Tuesday, September 13, 2011 I TechNews campus@technewsiit.com UTSAV GANDHI SGA introduces ‘| Want' cards to improve campus “llllllflflllfl “Ill llllllllllllnllllllll “llflllflflllllllll fl llllllllllllll H “n ll l{lllllllflllllllllll By Kelly Lohr SGA VP OF COMMUNICATIONS ’ >13" ,..— Key to Illinois Tech’s Student Government l. I “ll“ Association is representing the thoughts and nil in nnnnnmmn opinions of the students of the school. In or— , ill? Imi‘llmnll‘ iii der to do this, we use many means to answer . .. ll H i- H‘ iii! * u, r. the question: just what are your (the stu— dents’) thoughts and opinions? The most ob— vious strategy being that senators talk to their peers, find out what they like and don’t like about their school, and bring the issues back to Senate to try to resolve. HT Thoughts is another initiative to get students in contact with their senators. HT Thoughts (sga.studgov.com/ contact) is a digi— tal form any student with a computer can ac— cess to tell SGA how they feel about HT. And now, there is yet another way to let us know what you think about HT: the <‘I Want” cards. Simply cut out the card that looks like a generic nametag (other than the fact that its green and says <‘I want this to be”). Think of something you’d like to see on campus, and write it on the card. Then take a picture of the card in front of whatever or wherever your desired object is. Send the picture to sga@iit. edu, and we’ll put your pictures on our Face— book and pass them on to the administration. One picture is worth a thousand words, so tell us what you want by sending us a picture. It’s our way of getting everyone to have a little fun and help the university along the way. SGA presid caUsforch By Elnaz Moshfeghian SGA PRESIDENT ent anges Dear Friends and Classmates, j. iii llflflllllflllflll IIIIIIII “I" ii +l< . III . . nn nnnnnnnnnnnnnmuuun 1ququ mun: Iu ” i miimn I n :| HI: l'l‘“ Hi Classes started not too long ago but already we seem to feel the full weight of the school year. Yet for many students, their workload doesn’t end with their courses. Some of these students hold offices in student organizations. Some of them strive to better themselves through fraternities and sororities. Others tirelessly conduct research in their field, formally or informally. And some students test the limits of their endurance as Scarlet Hawk student athletes or as physical fitness enthusiasts. I write to you today, not because I want you to join the ranks of hyper—involved student leaders, but because I want you to claim the college experience you hoped to find at HT. If you came to HT for the small class sizes, demand innovation and mentorship from your professors. If you came to HT to be more than a number, demand advocacy and support from professional staff. If you came to HT to join the future movers and shakers, demand ambition and perseverance from your classmates. But most importantly, if you do not see what you were hoping to find at HT, make it known. Nobody understands the needs of students better than students themselves. That is the basis for the Student Government Association. We are a group of motivated students who are passionate about serving as the voice of the student body. With the input of students like yourself and supportive administrators, SGA championed the introduction of Google Apps for Education, the expansion of the library hours to 24 hours a day 5 days a week, and most recently, the initiation of a Student Discount Program. So speak up, speak out, and do it often. We’ll take it from there. And maybe you will find that providing feedback is not where your interest ends. Perhaps one instant you will realize, like every officer of Student Government once did, that you don’t want to stop at voicing a concern. Instead, you want to shape the future of the HT. If so, email sga@iit.edu. After all, we don’t leave HT when we graduate; on our resumes there will forever be <‘Illinois Institute of Technology”. Best wishes, Elnaz Moshfeghian President, Student Government Association elnaz@hawk.iit.edu TechNews corrections In Issue 1, the Opinion article on page 2 titled “Chicago’s summertime stunning, short-lived” was mistakenly credited to Sukrit Mishra. The ar- ticle was actually written by Madhushree Ghosh. TechNews regrets the error. IOOIIIOIIIOOIIOOIIO'IIIOI I u Il|l|l|l|ll IllllmIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllnllmlmlmImuuuuuuuuulluInumlmlmllmm -u "HmI"m”Hmmmmmm"llfllflflllllmll’ JHH"""lmllllmllll"I""l"""mmmllmml ’IH"lIll"!”HUI!"IlH"I!"H"INIIHUHIHUHW E llllllflllllllllflll" “ liliiilu'liiiiu'i'iiu'liluuI'I'I'"""" " llllllllllll / . HIllHlIllllllfllll"ImllIllllllIllilllllllll'iIll'l'l'l'l‘l'lIl'l'fiIl,‘ "I"! I" "III"! lllllflllullllfllfl”: Ill umm Irlrlluirli‘fi'r'llfluuu m“ .'!!llmmmm Photo courtesy ofKeIIy Lohr Sodexo improves quality, selection of foods for special diets, lifestyles By Christina Noonan TECHNEws WRITER Imagine walking into a candy store and be— ing told you can eat whatever you want... the only catch is, you can’t eat anything with sugar. Can you imagine how frustrating that would be? This is a peek at what living with food re— strictions can feel like at times. For those re— lying on Sodexo as their main source of food on campus, getting a well—balanced meal at multiple locations when excluding foods like bread, pasta, dairy, soy, or nuts could feel like a major challenge. After being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, a genetic autoimmune disease which requires following a <‘gluten—free” diet, I wasn’t sure where to turn. I was able to go to the Commons and talk with the general man— ager about getting a small freezer of gluten free foods for myself and others similarly needing to follow this diet. I was so happy to have got— ten help with this difficult diet, I wrote an ar— ticle about it in an old TechNews issue. Today, I’m happy to announce an even wider selection of healthy foods available for students. At Center Court, Connie’s gluten free pizzas are expected to be available by Thanksgiving break. In addition, Center Court already has a variety of gluten free sushi, in— cluding the Vegetarian California Rolls, Philly Rolls, Spicy Tuna and Avocados, Spicy Tuna and Cucumber, and Spicy Salmon Rolls. There are also snacks available like Michael’s Sea— sonings Gluten—free Cheese Poofs and Potato Chips are in Center Court for $1.09 a bag. Not to mention, there are also naturally gluten free snacks like Lays potato chips and most tortilla chips. Some of the salads offered are available without croutons. In the Uncommon Corner, the Ciao Bella Sorbet is an awesome dairy—free & fat—free al— ternative to ice cream. There’s also a variety of gluten free options here like frozen meals, Udi’s muffins, and my personal favorite, Snyder’s of Hanover gluten—free (and dairy—free) pretzels. For those of you without food allergies, I really urge you to try these pretzels and see if you can tell the difference from normal pretzels. I love to go up to friends and ask them to taste test... and they can never tell. Ever. In my experience, catering has been the most difficult area to find allergen—free foods. I did get a small list of gluten—free and vegan foods available by request though. This includ— ed Vegan Morning Star black bean burgers, Gluten—free and Vegan Polenta Cakes with Ra— tatouille, Tofu Napolean with red pepper, zuc— chini, squash and Hoisin glaze. With 2 weeks advance notice Sodexo can also offer gluten— free pasta and pastry items at any catering event! I cannot stress this enough: If an office or student org is hosting an event with a large numb er of expected participants, I’d really sug— gest asking if anyone has food needs ahead of time and ordering food two weeks in advance. The Bog has just started serving Redbridge beer, which is gluten free and produced by Anheuser—Busch. At Global Grounds, some of the NRGIZE smoothies are gluten—free as well. I wouldn’t recommend adding whey pro— tein and other supplements though as some of these may contain wheat or other fillers, and obviously don’t add Oreo’s or cookie pieces ei— ther if you need to eat gluten—free! It is really important that you let the cashier know that all the equipment needs to be sanitized and that you are requesting a gluten—free drink in order to reduce cross—contamination. Think there’s more you’d like to see? Let So— dexo know! Part of the reason more allergen— free food isn’t available yet is because they don’t know how many people need special accom— modations, and what those accommodations are. If you need something special, Sodexo’s Executive Chef Iovanny Zepeda is able to cus— tomize a diet to any student’s specific needs and execute gluten—free, vegan, and wheat—free dishes from the Pritzker Club kitchen. He’s a really nice guy and has always been able to help me out with finding foods I can eat. If you’d like to contact him to set up an appointment and diet consolation, you can reach him at zepeda@iit.edu to set up an appointment and diet consultation. Anne Mothkovich, Sodexo’s Retail Manager, has also been really integral in making a lot of these changes mentioned above. If you’d like to reach her, you can email her at anne.mothkovich@sodexo.com. My next goal is to find the best way to gath— er information about how many students need special accommodations and what those ac— commodations are. If anyone has any ideas on how to do this or would like to help, feel free to contact me at noonan.christina@gmail.com.