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. ’2 am 1* .Illl 10:10 A“ Lima." mekpng cm... 1; PM“, Imm SIINISUNG 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