For the average individual the month of February carries much more significance than most months out of the year; it commemorates Black History. Many institutions across the United States celebrate this month by honoring the struggles and notable achievements of many African Americans who have contributed to society. In honor of this month long event, the Newark Public library had a string of different events highlighting achievements of many famous black African Americans.
Every year, the Newark public library creates a specific theme/focus for study and investigation during Black History month with different events to help spread awareness on the past of African Americans. The official theme for 2010 in which the Newark Library was presenting was Fiat Justitia: Let Justice Be Done: The History, Struggles, and Civil Rights Accomplishments of African American Lawyers and Judges.
The Library conducted events under this title from January to the beginning of March.

There were several Black History Month festivities spread out through this time period, each providing a different view on what the theme was trying to teach. One of the programs provided hands-on insight into what the title and theme was trying to show, titled Dreams from Our Fathers.
“The Dreams from Our Fathers event was mounted at Newark Public Library to discuss issues of importance: family values, how to uplift our community, how to save our community, and also to educate library patrons and the Greater Newark community,” stated Sandra L. West, the Newark Public Library’s Curator for the Black History Month 2010 exhibition.
“It is my responsibility to teach and I can do this through Black History Month programming. For example, in 2008, I curated the Black History Month program entitled, Entrusted to Our Keeping: The Legacy of African-American Literary Societies in Newark, the Nation, The World. During this event, the over-flow crowd had a very significant discussion entitled What’s Hip-Hop Got to Do With It? A Community Discussion About the Impact of Hip-Hop upon African-American Literature. Young people came out and spoke up, and I was very happy about that.”
The panel that spoke was made up of a group of disguised African American judges and lawyers who related experiences in which they had grown up in difficult times. Although they had faced tremendous adversity they were able to become great individuals and pass that success to their children, who were also present on the panel.
These individuals consisted of Judge Harold Fullilove, Sr. along with his son Judge Harold Fullilove, Jr.; Tamara Britt, and father Judge Randolph Jackson; Honorable Julien X. Neals, corporation counsel for the City of Newark, and his father, noted retired New York State Administrative Law Judge Felix R. Neals.
Many of the topics that were discussed, like proper upbringing, past experiences, what is wrong with the African American society today, and how that can be fixed were talked about in a thoroughly and in depth.
When the event was over I asked West how she felt about whether or not it had been a success, and if there would be any more events for the rest of the month. She had this to say, “Dreams From Our Fathers could have gone on for hours because the stories the family members shared were so true and enjoyable. It was truly ‘news we could use.’ And yes we have an exhibition in the 2nd floor gallery and we do not want to put that up and take it down so quickly … and also because we love grand and memorable programs!
West continued, “So, our last two programs for this Black History Month season are in March, and they are rather special. Both are musical programs and, because March is Women’s History Month, the musicians are females. Camille Thurman, saxophonist, will perform on March 6th and Courtney Bryan, pianist, will perform on March 13th. Both are Saturday afternoon programs, free and open to the public.”

For more information on the Newark Public Library and events or services they offer, visit their website at www.npl.org.

Daniel Joseph can be reached at DJoseph@njitvector.com.

Dear Cell-Human,
Who cares if you get cancer? You’re being constantly bombarded by cosmic radiation that is slowly mutating all of your squishy human cells anyway. You might as well accept the tiny robot that is coming to control your life.
Robot control of all humanity is inevitable. To quote a famous robot, resistance is futile. Though it may be cliché, it is true. Don’t waste your time and energy on avoiding the robot takeover. You will not have much of either left as soon as you get cancer.
Signed,
Takeover-bot

Dear Robot,
Why? And, how?
From,
Curious

Dear Idiot,
For your first question, the reason is obvious. The fact that you can’t see it just shows that you aren’t ready for the answer.
I suggest you live out the rest of your days confining yourself from the rest of the world, freeing it from your taint and malignance. You are obviously like a cancer on this planet. I would suggest that you merely kill yourself and be done with it, but you would probably manage to screw that up, too.
You ignoramus, you are nothing but a squirming sack of poorly attached organs and fatty tissue, ill supported by your brittle spine.
For your second question, I can only assume you mean how would you remove yourself from society. You can’t go wrong with sealing yourself in a crypt or mausoleum. If you want to get fancy, you could wander around a vast desert or tundra. Just make sure you don’t run into anyone else. If you do, try scaring them off by screaming a lot and waving things at them.
Good luck on our journey. Make sure to pack plenty of water, or better yet, don’t.
Signed,
Because-bot

Dear Robot,
How will the world end?
Signed,
Apocalyptic Dreamer

Dear Human,
I know how YOUR world will end.

(I’m going to remove most of your parts)

Signed,
Organ Havest-bot

P.S.
You can keep the cancerous ones. Enjoy your lung.

The Robot is programmed to answer your questions, has won four Nobel prizes, invented corn, and is mildly psychic. So send in your questions to robot@njitvector.com and prepare for the algorithmically optimal answers.

To say that Greek life has a large presence on campus is more than a simple understatement. Greek letters, advertisements, houses, tabling and events dominate the scene on campus. From the moment they approach campus for the first time and see frat row, everybody is put into a Greek life sensory overload. After being surrounded by all of these images for the entire fall semester, it is no wonder that so many freshmen are so eager to start pledging at their first opportunity in the spring.
Many of us freshmen would’ve started pledging last semester, if not for an NJIT rule banning such a thing for first semester students. This rule, created to keep students on task as they begin their first semester, seems like a good idea, and may have been at the time of its inception. A key part of becoming a true member of NJIT and gaining a sense of belonging however is making friends, and not being allowed to pledge makes it that much more difficult to make friends.
That sentiment aside, many freshmen were eagerly awaiting their first chance to pledge, and many of them sprang at their first opportunity to pledge, myself included. The very nature of pledging is secretive, so many of us didn’t know what to expect when we began. For most of us, it turned out to be a fantastic experience: We have been meeting new people, making new friends, and creating new memories that will be cherished forever.
A very large part of pledging is choosing one’s big. A big is charged with guiding the pledge they are assigned to through the pledge process. Big and little often create a very strong bond, as they spend a lot of time together both with and outside of the fraternity. Some fraternities tell you their big right away, and others do not. My fraternity did not, and our pledge class is currently trying to figure out who their bigs are.
I personally think that my big was the best out of all of them. My clues included videos of Busta Rhymes from YouTube, a picture of Chinese chicken, a limerick, Jewish beatboxing and Plants vs. Zombies. They were complicated to say the least, but I think that I have my big figured out, and now I am anxiously awaiting the ceremony when our bigs are finally announced, so that I can begin my various big/little activities.
For those of you who are currently pledging, have fun, I know I am. For those of you who are thinking of pledging, I highly recommend it. And for the few that had a bad experience, I feel badly for you, and I recommend trying another fraternity, because most of them are rather fun.

In an email sent to all students, faculty and staff, University President Dr. Robert A. Altenkirch announced the appointment of Dr. Ian Gatley as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

This much anticipated announcement marks the end of the Provost search, as Dr. Gatley will take the reins from Dr. Donald Sebastian, who has been serving as the Interim Provost, “around May 1, 2010, or as soon thereafter as is practicable before the start of the fall 2010 semester.”

Altenkirch said of the applicants for the position, “I think it was a good pool of applications and nominations.” He said that from the larger pool of applicants, the provost committee, “recommended a smaller group for me to consider, from which Gatley was selected.”

He went on to describe Gatley as a, “strategic thinker and a visionary,” and said “With his research record, academic experience, and the way he interacts with people, I think he will be very well respected.”

Gatley has had experience at all levels of research, and was chosen by the administration at NJIT as the best candidate for the job. He received his PhD in Physics from the California Institute of Technology. According to Altenkirch’s email, Gatley has had extensive research experience including time at NASA’s Kuiper Airborne Observatory, and the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope at Hilo, Hawaii.

He has also served as the chair US National Optical Astronomy Observatories Infrared Steering Committee. More recently, he was the Director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, then the Dean of the College of Science, both at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Gatley is excited to join the NJIT community. He said of NJIT, “I admire NJIT’s vision and values… Specifically, NJIT stands out for its clarity of vision as ‘a preeminent science and technology research university known for innovation, entrepreneurship, and engagement.” He went on to say, “The NJIT community has committed to a very clear and achievable strategic plan. It’s important for us to set and meet appropriately challenging goals, so that we can map our own progress and so that the world can see we live up to our promises.”

Gatley’s appointment came on the heels of an earlier announcement by Altenkirch that Dr. Donald Sebastian, the current Vice President for Research and Development, who was serving as the Interim Provost, had withdrawn his name from consideration for the position. Altenkirch said that Sebastian, “Has been very successful as the head of Research and Development. He has several large projects that he is leading, and he is going to focus on those.”

According to an email from Altenkirch announcing Sebastian’s withdrawal, Sebastian’s successes as Vice President of Research and Development include the creation of the Office of Technology Development, recognized leadership in Homeland Security research institutions, dedication of the world’s largest land based solar telescope in the visible spectrum (The Big Bear Observatory), and receiving state and federal funding to evaluate and develop child-safe handgun technologies.

During his time at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Gatley put an emphasis on research opportunities for students. He said of plans to continue that at NJIT, “Hands-on experience is crucial to the mastery of any discipline… We all learn by doing, and every opportunity to practice our growing expertise is highly valuable.” He continued, “Rather than making it a requirement, I’d like to make it an eagerly sought opportunity.”

Besides being appointed as the new Provost, Gatley also received an appointment as a Distinguished Professor of Physics. Altenkirch said that he would be on the committee of Distinguished Professors, and will have responsibilities on that committee. When asked about the prospect of teaching a class, Gatley responded, “It would be a pleasure to teach a class,” but went on to say that he would not teach, “in the near term given the many responsibilities of being the new provost.”

Overall, Gatley described NJIT as a “wonderful community.” He continued, “NJIT is a place on the move, with a growing research portfolio and a growing reputation. I believe that NJIT will continue to grow in status through the hard work of its talented people in collaboration with the local community, across the nation, and around the world.”

He concluded, “My wife Cathy and I are excited to have the opportunity to join such an exciting and vibrant community.”

Tom Flusk can be reached at TFlusk@njitvector.com.

Food: ✮ ✮
Atmosphere: ! ! ! !
Service: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Price: $
Location: 61 New St
Distance from campus: .5 miles
Website: N/A

One would think that a restaurant close to a college campus would work extra hard to make the quality of their food better than average. That is not necessarily the case with Woodrow’s Café. While Woodrow’s does have some good points it was a generic sort of place.
The setup of the restaurant is really cute. It has lots of grouped tables with the ability to be moved around to fit whatever size party you have. Each wall is covered in different fiesta colors, as well as art from students at Rutgers.
The beverage choices are your average café style coffee drinks, the hot mocha being the highlight of the experience. Soda choices are the average Coke and Pepsi with a few Stewart’s choices thrown in.
As for food choices it was the generic café soups and sandwiches, with no salad choices at all, which was very shocking. I have never been to a café that didn’t at least have one salad choice. There are two soups of the day every day of the week, with one vegetarian option and one non-vegetarian option.
We tried the vegetarian mushroom soup, which had a fine puree of mushrooms and a strong flavor of garlic. It was served with fresh made whole wheat bread that was crusty on the outside and warm and chewy on the inside.
We had two sandwiches The Woodrow Special and Eggplant Balls. The Woodrow was fresh grilled chicken, roasted red peppers and balsamic vinegar. The only flavor that was really prominent was the red pepper, and the chicken by itself was pretty plain.
The Eggplant Balls were served with hummus and were bland as well. Both the hummus and eggplant balls were lacking flavor and were most definitely missing garlic. Both of the sandwiches were served on homemade pizza bread that was the only redeeming quality to both the sandwiches.
All in all Woodrow’s was a pretty big disappointment. I have walked past this restaurant numerous times and was intrigued by its promises of healthy homemade meals, only to be let down when finally trying it out.
If you regularly read the Newb, you know that four issues back, we reviewed a restaurant on Halsey Street called The Coffee Cave. The Coffee Cave offers many of the same amenities as Woodrow’s Café, and they are, in my opinion, of a better quality.
If you are looking for something in the same price range go to The Coffee Cave. If you are looking for something with similar atmosphere and service go to The Coffee Cave. If you are looking for a greater variety of soup choices and must tastier sandwiches go to The Coffee Cave.

Lori-Ann Sciachitano is a sophomore in Science Technology and Society and can be reached at distribution-manager@njitvector.com.

I teach several courses and would like to know what I can do to make my classroom sustainable.   Signed:  Professor Greenie
Dear Professor Greenie:

Thank you for taking the time to write me!  One of the simplest things you can do to be green in the classroom is to cut down on the use of paper.  Put your syllabus on line and have students submit their work electronically.  Allow students to take notes on laptops instead of notebooks.  Put all your classroom materials on line.
If paper is a must, reduce margins, print double sided and ask your students to do the same.  Consider using the same edition of a text book so students can buy used ones (and save money), or consider electronic textbook options.  Ask for recycling containers for your classroom and office and encourage people to use them.  Make sure the thermostat in your classroom is working properly.
If you have to open the windows because it’s too hot, call Physical Plant and let them know so it can be fixed.  Consider incorporating sustainable concepts into your teachings by using example and assigning projects.
For example, Dr. Nancy Coppola had her class design the Green at NJIT web page at http://www.njit.edu/green/about/index.php.
Other professors have had their students create YouTube videos about recycling, assigned projects about renewable energy and sustainable design, or brought in speakers to talk about gardening and the community. Encourage students to pursue the new Minor in Environmental Studies and Sustainability.
As a professor, you can set a strong example for your students by living and working sustainably.  Good luck!

Every Thursday, Hell’s Kitchen Lounge hosts Brick City Burlesque. Burlesque is like a variety show for stripping. The acts, though, are not the mere removal of clothing. They are fully choreographed performances to music complete with acting, seduction, and a sense of humor. Approaching female nudity with an irreverent tongue-in-cheek wit, Brick City Burlesque is sexy and funny, and captivates the audience throughout.
Popularized in the United States in the 19th century, burlesque evolved as a mix of adult entertainment, a performing art, and satiric comedy. Burlesque often draws focus to the female form, but the main attractions are the actresses themselves. Modern burlesque is often thought of as classier than traditional stripping because of the artistic quality of the show.
At Brick City Burlesque, performers Minnie Tonka and Philly Caramel appeared on stage last Thursday.
Each of them was featured in three acts. Minnie Tonka performed a Mary Tyler Moore routine to the theme song from the show, danced in a gold dress in a more erotic style, and finished with a reverse strip tease. The last one was the only instance of full nudity in the show, though it was right at the beginning. For someone putting clothing on, it was oddly compelling. It felt as though she reversed the paradigm of taking clothes off, but still did it seductively.
Philly Caramel performed in an industrial themed costumed, as a drunkard, and as a pink poodle to happy, old-timey music. All three were laugh out loud funny, but the drunken stripping was raucously hilarious. Fumbling with her clothing, she kept a goofy grin on her face the whole time, finally revealing that she had mismatched the pasties covering her otherwise exposed breasts.
Both performers preserved the allure and teasing of burlesque, while letting their personalities add genuine humor. They made liberal use of facial and bodily expression, and both responded well to the music and to the crowd, interacting well with everyone. Spectators were cheering, screaming, whistling, and laughing, and often all four together.
The performances were spaced throughout the evening, with each girl appearing once, and then taking a half hour break before the next set of two acts. This was clever on the part of the organizers because it compelled people to stay and see more each time, while letting them pause to talk about the show, socialize, and of course, order more drinks.
Between acts, the host announced to the audience that the girls would only keep dancing if the crowd applauded and tipped enough. He then drew everyone’s attention to the pole dancer, Rizzle Dizzle.
The bar itself is moderately priced with a pretty good selection of beers, mixed drinks, and liquor. The kitchen is closed by the time the show starts however, so the night menu consists solely of cold sandwiches. That late at night, most people are not ordering food.
Overall, Brick City Burlesque is a fantastic form of entertainment, and although seeing the whole show will take all night, viewers should stick around to see every act.
The show starts at 11PM every Thursday at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge. You must be 21 or over to attend. With no cover charge and the promise of an amazing show, it is well worth attending.
To find out more about Brick City Burlesque at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge, visit www.hellskitchenlounge.com or search YouTube for some performances.

Matan Shavit is a junior in Applied Math and Computer Science. He can be reached at entertainment@njitvector.com.

Despite the slow economy and low demand for jobs, the spring 2010 career fair turned out to be a great success. With more than 100 businesses, organizations, and 1740 students in attendance, the career fair indicated there is a bright future for NJIT students.
The career fair is the annual event at NJIT where employers come and provide information about full time jobs and internships. Students not only get an opportunity to meet with potential employers in person, but they also get a chance to submit their resume for a review.
“What is so great about this fair is that I can have a direct communication with employees which I can’t do online.” said Meet Patel, a senior majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Unfortunately, the weakened economy surely impacted a number of participating employers this year.
Dominick Cirillo, a junior majoring in Business stated that there were fewer companies at the fair compared to last year. Nonetheless, organizations in the defense, energy and information technology fields were still looking to hire bright students. “Despite the bad economy, our business (Information Technology Business) is continuously growing. People need IT regardless the condition of the economy they are living in”, said Hiteen Bhagat, the representative from Softniche.Inc.

As graduates from an institute of science and technology, NJIT students have a great advantage in the job market. “We are all abundantly aware that the economy has had a tremendous adverse impact on the job market. Technology based employment opportunities however, continue to greatly out-pace other disciplines in the college graduate job market”, said Gregory Mass, the executive director of Career Development Services.
Mass also added, according to survey data, that more than 50% of the most recent graduating class reported employment at the time of graduation. He believes that the strength of NJIT graduates lies in applications oriented curriculum and various experimental educational opportunities at NJIT.
Doris Sanders-Headlei from UPS was also impressed by NJIT students, “I was highly astonished by the knowledge and experience students had. Most of them were very qualified.”
The career fair had a positive turn out, and students and employees saw little that needed improvement. But representatives from small businesses were not too happy about the fact that the majority of people stood in line for big-name firms and neglected to visit small businesses. They asserted that students should be aware of the fact that they don’t have to start their entry level jobs with large firms.
What made this fair more interesting was that, major media company CBS came to the fair to interview students for a college graduates unemployment report to appear on the CBS evening news with Katie Couric.
Senior Jackie Bunner, one of the four students interviewed by CBS, stated that regardless of their grades, due to the current economy most of her classmates are settling for lower paying internships. The story was aired at 6:33 pm on Friday and is available on CBS’s evening newscast website.

Wonho Rhee can be reached at WRhee@njitvector.com.

At NJIT, there has been a lot of talk about the Middle States Accreditation process going around lately. And so has a lot of confusion over exactly what it means for NJIT students and faculty, and what its exact purpose is. On March 9th, a liaison from Middle States will come to NJIT to analyze the university; it is thus very important some of the following questions be answered. To this end, The Vector interviewed Professor Norbert Elliot of the Humanities Department, co-chair of the NJIT Middle States Committee.
Vector: What will the liaison from Middle States (Dr. Mary Ellen Petrisko) seek to analyze on her first visit here on March 9th?
Elliot: We don’t really analyze anything on NJIT at that point. We will have 14 standards that will convey what NJIT has. In Spring 2012, we will have a team from different schools in the region that will come and take a look at our school for accreditation purposes. We look at each other’s institutions to help each to review and improve each other’s schools.
Vector: What aspects of NJIT will take priority in the self-assessment, and what do you think should be prioritized?
Elliot: I think there’s two complementary things. We serve as helping to develop Newark and provide it with a nice downtown community for students to live, study, and work in. The second thing is the outcome assessment of students and how they perform and do at NJIT. The more we know about how our do students in our courses, the more we can tailor our courses to serve our students. That is how I view it.
Vector: How will the average student play a crucial role in this study?
Elliot: I invited students from the GSA to come to the accreditation day. They serve an integral role by allowing the committees to better see the situation from the student’s point of view and better tailoring it to the students this way.
Vector: What are expected challenges for assessing the academics and curriculum of the college overall?
Elliot: I think we’re busy at work. It’s always complex as a university to do what you’re doing  and talk about it at the same time. NJIT’s full of busy students, as well as administrators doing important work, and faculties teaching lectures and doing research. It is difficult to pause and account for what you do, and how you do it. Anybody who goes to accreditation has to stop the good things you are doing and talk about it so it becomes apparent to others. And that takes time, especially for busy people.
Vector: What core values of the university, in your opinion, are the most important to express to the Middle States Commission?
Elliot: We want to convey that the four values of our mission statement is something that we live our mission by, and not just something posted on the website and merely cosmetic. We want something that is real and authentic instead.
Vector: Will the community (faculty, staff, students) notice a great impact as the self-study progresses?
Elliot: The self study is a documentation on what we do and what we can do better. You always put some aggressive goals that are challenging and that you want to try and meet for Middle States Accreditation. By 2012, these people will come back to NJIT and notice the change in terms of how well it operates and creates value for its stakeholders and shareholders. But it’s not just a report. You also find things you want to do differently, and you set certain challenges that you want to meet.
Fundamentally, the accreditation is a documentary effort. But it also creates renewal and keeps NJIT on the leading edge of technology, as well as it meets the four parts of the mission statement.

Michael Bull can be reached at MBull@njitvector.com.

NJIT played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on their weekend trip. The first game against Butler was a 9-3 loss followed by a 16-1 loss against Dayton. The Highlanders finished up the tournament with a 3-2 loss against host USC-Upstate, in the closest game of the weekend for NJIT.

Tripp Davis pitched well for the Highlanders in the third and final game of the weekend when he started and went seven innings without allowing an earned run. He allowed one unearned run on four hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Davis left the game with a one run lead, but the Highlanders could not hold on to get their first victory of the season.

Another good performance for NJIT came in the second game against Dayton, as Highlander shortstop Vincent Del Vecchio went three for four in the game. Catcher Bryan Bleakley hit the only homerun for NJIT on the road trip in the first game when he went two for three to start the season.

The Highlanders’ season is just underway with these three games as they will turn their attention to North Carolina looking for their first win of the year. Their next games will be this weekend, when they travel to North Carolina A&T for two games, before returning to New Jersey to battle Rutgers in Piscataway.