2 OPINION RYAN HYN ES opinion@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, November 8, 2011 TechNews STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SINCE 1928 McCormick Tribune Campus Center Room 221 3201 South State Street Chicago, Illinois 60616 E-mail: editor@technewsiit.com Website: http://www.technewsiit.com TECHNEWS STAFF Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Karl Rybaltowski Hannah Larson Opinion Editor Ryan Hynes Campus Editor Utsav Gandhi A&E Editor Ryan Kamphuis Sports Editor Graeme Port Layout Editor Chris Roberts Layout Editor Karthik Kothamasu Art Editor Adin Goings Copy Editor Chris Roberts Business Manager Distribution Manager Ryan Kamphuis Mike Purdy Vickie Tolbert Gregory Pulliam Financial Advisor Faculty Advisor GENERAL INFORMATION TechNews is written, managed, and edited by the students of,and fundedin part by,|llinois Institute of Technology.The materialherein does not necessarily reflectthe opinions oflllinoislnstitute ofTechnology or the editors, staff,and advisorofTechNews. 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NATIONAL ADVERTISERS To place an ad, contact Mediamate at orders@mediamate.com ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Wildlife encroaces oncity By Kyle Pancham TECHNEWS WRITER Last Saturday, while chilling with IFAS (IIT’s very own Japanese Film and Animation Society), someone came into McComrick Lounge of MSV and announced that the IIT fox was in the courtyard. I, being the ever curious nature observer, dashed to my room to snag my camera and snap a few shots. Luckily the fox was still napping when I got my camera and I managed to get a few quick shots. I was thrilled to have gotten some photos of one of IIT’s most elusive residents. Now then, what some people may be wondering is; “Why is there a fox on campus?” “Should I be worried?” “Should I feed it?”, the list goes on. Chicago, like most major cities, is home to a diverse population of wildlife (the squirrels on campus for example) and foxes are considered a common occurrence (despite the fact that this is the first one I’ve heard of appearing on campus). For example, On October 20th, there was a cougar sighting in Lake Forest (Here’s the link: http://chicago. cbslocal.com/2011/ 10/21 /holy-cats-mountain- lion-reported-in-lake-forest/ ). Besides cougars and foxes, what else could we expect on campus? According to State Fund, if you encounter a mountain lion, appear as large as possible, stay where you are or back away slowly. Do whatever you can to not appear as prey. Running only triggers a reaction that you might be prey, so it pays to not goad on a cougar. Now how about a fox? According to The Fox Website (http://www.thefoxwebsite.org/ CAMPUS I E members participate avidly tm #6q are extremely rare and you’re more likely to get bitten by a dog or cat than a fox. Still, if you are bitten, touched by one, or licked, wash the area with soap and water immediately. In short, I’m really glad I finally got to see e usive ox withmy own eyes, was a e to get close and take some pictures, and learn more about who else we share our city with. And if you happen to see the fox on campus, don’t be alarmed, just take a chance to appreciate the urban wildlife Photo by Kyle Pancham By Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR Chemical engineers at IIT are a happy bunch of students. Not that their course load is comparatively easy on them, and certainly not that four years is the easiest thing to get through. No, the one thing that makes this small journey so very enjoyable is membership with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers — IIT Chapter, or AIChE for short. Striving to organize both fun and enlightening events throughout the semester, both academically and with regards to outside the classroom, AIChE has certainly played a big role in students both enjoying the major as well as gain new insights into what comes ahead. It’s not easy for a student organization to have weekly meetings and guarantee a new speaker every time; the AIChE has been doing that for a while now, playing host to mostly full houses every time (Thursday lunch? PH 108 is the place to be!). Ranging from recent IIT alum who are now working in dream companies like Honeywell/UOP (often travelling the world, no big deal) to those who have been working in industry for over twenty years (ranging from petroleum to biotechnology to nuclear waste disposal to pretty much everything humanly possible) to our very own President of IIT (who happens to be a Chemical Engineer by education!), every speaker brings new enlightening insight to help shape our career a little better. If it’s not someone from the industry, its on-campus services such as the CMC coming in for a resume critique session. It also organizes occasional trips to interesting places, like nearby waste water treatment facilities or the Argonne National Laboratory, which are greatly enlightening experiences in themselves, and that’s not all. We also have pumpkin carving contests (yeah, we tried carving a measuring cylinder out of one); ChemE Olympics (running around Perlstein Auditorium with Perry’s handbook, it’s fun); ChemE Dumb-Charades (try acting Photo courtesy ofUtsav Gandhi out fractional distillation); Water Balloon Fight Contests with BMES, SHPE and other engineering organizations; Student Research Poster Competitions (with great prizes!); the famous ‘Evening with Industry’, a fantastic opportunity to network with professionals; the Freshman Mentoring Program and $5 all-you- can-eat sushi dinners (with awesome facultyI). To top it all off, was the experience and encouragement to attend the AIChE National Conference a fortnight ago in Minneapolis, MN; an incredible opportunity to meet successful business professionals, attend career development workshops, gain some valuable leadership skills with respect to developing the chapter, witness the famous National ChemE Car Competition, and make friends from around the country. Well organized by the exec board and fully supported by the department, Conferences like these and participation in on-campus AIChE events makes becoming a Chemical Engineer a road all the more worth travelling.