February 13, 2015Volume 100, Issue 22nique.

net

NEWS

LIFE

technique Google Fiber

News 2

Opinions 6

p5 Serial Podcast
Life 10

Entertainment 14

p10

Sports 24

LIFE

YELLOW JACKET BASEBALL PREVIEW p24 Students to

vote on $35K
donation

SPORTS

NICK JOHNSON

ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR

Keeping campus in the spirit of giving, the Student Alumni Association
(SAA) has opened voting to the student
body for the Gift to Tech. The Gift is
an annual donation by SAA consisting
of SAA membership dues and alumni
donations.
Last years Gift was $31,000 to fund
Klemis Kitchens, a resource for students
who are facing financial hardships and
cannot afford their own meals. With
over 4500 SAA members and the donation of $10,000 by alumni Ken and
Tyler Townsend (ME 64, IE 98), this
years Gift is currently at $35,000 and
growing.
With Techs status as the No. 1 public university in alumni giving, SAA
believes that it is important to instill a
culture of giving back to Tech early on.
Students can help add to this fund by
joining SAA and paying the $10 signup fee, $5 of which goes to the Gift to
Tech with the other $5 going towards
the Student Foundations Roll Call for
the betterment of Tech.
Students and organizations can recommend projects, and SAA pares these
down to eight projects to be voted on
by the Tech community via SAAs website. After community voting ends on
March 13, the top three projects are
put through another round of voting
by SAA members, and the top project
after that is announced on April 21.
Posed by the Center for Assistive
Technology and Environmental Access
(CATEA) and the Office of Institute
Diversity, the GT ALIGN Campus Accessibility app aims to make Techs
Top L: Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications; Top R: Photo by Monica Jamison Student Publications; Above: Photo by Austin Foote Student Publications

See GIFT, page 13

ENTERTAINMENT

DramaTech prepares for upcoming comedy

SOPHIE GONZALEZ

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DramaTech continues to wow
audiences with its newest production, Cartoon. The play supersedes expectations, experimenting
with new theatrical styles, such as
Commedia delArte, to transport
audiences to an alternate universe
of animation filled with social
commentary. With actors literally jumping off stage, Cartoon
separates itself from all other past
productions.
Cartoon features elaborate
set designs, actors convincing

portrayals of eccentric characters

and interwoven plot twists. DramaTechs adaptation of Cartoon
treats audiences to an experience
like no other with performances
from Feb. 13 - 21.
The Technique got the chance
to speak with Melissa Foulger, the
director of Cartoon, about how
DramaTech creates such unique
elements within each of its shows,
and what audiences should look
for in this latest production.
Technique: What makes
Cartoon different from other
DramaTech productions?
Foulger: Cartoon is more

cinematic in nature than other

shows that DramaTech has done.
It is also very stylized because
each character is based off of a different cartoon trope. I also think
that Cartoon has some surprises
that the audience might not be expecting. These surprises will leave
the audience talking for a while.
Technique: What should
viewers look out for while watching Cartoon?
Foulger: Look for (and enjoy)
all of the different cartoon tropes
that appear. We tried to stay true
to some really comedic cartoon
See CARTOON, page 17

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Ryan Evans puts on his costume before a dress rehershal. Cartoon has elaborate make up and design to match its absurdity.

2 February 13, 2015 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:
Brittany Miles
MANAGING EDITOR:
Lindsay Purcell
NEWS EDITOR:
Kenneth Marino
OPINIONS EDITOR:
Wyatt Bazrod
LIFE EDITOR:
Alexa Grzech
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:
Joe Murphy
SPORTS EDITOR:
Mark Russell
DESIGN EDITOR:
Connor Napolitano
PHOTO EDITOR:
Brenda Lin

HASIT DEWAN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BILL SUMMARY
BILL
Georgia Tech Pulse
Trailblazers Spring Break
Greek TUG
Alpha Phi Pageant
Nuclear Society Conference
Greek Leadership Summit
AAOP Symposium
Resolution of Condolences
SGA Banquet
Elections Code

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, Brittany Miles,

Editor-in-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 freefor
additional copies call (404) 894-2830

AMOUNT
$3,667.12
$2,787.43
$5,000
$0
$ 396.35
$1,000
$317.10
N/A
$3,159
N/A

GSS
35-6-1
34-8-0
13-0-0
37-3-1
28-0-0
15-0-0
15-0-0
13-0-0
N/A
N/A

UHR
29-3-2
34-1-0
30-0-0
24-8-0
34-0-0
33-0-0
33-3-0
35-0-0
31-0-1
29-0-1

and found.
At 11:05 a.m. the same day,
the GTPD returned the backpack to the victim. The backpack was found by library security that night, but because
it was logged improperly, it was
not located when the student reported it missing.

KENNETH MARINO
NEWS EDITOR

CHECK THE LOG FILE

At about 1 a.m on Feb. 4, the
GTPD met with a student who
reported a theft.
According to the student, he
had left his backpack unattended in the library when he left to
get dinner. The bag contained a
laptop valued at $500 and circuits valued at $180.
The victim was not able to
find the bag at the library lost

STOP, STOP, STOP!!!!!

At approximately 2:30 p.m.
on Feb. 2, a GTPD officer observed that the stop sign at 8th
Street and Fowler had been
damaged.
The sign was leaning towards
the ground at a 45 degree angle.
No cause of the damage was im-

FUNNY MONEY
Tau Beta Pi requested funding to help source their events
for Engineers Week. Of the
eight events, five will be partially funded by the bill. However,
conflicts ensued as to whether
SGA should be responsible for
funding a comedian to appear
during the week, as a comedian
does not necessarily support the
values of the organization and
the event. In the end, funding
for the comedian was cut from
the bill, and then the bill was
passed.
ITS ALL GREEK TO ME
The programming board submitted a bill to request funding
for the two large Greek events,
Greek Sing and Greek Tug.
Some disagreement erupted over
why the board was requesting
less money than it truly required
but in the end it was agreed that
the money would be used for
reserving event space. The bill
passed.

mediately identified.
IM A HUGE FAN
On Feb 1 at about 5:30 p.m.
an officer was dispatched to
Smith Residence Hall to investigate the odor of marijuana.
The officer talked to the resident of the room, who allowed
the officer in his room. The
room contained a distinct odor
of marijuana as well as fan blowing air out the window.
After several questions, the
resident admitted to smoking
marijuana that day and gave the
officer a bag containing less than
an ounce of marijuana. The officer asked who gave it to him, but
the student refused to answer.

IN MEMORIAM
On Sunday, February 8, Siddartha Kahali, a third-year CS
major, regretfully passed away in his dorm room in Maulding
Residence Hall. The Technique extends its heartfelt condolences
to Kahalis family, friends, and fellow Yellow Jackets. Students
in need of support can contact the Counseling Center 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week at 404-894-2575.

KENNETH MARINO
NEWS EDITOR

In a rally in Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan

Rouhani called for an end to all
sanctions against his country, according to the Washington Post.
We want an agreement that
protects our dignity and respect,
Rouhani said at the rally.
The U.S. and several other
nations imposed restrictions on
Irans trade and finance, greatly
harming its oil revenues. Iran
is currently negotiating with a
group of six nations, including the
U.S., to lift sanctions and resolve
the other nations objections to its
nuclear program.
The deadline for a basic framework for a deal is the end of
March, with a final deal expected
by June 30. Negotiations have
been ongoing for months, but according to Secretary of State John
Kerry, they are unlikely to be extended again.
The speech is a blow to the
White House which has been
staving off attempts by Congress
to impose additional sanctions on
Iran, according to the Post.
Last month, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Committee voted 18-4 on a bill
which would impose greater sanctions on Iran if it does not agree
to a deal which would prevent it
from developing the capacity for a
nuclear weapon by July.
Speaker of the House John
Boehner (R-Ohio) sparked a debate on the Hill by inviting Israeli
President Benjamin Netanyahu
before a joint meeting of Congress
in March to discuss Irans nuclear
program. Congressional Republicans are unhappy with the state of
the Iran nuclear talks.

sliver

nique.net

Slllllllliverrrrrrr.
98% of my tupperware are just old food cartons.
no youre awesome sliver box
On my first drive in Atlanta, I went over a few potholes, got stuck
in a turn only lane because of traffic, and almost t-boned a crazy
MARTA Mobility van. The hype is real.
On the bright side, on my drive back I really enjoyed the beauty
of North Avenue #ATL4lyfe
I looked up the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes to make
a sliver, but then I fell in love with the haunting beauty of it
again.... Slivering is having some positive externalities!
#slivlyfe #slivculture #slivcabulary
David Raji for News Editor.
I <3 David Raji. He writes real news.
#fairandbalanced
MRAWRRRRRRRRR
Lauretta is the coolest roomie. :)
You are valued <3
Spread the love to your fellow students
I want to be done, but I dont want to stop, yet I havent started
yet.
I am sick and tired of planning my guy friends Valentines Days.
Ask the girl youre actually dating what she wants to do.
If you were an okra youd be famous.... Wed win prizes for you.
Im in my room reading. My roommate is playing guitar. My
friend is making Valentines cards. Is this Tech?
That moment when you do your homework early only for the
professor to teach the easier way to do things the next day
BEST LAYOUT. TAKE THAT SIGNAL! AH HA!
the lights are on in the stadium and its kinda mesmerizing but
really anythings better than this high speed test

technique February 13, 2015 3

// NEWS

Is Tech Prepared for Ebola? Klemis Kitchen opens

Roughly one year ago, a student at Tech suffered a case of
meningitis.
All of the occupants of the residence of the afflicted individual
were notified of the situation immediately. Stamps Health Center
was able to stay open into the
night in order to provide treatment for those residents who were
at risk for infection.
If, however, an outbreak on a
significantly larger scale were to
take place, Tech is in a position
to take action. However, the comprehensiveness of the response depends on the type of disease and
other specifics.
Dr. Gregory Moore is the Senior Director at Stamps Health
Services as well as a Clinical Professor in the School of Applied
Physiology. Moore provided insight on how students would be
alerted to a potential disease outbreak.

The
fastest
notification
would be on the Stamps website
and through social media, said
Moore. We have both Facebook
and Twitter accounts. Students
who follow us will hear about disease threats first.
Moore went on to explain how
Institute Communications would
also be able to contribute resources to the effort. These might include screen ads, posters or Daily
Digest notices. During the Mycoplasma outbreak at Tech, which
occurred approximately two years
ago, individual emails were sent to
all students in order to ensure the
information was as widely circulated as was possible.
Other resources and medical
procedures were also mentioned
by Moore in regards to Techs
planned response to specific disease outbreaks. Ebola is just one
example.
As far as Ebola goes, we dont
have the ability to treat those patients, but we have full personal
protective equipment so that

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

A Tech student gets a shot at Stamps Health Center. Tech requires students to be inoculated against many common viruses.

Stamps staff can briefly care for a

patient as they are being prepared
for transfer to Emory, Moore
said.
Stamps also has in its possession what Moore described as
full personal protective equipment, which would allow the
staff to avoid a lapse in care to a
specific patient during the time
that he or she is awaiting transportation to Emory.
We also have a negative pressure room at Stamps to isolate a
student with a suspected airborne
infectious disease while making a
diagnosis and preparing for transfer, said Moore regarding potential containment methods for individual infections.
Techs immunization requirements for students, faculty and
staff were instituted with the goal
of avoiding large scale disease
transmission. But if an outbreak
on a greater scale were to occur,
it would likely be handled by authorities at either the local or state
level, either of which could possibly include involvement by public
health officials at the nearby Center for Disease Control (CDC).
If a quarantine or modifications to Techs academic calendar
were deemed necessary due to the
scope of the outbreak, an overall decision would be reached by
Tech administration in conjunction with public health officials.
As always, we advocate good
hygiene, hand washing, sneezing
into the inner elbow and staying
away from others when sick as the
first, and most important, measure to prevent disease transmission, Moore said.
These measures, in addition
to vaccination, have proven to be
sufficient to prevent large scale
outbreak at Tech in the past, but
only time will tell whether they
will continue their track record of
successful prevention.

COLLEGE NIGHT

Jos Parl (American, born 1973), Contemplating the Storm (detail), 2014, 60 x 84 inches, acrylic and ink on canvas.
Artists Rights Society, NY

DAVID RAJI

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

DAVID RAJI

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Last Monday, Klemis Kitchen
officially opened to all students
who had officially qualified. The
program serves as a food pantry
for students in need of proper
nutrition, most commonly due to
financial difficulties.
Klemis Kitchens creation is
due in part to the success of Campus Kitchens operations at Tech,
which launched April 18, 2014.
Its a joint program between
Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech
Dining Services where were taking excess food thats produced
in our dining locations and actually packaging it with our student
team and distributing it to shelters
across the Atlanta area for those
who are less fortunate, said Grant
Grimes, the Sustainability Coordinator at Georgia Tech Dining
Services.
Because all dining operations
must overproduce food to provide
good service, the excess can be
diverted for some other purpose.
This is the core principle behind
the Campus Kitchen initiative.
In a process known as waste
diversion, food which would
normally be thrown away is redirected to the organization. Klemis
Kitchen was conceived in part
due to the observed success of the
Campus Kitchen, but it was also
inspired by the efforts of Tommy
Klemis to help feed Tech students
who were particularly struggling
financially.
After Juniors grill left campus in 2011, there was a pretty
big void because Tommy Klemis,
the owner of Juniors, would feed
students, said Sidhartha Sinha,
the student lead for the Klemis
Kitchen initiative. If students
were hungry, they would come in,
and he would feed them or give
them some of his own money just

so they could make ends meet.

Syreeta Thibodeaux, the Unit
Marketing Coordinator for Dining Services, also emphasized how
the program is specifically geared
towards those who are desperately
in need of support.
This isnt something for students who cant afford to eat at
Starbucks, and its not for students
that dont like what the choices
are, Thibodeaux said. This is for
students who havent eaten since
Friday, and now its Monday. Its
really need based.
Sinha also spoke in reference to
the process by which students are
allowed to gain access to Klemis
Kitchen. He discussed how, in the
large majority of cases, need will
be recognized.
If the student thinks they may
qualify for the Kitchen, all they
have to do is contact the Dean
of Students Office or Dr. Dana
Hartley to schedule a meeting,
said Sinha. After that, the students are granted access. Theres
no official application process because its not something you can
quantify, its a very qualitative
idea.
Grimes also says that maintaining anonymity of the students
who utilized Klemis Kitchen is a
priority. This is one of the reasons
for its secret location on campus,
and Dining Services hopes the
extra effort will make the Kitchen
more attractive to more students
in need.
Students who wish to get involved in the program can fill
out an online form on the Klemis
Kitchen website to apply for volunteer opportunities.
Applicants will be reviewed,
then assigned to work on weekly
shifts. According to Sinha, a significant amount of interest has
already been seen, demonstrating a desire among Techs student
populace to help one another.

Georgia Techs
Journal of the Arts and Literature

February 21, 2015, 8 p.m. to 12 midnight

$7 per student, FREE for members, $5 per person for groups of 10 or more. For group
sales, call 404-733-4450.
Get to the High at 7:30 p.m. to pick up a free ticket* to the Alliance Theatre or Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. After the performance,
come back to the High for College Night! *while supplies last
Music by

Semicircle

Airbrush Tattoos
Collaborative Chalk Art
Artist Talks and Tours
Art Stations
Student Sculpture Garden and more!
Wear all white and visit our decoration station to design your own artsy look!
ON VIEW: Wifredo Lam: Imagining New Worlds
Imagining New Worlds: Jos Parl and Fahamu Pecou
Tours by artist Fahamu Pecou

More at HIGH.ORG

Sponsored by

Submit your artwork, poetry or prose

for the 2015 edition!
For more information: visit erato.gatech.edu
or e-mail erato@gatech.edu

4 February 13, 2015 technique

// NEWS

SGA sitting on $1.2 Million, CRC dominates

HASIT DEWAN

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On January 29, the Student
Government Association (SGA)
released its Undergraduate House
of Representatives (UHR) Treasurers Report: a two-page infographic outlining updates made
to the SGA budget.
One of the most noticeable
facts from the report was that approximately half of SGAs funding
out of its account from the previous year has yet to be allocated.
The account has $262,563 in unallocated funds, the capital outlay
account has $911,067 yet to be
allocated, and the Undergraduate Legislative Reserve (ULR) has
$8,872 in unallocated funding,
amounting to over a million dollars in funding that has yet to be
applied to any student causes.
The money that does get allotted to student organizations is
distributed through a tier, or hierarchy system.
The only Tier I organizations
are the CRC and the Student
Center, said Decker Onken, the
current UHR representative and
treasurer for the body. Tier II organizations are those that impact
a large number of students on
campus, such as the SGA, SCPC,
Musicians Network, DramaTech,
and all the student publications.
Tier III includes all the other student clubs and groups.
The first page of the report
breaks down SGA expenditures
and funds remaining by account

type and organization tier. The

next page has detailed bar graphs
that depict the budget allowances
by both tier and organization
name. The report provides both
monetary amounts and percentages to better facilitate reading the
documents.
The creation of these budgets
begins in early October, when
clubs submit budgets along with
basic membership information
through JacketPages. Next, each
club must meet with the Joint
Finance Committee (JFC) early
spring semester. JFC has a set of
rules about what things students
can and cannot ask money for. At
the meeting, the organizations explain their budgets and JFC alerts
them to violations bills might possess.
Once these deliberations have
been completed, a UHR adhoc committee forms to further
discuss the bills and ways the
funding can be reduced, if at all
possible. This committee is also
empowered to make suggestions
based not only on policy, but also
on whether the line items are worthy of funding and meets the strategic objectives of SGA funding.
The House then forms a little
committee called an ad-hoc committee that will make cuts across
the board to try and decrease the
total requests to bring it closer to
our target, Onken said. Right
now, the target for this year is 4.8
million dollars and we have 6 million dollars in requests, so obviously we have a lot to cut.

Interestingly, a cursory glance

at the graphic reveals that a majority of the little funding that does
get allocated is apportioned to the
CRC. In fact, if a Tier I organization requires additional funding;
the money can be sourced from
a lower tiers budget during the
budget process.
So when we review budgets,
we review Tier I first because if
they start running out of money
we cut from Tier III first. If there
is a budget shortage with Tier III,
then we start picking out of Tier
II also. Usually, Tier I gets most of
its money from the budget, rather
than bills. Tier II also usually
gets money from their budgets,
but more so from bills than Tier
I. Then, with Tier III, most of the
money is allocated through budgets, but then they also receive a
lot of bill funding.
In fact, Tier III budgets are
deliberated upon last, once Tier I
and Tier II allotments have been
set. Because of this, Tier I groups
such as the CRC dominate the
budget and receive a substantially
larger sum of money than other
groups.
The CRC especially requires
a lot of money simply due to its
large size. Based on the recent
UHR report, the CRC received
almost 2 million dollars in funding, compared to its fellow Tier I
organization, the Student Center,
which received almost half that
amount. The largest spending
Tier III organization was less than
$40,000.

THE SGA TIER SYSTEM

FAST FACTS
SGA divides organizations into
three "tiers" by their priority.

TIER 1 TIER 2 TIER 3

CRC and
Student Center

$150
$120

13 orgs
including SGA

$148

All other student

organizations

STUDENT
ACTIVITY
FEES PER YEAR

$123

$90

$78

$76

UGA

GSU

$60
$30
$0

GT

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technique February 13, 2015 5

// NEWS

Google Fiber is good for you

SHASHANK SINGH

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last month, Google announced that it will be expanding
its Google Fiber network, which
is capable of delivering gigabit
Internet connection speeds, into
Atlanta.
Areas which will be receiving the connections include Atlanta, Smyrna, Sandy Springs,
Brookhaven, Decatur, Avondale
Estates, East Point, College Park,
and Hapeville. These locations
were selected since there was a
higher demand for Google Fiber
in these neighborhoods.
Another possibility is that
K12 schools will be able to participate and benefit from this
event, said Dr. Ron Hutchins,
Associate Vice Provost for Research and Technology and Chief
Technology Officer.
Now, students who are living around Atlanta rather than
in dormitories will have the same
capabilities as students living on
campus, Hutchins said. This
is a major benefit since now stu-

dents living off campus will not

have to come on campus every
time they wish to do something
that requires a high speed Internet
connection. As a result, students
might be drawn to live in these
specific areas of Atlanta.
In the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Hutchins explains some
of the benefits of having faster
Internet speeds available to the
population. These benefits include
seamless working from home, opportunities to launch businesses
from home and also, for example,
the ability for elderly patients to
have convenient minor check-ins
with doctors through high-speed,
high-quality video connections.
Students on campus have
stated that higher Internet speeds
enable them to work more easily
and perform a variety of activities
without suffering from bottlenecks in their connections.
Our network will not be
changing since we have already
had a gigabit connection for a
while now, Hutchins said.
One example would be the possibility for having location based

services on campus and around

Midtown. Students could simply
leave messages based on their location and then anyone walking
by would be able to see their message. This could also be useful to
inform people of things such as a
road being closed, hazards or areas with high traffic.
In general, this ubiquitous
high speed connectivity will boost
the productivity of people living
around Atlanta and make daily
life and work easier.
Hutchins also proposes the opportunities that students will have
to take this infrastructure presented to them and build something
useful and innovative off of it that
people on campus and around the
city can benefit from.
We are probably 2 or 3 years
out from this project being completed, Hutchins said. Google is
currently in the design process for
this undertaking.
The mayor of Atlanta has been
a big proponent of Fiber coming
to Atlanta and has done a lot of
work to make it happen, according to Hutchins.

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

A Google Fiber van is parked along Tech walkway in front of the Student Center. Google
uses the vans both to publicize Fiber and explore where the service can be utilized.

Dean Royster reappointed, defends Liberal Arts

KAITLIN SHEA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last month, Dr. Jacqueline
Royster was re-appointed as the
Dean of the Ivan Allen College
of Liberal Arts after a customary five-year review of her time as
Dean.
According to Royster, Ivan Allen is sometimes misunderstood.
[My] experience is that people
who question liberal arts at Georgia Tech are people that dont
know what we do, Royster said.
And I think that once they understand what we do and how we
do it, that question just doesnt
come up.
Tech students are required by
Georgia Law to take two English
courses, six hours of humanities
and twelve hours of social sciences. According to Royster, it is
vital for all students to take these
courses.
I believe that the liberal arts
are an excellent way to become an
educated person, Royster said. It
was how I was educated myself,
and you tend to have a deep affection for the things that form the
culture in which you yourself were
made, and I consider my commitment to human centered things to
be a part of that.
When responding to doubts
about the liberal arts at Tech,
Dean Royster says that she believes in the capabilities of the
college.
We have as much of an obligation as any of the other colleges,
Royster said. Its a collaborative
enterprise; thats what universities
are. They work together to make
sure that there is academic excellence.
Despite the focus that many
at Tech place on engineering and
the sciences, according to Royster,

liberal arts are a key component to

education, and to the world.
This is a world with human
beings in it, this is a world with
science and technology in it, and
this is a world that we put together at Georgia Tech in a really
dynamic way, Royster said. Its
just powerful in its effect and its
ability to equip people to be the
leaders, movers, and shakers that
theyre going to be in the world.
Dean Royster graduated from
Spelman College and earned an
M.A. and D.A. in English from
the University of Michigan. According to Royster, her background in English inspires her to
develop and expand the liberal
arts, and she believes there is no
better place to do so than Tech.
I believe that Georgia Tech
students are wonderful people,
Royster said. I think that one
important advantage that we add
for people who are not our majors
is that we help them to broaden
their worldview, their experience,
and their capacity to be a good
productive citizen, and we help
them to become people who are
capable of interacting with others
no matter where you find yourself.
Dean Royster hopes to help
Ivan Allen progress, advance, and
evolve even further.
Going forward, we need to be
able to exercise our greatest potential, Royster said. We need to be
able to show the quality of work
that the liberal arts has the capacity to do. In an institution like
this thats so attune to addressing some of the worlds thorniest
problems, I think its a marriage
made in heaven.
Currently, Ivan Allen College
has 622 undergraduate students
and 255 Masters and Ph.D. students.

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Opinions
OUR VIEWS | Consensus Opinion

My washing machine overwhelms

me with its options and its
sophistication.
- Uma Thurman

Addressing Mental Health at Tech

Encouraging campus to change the current culture

Recently, there has been much conversation around campus about mental
health at Tech. These discussions often
center around the availability of resources
on campus. While we agree that mental
health resources are incredibly important
and should be made accessible to all students, we also believe that the current
mental health conversation should be expanded to include what everyone at Tech
can do to help improve campus culture.
In many ways, Tech is an institution like
no other. While the constant pressure has
led to job offers and research grants, it cannot be denied that it has also led to large
amounts of stress, anxiety and depression.
Classes, and by extension faculty, can
be a main contributor to stress at Tech.
While we understand the immense pressure faculty are under to succeed in their
fields, it can feel like research is placed before teaching. Stories of classes with steep
curves, failing average grades or unreasonable homework expectations are not un-

heard of, but commonplace.

The way current discussions about mental health are conducted can cause students
to fall into a me versus Tech mentality.
Furthermore, we believe that mental
health should be discussed on campus
openly throughout the year, to current
and prospective students. Students should
come into Tech prepared for the challenges they will face and comfortable discussing stress and its effects on campus life.
Finally, students also have a part to play
in changing campus culture. Currently, we
praise each other for our all-nighters and
18 hour days, and laugh at those who eat
regularly or have time to take a break. This
is a terribly flawed mentality and it needs
to change.
We need to reestablish the importance
of self-care on campus and we need to do it
soon. Together, the administration, faculty and students can make Tech not only a
great academic institution but also a great
place to live.

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

Brittany Miles EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lindsay Purcell MANAGING EDITOR
Connor Napolitano DESIGN EDITOR
Kenneth Marino NEWS EDITOR
Mark Russell SPORTS EDITOR
Alexa Grzech LIFE EDITOR
Wyatt Bazrod OPINIONS EDITOR
Brenda Lin PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Joe Murphy ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

TECH VALENTINE CIRCA 1885 BY COLLIN CALDWELL

technique

OPINIONS EDITOR: Wyatt Bazrod

6
Friday,

February 13, 2015

TOP SLIVERS

Going to restaurants and pretending I got stood up on

Valentines Day and suddenly its discount city.

A five dollar increase in transportation isnt big uhm

hello thats two guacamoles at Chipotle

The first step is always admition and I admit my New

Years Resolutions failed miserably.

Becks Grammy win resembles how my friends look at

me when I do well academically.

I dont know why I get so upset when I miss chicken

minis for breakfast and settle for a chicken sandwich

I knew you were trouble when you Walden - Henry

David Thoreau probably

I want to be done, but I dont want to stop, yet I

havent started yet.

My GPA needs a little less bend and a little more snap.

Why do we put so much effort into things like

Holidays when there is a national pizza day?

I need to be productive for the next three weeks so

when House of Cards comes theres no ragrets.

That moment when you do your homework early

only for the professor to teach the easier way to do
things the next day

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 February 13, 2015 7

// OPINIONS

My mom is more high-tech than I

When my mom got a Fitbit,
I knew wearable technology
had finally made its way to the
masses.
Over the past several years,
wearables have transitioned
from being just a plaything for
tech geeks to something normal
people actually want to own.
Fitness trackers, smartwatches
and even smart glasses have become mainstream.
Despite speculation that it
wont be much good, the release
of the Apple Watch will surely
further this trend. I have yet to
be convinced that I need any of
this.
The smartphone was an easy
sell to consumers. It was a new
device that could replace your
old cellphone, calculator, notepad, camera and even some aspects of your computer. The key
to the success of the smartphone
was that it allowed people to
carry around less stuff. It minimized the number of devices
a person needed to have with
them, but allowed them to have
access to the functions of many
devices at any given time.
Now, smartphones have become somewhat stagnant. Each

Each new Galaxy or

iPhone or Lumia...which
gets released feels
more evolutionary than
revolutionary.

TRUITT CLARK
ONLINE EDITOR

new Galaxy or iPhone or Lumia

(to avoid alienating you Windows Phone people) which gets
released feels more evolutionary
than revolutionary.
Our phones are so packed
with features that little can be
added. What is already there
just gets upgraded. Plus, apart
from Nokias crazy colors most
smartphones look exactly the
same.
Rather than sticking to the
idea that your smartphone
should do everything, tech companies now want us to add a
second device to supplement the
functionality of our phones. To
me, most of these devices suffer
from some fatal flaws: almost
every smartwatch on the market

Persevering through
Techs toughness

Does anyone else remember perpetual work, the competitive

the child-like awe that you had environment and our own past
prior to coming to this place successes generally stress all of
called Tech? I know that I do. us out at least occasionally. It
Back in my senior year of high happens. They told all of us that
school, I began
this school was
the search for my
never going to be
...really
take
a
place in higher
easy. Even after
second to realize how being warned,
learning. I didnt
necessarily unmay have
awesome it is to be a we
derstand the imunderestimated
pact of this decipart of this place. just how difsion on my life,
ficult Tech was
but I was aware
CONNOR going to be, and
that this was a
everything
NAPOLITANO when
decision I should
seems to be goDESIGN EDITOR ing south it can
think carefully
over.
be fairly easy to
After many months, a defer- let the stress overwhelm us.
ral and finally an acceptance,
It is during times like these
I realized that I would be at- that I remember the words of
tending the Georgia Institute Twin Peaks Dale Cooper:
of Technology. Those next few Im going to let you in on a little
months were filled with pride secret: everyday, once a day, give
and accomplishment; I knew yourself a present. Cooper exthat I had made a good decision plains how the present should be
no matter how difficult Tech unplanned, but happy enough
would prove to be. The fact that to actually make your day.
I got accepted meant that someThese presents can be anyone somewhere on this campus thing from the cup of coffee
believed that I was capable of in the show to a Surrito from
doing great things at this school, Bento Bus or a quick break
and they felt that way about from studying to play a game or
everyone here. To this day I watch a quick episode of your
have made it a personal goal to favorite show. All of these are
try and prove that person right, perfect presents to yourself; I
wherever they may be.
personally use it as a reward for
I still have days where I reflect getting through almost every
over this thought and appreciate assignment. I will treat myself
both the fact that I am able to to something I normally dont
be here and that I have almost get on the average day, just so I
made it through my third year. can feel some greater sense of acOver time, I have found that complishment and satisfaction.
these reflections are imperative
I personally guarantee that
to my motivation.
after you get used to this system,
I want to help everyone re- you will have a greater apprecianew the same awe in their life. tion for all the small things.
Fall back in love with this school
Why not treat yourself toand really take a second to re- day? It doesnt take getting an
alize how awesome it is to be a A on every test, or completely
part of this place.
reorganizing your life. It can be
That doesnt mean that I am as simple as remembering to do
not aware of the constant strug- laundry before running out of
gle that this school can be. The clean underwear.

today requires a paired phone

in order to do anything, and
what they can do is basically an
extension of the functionality I
already have.
I am also not a big fan of
the high price of smartwatches.
Carrier subsidies allow you to
buy a smartphone for cheap
(sometimes even free), and yet
you will be paying hundreds of
dollars for a watch to go with it.
I realize some people out
there are willing to pay plenty
of money for a regular dumb
watch. Im just not one of those
people, nor do I think those
people would trade the quality
and craftsmanship of an expensive watch for a plastic watch
with a color screen.

At first glance, fitness trackers seem like a better proposition. They are cheaper than
smartwatches, and can also
tell you really incredible things
about yourself, such as how
many steps you took that day or
if you slept well (since apparently you cant figure that one out
on your own). Unfortunately
for fitness tracker manufacturers, a new study released by the
University of Pennsylvania says
that built-in fitness tracking in
smartphones is actually more
accurate than wearable fitness
tracking. It turns out that our
smartphones are already replacing fitness tech that we just decided we needed.
Maybe I am just lazy, but I
would rather not have to charge
multiple devices every day. I
already charge my phone every
single night, so I am far less likely to use a second device if it also
needs to be charged daily.
I almost bought a Pebble
smartwatch during a Black Friday sale solely because of the
price cuts, but for me, the current state of wearables is just not
developed enough to be worth
the purchase.

What would your

candy heart say?

EVAN LONG

FIRST-YEAR INTA

Go Away because sometimes you just need time

to study.

My failed experience
with an all-nighter

I am not afraid to admit to aspirations of misery, I would

having stayed awake all night to genuinely suggest inventing or
study for an exam the following locating and buying a machine
day. Some of those occasions capable of time travel. What,
were not far in the past. Howev- did you really expect me to
er, these attempts
have a magical
at salvaging my
solution which
If
you
ever
find
titanic-like situaI would reveal
yourself seriously only to readers
tion have seldom
ended in a savory
steadfast that
considering staying so
fashion.
they have made
For this reaawake... do yourself a it this far into
son, I must disthis
rambling
courage any ef- favor and go to sleep. editorial? Unforfort to prolong
for any
DAVID RAJI tunately
waking
hours
individuals readASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR ing this who find
for the purpose
of raising ones
themselves in a
grade on a test.
position in need of a quick fix,
Let me drop some hypotheti- one doesnt exist.
cals on you real quick. Imagine a
This is not to say you are
guy named Eric. He usually has completely done for; there are
his life together, but for some indeed some avenues which will
reason this past week didnt undoubtedly factor more posiquite turn out so well. Now it tively into your personal wellis Sunday, and Eric is feeling being as well as that of your
desperate. An all-nighter seems GPA. If you ever find yourself
inevitable, but would it actually seriously considering staying
help? The answer is scientifically awake through the night for the
proven to be a resounding no.
sole reason of learning a signifiBut wait, you ask, dumb- cant portion of upcoming exam
founded. How else could I pos- material, do yourself a favor and
sibly do better on an exam that go to sleep instead.
I dont know the material for?
A number of studies, inWhile it might seem logical cluding one done by Dr. Philip
during the evening prior, come Alapat at the Baylor College
morning you will feel the deep- of Medicine, have conclusively
est regret, which is known only found sleeping before an exto those who have acted upon amination to produce consisthe poorest of instincts. Your tently better results than those
eyes will ache and your bones achieved through all-nighters.
may break (but probably not).
Why should you trust this
Those are only a few of the in- random study? Well, if you
numerable grievances you will came into this article looking
unequivocally desire to lend for validation of the opposite
voice to.
viewpoint than the one I just
I do not particularly want made, then I confess you have
to be in unimaginable agony no reason to believe any of what
during my midterm, says your I am wrote. On the other hand,
conscience. So what should I one could simply choose to acdo instead?
cept a credible scientific study
Well, if you do fancy (or des- for nothing less than what it is,
perately need) a decent grade on and re-evaluate their test-taking
the exam but also do not have strategy accordingly.

TAYLOR MCKIE

SECOND-YEAR ENVE

I love you!

SEBASTIAN LI

FOURTH-YEAR ME

Youre sweeter than this

[candy].

BRITTANY CORBETT
FOURTH-YEAR PSY

Meow! Its an inside joke

between my boyfriend
and me.
Photos by Brenda Lin Student Publications

8 February 13, 2015 technique

// OPINIONS

OUR VIEWS | HOT OR NOT

HOT or NOT
Anna Kendrick

One of the funniest stars

in Hollywood, Anna Kendrick, star of the hit movie Pitch
Perfect, was seen around Centennial Olympic Park, filming
a new movie set to release in
2016. The film features other
stars like Ben Affleck and J.K.
Simmons. Additionally, it has
been rumored that the film
signed a deal with Tech to
film on campus during Spring
Break. Lets hope Tech will get
a CULC slide again.

The Nique

Fair warning: this Hot

is about to get a little bit meta
and a lot-a-bit braggy. Your one
and only student newspaper
came away with a lot of wins
at this weekends Georgia College Press Associations Conference. We came away with
ten awards, including 1st place
prizes in Layout and Design,
Best Website, and Best Investigative News article. Heres to
hoping next years haul is even
better.

T-Scare

Nothing is more annoying

than when you go online to
turn in an assignment and, oh
wait, T-Square is down. Sure,
GTWifi was doing fine, but
T-Square was down much of
Monday making assignment
submission and grade checking even more stressful than it
usually is. In a perfect world,
we would learn to do our work
on time and to not procrastinate, but where is the fun in
that?

UNC Shooting

It is unfortunate how in this

day and age, things like the
University of North Carolina
shooting still happen. Authorities have confirmed that three
Muslim students were shot by
a 46 year old man in a alleged
parking space dispute. The
schools dean has condemned
the attack and called upon the
UNC campus community to
rally together in these tough
times in order to show support
for the victims.

YES

NO

TRISHNA CHANDARANA

BRITTANY MILES

Tech is home to approximately

15,000 undergraduates, almost
80% of whom are some kind of
STEM major. Of those, most will
participate in some kind of research, internship or co-op before
graduating with their Bachelors
degree. Unfortunately, this occurrence is not spurred by a desire to
learn more outside the classroom.
It has almost become a requirement for undergraduate students
to have participated in some form
of research or internship by graduation day if they wish to find
employment or be accepted into
graduate school.
Before anyone misunderstands,
I am in no way saying that doing research as an undergraduate
is a bad thing and needs to stop.
Rather, something that used to be
considered special has become an
unnecessary requirement in order
to be considered average by potential employers.
It is ridiculous how much is
expected from students nowadays.
High school was dominated by a
compulsive need to overachieve
just so colleges would glance at
your application. This same struggle has seeped into undergraduate
life.
Gone are the days where good
grades got students noticed by
graduate level admissions offices.
Now, students have to fight tooth
and nail to participate in research
when they do not yet possess the
tools to be a contributing member
of the team.
Getting involved in research is
healthy. However, it is unhealthy
to be expected to use ones semester and major school breaks just to
stay competitive in undergraduate
school. These impossibly high expectations will eventually rise so
high that they will push students
to their breaking point at the rate
they are going.

As a senior about to enter

graduate school there is nothing I
value more than the opportunities
I had to engage in undergraduate
research. These experiences have
helped me to gain an understanding of the core of graduate life,
and have confirmed that graduate
school is right for me.
While this may sound insignificant, the culture and daily
life of graduate students differs
from that of undergraduates immensely. Instead of bustling from
class to class, grad students spend
hours in their labs. The long days
that bleed into long nights are
not something that everyone can
handle.
This is where undergraduate
research is useful. It effectively
gives students a trial run at
graduate life by allowing them to
design their own experiments, set
their own hours and learn how to
deal with their own failures. For
any student contemplating graduate school, this is a necessary experience. It lets you figure out if
you can handle the program at the
most basic level.
It is no surprise to me that
schools place an emphasis on this
experience when considering candidates for graduate programs.
Students who understand the requirements of graduate life and
the grueling nature of research are
more likely to complete graduate
programs because they already
know what they are getting into.
Moreover, they have already demonstrated the ability to produce
high quality work product.
While the demands of fitting
undergraduate research into an
already packed schedule can be
stressful, the value of the experience outweighs the cost. Undergraduate research is not for everyone, but then again, neither is
grad school.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A CELEBRATION
EXPLORING CREATIVITY
AND THE ARTS
AT GEORGIA TECH

FEBRUARY 18
MARCH 7, 2015

Packed with great arts events, the Festival is your chance to enjoy music, dance, visual art,
poetry and more on campus. Most events are free or low cost for students!
FESTIVAL EVENTS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27

6pm

6pm

Sounds of Atlanta exhibition opening, film screening,

dance party. Ferst Center. Free

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19
11am Discussion: Deliberation by Ruth Stanford
8pm
8pm

On the Ferguson/Brown case. Ferst Center. Free.

DramaTech presents Cartoon.
Tickets: 404-894-3481 www.dramatech.org
Open Mic Night by Musicians Network
Under the Couch, Student Center. Free.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20
5:30pm Student View Exhibition opens
Ferst Center Galleries. Free.
7pm
Guthman Musical Instrument Competition Finals
Klaus Building. Free.
8pm
DramaTech presents Cartoon
Tickets: 404-894-3481 www.dramatech.org
8pm
GTDA Swing Dance Student Center Ballroom.
Swing dance instruction at 8 pm, dance at 9 pm.
$5-$10. gtda.gtorg.gatech.edu.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21
1:30pm Khayaal 2015 Academy of Medicine.
Tickets at khayaalmusic.com/tickets.
Free for GT students/faculty with online registration.
8pm
Jonah Bokaer: Why Patterns and Recess
Tickets 404-894-9600. ferstcenter.gatech.edu
8pm
DramaTech presents Cartoon
Tickets: 404-894-3481 www.dramatech.org

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
5pm

TAP-A-CE-TIC LIVE dance

Ferst Center. ferstcenter.gatech.edu
Tickets 404-894-9600

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24

SUNDAY, MARCH 1
3pm

GT Orchestra and Chorale: Mendelssohns Lobgesang.

Ferst Center. Free

MONDAY, MARCH 2
7:30pm Witches Night OffA Wicked Cabaret
Tickets 404-894-9600. ferstcenter.gatech.edu

TUESDAY, MARCH 3
11am

A Conversation with artist Jeff Mather

Ferst Center. Free.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
11am

A Conversation with Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Ferst Center. Free.

THURSDAY, MARCH 5
7pm
8pm

An Evening with RadioLabs Jad Abumrad

Ferst Center. Tickets 404-894-9600 ferstcenter.gatech.edu
Open Mic by Musicians Network
Under the Couch, Student Center, Room 220

FRIDAY, MARCH 6
7 pm

WREKs SciFi Lab Presents A Night in

the Lab Ferst Center.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7
8pm

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy

Ferst Center. Tickets: 404-894-9600 ferstcenter.gatech.edu

7 pm

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26
4-7pm Clough Art Crawl opens
Clough ULC. Free.
7:30pm GT Symphonic, Concert and Percussion Ensembles
A Little Jazz. Ferst Center. Free.
7:30pm McEver Poetry Reading
Nguyen Phan Que Mai, Bruce Weigl, and Bruce McEver.
Kress Auditorium, Robert C. Williams Paper Museum. Free.
8pm
Open Mic Night by Musicians Network
Under the Couch, Student Center. Free.

See the full TechArts festival schedule and get more details at

CLASSES
Master Class with Choreographer Jonah Bokaer
February 23, 7 pm, Ferst Center. Free.
Classes at Paper and Clay in the Student Center: Paper and Clay
events require registration at http://techstuff2.gatech.edu/
Pottery Wheel Intro February 20, 12-2 pm
Beginners Sewing February 21 and 28, 1-3 pm
Alterations 101 February 28 and March 7, 4-6 pm
Stained Glass February 22 and March 1, 1-4 pm

arts.gatech.edu

The TechArts Festival is

sponsored by the Office of
the Provost, the Arts Advisory
Board, the Council of the Arts
and the Office of the Arts.

FESTIVAL EVENTS

DramaTech play reading Empty Rooms

Hall Building, Room 102. Free.
7:30pm GT Jazz Ensemble Ferst Center. Free.
Guest vocalist Taryn Newborn and GTDA swing dancers

A Gathering of Continents-Joan Blaeus

Grooten Atlas Opening
Robert C. Williams Paper Museum. Free.
7:30pm Chicken Dinner Faceplant + Naan Violence
+ Dolly Llama + Daniel Hearn
Under the Couch, Student Center. Free with Buzzcard.
8pm
Lets Try This Improv Show
DramaTech. Free.

Life

LIFE EDITOR:
Alexa Grzech
ASSISTANT LIFE EDITOR:
Nick Johnson

life@nique.net

Ambassador of Colombia to the U.S.

Luis Carlos Villegas discusses Colombia's current
standing in the twenty-first century412

technique

10

Friday,
February 13, 2015

Dr. Schaffer reminisces on Techs traditions

ALEX COVINGTON

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Tech has changed a great deal
over the past five decades, but one
presence that has remained constant is the rumbling good humor
of Dr. William Schaffer, Emeritus
Professor of Economics. Though
he has taught here continuously
save for a single year he
jokes he retired in 1963, the year
he joined the faculty. As his wife
Lee Schaffer explained, He says
hes never worked a day in his life
because he loves to teach.
That love of teaching is evident in the way he talks about his
work, which will often be framed
in terms of his relationships with
students.
Students were the source of
everything, Schaffer said, joking that they all worked with me,
and I exploited them mercilessly.
But they got good deals out of it,
because they got their names on
different publications and they
got to go off to different places
with me.
Dr. Schaffer is an acknowledged expert in regional and urban economics, which means he
would often travel to different
areas to create economic models
relating to different activities. He
spoke fondly of the computer
jocks who would assist him,

commending them for their willingness to work late in the night

and the expertise they were able to
contribute.
In recent days, however, the
advent of widespread computing
has changed the culture, and as
he explains, students have their
own lives, and its very difficult
for the student and the professor
to interact.
With travel no longer necessary thanks to the availability of
information through the Internet
and a more formal system of internships existing separately from
the student-professor relationship,
extensive collaboration between a
professor and a student is a rarity
these days.
Still, Dr. Schaffer believes
strongly in relationships in pedagogy, making a point to know
the pupils in his class and hosting
Peach Parties at his home for his
students.
Dr. Schaffers pride for Tech,
and the state of Georgia as a
whole, is evident in everything he
does. Before coming to Tech as
an undergraduate, Schaffer grew
up in Monticello, Georiga (or as
he refers to it, Where they filmed
My Cousin Vinnie.) He then graduated from Tech with a degree in
Industrial Management in 1956.
Schaffer still remembers when
classic school traditions were more

obligatory than today, as the

freshman were closely supervised
by the sophomores, juniors and
seniors.

case the importance of a fair and

just trial while helping students
acknowledge their duty to speak
out against injustice and seek to
understand others. With tickets selling out in less than a week
and over 100 people on the events
waiting list, the Serial update
event proved to be a hit among
the Tech and Atlanta community.
Holding the current No. 1 spot
on iTunes, Serial is a spinoff of the
popular NPR podcast This Ameri-

can Life. With the producer of the

podcast, Sarah Koeng, dubbing
Serial as about the basics: love
and death and justice and truth,
the podcast seeks to investigate
the death of Hae Min Lee, an
18-year-old girl.
With her body discovered on
Feb. 9, 1999, Lees death was immediately ruled a homicide. Consequently, her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Masud Syed, was sentenced
to life for her murder even with

Losing ones RAT cap meant

being paid a visit by upperclassmen who would shave most of
ones head, leaving behind a T

pattern a cause of great panic

when Schaffer lost his cap one
night behind a radiator.
See GRAD, page 13

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Dr. Schaffer happily smiles as he remembers his time at Tech. With a degree from Tech, he loves
teaching at the university and he tries to maintain strong relationships with his current students.

Guilty before innocent: Serial lawyer speaks out

ALEXA GRZECH
LIFE EDITOR

On Feb. 9, Rabia Chaudry,

the lawyer involved in the influential Serial case, visited Tech to
give students, faculty and visitors a general overview and an
update on the current cases status. Hosted by the Muslim Student Association, Sameera Omar,
president of the MSA, felt the
event was much needed to show-

Syed declaring himself innocent.

The podcast, ultimately, hopes
to shed light on the murder case
while questioning the legitimacys
of Adnans trial.
The event started with a moderator-led session followed by a
student question and answer portion. Immediately, Chaudry addressed the gathered crowd with
the ultimate question: who here
has listened to the Serial podcast?
As expected, every person in the

Photo by Monica Jamison Student Publications

Rabia Chaudry speaks about the renowned Serial case to the gathered crowd. She spoke on the stereotypes associated with Muslim
men, the sociology of innocence, and the most recent right to appeal granted to Adnan, a man sentenced to life for Lees murder.

room raised their hands with the

exception of two students whom
she jokingly asked to be escorted
out of the talk.
Since most of the attendees were avid listeners of Serial,
Chaudry instantly jumped into
the cases current status. Possibly
stemming from the podcasts success, Adnan was recently granted
a chance at filing an appeal, so he
may be given a chance at a postconviction hearing. The appeal,
however, can be denied if the
court finds [the Defense Attorney,
Gutierrez,] was effective with the
case.
She also addressed a variety
of issues touched upon in the
podcast. She felt the prosecution [was] relying on stereotypes
of Muslim men. The prosecution felt Adnan believed that in
[his] culture, its okay to kill a
girl who besmirched [his] honor.
An uncommon question, she addressed the prejudice associated
with marijuana use. Even though
Adnan smoked frequently during
his high school years, Chaudry
still believed the stigma associated
with marijuana was not present
throughout the trial.
Chaudry also discussed the sociology of innocence. According
to Chaudry, the innocent before
proven guilty presumption is not
reality. Citing Adnan as a prime
example, she believed that the
justice system did not treat [Adnan] like an innocent person, as
he was jailed almost a year before
trial. She also feels if Gutierrez
had done her job ethically, then
[Adnan] would not have been
convicted.

technique February 13, 2015 11

// LIFE

Reflecting on
Admissions
Process

CHBE Sam Leach said.

Now with the Common App,
students only need to click an extra button and pay a little more
money. So on the surface, were
getting more selective but I think
many of them dont really have a
lot of interest in Tech and dont
end up coming here, Leach said.
In the end, what makes our student body so amazing is our passion and commitment to what we
do, and I would hate to think that
some students who have that passion are pushed away because of
students who are smart but dont
really have an interest in coming.
Ben Ashby, a second-year
BME, has a similar line of thinking: Since the application now is
just an extra click, I imagine there

are some students who dont research Tech before applying.

The acceptance rate for admitted 2014 students was 36.8%,
which is only slightly higher than
the national university average of
34.1%, as reported in US News.
The 2014 freshman class also
has an impressive academic profile. The middle 50% SAT range
was 2050-2240; The middle 50%
ACT range was 30-33, and the
average freshman took between
6 and 11 AP, IB or other collegecredit classes in high school.
Its a great thing that the
younger people who are coming
behind us are smarter than us,
said third-year EE Theresa Enimini Obot.
Hailee Greenfield, a third-year

BME, agrees. I think the quality of students at Tech will continue to increase in the all years to
come.
In addition, the 2014 freshman
class is fairly diverse. It draws its
members from over 1,300 high
schools, 63 countries, and 47
states. Regarding gender, 39%
of the class is female and 61% is
male, which is a slight increase in
female students from 2013s freshman class. Similarly, diversity has
increased incrementally throughout the years and is expected to
increase among the Tech 2015
freshman class. Its an exciting time to be here, says firstyear BA, Meghan Devine. Its
great to live and work with enthusiastic peers.

How to win a
Valentine
TIM SMITH

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MEGAN PRESTON

With Valentines Day fast approaching, here are some tips and
tricks on getting that perfect Valentine for the special holiday.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

DO BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Before making that first move,
you should know that your potential Valentine is indeed single.
This is very important as you want
to avoid a future conflict. Check
Facebook or ask his or her friends
to determine your special someones relationship status.
Try to find out his or her favorite restaurant before setting up an
official date. Also, never resort to
the Student Center dining options
or, worse, the dreaded dining
halls. Try to pick a place away of
Techs campus, such as the classic
Chow Baby or La Fonda.

Photo by Grace Stephens Student Publications

ASK THEM OUT THE RIGHT WAY

Ask your special someone
out in-person, not over text,
GroupMe, LinkedIn or SnapChat. By doing so, he or she will
know your true intentions, and
he or she will know that you are
serious. Even though asking that
special crush out in person may
seem like a daunting task, you

The 2015 Early Action Freshmen Class will attend FASET this upcoming summer. Boasting some
impressive statistics, the incoming class made current Tech students reflect on their experiences.

See TIPS, page 13

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Inv
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TECHS ON CAMPUS
PRINT RESOURCE!!!

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With the 2015 Early Action freshman class averaging

1488/2196 on the SAT and 32
on the ACT, the admissions rate
statistics for each class at Tech
continue to be even more impressive than the last. This class also
averaged taking 9.9 classes on Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or other
college-credit classes. Many Tech
students reflected on the new data
while remembering their own application process.
A major change contributing to
the decreased admission rate was
the switch from Techs individual
application to the Common Application. This has caused some
concern among Tech students
that not everyone who applies has
a genuine desire to be here.
When I applied to Tech, they
had their own application, and as
an out of state student majoring
in engineering, you didnt really
apply unless you wanted to actually go to Tech and take on the
rigor of the program. You had to
have some sort of interest, or else
you wouldnt bother, fourth-year

CONTACT US TODAY!!!
404-894-3570

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

12 February 13, 2015 technique

// LIFE

Colombian ambassador discusses countrys growth

VIDYA IYER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Thursday Jan. 5, the Office of International Initiatives in
conjunction with the Office of
Hispanic Initiatives welcomed the
Ambassador of Colombia to the
United States, Luis Carlos Villegas, to speak about U.S. Foreign
policy in Colombia.
Villegas opens his talk by addressing the high level of academics of Tech. He mentioned the
need for people to pursue higher
education in a country like Colombia, to solve new problems
that will come, but not to create
any.
He then begins to talk about
Colombia. Villegas has been traveling from Colombia to the United States for almost 38 years, so
he is personally able to recall the
changing perceptions of his country. For many years, the perceptions of Colombia in this country
was seen as a depressing tragedy,
he begins.
In recent years, however, Colombia has taken great strides in
repairing the government and
economy.
He discussed how this generation can say that Colombia is a
permanent source of good news,
something his generation and before would have a difficult time
believing.
Besides taking the ambassadors word, there is actual
evidence that the country is improving. At the beginning of the
21st century, Colombia ranked

seventh in GDP. Last December,

Colombia ranked third following
behind Brazil and Mexico.
This shows that Colombias
GDP has grown by 5 times in the
last 15 years. This has resulted in
a better standard of living for the
citizens of Colombia. In 1998, 6

out of 10 Colombians were below

the poverty line. Now less than 3
Colombians out of 10 are below
the poverty line.
The improvements seen in Colombia produce growth in the
economy, pressure on democracy,
need to open the society to the

world: world discussion, world

trade, world investment, world
security and the ability to be
able to compare themselves to the
rest of the world. In the last year,
Colombia has seen extraordinary
sales in cars.
The country went from sell-

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publication

The Ambassador of Colombia to the United States, Luis Carlos Villegas, speaks to Tech students
and staff. He discussed Colombias recent improvements and the plans to reform the country.

ing 50,000 cars to 350,000 cars

and from 50,000 motorcycles to
600,000 motorcycles. Even the
pet food market has grown.
In 2004, the pet food market
was worth $65 million and last
year it increased to $700 million
dollars.
What exactly does this mean?
It means that the countrys economy is doing better than it ever has
and people are willing to invest in
a higher quality of life.
Villegas concluded by saying,
So, Colombia has changed for
good. Colombia has gone from
an isolated state with high rates
of violence and crime in 1995 to
an active member in world affairs.
Villegas notes that while Colombia has come a long way, by no
means are they done growing and
improving.
Assuming Colombia becomes
a developed country, Villegas says
the next steps to take are to reform justice and similar changes
to take the country to a new cultural stage and form more closeness among citizens. After this
reform, the next issue to look at is
economic equality.
Villegas believes that the government has an initial responsibility to provide opportunities for
low-income families and the market will help in the future. Lastly,
he believes in reducing crime in
the country.
He mentions how crime and
violence were dominant aspects in
his generations life and how it is
more of a distant memory for the
current generation.

Alvin M. Ferst
Leadership &
Entrepreneur
Award
* $2,500 Grand Prize
* Awarded to a Junior or Senior Student who
has Demonstrated Extraordinary Leadership or
Entrepreneur Skills
* Deadline to Apply: Monday, March 2 at noon
Apply Today:
studentaffairs.gatech.edu

technique February 13, 2015 13

// LIFE

GIFT

FROM PAGE 1

campus more inclusive to students, faculty, visitors and staff

who have difficulty maneuvering
campus. The app would visualize
up-to-date information such as
sidewalk condition and locations
of accessible entrances.
The Georgia Tech Police Departments Campus Safety - Bike
Bait Program is designed to help
catch bicycle thieves on campus.
The Gift would fund different
model bicycles with GPS tracking units to be placed in areas that
thieves typically target to catch
criminals.
The Enhancements to Harrison Square and Cherry Street
aim to improve the heart of Techs
Historic Hill District and New
Steelcase media: scape furniture
and technology in Clough Commons would tackle the desire for
students to collaborate more effectively. The technology in these
stations allows students to connect their laptops and share information among other connected
devices.
The SAA Free Concert Series
is a plan to schedule four outdoor
concerts in the outdoor Amphitheater next to the Ferst Center
for the Arts. With two in the Fall
and Spring, the concerts would be
free to all of campus and feature
professional performers. Providing electricity to students looking
to relax outdoors, Solar-Powered
Electricity Stands would provide
a green way to relax and study.
Using minimal space, the stands
would provide a communal gathering spot for groups to work
around or an emergency stop for
a dying phone battery. The stands

would be placed in Tech Green for

open space for all.
With a Student Emergency
Fund in place, students facing financial difficulty would be able to
purchase something out of reach,
like a suit or airfare for an interview. Managed by the Office of
Financial Aid, a student-to-student support system would help
out fellow students, especially
when unexpected expenses arise.
Funding Student Mental
Health would allow the Counseling Center to make enhancements
to its program, as recommended
by the 2014 Presidents Task Force
on Student Mental Health. The
Gift would benefit the Centers
individualized psychological services, professional education and
campus programs to empower
students to reach academic and
personal success.
In SAAs five years on campus,
the organization and the Gift to

Tech have matured to where they

can be more selective in the initial
eight choices.
We were mindful of who we
let be in the top eight this year,
says fourth-year BA Carli Walker,
President of SAA. Hopefully in
the future, it can be something
that people apply for and give
a pitch for, but were not at that
point yet.
Additionally, SAA is increasing visibility of the Gift to Tech in
their presence on campus and in
their choices of Gifts that appeal
to the entire Tech community.
The people who really know
about the Gift are huge organizations who have a foot in the Gift,
Walker says. We dont want it to
be just the Band or the Ramblin
Reck Club. We want it to be everyone on campus who might not
have any personal investment in
any of the 8 projects voting on
what they think is the best.

Photo by Tyler Meuter Student Publication

SAA displays the 2014 Gift to Tech Klemis Kitchens sign. This
year, the Gift includes 8 unique projects for students to vote on.

FREE MOVIE & DISCUSSION

FEB

25

Clary Theater
Student Success Center
3:30-4:30pm

Discussion panel in the theater

4:30-5:15pm

Small reception just outside of theater

with posters created by student staff

5:30-7:30pm

Film showing
*Discussion after movie

**ADDITIONAL SCREENING AT THE HISTORIC ACADEMY OF MEDICINE ON FEB. 24 AT 6PM FOLLOWED BY

DISCUSSION AT 8PM, SPONSORED BY THE GEORGIA TECH STUDENT CENTER AND GT CAMPUS SERVICES.

GRAD

FROM PAGE 10

Another tradition, the shirt

tail parade, saw a line of students, mostly freshmen, weaving
through Atlanta while clutching
each others shirt tails with Five
Points as the destination.
He noted that the student body
had changed, explaining that you
no longer come to a place with a
frightened young boy just off the
farm trying desperately to stay out
of the military and go to Korea.
The turbulent era of the Vietnam War introduced a more
prominent strain of individualism into the student body, and the
influx of different cultural groups
reduced the homogeneity of the
then largely white male population.
In fact, the year of Dr. Schaffers entrance as an undergraduate
was the first to have female students admitted to regular classes.
Some things have remained constant, however.
As Dr. Schaffer explained, students have always had a distaste
for cafeteria food: People with
heads on their shoulders would go
over to Juniors and eat and enjoy
a good breakfast of eggs and pancakes, rather than going to Brittain, which served a pretty crappy
selection.
Though Dr. Schaffer is now
officially retired, he continues to
teach small courses in regional
and urban economics and the
history of economic thought. He
strives to contribute his wisdom
and knowledge to the student
body. It is no surprise that he continues to enjoy and practice teaching as he says, students are
what made my life.

presented by

TIPS

FROM PAGE 11

should still follow through on that

action. Even if you unfortunately
get turned down, your crush will
surely be flattered.
PLAN A FUN DATE
Instead of going with the typical dinner option, you should be
open to doing a fun date idea especially if your special someone
is particularly adventurous. Take
that person on the ultimate hiking
adventure at Stone Mountain (just
plan on a somewhat long drive) or
go to Skyzone to have a hopping
good time.
Near Techs campus, you can
plan on going to the romantic
Centennial Ferris Wheel although
the price may be on the steeper
side. You can also go to the Coke
Museum and try all the cokes together for a fun time. The french
bakery Amelies off of Marietta
Street is also a nice date place, as
you can try all the pastries.
STICK WITH A CLASSIC
When all else fails, you can always go with the classic Tech first
date at Caf Intermezzo. While
it may be a little bit pricey, the
dimmed lights and smaller tables
provide a romantic atmosphere for
you and your sweetheart.
Caf Intermezzo also has the
added benefit of having a variety
of options. With a wide selection
of cakes, crepes, drinks and desserts, you will not have to worry
about your date being unable to
find something they like. Just
know that the popular restaurant
will surely fill up for Valentines
Day, so it may be best to order
those tasty treats to-go.

Entertainment

technique

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Joe Murphy

ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR:

Kara Pendley

entertainment@nique.net

14

Friday,
February 13, 2015

Robot prepares to sweep future Grammys

TRISHNA CHANDARANA

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students at Tech are well-know

for their innovation in the areas
of engineering and computer science; however, there are some who
choose to do the impossible and
bring liberal arts into the mix as
well. Enter Mason Bretan, a Ph.D.
student at the Center for Music
Technology here on campus.
Bretan specializes in a brand
of artificial intelligence that seeks
to harness the mysteries of music
through the medium of robotics.
The robots he works with, nicknamed Shimon and Shimi, are
currently coded to create music
via improvisation and interaction
with their surroundings; the Technique was recently able to pose a
few questions to Bretan regarding
his past experience, his current
work and his hopes for the future
of music technology.
Technique: What made you
interested in combining music
and technology in the first place?
Is there someone or something
that was a big influence on you
and kind of led you to do research
in the subject?
Bretan: Growing up I loved
music and I loved science, but
they were always separate and
I had never really given much
thought about combining the two
fields until I started my undergrad
at UC San Diego. There is a large
music department at UCSD with
a heavy emphasis on music technology; in fact its home to many
notable names in the field.
I would attend performances

Photo courtesy of Mason Bretan

Shimon, the robot that Ph.D. student Mason Bretan is currently working with, represents a blend
of music and computer programming, and undoubtedly opens new doors in the world of A.I.

and see these great musicians using computers to create systems

that could automatically respond
to them resulting in sounds and
timbres I had never heard before.
This completely changed my perspective on music and it really
opened my eyes to the aesthetic
possibilities that science and technology can provide to music.
So I started to explore this domain and as I began to become
more familiar with higher level

computer science, signal processing and acoustics concepts I decided that there was still so much
to learn and explore within music
technology, so I applied to grad
school. And now Im here at the
Center for Music Technology at
Tech, and Ive enjoyed every moment of it!
Technique: What ideas led to
the creation of Shimon and your
other robots?
Bretan: Robotic musicianship

two groups, occasionally favoring

the newcomers.
Doing the same thing for the
sixteenth year in a row tends to
bore, even taking into account
the occasionally varying actors in
each role. This years rendition of
the timeless tale of doomed love
saw the return of most of the 2014
cast, including the leading actors
Nick Arapoglou and Annie York
Hester.
As is the case of any production
worth its salt, the players involved
are most certainly worth mentioning. From enamored to depressed,
hopeless and suicidal, Hester does
a fantastic job portraying the
range of Juliets emotions. In Addition, Arapoglou complements
Hesters performance, and the
two depict their characters illthought-out love as though it were
true. However, while the two are
fine actors and played their parts
with gusto, their rendition of the
two woefully tragic characters
was not as entertaining as it could
have been.
Since it has been shown so
often at the Shakespeare Tavern
and is one of the Bards most wellknown plays, it is difficult to find
someone who does not know how
Romeo and Juliet ends. Much of
the fun of plays, and of stories in
general, is following the action or
lack thereof that leads to a surpris-

ing, or at the very least unknown,

conclusion. Since the entertainment value of an unknown ending has been taken away from this
particular play by time, it is left
with the talent of the actors and
little else to make it an enjoyable
and worthwhile experience. Sadly,
as good as the actors are, they are
not so good as to be able to make
Romeo and Juliet entertaining
for those seeing it for the third or
fourth time.
Perhaps if there were fewer
points in the plot where the
viewer can see how to avoid the
disastrous end watching Romeo
and Juliet again would be more
pleasant. Pointing out these alternate paths could be entertaining
in itself, but after exhausting the
options and knowing the play will
not change its centuries-old ending, the viewers are left with yet
another rendition of a senseless
couples downfall.
For those who managed to
graduate high school without
reading Romeo and Juliet and
have not been curious enough to
learn the story on their own, this
is perhaps one of the better places
to see the play for the first time.
This is mostly due to the Taverns
adherence to original practice:
they use the unmodified script
from Shakespeares time and the
actors do not acknowledge the

in general combines two ideas,

namely musical mechatronics
which focuses on construction of
sound producing mechanics, and
machine musicianship which focuses on developing algorithms
and cognitive models representative of various aspects of music perception, composition and
theory.
By creating robots capable of
understanding and generating
music we hope to supplement and

enrich the musical experience for

humans in a way that would not
be possible from only human-human musical interactions. Computers and robots are capable of
doing things humans arent and I
and other researchers in the field
believe there is artistic potential in
these non-human characteristics.
Technique: What kinds of
things are you currently working
on? Is there still more progress you
hope to make with Shimon?
Bretan: Theres still plenty to
do with Shimon, Shimi and in the
field of robotic musicianship in
general. Recently Ive been working on a generative system for
robot musicians that allow them
to think about their embodiment and physical constraints
when making musical decisions.
I call it musical path planning
and it works by jointly optimizing
for the robots physicality and its
musical knowledge and goals. Actually, part of the reason I made
my video was to demonstrate my
implementation of this idea in action.
Recently our group has also
been focusing on wearable robotics and how we might be able to
augment human ability with additional limbs and learn how the
augmentations can influence the
music.
There are plenty of challenges
in this and our first prototype was
built for an amputee drummer.
We had some success and some
nice musical results and now we
want to go a step further and see
if an additional drumming arm
See SHIMON, page 17

Tragic love story sets the mood for Valentines

SHOWS

Romeo and Juliet

DIRECTOR: Matt Felten
PERFORMER: Nick
Arapoglou, Annie York Hester
LOCATION: The New
American Shakespeare
Tavern
DATE: Feb. 5 - Mar. 1

OUR TAKE:

JAMIE RULE
STAFF WRITER

Since the year 2000, The New

American Shakespeare Tavern has
shown the ever-popular Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet
every February. This is only logical, since people tend to enjoy seeing the tragic story of two senseless teenagers around Valentines
Day. Of course, this dedication to
the star-crossed lovers creates the
problem of doing a play altogether
too often.
Before some plays, the audience is asked if they are return
patrons or if this is their first time
going to the tavern. For many
plays, the returners far outweigh
the newcomers. For Romeo and
Juliet, however, the audience is
about half and half between the

Photo courtesy of The Atlanta Shakespeare Company

In this rendition of the famous tragedy, the chemistry between

the leads is palpable, but the story is regrettably predictable.

fourth walls existence, reacting

to the audience if the fancy strikes
them.
There are, however, plenty
of other plays to see, both at the
Shakespeare Tavern and elsewhere, so it is probably best to stay
away from the overdone classic,
Romeo and Juliet, which will be
performed until Mar. 1. Starting
Mar. 5, the Shakespeare Tavern
plans to perform The Winters

Tale, a little-known work by the

Bard which should be a nice reprieve from the familiar Romeo
and Juliet.
Also, later this year, the Tavern
has plans for performing Taming
of the Shrew, Merchant of Venice and Coriolanus, as well as
the non-Shakespearean play Our
Town, by Thornton Wilder; such
a lineup will surely attract a wide
range of viewers.

technique February 13, 2015 15

// ENTERTAINMENT

Phox lights up Terminal West with soulful tunes

CONCERT

How We Escape
Wisconsin Winters
PERFORMER: Phox
LOCATION: Terminal West
DATE: Feb. 11

OUR TAKE:

ALLY STONE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
This past Tuesday, Feb. 11, at
Terminal West, the up-and-coming band Phox charmed a friendly
audience with their alterative folk/
indie pop melodies. Hailing from
Baraboo, Wisconsin, the sevenmember group includes instrumentalists ranging from piano,
guitar, drums and trumpet to
shakers, banjo, recorder and ukulele.
Self-reported on their website,
the band is a gaggle of goofy wizards performing minor illusions
and big-top music, and although
their music tends to fall in line
with the folk genre, they continue
to demonstrate their inventive
style with rock and electronic elements as well.
The instrumentalists are all
men (Matt Roberts, Zach Johnston, Dave Roberts, Matt Holmen, Cheston Van Huss and
Jason Krunnfusz), and provide
background vocals and harmonies
for Phoxs lead singer: the sweet
and effervescent Monica Martin.

Phox is not new to the Atlanta

music scene, as they were part of
last years Shaky Knees Festival
line up and were headliners of a
summer show at the Vinyl.
The ages of the audience members at the Terminal West show
ranged from early twenties to
mid-thirties, and members engaged by swaying, foot stomping, singing along with the lyrics
or simply surrendering to the all
but hypnotic, soulful voices of the
band. Field Report, the openers
and close friends of Phox, set the
serene tone for the night before
the main act took the stage.
Phox performed songs from
their self-titled debut album that
was released last summer, including the crowd pleasing Slow Motion, 1936 and Kingfisher,
along with some songs from their
new album to be released later
this year. The songs are playful
and layered with lyrics that cover
family relationships, love and life
in Wisconsin, all with a nostalgic
underpinning.
Slow Motion was by far the
most recognizable and requested
song of the bands repertoire,
with its fun call-and-response
style of Martins voice, as well as
background whistling and instrumentation. It is evident from the
bands distinct energy that they
grew up together in Wisconsin
and even live together on and off
the road; the nerdy instrumentalists were corralled by their quirky
queen as they interacted with the
See PHOX, page 17

Photo by Ally Stone Student Publications

Phox lead singer Monica Martin led the night with her interactive stage presence; the band
is larger than most, allowing them to experiment with a combination of sound techniques.

16 February 13, 2015 technique

// ENTERTAINMENT

Computer-animated musical is strange indeed

FILM

Strange Magic
GENRE: Fantasy, Musical
STARRING: Evan Rachel
Wood, Alan Cumming
DIRECTOR: Gary Rydstrom
RATING: PG
RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23

OUR TAKE:

PATRICK BLACK

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Strange Magic is certainly an
experience. There really is no better description for this movie.
Directed by Gary Rydstrom
(who has only ever done sound design in movies before), this computer-animated musical is a reimagining of the Shakespearean
classic, A Midsummer Nights
Dream.
For a movie revolving around
fantastical situations and neverbefore-dreamed of worlds, the
main plot is pretty simple. There
are two kingdoms, one good and
one bad. The main character,
Marianne (voiced by Evan Rachel Wood, Across the Universe),
is about to get married, but she
finds out that her fianc is cheating on her and vows never to fall
in love again. Years later, her sister is kidnapped by the Bog King
(Alan Cumming, The Good Wife)
and Marianne ventures into the

Dark Kingdom to save her. Outside of this driving conflict, there

are various subplots that are unfortunately too convoluted to even
list here.
Despite any shortcomings
in the originality and flow of its
story, one of the more redeeming
qualities of Strange Magic is the
visuals. Suffice to say, the film is
definitely one of the nicest-looking animated movies to have been
released in recent months. Every
object pops with vibrant colors,
and the look of the film, while not
entirely unique in general style, is
pretty refreshing given the boundless opportunities of its magical
forest setting.
The voice acting is also pretty
good, as far as animated musicals
go. While the performances might
not be the most mind-blowing or
tear-inducing, the actors hit all the
right emotional notes, resulting in
a consistent level of energy and
emotion.
The ending of the film was fortunately one of its better aspects.
To avoid spoilers, nothing will be
said about it here, besides that it
takes a tired premise and puts a
more realistic, albeit small, spin
on it.
Sadly, the film has a lot of poor
qualities as well. As this movie is
a musical, one would think that
the songs would be good, or at the
very least catchy, but in actuality
they are quite terrible, a fact made
more unfortunate considering the
director has won awards in sound
design in movies like Toy Story and

Finding Nemo. The soundtrack

of the film consists of remixes
of songs popular throughout the
years, from Cant Help Falling in
Love to Stronger (What Doesnt
Kill You).
The first problem with the music is that the song selection is very
random. It has no cohesiveness
and seems to have little or nothing to do with what is happening,
with only a verse or two being applicable to the situation at hand.
The second problem is the fact
that the remixes of the songs range
from acceptable to downright awful; coupled with their poor use
in the movie itself, it makes for
a very disagreeable experience,
made worse by the fact that there
is singing throughout the entire
movie.
The story itself is thin. Other
than the ending, which is very enjoyable and actually pretty good,
the story is overwhelmed by clichs that bog down its overarching flow. Many plot points can be
seen from a mile away, making
most of the experience highly predictable.
Overall, Strange Magic is okay.
It falls flat in most places; the
story is predictable beyond belief
and the songs are downright bad.
However, because of some redeeming qualities in the visual effects, character and world design,
voice acting and ending, there
may be some value in seeing the
movie. As stated before, the movie
is an experience, but audience
opinion may differ.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Although Strange Magic does not lack originality in its character animation, its story and music leave viewers wanting more.

technique February 13, 2015 17

// ENTERTAINMENT

SHIMON

FROM PAGE 14

can be useful for an able-bodied

drummer.
Technique: What aspirations
do you have for the things youre
doing here at Tech what do you
hope will result from your work?
Bretan: I want to show the
world that robots and machines
can be used for applications other
than merely computation or completing tasks. I think they can also
be artistic, creative, and perhaps
even emotional. Often my research is met with some resistance
from purists who believe that
music making and art is a uniquely human activity and could never
be replicated by a cold, calculating, soul-less machine.
In my opinion, robots have the
potential to expand artistic creation just as other technologies
such as turn tables, the electric
guitar or digital audio workstations have influenced musical culture. Technology is a good thing
and creative people always find
ways of using it to enhance artistic
expression.
Technique: What kinds of real
world applications do you see for
your research?
Bretan: I think music is a real

world application, but the research

can also impact other fields. Extracting meaningful information
from an audio signal to create an
algorithm enabling improvisation
encompasses everything from signal processing, to machine learning, to cognitive science.
Music is also an extremely
time-demanding task, so a lot of
effort is made to make things efficient and run in real-time. Beyond the science that goes into
developing our robots, music is
also a domain that is shared and
enjoyed by billions of people, and
such ubiquity can be leveraged to
encourage people to engage with
robots.
I think we will be seeing social
robots become more integrated
into everyday life and robots that
demonstrate an understanding
and even enjoyment of something
that is so familiar to people can
help to establish trust and confidence in the new technology.
Technique: After you receive
your Ph.D, what do you plan on
doing?
Bretan: I dont know yet! Music technology and robots are both
big and growing fields right now
so hopefully there will be lots of
opportunity when I graduate.

Photo courtesy of Mason Bretan

Shimi, Shimons smaller companion, acts as a robotic personification of the desktop music experience used by many today.

PHOX

Photo by Brenda Lin Student Publications

Joan Chen helps Megan Tappan pin curl her hair; for a show
like Cartoon, the appearance of each performer is essential.

CARTOON

FROM PAGE 1

in the production. More importantly, enjoy how we break them.

Technique: Whats been the
most challenging aspect in preparing for opening night?
Foulger: This show is very
stylized and very technically intricate, so only having five days
to incorporate all of the technical elements into the production
was probably the most challenging. Between several feeds of
video, countless sound cues and
a few surprise special effects, we
had some real work ahead of us
to have everything work together
symbiotically.
Technique: What is something
about your experience directing
Cartoon that surprised you?
Foulger: I was surprised that
even though I have directed several shows by playwright Steve
Yockey over the years, I always
am surprised by his clarity of language and the way in which he is
able to dissect the human condi-

tion down to its basest level. He

is able to surprise the audience in
such a way that they have no idea
whats coming until they are three
steps past it and then they cant
stop it.
Technique: Whats the most
important aspect of a performances delivery to an audience?
Foulger: For this show, whats
most important about a performances delivery to an audience
is a commitment to the style. If
the actor or elements of the production seem out of step with the
style, it has the potential to pull
the audience out of the production.
Technique: What do you hope
audiences take away after watching the performance?
Foulger: I hope the audience is
able to question their relationship
with the media and with violence.
I hope they will understand the
importance of the word citizen,
question their role in our society
and explore how and when they
are able to make change.

FROM PAGE 15

audience between songs. The set

alternated between full band performances, solo work from Martin and her ukulele, and smaller
harmonies with two band members backing up Martin.
As any avid concert-goer
knows, the location of the gig can
make or break the performance;
fortunately, Terminal West was a
great venue for the band. The cozy
interior along with the indoor
balcony created an illusion of a
packed house, while still providing an intimate setting. A downside to Terminal Wests location is
that it borders train tracks, and at
one point Martin was interrupted
by a train. As a testament to the
level of enthusiasm present within
the crowded venue, this technical
difficulty did not have an effect
on audience engagement; on the
contrary, the audience was further
smitten by Martins flustered response for thinking the train was
some higher power suspending
her song.
A few other times during solos
and smaller harmonies, Martin
and her fellow group members
would stop and start again. Even
though at times this stuttered
structure lead to a lack of fluidity
within the set, the intimate setting allowed for the accidents, as
they gave the feeling of the band
having a small jam session for
their fans. Martins nerves were
apparent within her soft-spoken
conversations with the audience,
but her reserved style made her all
the more lovable.
Near the end, the band highlighted some of Johnstons music
from his side project under the
name Sonntag. Despite a weeknight show, Phox did not leave
anything back stage; Martin insisted on playing all of their material after a casual agreement with
the audience, which wanted more.
The band remained long after
the show ended, taking pictures
with fans and signing autographs.
Overall, the night was a harmonic
success; Phoxs tour continues
north through the summer, and
they can be seen at the Bonnarroo
and Coachella music festivals later
this year.

18 February 13, 2015 technique

SMBC BY ZACH WEINERSMITH

HARK! A VAGRANT BY K ATE BEATON

CLASSIC
FOXTROT BY BILL AMEND

// COMICS

XKCD BY RANDALL MUNROE

NEDROID BY ANTHONY CLARK

technique February 13, 2015 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 SUDOKUCOLLECTION.COM

20 February 13, 2015 technique

// SPORTS

Nathan Rakitt excelling with mens tennis

ALISON LAVERY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After a whirlwind of success last season, junior Nathan
Rakitt, from Marietta, Georgia,
is looking to have another recordmaking year. Rakitt is the No. 1
seeded player on Techs team and
is ranked No. 49 among NCAA
singles players.
Last year, Rakitt won the Bulldog Scramble in Athens. After
participating in the ITA Summer
Championship in Bloomington,
Ind., in 2014, Rakitt received an
invitation to the qualifiers at the
BB&T Atlanta Open. He held his
own at the open, but fell to Michael Shabaz.
Rakitt has become a favorite
in mens tennis at Tech, growing into an All-ACC competitor.
Rakitt saw losses in the first three
matches of 2015, but he turned it
around in the match against Furman, fighting for a win against
Adam Steryous in singles.
Rakitt, with his sophomore
doubles partner Cole Fiegel, also
saw success against Jacob Behal
and Stefan Rhodes. This season,
Rakitt has played doubles with
Fiegel and freshman Christopher
Eubanks.
In the match on Jan. 31, Rakitt
earned a singles win and a doubles
win with Fiegel against Eastern
Tennessee State University. He
also won his singles match against
Peter Bleach from the Citadel.
This year, Coach Thorne has
put together a solid lineup. The
team proved their strength in
their match last Saturday, going
6-1 against ETSU and 7-0 against
the Citadel.
The team is ranked 72nd in
the nation. Rakitt has high expectations for this season and

expects to improve that ranking

drastically.
I think this team, especially
since Ive gotten to school, is by
far the strongest weve ever had.
This year in our lineup, we have
four freshmen that came in. Michael [Kay] and Chris [Eubanks]
have been doing really well. Elijah
[Melendez] and Daniel [Yun] are
right outside of me, and theyre
ready to play, so everybody has
basically moved back in the lineup
because of those freshman which
is really exciting, Rakitt said.
Rakitt has been very impressed
with the work ethic of his freshman teammates.
A lot of times, freshman will
come in and expect to either not
play or play the bottom, but these
guys came in, and Chris is playing
two and Mikes been doing really
well in the middle of the lineup,
Rakitt said. I expect him to move
up as well, so I see us doing very
well. Our goal is to start with
the third round of NCAAs and
were definitely expecting to reach
that goal.
Success in the next few matches will be necessary to reaching
the NCAA tournament. Last Fridays match against UGA was especially lively.
All you need to say is fight.
Everybody knows that thats definitely the biggest match, Rakitt
said. You have just got to fight.
They are always tough, always
contenders for the national title,
always top five or top ten in the
nation. So thats definitely a big
challenge for us, but I definitely
feel like we have the right group
of guys who believe in themselves
as well as believing in each other.
Rakitt still has one more year
left in his collegiate athletic career.
He is majoring in Industrial

Photo by GTAA

In his time at Tech, Rakitt has developed his singles game to very high level and improved his doubles game each year. A career on a professional tour may be on the horizon.

Engineering but plans on continuing his success on the tennis

court after graduating from Tech.
I never really considered a
professional tour. I kind of came
here for academics and was planning on going into the business
world right after school, Rakitt
said. But I think last year I had
a pretty good year. Definitely
not the best that I can do I feel
like there is much more ahead of
mebut after last year and hopefully this year, I will continue to
improve, and I still have another
year after that. I feel like I could

go into the professional tour after

that. So thats the goal right now.
Rakitt might not have considered the professional tour at first,
but his performances here at Tech
tell a different story.
In his time at Tech, Rakitt has
developed his singles game to very
high level and improved his doubles game each year.
Not only is he a strong competitor, but also he endures on
the court. Rakitt knows how to
improve after losses, stay humble
after victories and to turn a match
around after getting off to a

poor start.
With all the makings of a competitor on the professional circuit,
Rakitt looks forward to continuing his tennis career beyond Tech.
He may not be the only one
from the team to make the proffessional circuit, as the freshmen on the team this year have
proven to have a high potential to
be great.
Tennis fans and followers can
look forward to Techs rising in
the national rankings with a dynamic lineup this year and in the
future.

22 February 13, 2015 technique

ALEXANDER RESSE

TRACK AND FIELD

NIKHIL VENKATESH
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Technique: Why did you

choose athletics?
Reese: I was always athletic
as a child. My parents offered [to
let] me to do it, and I accepted. It
turns out that I had a talent for
it. Since middle school, my little
brother helped me a lot as he had
a lot of connections with a club
team and a coach. The coach
trained me from then onwards till
high school.
Technique: How are you preparing for your next track meet?
Reese: The next track meet
is at Virginia Tech starting on
February 5th and will carry on
through the weekend. As far as
preparation goes, Im working on
turnover and speed work, and I
am hoping to run a 48 low. I have

// SPORTS

no idea what events, but I will be

taking part in either 400m open
or 4x400m relay.
Technique: Why did you
choose to run track and field at
Tech? How much did academics
play into your decision?
Reese: I chose it so I could get
the most of it. I got into a handful of schools, and Georgia Tech
was an excellent choice for me not
only for athletics but also for the
superior academics offered here.
Technique: Do you have any
advice for your peers on time
management?
Reese: I also had a problem
managing time at first. But as
time went by, I got the hang of it. I
would always prioritize academics
over anything else. The training is
fixed, so you need to build around
it depending on what youre major
is. So just pick a quiet place like
the library, and put in a couple of
hours to focus on academics.
Technique: What do you plan
on doing after graduation?
Reese: I am looking forward to
getting into graduate school and
getting a graduate degree in digital media to further my dreams of
becoming a digital designer.
Technique: Do you have any
specific training regimes for the
different events? What is your
mental and physical training
process?
Reese: I dont have any specific training for different events;
its mostly mental preparation
for me. Its important to understand that youre not the best,
and that other people are training
just as hard as you. You want to
make sure that you personally are
trained the hardest. Its crucial to

Photo courtesy of GTAA

Tech sprinter Alexander Reese has been running track since he was a kid. He chose Tech
for both its academics and athletics and hopes to go to graduate school for digital media.

be in the zone and stay confident.

If youre not mentally prepared,
youre not forcing yourself to win
and stay ahead of the competition.
In terms of the physical aspect,
though, I like to keep my body
loose and well-stretched.
Technique: Who is your track
role model?
Reese: I really look up to Michael Johnson. He was the champion of the 400m dash and the
200m dash. I wanted to be just
like him, his running style and
technique really impressed me.

Bad Design Atlanta

Competition Awards

The Georgia Tech student chapter of the Human Factors

and Ergonomics Society would like to congratulate the
winners of the 2015 Bad Design Atlanta Competition:
First place: Shaziya Tambawala. Holistic - A reporting
system for potholes and other pedestrian hazards
Second place: Jimmy Y. Zhong. Where am I at
Georgia Tech? A Closer Look at the Stinger and
Trolley Route Maps
Third place: Kristen Jeffares. A New Stairwell
An event hosted by HFES to recognize the winners and
discuss good human factors and ergonomics design will
take place on Tuesday, February 17th. The event will take
place from 5:30-7 PM in room 250 in the Coon building.
All are welcomed to attend and learn more about human
factors and ergonomics in the real world.
Additional information can be found at:
hfesgt.wordpresscom/

Technique: What was the

most memorable event you have
taken part in?
Reese: My most memorable
event was in the 2011-2012 season
when I was in my junior year of
high school. I ran the 200m and
the 400m Georgia State meet
events. I ran a 21.9 for the 200m,
the best in all of Georgia, and I
ran a 47.3 [in the 400m], winning
the 5A divisions.
Technique: What are some of
your hobbies?
Reese: I consider myself an

avid gamer and put my free time

into gaming. But if I have some
quiet time, I like to do some
drawing.
Technique: What are some
of your favorite spots to hang
out at Georgia Tech and in the
Atlanta area?
Reese: I havent actually explored Atlanta that much even
though Im a third year. I prefer to be on campus, and I feel
Tech Square is a nice spot to get
some nice food and hang out
with friends.

technique February 13, 2015 23

// SPORTS

Tech loses big lead, falls by 2 to VT

MICHAEL KENNY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The mens basketball team
traveled up to Blacksburg, Va.,
Monday to take on ACC rival
Virginia Tech. The Jackets have
been struggling against ACC foes,
so this was an important game to
win against a weaker ACC team.
After playing a hard-fought
game, the Jackets fell short and
lost a 10 point lead with three
minutes left. The Hokies hit a
late three pointer, and missed free
throws and opportunities plagued
Tech as they fell 65-63 to VT.
Forward Charles Mitchell
came off the bench for the Jackets
and led the team with 17 points
and eight rebounds. Mitchell has
played a key roll in scoring for the
Jackets and has done so all season.
He provided a spark off the bench
that the team needed during this
tough road test.
Marcus Georges-Hunt played
a solid game for Tech, adding
11 points and five rebounds of
his own.
Techs shooting woes continued in this game. The Jackets shot
37.7 percent from the field, below
their already subpar 41.5 percent
on the season. Their three point
shots were off again in this game
with the Jackets just four of 19
shots behind the arch. For a team
that has not shot the three ball
well all season, 19 shots were a lot
to take.
The Jackets were able to outrebound the Hokies, 39-27. But it
still would not be enough to get
them past VT.
Tech found themselves down
early in the game thanks to some
turnovers. After the first five minutes of the game, the Jackets were
in a 14-2 hole.
However, their luck would
change in the next five minutes.
The Jackets went on a key 9-0 to

MENS TENNIS
The Tech mens tennis team
lost 4-3 to the No. 4 ranked
Georgia Bulldogs. Even though
losses are never good, the Tech
mens team will undoubtedly go
up in the rankings from the their
No. 75 spot. Freshman Christopher Eubanks was the big star of
the match as he beat the No. 11
singles player in the country and
earned himself the No. 50 spot in
the current singles rankings

Trevor White Collegiate Times

The Jackets continue to rely on Marcus Georges-Hunt, seen here defending VTs Jalen Hudson.
He was on the court for 37 minutes in the 40 minute game, scoring 11 points in the process.

bring the score within one halfway through the first half. Tech
would go into halftime up 31-26
due to some great defense down
the stretch.
After multiple attempts to
pull away, VT stayed within arms
reach of the Jackets. Tech managed to build a seven point lead
midway through the second half,
only to see it erased after the Hokies came back from a timeout.
It appeared that the Jackets
were ready to put this game away
late as Tadric Jackson sunk a huge
three to put Tech up by ten with
only five minutes left in the game.
However, the Hokies would not

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go away easily, though. VT made

multiple crucial baskets down
the stretch.
With only 20 seconds left in
the game, VTs Malik Muller
nailed a go-ahead and, ultimately,
game-winning three pointer to
put the Hokies up by 1 and give
them their first lead of the half.
After a great defensive first
half, the Jackets fell apart in the
second. That did not go unnoticed
by head coach Brian Gregory.
Our defense was awful in
the second half. We didnt guard
the dribble well. We took away
their three, which was a big part
of the game, but they got to

the free throw line. They didnt

make a ton of them, but we had
some missed coverages. Gregory
said after the game courtesy of
ramblinwreck.com.
We wanted to take the ball
to the basket. Its a tough, bitter
pill to swallow. But we wanted the
ball in Marcus [Georges-Hunt]s
hands. Hes our go-to guy. Thats
whos going to win the game for us
in the end. Gregory said.
The Jackets would fall to 11-13
on the season and 2-10 in ACC
play. Tech hosts the Florida State
Seminoles this Saturday at McCamish Pavilion, followed by
Clemson on Monday night.

SOFTBALL
The softball team began their
season over the past weekend in
Boca Raton, Florida. losing all five
of their scheduled games in the
FAU Tournament. They pitched
well, but were not able to score
many runs. They hope to turn
their fortunes around this weekend when they travel to Florida
State to compete in the FSU Unconquered Invitational.
TRACK AND FIELD
The mens and womens track
and field teams fared well at the
Virginia Tech Elite Meet. Both
the mens and womens 4x800
meter teams finished in second
place, with the womens team
setting a school record. Several
Jackets also set personal records in
their events.
WOMENS BASKETBALL
The womens team lost a close
game at home to No. 25 Syracuse
on Sunday, dipping their record to
4-6 in the ACC and 14-10 overall.
Sophomore Kaela Davis led both
teams with 18 points.

Sports

Heartbreaker

SPORTS EDITOR:

Mark Russell

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR:

Joe Sobchuk

sports@nique.net

technique

Men's basketball takes a big lead on

Virginia Tech before losing it in the
final minute.423

24
Friday,

February 13, 2015

2015 TECH BASEBALL PREVIEW

OVERVIEW
All but one of the Jackets top nine batters from last years ACC Championship
team will be returning to the lineup this
year. Combine these returners with a few
solid performances by freshmen over the
fall, and the team is looking like a strong
candidate to contend for the ACC crown
and in the NCAA tournament once again.
INFIELD
The Jackets defensive strength is best
seen in their infield. The team turned 77
double plays last season, which led the entire NCAA and set a new school record.
Three out of the four starters from that
unit return this year in senior first baseman
Thomas Smith, sophomore third baseman
Brandon Gold and sophomore shortstop
Connor Justus.
Smiths .301 average and 36 RBIs made
him one of the Jackets best players last
year, and his .996 fielding percentage and
.392 on-base percentage led the team.
He will most likely stay at first base
but may move to second to make room for
freshman Kel Johnson. Johnson lit up the
White and Gold Series over the fall, hitting
7-for-10 with five runs batted in. He is a
versatile player and could instead see action
in the outfield or in the designated hitter
position. Senior A.J. Murray could also see
time at first, as the slugger will bounce between first, catcher and DH.
If Smith remains at first, freshman
Wade Bailey will begin the year in Hydes
spot at second base. He hit well this past
fall, going 6 for 11 with a homer, two RBIs,
and three runs scored.
Justus has shortstop on lockdown after
a strong freshman outing in 2014. He was
dependable in clutch situations, hitting
.400 with the bases loaded, scoring five
game-winning runs, and driving in an ad-

ditional five game-clinching RBIs.

Golds strength is in his glove more so
than his bat, but he has worked this offseason to improve at the plate. He will be
backed up by freshman Blake Jackson,
while junior outfielder Matt Gonzalez
could also see action at third.
Sophomore Arden Pabst will start the
majority of games at catcher after splitting the role with Mitch Earnest last year.
While he batted for only a .217 average in
2014, he has a lot of value in the field. His
16 runners-caught-stealing was second-best
in the conference.
OUTFIELD
The entire starting outfield from last
yearsenior Daniel Spingola, junior Matt
Gonzalez, and sophomore Ryan Peurifoy
returns for this season.
Sophomores Keenan Innis and Cole
Miller will also earn some starts in the outfield this year.
Spingola led the team in batting average (.319), slugging percentage (.451), hits
(82, leading the entire ACC), triples (8, also
the conference leader), stolen bases (15) and
runs (45). Once again, he will be Techs
leadoff hitter and will be very influential
both defensively and offensively.
Gonzalezs .314 average and 80 total
hits were not too far behind Spingolas, and
his team-leading 37 RBIs was one better
than Spingolas 36. His nine outfield assists
ranked fourth in the nation, which is even
more impressive considering he started several games in the infield. Gonzalez has the
potential to be Techs best overall player.
Peurifoy is also strong in both aspects
of the game, notching seven outfield assists
and hitting .296 in 2014.
Overall, this outfield corps is one of
the strongest in recent Tech memory, and
could be the most productive in the ACC.

OVERVIEW
Several key pitchers are gone from last
year but the good news for the Tech pitching staff is that they return their top two
starting pitchers from last year and several
more experienced pitchers. The bullpen
will have several spots to fill, but overall,
the starting rotation has potential to be as
strong as ever.
The Jackets will face some tough competition this year and with their young and
improving lineup, if their pitchers perform
to the level of last year, Tech could go a long
way this season.
Tech is currently ranked in the top 25
by some outlets, but the goal of the team
will be to advance to a super regional
this year and to play in the 2015 College
World Series.
STARTING PITCHERS
Redshirt senior Devin Stanton was
Techs top performing pitcher last year.
Stanton had an phenomenal ERA of 2.24
in 76.1 innings. He struck out 57 opponents and held the batters to an average
of .245.
Stanton had the teams lowest ERA, but
current sophomore Ben Parr had one of the
best freshman pitching seasons in Tech history last year.
Parr started off in the midweek rotation
spot, but after dominating the competition,
he became a weekend starter. Parr posted a
terrific 2.62 ERA in 65 innings. Parr also
tallied 52 Ks, and had the best K/9 ratio
on the team.
Junior Jonathan King returns from a
shoulder injury from last year. Through
four appearances, King had a 1.96 ERA
in 18 innings pitched. Unfortunately, he
would not pitch again after his fourth start
and spent the past year rehabbing from
Tommy Johns surgery.

Now returning for his third year, King

and Tech are hoping he can replicate last
years hot start and continue to make improvements through the season.
Senior Cole Pitts is also recovering
from Tommy Johns surgery and is in the
running to start this year once he is fully
healthy. In four starts last year, he posted
a 3.18 ERA.
Stanton has undergone that surgery as
well and has been helping Pitts through the
process. It is still uncertain if Pitts will recover soon enough to be ready for the start
of the season or what kind of season he
will have.
RELIEVERS
After losing their top two relievers,
Dusty Isaacs and Sam Clay, and starting
pitchers Matthew Grimes and Josh Heddinger, expect to see some new faces making an impact this year for the Jackets.
The closer and setup roles are unknown
and only two returning pitchers have recorded a save, King (expected to be primarily a Starter) with two and sophomore Zac
Ryan with one.
Manager Danny Hall is uncertain of the
bullpen situation, and it may be a role by
committee for the time being until someone separates themselves from the group.
Pitching coach Jason Howell is expecting Ryan, sophomores Ben Schniederjans,
Matthew Gorst and Tanner Shelton to
play big roles coming out of the bullpen
this year.
Freshman Jared Datoc, Cory Pope and
Daniel Gooden will have a chance to pitch
out of the bullpen as well.
It will be a monumental challenge to replace the roles of Isaacs and Clay but the
coaches and players are confident going
into this season. Their first test will be this
weekend at home vs. St. Johns.