Tuesday, March 27, 2012 I

TechNews

campus@technewsiit.com

UTSAV GANDHI

URJiit to display student research in spring abstracts issue

By Mike Purdy
OPINION EDITOR

In its debut year, the Undergraduate
Research Journal (URIiit) is preparing to launch
its spring abstracts issue to showcase student
research endeavors at Illinois Tech! The URIiit
team hopes to have this issue finalized and
printed between late March and early April
in anticipation of the first full edition of the
journal, which will be arriving in fall 2012!

The Undergraduate Research Journal is
an official student organization devoted to
encouraging and rewarding undergraduate,
level research across all academic disciplines
With a vision set on promoting a distinct
and enriching educational community, URIiit
provides undergraduate researchers with a
prime opportunity to augment awareness of

their work through publication URIiit began
as an Interprofessional Project in 2010, which
allowed for a welledeveloped organizational
infrastructure along with professional standards
for submission, peerereviewing, and editing!
With such a solid foundation already in place,
the current executive team has been making
positive strides toward gaining a stronger
foothold on campus following a brief period
of dormancy

The spring abstracts issue, which is
currently in its editing phase, will be an
eightepage exhibition of undergrad research
summaries from various departments
throughout campus! URIiit has been soliciting
for research abstracts with much fervor since
the semester’s beginning, and has received about
10 abstracts thus far These research previews
include such topics as biomaterials, cancer cells,
computereassisted graphing, the Menger Spore,

and an invasive species of crab! The deadline to
submit an abstract for the spring edition was
March 9, but an abstract is not necessary to
achieve publication in the full issue this fall!
With this edition looming in the distance, there
will surely be more research submissions rolling
in throughout spring and summer Eventually,
URIiit would like it to become mandatory
for summer undergraduate researchers to
submit and publish their findings for the rest
of the university to enjoy The website, urjiitI
wordpressIcom, provides clear guidelines and
instructions for submission, making it easy for
any student to submit work for review
Pending a Finance Board decision, URIiit
will have the funds necessary to print 500
copies of the spring abstracts issue, which will
be distributed campusewide within the next
month! The design and editing boards at URIiit
have been working hard to ensure that this

RHA conference (continued from

6. Is there a National conference? When/where/
will IIT send a delegation and who can apply to
go?

Right now, there is an annual na
tional RHA conference which is open to col,
leges and universities across the nation and
is programmed in a similar fashion to IRHA!
This conference is known as NACURH (Na
tional Association of College and University
Residence Halls)! Like IRHA, NACURH of,
fers a unique theme every year (Last year, it
was camping) and allows RHA’s to compete
in roll call, display, banner, philanthropy, and
showing off school spirit! There are also re,
gional conferences that various RHA chapters
can attend!

IIT falls under the GLACURH
(Great Lakes Association of College and Uni,
versity Residence Halls) region, and we’re
planning on bringing a few delegates there
shortly!

7. What was the best experience you
all had at the conference?

I’d say that the best part of the con
ference was simply the fact that everyone is
having so much fun! It’s a place where you
don’t have to be embarrassed about getting
excited and showing off your school spirit,

and you may even discover more about your
capabilities as a leader along the way It was
through first attending IRHA that I had devele
oped my confidence in public speaking, and I
am very grateful that I was given the oppor
tunity to attend! Whether it’s through work,
ing on the banner as a team, attending pro,
grams hosted by other schools, or just making
some new friends along the way, you certainly
emerge out of the program feeling like you
have learned something new I

n the boardroom, it’s like discover,
ing new aspects about residence halls, service,
new and different possibilities and opportuni
ties in the residence halls; being open to learn,
ing about other schools, their work, remark,
able people and their contribution to residence
halls; evaluating and debating on the pros and
cons of different bids, applications and deci
sions

In the process you discover a new
you! IRHA has given me, the Conference Co,
ordinator, lessons of life! It has left me feeling
better not only about being a part of RHA and
IIT, but also about the fact that I can bring
about a change and make things happen! It has
given me the zeal to make a difference in the
community; it has fostered leadership skills

in me and I feel more capable and complete
when I look at myself after the IRHA weekend
Thank you IRHA!!

8. How do such conferences get you
more excited about your overall college experi-
ence?

Basically, I see conferences like
IRHA not just as a cool opportunity to net,
work with students from other RHA chapters
but also as a great chance to basically have fun
and show off some school spirit! You get to
explore more about life in other colleges, and
you can check out other projects and pro,
grams that students have been working on

You also become a better leader,
more confident with new dreams for yourself
and return with enrichment ideas for the resie
dence halls and the community

9. Do you see IIT hosting a confer-
ence of this sort? Does the IIT RHA have any
specific ideas in mind if that was to become a
reality?

Although our RHA would be really
excited for hosting an upcoming IRHA con
ference, I think we’re more concerned about
integrating our chapter further with the RHA
conference scene before considering to host
a conference! Hosting an IRHA conference

issue is a success, and although preliminary,
will build momentum for the organization
as it continues to learn and grow In its long
term plan, URIiit hopes to become a top name
amongst undergraduate research journals
across the nation, joining the ranks of THUR]
(Harvard) and CUR] (CaleTech), both of which
are awardewinning journals!

In an effort to obtain such a lofty goal,
URIiit is always looking for diligent students
who may be interested in becoming involved,
whether it is through submission, design,
editing, or another area of expertise; any help
is welcomed! In the near future, URIiit would
like to hold a competition for a creative logo
design, with the winner taking home a prize and
having his or her name mentioned in the fall
issue! If you are interested in URIiit, or have any
questions, be sure to email urjiit@gmailrcomr

Page 1)

would take a great deal of work and would also
require the hosts to have a great deal of expe
rience in coordinating large programs! We
would have to further our own understanding
of how to coordinate the whole program like
it has been in previous conferences, and there
would also be safety considerations given the
fact that we are in the city

However, we really look forward to
being able to host business meetings (a part of
the IRHA conference, especially in the prepae
rations stage for all the conference coordinae
tors of the schools attending the conference)
sometime in the future So far, RHA hasn’t
really considered how they would go about
hosting a conference, but we’ll keep you guys
posted when we do!

10. Was there a group chant or spirit
song?

Definitely! We actually used our
cheer from last year again and quite a few
more cheers during this year’s IRHA confer,
ence! Some of the cheers we used were spee
cialty IIT cheers, while a few others were gen
eral IRHA cheers that everyone could chant
to! We would like to share a couple of cheers
which had particularly embraced our school
spirit:

SGA updates: 1(00)% Campaign, Keating, hookahs

By Utsav Gandhi
CAMPUS EDITOR

The Illinois Tech Student Government
Association (SGA) greatly appreciates the
tremendous feedback and buzz generated
with the launch of the 1(00)% Campaign, as
highlighted in last week’s edition of TechNews!
The website for the campaign is up and running
at CampaignforlOOIweeblycom and every
Illinois Tech student is encouraged to frequently
check the website for updates!

One of the other major campusewide
initiatives launched by the SGA this past
year also made its presence felt in last week’s
Opinion section, when a highly popular
VoteBox suggestion (sgaIuservoiceIcom, an
online suggestion box which allows students to
submit votes regarding popular proposals and
is watched keenly by university administration)
was highlighted by TechNews writer Chris
Schaffer, objecting to the inclusion of hookahs
on the list of drug paraphernalia as decided
by university policy The rapid growth of this
issue caught the attention ofthe SGA Executive
Board, and they have followed up accordingly

Labeling the issue as “Under Review," this
is what the Executive Board has to say:

“We’ve met with Erin Gray, the director
of Student Conduct, to talk about this issue!
The origin of this mandate comes from many
instances of finding illegal substances used in
conjunction with hookahs! As a preventative
measure, it was deemed that the school would
not allow the possession of a hookah on
campus grounds! That is why you’ve found it

listed as drug paraphernalia in the Code of
Conduct! However, [Grey] was receptive of the
stigmatizing effect of this rule! The policy is
now under review and we’ll make sure to update
everyone as soon as we know more"

Keep reading TechNews for more updates
after spring break, as this matter is definitely
not a closed book yet Of course, any responses
to the above comment are welcome and can be
emailed to sga@iitredur

Another hugelypopular suggestion, shared
anonymously a few days before Thanksgiving
last year, has garnered about 175 votes! The
suggestion was to bring indoor soccer back to
Keating!

Labeling the suggestion as “Completed,"
this is what the Executive Board had to say: “We
have received our final say from Athletics about
all the options proposed to keep indoor soccer
going at Illinois Tech! As a suggestion from
SGA, we believe your best bet in implementing
a solution, other than foam balls, would be to
form an official student organization

This way, you can propose for the more
expensive curtain solutions through the SAF
(as Athletics cannot budget for that option at
this time; see explanation below), but continue
conversations with Athletics through that very
student organization We will be closing this
topic as completed, as we want to give you all
your votes back and it’s now up to everyone
involved with indoor soccer to follow through
with the next steps of forming a student
organization, continuing conversations with
Athletics, and proposing for more desirable
solutions!"

Athletics said, “Indoor soccer has indeed

returned to Keating Sports Center! What
many don’t know is the decision was reached
in early December after several options were
researched and explored The areas we looked
at were expanding our current curtain/netting
system, wall padding, and the soccer ball type!
The curtain] netting system represented the best,
but also the most expensive, option available!
We quoted for additional curtains/netting last
May However, the cost exceeded our budgetary
means, and we were unable to purchase them!
We also researched wall padding to help
minimize future damage to Keating! These pads
were not high enough to protect all the windows
in the playing area! Also, the padding would
greatly reduce the natural lighting the building
provides and thus was not considered viable! We
also researched several different types of both
indoor and outdoor soccer balls! It was decided
that a lighter indoor training ball would be used
to minimize damage to Keating! This ball has
been used by our varsity soccer programs and
should be acceptable for recreational use! Our
top concerns are to protect our facilities such
as Keating and to limit potential damage to the
building This allows us to maintain Keating and
provide a safe environment for students to come
and engage in recreational pursuits! We have
been as proactive and fair as possible to allow
indoor soccer to be played again in Keating, and
we understand not everyone can be satisfied by
our decision We ask that you work with us and
our staff to be proactive to ensure no further
damage occurs to Keating and the rules are
strictly followed so indoor soccer can continue!
Thank you for your time and understanding
Work Hard! Study Hard! Play Hard! Go Hawks!"

Finally, the SGA suggests students show
some more support to the following suggestion
as it definitely looks promising enough to
enhance the overall student experience at
IIT Michelle Athena Olmedo shared an idea
on February 24, 2012, to “Inhave an area
for recreational use that promotes student
creativity" She explains further: “Let’s have
some place on campus where students can
do some type of artwork, music, photography
and other things of that nature! The school is
always trying to promote creativity, but i don’t
believe there is anywhere where students to
do this Students aren’t really allowed to go to
VanderCook unless they are taking classes there;
I know of a darkroom on campus for those who
like photography, but only architecture students
can use it! My idea is that it’ll be an area for
students to have all sorts of things to just express
creative freedom! Also, I think this would be a
great way for student to “decorate" the school
and be more spirited"

SGA VP of Communication Kelly
Lohr said, “I think it would be great to have
something like the Idea Shop, but totally for
recreational use, with all the materials needed
to be creative, like a dark room, computers fully
loaded with software for creative work, paints,
anything that’s open to students to get inspired!
I’ve talked with at least one alumnus who has
a similar vision I’ll ask around, and see what
some next steps would be to making a place like
this happen If you’d like to help, contact me at
lohrkm@gmailrcomr"

Definitely a great idea to promote student
creativity, which really canhave huge impact on
student productivity