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TechNews | Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015

  

Obama delivers Sass of the Union

Austin Gonzalez
OPINION EDITOR

The State of the Union is the regular
and much—anticipated address from the
President of the United States to the people.
As one might expect, the State of the Union
discusses the current state of nation. The State
of the Union is also the time for the president
to outline his hopes and goals for the coming
year. Barrack Obama’s speech was watched
particularly closely this year, now that the
Democratic leader of the free world will be
facing a Republican majority congress.

Obama outlined what he considered
to be a plan to promote growth for the middle
class. With the ongoing rise in the economy
along with promising job growth, he sets
out largely to continue what he started. A
large portion of the speech was dedicated to
difficulties families now face raising children.
With increased costs of living, particularly in
childcare, families have struggled in recent
years. Obama promoted the idea of increasing

Campus movie screenings

Timothy Ayodele
TECHNEWS WRITER

Let’s face it, our student body faces
one of the greatest problems detrimental to
the health of student life: social awkwardness.
The idea for too many people of an IIT student
is a computer science major with thick glasses
playing League of Legends 24/7. When actually
going to this school, one will realize that this is
only partially true, but still the stigma remains.
So how have we gone about to fix this? Clubs.
There are a ton of student organizations that
anyone is free to join at this school regardless
of their background, and many of these clubs
have various activities and events. But then that’s
when the problem really comes in to play.

Many of these events can often
be plagued with low attendance, which isn’t
anybodYS fault but just the nature of events at
IIT. If people don’t want to meet new people
or socialize, why would they go to the one

Cage match:

Timothy Ayodele
TECHNEWS WRITER

In a world of elephants, donkeys, and
all the animals in between, things are bound to
go tooth and nail.

President Barack Obama recently
powered through the State of the Union (SOTU)
Address. One of the highlights of Obama’s
administration is his SOTU addresses, which
have been known to be extremely publicized and
not without their controversies. This year was
no different; Obama is pulling all the stops to
make sure his legacy is maintained. The address
began with Obama flexing his muscles through
a flurry of statistics showing positive economic
growth and the success of his affordable care
act. A couple swift jabs at gas prices and
graduation rates to make sure his haters know
what’s up. After softening up the oppositions’

time away for maternity leave to match that of
other developed nations. He gave his support for
more sick days so that people can take care of
themselves. These things, he believes, will help
create a more productive workforce by allowing
them to live healthier, fuller lives.

Once again, the President proudly
proclaimed his stance on the minimum wage.
“Give the hardest working people in America
a raise” was met with much applause, though
not from the opposition. New to his agenda
is making community college free to all
Americans. If you can maintain a certain GPA,
the President proposes that higher education
should be as ubiquitous as a high school
education. To help support these programs
to benefit the middle class, Obama has also
staunchly stated that he will seek to close tax
loopholes for the rich.

As with any good address to the
people, Obama proclaimed that America and
her values will not be undermined. In the
wake of the attacks on the school in Pakistan
and the Charlie Hebdo office, he reaflirmed
that we will unwaveringly stand for freedom

thing that encourages it? A poorly-planned
event can quickly become a social outing that
suddenly dive bombs into a crash course on oral
communication, and we all have enough classes
already.

Based on the evidence, it seems that
all hope is lost, but then you attend a movie
screening like I did last week. Now to be frank,

it wasn’t the best movie screening you’ll ever see. .

Cellphone screens glared everywhere, dialogue
was barely comprehendible, and the movie
quality wasn’t exactly IMAX, but what made it
work so well is that it got people together in one
place, and this place was not just for members of
the hosting organization. Several members from
fraternities, sororities, and other clubs attended
to watch the movie. Looking back, one has to
ask how a movie is able to pull a crowd that no
party at IIT can.

The trick, is in movie culture. When
at a theatre, the expectation is that nobody talks,
phones are off, and heads are down. Though

and liberty at home and abroad. Obama asked
for the permission to seek out forces such as
ISIS using the might of the US military. In the
vein of freedoms, Obama put forth his support
for an “open and free internet.” Whether this
means coming out in opposition to the obvious
prevention of freedom such as the Great Firewall
of China, or the more recent discussions on
privacy from David Cameron and the EU, was
unclear.

More items were discussed in
greater detail along with some older promises
reiterated. One of the more notable moments
from the evening was the quick response from
the President to the reactions of the Republicans
present. After mentioning that he is unable
to run for president, there was a moment of
applause. Obama’s response, “I know, because I
won both of them,” made waves through social
media. This, unfortunately, was the most telling
and honest moment during the entire speech.
It is unclear how much work will actually be
accomplished with gridlock being the only likely
outcome for the next few years.

worthwhile

these theatre ethics are only loosely followed in
a college setting, the suggestion of these social
policies are still there. This allows people who
may not be too big on socializing to just enjoy
a movie, while the social butterflies are able
to hang out with their friends and even get to
know the person next to them. Movie screenings
eliminate the issue of social awkwardness
because they don’t require you to be social, just
there.

Movie screenings are getting more
and more popular among clubs over the years,
and it’s no surprise. Screenings are a perfect
way to not only make people aware of your
organization, but can be easily SAF funded as a
school—wide event. The perfect buffer between
an architecture major all—nighter and a party,
screenings are the key to bridging the gap
between our schools educational prowess and
the potential in our student body’s diversity in
culture and ideas.

politics getting bloody

faces, the president of pugilists starts whipping
out political combos with remarks concerning
bipartisanship. Not only did Obama throw out
the fact that he will continue to push his budget
through Congress, he also insisted that the
entire idea of partisan debating is petty.

The ball really didn’t drop until the
end. Confidently, President Obama stated, “I
have no more campaigns to run,” boosting
his opponents’ morale. Republicans and
Conservatives in the crowd roared in glee and
ridicule, but Obama was not done. Gathering
the power to roast a homie from Zeus himself,
Obama spits hot fire and proclaimed, “I know
because I won both of them.” Even Joe Biden,
Obama’s Vice President, was in a state of shock.
After this year’s SOTU, it’s obvious that Obama
is prepared to leave office swinging.

In addition, earlier this month, Mitt
Romney made notions toward a 2016 bid for

presidency, but decided not to step foot in the
ring after being taken out by President Obama
himself in is previous run. He has been quoted
in TIME saying, “After putting considerable
thought into making another run for president,
I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in
the party the opportunity to become our next
nominee.” It seems that after two failed bouts
with the king, Romney isn’t quite ready for a
round three.

Obama’s budget proposal is also set to
hit Congress in the coming week. Will his ideas
go peacefully or will the Senate and House lock
into mortal combat once again? With only two
years left in the presidential term, sooner than
later, the contenders for the title will rise from
the shadows for a chance at the title.

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