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Florida Tech hammock club sets high hopes for next semester

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A pair of freshmen have recently been attracting attention around campus by setting up hammocks in popular public areas.

The most noticeable location has been over the wooden bridge by the botanical garden between the SUB and dorm quad.

Kellen Sappington and Stephen Minnick have put forth efforts to make an official club out of “hanging-out and posting-up.”

They initially set up under the bridge leading toward the Columbia Village dorms, but their time was short lived as security expressed safety concerns and put a stop to their social gathering.

Kellen Sappington and Stephen Minnick hangout over the wooden bridge. Photo by Seamus Burns.

There are some spots on campus where hammocks can be set up, but the two freshmen said they believe that with more activity and popularity within the potential club, more areas will surface where students can gather for activities, like spikeball and slackline.

“We have caught a bit of attention,” Sappington said. “It’s been mostly positive and supportive. A lot of people like to hammock, but getting enough people for a club to get started has been a bit difficult.”

Starting a club on Florida Tech requires 10 members, and gaining students commitment has been the largest roadblock.

Junior Ashley Letendre is president of the public relations club and said she understands what it is like managing a club in order to stay afloat.

“I can see how a club such as hammocking might be hard to manage,” Letendre said. “You would need to find somebody who is a part of school staff to help and support.”

Minnick said they haven’t gotten enough members yet to start trying to find a club advisor.

“Honestly, gaining publicity, enjoying the day and people watching is all we want to do for this semester,” Minnick said.

They have no plans on moving away from the main wooden bridge near the botanical garden.

“I wasn’t nervous or worried, but I can see how some students might be concerned or confused while walking under them,” Tyler Donahue, a freshman, said.

The two freshman plan to continue their tree-high antics into the fall semester and will also look further into becoming a club.

CAPS – The Triumph of the Overworked Panther

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Here we are again… Exam Season.

Right when we start to make plans for our wonderful summer break, we face one last hurdle for the semester.

Multiple choice, essays, fill-in-theblank…we know the drill.

It can be difficult to plan, especially when the very idea of a final exam may be anxiety provoking.

We all begin to get out our calculators to find the number that gives us that 89.5 %.

But there are other things we can do!

We can learn techniques and strategies to triumph over that test and get ready for the summer that awaits.

Some of the most common of these strategies can be remembered by using the following acronyms before, during, and after exams:

BEFORE – E.M.B.E.D. the material

EVALUATE

Manage your time so that you study areas you are less familiar with. Finding time specifically for studying will also help with procrastination and distractions.

MEMORIZE

There are many different ways to memorize material you’ve learned during the semester. Besides acronyms, you can use writing and repetition, flash cards, or using your imagination to create a link between the material and a particular visualized image.

BELIEVE

“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re probably right.” Perhaps use a morale-boosting mantra like “I can do this” or “I worked hard and deserve this” to recite while you’re studying and before the test begins.

EAT

Even during intense study sessions, it is important to consider your health. Eat a nutritious breakfast before the test and pack smart snacks for ongoing energy. Look for foods that offer complex carbohydrates, rather than simple sugars that will lead to a crash.

DREAM

Get a good night’s rest! You will retain more information with a full night’s sleep as opposed to staying up and cramming all night.

DURING – Push A.H.E.A.D.

ANALYZE

Don’t rush through! Read the directions thoroughly and read all answers before making a choice or beginning the essay. There is nothing worse than putting time into a question and realizing you are not solving for x, or the essay is off target. Slowing down can help you stay focused.

HAPPY PLACE

If you find yourself becoming frustrated, take a breath and relax. Repeat your mantra or picture yourself in an environment where you feel very relaxed and happy.

EARLY

Arrive early to your testing location! Feeling rushed will only amp up the anxiety. Pack everything you need for the exam the night before and set the alarm so you can leave on time.

ARTICULATE

Again, there’s no rush! Just because you see that first person turn their test in, doesn’t mean there’s need to panic. There’s no bonus for finishing first, so take your time to articulate your answers on an essay or make notes to help answer a multiple choice question.

DETERMINE

Just because the test starts with #1 does not mean that has to be your starting point. Familiarize yourself with the test content after you receive it, and don’t be afraid to skip questions and come back to them later. Determining your best strategy can help you not only manage your allotted time, but it may even help jog your memory for previous questions!

AFTER – Go to B.E.D.

BREATHE

Take time to relax! The test is over! Specifically, you may want to use our previously introduced method of: “5 second inhale, 5 second hold, 5 second exhale.” You can repeat this as many times as you need to feel calm and relaxed.

ENVISION

Even after the test is over, it is important to keep an optimistic outlook and envision success over failure. Many students can get anxious about certain responses they did or did not write, but remember that you studied and tried your best. Now it’s time to envision the grade you hoped for!

DEBRIEF

After receiving your grade, it may be helpful to debrief and consider what sections of the test you excelled on, and which you may need to work on in the future. This is also a good time to reflect on the effectiveness of your strategies while you were taking the test.

To get some more tips and learn about coping with exams and test anxiety, please join us at our “How to Prepare Like a Panther” event taking place on Wednesday, April 17th from 7:00-8:30pm in Evans Hall, Room 202.

Test anxiety is a common experience, and sometimes it can seem like your whole semester of work comes down to a single exam.

Remember, when you study and prepare, test taking is putting to paper what you already know.

We hope this article guides you Panthers in your studying endeavors and helps you triumph over this final trial!

Students form club to promote College of Business

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Students formed a club to run social media for Florida Tech’s Nathan M. Bisk College of Business this spring.

According to Kollin Upton, a senior studying business administration, the College of Business Social Media Team consists of about 10 students aiming to increase outreach and engagement to current and potential students.

Upton started the club and now serves as its administrator, meaning that he performs secretarial tasks and other “behind-the-scenes” work.

Upton said the group meets once a week to think of ways to promote the College of Business. The discussion and schedule revolves around events happening that week.

“We do things like student spotlights, or event spotlights, where we recognize events going on around campus,” Upton said.

He said that the student spotlights help appeal to prospective students by showing what current students are accomplishing.

Since the club’s formation, the members have created an Instagram account for the College of Business, floridatech_cob.

“It’s been about a month and a half,” Upton said. “Our Instagram presence has grown notably.”

He explained that the group began with a mass email to seek members. Interested students volunteered to participate, and Upton said the students continued with it because they enjoyed it.

The group includes international students and at least one nontraditional student, according to Upton.

He said that having members from different backgrounds helps provide different perspectives in their planning.

Upton says the group being mostly student-run allows for the content to be more relatable the student audience, since they are their own “target market.”

“Students know what students want,” he said.

The club is led by two student leaders. Upton said that having two leaders provides more than one “point of contact” for leadership duties.

Drew Bastian, a senior studying global management, is one of the club’s student leaders.

He said the club provides the students with marketing experience and a chance to use what they are learning, while giving them a say in how the College of Business is seen by others.

The group is working to gain followers on the College’s Facebook and LinkedIn.

According to Upton, the group has limited access to these pages, unlike the full access to the Instagram account.

Bastian said the club would like to improve the timeliness and accuracy of posts across these pages.

“The future plans for the group, currently, are to grow the social media presence of the [College of Business], and to eventually hand the group off to other students that are as interested in learning about social media and how it can help in business,” Bastian said in an emailed response.

He explained that the group does not currently have any other specific plans, but that he is “excited for the future.”

“With all the different backgrounds we have working on getting information and content made, I feel like anything can happen,” Bastian said.

According to Bastian, the club will be seeking new members in the fall semester.

Community mosque holds memorial for New Zealand shooting

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More than 300 people of various faiths gathered inside the Islam Society of Brevard County (ISBC) on March 23.

Buddhists, Catholics, Jews, Baptists, Muslims and others gathered to honor the 50 lives lost in the mosque shootings that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15.

Many leaders from the community such as a rabbi from Viera, a retired Brevard County judge and others attended to lead prayers and speak at the service.

Two community members holding signs in support. Picture from ISBC Facebook page.

Amongst those attending were Florida Tech juniors Natalie Tria, a forensic psychology major, and Bayan Saleh, a biomedical engineering major.

Both Tria and Saleh are members of the ISBC.

“It was truly a ceremony of cultural inclusion to demonstrate that the community can come together for a greater cause despite our differences,” Tria said.

After numerous prayers were said, the mosque invited people from the crowd to come forward and share their thoughts. Tria was one voice that stepped forward.

“I spoke because I wanted to let people know that I study offenders and criminals when they’re at their worst,” Tria said. “I stand by the motto ‘by the people, for the people,’ and I wanted them to know that there is hope, and there are others like me that want to make a change to try and prevent these tragedies from happening.”

The Atlantic reported that this was the worst terrorist attack to take place in New Zealand’s history, leading New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to react immediately.

Within six days of the shooting, Ardern was backed by legislative support from her country in banning all assault rifles within New Zealand.

In a live television announcement addressed to the nation, Ardern said, “The guns used in this attack had the power to shoot continuously. The times for the easy availability of these weapons must end. And today, they will.”

In addition to changing gun laws, Arden has also helped pay for the funeral costs of the victims and honor the cultural traditions in which people of Islam faith be buried immediately.

Ardern and investigators returned all the victims’ bodies immediately after autopsies were completed just five days after the shooting happened so their families could hold funeral services.

When asked about how they thought the prime minister of New Zealand was handling the aftermath of the shooting, both Tria and Saleh strongly agreed that Ardern has been responding swiftly and respectfully.

“She compares to no other world leaders who have also faced mass shootings within their own country,” Saleh said. “Almost six months ago the U.S. dealt with a similar shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburg. Yet, why is it that New Zealand was able to change laws within six days while this nation has not been able to do so in six months?”

Saleh, like Tria, said she was also in awe of the amount of support outpouring from the community.

“I think the terrorist wanted us to be broken and hate each other, but what I saw was quite the opposite,” Saleh said. “At the memorial, you couldn’t tell the difference between a Muslim woman wearing a hijab or a Jewish woman wearing a hijab as a sign of respect, and that was something that I thought was really beautiful.”

It has been nearly four weeks since the shooting, and people everywhere are still showing support, even in Brevard County.

A week after the memorial service was held at ISBC, Saleh described a husband and wife that came in during Friday prayer with whiteboards that read, “We will keep watch while you pray.”

Saleh said that her heart was touched, and knowing that this support was felt here within the community was something that left her speechless.

Crawford elevators continue to break down

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Students often have to wait several minutes for the one working elevator to arrive with any available space. Picture by David Thompson.

Both elevators in the Crawford building have recently been out of service, with the one on the left being out of order for more than a week and the one on the right periodically breaking.

The elevators are “completely worn out,” according to an emailed response from Dewey Yeatts, the director of facilities management.

Despite the expiration date being Aug. 8, 2018 on the Florida Certificate of Operation inside the elevator on the right, Yeatts stated, “There is no safety issue. All elevators are inspected by a third party inspection service. All are up to date.”

Kyle Owens, a freshman aerospace engineering major, said he sees an elevator broken down “almost every day,” and he didn’t expect that when he came to Florida Tech.

“When touring, I was never brought into the building,” Owens said. “But if I was, and I was told that the elevators break easily, then it would’ve allowed me to question the safety of the building.”

Pauline Cosson, a junior studying sports management, said she usually ends up taking the stairs because “it takes a lot of time for the elevator to come” and that there is always a crowd waiting for it.

“I usually try to get to Crawford a bit early so I am not late [to class] if the elevator takes a long time to come,” Cosson said.

Yeatts stated that he is not aware of any current issues regarding students and faculty that cannot physically go up the stairs but will “appropriately address any issue.”

Owens said he doesn’t “feel the safest” when using the elevators because they break “all the time.”

He mentioned once when he had to take the stairs because one of the elevators was not working.

“I was running late to class, and I wanted to use the elevator to get to the sixth floor as quick as I could,” Owens said. “The only elevator working was already filled with students, so I had to run up the stairs.”

Yeatts stated the new elevators that are set to replace the “worn out” pair in service right now have been in “design and fabrication for months” and should be delivered sometime in April.

Owens said he thinks it is great that the Crawford elevators are being replaced.

“It allows us to have new elevators in place to allow the building to be much safer when traveling in them,” Owens said. “I just don’t know why this wasn’t happening earlier when they first knew it was a problem.”

According to Yeatts, the new ThyssenKrupp elevators will cost Florida Tech at least $336,000.

Yeatts did not give an exact date for when the elevators will be installed.

Professors suspected in Crawford’s hamster infestation

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Recently, students, staff and faculty have noticed an infestation of hamsters in Crawford, cause of which is still under investigation.

While facilities claimed the hamsters were likely coming from the atomic toilet, some students have the suspicion their professors are smuggling them into class.

A hamster peeks out of a professor’s pocket during a lecture. Picture by a traumatized student.

“My professor proudly shows off his hamster,” one student said.

The student added that her professor keeps his hamster in his pocket and feeds it nuts throughout class.

Another student said the hamsters may be there for emotional support.

“Before, my professor seemed so lonely,” she said. “Having a hamster really seems to help him. Whenever we’re doing work and he’s at his desk, his hamster is there for him to pet.”

While many find the furry creatures adorable, some students said they’ve become a distraction.

A graduate student said it wouldn’t be a big deal if professors were better at controlling their hamsters.

“Lots of people have hamsters, and that’s fine,” he said. “But I don’t want them out and about in class. Keep them in their cages.”

It isn’t just students that have a problem with the hamsters. Some professors are bothered by their presence as well.

One professor in communications said the daily sight of her coworkers’ hamsters is upsetting. “It’s disgusting,” she said. “I can’t have a hamster, and to see them flaunting theirs around the school? I’m ready to quit.”

Another professor said seeing the hamsters everyday is a sad reminder that she can’t have one.

“I’ve always liked them,” she said. “I wish I had one, and seeing them every day just reminds me I’ll never have one.”

Facilities is working to get to the bottom of the infestation and stop it from spreading further.

“Our biggest concern is containment, both of the hamsters and professors,” one staff member said. “If it is professors bringing the hamsters in, we have a bigger issue than we thought. Everyone will want to try it. As they say, monkey see, monkey do.”

While there are several courses of action being considered, the staff member said they’re leaning toward shutting down Crawford for several days.

“There are a couple reasons to shut it down,” the staff member said. “We’d like to exterminate any remaining hamsters in the building. But the biggest issue is that most of our professors probably need a break. If they had some time off, they might not feel the need to bring their hamsters onto school property.”

One professor, who wished to remain anonymous, is horrified at the idea of not being able to bring his hamster to class any longer.

“He’s my best friend,” he said. “He’s basically a part of me.”

The professor added that his hamster is like a security blanket, and when he has to spend the entire day without his pet, he feels tense, agitated and unfulfilled in life.

Some of the program chairs in Crawford are also looking into the problem.

They want to keep the building clean while also keeping their professors happy.

They’re considering adding rules about allowing certain pets, as long as professors follow specific protocol for cleaning up after their furry friends.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I do know it’s something a lot of students have complained about,” one program chair said. “No one wants to see a hamster sticking out of their professor’s pocket at eight in the morning.”

Students work for a “more inclusive” campus

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A student raised the possibility of creating a LGBTQ+ center at Florida Tech during the student leader luncheon on March 13.

Rodney Bowers, the dean of students, reportedly responded that the campus is small and is already inclusive.

Jacob Chesslo, a junior in physics and the president of Spectrum, Florida Tech’s LGBTQ+ student organization, submitted the question about an LGBTQ+ center for consideration at the student leader luncheon.

Chesslo said other universities have LGBTQ+ centers that offer resources such as safe sex information, hormone therapy information and clothing swaps.

“Basically, an LGBTQ+ center— it’s not only a resource for students who don’t know what they necessarily want or who they are, but it also provides a safe space for students facing challenges, whether they’re transitioning or just getting out of a relationship,” Chesslo said.

While Bowers said there are no current plans for an LGBTQ+ center for Florida Tech, he said the creation of one could be a possibility for the future, depending on funding.

For now, a group of faculty, staff and students meets every two weeks to discuss LGBTQ+ issues, according to Bowers.

“It’s called the gender identity group, and we’re trying to look at things to be a little bit more inclusive,” Bowers said. “For instance, allowing faculty, staff and students to use a preferred name in any internal communication. We’re looking at gender-neutral bathrooms, gender-neutral housing and the use of pronouns and how we can get that going like some schools have. Anything that has been brought up to our attention that doesn’t appear to be inclusive, we try to change.”

Currently, Bowers said they are looking into the possibility of installing a gender-neutral bathroom in Harris Commons.

Gender of bathroom
Florida Tech is looking into creating more gender neutral bathroom. Photo by Emily Walker // Crimson

Gender-neutral bathrooms are an area Evangeline Archer, a senior in aerospace engineering, believes Florida Tech needs to improve on.

“I keep getting told there are a bunch of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, but I’ve only seen two,” Archer, who goes by Evie, said. “The dean said it’s a small campus. If it’s so small, start working. It would benefit everyone if they just demolished the wall in between [two bathrooms] and they became unisex bathrooms.”

Archer has experienced a mix of support and discrimination on campus.

In 2017, her roommates at the time sent an email to the entire school outing her as transgender. “Overnight, I was just outed,” Archer said. “I had calls from friends that next morning that said, ‘Hey, did you check fitforum? There was a nasty email about you.’”

According to Archer, she read the email and took a day to think about what she wanted to say.

When she wrote a response that night, she said she was surprised with students’ reactions.

“That’s when I started seeing actually that a lot of people—even people that I don’t know—were just really supportive,” Archer said.

Archer said students sent her texts and emails in support, some using the hashtag #SupportEvie.

“I thought it was cute and a thing that kind of empowered me to be more myself,” Archer said. “I basically just answered the email, and at the very end, where my signature was automatically put in by Gmail, I crossed it out and put in ‘Evangeline’ instead.”

Chesslo said while he doesn’t know of any hate crimes committed on campus recently, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been discrimination and that those on campus are trying to actively include LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty.

“There are definitely some areas in which faculty and students could improve,” Chesslo said. “I know that, especially for those who are transgender on campus, there’s no clear, set way to get your given name off of documents and your preferred name onto them. I know that a lot of faculty and staff sometimes don’t know how to approach certain students with that.”

According to Bowers, this is something administrators are currently working on with IT.

Their goal is to allow PAWS users to select a preferred name, which will affect their email addresses, usernames and class rosters.

Caroline-Willow Mctigue, a freshman in electrical engineering, said not having her chosen name used in her email is a source of discomfort for her.

“The email is quite annoying,” Mctigue said. “Every time I type my email in, it kind of has a small blow to have to type in the first letter of my first name.”

Mctigue said if there was an option for students and faculty to put their prefered name in PAWS, it would help a lot.

The gender identity group and its goals are a “work in progress,” according to Bowers.

“None of us are experts in this field, and we’re trying to address issues as we become aware of the issues,” Bowers said. “It’s all based on what we can get done in a reasonable timeframe.”

Students with concerns related to how LGBTQ+ issues are handled on campus can contact Bowers at rbowers@ fit.edu.

According to Bowers, he will bring up students’ concerns to the gender identity group.

Local robotics team to compete in Houston

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Voltage team during a repair in the middle of an event. Photo // Will Davies.

For the second time in three years, local Melbourne robotics team “Voltage” will be attending the FIRST Championship Houston competition in Texas.

The robotics season officially began in January and after their six-week building period, the robots competed with other Florida teams at the UCF stadium to start the year.

The teams are hosted at high schools around the area, and the closest one to campus is the Voltage team.

Florida Tech has its own Vex robotics team, which differs from FCH in size and other aspects.

Ripley Smith, a current Florida Tech student, and Will Davies, a Florida Tech alumni, both mentor the local high school team and have been in robotics for a long time.

“There are a literally thousands of schools across America that participate in FCH and Vex, but I prefer FCH because there is more you can do and bigger scale parts that use industry systems in the real world,” Davies said.

The robotics high school program allows mentors from any background that have helpful engineering knowledge and have no age restrictions.

Davies has been doing robotics since 2006 and he mentored the Voltage team during his entire time enrolled at Florida Tech and afterward staying in Melbourne.

“Robotics has programs such as FTC, First Tech Challenge, and FLL, First Lego League, that potentially could have somebody doing robotics from grade school past college,” Davies said.

Smith discovered Voltage while still living in Georgia competing for robotics during high school, and she has been involved since 2005.

Smith said, “Robotics is definitely a big part of my life since I’ve been doing it so long, and finding Voltage persuaded me to come to Florida Tech.”

Smith is currently president of the First Robotics Club here at Florida Tech.

While the club currently consists of only a couple members, Smith said emails are being exchanged with more students that are interested.

Florida Tech also has a FIRST scholarship for inspiring and recognition in science and technology, which Smith won through her robotics team in Atlanta.

Smith is working to bring FCH robotics to Florida Tech.

“It is also a great opportunity for collaboration and integrating communities,” Smith said. “There were some schools in Orlando that needed help finishing their robot in time, which we gladly provided.”

Davies said, “I’m excited. This year we upgraded with brush-less motors that are faster and stronger and lidar sensors for better visual processing.”

The first 15 seconds of competition are automated. Then, the remaining two minutes are spent controlling the robot on the course to collect as many points as possible by completing tasks.

Kevben Belastegui, a junior in mechanical engineering, competes on a team called Moose 1065.

“I could have went and joined Voltage, but in my opinion, I think Moose is handled and driven more by their mentors rather than helping the students and letting them run the team,” Belastegui said. “So it is more fun for me on Moose.”

FCH has programs available for mentors and students in schools’ extracurricular programs globally.

The season goes until May when they have their finals in Houston and about 5,000 students of teams from all over the world will be displaying their robots for the final point tally.

At each region, there are around 60 teams, which is about the number of teams that were at UCF.

Florida is a regional state as opposed to a district state such as Georgia and countries like Australia.

For district states, winning a district will earn a ticket to Championship Houston but for regional states, it is a bit more difficult as they typically have fewer number teams attending and have other contests to win to make it to Championship Houston, more than just point total.

According to Smith, the Chairman’s award is the most prestigious. “The award goes to the team that impacts robotics the most outside of the competition, so one year the team that won it hosted a drone competition that was set up for their community”.

Smith hopes to integrate the robotics community with Florida Tech further in the future and Alumni such as Will Davies and Daniel Kemp successfully represent the Florida Tech with their help mentoring the team, and mentoring a team is as easy as being passionate for robotics.

“People such as Lonnie Johnson, who owns the patents for nerf guns and super soakers, and Dean Kamen, who owns patent for the segway, attend worlds consistently and appear at competitions all the time,” said Smith.

“Our success is well celebrated and we’re all happy to go to [Championship Houston], but there was a lot of success in our whole area which we work with, so there is a lot to be glad about,” said Davis.

CAPS – The Panther Springs Into the Break!

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So, here we are, Spring Break.

We’ve been in college a while and we’ve heard “Panther Pride” enough to truly understand our greatness.

We’ve been around the college block and have heard the warnings about partying before, we get it…right?

Well, Spring Break is a different beast.

Although we Panthers are fierce, we must apply our cunning intelligence in order to understand our limits and what to expect while venturing into Spring Break.

Regardless of whether we’re sticking around Melbourne, going home, or venturing to one of those “wild Spring Break spots” (emphasis on the wild), we need to be aware of how to party smart and, most importantly, stay safe!

Here are some tips on how to tame your Spring Break party instincts:

Know Your Boundaries and Plan Ahead!

Before you go out, identify your limits.

When you are not under the influence and making clear-headed decisions is the best time to consider what you believe your personal boundaries should be.

Tell a loyal friend about these decisions, hold yourself accountable and realize that these are the aspects that you decided would make your Spring Break ideal.

Consider questions like: Do I want to drink tonight? If so, how much? Do I want to have sex tonight? If so, do I have protection?

Tell someone you trust and try to remember that when someone brings these things up, they are acting in your best interest, according to your own boundaries.

Your friends want you to have fun, but they also care about you!

Deciding beforehand and making others aware of these boundaries will make it easier to make the choices that you will be happy with after the party is over.

Be Aware of Your Surroundings!

Always keep an eye on your drink.

If you go the bathroom, take your drink with you!

Date rape drugs can be put into any beverage, including non-alcoholic drinks.

Do not drink from open beverage sources like punch bowls, pitchers or tubs.

It is also important to remember that while drugs being slipped into drinks is something you should be aware of and guard against, alcohol itself is the most common date rape drug.

Avoid binge drinking, which typically occurs after 4 drinks for women and 5 drinks for men in about a 2-hour period.

Remember you can feel the effects of alcohol in as little as 10 minutes so, go slow, and monitor how you feel before getting another drink.

Binge drinking can lead to irreversible consequences that may negatively impact the future you are working so hard for.

Watch the Weather!

Even when you think you know your limits, drinking in the sun can shift those quick.

Make sure you are eating enough and staying hydrated, regardless of how much you plan on drinking, but keep in mind that your body may process alcohol differently when in the sun.

Hot weather and alcohol don’t mix.

You feel the effects of drinking faster when the temperatures climb and the water’s warm.

Despite the media and TV’s portrayal of what an ideal spring break is, this “ideal” is different for everyone, and binge drinking is not safe for anyone.

So try to remember this article when you step out into whatever adventure this Spring Break holds for you.

For more tips on learning safer and more effective ways to make sure your Spring Break is one to remember, please join us at our “How to Party Like a Panther” event taking place on Wednesday, February 27th from 7:00- 8:30pm in Evans Hall, Room 202.

Enjoy your break, have fun, but most importantly, stay safe!

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.