Senior elementary education major Cloe Lacombe-Bar has become the first student to independently develop a mobile iPod tour for an exhibit at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center.

The iPod tour complements The 1968 Exhibit, an exhibit originally developed by the Minnesota History Center. The Exhibit highlights events of “the year that rocked America,” from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy to the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the cultural impacts of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. It is organized into 12 sections, each corresponding to a month of the year.

The National Constitution Center provided Lacombe-Bar with an audio script for the tour, for which she created 45-second to six-minute video “stops” to go along with the narration.

“I created about 20 stops for each event that was present in the exhibit, in which a narrator talks about the event. I basically edited the audio and took pictures and graphics to edit them all into a video,” Lacombe-Bar said.

Lacombe-Bar found and compiled all images for the videos herself, which she admits was the hardest part.

“I was given some pictures from the original tour, but a lot were bad quality and I didn’t have every stop, so I went on Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress and other national archives to find images and make a story out of them.”

She added, “It sounds like such a simple thing to do — just, Google this-or-that, but it took so much time to be able to find relevant pictures that I had the right to use. I didn’t think of it at first, but then I realized that everything is copyrighted.”

In developing the tour, Lacombe-Bar also practiced some coding.

“[Before this] I did not know how to code at all. Once I was done with all of the videos, my co-worker showed me not how to code the entire application but how to put my stops into it, titles and everything, to make sure it worked,” she said.

The tour is compatible with an iPod Touch or an iPhone. Visitors can either rent an iPod from the museum or install the free app on their own device. Once the app is installed, users may purchase the tour for 99 cents.

Prior to creating the iPod tour, the only experience that Lacombe-Bar had with media programs came from her Multimedia in Instructional Design course with Drexel professor Cory Schmitt.

The course is designed for education majors and focuses on how to integrate technology and multimedia into lesson plans. During the class, Schmitt requires students to develop a project using audio, video, animation, text and still graphics.

After witnessing Lacombe-Bar’s performance in his class, Schmitt, who has been developing tours for the National Constitution Center for seven years, offered her the job, giving her complete control of the project.

“I knew that she had the background, the training and the skills to complete it because she took my course, and she seemed interested in learning more about using multimedia in the class setting, so I asked her, and she’s been the first in six or seven years to say yes,” Schmitt said.

Schmitt regularly asks students who excel in his classes to help him develop tours, and while he admitted that the class this past winter term has been one of his best, Lacombe-Bar was the only student asked to help develop the project.

“What impressed me about Cloe is whenever I asked if anyone would have any questions and concerns, and no one would answer, I’d ask if anyone had any joys, and she’d always raise her hand and say, ‘I really like this stuff,’ so that stuck out to me,” Schmitt said.

Lacombe-Bar worked on the project for about nine hours per week and received standard student wages.

“This is the first [tour] that we were able to produce where we didn’t feel incredibly stressed and up against a deadline. We knew when she was taking it over that this was her primary project, so we knew we were way ahead of the game, more so than we ever have been,” Schmitt said.

According to Schmitt, the National Constitution Center typically opens the tours to the press before they are opened to the public and that more press attended this tour than any other.

“This is the first time that the press actually expressed an interest in taking the tour. So there were far more press that took this tour than others, and overwhelmingly in the end, the press liked this tour, which I think really enhanced this exhibit,” Schmitt said.

Lacombe-Bar, who is a native of France and has lived in India and Senegal, said she ultimately plans to become an international teacher. She plans to continue to use technology to complement her teaching.

Although she admitted that this type of technology shouldn’t be used all the time, she thinks that “technology [like this] can be really helpful for differentiating instruction and accommodating students with different needs. Also, I know that students love technology and how it’s used, so it can be fun and motivating for them.”

The National Constitution Center is located in Philadelphia’s Old City neighborhood at 525 Arch St. The 1968 Exhibit will be open until Sept. 2.

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Students of Drexel University Global Brigades traveled to Nicaragua during summer break June 16- 24 for a medical and public health brigade.

The students traveled to Jinotega, Pueblo Nuevo and El Lemon, Nicaragua, and provided care to approximately 700 individuals and seven families.

The first portion of the trip focused on medical relief. For three days, students involved with Drexel Global Brigades worked closely with licensed medical and dental professionals in a “pop-up” clinic to provide quality health care to residents of Pueblo Nuevo, a small village about 45 minutes from Jinotega, the town in which the students were staying.

Both adult and child patients first went through a triage, where students conducted a basic evaluation by tracking vitals such as pulse and blood pressure, recorded the patient’s medical history and noted current symptoms. Due to the language barrier between patients and students, sophomore nursing major Eric Williams noted that it wasn’t necessarily as easy as it sounded.

Mayur Chandriani, president of the medical brigades discipline of Drexel Global Brigades and a recent biological sciences graduate, tried to troubleshoot this problem by supplying student volunteers with Spanish practice via websites and packets.

“During our [last] Global Brigades trip in Honduras, communication with the patients was difficult because of the language barrier, and we really needed people to understand the patients’ symptoms before we sent them to the consultation. I made sure that students knew Spanish or at least were familiar with some Spanish vocabulary before coming to the trip,” he said. Chandriani made sure that an effective translator would be available during the triage on this trip.

After triage, patients went to see a professional for a consultation and, if necessary, diagnoses. Patients then went to “Charla,” an education component of the clinic, conducted by the students. Drexel students focused on educating children on basic hygiene, such as washing their hands and brushing their teeth.

Once finished with Charla, patients went to the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions for the first time.

Global Brigades intends to make a lasting impact on the community being served. Typically, Global Brigades medical brigades will visit a particular community every few months, but because the student organization has been a presence in Nicaragua only since January 2013, this was the first clinic set up in Pueblo Nuevo.

Some students, however, had the opportunity to travel with a Global Brigades mission from another college to a previously served community in Nicaragua.

“[In Nicaragua], we met groups from Brooklyn College and Marianopolis College from Quebec, and we actually worked directly with [Marianopolis] students. They had about 17-18 people, and you typically need 20-25 to successfully execute a brigade. So we sent some of our students with them to help out for the first three days since we had so many,” Chandriani said. In this community, prescriptions were also refilled as needed.

The second portion of the trip focused on public health. Students went to a more rural village, El Lemon, where few homes have more than a dirt floor, much less proper sanitation systems. Here, students laid concrete on floors within homes and built community latrines consisting of showers, sinks, toilets and a septic system.

“I had expected the conditions that we saw, but I didn’t expect the people to be so happy in their conditions. We are so accustomed here in the United States to seeing people in poverty as miserable. … These are people that have literally close to nothing, yet they are so happy. They are so nice to other people and so appreciative of what we are doing for them … that isn’t necessarily the case in our society, so it was a nice ‘shock,’” Jill Alderfer, a senior health sciences major, said.

Williams agreed that much could be learned from the nature of the people whom the students served.

“What I actually did was not only help people, but I was able to learn so much about a different culture. Even though I couldn’t communicate well, I learned so much from the people themselves,” Williams said.

Materials for both the medical and public health brigade projects were obtained either through fundraising and donations or bought on site. This year, students conducted a material fundraiser outside of a CVS called “Shop for a Cause.” During the fundraiser, students handed out lists of needed supplies to CVS consumers and asked for direct medicine donations. The pharmaceuticals were then taken directly to Nicaragua for use in the clinic.

Students also wrote to family, friends and other pharmaceutical companies to ask for monetary or material donations for the brigade.

“I participated in just about every fundraiser, and I think that was crucial because our group got closer and closer before the trip. … I did my own separate fundraising as well through family and friends. Each member of the group has a target amount to raise, and I raised over $1,000, which went toward our food, our air tickets and the basic expenses of living in the compound,” Alderfer said.

Global Brigades is a massive worldwide student organization with a mission “to empower students to empower communities.” The umbrella structure of the organization allows for colleges and universities to develop their own Global Brigades chapters, and then within these chapters, students may organize trips to comply with any of the nine Global Brigades disciplines: architecture, business, dental, environmental, human rights, medical, microfinance, public health and water.

This trip to Nicaragua was the second Global Brigades trip facilitated by Drexel and the first-ever organized interdisciplinary brigade. Regardless of the discipline of the trip, every brigade is open to students of all majors.

“All you need is a good attitude. You can be any major, any class, any school — it doesn’t matter as long as you’re passionate about serving these people,” Hannah Brady, a senior biological sciences major and president of Drexel Global Brigades, said.

She added, “Global Brigades has nine disciplines, and we are currently only using two of them. If there is a business major, someone in pre-law, someone in finance, there are brigades for them, and we would love for them to join us.”

The board is currently planning a medical brigade to Ghana, which will take place in December, as well as a public health trip in Panama over spring break in March. For more information, students can contact drexelbrigades@gmail.com.

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The housing contracts of three Drexel University freshmen were terminated in late May after the students were caught dropping water balloons from the 14th floor of Towers Hall April 8 at 11 p.m.

Freshmen Daniel Laikhter, a computer science major; Kyle Houseman, a game art and production student; and one other student who wished to remain anonymous were all residents of the 14th floor and involved in the incident and required to vacate their rooms within 48 hours of receiving the sanction.

Upon being written up by the 14th floor resident assistant and the Towers Hall resident director, the students were not informed of the possibility that their housing contracts might be terminated.

According to Assistant Dean of Student Conduct Stephen Rupprecht, “Resident assistants document what they see, hear and smell. They should never predict the outcome of a conduct case. The students in question will often ask what sanctions they can expect, but it’s best for the resident assistant to not speculate. … In these types of cases, the students would never be told at the time of the incident that they have to vacate their rooms within 48 hours.”

The incident was in violation of the “projectiles” section of the Student Handbook. According to the handbook, “No student shall throw or cause to be projected any object or substance that has potential for damaging or defacing University or private property or causing personal injury or disruption. Dropping any item, or causing any item to be dropped from a window, is a violation of this policy. The owner/occupant of a residence hall or fraternity/sorority property room is responsible for anything that leaves his/her window.” The handbook cites that the first violation of this policy will result in loss of housing.

According to Rupprecht, “water balloons are not classified as a projectile until they go out a window or are thrown into the air.”

The students have lost their housing contracts until Sept. 8, have forfeited their housing deposits for the 2012-13 academic year, and are banned from entering any residence hall for the remainder of the term. Additionally, Laikhter has been put on disciplinary probation for exactly one year and is required to “prepare a PowerPoint presentation that can be used to educate new residential students about the dangers of projectiles or dropped objects from windows. The presentation must include a minimum of 20 slides and a minimum of 5 reputable sources,” according to records obtained from Laikhter.

Rupprecht explained, “Some will argue that sanctions for this type of case are severe, and others will argue that sanctions are not severe enough. We do our best to issue sanctions that best serve the student and the community as a whole.”

When deciding sanctions, Rupprecht explained, “After an incident is documented, it must first be reviewed by professional staff from the Residential Living Office and then referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. The SCCS staff will then review all referred cases to consider what charges, if any, will be issued. A case file then needs to be created. At this point, the student(s) will be notified of a scheduled meeting which could take place anywhere from two to 10 days after notification. If a student accepts responsibility for the alleged violation(s), sanctions would typically be issued the same day, but students retain the right to appeal any sanctions issued and have seven business days to submit an appeal.” He added, “The student conduct process is not a rushed process by any means.”

The students in the incident did appeal the decision. While Laikhter was granted an appeal, a unanimous vote declined the request for appeal for the other two students.

“Most appeals are based on severity of sanction. Any denial would be based on the appeal board not believing that the student made a compelling enough argument to have the sanction(s) amended.” He added, “The appeal board is composed of students, faculty and staff, with the majority of members being students. Both hearing and appeal boards are always chaired by a student.”

“I just thought that water balloons didn’t fit the definition of projectiles in the student handbook,” Laikhter said. Laikhter presented information to the appeal board, supported by mathematics that considered pitching speed and air resistance, which explained that water balloons do not have the potential to damage or deface any property or cause personal injury.

“I brought up that [water balloons] go through rigid government standards because they are intended for children. I said the mass of a full water balloon is less than a beach ball. … I also brought up that other students throw things out of windows all of the time. I heard a janitor in passing once say that he found a package of bacon that was thrown out a window.”

Houseman added, “Water balloons are especially made to break on contact. None of the force from the water balloon is applied to the person it hits. When a water balloon hits you, it hits one radial point of its shell, and the rest of the water disperses and splashes everywhere. It’s the dispersion that makes it harmless,” he said.

Prior to his appeal, Laikhter was sent tips for both a student and adviser responding to a student conduct hearing. He was also told that a list of witnesses directly associated with the matter may be considered to speak on his behalf; however, no character witnesses would be permitted.

Houseman appealed in regard to the severity of the issued sanction. “I told Mark Green, [Assistant Director for Student Conduct and Community Standards] that if I was kicked out of housing, that that could potentially affect my staying here at Drexel. He told me to appeal, and that would help me out.”

Personal friend, former floormate and freshman music industry major Billy Cook said, “I don’t think the consequences were fair given that there is so little time left during the term.” Cook added, “It was pretty harmless, and all the University had to do was talk to them about it. I don’t think that anyone needed to get into massive amounts of trouble. … For alcohol, you have a hearing, you pay a fine, they call your parents, and you take a class. I think that’s about it. Why is this not the same punishment? They would learn their lesson just fine.”

Houseman and Laikhter said that the University did not assist them in the process of finding a new place of residence or offer to assist the students in doing so. Additionally, the third student involved reportedly lives in a Philadelphia suburb and has not been able to find housing for the remainder of the term. Rather than commute to and from campus, the student allegedly has been sleeping in 24-hour University buildings and using the Recreation Center for hygiene purposes.

Rupprecht insisted that “staff at the University will always provide assistance to any student who seeks it. Those who ask about off-campus accommodations will be directed to the Off-Campus Housing website and to local realtors, including Academic Properties Inc.”

A senior education major who wished to remain anonymous commented on the incident, “I was written up my sophomore year for drinking alcohol. I had to have a meeting, and it basically just got dropped over break; I guess it was reasonable. What happened to those kids is ridiculous, but I’m not surprised. When my fraternity was kicked off campus, the brothers in the house were told they had only an hour to vacate.”

The students initially searched for water balloons at the CVS on 3401 Walnut St. When unsuccessful, they purchased the balloons from the CVS at 3925 Walnut St.

“We were just bored and trying to have some fun. We went out of our way to make sure we didn’t hit anyone. We actually went outside to pick up the little balloon shrapnel pieces. We tried to be cooperative,” Houseman said. The students had dropped the balloons on the grass area on the east side of Towers Hall.

There were no screens in the window from which the water balloons were dropped. Laikhter said, “If this is such an issue for them, they’d actually put in the screens. Any work order that I’ve sent in to them they’ve never fixed unless it’s extremely important. I’ve had a broken mirror, no blinds, no screen since the beginning of the year.”

“I think that [screens are] something they should check during their safety checks … because it’s not just water balloons that get thrown out of here. You can actually fit your body through,” Houseman added.

Rupprecht denied knowing why there are no screens in windows. However, he said, “Screens in windows will not prevent anything from going out a residence hall window because those who want to throw something out of a window will remove them. It’s best for students to use good judgment.”

The University has written on its page for undergraduate admissions, “While Drexel has a reputation for academic excellence, we know that students can’t truly thrive without a comfortable, engaging environment.” Cook said that since witnessing the sanctions issued to his friends, he is less comfortable at the University.

“I feel more afraid. I’m scared to do anything because I love it here, and I would never want to leave … I understand that the University has a duty to maintain order, but I feel like this was such a heavy-handed response to what happened. I love my school, and I respect the people who are in charge … but to go out of their way to do this to a [few] freshmen was a little disheartening,” he said.

Rupprecht acknowledged that incidents such as these have occurred in the past. He also said that the entire student handbook is reviewed annually and amended as needed.

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Each year on the second Sunday of May, thousands of Americans honor their mothers in many different ways: breakfast in bed, a town outing, a new necklace, etc. This Mother’s Day, at around 2 p.m., while we here in Philadelphia were enjoying sunshine and sandwiches with our beloved family matriarchs, those in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans were running for their lives and dodging the bullets of three gunmen.

I learned the news around 8 p.m.. I had just gotten off the phone with my own mother, checking in to see how her day was and wishing her “Happy Mother’s Day!” one last time. When I hung up, being the technology-addict I am, I stayed on my phone and browsed the Internet. I opened Reddit and saw the usual: cute cat, atheist joke, sarcasm, sarcasm, headline — “Report: several shot at New Orleans Mother’s Day Parade.” It turns out 19 people were injured, including a 10 year-old child. Three were in critical condition.

Oh, no.

I checked Twitter, sure to find more updates: the latest reports, outrage of the state of the world, calls to prayer, doubts of the progress of humanity — all of the things we find after any other tragedy. I quickly found a New York Times headline. That sufficed. I read the six-paragraph Associated Press report and called my mother.
“Oh, no,” she said. She too went to social media to see what all the political and social “experts” had to say. While on the phone together, we each turned on the TV. “Fox isn’t talking about it,” she told me. “Neither are CNN or any local stations,” I said. She told me she couldn’t find a single thing on her Facebook about it. “Maybe it’s still happening and not much media has been able to respond.”
Nope. The attack occurred at 2 p.m., and we were just hearing about it six hours later. I hadn’t received a push notification from CNN or from The New York Times. I couldn’t find a single person talking about it on my Twitter feed. I had quoted the NYT article and added myself, “WTF WORLD.” I even followed up and asked, “Why isn’t everyone freaking out about the 19 people injured by a shooting in New Orleans at a Mother’s Day parade?” Two retweets and a favorite for the former. No acknowledgement of the latter. There were no nationwide trends on the website, and there was no recap the next day on world news.

If you look up related hashtags on Twitter, you will find somewhere around 16 tweets under #NoLaStrong, seven under #NoLaLove, 20 under #PrayForNoLa and 62 under #PrayForNewOrleans.

Why?

#PrayForBoston and #BostonStrong were trending within minutes of the Boston Marathon bombing and quickly resurfaced during the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shootings. People are still praying for Sandy Hook Elementary School and announcing it on Twitter. Ariel Castro has been dominating Twitter largely by news outlets.
What makes this shooting of 19 people at a Mother’s Day parade in this major city seemingly less significant than a shooting of children in a school? Or a bombing at a marathon finish line? Or the kidnapping and rape of three women? Of any other act of violence?

Victims of each aforementioned event were human beings. Victims of each were innocent. Victims of each were in public settings. Victims of each included children. Victims of each were defenseless. So why were the victims of New Orleans hardly recognized? Why did they only get a six-paragraph AP write-up in the bottom corner of page A11 of The New York Times? Why did they only get a few tweets here and there and maybe a few hundred article shares on Facebook (I don’t have Facebook, so I don’t actually know)?

Then it hit me. During our initial phone call, my mom had asked where in New Orleans the shooting had taken place, and I hadn’t known. I looked it up: the Seventh Ward.
For those of you who have read even an excerpt of “The Philadelphia Negro” by W.E.B. DuBois, the Seventh Ward probably rings a bell. In 19th-century Philadelphia, the Seventh Ward alone housed more African-Americans than every other neighborhood of the city combined. The area was notoriously poor, and people were forced to live in the most deplorable conditions.
Apparently, the Seventh Ward of New Orleans isn’t much different. According to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, the Seventh Ward has been a historically Creole neighborhood. While it was once prosperous, Interstate 10 now divides the area (much like I-95 divides Chester) and has destroyed any hopes for business development. SpotCrime.com tells us that the most common crimes are assault, burglary, theft and shootings.

In this shooting, three black men attacked a black crowd. It was not an attack by some deranged 20-year-old on suburban white children. It was not an attack by Muslim brothers on affluent, healthy adults. It wasn’t an attack by a man with the same last name as the dictator of Cuba on two white and one Hispanic or Latina women. It was black-on-black, poor-on-poor crime. And it’s being written off as street violence.

Forgive me if I seem insensitive to the children of Sandy Hook Elementary; to the victims of the Boston Bombings; or to Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Knight — I grieve with and for them all. I have sent personal, express prayers to Newtown, Conn.; Boston, Cambridge and Watertown, Mass; and to Cleveland. However, I am apparently one of comparatively few who have also sent prayers to New Orleans.

I understand that certain types of news “sell” better than others, and I understand that this is because it is difficult for the majority of people to relate to living conditions of minority neighborhoods. Refusal to provide full media coverage on these stories is justified by the adage “It happens in these areas all the time.” I get it; I write for news. It’s easier to write about spontaneous, uncommon acts of violence and difficult to write about chronic hunger, malnutrition, illness, petty street fights, unemployment and the like that plague minority neighborhoods.
I also understand that the national news can’t cover every story, but why can’t they cover this one? Regardless of whether or not the shooting resulted in deaths, when bullets have maimed 19 innocent people and put three in critical condition at a seemingly peaceful event — just like any race day or any school day —  I want to know about it. I want to know all of the details, and I want to be aware as they are happening. I want people to care and to become emotionally invested in these victims. I think that the only way to effectively prevent violence is to address the causes of violence correctly — and how can we discuss the causes, the effect and the solutions if we don’t know the details?

Had 19 white people in New Orleans been shot on Bourbon Street by the same three black men, three Mexican immigrants or three Muslims, the media would have been in a frenzy with debates about gun control, immigration policy, Islamic terrorism, mental illness and similar topics. Flags would have been at half-mast, relief funds would have been started for victims, tears would have been shed — it would have “sold.”

But instead, the 19 people who were shot at the New Orleans Mothers Day Parade were hardly mentioned, and I find that disgusting. It should be about more than “what sells.” By publishing stories in the newspaper or broadcasting perspectives on air, we are acknowledging a person or group of people and giving them our respect. I can’t even tell you how many times I have wrapped up an interview by saying, “Again, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me,” and been cut off with, “No, no, no — thank you for writing the story. We really appreciate it. It’s great to get the word out.”
Media recognition of these events is a way to say, “We see you and we feel for you. We offer you our condolences, thoughts and prayers. We care.” It is sure to bring about discussion of ways to make sure “this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” and this brings closure or hope thereof.

This message of compassion and promise for resolve was received by the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, the Boston bombing and the Cleveland kidnappings — and deservingly so. I have been so moved by the compassion I witnessed as people wore green and white to honor the children of Sandy Hook; played “Sweet Caroline” and ran with “Boston Strong” banners during the Broad Street Run; and placed flowers, photos and banners outside of family homes to welcome the three women who were held captive for 10 years by Ariel Castro. These acts of sympathy, empathy and kindness bring tears to my eyes. I become absolutely overwhelmed when I see strangers come together to support those less fortunate. That being said, I am furious and sickened that the victims of the New Orleans Mothers Day Parade shooting and less popular tragedies of which I am not aware have not received the same message, because they deserve it. They deserve support, respect and benevolence.

So, Seventh Ward of New Orleans, here I am. I see you and I feel for you. I offer you my condolences, thoughts and prayers. I care. I wish you the best as you begin this healing process, and I have faith that you will rebound. Stay #NoLaSTRONG.

Devon Harman is a political science major at Drexel University. She can be contacted at op-ed@thetriangle.org.

The post Tragedy in New Orleans appeared first on The Triangle.

Drexel University has announced plans to build a new 13,000 square-foot Center for Jewish Life at 118 N. 34th St., according to a May 6 University press release.

The center — which will be comprised of a chapel, a student lounge, and several dining aspects including a kosher dining hall, cafe and kitchen — will be the first Jewish center in Philadelphia erected by a university rather than the Jewish community. It is projected to cost $7 million and will be established 36 months after at least half of funding is secured, according to Rabbi Isabel de Koninck, director of Drexel Hillel.

“Quite frankly, at Drexel we need [this center]. We’re growing out of our space left and right. We have tons of Jewish students who are really engaged and want Jewish life to be part of their collegiate experience, so we are enormously excited that President [John A.] Fry and the University think that now is the time to help make Jewish life more accessible to students,” De Koninck said.

Hillel is an international organization that seeks to enrich the lives of Jewish students on college campuses. Currently, Hillel is centered in an office in the Intercultural Center, and according to De Koninck, the size of the space is not conducive to the large, active population that it serves. The new Center for Jewish Life, however, will have enough space to serve the entire Jewish student population, including space for simultaneous worship services that serve different Jewish populations and interests.

Fry began the initiative for the student center, and De Koninck says she’s been involved in every step since the beginning. “I guess it was about two years ago that we first brought together alumni, students and parents to envision what it would look like to build a future for Jewish life on campus,” she said. De Koninck and the president’s office have collaborated in all aspects from fundraising to meeting with architects and discussing prospective designs.

“Most important, we’ve worked with students to imagine what would be most beneficial for our campus,” she said. De Koninck explained that from the beginning, it was evident that kosher dining would be among the top accommodations that the center would need to provide.

“The dining component will allow students to have access to hot, kosher meals on a regular basis. We expect . . . to make campus life easier for those that are already here,” De Koninck said. De Koninck added that she wants Drexel to appeal to students for whom kosher dining is a factor in their college decision process.

Presently, kosher dining is not readily available on Drexel’s campus. Drexel has worked with the University of Pennsylvania, which has a large Jewish student population, to offer “guest meal plans” for Jewish students at Drexel.

Chabad serving Drexel — Rohr Jewish Student Center has also worked to provide kosher meals for Jewish Drexel students. Chabad is another international Jewish organization that extends accommodations for Jewish life beyond the college campus.

The Chabad House, which has been in Philadelphia for approximately two years, is not affiliated with the University. There is a Chabad student group that receives funding from Drexel just as any other student group; however, the Chabad house does not receive funding from the University.

“There’s only so long you can go without a hot meal, which you cannot get from around here if you keep kosher,” Rebbetzin Moussia Goldstein, co-director of the Chabad House, explained.

The Chabad House began offering kosher meals over Passover and other Jewish holidays, but due to large student interest, the house now offers daily meals to all who wish to keep kosher. For the most part, the meal plan is funded by voluntary donations given by parents in appreciation of the accommodation. Even if a student or parent can’t afford a donation for the meal plan, Goldstein said, “There’s no turning anyone away.”

The Chabad House also serves on average between 50 and 70 students, and at most around 150 students every Friday night for Shabbat dinner.

Chabad is excited that the Center for Jewish Life will accommodate the needs of all Jewish Students. However, students of Chabad have thus far not been included in the planning process.

“I think our students are happy about the center but a little disappointed that they didn’t even receive a mention,” Goldstein said. “They want people to understand Chabad and that they’ve done so much in changing the Jewish student community. They’re not only attracting students but retaining them as well and building a family in the process.”

Rabbi Chaim Goldstein added, “We came here to campus, and we’re just an independent organization and just do things on our own, so I think Drexel just may not know about our presence.”

Moussia Goldstein explained that she and Rabbi Goldstein have met with Fry and other University faculty members but are unsure if they are aware of the extent to which Chabad impacts Jewish student life.

Rachel Wener, a sophomore web development student, said, “Chabad changed my life. When I was a freshman, I was in a lot of clubs and went to all of my classes and was really trying to get involved, and Chabad really provided me with something that the other clubs couldn’t. There is something about Chabad that is so ‘homey’ — you can’t come here and not make friends. It took my college experience from ‘regular freshman’ to ‘I can’t leave Drexel if I tried.’”

Noah Gross, a senior mechanical engineering major and two-time president and former treasurer of the Chabad student group, explained that he has been in contact with Dean of Students David Ruth as well Ken Goldman, president of the Office of Institutional Advancement and chief philanthropic officer, expressing a desire for Chabad to be included in planning.

“I told them that Chabad has grown exponentially in the two to three years that we’ve been here and there are no signs of slowing down. I wanted to let them know that we are excited about the Center for Jewish Life but a bit disheartened by the initial oversight in the preliminary stages of planning,” Gross said. “We look forward to being an active force in planning and figuring out what steps we can take to enhance the accommodations that the Center for Jewish Life will provide.”

Chabad Vice President Ariel Arbley, a pre-junior business major with concentrations in finance and legal studies, said he hopes that the Center for Jewish Life will allow for a variety of Jewish needs to be met and will spark new collaboration between Hillel and Chabad.

“Everyone gets something different out of each one, which is what I think is good about Chabad and Hillel. I think they work really well together and complement one another. … We’ve done events with Hillel in the past, and we work together to create events to bring Jewish students together,” Arbley said.

Currently, Chabad and Hillel sponsor some events together, such as Shabbat 200. Each aims to serve the entirety of the Drexel Jewish community, which at 5 percent includes between 900 and 1,200 students.

Gross said that the Center for Jewish life will “give a sense of pride for Drexel students that says, ‘This is my university, and it has the resources to accommodate me religiously, spiritually, culturally and academically.’ I am excited to see what the future brings and the growth of Jewish life on campus when we have an official building to call ours.”

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After much delay, the Campus Activities Board officially announced via social media April 30 that OK Go will headline Spring Jam 2013.

The band, which is perhaps most well known for its song “Here It Goes Again” and the music video’s accompanying treadmill choreography, will play in Lot X next to the Main Building Saturday, May 18. This will be the third Spring Jam concert that has been outdoors.

The concert will also feature three openers: a YouTube-famous cover artist, an alternative rap duo and an electronic disc jockey. Because the openers cost more than $10,000, names will not be released until contracts are signed. This was also the reason for the delay in announcing the headliner.

CAB explored many options before deciding on OK Go. Spring Jam organizer and junior graphic design major Elanor Williams said, “We looked into Imagine Dragons because we thought it’d be relevant since we are the Dragons as well, but they ended up blowing up out of our price range. We also talked about MAD3, Group Love, those types of bands.”

Amanda Moorhead, a junior in the B.S.-M.B.A. music industry program and a CAB member, added, “We heard a lot of feedback from last year, both good and bad. … The main thing we wanted to focus on was having a rock band that had a name people would know. I think we achieved that with OK Go.”

Williams explained that OK Go was the first band that the committee agreed upon. Junior digital media major Hannah Deters said in response to the headline announcement, “I think it’ll be a good change of pace. [OK Go] has a great energy, so it should be an awesome show. They also have a different sort of artistry than previous headliners, and I’m pretty pumped about that. I can definitely say that I’m more excited about this Spring Jam than I have been in the past.”

Other students are not as excited as Deters. Ally Dorval, a junior in the physician assistant program, said, “This is my third Spring Jam and the third one I’m not excited about.”

Senior education major Chelsea Morgan said, “I think it’s pretty cool, but I haven’t heard any new music from them since [“Here It Goes Again”], so I wonder how it’s going to be or how many people will go.”

Williams and Moorhead have been planning the event since last June, when they received their budget from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee. “It sounds like a lot of time to do things, but once you throw in the planning of Comedy Show and Crystal Ball, time starts to get away from you,” Moorhead said.

Williams explained that the venue has the capacity to hold 7,000 people, and she is hoping for 4,000 to attend. Moorhead explained that they are going further than years past in terms of marketing and promotion in order to get as many people to attend as possible.

“We are really excited to be working with some fantastic groups like the [Daskalakis Athletic Center] and the DAC Pack. The Rec Center is planning a huge day of events with their three-vs.-three soccer tournament on the same day and will be promoting Spring Jam throughout the day. We even have a contest going on involving Spotify that will be rolled out within the next few days, which is something we’ve never done before,” Moorhead said.

Spring Jam will also feature winners of student talent competitions, including Battle of the Bands, a DJ competition, the DreX Factor, video competitions and Drexel’s Best Dance Crew.

Gates will open at 3 p.m., and music will start at 4 p.m. There will be an activity fair prior to the headliner, which will feature carnival-like activities and serve as an opportunity for student organizations to promote themselves. The event is free for all Drexel students and $10 for guests.

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Ellen Gustafson, co-founder of FEED Projects and Food Tank and founder of the 30 Project, came to Behrakis Grand Hall April 25 to discuss options for a better food system. The event was organized by Drexel’s Campus Activities Board.

Gustafson gave a presentation on innovation and leadership — a guideline for the famed undergraduate dream of “how to change the world.” Currently, Gustafson is the head of four organizations, each uniquely dedicated to feeding people properly and changing the food system. Since its conception, FEED Projects alone has provided over 60 million meals to children around the world.

The social entrepreneur and food activist offered her personal experiences when explaining the 12-step process that the recipe for global impact requires. Gustafson encouraged students to ask big questions first. “A lot of times, questions stay the same while problems are changing,” she said. In her case, Gustafson explained that the question shifted from “Can we feed the world?” to “Can we feed the world well?”

Next, Gustafson advised that change-seekers have a strong passion for the topics they study. Essentially, they should be aware of the implications of change and knowledgeable about subject matter, and they should see a need for innovation.

Because she previously worked as a terrorism research reporter in the ABC News Investigative Unit and as a research associate for the military fellows at the Council of Foreign Relations, Gustafson had observed that war-prone countries were also malnourished.

“Even when we look at it in Philadelphia, we see that the places where people are struggling with food security also tend to be more violent, and that’s just a general rule around the world. Look at the Horn of Africa. Look at the Middle East,” she said.

Her observations inspired her to innovate and take the next step to a substantial global impact. Starting with FEED Projects, she began making bags that are sold around the world to feed starving children. One bag can supply food for a child for one year.

After innovation came a struggle, a step in the process that Gustafson referred to as “bleed.” Next, though, were small successes that snowballed into large ones. Gustafson warned ambitious students to heed themselves but not to cede the status quo. She advised them to stick to their beliefs, to reread and keep up with the dialogue of the topic, and to always proceed.

To anyone seeking change, Gustafson said, “Einstein has a famous quote that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again trying to get a different result. What we’re doing now doesn’t work. … We have to start doing something different. If we don’t demand something different as the major Western consumer, the rest of the world won’t.”

Since launching FEED Projects, Gustafson has also founded the 30 Project, which seeks to learn from mistakes of the past 30 years in the creation of a distorted food system that addresses hunger and obesity as bifurcated issues rather than a single connected problem. The 30 Project aims to convert this system into a sustainable system within the next 30 years. Gustafson has also co-founded Food Tank, a think tank that seeks to bridge the connection between domestic and global food issues by creating sustainable solutions to hunger, obesity and poverty with research and investment.

Christina Tedesco, CAB’s director of lectures and diversity and a junior entertainment and arts management major, was put in touch with Gustafson through the Guild Agency, a speakers’ bureau and intellectual talent management company. Tedesco explained that the agency had not initially been promoting Gustafson, but after further investigation CAB decided that she would be an interesting and relevant speaker.

To the dismay of CAB, less than a dozen people attended the event. When asked about the poor attendance, Tedesco said, “We started putting into the calendar around early February, so we’ve been working on it for a long time. We try to promote it through other organizations, and we have a marketing team, but they were late on it this time.” Tedesco also said that when planning, the committee didn’t factor in the day of the week, which can play a role in attendance. Gustafson acknowledged that Thursdays are notorious as a party night on university campuses.

“She was very relatable and was visibly passionate about what she was speaking,” pre-junior communication student Lo Petriello said. “I thought it was a really good program and wish more people would have been there.”

Next, CAB will host Bobby Bailey, co-founder of Invisible Children and Global Poverty Project USA, on Monday, May 13.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett invited Drexel University faculty and administrators to join a delegation that traveled to Brazil and Chile April 6-16 to complement the commonwealth’s trade mission.

The delegation included Drexel President John A. Fry, Vice President of Government and Community Relations David Wilson, Vice Provost of Global Initiatives Julie Mostov, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering Richard Cairncross, associate professor of information science and technology Rosina Weber, Interim LeBow College of Business Dean Frank Linnehan, and recent computer and electrical engineering doctoral graduate David Delaine.

During the South American visit, Fry signed a memorandum of understanding with top-ranking universities, including the Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, and the University of Sao Paulo. The University of Sao Paulo is Brazil’s largest and most prestigious educational institution.

The MoUs are intended to facilitate student, faculty and research exchange, as well as potential co-op programs. Mostov explained, “We want to create more experiences for students, and even for students that can’t go abroad, we want to create global classrooms so they can collaborate.”

Mostov further explained that while an MoU is not a legally binding document, it is a framework that outlines a commitment to work together, collaborate and make exchanges. As written agreements, MoUs will also allow for the universities to obtain joint funding more easily, as their partnerships are clearly identified.

A portion of Drexel’s Strategic Plan is devoted to fostering global partnerships, and Drexel has been in contact with these schools for several months. Drexel has also created recent partnerships with Shanghai Jiao Tong University; the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Sabanci, Koc and Bogazici universities in Turkey; and most recently the University of The Gambia.

“We want to have interesting personal, cultural and social experiences. The cities we are involved with are all very different, international places where Drexel is now forming really meaningful relationships,” Fry said.

When looking for partnership opportunities, Mostov explained that the University administration first considers the reputations of potential partners. If they are well-established universities, then their interests, goals and strengths are analyzed for compatibility. Existing connections between Drexel and the potential partners are also considered, be they pre-existing research collaborations or staffing, and then communication is initiated and document samples are exchanged.

“Then, when you say to them, ‘We’re bringing a delegation,’ then of course they recognize that you’re serious about a partnership,” Mostov said.

The Drexel delegation paralleled the governor’s trade mission, which included elected and appointed officials of the commonwealth as well as important business leaders. Drexel was the only higher-education institution represented on the mission.

“It gave us a really nice platform to talk about co-op and work in an urban environment. … The governor remarked to me several times how much he appreciated that we accompanied him. There wasn’t one place that the governor went where he didn’t talk extensively about Drexel,” Fry said.

Drexel is one of the first universities to commit to cohesive agreements with these South American universities. According to Fry, “We were very warmly received and appreciated.”

Drexel’s administration hopes to have programs developed for students and faculty with the recently partnered universities as early as October 2013.

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A grand opening of the URBN Center, the new home of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, took place April 12. The event was free and open to the public.

The grand opening was designed to show the progress of the college. Upon entering the lobby, students, faculty, alumni and friends were greeted with complimentary bags and pins. Music students performed in the lobby with music program director Luke Abruzzo while guests browsed student paintings, drawings and photographs or watched graduate student Thom Wall, an award-winning and world record-holding juggler.

Students of the music industry program gave away demos of Motion City Soundtrack, Goldrush, and Brick and Mortar, among others. They also featured their documentary, which was made in collaboration with film students, titled “Making Moves.” The documentary featured all of the produced bands and personal accounts of the music industry and all that comes with it.

A room was set aside to exhibit some of the work of the design & merchandising students as well. The program produces a fashion show and magazine annually and a recording of the June 2012 show played in the background while guests perused the layout of the spring 2013 D&M magazine. A copy of the spring 2012 magazine was also available for guests to compare and keep. The magazine is produced by students who take a class offered in fall and winter terms and features stories pertaining to fashion design, personal identity, Philadelphia lifestyle, and, health and well-being.

The first floor also featured a collection of donated vintage designer clothing, pop-up merchandise shops and a dance performance. D&M students sold their products such as campus-inspired jewelry while dancers from both the Drexel Dance Ensemble and FreshDance, the freshman dance crew, put on an improvised performance. They dressed in costumes designed by D&M freshmen.

D&M students coordinated the dance stations, including the theme and rehearsals. The theme was a reflection of texture, ranging from rough to smooth. There were a total of five dance stations, each of which explored a different theme. Dancers led groups from one location to the next.

On the second floor, Chestnut Street Caterers offered guests a spread of sushi, fortune cookies, flatbreads, fresh fruit, various punches and ciders, cheeses, and seafood. A motion-capture studio and video game lab were also open for the public to explore. On the third floor, guests saw more creations of the D&M students as they explored sewing labs and browsed a collection of dresses.

The fourth floor housed project displays done by architecture and interior design students. Detailed project plans by both were pinned to bulletin boards and included illustrations of buildings, diagrams of systems within the buildings, and impact statements of the building on the surrounding environment. The projects were written by seniors who graduated in 2012.

“When we get to our final year, we get to decide which route we want to go, be it commercial, hospitality or residential design,” Kelsey Talis, a senior interior design major, said. Fellow senior interior design student Rachael Burke added, “Your first fall term is research based, and then you pick an existing building and then you get the plans for the building. … [Y]ou plan your whole project based on the building you choose.”

Students also rehearsed their upcoming performance of “The Grapes of Wrath” and screened an episode of “Off Campus,” the Drexel-produced sitcom. Entertainment and arts management students volunteered as staff for the event, helping visitors as needed.

“We were each stationed at different places throughout the building to show people where to go, make sure they understand each of the majors and give them a general guide of the entire place,” junior EAM student Allie Vanyur said.

The 140,000-square-foot building is located at 3501 Market St. and has been called by the Philadelphia Inquirer “one of Philadelphia’s most thrilling new designs.” Inside the building there is a music recording studio, video game design lab, fabric dyeing and printing studio, fashion research lab, black box theater, radio and television broadcast facility, sewing labs, and typical classrooms.

One hundred percent of the building space is usable. For example, classrooms are made of glass walls that can also be used as dry-erase boards. Exposed steel beams decorate the interior and provide a magnetic surface for students to hang posters or promote projects. Movable walls create study and teaching alcoves that can be arranged for preference. They also serve as bulletin boards so that students with poster board can hang their work before class or while studying. In one room, electrical outlets are hung by cords from the ceiling. Because they aren’t in a wall, students can move outlets across a track that is attached to the ceiling and plug in a device anywhere.

“Coming from Nesbitt to here is a major step into the right direction. It’s interesting to see how they utilize the space, and they’re talking about integrating classes with interior design students and architect students now, which will be beneficial since that’s how it will be working in a firm,” Talis said.

For interior design students specifically, learning in the URBN Center is beneficial because all interior systems are exposed. “You can look around and see the HVAC unit, the cable trays, the sprinklers right in the classroom. When we were in Nesbitt, we had to go somewhere else to do that,” Burke said.

Professor and associate director of interior design Ada Tremonte applauded the energy that the casual environment of the building will bring. “This building has so much more energy [as opposed to Nesbitt]; there’s so much more collaboration. Walking up the stairs you can see all of the different majors and the different projects. Students are going to be more energized, and they may have more creativity,” Tremonte said.

While the building is awe-inspiring and attendees were hopeful of the success it will bring by allowing for easier collaboration, some students claim they will miss Nesbitt, the former home of Westphal.

“I miss Nesbitt still sometimes. Nesbitt, you walk in and everything was so close to you — you knew where everything was, whereas I don’t know where everything is in here because it’s so big. But I do love it,” Zach Blackwood, a junior EAM student, said.

Michael Rodino, a junior in the music industry program, added that the glass windows provide little privacy and may serve as a distraction for students working in studios late at night. Nevertheless, students are excited to have a space to call home that will foster more collective learning.

“It’s cool to have a space that is dedicated to us instead of floating around like nomads,” Blackwood said. “We’ve already had more collaboration because we use the same spaces and can actually see [other students’] work.”

“Having the glass walls physicalized the idea that you can see what everyone is doing, and that encourages us to interact more,” Vanyur added.

Catherine Hamilton, a sophomore in the music industry program, said, “What I really like is that we’re all here. It’s not just music industry — it’s graphic design, it’s game development, it’s everything. This building — just because of how open it is — you have to walk past everything to get to where you need to go. You run into people and meet people in totally different majors that can somehow help you out. It’s a great environment because we’re not so scattered.”

The grand opening certainly demonstrated a collaborative effort that is expected to continue. The URBN Center is open to Westphal students 24/7.

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The inaugural Philly Health Codefest was hosted April 5-7 by Drexel University’s College of Information Science and Technology. The programming event aimed to transform data into health care solutions.

Held in the Mitchell Auditorium, the event was open to students and professionals interested in software design and development, computer engineering, business, and health care. Teams were formed to develop Web tools that would improve health care in any capacity. The teams were free to choose a topic within health care that their application would target, ranging from food to hospital efficiency tools.

Nine teams spent 36 hours developing prototypes mostly from scratch. Progress made by teams that collaborated before the event was reported to the judges, a panelist of coding experts who considered only the progress made during Codefest. Of the nine teams, four won cash prizes.

A team of four Drexel students, Vitamin.ME, took second place and won $3,000. Computer engineering students Mayank Gureja, a senior, and Matthew Coppala, a junior, along with senior computer science students Ayush Sobti and Anthony Hurst, developed the only mobile application. The app allows users to search for recipes based on specific dietary needs. For example, if the user needs to increase intake of specific vitamins, more carbohydrates or more fat, the app provides recipes to fulfill the user’s precise need. Members of Team Vitamin.ME met through Drexel and developed the idea only about a day before Codefest.

“We actually met the night before and sort of brainstormed what we might want to do,” Sobti said. The team only made an app for the Android platform due to time constraints and familiarity with Java coding language.

From then on, Gureja explained, “It was pretty compartmentalized. Ayush was working on the server and making the [application programming interface], I was responsible for one particular part of the URL, and so were Anthony and Matt. We all developed separately and then made sure it worked individually and then got on my computer to put it all together. If it wasn’t a hack-a-thon, we would have done it a different way.”

Vitamin.ME also won a $1,000 award for Majority Student Team Innovation, a $500 People’s Choice award, a $500 Best Mobile App award and a $500 Alliance Global Service Award for Most User Friendly. They plan to have the app on the market by the end of the spring term.

Although the teams are given 36 hours to work, Vitamin.ME made sure to get some rest. “We slept Friday. We worked until about 3 a.m. and came back to work around 1 in the afternoon on Saturday … and then didn’t sleep again until Sunday evening,” Gureja explained.

“I’ve done a few Codefests before, and what I’ve learned is that the last few hours just before you present is crunch time, and if you haven’t slept the night before, you won’t be productive at all,” Sobti added.

Team Goodeats, another all-Drexel team, also made sure to get plenty of sleep. Team Goodeats was made up of sophomore computer science majors Kumal Mailk and Tushar Soni and sophomore information systems student Nishtha te Dalal. “It was like six-seven hours of sleep both nights,” Soni said.

Through trial and error, the team spent the first 24 hours testing and scrapping ideas. The idea for the final product was created only 12 hours before the end of the event.

Eventually, Team Goodeats came up with the idea to create a food-ordering site that provided detailed nutritional data for courses at various restaurants. Users could type in a ZIP code, sourced from FourSquare’s database. After reviewing the nutritional data, users could order meals through the website, which would automatically call the restaurant. They explained that it was much like GrubHub but took out the use of a tablet-app that often complicates orders by serving as a middleman. Once the order was placed, the recording would then play back the list to the user so the user could confirm that it was correct.

Because the first line of code was written so late in the event, Goodeats did not have time to create a PowerPoint presentation and was only able to show a demo of the development. In the end, the development won Goodeats the $2,000 iSchool Award for Team Innovation and a $1,500 National Science Foundation Center for Visual and Decision Informatics Award for Innovation. They do not plan to commercialize the app anytime soon.

“Now we know we can come up with a quite polished product in less than 12 hours. We know we can write ‘this much’ code in that period of time, so if we had 24 hours or 30 hours to work on it, we could have made something much better,” Soni said.

“If we came in with the idea, we could have developed it as we were going. Instead, at 8 p.m. we knew if we tried to add anything more, it would mess everything up,” Dalal said. She also noted, “It was tough going up against Ph.D. students and presidents of companies. They were presenting, and we thought we lost because they had legitimate plans and we had nothing but a demo.”

This was the sophomore team’s first Codefest. However, they plan to enter more together in the coming months.

The first-place team, Healthify.me, won $5,000 for using a crowdsourced, data-driven approach to develop a website that allows people to find healthy food replacements for their unhealthy favorites. They also received a $500 bonus for developing the most scalable design.

The last cash prize was awarded to Team Hospital Query. This proposal evaluated the performance of hospitals, comparing them to others in the area. A $500 prize and an iPad Mini were awarded for Venture Capitalist’s Choice and Best Use of Tokbox.

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