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In Memoriam | George Maul, oceanographer and educator

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Stephen Pickrom | Staff Writer

George Maul, the beloved head of Florida Tech’s Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, passed away on Sept. 16. He was 82. 

Adam Lowenstein, director of media communications at Florida Tech, described Maul as an “oceanographer and educator with a disarming smile and limitless curiosity who made a profound impact on marine and environmental science programs at Florida Tech as a department head, advocate, fundraiser and speaker,” in an emailed statement to the Florida Tech community.

Maul first came to Florida Tech in 1994, and over the course of 26 years, supervised 250 undergraduate students and 15 faculty members in oceanography, earth remote sensing, ocean engineering and environmental science.

He also founded the undergraduate and graduate meteorology programs and the graduate earth remote sensing program, raising over $4 million in fellowships, scholarships and a professorship.

Maul published over 200 journal articles, books and technical reports on oceanography and meteorology, among the most recent being 2017’s “The Oceanographer’s Companion: Essential Nautical Skills for Seagoing Scientists and Engineers.”

Maul was an Eagle Scout for over 59 years, with the Boy Scouts being as important to his life as oceanography. Maul was awarded the National Eagle Scout Association’s Outstanding Eagle Scout Award in 2018, marking him as one of the top adult Eagle Scouts in Central Florida.

A number of Florida Tech faculty spoke of Maul in respect and admiration, including Rich Aronson, the department head of ocean engineering and marine sciences, working together to better the programs in which they were involved.

“My sweetest memory of him is a simple thing,” Aronson wrote, “I was driving onto University Boulevard on my way home one evening a couple of years ago and there was George, ever the Eagle Scout, picking up cigarette butts from Florida Tech’s grounds.”

Maul was named Florida Tech’s College of Engineering Teacher of the Year by the student government only three years after his arrival, and many other awards followed. 

These include but are not limited to the Faculty Senate Excellence Award for Teaching in 1998, the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2010, and the Faculty Senate Excellence Award for Service in 2015.

Funeral services were held on Oct. 3. The service was carried via Zoom and over Facebook Live, with attendance limited to Dr. Maul’s family and immediate friends. He will be cremated and his ashes buried in St. Sebastian’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church’s memorial garden.

Drone club kicks off the new semester

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Florida Tech’s resident drone club soared into the public eye as it hosted its first meeting of the fall semester on Friday, Sept. 27.

The Florida Tech Drone Club was founded to “bring awareness, provide experience and to be able to get the tools that we need to have to use drones to their full efficacy,” according to Nathaniel Bouchie, junior aerospace major and vice president of the drone club.

The club meets roughly once or twice a month and performs most of its other activities outside of its official meeting time.

These activities include drone building, racing and photography, but can span beyond those three categories for others interested in the club.

Furthermore, there are several opportunities for students who are interested in flying drones that are offered by the club as a whole and by its members.

The club has simulators that new flyers can practice on before piloting a physical drone.

They also have drones owned by the club’s members and by the university that can be used for events undertaken by the club, which include drones that use first-person view.

The club has taken steps to get involved in Florida Tech’s other clubs as well as in the community.

Robert Tonning, a junior in mechanical engineering and the current president of the drone club, said he enjoys flying because there are so many things that can be done with drones.

“I love the photography aspect with the Mavericks,” Tonning said. “You can race them, you can take pictures, you can map—there’s so many applications, so it’s a really good side hobby to have.”

The drone club had the opportunity to map out the animal sanctuary in Cocoa Beach last year and has considered going back, as it’s a good outreach opportunity for the club and its members.

The club also films some of the university’s athletics using drones, which included a soccer game last year.

The club wants to work with FITV as well to film an overview campus tour using their drones.

For those interested in drone racing, the student-led organization is looking to work with Eau Gallie High School to gain access to their hangar and to form a local drone racing league.

The club also encourages freestyle flying, using both line-of-sight piloting and FPV.

Eddie Torres, an experienced drone pilot from Homestead, Florida, described FPV freestyle flying as something incredible.

“It’s amazing,” Torres said. “The first-person view experience is something that everyone should try because you get the sensation of flying. You have the freedom of flight, being able to put yourself in places that you can’t [without a drone].”

The drone club is currently looking for new members.

Those interested in joining can find their meetings in Skurla, room 106 on Thursdays or on Florida Tech Engage.

The Lion King 2019 Review: The Pride of the Pack

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Official movie poster by Disney.

The latest addition to Disney’s collection of remakes is sure to leave viewers with no worries.

“The Lion King” roared into theaters on July 19, 2019, 25 years after the animated classic’s release in 1994. \

Furthermore, the film earned over $1.4 billion in the box office, but scored low with critics, with its highest score of 7.1/10 coming from IMBd.

The story features Simba, a young lion who learns that he will eventually grow to rule the fictional African kingdom known as the Pride Lands.

His uncle, Scar, is jealous of the prince and his brother, Mufasa.

He attempts to have the future king and the prince’s betrothed exterminated by hyenas.

Scar assumes the throne after assassinating Mufasa and exiling Simba, permitting hyenas to mingle in the Pride Lands with the lions and all the other animals.

Growing up in a large desert oasis with adoptive “uncles” Timon and Pumbaa, Simba must remember his true place in the world and take a stand against those who don’t belong.

In my eyes, the cast did an exceptional job recreating some of the emotion that was lost in the transformation to realism from 2D cartoon animation.

This loss of theatrics marks the main complaint of multiple critics. James Earl Jones performed an even better Mufasa than he did in 1994.

JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph played their roles of Young Simba and Nala quite well, and the same goes for Donald Glover and Beyoncé claiming Adult Simba and Nala, respectively.

The rest of the actors also did very well, with only one real exception being Chiwetel Ejiofor.

I do miss Jeremy Irons’ Scar. Ejiofor just didn’t evoke the same slippery, manipulative tones that Irons did in 1994.

I loved that some scenes were enhanced and new ones were included, such as Nala sneaking away from Pride Rock, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and especially the ending of the film when the hyenas change alliances.

The hyena trio played the comic relief role much better than they did in 1994, using a running gag over plain and simple slapstick, especially since slapstick isn’t exactly accomplishable using photo-realistic animals, as well as being a much more threatening presence due to the realism.

One thing that bothered me severely was the absolute butchering of “Be Prepared.”

As my second favorite number from the original, it felt like an insult that Disney treated the song the way that they did.

However, I will note that the 2019 version does have a much more menacing tone to it than the original.

Once I got over the shock of how different it was, the low, repetitive beats, the crescendo of the hyena’s chants, and Scar’s deeper, booming voice gave me goosebumps.

Overall, the film was pleasantly surprising in that it’s not as much of a disappointment as it could have been, like other live-action remakes by Disney.

For example, “Dumbo” from earlier this year deviated greatly from the plot of the original, adding many prominent human characters that did not exist in the film’s 1945 release.

Unlike that film, 2019’s “Lion King” reimagined a beloved story without relying on a new plot while giving the Disney classic a makeover.

At the end of the day, the movie told the story that it was supposed to and did the job fantastically.

I can only hope that future Disney live-action remakes can keep the same standard.

Missing Link Review – Get yeti for a wild ride

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Official movie poster by Laika

It can be difficult to blend in with the crowd for a lot of people…and especially for a Sasquatch.

Stop-motion animation studio Laika released its fifth feature-length film, “Missing Link”, on Friday, April 12.

The film has so far received 90% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $16.2 million in the box office.

Adventurer and mythical-creature-discoverer Sir Lionel Frost meets an intelligent Sasquatch while traveling in Washington State, whom he dubs Mr. Link.

Wanting to no longer live a solitary life, Mr. Link wishes to find his long-lost relatives located in a fabled valley in the Himalayas known as Shangri-La.

All the while, Frost and Mr. Link are being hunted by an assassin named Willard Stenk, hired by Mr. Lemuel Lint.

Throughout their journey, there are plenty of perilous situations and funny moments, and a special lesson to be learned about family and ambitions.

Both Hugh Jackman as Sir Lionel Frost and Zoe Saldana as Adelina Fortnight, Frost’s former girlfriend, play their roles well.

Zach Galifianakis as Mr. Link provides a great comedic touch to a film from a studio that is usually darker in theme, such as “Coraline” and “Paranorman”.

Mr. Link’s physical comedy and overly literal mindset make for a character that’s fun to watch and listen to, and his interactions with the film’s other characters are comedy gold.

The film took quite a few turns that I wasn’t expecting, and there were plenty of expectation-subversion moments that caught me pleasantly off-guard.

The quality of the animation was stellar, as always with Laika. The frames blend together so smoothly that sometimes it’s hard to tell the film was done using stop-motion.

If you look hard enough in certain scenes, you can see the ever-so-slight changes in the textures of the character’s faces in close-up shots, and it really is amazing, especially the amount of detail that goes into every character’s design and figure.

The film is not without a few faults, though.

The main conflict seems somewhat forced in that the antagonists try far too hard to prevent the protagonist from achieving their goals.

There were also a few moments where the characters got caught up in exceedingly ridiculous predicaments, and sometimes the physical comedy was a little too-on-the-nose.

I can’t say that “Missing Link” is as memorable as “Coraline” or as impactful as “Kubo and the Two Strings,” but Laika still put together a good feature film that takes a nice turn from the studio’s Goth-like trend.

I look forward to seeing what Laika does in the future.

Exam Jam and study habits

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CAB booth along with a bouncy house set up for Exam Jam on the Crawford greens.
CAB booth along with a bouncy house set up for Exam Jam on the Crawford greens. Picture by Stephen Pickrom.

Final exams are a consistent source of stress for college students across the nation. Students can sometimes begin preparing for final exams several weeks in advance.

One of the stressors is the unknown elements of final exams: the possibility that there may be material on the exam that wasn’t covered during the course.

Kenika Bouchelle, business marketing and aviation major, experienced this going into finals week.

“I always think that professors expect us to know more than what they’ve taught us during the semester,” Bouchelle said.

National trends show that students who repeatedly reviewed their course material and tested themselves regularly performed better overall in their course and on their final exams.

Indiah Cornish, a sophomore studying astrobiology, prepares for finals by reviewing past material for mistakes.

“I go through all of my past quizzes, all of my past tests, correct what I got wrong, and have all of those corrections down on a sheet, and then I go over them [separately],” Cornish said,

In addition, taking regular breaks is crucial to the way that Cornish studies.

“My breaks usually involve texting my friends and being like, ‘Oh my god, studying is so hard,’ and you get your encouragement back,” Cornish said. “Like ‘you can do it!’ Get yourself a support system that’ll cheer you on when you feel like you’re dying.”

Cornish said that she usually loses a considerable amount of sleep while studying for finals.

As one might guess, however, national trends sometimes don’t tell the whole story, as there can more unconventional methods of exam preparation.

For instance, Kourtnee Fernalld, a junior in computer science, has two very different ways of handling overwhelming work and studying.

“I have literally take my Adderall at 10 p.m. to stay up and finish code for an assignment and stayed up until 3 a.m.,” she said. “One time I was overwhelmed with my workload that I went to sleep instead of doing any of the work, because I couldn’t handle it.”

It’s evident that final exams put stress on all students in some way, Florida Tech provides a way to help.

On Saturday, April 20th, tents, students and inflatables dotted the grass of Crawford Greens as Florida Tech held its Exams Jam, sponsored by C.A.B.

Exam Jam is an event that helps students destress before final exams that featured several activities, food trucks and music. Exam Jam has been run annually for six years and has a similar but smaller counterpart, known as Test Fest, in the fall semesters.

Several tents were set up on Crawford Greens offering activities such as small arts and crafts. An inflatable bounce house and a rocking surfboard, similar to a mechanical bull ride, were also present.

Students looking to blow off some steam before finals should set a reminder for next spring, when Exam Jam make its return, or for Test Fest this fall.

“The Hidden World” keeps up the momentum in How to Train Your Dragon

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Official movie poster by Dreamworks.

They always say, the sky’s the limit – unless you’re a professional dragon rider, of course.

The grand finale of Dreamworks Animation Studios’ “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy landed in theaters Friday, Feb. 22.

It received a score of 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and earned more than $466.50 million in box office sales in less than a month.

In the final chapter of this story, Berk village chief Hiccup is intent on building a peaceful dragon utopia with his girlfriend Astrid and beloved Night Fury dragon, Toothless.

However, a mysterious female dragon draws Toothless away and is soon dubbed a “Light Fury.”

At the same time, a ruthless dragon hunter named Grimmel has his sights set on killing Toothless, the last living Night Fury.

With Grimmel on his tail and his civilization at stake, Hiccup must save his people and all of dragonkind and make a choice that will change the course of his life.

Once again, Dreamworks has put together a fantastic film that is sure to win hearts everywhere.

The “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise has been the most well-received that the company has ever produced.

The first and second films scored 98% and 92% Fresh and grossed $495.8 million and $621.5 million, respectively, averaging to 94% Fresh and totalling over $1.5 billion.

The story is phenomenal; it gave me everything that I expected out of it and so much more.

This film flawlessly depicts important lessons about love and coming to terms with loss.

Its comedy was also spoton: not too much, not too little.

Every joke landed and the typical potty humor overload in Dreamworks films was entirely absent, as with the first two films.

The ending of the film was perfect as well, and it connects the films to the real world in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

And of course, I can’t write a review on a “How to Train Your Dragon” movie without talking about Toothless.

Toothless continues to be one of the most loveable characters in animation, with his personality and mannerisms further exemplifying just how adorable he is.

Speaking of the animation, the quality of the graphics is astounding; the fact that you can see every little freckle on the characters’ faces and every individual hair and the roughness of each dragon scale.

Combined with the almost photorealistic water, you’d have to wonder if Dreamworks managed to borrow Pixar’s water guy.

My only complaint? That we most likely won’t get to see another fully-fledged film.

“How to Train Your Dragon” is, and always will be, one of the best animation franchises.

With three movies, multiple television shows, and tons of merchandise, it’s hard to see its popularity fading anytime soon.