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New Director of Security hired

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Frank Iannone was hired as the newest director of security on Feb. 28, but will not begin working until April 1.

Iannone was the director of college safety and security at Ocean Community College in Toms River, New Jersey.

The former director of security, Kevin Graham, retired on March 1 of this year.

Due to Iannone accepting the offer the day before Graham officially retired, Iannone gave his current employer a 30-day notice before coming to Florida Tech.

During the month of March, Security Lieutenant Barry Cobb has taken over most of the director responsibilities.

Cobb said he has accepted the responsibility of running the security department until the new chief comes in.

He said the biggest difference between his new responsibilities and those of his normal position is “the day-to-day decision making.”

“Before, I was kind of the behind-the-scenes guy,” Cobb said. “I would help Kevin [Graham] make decisions on what we should or shouldn’t do, where now it falls solely on me.”

Cobb said he had no input in who would be hired as the next director but said he wouldn’t have wanted any and is excited for the new director.

“New blood’s always good,” Cobb said. “Come in with some new ideas and hopefully they’ll all be positive for everybody in the university.”

After Graham announced his retirement earlier this year, Chad Shoultz, vice president for facilities operations, headed the search for finding his replacement.

After Human Resources filtered through all of the applicants, a list of about 60 prospective replacements was given to Shoultz.

This initial process by HR was intended to eliminate all applicants that didn’t reach their minimum requirements, according to Shoultz.

From there, Shoultz created a panel that included himself, the dean of students and associate vice president for student affairs, Robert Bowers, and assistant vice president of business and retail operations, Greg Graham, to help narrow down the candidates.

Shoultz said the reason he chose Bowers and Graham was because they have both had a lot of experience with the security department and it was important for both of them to be represented on the panel.

Bowers said in hiring processes like this “they usually select a panel based on people’s involvement directly with that particular position.”

The panel was able to narrow the list down to 10 candidates that stood out based on their resumes and how they fit the open position job description.

According to Shoultz, the panel was able to narrow the candidates down to five that separated themselves through their work history and experience.

After interviews with the five candidates, the panel decided on three finalists that would each have a full-day interview at Florida Tech that Shoultz called more thorough and in-depth.

After the in-person interviews, on Feb. 28, Iannone was hired as the newest director of security.

According to Schoultz, the thing that separated Iannone from the other finalists, who Shoultz said all “could have done the job and done the job well,” was his excitement for the position.

Shoultz said the job opening was posted on Dec. 1, 2018, but it took longer than expected for the hiring process to be finalized.

“My timeline was a bit of an aggressive timeline,” Schoultz said. “When you’re factoring in the holidays and coordinating the panels.”

Iannone is set to begin at Florida Tech at the beginning of next month.

Graham had been the director of security for the past 15 years.

Geneva show highlights electric vehicles

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The Geneva International Motor Show is one of the world’s most important auto shows in the first half of every year.

This year’s event, which began March 7, kicked off with an arrangement of new model launches and the latest concept cars.

The 2019 GIMS theme seemed to be electric, hybrid and high horsepower automobiles.

The event debuted some of the world’s most powerful and expensive production vehicles.

Beyond the outrageous cars for the ultra-affluent, the show also displayed mainstream cars aimed the global market, although many of the cars may not make their way to North America anytime soon.

Boasting the world’s most expensive production car is the The Bugatti Voiture Noire, for which the buyer paid $18.5 million.

It’s a one-off luxury touring car with an 8-liter quad turbo W16 engine with 1,600 hp (100 hp more than the $3 million Bugatti Chiron).

That should be good for driving it well past the Chiron’s 261 mph (420 km/h) top speed.

Bentley also represented well, regaining the title of World’s Fastest SUV, according to a Bentley press release.

After achieving this with the 2016 Bentayga reaching a top speed of 187 MPH the Lamborghini Urus then achieved a top speed of 189.5 MPH.

The British automaker says its new all-wheel-drive Bentayga Speed SUV can reach a top speed of 190 miles per hour, which just barely edges out the Lamborghini Urus.

Both SUV’s start around $200,000. Mazda has revealed the CX-30 SUV. Sizewise, it fits midway between the CX-3 and the CX-5 that, on their own, were 50 percent of Mazda’s 2018 US sales.

The CX-30 could reach the US in late 2019 or 2020.

The Honda Urban EV has now been revealed under the new name “E Prototype.”

The new Honda Urban EV, named as E Prototype for 2019.

The E Prototype sits on a new, dedicated platform for electric vehicles.

Honda claims the car will be capable of 120 miles on a single charge but hasn’t confirmed the size of the on-board battery.

A single electric motor on the rear axle drives the car, but Honda has yet to issue any performance figures.

Project leader Kohei Hitomi indicated the E Prototype will not be a budget vehicle.

In an interview with AutoExpress, he said, “Cost is an important factor. Look at the iPhone: They are not cheap products but still everybody wants them.”

“The high cost has a justification,” Hitomi said. “It is full of practicality and performance – we believe the same of our electric vehicle. We do not want to provide a low-cost product.”

With the majority of the world’s premier automotive manufacturers representing themselves with many new releases, there were a few manufactures missing from the line up: Ford, Jaguar-Land Rover and Volvo were a few of the absent.

A Ford spokesperson explained to Autocar that they “looked at all the things we had to do in 2019, and we’ve got a lot of stuff coming.” The spokesperson said the Geneva showcase timing didn’t “meet their requirements.” “

Rather than go to Geneva with relatively small news, we would rather do something later that would give us more bang for our buck,” the spokesperson said. “I don’t anticipate this will be a regular thing, though.”

As for Jaguar-Land Rover, they are going through a bit of a stagnant period due to the tariffs in China.

A spokesperson explained to Autocar, “We are implementing a turnaround plan and taking all the necessary steps to rejuvenate our business especially in China. This involves working closely with our sales network and balancing production with demand in the present market conditions to achieve healthy development for our future that is not unduly dependent on incentives.”

The 88th GIMS will continue until March 17, with auto enthusiasts anticipating a successful year for powerful electric vehicles.

Director of Security set to retire

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After 15 years as the Director of Security for Florida Tech, Kevin Graham is retiring at the beginning of March.

Kevin Graham has served as the Director of Security at Florida Tech for the past 15 years. Photo by David Thompson.

Graham said his reason for retiring is because he thinks it is time for “new blood.”

“If you want to grow, it’s time to have someone else come in with new ideas, new experiences, to make sure that it continues to make this a safer university,” Graham said.

Graham said when he first got hired at Florida Tech, security had antiquated equipment and non-trained officers.

He said that he takes pride in how far the security staff has come since he took over.

“The officers do a tremendous job,” Graham said. “Everybody knows security, we’re involved in most things that happen here now. The security officers have been accepted as professionals.”

Florida Tech’s Dean of Students, Rodney Bowers, said he has worked with security regularly since he began working at Florida Tech in 1990.

“[Graham is] a great person, very passionate, concerned about the students, concerned about the safety of the campus and a very good person to work with,” Bowers said.

Bowers said when someone has reached that milestone in their life when it is time to retire, it is “well deserved.”

“I’m very proud of him,” Bowers said. “I’m proud of what he has done and what he’s accomplished.”

Florida Tech Alumnus and current Clemente Center employee, Thomas Rochester, said he’s noticed that security has become more personable and friendly since he started at Florida Tech in 2010.

Rochester interacts and works with security regularly as a Clemente Center employee.

“The officers are all laid back in demeanor while still maintaining professionalism when a situation arises,” Rochester said. Rochester also called Graham “one of the funniest guys on campus.”

“He is dry witted and prefers cracking a few jokes to ease the tension that comes from his imposing demeanor,” Rochester said.

Graham also attributes a lot of security’s improvements around campus to the beginning of carrying firearms on campus.

“Since the day we were armed, the issues we’ve had with people have diminished greatly,” Graham said.

In order to carry firearms on campus, Florida Tech’s security needed to become both D and G certified, according to Graham.

D certification is working as a security employee unarmed and G is certification to be armed as a security member.

After 43 years of being in law enforcement, Graham said his next venture is “to be determined.”

He did say that he is open to suggestions and has been teaching part-time for 30 years now.

“Being here at the university is a big responsibility,” Graham said. “I am truly proud to say I worked at Florida Tech.”

New Gleason policy “aims for fairness” across campus

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A year ago, Florida Tech implemented a policy that requires all groups on campus to pay for use of the Gleason Performing Arts Center auditorium.

According to Jeffrey Richardson, the assistant manager of Gleason, the payment is used to compensate workers.

“It isn’t a charge for the building,” Richardson said. “It’s a charge for our student workers, or our workers in general, to be present to take care of the equipment and to take care of the building for whatever that may need.”

During regular Gleason operating hours, Richardson said the use of the auditorium is free.

After hours, those using the auditorium are required to pay $20 per worker per hour.

William O’Steen, the manager of Gleason, said the cost is dependent on how many workers are needed for an event.

Some events will cost groups far less than others.

For example, an event where one person is giving a speech takes fewer workers than a concert.

“Depending on the event is how many support staff we’ll have in the building at the time, which will fluctuate the cost,” O’Steen said.

Both O’Steen and Richardson began working at Gleason a little more than six months ago.

William “Billy” O’Steen and Jeffery Richardson are the managers of the Gleason Performing Arts Center. Photo by Emily Walker.

The policy was implemented about six months prior to their arrival, Richardson said.

However, he said at a student-leader luncheon soon after he began working at Gleason, President McKay brought up the policy.

“The president himself stood up and said, ‘This is how it is, period,’” Richardson said.

As time has passed since the policy was put into place, Richardson said he has noticed a misconception surrounding it during his time at Gleason.

“There’s a lot of kind of gray area where people talk behind people’s backs and say, ‘Oh, we have to rent the Gleason now,’” Richardson said. “And that’s kind of a weird misnomer that isn’t true. It’s not renting the building, it’s just paying for the students’ time after hours.”

While off-campus groups or companies requesting the use of the Gleason auditorium are required to rent it, Richardson said all groups on campus simply pay for the workers’ time.

One group that uses Gleason on a regular basis is College Players, Florida Tech’s student-run performing arts group.

According to Richardson, they use Gleason multiple nights a week and are Gleason’s number-one patron.

Harris Halabi, a junior in civil engineering, was the treasurer for College Players last year.

He is still a member of the organization, as well as an audio-visual technician at Gleason.

According to Halabi, College Players heard about the policy through the Conference Services Bureau.

“We heard about it pretty quickly because we had spaced lined up, and then we got some emails about it,” Halabi said.

According to Halabi, the Conference Services Bureau told College Players they had to pay for Gleason technicians when they held events, and the technicians could not be members of College Players.

These rules, according to Halabi, are not specific to College Players.

All organizations must pay for technicians to be present during events, and the technicians working cannot be a part of the organization using the auditorium.

However, Richardson said College Players has adapted to the policy change well.

Additionally, the Gleason team has worked with them to make the change as smooth as possible.

“They were very understanding of the policy once it was explained to them what the policy was,” Richardson said. “One of the things that is so nice about College Players is they’re very self-managed, so we don’t need to support their events very much other than having a student representative here in case there are any issues.”

According to O’Steen, people have been concerned about how the policy affects College Players, but he said it aims to be fairer to every group on campus than past policies.

“It wasn’t anything against College Players,” O’Steen said. “From what we were told, we were charging every group on campus to use our space as far as support tech goes, and it just became an issue of other groups not understanding why not all groups were paying.”

As College Players has worked with the changes, Halabi said it has been a learning curve.

“It’s been tricky, but we’ve made it work,” Halabi said. “I think personally there might be more work to be done, but that’s no longer up to me.”

Shelley Mitchell, the president of College Players, declined for an interview.

She stated in an email, “We have been working with this situation for a year now and have moved past any difficulties that came with it.”

College Players isn’t the only group Gleason works with.

O’Steen said he and the other staff members at Gleason work with every group to keep costs to a minimum.

“We cut costs as much as we can,” O’Steen said. “We have an event tonight—it’s a lacrosse documentary viewing. We’re doing all our setup while we’re all still in the building on the clock so they don’t have to pay for setup later. It cuts their costs down.”

While a lot of work is done during the time a group is using the auditorium, prep is done before a group arrives, and cleanup is done after they leave.

O’Steen said the staff at Gleason does what they can to get that work done during regular operating hours to help keep costs low for groups using the auditorium.

He said their main concern is working in a way that is beneficial to clubs with limited resources and helping make events great.

Halabi said despite the challenges College Players have faced, Richardson and O’Steen have worked with them to make the process less difficult.

“They have been super supportive in not just supporting College Players, but also all organizations and all events,” Halabi said. “They really want to make Gleason a central hub on campus, which is pretty great.”

Students researching high energy particle physics

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Sarah Arends, GEM Hardware, working on a component in the Experimental Physics Hall. Photo by Hohlmann Research Group

Florida Tech physics department keeps up with the latest technology as the Muon Tomography Station is utilized for detecting particles no bigger than an electron.

The group research is conducted by Marcus Holmann, a physics professor who also works with CERN over online meetings.

CERN is the European Council for Nuclear Research – in French it translates to “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire” – in which the acronym was devised.

CERN is the one the world’s most renown centers of scientific research and specialize with nuclear reactions, studying the behavior of individual particles and atoms.

The organization began in 2008, the same time the studies for Holmann and Florida Tech had been approved.

The similar studies here at Florida Tech examine the nuclear behavior of muons coming from high energy activity from elements such as uranium.

A muon is an unstable subatomic particle of the same class as an electron, but with a mass around 200 times greater.

Muons make up much of the cosmic radiation reaching the earth’s surface.

The building blocks of life and quantum theory are intertwined by understanding the fundamental behavior of the elements of life at their smallest component, we can better understand and predict the world around us and help us figure out relationships between particles and essentially interpret the universe.

The building blocks are defined in what’s called: The Standard Model of Particle Physics.

The Muon tomography station can detect particles of the same size as the Standard Model defines, and can read the spin and energy of the particle to decipher where it came from.

A scatter plot with many colors is depicted and read to determine whether the muon came from the sun, or from a different source of super high energy such as a particle accelerator, or nuclear compounds.

“I’ve been a fan of CERN and their YouTube videos since I began liking physics, and I’m really excited to be working on projects that closely relate to their work.” said Tommy Walker, junior physics major.

Muons happen naturally when a cosmic ray hits the atmosphere at a high energy and muons then get showered and dispersed.

The left plate inside the MTS picks up muons at a higher rate and varies while the right stays constant.

This means that muons decay in the middle of the MTS and did not originate from a large source like the sun.

“There are different types of energy from different reactions, and the direction of the energy can be used to find the mass.” Holmann said. “These machines are used and can catch people smuggling nuclear material.”

Detecting a muon also implies figuring out the angle from which it may have been deflected on, if there was lead to shield, it can be read by the scattering patterns in the 3D imaging detector.

The lab for MTS has been mainly under Holmann’s provision since around 2008 and received funding from the Department of Homeland Security for around four years, however not anymore.

Physics major Merrick Lavinsky, junior, was a part of the research group that was building the MTS during his freshman year at Florida Tech.

Lavinsky was one of five in a group, under professor Francisco Yumiceva, dedicated to building a machine they knew was an important facet to past and future research development bigger than the scope of only Florida Tech.

“We finished most of the project during my freshman year, but with the ongoing process of what had been put in before me and what we’re going to get after the project,” said Lavinsky. “We all knew it was on a big scale of importance with how accurate everything needed to be.”

At such a small scale of detection, the accuracy is very important to the success of the readings.

Tommy Walker, junior, is a physics major who currently works with the MTS in Holmann’s research.

“I had to check and make sure Dr. Holmann was okay about us talking about this,” Walker said.

Equipment used by the research team to help aid in the detection of muon particles. Photo by Seamus Burns.

The components of this material, such as many of the aerospace companies, have confidential research and information for their services that could be considered proprietary for companies; in some cases where research is on a global scale, they may not be allowed to talk about it so openly.

The research is highly prominent in further developing quantum theory as well as understanding fundamental nuclear functionality and exactly how dangerous it can be.

With connections to CERN, the prestige given to the pool of intelligence where this research is coming and going cannot be overstated.

Walker said, “The reason I joined is to use subatomic particles that an average person hasn’t heard of, to find hidden objects.”

Almost investigative, the research group aims at identifying exactly where and how a muon came from, thus by reading its position and scattering map with the tomography detectors.

Senior physics major, Akshath Wikramanayake said, “It would be nice if everyone shared the same enthusiasm for particle physics. I actually think Dr. Holmann was the reason for Consensus coming to visit our campus.”

Particle Physics rapper Consensus had visited Florida Tech and hosted a concert at the pantherium in November of last semester.

He was mostly swayed by the incredibly up to date science and research on campus, largely due to Holmann, said Wikramanayake.

The rapper focuses on spreading the message of science and raps about quantum theory and particle physics.

The research group hopes to continue bringing awareness and interest into the program.

New bike rack location receives criticism

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A bike rack was recently installed in the lower level of the Colombia Village parking garage, taking up two parking spaces.

The new bike racks have taken up two parking spaces at the Columbia Village parking garage. Photo by Marc Kenneh.

“We’re going to have to tear those out of the ground, I mean, it’s just dumb,” SGA president, Jace Petrowski said.

Mitchell Spalding, the chairman in charge of the Signature Programs Committee, said there was no consultation or discussion with students before the racks were placed.

Vinai Balroop, a freshman that lives in Roberts Hall, said, “It’s stupid, there’s already I high demand for parking in the garage and a lot of the freshmen that live around there have cars so I don’t know why they would take way two spaces.”

The only communication came in the form of a PSA from SGA Vice President Baylee Keener after the installation.

In the email PSA, Keener stated, “We have received many questions about the new bike racks in the lower level of the Columbia Village parking garage. Those bike racks are where the new bikes will be kept in order to keep them looking new and safe from any rust so that we can continue our bike program without having to keep buying new bikes.”

Petrowski, said that he is trying to see where the miscommunication was and that the racks weren’t supposed to be in a parking spot.

Spalding was responsible for the bike rental program.

“I didn’t advertise enough to students about the placement of the bike racks and I apologize,” Spalding said. “Hopefully in the future, should they be moved or should there be a petition for them to be moved, I’ll be willing to hear ideas from students about where to move them.”

Spalding said that it was cheaper and easier on the SGA’s budget to put the new bikes under the garage, rather than buy an awning for the old uncovered racks.

Rayne Parker, a transfer student also living in Colombia Village, said, “I feel like they were unnecessary. They could have definitely found better placement.”

Aside from the controversial placement of the bike rack, the program seems to be doing well otherwise.

“They are available for students to rent for free. We’ve actually rented out about half already in the first two days of its creation,” Spalding said. “In our agreement with Infinity Bike Shop, the bike shop will come out and maintain the bikes and give us discounts on replacement parts.”

The bikes are available to rent for free through a form on Panther Prowl.

Blood drive brings in life savers

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Taking place from Jan.30-31, the Florida Tech Blood Drive recently came and left with the life-saving blood that’d be shipped to hospitals all around Florida for transfusions.

OneBlood, the organization who sends out the Big Red Bus to collect blood donations, has a constant need for blood.

“There is a never-ending need for blood every day everywhere,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood’s senior executive of communication and public relations. “Less than 10 percent of the population donates when 40 percent is eligible.”

According to Red Cross Blood Services, “Only about three percent of age-eligible people donate blood yearly” but “less than 38 percent of the population is eligible to give blood.”

It’s because of this need that people like Arpad Marsh, a senior in forensic psychology [and fellow Crimson reporter], donates as often as he can for the last two years and every time the Big Red Bus is on campus.

“I know that it could possibly save someone’s life,” Marsh said. “The blood won’t just sit around. I know that it’s going to be put to good use.”

Blood collected from the Big Red Buses gets tested the night of collection, and after two or three days it is sent to hospitals all over Florida, Forbes said.

Forbes also said the OneBlood gets from 2,000-2,500 donations a day throughout their service area in Florida and parts of Georgia.

Forbes said that the amount of Florida Tech students that donate varies in the collection cycle. “Each drive is unique to in and of itself,” she said.

OneBlood sets up a donation event with Florida Tech around 56 days after the last one, which is the time it takes most people to recover from a previous donation and be in good shape to donate once again.

It’s because the donations happen so often that Bao Nguyen, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering, decided to seize the opportunity presented to him and donated for the first time on Wednesday, Jan 30.

“I feel okay,” Nguyen said. “It’s way easier than I thought.”

He described being nervous as he walked up to the Big Red Bus and signed in to give his blood for the cause.

“I felt anxiety not knowing what would happen,” Nguyen said. “But the people were nice and the procedure went perfect and you would feel okay afterwards.”

Nguyen also mentioned that he did this after finishing his classes for the day so he could relax and recover in peace.

As a piece of advice for new donors, Nguyen said to not look at the needle. As big as it may seem to you, it’s not that bad, he said.

OneBlood’s website has several requirements to be eligible to donate: you have to be in reasonably good health, have no prior conditions that would be aggravated by the procedure, no blood-borne diseases and to wait 12 months after if you get a tattoo and/or body piercing.

The next opportunity for students to give blood is listed on Florida Tech’s campus calendar for March 27 and 28.