On Monday, March 31, Drexel University’s Undergraduate Student Government Association hosted an open forum with Drexel administrators for concerned students following the recent announcements of beloved campus food trucks moving or closing their businesses for good.

USGA welcomed senior vice presidents Subir Sahu and Brian Keech, Chief of Drexel Police Mel Singleton and associate vice presidents Karen Lewis and Katie Zamulinsky. They opened with introductions and their agenda for the forum. After explaining the situation and providing some background, they opened up the forum for Q&A.

Several of the Drexel panelists highlighted that they empathize with students’ concerns and understand that Drexel’s food trucks are a staple of the university and integral to the fabric of the community. They then clarified that their top priority is health and safety.

Chief Singleton explained that university police have been writing citations to food trucks around campus for years and have always tried to enforce Philadelphia law. They described several past incidents involving mobile vendors in the area, referencing the food truck that exploded near Temple’s campus in 2014. Recently, new food trucks outside of Summit have sparked numerous complaints from students. Moreover, Singleton cited the safety of those crossing the street with little space between the trucks. 

As a result, Public Safety decided they needed to crack down uniformly on code violations by all mobile food services on campus. Singleton added that they have handed out numerous flyers in the past with safety tips and education on laws and standards.

Keech and Chief Singleton both stressed that they are not forcing the trucks to shut down or kicking anybody off campus, but are only asking the trucks to be compliant with the laws put in place by the city of Philadelphia. These laws outline when they can operate, when and how often they need to be cleaned and when and where they can park. The main issue causing Pete’s Little Lunch Box to close their doors is that they may not “leave any conveyance unattended at any time or store, park, or leave [it] overnight on any city sidewalk or street.” 

When the forum was opened to questions from USGA students in the room and concerned students who attended remotely, USGA senator Nolan Wazni asked why Drexel’s response to these safety concerns was focused on food trucks, rather than the incessant traffic violations on 34th Street that occur irrespective of the food trucks.

Singleton and Keech responded to this by saying they were looking at the traffic problems in that area, but that solving them is much harder, citing the amount of work required just to install the new crosswalk on Chestnut Street. 

Other students asked if there were records of the complaints and code violation citations and if this is a new issue or a change in enforcement of a longstanding issue. It was not made clear whether citation records were publicly available, but according to Keech, these issues do not often result in a citation, but rather a conversation with the owners that generally results in compliance.

Claire Toomey, the Drexel student who started a petition to help keep Pete’s Little Lunch Box open, asked if there was any way for Drexel to help Pete’s and other food trucks to maintain their spots. Keech said they have considered offering reserved spots for trucks that would still have to park somewhere else overnight or turning the parking lot behind the Academic Building into a private place just for mobile vendors. This new private location, much like “Food Truck Alley” on Ludlow Street, would not be subject to the same rules and regulations as a public road. However, these proposals have not been implemented due to the complicated nature of the situation, with many groups having to come together to make them happen.

The panelists continuously reiterated that they were not forcing any trucks to close or leave Drexel’s campus; they were only providing them notice that they need to be in compliance with Philadelphia law. They urged students not to pick their battle with Drexel, but rather with District 3 councilmember Jamie Gauthier and the Philadelphia City Council, who have control over these laws. 

In episode 3, James Biernat and Paulie Loscalzo start things off by doing a campus catch-up, where the hosts discuss the men’s and women’s lacrosse home opener losses, wrestling’s sweep in the EIWA Independence Championship, and squash’s loss to Trinity College and the road ahead.

Additionally, James and Paulie go in-depth on the mind-boggling rotational decisions by the Drexel Men’s Basketball team and Coach Spiker in their past two losses, as well as covering Chloe Hodges’ game-saving charity line performance.

Follow the Triangle sports section and Triangle Sports Talk on Instagram @drexeltrianglesports

New editions of the Triangle drop every other week, and our next publication releases on February 28th.

In Episode 1, Triangle sports writers Paulie Loscalzo and James Biernat introduce the new show! Additionally, the hosts discuss the men’s basketball team’s victory over Delaware, as well as the women’s basketball team’s three game win streak.

Drexel University’s Board of Trustees announced that by a unanimous vote Antonio Merlo, Ph.D., has been confirmed as the 16th president of Drexel University in a press release on Friday, Jan. 31. Merlo is set to assume his position on July 1, succeeding Interim President Denis P. O’Brien. 

O’Brien is confident in Merlo’s upcoming tenure.

“Dr. Merlo is not only a brilliant scholar, but he is also a leader with a long track
record of bringing people together around a common goal and motivating them to achieve
it. He is the type of president that will energize the Drexel community as he guides us
onward, to the bright future of this esteemed institution,” said O’Brien.

Merlo is described as a “political economist and academic,” obtaining his doctorate in economics at New York University. He is the current Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of NYU’s Faculty of Arts & Science and has had an extensive career in higher education, as he has taught at the University of Minnesota, NYU, Rice University and the University of Pennsylvania. 

He is a “dedicated and vibrant supporter of student life within each of his campus communities. He served as head coach of the club water polo teams at Rice, Penn and NYU and is a three-time recipient of the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Coach of the Year Award,” stated the release. 

Board of Trustees Chair Richard Greenawalt is hopeful for the future of Drexel under Merlo’s leadership.

“Dr. Merlo is the ideal leader to uphold Drexel’s values and guide the University into its next chapter…“His commitment to academic entrepreneurship and his proven success in bringing together faculty, students, scholars, and practitioners to address critical societal challenges are particularly vital as we move forward with strategic institutional priorities, including an academic transformation already underway, and focus on building long-term financial resilience,” said Greenawalt. 

Mike Lawrie, the chair of the presidential search committee and 1977 LeBow College of Business graduate has full confidence in Merlo’s ability to make a positive impact on Drexel. 

“Dr. Merlo is truly a rising star in higher education. He has championed new initiatives and has taken on leadership roles at every institution that he has served, while endearing himself to students, faculty and staff along the way,” said Lawrie, chair of Drexel’s presidential search committee. “Our committee engaged in a thorough and extensive search for Drexel’s next president and Dr. Merlo is by far the best fit for our community and our institution. I am excited to see what lies ahead for Drexel under his leadership.”

In terms of his undergraduate background, Merlo is a “first-generation college graduate,” stated the release. 

“He completed his undergraduate education in 1987, earning a Laurea summa cum laude in economics and social sciences from Bocconi University in Milan, before emigrating to the United States to continue his studies at NYU,” the release continued. 

He has also conducted research on “the economic economic impact of public policy and the organizational structure of the political sector,” the release highlighted. These efforts have been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council of England. 

Merlo has been published in “American Economic Review,” “Econometrica,” “the Journal of Political Economy” and the “Review of Economic Studies.” The topics he has in his published work include “voting, crime and household economics.” 

Though the presidential search is over, Lawrie will be taking over Greenawalt’s position as chair of the Board, a position that he has held since 2008. 

Merlo is enthused about starting his presidential journey at Drexel.

“Because of its fundamental mission of evolving to meet the moment and its visionary experiential education model, I believe Drexel is an institution poised to accomplish great things in the coming years,” Merlo noted. “While I am truly grateful for the many opportunities NYU has given me to grow as a scholar and a leader throughout my career, I am excited to begin my journey with Drexel and to help the University realize its tremendous potential. The coming years will undoubtedly bring significant changes to higher education, but they also present tremendous opportunities for institutions like Drexel. To be part of the next chapter in this University’s proud history is truly an honor.”

The new president-elect was announced to the Drexel community in an email from Greenawalt on Friday. 

Following Drexel University’s decision to merge the College of Computing and Informatics, College of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, the provost announced that Dean Yi Deng and Dean Sharon Walker of CCI and CoE respectively would be stepping down effective Jan. 1. 

While Deng and Walker are on an indefinite sabbatical, the roles of interim dean for the colleges will be assumed by Ali Shokoufandeh, PhD, for CCI and Kapil Dandekar, PhD, for CoE. Paul Brandt-Rauf, PhD, will remain as dean for Drexel BIOMED. These three leaders will be working closely with Executive Vice Provost for Research and Innovation Aleister Saunders, PhD, on the curriculum and structure changes that come with merging the schools.

Provost Paul Jensen highlighted that, in his eight-year tenure at CCI, Deng led the college to be not only a leader of growth and technological skill in the region but a diverse and welcoming space for all. Through the many initiatives he oversaw, he doubled the number of women enrolled at CCI and increased the retention rate of undergraduate students from 86 to 94 percent. He helped transform the curriculum to better reflect industry needs and fostered the creation of thriving partnerships through the Corporate Partners Program. He is also responsible for the college moving from University Crossings to its current home, 3675 Market Street.

He went on to talk about Walker’s six-year tenure and how she brought the college to the forefront of engineering education by recruiting faculty from experts in “strategic key areas.” 

Like Deng, Walker expanded CoE’s industry partnerships, earning them a spot in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network and a program equivalency agreement with the International Council on Systems Engineering. 

She has also been an integral part of several committees and teams dedicated to improving Drexel’s curriculum and educational standards, such as the development program Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science. 

According to Jensen’s announcement, “She will continue to serve in this capacity in partnership with Janet Rizzuto, executive director of executive education at the LeBow College of Business.”

This announcement served to honor the deans’ accomplishments as they enter this transitional period, but offered no other answers about why the deans were going on sabbatical, how long the interim positions would last or who would assume leadership once the colleges merge. However, Drexel’s Academic Transformation will be in the design phase until June, at which point final decisions can be expected.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority has released the newest version of their mobile application, version 3.0 for both Android and iOS, a massive overhaul of the applications design and functionality. Unfortunately, this update does little more than illustrate a major problem in the technology industry: companies updating their user interface at the cost of user experience.

Previous to version 3.0, the SEPTA app was far from devoid of bugs. The app was often extremely slow, showed incorrect live status information and featured a “Keep Me Logged In” button that was effectively pointless. In their newest version, they have neglected to fix any of these issues, and in some cases, have made these problems worse. Instead, SEPTA unveiled essentially a fresh new paint job on a somewhat less functional app to better resemble their competitor, Transit.

Transit, a community-based transportation information platform, uses user data to provide incredibly accurate route tracking information. They display all nearby routes and allow users to plan quick trips based on what is nearby, with the ability to save frequent destinations for work and home. Once a user selects a route, Transit will show them when to leave their current location to arrive on time as well as allow the user to opt in for voice commands to arrive on time. However, Transit does hide some of their functionality behind a paywall, allowing users to only access the six closest routes to the user’s current location without paying for a premium subscription.

SEPTA quickly realized that Transit was doing something right, and rather than delve into what people actually prefer about the Transit app, decided to copy the entire design without the most important part: the user data. Transit was not skyrocketing in popularity because it looked a little cleaner, but because it was far more accurate. Despite buses having tracking capability, the SEPTA app is often wrong or unsure about where the buses are or if they are even coming at all.

Upon opening the new app, SEPTA increased their load time with a long animation displaying only their logo, making opening the app in a hurry even more frustrating. The worst of the updates however is in the redesigned “Schedules” tab. Following their latest rebrand, SEPTA has changed their app structure to list “Metro” as a single entity as opposed to individual tabs for the subway, trolley and Norristown High Speed Line. 

Once a transportation method and route are selected, the user has to input which direction they are travelling, their starting point and their end destination. In earlier versions of the app, the directions were labeled with the final stop of the route, such as “to City Hall”, reflecting how route information appears at stops and on the buses and trains. Instead, the app now gives the user options like “inbound” or ”outbound” for the regional rail or cardinal directions like “northbound” or “southbound” for the metro. 

The app still requires users to select both a start and end stop, but does not allow users to search and has removed the filter from the destination list after the user selects their starting stop. This means users will have to scroll through incredibly long routes to find their destination stop, scrolling past many stops that are before their starting stop they just selected. The app also still has no way to remove expired cards. Why do the SEPTA key cards expire in the first place?

SEPTA’s new app looks much more aesthetically pleasing than the old one at the cost of much-needed functionality improvements. The field of technology is all about making updates and finding newer, better ways to create. Unfortunately, there is a recent trend of updates for the sake of updates. Change is great, but only if there is a strong, user-centric reason behind it.

Drexel women’s basketball, one of the most well-regarded mid-major programs in Division I basketball, was expected to go through a rebuilding year during the 2023-2024 season. The team was lacking offensively minded players and was predicted to be a middling team in the CAA. However, Drexel women’s basketball coach Amy Mallon got the team to hit their stride at the right time, and in perhaps her most impressive feat as head coach, guided the squad to a Cinderella run through the CAA Playoffs, to a CAA Championship and then to a March Madness appearance.

Now, with the entire conference’s attention on the Dragons, Drexel is predicted to finish second in the CAA. Here is everything you need to know about Drexel women’s basketball for the 2024-2025 season.

Who’s out?

The Dragons graduated Brooke Mullins, Jasmine Valentine, Erin Sweeny, Erin Doherty and Hetta Saatman, while losing Momo Laclair to the transfer portal.

Mullins was the team’s second leading scorer (10.2 PPG) and chipped in across the board as the team leader in assists, blocks and steals. Saatman also excelled as a strong, veteran role player and carried the mantle as the starting center for Amy Mallon’s squad

Who’s in?

Mallon and her staff brought in a stellar class of three transfers and three true freshmen to bolster the championship defense campaign. Transfers Deja Evans (Albany), Molly Lavin (American) and Cara McCormack (Holy Cross) and freshmen Mariah Watkins, Iriona Gravely and Emilee Jones all have the potential to make strong impacts on the court.

Evans in particular stands out as an option to make her presence felt in West Philadelphia, as the sophomore brings accolades such as third team All-America East, America East All-Rookie team and America East All-Defensive team. Lavin and Watkins also project to make an impact for the Dragons.

Season Outlook

The expectation for the Dragons this year is to defend their title. Drexel is a talented team who returned their most important players in Amaris Baker, Chloe Hodges and Grace O’Neil.

Baker, in particular, is one of the premier offensive players in the CAA and she dazzled the DAC by averaging nearly 17 points per game over the final 11 games of the 2023-2024 season. Baker can score at all three levels and established herself as the most natural scorer on the team last season.

Hodges had a breakout season where she scored nearly nine points per game while having a large impact in the paint on both ends of the course. The Aussie started every single game for the Dragons while shooting the highest percentage from the floor on the team.

O’Neil enters her third season as the starting point guard for Amy Mallon, and is a true jack-of-all-trades. Despite standing at just 5 foot 7 inches, the Archbishop Carrol alum led the team in total rebounds and steals. An area she can improve is her scoring, as she shot a mere 26 percent from deep and just 32 percent from the floor. While scoring will not necessarily be O’Neil’s calling card, she will need to at least be more efficient in her offense if she is to continue seeing the most minutes on the roster.

With the combination of a strong cast of returning players and an impressive class of recruits, the goal for Drexel women’s basketball should be to win the regular season CAA title, and then defend their crown in the CAA Tournament. Amy Mallon does not need to do much to defend her record, but going to their second NCAA Tournament in two years would be a huge accomplishment, and a testament to the remarkable program that Drexel women’s basketball has been and continues to be.

Drexel University has recently announced that the College of Computing and Informatics and the College of Engineering will merge to form the College of Computing and Engineering as part of their upcoming academic changes. According to an email from the university, these restructuring changes will “bolster curricula, research, and the student experience,” providing better opportunities and degree flexibility. However, as these changes are part of Drexel’s plan to recover financially from declining enrollment, there are growing concerns the “more streamlined organizational structure” and “greater integration of resources” are a cover for Drexel to fire staff and overwork remaining employees.

Between the 10 majors in CoE and the six majors in CCI, there is currently a lot of curriculum overlap. As a computer science major, many of my classes have prerequisites that can be satisfied by taking classes in the engineering college. Often there are entire courses that are essentially the exact same between the two schools, giving students the option for which version they’d like to take.

Combining the colleges would save a lot of redundancy, but it would still present challenges. Scheduling is already a difficult process within CCI due to the large number of students. Likely when the redundancies are resolved, more sections will not be added to accommodate the influx of students causing scheduling to become more difficult for computing and engineering students alike.

Unfortunately, with the removal of redundant classes almost certainly comes with the removal of faculty and staff. While these plans will take place after this academic year, there are still so many unknowns about what the future of even the student staff of these colleges will look like. Both colleges employ students as peer mentors, course assistants and other student leadership positions, but have different policies for doing so. 

CoE does not allow undergraduate students to be course assistants, such a policy is not truly feasible for CCI due to the number of undergraduate students in comparison to the graduate student population. In this new college, would undergrads be barred from being course assistants? Or would they now be responsible for being course assistants to a much larger pool of students? What about peer mentors? CCI’s peer mentors are already overworked, and responsible for teaching a large number of students the ins and outs of the college. 

With the new combined college, they will have to deal with more students and present a lot more information. How effective can a peer mentor be if they are also learning how the new college operates alongside the new freshman they are supposed to be mentoring? Combining the colleges will put strain on all faculty and staff from both entities, Drexel should not make it worse by reducing the staff as well.

Many universities already house computer science, software engineering and related majors in their engineering college. I am majoring in computer science but pursuing a minor in electrical engineering, and there is a lot of overlap between the required courses for each. But having CCI as a separate college reinforces a key aspect of computer science especially: CS is not engineering. CS is not all about programming, it is much more about math and theory. If CCI were to fully dissolve, the computer science major would fit much better in the College of Arts and Sciences alongside Math and Physics. With the uncertainty that lies ahead in the wake of these changes, it is critical that Drexel uphold their commitment and provide better opportunities, both in quantity and quality, for its students and staff alike. 

With Halloween approaching, it is the perfect time to discuss one of the scariest aspects of a student’s daily life: emails. However, there are many ways to make Drexel’s email service, Microsoft Outlook, easier to manage and simpler to use on a daily basis.

As a Drexel student, I am constantly bombarded with emails that I do not particularly care about that make it impossible to catch all of the actually interesting emails that I do care about. However, Outlook and most email clients offer an automated solution for this through rules. Email rules allow you to automatically send emails to certain folders based on their sender or content information, meaning you can rid your inbox of those pesky blackboard emails every single time you submit an assignment. 

All of Blackboard’s emails come from noreply@drexel.edu<donotreply@blackboard.com>, so it is very easy to write a rule to add them to a new folder so you never have to think about them again. If you do not even want to hold on to them, you can set up the rule to automatically delete them as well. One important caveat to this rule is that every single blackboard email comes from this address, including announcements from professors. To avoid deleting or moving those, you can add a filter to your rules to look for the subjects “Submission received” and “Daily Notifications”.

As you write your rules, you can even select to run them on your current inbox to clear the ones that have already come in as well as all future emails. Even still, you may still receive a large volume of emails that quickly fills your inbox. To easily find important emails later, you can flag emails as “very important” and then later filter emails by flags.

Drexel emails all follow about the same pattern: abc123@drexel.edu. However, this is not conducive to remembering other people’s emails, and especially if you want to be memorable on your resume. However, every Drexel student has an alternative email address that routes to the same place. You can also use first.middle.last@drexel.edu, a much more memorable schema to give people you hope will email you.

When it comes to actually writing an email, remember to keep it short and highlight key points with bulleted lists and short sentences. Nobody likes to read a super long and wordy email, so the fewer words you can get your point across in, the better. However, emails are not text messages. When you start an email thread, use a more formal tone and remember your audience. 

If you are emailing a professor to ask for an extension on Outlook, do not address them the same way you would a close friend. As the thread continues, it is usually acceptable to be less formal. For more advice on how to write an email, check out Drexel’s recommendations from their graduate college.