown
Ali Abid
Molly Ricks

Zachary Braun
Tyler Sisk

technique March 4, 2016 13

// LIFE

PLANES

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

A representative from Kappa Alpha Theta (KAT) presents to select members of Techs
Panhellenic community and guests. KAT was the final sorority to give an extension presentation.

GREEK

FROM PAGE 1

Tuesday in Klaus Lecture Hall,

XOs representatives shared their
strong alliance with the Make-AWish foundation. They emphasized their pillars of friendship,
personal integrity, service to others, academic excellence and intellectual pursuits, community and
campus involvement and personal
and career development.
At the final presentation on
Thursday, representatives from
KAT told attendees to think
on a variety of topics, ranging
from the past to issues around
the world. KAT also discuss their
Sisters Supporting Sisters mental
health initiative and partnership
with Talk One-2-One. There was
also a great emphasis on Thetas

history of success with chapters

at STEM Institutions, including
many of Techs peer schools.
[KAT] demonstrated how
they lived their philanthropy.
They also focused a lot on academic support, and I like how they set
different [academic] standards for
different schools, so theyre understanding to the academic rigor of
[Tech] and how its different from
other schools, said Virginia Fishburn, first-year IE and Phi Mu.
All three sororities stated that
they were able and willing to devote resources to help build a new
house and introduced potential
layout and integration plans and
scheduling, if selected.
The Panhellenic community
is absolutely ecstatic to welcome
Kappa Alpha Theta to Georgia

Tech, said McKenzie Elliott,

fourth-year CM and CPC president. We were particularly impressed by their focus on mental
health and unique philanthropy
endeavors with the organization
named CASA (Court Appointed
Special Advocates). I am confident
that Theta will add great value to
both the Greek community and
student body of Georgia Tech.
Other members of the Greek
community were equally excited
about the addition of KAT.
I am very excited to welcome
Kappa Alpha Theta to our campus! I think they will be a fantastic
addition to our Greek Community, and I look forward to welcoming them in the fall, said Matteo
Valles, fourth-year ME and Interfraternity Council president.

FROM PAGE 11

portunity for individuals to learn

without having to spend money
on flight fees.
In addition to providing educational opportunities, the club
hosts more relaxed too. Several
times throughout the semester,
flights are made to nearby airports
just to grab a bite to eat. Most
commonly, the YJFC flies to the
Gwinnett County Airport to eat
at the Flying Machine.
The $100 Hamburger, an actual item on the menu, is a crowd
favorite whose name accurately
represents the cost of the burger
once you factor in the fuel cost
and cost of dinner.
Most recently, the YJFC hosted
a Fly-In that was a joint effort between the Clemson Flying Club,
the Auburn Flying Team and the
YJFC. The Fly-In involved games,
trivia, spot landing and balloon
drop competitions, along with
plenty of food.
While the club welcomes students, faculty, staff and alumni,
students only pay $20 per semester for dues compared to $30 for
non-students. This fee provides
access to all YJFC events and
activities. Renting the airplanes
costs $99 per hour for the trainers
and $109129 for the cross-country planes. All new members are
offered a free introductory flight,
flown by a club member private
pilot, over Stone Mountain and
downtown Atlanta.
Flight fees are also imposed on
those members who want flight
instruction or are club-certified
pilots and are $145 per semester.
A discounted flight fee of $95 is

offered for new student pilots and

members who earn enough volunteer points. Flight instruction by a
club instructor costs an additional
$34 per hour.
Although its still not an inexpensive hobby, for Tech students
who have an interest in flying its
really a pretty incredible opportunity, explains Chris Baucom, EE
00 and a YJFC alumni. If you
look at commercial flight schools,
to rent a Cessna 172 like ours
youd pay $160 per hour plus another $55 for flight instruction.
The Club also awards $1,000
each year to a deserving Tech
student as part of the Peter Van
Norde Scholarship to be applied
towards a private pilot license.
Contributions like this from private donors and companies help
make flying with the YJFC safer
and more affordable.
One of the reasons the YJFC
can keep costs low is because it
is mostly volunteer staffed with a
lot of alumni involvement. They
also rely on donations which in
the past have included airplanes,
flight training supplies, and more.
To learn more about the YJFC,
Tech students, faculty, and alumni
are invited to attend Airport Fun
Day on March 12 from 9 a.m.5
p.m at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.
Flights around downtown Atlanta
can be scheduled for $20, food
will be available, several aircraft
will be on display and the Redbird
Simulator can be flown.
To learn more, please visit the
clubs website at YJFC.org. Be sure
to register for Airport Fun Day at
YJFC.org/store and include your
name in the comments section
at checkout.

Entertainment

technique

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Kara Pendley

14

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Jamie Rule

Friday,
March 4, 2016

entertainment@nique.net

La a note
to follow so
The Fox Theatre is alive
with the sound of music.
SHOWS

Rodgers & Hammersteins The Sound of Music

WRITER: Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
DIRECTOR: Jack OBrien
PERFORMER: Kerstin Anderson and Ben Davis
LOCATION: Fox Theatre
DATE: March 16

OUR TAKE:
DAVID RAJI

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rodgers & Hammersteins The Sound of Music
opened Tuesday night at the Fox Theatre to a crowd of over
3,500 people. The high attendance was indeed warranted;
the production was top-notch in almost every aspect.
Casting was one particular category in which this particular production excelled. Compelling and convincing performances were abundant, as every actor was able to more
or less take on the form of his or her character, immersing
himself or herself entirely in the role being portrayed.
Maria Rainer is played by Kerstin Anderson, and the
musicals other main lead, Captain Georg von Trapp is
portrayed by Ben Davis. Anderson offers a very energetic
See MUSIC, page 17

Photo courtesy of The Fox

Love is a funny and dark and depressing thing

TELEVISION

Love
NETWORK: Netflix
WHEN: Feb. 16
STARRING: Gillian Jacobs,
Paul Rust and Claudia
ODoherty

OUR TAKE:
ALICE BARSKY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A Netflix Original Series with
a male lead working in the entertainment industry fumbling
through relationships sounds
eerily familiar, right?
The release of Netflixs Love
comes on the heals of Aziz Ansaris critically-acclaimed Netflix
Original Series, Master of None.
Love, produced by Judd
Apatow (This is 40), stars Gillian Jacobs (Community) as
Mickey and Paul Rust (Comedy
Bang! Bang!) as Gus. The two
30-somethings flail and flounder

in their own lives and are eventually brought together kind of

by a chance occurrence.
The Netflix Original Series
departs from Apatows generally
optimistic, albeit gritty, perspective on love and relationships and
presents something darker. What
it may lack in timing and character likability Love compensates
for in the way it turns common
romantic comedy tropes on their
head and that it finally does
capture your attention.
The comedic relief of the show
is Mickeys new roommate, Bertie, played by Claudia ODoherty
(Trainwreck). When she first
appears, Bertie seems like a flat,
one-dimensional character possibly used to provide moral compass. However, Bertie proves to be
crucial to the shows, sometimes
compromised, comedic rhythm.
When films and television series address the aging of a wild
party girl, the struggle of addiction seems like a natural direction. However, rarely is a character introduced smack-dab in
the middle of a rocky period of

relapse and recovery. Jacobs is able

to cover more emotional terrain in
this role than audiences have seen
from her in shows like Community, and she does so with skill.
Of course, audiences also get a
taste of the bitter side of Mickey.
Mickey lacks self-control, makes
reckless and selfish decisions and,
the most cutting realization of the
show, is that she is fully aware of
this. Jacobs character is constantly self-deprecating and making
destructive decisions putting
her deep insecurity on full display.
Mickey is almost unlikable,
and that is where the show succeeds. Love presents two characters so unlikable that they are
incredibly relatable. Rusts character also walks this delicate line.
Gus should be the lovable nerd
but is instead not particularly
good at his job: his fake movie
title theme nights are cringeworthily pretentious, and he can
be a jerk to women.
Guss ex-girlfriend may actually be right Gus is not really
nice, he is just fake nice. Love
struggles to find its direction, but

once it does it delivers moments

that are new and genuine with
some humor along the way.

All ten episodes of Love are

available to stream on Netflix, and
season two will premiere in 2017.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Gus (left) and Mickey (right) struggle in their romantic lives.

Netflixs Love tends to subvert stereotypes in its storytelling.

technique March 4, 2016 15

// ENTERTAINMENT

Zootopia addresses prejudices in an evolved world

FILM

Zootopia
GENRE: Animation
STARRING: Jason Bateman
and Ginnifer Goodwin
DIRECTOR: Byron Howard,
Rich Moore and Jared Bush
RATING: PG
RELEASE DATE: March 4

OUR TAKE:
BRENDA LIN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
When going to see a blockbuster animated film, especially those
featuring anthropomorphic animals, one usually does not expect
to be confronted with contentious
current-day issues. Disneys new
animated feature Zootopia is
able to broadcast lessons on prejudice while remaining a familyfriendly film without being overly
cloying or pandering.
The plot of Zootopia parallels
a standard buddy cop film. Optimistic rookie Judy Hopps, voiced
by Ginnifer Goodwin (Once
Upon a Time, Something Borrowed), has dreamed of being a
Zootopia police officer since she
was a young bunny in spite discouragement for those around her,
especially her apprehensive, carrot
farmer parents (Bonnie Hunt,
Jerry Maguire and Don Lake
Dumb and Dumber To).
Zootopia is a futuristic city
comprised of evolved mammals
living together in harmony and
has the tagline In Zootopia,
anyone can be anything, a statement epithet Judy often repeats as
an affirmation.
As the first ever bunny police
officer of Zootopia, the newly
badged Officer Hopps strives to

break preconceptions that smaller

animals are unable to act as enforcing officers, but her idealistic
beliefs are almost immediately
squashed when she is assigned
parking duty instead pursuing
missing mammals with all the
other officers in her precinct.
She tries to prove her worth by
personally taking on one of the
cases against orders of her boss,
Chief Bogo, voiced by Idris Elba
(Luther, Beasts of No Nation),
and has a 48-hour deadline before
she loses her job.
She partners up with sly Nick
Wilde (Jason Bateman, Horrible
Bosses 2, This is Where I Leave
You), a small-time con-artist who
previously tricked the credulous
bunny officer after she discovered
that he had pertinent information
to her missing Otter case. Together, they utilize their contrasting
skills to crack the case of the missing animals while finding a happy
medium between their overly
optimistic and incredibly cynical
personalities.
The film is initially framed as
an underdog narrative where a
character aims to achieve a longtime dream, going from a small
suburb to the big city. However,
Zootopia ultimately touches
down on deeper racial subtext
about acceptance, prejudice and
the language involved in the discussion the two. The themes hit
American audiences hard in light
of the national discussion on race
and stereotypes post-Ferguson
and the 2016 Oscars.
Some of the dialogue in the
film is eerily similar to the everyday conversation about racism.
When lovable greeting desk cheetah Benjamin Clawhauser calls
Judy cute, she awkwardly clarifies
that A bunny can call another
bunny cute, but when another
animal does it . Later, while
fighting for better representation

of smaller animals and discussing

her case, Judy inadvertently casts
fear into the hearts of the prey
community and soon finds that
prejudice may be more ingrained
than she believed. Hopps then
has to deal with the fallout from
her words.
The writers of the story leaned
into audiences preconceived characteristics about certain animals.
While evolved, the inherent nature of each species remained the
same bunnies are easily frightened; foxes are sly; lemmings will
follow each other.
As audiences personally identify each animal with their associations, the message about preemptively drawing conclusions is
flipped onto the audience when
they realize that they were part of
the group making generalizations
about the animals in the film.
Head of Story Jim Reardon
noted that [the writers] used the
audiences expectations of specific animals and their relationships rabbit and fox, lion and
lamb and turned them inside
out. This was a crucial approach
for the whole picture take what
the audience knows about the
animal world and use it as a forum
for examining stereotyping.
While young audience members may not truly understand
all the undertones, all of the
overarching concepts were clear
enough that even younger viewers
would understand.
The adaption of the animal
world is incredibly creative and
beautifully rendered. In a behind
the scenes presentation of Zootopia at Tech, Environment Supervisor Lance Summers noted that
the production designers intended
for the setting to be futuristic and
more organic-looking as animals
constructed them. There are six
key environments: Sahara Square,
Tundratown, The Rain Forest

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Officer Judy Hopps chases after a thief through the streets

of Zootopia. Rookie Hopps is the first ever bunny officer.

District, Bunnyburrow, Savanna

Central and Little Rodentia.
All animals are accommodated
in the city, from the largest giraffe to the smallest shrew, with a
hodgepodge of doors, tunnels and
gizmos to serve each and every
type of animal. Finding how certain types of animals are adapted
or their environments are incorporated is almost like a game,
much like the introduction scene
of foodimals in Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs 2. There are
so many small details to catch.
Pun lovers will enjoy the animal names of stores such as Zuber and Yakgurt. While the
puns are not as in your face as
Cloudy 2, many of the jokes are
predictable and follow common
tropes such as tougher characters
having an unexpected softer side.
However, this can be easily
overlooked as the delivery of the
jokes are well-executed. Summers
noted during his presentation that
Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter was highly involved with the
now famous DMV sloth scene to

ensure that each joke landed. Audiences laughed hard at the scene
during both the movie and the
presentation in spite of the fact
that the scene was already circulated as teaser from the movie.
The many easter eggs in Zootopia are more blatant than in
previous Disney films, which almost the entire audience recognizing them immediately. Still, Some
subtle ones are harder to notice.
Summers pointed out the snowflake centerpiece in Tundratown
is a direct artifact of Arendelle,
complete with little elephants
dressed as Elsa and Ana next to it.
Additionally, Alan Tudyk may
now be Disneys version John Ratzenberger. Allusions were not limited to previous Disney films, but
quite a few pop culture references
such as the shrew taking the guise
of the godfather.
While the kid-friendly tag
anyone can be anything is
pretty obvious, the true takeaway
from this film is audience may
learn to imagine each other a bit
more complexly.

Interview with Zootopia Look Supervisor Lance Summers

BRENDA LIN

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc.

Lance Summers was a Environment Look Supervisor on Disneys

Zootopia. He is currently working on Moana and Gigantic.

Before the behind the scenes

presentation of Zootopia last
Thursday, the Technique had the
opportunity to sit down with
Environment Look Supervisor
Lance Summers.
A graduate of Full Sail University in Computer Animation,
Summers joined Disney in 2009
at age 20 as a look development
trainee. His first Disney feature
was 2010s Tangled. His credits also include 2011s The Lion
King 3D in the stereo department; the short film production
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs.
Nice, for ABC television; Disneys arcade-game-hopping hit
Wreck-It Ralph; and Oscar
winners Frozen and Big Hero
6. He is currently working on
Moana and Gigantic.
Summers team works interdisciplinarily, starting with the visual
development department before
moving on through lighting, effects and even stereo to ensure everything looks good.
Technique: Were there any
challenges during Zootopia
that needed to be tackled through
technology?
Lance Summers: Absolutely.
We switched over to Hyperion

(Disneys rendering software)

from Renderman during Big
Hero Six mid-production. Naturally, every movie has new challenges. We had to figure out how
to create certain shaders or be able
to do certain things technically.
For example, we had to figure
out how we wanted to do the snow
and how much scatter we wanted.
Things like that, that deal technically with the shader and how it
works with Hyperion.
Also, a lot of the fur shading
was actually a huge challenge. We
were developing a fur shader. We
had a hair shader on Big Hero
Six, but obviously fur is much
different, so we went through
many iterations trying to figure
out how to create this shader. We
ran it on something we really like.
Technique: Could you go over
the differences between Hyperion
and the old technology?
Summers: Hyperion is kind of
like a ray trace renderer. Its similar in the way that V-Ray and all
those other renders work have
photons that bounce around the
room and pick up color and dispersed amount that sort of a thing.
The difference between Hyperion and Renderman is also how
Hyperion can consume geometry. Hyperion is able to consume
vast[ly] more geometry than we
were able to do in the past. Thats

why now, were able to build out

the city more and use CityEngine,
like we did it in Big Hero Six, to
create more of the outlying city for
faraway shots.
We are able to render foliage
and trees and instance things
better and more efficiently. It creates a richer image. It also allows
us to just add more geometry into
the scene.
Technique: You mention that
there was a switch from Renderman to Hyperion mid-Big Hero
Six. How did you deal with the
change in technology during the
design process?
Summers: We started Hyperion almost right when we started
Big Hero Six. We were developing assets and testing out Hyperion very early on. It was one
of the challenges; we didnt know
[Hyperion] yet. Were all trying to
figure it out theres bugs, everything doesnt quite work right and
then halfway through were trying
to decide if Hyperion is actually
going to be renderable. Are we
actually going to be able to get a
frame that has limited noise to it?
[Would] we be able to render out
scenes without fireflies in them?
Working with our software developers, our CTO made the decision lets go on with Hyperion.
Its the best decision we couldve
See SUMMERS, page 17

16 March 4, 2016 technique

// ENTERTAINMENT

Movie grinds against the grain of conventional film

FILM

Knight of Cups
GENRE: Romance, Drama
STARRING: Christian Bale,
Cate Blanchett, Natalie
Portman
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick
RATING: R
RELEASE DATE: Mar. 4

OUR TAKE:
NOAH ROBERTS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Slightly off the beaten path of
mainstream cinema, there exists a
sort of haven for filmmakers who
do not make films for the expensive coupe they had their eye on.
Instead, the place breeds some
of the most artistically beautiful
pieces in the history of the moving
picture. Among this community,
Knight of Cups director and
writer Terrence Malick (Badlands, The Thin Red Line) is
an outright legend. His inimitably
unique style of filmmaking has
baffled and inspired movie buffs
since his 1973 debut, but he has
drifted far into experimental territory with his newest release.
Knight of Cups follows a
Hollywood writer (Christian
Bale, The Dark Knight) as he
delves into a string of flashbacks
detailing
past
relationships.
From a failed marriage with Cate
Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) to
a scandalous affair with Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta),
Bales character has special interactions with every member of the
films quite incredible cast. This
summary may seem sparse and
vague, but only because that is exactly what the film is like: a spectacular array of cinematography
surrounds the cryptic journey of
a confused man, wandering a sort
of stream of consciousness poem.
In Techniques chat with three
of the producers, Sarah Green
(The Tree of Life) describes the

Photo courtesy of Broad Green Pictures

Natalie Portman (above) plays one of Christian Bales eight girlfriends in the movie, Knight of Cups, while he is on a path
to discovering his place in the world. The producers held a college conference call where they gave insight into the movie.

film and the process of creating it

alongside Malick an organic experience that invokes ponderings on
the meaning of life. She, along
with producers Nicolas Gonda
(The Tree of Life) and Ken Kao
(Rampart), are careful not to
explain too much of their ideas of
the purpose of the film since it is
truly an individual experience.
Each viewer will take away a
unique interpretation, illustrating the zest of Malicks cinematic
mastery. He contorts the entire
concept of storytelling with his
freeform and abstract style. Nicolas Gonda likens the creative pro-

cess to watching a ballet a

meticulous display of beauty, like
the movie, which seems to have a
graceful flow through the memories of its peculiar protagonist.
Conversely, the movie Knight
of Cups can be seen to be abstruse even to the experienced
moviegoer. Malicks experimental
writing and production contribute
to the films cinematic elegance
an element that, while beautiful, can create an enigmatic,
convoluted experience.
In fact, a factor for his new
levels of variety is Malicks use
of new and novel technologies.

Gonda notes that he has begun

using new filming mediums, including GoPro and Phantom
camera shots, partially departing
from his beloved exclusively film
camera movies.
Film fans looking for an easy
to watch, light comedy or typical
high octane thriller will absolutely despise Knight of Cups, but
with an abundance of patience
and a willing, introspective demeanor will find it rewarding.
This arcane journey into the
past incites a viewers own psyche,
awakening doubts, truths and
things forgotten, jarring the rut

of daily routine an essential

inspiration for the film according
to Gonda.
Terrence Malicks most recent creation will not make many
waves. It simply doesnt have the
glamor to crack into the mainstream like some eccentric films
do, but that is not its intended
purpose nor its place.
Knight of Cups grinds
against the grain of conventional modern film. Its special cast
and fantastic talents behind the
camera make it an abnormal
and intriguing two hours of
deep thought.

technique March 4, 2016 17

// ENTERTAINMENT

SUMMERS FROM PAGE 15

Photo courtesy of The Fox Theatre

Liesle Von Trapp (front) sings Sixteen Going on Seventeen with her boyfriend, Rolfe (back), as
they dream of running away. The Sound of Music is a musical that has inspired generations.

MUSIC

FROM PAGE 14

rendering of hew musical character throughout the show, which

proved to be a little awkward during the more somber scenes but
for the most part was captivating.
Davis, who is most known
for his work in Broadways 2006
revival of Les Miserables, similarly brings fervor and liveliness to
his role as the von Trapp familys
father. While surprising at first,
this deviation from the usually
more restrained Captain is easy to
become accustomed to during the
course of the production.
Other nods are due to certain
members of the supporting cast,
especially Merwin Foard, who
plays a very likable and jovial
Max Detweiler. The character is
not typically the most notable,
but Foard provides consistent and
expertly delivered comic relief
throughout the show.
Recognition is also due to the
actors and actresses who played

the various von Trapp children.

The roles of young children tend
to be very difficult to get correct,
but this production pulls it off
rather well, especially considering
the non-trivial number of speaking lines for Gretl and Brigitta,
two of the youngest children (Audrey Bennett and Svea Elizabeth
Johnson, respectively).
In addition to the stellar acting, the sets and design were noteworthy, especially in the initial
scene in which Anderson is laid
out as if in a painting. An illustrated backdrop of mountains are
paired with a small bridge structure upon which Maria sits. Fog
is pumped across the floor of the
stage, and a film-like screen is
lowered to give the scene a somewhat hazy quality. These elements
combine to create an illusion that
Maria is part of the backdrop, at
least until she begins to sing. This
trick is very convincing.
Other notable scenes include
Marias bedroom, within which

the two von Trapp boys emerge

suddenly from under the bed and
the concert hall stage near the end
of the show, which features an
appropriately gaudy backdrop of
Nazi banners juxtaposed with the
familys rendition of Edelweiss.
Speaking of which, the singing of Edelweiss is easily one of
the most powerful performances
throughout the show by the cast.
Other close contenders include
Captain von Trapps first rendition of The Sound of Music as
well as The Lonely Goatherd
by Maria and the von Trapp children. Other songs, primarily My
Favorite Things, are to some degree exhausted by repeated reprisals with little variation.
This most recent North American tour of Rodgers & Hammersteins The Sound of Music has
been directed by Jack OBrien. It
will be playing through Mar. 6 at
the Fox. Student Rush tickets are
often available before Off-Broadway shows through Thursdays.

Fill out our reader survey

to be entered to win a

$25 gift card

http://tinyurl.com/jlp5cpah

made because we were able to render and finish the film. The film
was in a huge crunch story-wise,
so that made it even worse. Luckily, we made the switch because
we created the Frozen short using Hyperion, and now Zootopia is using Hyperion; Moanas
using Hyperion; Gigantic is using Hyperion. Were on board the
whole way now.
Technique: Youre head of the
Environment Looks Department.
How do you decide how things
look or what is your thought process? How do you iterate?
Summers: I work with the
Production Designer Dave Goetz
and the Art Director Matthias
Lechner. Theyre designing it in
a 2D form, so theyre looking at
me to translate their vision to the
sets that you actually see in CG
on screen. Thats kind of challenging in and of itself because they
are going to want to iterate even
in our [3D] world, not just their
2D world.
Matthias works with the modeling department, who I partner
with and watch as that comes
down to us we get the models,
and were looking at the visual development. Through the first pass,
we do rough define.
Then at a certain point, the
art is shown to me, and I get it
to the point that I think that the
production designer and art direction will like it, and we show it to
them. They give notes and then
we iterate on it and show it again,
then send it to lighting.
Ultimately in lighting, the director is going to see it, and then if
he has any changes we make them.
Thats kind of the iterative loops
we go through to go through for
the environments.
Technique: The technology
has changed since you started
at Disney working on Tangled. Is there anything else that
has changed?
Summers: That was my first
feature film, so obviously I was
learning the process of it, so of
course, I had no idea what was
going on because I havent really
worked on a huge production before, and so that was brand new.
Now, I do have an understanding. The gears are moving, so I can
predict things now. Tangled
was my first time working with
our director Byron [Howard]. The
first time working with our art
director and our production designer and co-production designer
Dave Goetz and Dan Cooper
they both worked on Tangled. I
was able to work with them again
on Zootopia, and it was nice
because we already had that relationship built.
Everything [on Tangled] was
kinda brand new, and I had to feel
my way through it, while in this
one, I was able to anticipate things
a little more.
Technique: You mentioned
earlier that fur is a little different than human hair. There is so
much more fur in Zootopia, and
you have to deal with so much
hair in Tangled. What is the difference between the technology?
Summers: Other than the new
renderer, in Tangled we had to
deal the director having a very
specific vision on how he wanted
the hair to look, and we had to
design shaders in Renderman to
actually get that look.
Its really long hair too, which
creates difficulties too. Mistakes
that many have been hidden by

shorter hair it comes out. You

just see it when you have forty
something feet of hair.
On Zootopia, its not just the
fact that theres fur, but its the
fact that theres so many different
types of fur. Polar bear fur is completely different than fox or rabbit
fur. Does it have an undercoat, or
how long is it? Also, you have little
mice that have little furs as well,
so youre dealing with lots of different types, but [you] want it to
be driven by only one shader.
Technique: You mentioned
subtle mistakes. What are some
mistakes that we may not have
noticed that you may have encountered?
Summers: So when we first
started trying to wrap our heads
about [the fur in Zootopia], we
were using techniques from Renderman. For example, we were using opacity to hide the tips a bit
and had them a little thicker so we
wouldnt have to have the count as
high, because obviously rendering
the exact amount of fur is hard
to do.
However, the fur wasnt looking right in Hyperion. We were
like, What is it? because we were
using techniques from the past.
We had to rethink how were doing this because its a more physically accurate renderer, so we actually had to make the fur how it
is in real life.
We took a one-by-one inch
square and counted out how many
hairs are in that one-by-one inch
square for everything. We wanted
to know how many lines to put
on the character to represent the
amount of fur, so that was a huge
process. Then we realized that we
didnt have to use opacity because
the tip will come to a point as it
does in real life, and things started
looking more accurate.
Technique: Whats something
that most people get wrong or
dont really understand about the
field of animation?
Summers: Something I heard
earlier today is that there is a divide between 2D and 3D animation. The thing is, the art drives
the tech. I think a lot of artists,
theyre divided between 2D and
3D, but ultimately it comes down
to having an eye and having to
know what you want to put up on
the screen.
Even if you change mediums,
you just to relearn the tech behind it or how you do it changes
throughout life. If you want to be
an artist, its your eye thats really
important, and pushing buttons
doesnt matter as much. You can
relearn that anyways.
Technique: Students at Tech
are looking to get into animation,
do you have any recommendations for them?
Summers: If youre wanting
to get into animation, the biggest
things is just drawing and painting. Thats step number one. Step
number two is if you are in college to get into animation, think
of it as an A plus in any college is
not enough.
Say youre taking a class for
animation, and you want to do
modeling or look or compositing.
Go ahead and make sure youre
doing good in learning that animation class because thats still
valuable, but on your own time,
you have to be doing what you really want to do. That part of the
animation process.
If thats your dream, you have
to focus in your own time because what you do in school is
never enough.

18 March 4, 2016 technique

XKCD BY RANDALL MUNROE

// COMICS

ZIGGY BY TOM WILSON & TOM II

CLASSIC
FOXTROT BY BILL AMEND

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS
1. Goals beginning to stir up game (6)
4. Ray waits nervously for flight (8)
9. Tart performs turn to entice (7)
11. Takes permanent possession of building extensions
(7)
12. Runs into policeman with whip (4)
13. In discussion, brought up money (5)
14. Caught old king with Ecstasy and another drug (4)
17. Take back a sum fellow distributed to earn money
quickly (4,1,4,4)
19. He said Ill test new TV receiving equipment (9,4)
22. Chap providing article about Los Angeles (4)
23. Edible bulb used in canneloni only (5)
24. Sick son takes seat in church (4)
27. Search for drink before playing game (7)
28. I plunged into one river then another with lack of
success (7)
29. Exciting tale involved her till end of November (8)
30. He needs new teacher for London area (6)

SMBC BY ZACH WEINERSMITH

LAST WEEKS SOLUTION

DOWN
1. In Georgia a locum cured eye disease (8)
2. Viewpoint of striking appearance (7)
3. Slovenly woman is scum (4)
5. Angrily remove football shirt and give reprimand?
(4,1,5,3)
6. For starters, its now no smoking in pubs (4)
7. Increase labour of one in Tussauds (7)
8. Enemys confused by sycophants (3,3)
10. Pretend not to have seen Annie belt Rudy viciously
(4,1,5,3)
15. The world is heartbroken (5)
16. Accepting rule finally, leave in peace (5)
18. Food, reportedly chief Chinese dish (4,4)
19. M-master possibly showing this speech defect (7)
20. Take legal possession of one thousand quid (7)
21. Repeat standard codswallop (6)
25. Bucket gives Penny trouble (4)
26. Concealed English leather (4)
BY ALBERICHCROSSWORDS.COM

technique March 4, 2016 19

// COMICS

DILBERT BY SCOTT ADAMS

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE BY STEPHEN PASTIS

CLASSIC
CUL DE SAC BY RICHARD THOMPSON

LIO BY MARK TATULLI

CLASSIC
CALVIN & HOBBES BY BILL WATTERSON

SUDOKU PUZZLE

BY JAMIE RULE,

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

20 March 4, 2016 technique

// SPORTS

Womens hoops finish strong on Senior Day

HARSHA SRIDHAR
SPORTS EDITOR

March Madness got its name

for a reason. For both mens and
womens college basketball, the
tournament season is unpredictable. Success requires not just elite
talent and excellent coaching but
enviable consistency. One bad
game or one strong performance
from an opposing player, and the
ride comes to an abrupt end.
For the Tech womens basketball team, then, their final contest
of the regular season, a 66-62 victory over conference opponent
Wake Forest on the teams Senior
Day provides a fond memory players can look back on regardless of
how the month ahead shakes out.
Courtesy of ramblinwreck.
com, three seniors suited up
for the Jackets: guard/forward
and offensive centerpiece Aaliyah Whiteside, the physically
dominant Roddreka Rogers
and UTEP graduate transfer
guard/forward Irene Gari. As they
have so often, both Whiteside and
Rogers put up impressive statistical performances and were instrumental in the winning effort.
Whiteside scored 19 points in
37 minutes on the floor. While
she was less efficient than desirable, missing 9 of her 15 attempts,
she augmented a mediocre outing
from the field with a strong 5-6
mark from the free-throw line.
Fellow senior and Charlotte,
N.C., native Roddreka Rogers

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Aaliyah Whiteside drives into the lane against Wake Forest. Whitesides final regular season game
and the teams Senior Day provided fans one of their final opportunities to watch her as a Jacket.

had an equally impressive farewell regular season game. Rogers

collected eight points and nine
rebounds, a few plays away from
notching a double-double. She
was an impressive 4-for-8 from
the floor that night, converting
her opportunities consistently.

It was a fitting goodbye for a

player who has worked her way
into the hearts of Tech fans with
her combination of hard-nosed
play on the glass and dogged defense. She is second in school
annals with a .570 field goal percentage, not to mention top-ten

career figures when it comes to

rebounds and double-doubles in a
single season along with blocks in
a single season.
The Jackets face Wake Forest
in the second round of the ACC
Tournament Thursday at 6 p.m.
The ride is nearly over.

SWIMMING FROM PAGE 24

letic programs. This season alone,
the Jackets welcomed sixteen international students and brought
on international Olympian Neil
Versfeld as assistant coach.
Charisma and experience have
led coach Hart to recruit students
from around the world as she
looks to build Techs program into
an international competitor, but
she hasnt lost sight of homegrown
talent such as former Tech swimmer Andrew Kosic.
Kosic came to Tech from West
Chester, Pa., and has improved
every year he swam for the Jackets under coach Hart. Making
the All-Academic honor roll every
year of his collegiate career, and
graduating an Olympic trial qualifier, Kosic was honored as one of
three athletes up for Collegiate
Athlete of the Year in the Atlanta
Sports Awards.
With a predisposition to recruit Olympic talent, coach
Hart has helped many athletes
reach the Olympic trials. During
her third season as head coach,
11 swimmers made the cut for
Olympic trials.
Last year Kosic and teammate Mark Sarman qualified for
the 2016 Olympic trials. Coach
Hart also recruited Andrew Chetcuti and Iris Wang, both of whom
competed in the 2012 London
Olympic Games.
Experience as a collegiate and
an Olympic swimmer, charisma as
a coach and passion as a recruiter
have allowed coach Hart to grow
Techs swimming and diving program during her seven seasons as
head coach.

technique March 4, 2016 21

// SPORTS

Baseball by the numbers: Hot start for Tech

which the team entered the final
frame of regulation down a run.
Matt Gonzalez drove in a run to
take the game to extra innings, in
which a three-run home run by
Brandon Gold provided the win.
Techs ability to trounce its
opponents with regularity so far
is impressive. However, it is also
suggestive of the caliber of opponent the team has faced. As the
team enters its conference schedule and begins to face fellow College World Series competitors, expect this number to drop.

HARSHA SRIDHAR
SPORTS EDITOR

It would be tremendously difficult to blame a Tech fan for

feeling disappointed about the
schools athletic performance thus
far. Football crashed and burned
a mere year after making a New
Years Six bowl, and basketball
has been up and down. With their
torrid 8-0 start, though, the No.
17 Tech baseball team looks to
turn the schools fortunes around.
Only eight games into the
season, it is early to come to any
definite conclusions regarding the
teams trajectory. Four numbers,
however, have stood out.
0.00
The ERA of three of Techs five
starting pitchers: Brandon Gold,
Matthew Gorst and Jonathan
Hughes, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com. Gorst and Gold were
teammates at Johns Creek High
School in Alpharetta, Ga., and
as juniors, both have shown their
stuff early.
Gorst has steadily reduced his
ERA since arriving at The Flats,
from a generous 7.59 as a freshman to 4.81 last season. If early
results hold, that will continue.
Meanwhile, Gold has resumed
his overall dominance, second on
the team with a .462 batting average while holding opposing hitters
to a stingy .222. Gold is the heart
and soul of this Jackets team, and

THE

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

A Tech fan celebrates the Jackets success in the friendly confines of Russ Chandler Stadium.
Tech baseball is undefeated playing at home and overall to start the season, an impressive run.

if they do damage as the season

goes on, he will be a major part of
that effort.
Hughes is a freshman who
turned down an offer to play with
the MLBs Baltimore Orioles in
favor of attending Tech. In 12
innings, he has only allowed 9
hits and has already tallied a pair
of wins.
That will bode well not only
for the teams ledger but also for
his confidence moving forward.
Opposing hitters, beware: Techs
rotation may have a young lion

to supplement a strong group that

ranks fourth in the country thus
far in earned-run average.
.917
Freshman Brandt Stallings
slugging percentage so far. Slugging percentage is a popular measure of a hitters power, and the
6-foot-4 outfielder has shown
plenty of that in the early series.
In a mere twelve at-bats, Stallings has notched five hits, including two home runs. That figure
leads the team despite the Kings

North
Avenue
Review

Ridge Christian graduate getting fewer plate appearances than

many of his teammates.
If Tech baseball has a weakness
this season, it may be finding a reliable source of power. While it is
never safe to lean on a freshman,
Stallings could certainly be a part
of the solution.
5.625
The average margin of victory
for the Jackets so far. The closest contest was a Feb. 24 contest against Georgia Southern in

31/63
The fraction of Techs runs that
have been scored in the 4th and
8th innings. It is difficult to take
much away from these outbursts,
particularly when the sample size
is small. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that the Jackets are a threat
to score, even in the doldrums of
a game.
In those same innings, opponents have combined to score a
single run. This combination of
deadly pitching and destructive
hitting allows the Jackets to race
out to insurmountable leads and
allow their crack relief unit to finish off contests.
WHATS NEXT?
The Jackets play a three-game
series with Western Carolina at
Russ Chandler Stadium starting
Friday and continuing through
Sunday, before beginning its
conference schedule.

READ.
THINK.
SPEAK.

northavereview.com

22 March 4, 2016 technique

// SPORTS

Five things: little love for Jackets softball in SoCal

JOE SOBCHUK

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The softball team earned its
first two wins of the year at the
University of California - Santa
Barbara Tournament this past
weekend while also securing the
500th career win for head coach
Shelley Horner. Unfortunately,
the team also lost three games
during the tournament to drop
their overall record to 2-9 entering
the doubleheader against Mercer
on Wednesday. Here are five key
takeaways for Jackets fans from
this series.

in a 2-0 victory over Southern

Utah while giving up six earned
runs in a complete game (but also
a loss) to UC Santa Barbara.
Anderson, a sophomore and LaGrange, Ga., native posted a 6.45
ERA last season, and struck 17
hitters with pitches over the year.
Improving her control will be key
to this teams performance in the
games to come. The more innings
she pitches, the more comfortable

she will become, but the team will

surely look to avoid tiring her arm
in the early goings.

SONNONS EARLY STRIDE

Sophomore outfielder Draven
Sonnon had her best game of the
season so far on Friday night,
hitting 2-for-3 with two runs, a
double and a home run. She also
notched two RBIs on a triple in
Game 2 and eventually scored

herself from there. Her production cooled later in the series, but
that early production showed a
glimpse of her potential as an
offensive threat.
Sonnon, another sophomore,
had an ice-cold freshman year,
batting a disappointing .105 and
striking out (13 times) more than
she got hits (4 times). She also
failed to notch an extra-base shot,
so providing two in one game is a

TEAM EFFORT
Softball is obviously a team
sport, and the Jackets exemplified that by having seven different players score for the team on
Saturday alone. Offensive production will have to come from all
players in all positions in order for
the team to be successful. With
so many runners showing their
abilities to score, the team simply needs to hit more consistently
in order for the wins to come to
them a little easier. Should a few
players develop a hot streak, it
will complicate things for opposing pitching staffs; if they choose
to walk a power hitter, they will
nonetheless face a lineup that is
more than happy to drive in runs
should it be given the opportunity
at the plate.

OFFENSE NEEDS CONSISTENCY

In two of Techs three losses
over the weekend, the Jackets
were held to a total of one hit.
They were on the wrong side of a
no hitter by UC Santa Barbaras
Ashley Ludlow in a 4-0 loss and
managed just one hit, one run and
one RBI (all by center fielder Samantha Pierannunzi) in a 3-1 loss
to South Carolina.
It is hard to win games with so
few runners on base. Fans knew
that Techs pitching would be vulnerable entering the season, so it
was essential that rotation be supported by robust offensive play. If
the hitters are unable to hold up
their end of the bargain, the future will hardly brighten.
ANDERSON THE WORKHORSE
Speaking of the rotation, Tech
starting pitcher Emily Anderson
threw in all five games in the tournament, racking up 19.1 total innings pitched. She fared better in
some outings compared to others,
allowing just two hits and no runs

technique

refreshing outcome and perhaps even a suggestion that

Sonnon may finally begin to
realize the potential that made
her Gwinnett Countys Offensive Player of the Year as a high
school senior.
For a team looking for any
signs of life, that potential is an
exciting development at this early
point in the season. Whether it
will hold as the schedule continues remains up in the air.

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publications

Pitcher Emily Anderson winds up to throw. Andersons performance as the season progresses will be a key barometer when it comes to the success of a flailing Jackets softball team.

CLOSE WHEN IT COUNTS

The Jackets lost 3-1 to South
Carolina (13-2 overall record) in
the final game of the tournament,
which actually bodes well for
them heading into ACC play. The
competition usually intensifies as
conference play begins, and the
Jackets showed that they can keep
it close against impressive teams.
Winning is another matter.

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technique March 4, 2016 23

// SPORTS

COMBINE FROM PAGE 24

out after curfew. This could possibly cost him a bigger contract as
a professional, all because he put
the interests of himself before the
interests of his team.
While teams are taking a big
risk with players that have shown
attitude and behavioral issues,
there are examples of these players reforming over the long term,
with the best example being Dallas Cowboys star Dez Bryant.
Bryant is one of the most talented and athletic wide receivers
currently in the league, but if the
Cowboys had mismanaged him,
he probably wouldnt be where
he is right now. Dallas essentially
handled the mercurial talent by
babysitting him. Not confident
that he could handle the distraction-heavy world around him,
they assigned him a handler.
Now, this is a huge investment
to put in a player, but when youre
already spending millions of dollars, I think it makes sense. It
seems that at this point Dez has
learned to control his actions on
the field, but it was only through
the help of his organization.
Proactive management on the
behalf of an eagle-eyed owner
such as Jerry Jones can provide
the margin between success and
failure. A coach and team that are
willing to let boys be boys and
dont support their players with
positive veteran influences leave
themselves vulnerable.
What all players have to realize
now is that they are basically companies trying to sell their products
(themselves) to the teams of the
NFL. Their problem is exacerbated by the constant creeping of
social networks into our lives and
the way athletes are treated on
most campuses.
While college athletes arent
paid in any tangible form, they
are certainly compensated in local
popularity. When a star running
back sees himself as immune to
consequences, that parlays into an

image that can scare off characterminded scouts.

Just think, if Twitter and Facebook didnt exist, would Manziel
still have been caught partying in
Vegas? Would we hear the news of
Nkemdiches arrest over marijuana possession so rapidly? Probably
not. Whether its fair to athletes to
judge them on a poorly-conceived
social media post or not, it is certainly as much a part of the evaluation process as analyzing game
film to determine ability.
Players can prevent a characterrelated drop in their draft stock
from occurring by thinking about
their future. Players like White
and Gotsis have done this thanks
to themselves and the staff here
at Tech, but for players that dont
have the same resources, I think
they need to take a step back and
think of what theyre doing.
While it is all too easy for
coaches and college training staffs
to overlook academic performance
and citizenship in favor of winning football game, part of the
responsibility resides with them
as well. For all of the NCAAs
bluster about preparing athletes
for life after the game, its most
highly-paid cogs must exemplify
that care.
Time and time again, it has
been proven that, as humans,
we are inept at accepting longterm gratification; however, this
is probably the most important
thing for upcoming athletes to
learn. Players must consider the
effects of even innocuous actions.
This season, we focus on the
combine star who seems destined
to make his fair share of All-Pro
teams and the relative unknown
whose outrageous feats catapault
him to notice. We must consider the other half of the game,
though: conduct.
If this happens, then the combine can finally return its focus to
the cornerback who ran the fastest
40 or is the biggest freak of nature. Nevertheless, theyre worth
little without good PR.

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Golden opportunity for Matthews

JOE SOBCHUK

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

On the face of it, the Tech
womens track and field team
had a reasonably successful outing at the ACC Championships
last weekend.
Courtesy of ramblinwreck.
com, the team had reasonable
expectations entering the seasondefining meet. Head coach Alan
Drosky mentioned after the first
day that [the teams] goal is a top
10 finish and that he was proud
of not just their effort, but how
theyve come together as a team.
The spectacle of the weekend,
however, was a transcendent performance by a name unknown to
Tech fans prior to the start of the
season but gaining recognition by
the day.
Freshman long and triple
jumper Bria Matthews earned two
gold medals at the ACC Championship meet this past weekend, as
she won the long jump on Friday
with a leap of 6.35 meters and triple jump on Saturday by covering
13.08 meters. The performance
was impressive but unsurprising
for the first-year CMPE, who was
named to USA Todays All-USA
Girls Track and Field Team as a
high schooler.
She was named the Womens
Field MVP for the meet by the
conferences coaches due to her
performance and added two stellar accomplishments to what appears to be the start of a promising collegiate athletics career.
Earlier this season, Matthews set
the school record in the long jump
at 6.40 meters. Within a year of
joining the Jackets, Matthews is
already focused on topping her
own bests.
For most athletes, setting a record and then proceeding to surpass it is impressive. For a freshman, its a truly unique feat, one
that will certainly render Mat-

thews a staple in Tech athletics for

the months and years to come in
her career.
Coach Drosky heaped praise
on Matthews for each of her victories. After her record-setting runs,
Drosky said that her win in the
long jump was the highlight of the
night on Friday, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com. Matthews provided a bright spot for Tech fans.
For the men, Spencer Allen
earned All-ACC honors with a
7.95s third place finish in the
60m hurdles, while Avery Bartlett
(800m), Ryan Thomas (triple
jump), and Nikita Kirillov (pole
vault) were named Second-Team

All-ACC. Kenya Collins (60m

hurdles) was also a Second-Team
All-ACC honoree for the women.
Overall for the Jackets, the
men finished 13th in the conference with 25 points, while
the women placed 10th with 34
points. Syracuse took the conference title on the mens side, while
Miami clinched it amongst the
womens teams.
The indoor season concludes
with the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala.,
on March 1112. The outdoor
season begins for the Jackets
the following weekend, at the
Alabama Relays.

Photo courtesy of Michael Wade

Freshman jumper Bria Matthews had a career day over the

weekend, clinching two gold medals at the ACC Championships.

Sports

SPORTS EDITOR:

Harsha Sridhar
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR:

Joe Sobchuk

sports@nique.net

Good as Gold

The Technique reviews freshman

Bria Matthews record-setting ACC
Championship performance.423

technique

24

Friday,
March 4, 2016

CASEY MILES

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It was only a month ago that
the NFL season ended with the
Denver Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers for the Lombardi
Trophy, yet the leagues annual
Scouting Combine has already
come and gone. This year, 332
prospects were invited to Indianapolis to show their skills in front
of coaches, scouts and owners.
Two were chosen from the Jackets:
defensive lineman Adam Gotsis
and cornerback D.J. White.
Historically, the Jackets have
put on strong performances at the
combine. A prime example is Stephen Hill, who posted a blazing
4.36 40-yard dash and an equally
impressive 39.5 inch vertical leap.
Hill was drafted as the No. 43
pick to the New York Jets in 2012,
but his prodigious talent has yet to
materialize in the form of professional production.
A happier ending belongs to
arguably the best receiver in the
NFL, Calvin Johnson. While
Johnson only participated in the
40-yard dash, his posted time of
4.35 seconds bolstered the already
outstanding resume he had put together on the field.
Other notables include Demaryius Thomas (who was injured during the combine), Der-

Photo by John Nakano Student Publications

Stephen Hill runs after making a catch as a Jacket. Hills impressive NFL Scouting Combine performance convinced evaluators for the New York Jets that he was worth a second-round draft pick, but he has failed to meet their expectations so far.

rick Morgan, Daryl Smith and

Jeremiah Attaochu.
The results for White and Gotsis were extremely typical of Tech
players at the combine. First, Gotsis did not participate because of
his knee injury, just like Thomas
a few years ago with a foot injury.
White, on the other hand, put
on a stellar physical performance
with his 132-inch broad jump
(the second longest this year at
the cornerback position), 33-inch
vertical and 4.49-second 40 time.
Both players are currently scouted
as being possible starters in the future with some work to be done
on their technique, impressive in
a league where few players ever attain that level of success and encouraging for their longevity.

This years NFL combine was

a little different than most for the
star players though. In the days
leading up to the event, the focus
was not on who would perform
the best physically but on who
could explain their off-the-field
actions best to team decisionmakers. It seems that more and
more often, we as fans hear of escapades harming performance on
the field, and the NFL teams want
to know if this behavior will continue into the NFL.
Now, for players like Gotsis
and White, this isnt really a big
deal. These two players should
be and are most focused on fixing their weaknesses that scouts
have noticed in their game tapes.
However, for exceedingly talented

prospects like defensive tackle

Robert Nkemdiche of Ole Miss,
there is a lot more explaining to
be done.
Whether it is the growing presence of social media in our world
or just the fact that college players
feel more and more entitled by the
status afforded to them on campus, there is a growing epidemic
of athletes ruining their chances
of going pro, not by performing
poorly on the field, but by doing
unintelligent things off of it.
Johnny Manziel, Jameis Winston and Trevone Boykin are players with extreme athletic talent
that have made their NFL careers
questionable with actions off the
field. While Winston has largely
improved his image, Manziels

continues to threaten his prospect

of making a living in the National
Football League, despite his physical ability.
Boykin and Nkemdiche are
among the players that are currently facing questions from the
teams of the NFL: Boykin for his
felony assault and Nkemdiche for
his marijuana possession. Nkemdiche took ownership for the situation in which he put himself, but
the truthfulness of his statements
whether he is truly regretful or
desperate to rehabilitate his image
is ultimately up to the teams
to decide.
Boykin, on the other hand,
has not sufficiently explained
what happened and why he was

from the Sydney Olympic Games

in 2000, named SEC Swimmer
of the Year that same year after
winning nine conference titles
and setting five conference records and member of the United
States World Cup team from
20002004, coach Hart seemed
to have an unending list of qualifications. However, the most important qualification that she has
as a coach lies only in part in her
own experience as a collegiate and
professional athlete. Coach Harts
ability to seamlessly join education and athleticism has been pivotal to her ability to rebuild Tech
swimming and diving into an
NCAA champion.
When she was first hired as an
assistant coach, Hart was brought
on not only to hone the athletic
talent that Tech had already acquired but also to give prospective
talent the push that they might
need to become a Jacket. Theres
no doubt that coach Harts background in communications has
helped her to be a competitive recruiter in the ACC.
Her second year at the helm,
coach Hart brought the ACC

Championship back to Tech, and

the Jackets smashed eight school
records. The Jackets have continued to improve their ACC and
NCAA standings under Coach
Hart. This year, 13 records were

broken during the ACC championships. Not only did she bring
championships back to Tech, she
did so by building a destination
program for the talented, truly
passionate recruits.

Coach Hart has also made the

Jackets a global competitor. Tech
swim and dive is home to the largest number of international collegiate athletes in all of Techs ath-

see TIMEOUT, page 23

Hart brings global approach to womens swimming

ALISON LAVERY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
There is no doubt that Techs
swimming and diving roster is
packed full with talented athletes.
Each athlete has brought a unique
set of skills to the Jackets and has
performed at the high level of
prowess that Tech has come to
recognize as the norm.
The Jackets broke records in
February at the ACC Championships for both men and women.
Techs swim and dive team has
seen improvement at a steady pace
this entire season. In fact, the
Jackets have seen improvement
that reached further than just this
season or last. The most important
athlete that contributed to that
improvement, and perhaps the
most overlooked, is coach Courtney Shealy Hart.
Coach Hart played an obvious role in contributing to Tech
swimming and diving when she
was hired as an assistant coach in
2007. Her experience made her
an invaluable member Techs program. Winner of two gold medals

see SWIMMING, page 20

Photo by Julia Bunch Student Publications

A Tech swimmer takes to the water at a meet. Since 2007, the team has done so under the eye of
coach Courtney Shealy Hart, who came to Tech after capturing gold medals at the Olympic Games.