Tuesday, February 7, 2012 I

TechNews

RYAN HYNES ae@technewsiit.com 5

Art Institute of Chicago partners with Government of India for exhibit

By Swasti Khuntia
LAYOUT EDITOR

The Art Institute of Chicago became the
first US. museum to receive a grant from the
Government of India. The Art Institute hosted
an Indian delegation on Saturday, January
28th, to sign an agreement for the Vivekananda
Memorial Program for Museum Excellence.
The $500,000 grant honors Hindu monk Swami
Vivekananda, who spoke at the Art Institute
during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

The grant from the Government of
India is part of a new professional exchange
program between the museum and the
country. The goal of the four—year program is

to foster a professional partnership between
the Art Institute and museums in India, and
an agreement with the University of Chicago
to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian
studies. During the four years, the Art Institute
will serve as a standard and resource centre for
museum professionals in India. In addition,
groups of Art Institute staff members will visit
India on a regular basis, to conduct workshops
and seminars, deliver lectures, and take courses.
The Art Institute will also host fellowships in
Chicago for Indian museum professionals.
The Ministry of Finance in India had
earlier announced that the establishment of the
Vivekananda Memorial Program for Museum
Excellence is in honor of Swami Vivekananda
— an Indian poet, musician, playwright and

philosopher. The program also has particular
meaning because on Sept. 11, 1893, Swami
Vivekananda gave a landmark lecture on
religious freedom, at the first World’s Parliament
on Religion, at a building which is now the Art
Institute.

The grant is in honor of the historic
address made by Vivekananda at the World’s
Parliament of Religions in 1893 through which
he introduced Hinduism in the United States.
He began his landmark speech with “Sisters and
brothers of America” and made a passionate
plea for religious tolerance. The famous lecture
on September 11, 1893 is a shining moment
in India’s cultural history. The Art Institutes
ceremony also included the unveiling of
the Swami Vivekananda Memorial Plaque

along with the inauguration of exhibitions of
Rabindranath Tagore Paintings.

“It is a supreme honor to be recognized
by the Government of India as a partner in
the preservation, exhibition, and promotion of
India’s cultural heritage,” said Douglas Druick,
President and Eloise W. Martin Director of
the Art Institute. “This rededication of the
site of Swami Vivekananda’s speech and the
Vivekananda Memorial Program for Museum
Excellence is both living testaments to the
long relationship between the Art Institute
and India, going back to the earliest days of
the museum’s history. Over the years our
partnership has flourished, and we are gratified
by and excited for what will be a milestone in
our collaboration,” he further added.

 

 

By Michael Erie
TECHNEWS WRITER

I have never used a smart phone for
more than a couple of minutes before I got my
hands on this phone. The idea of a smart phone
never seemed like a decent investment of my
time and money.

The last time I looked at getting a
smart phone the cost for the two year contract
totaled $700, something that I was not willing
to spend. Since then much has changed. Smart
phones have become far more powerful and
eflicient and the Samsung Galaxy S II Android
phone has proven to me the near necessity of
smart phones for highly mobile individuals.

The phone is very well put together. I
thought it was a solid body until I dropped it and
saw the crack of the back panel. The case comes
in at just over twi inches in width and about five
inches in length and about one—third of an inch
in thickness. It comes with a bright inch touch

screen that is capable of playing high definition
video and it has 4G and Wi—Fi capabilities. There
are five buttons on the outside of the phone
which help with the touch pad control as well as
an audio jack and USB port to plug into power
or computes. The phone is equipped with an 8
megapixel camera and flash. The photos it takes
are phenomenal. The phone can be purchased
with either 16 or 32 gigabytes of memory.
With the Galaxy S II, my life becomes
much more organized. The ability to e—mail
between my classes without the use of a laptop
or computer is so much more convenient and
the messaging and social life programs organize
all social media messaging into one interface.
And the calendar application syncs up with
Google’s calendar. The phone’s 4G is faster than
the campus Wi—Fi, making the phone perfect
for surfing the internet. However, the web app
has no forward button which requires the user
to retype the address to jump to a website.
Unfortunately, for all the good of the
Galaxy S II there are still many problems it has

to overcome. Samsung’s native interface for this
android phone has left me wanting. Many of the
applications overlap in function and each have
a notification sound. This meant that my phone
would beep and vibrate multiple times for the
same message or email I received. Sometimes
one application would receive the message
update minutes after I read it. Sometimes this
caused my phone to notify me of a received
message when there was none.

This is just an example of the overall
inefficiencies of the interface. There is an
information bar along the top of the screen that
the user cannot interact with, but it would be
nice to. Instead when click on anything in that
bar a drop down menu appears.

Another issue is with the learning
curve of the interface. I had the phone for just
over a week, and barely had it dialed in to my
unique needs.

On the whole, the Galaxy S II delivers
as promised, and is a great smartphone for the
money.

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Image courtesy of ibweb.com

 

Restaurant Review:

Osteria Via Stato Pizzeria

By Kyle Pancham
TECHNEWS WRITER

Last Friday, I took a trip with a couple of
my friends up to the Near North Side for some
food. One was craving pizza, and not willing
to wait for a table at Uno and Due, we finally
picked Osteria Via Stato. Headed by Executive
Chef David DiGregorio and located at 620 N.
State St, it features two venues: Pizzaria Via Stato
and Osteria Via Stato. We went to the pizzeria
to fulfill my friend’s quest for good eats. The
candlelight dining room had a great ambiance,
and a full house of patrons both young and old,
as well as some pretty good music.

While the pizzas were a bit pricey ($10—$ 1 5
for a tavern pizza), they were well worth the

cash. The two pizzas we ordered were a house
special of goat sausage and goat cheese and a
basic pepperoni pizza. While I wasn’t planning
on ordering anything, I eventually succumbed
and got a sample of both, they were delicious.
The goat cheese and sausage blended together
marvelously for a delicious taste, coupled with
the crispy crust and fresh ingredients. To top it
off, the desserts were phenomenal. One dessert,
a slice of dark chocolate cake with candied
orange peel, forced me to put aside my usual
aversion to dark chocolate and embrace the
rich, decadent flavor. Coupled with a selection
of ice cream that my other friend purchased, it
made the trip well worth it.

I’d definitely recommend this pizzeria to
anyone looking for good food, an excellent
atmosphere, and friendly service.

 

Image courtesy of Osteria Via Stato

 

Congratulations to the January
student organization of the month:

a,
1-. .-

es

Lights, Camera,
"Action Movie Club

Make sure to visit them online at
www.facebook.com/groups/movieiit
Anol THIS Friday for Kill Bill Volume ll
6:30 p.m. in Perlstein Hall

 

i ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Congratulations to all of these organizations! To start a new
student organization, or nominate your organization for
February student organization of the month, contact
Ryan, Alex or Tricia in Campus Life.

Office of Campus Life

www.iiI.edu/campus_life

And congratulations to the NEW
student organizations from January:

Biological, Chemical & Physical
Sciences Graduate Student Association

Intuitive Modules in
Engineering Education

Malaysian Students Association

WackllTball