Earlier this month, the Grand Challengers, an interdisciplinary team of Tech students, won the Bank of America (BoA) 2013 Campus Challenge, beating  more than 70 teams from various participating schools.

“We won the entire competition by coming up with a new loyalty program that rewards Bank of America’s customers for being financially responsible,” said team member Ethan Smith.

The annual case competition, sponsored by the Global Technology & Operations division of BoA, required students to present solutions to real-world technology and business challenges in the financial services industry.

The team consisted of 10 second-year undergraduate students including Business Administration majors Paul Anderson, Sarah Lynn Bowen and Patrick Kelly; Industrial Engineering Majors Smith, Misha Desai, Alec Kaye and Courtney Hall; Mechanical Engineering Majors Elizabeth Waters and Zac Zachow; and Computer Science Major Alex Stelea. These students are part of the Grand Challenges living and learning community.

Each member of the winning team of Grand Challengers won $5,000 while BoA awarded a gift of $50,000 to Tech.

The competition was split into two rounds. This September, the Grand Challengers competed against nine other Tech teams in the intra-college round. The winners of round one at the 12 participating colleges then competed in round two in early October at the Scheller College of Business.

Each team presented their solutions in a five-page submission including a business case, detailed business and technical requirements, architecture platform description, an explanation of benefits and a five-minute video pitch describing their solution.

“I was a little skeptical of our chances of winning…. I wasn’t sure we had enough experience, both as undergrads competing against upperclassmen and grad students, and also because most of us were competing a decent length outside of our field of study,” Zachow said. “But when we first sat down to tackle the first question… we all walked out and could just feel the energy from our group dynamic. I think that was our main advantage.”

Both rounds’ entries were ranked based on novelty, quality of design, commercial potential, overall functionality and a demonstration of understanding the business and technical requirements of the solution. This year’s challenge questions were focused on data management and new technologies that could improve BOA’s customer rewards and incentive programs.

According to the Campus Challenge website, one comment from judges was, “The simplicity of the solution and focus on the BoA’s core competencies was refreshing, as was the ability to leverage the Bank’s current technology.”

In the future, some Grand Challengers members hope to work together and hope to enter the Campus Challenge again.

On Monday, the Library’s Third Floor West reopened after being closed for asbestos abatement. The space, which was cleaned thoroughly, is now empty: the collections were moved during the cleaning process.

In the time this space was closed, Library faculty and staff removed about 172,000 cleaned volumes from Third West by hand, amounting to about 3,000 book trucks full. Emory Library assisted in this effort by rapidly loaning from their libraries books that were temporarily unavailable to Tech faculty and students. This partnership with Emory is one that has been in the making and is being solidified as time goes on.

“There was this discussion of building this high density storage facility jointly between the two institutions. That project has moved along and we are at the architect selection for that building which will be located on the Briar Cliff campus at Emory,” said Catherine Murray-Rust, Vice Provost of Learning and Excellence and Dean of Libraries.

According to Jay Forrest the Collection Assessment and Statistics Coordinator, this facility, which Tech and Emory, will be called the Library Services Center will constantly either shipped or scanned, and available to the communities from each institution.

“The asbestos issues sped up some of our time frames, and sort of made us think quicker about what we’re going to do with the space,” Murray-Rust said.

The Libraries administration wants to keep the integrity of the Third Floor West as a quiet study space, but is taking suggestions as to what students want to see out of that space.

According to Tearanny Street, the Communications Coordinator, they are primarily using social media to reach out and ask for suggestions, but there is a white board currently set up on the third floor for passing students to write in suggestions as well.

Conversations began this week in regards to a temporary solution to best utilize the space available.

“This gives us a chance to do what we did in the library’s 2020 plan, and say to the Institute, we’re willing to do this radical thing which is sort of change the way we interact with campus in terms of library services, remove some of the older materials if we can get these buildings renovated,” said Murray-Rust.

This request has been brought to the Board of Regents (BOR) and heard so that the project for the renewal of the library towers could be accelerated.

According to the agenda for the Committee on Finance and Business Operations, on Oct. 8, an amendment to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Capital Budget Reqeust was recommended which would include $1.7 million in design funds to support the Price-Gilbert and Crossland Tower Renewal project at Tech. This would bring the FY 2015 capital request from $235.225 million to $236.925 million for the University System of Georgia. Tech would contribute $2.3 million to support the design phase of this project which would have a total estimated cost of $84.6 million. Construction could potentially be phased over two years.

Murray-Rust indicated this project would be a complete renewal starting by 2015.

As of last month, the demolition of the back portion of the Crum and Forster building on Spring Street was underway. This demolition is making way for a High Performance Computing (HPC) Building that will tentatively be called The Center for Modeling and Simulation. This building is being built into the space behind the Scheller College of Business and attached to the remaining front portion of the Crum and Forster building.

According to the information sheet put up on the Office of Real Estate Development website, the HPC will be a 24-story, 695,000 square-foot development which is currently in conceptual planning and will be anchored by Tech and programmed around high performance computer modeling and simulation.

According to Ron Hutchins, Associate Vice Provost for Research & Technology and Chief Technology Officer at Tech, the location was chosen because of its central location in Atlanta.

“One of the biggest components of a data center is network connectivity, and Atlanta is one of the major hubs for networking in the southeast, mainly because it’s the crossroads of all the railroad tracks, highways and fiber optics cables throughout the Southeast,” said Hutchins. “That location was picked because it straddles Spring Street and West Peachtree Street that has access to all the fiber-optic cables that run north and south of downtown Atlanta.”

Hutchins went on to explain how much saving this would provide from a networking standpoint. It would also bring a competitive advantage to various network providers.

The 695,000 square feet is divided between a 20 floor office tower (480,000 square feet), the HPC data center (80,000 square feet), a retail/lobby area on both sides of the ground floor and a parking/loading area with space on the first four floors (100,000 square feet). Ultimately, Tech would occupy about half of the office, and the HPC data center space would be utilized by people from various departments and fields of study.

This year, both the details on the feasibility of the project as well as an actual work schedule are being finalized. A developer will be selected in 2014, while final designs are planned to be completed by the end of that year and the beginning of next.

Approvals, leasing and finance should be finalized in 2015 when construction on the building begins. Both occupancy and use of this building is planned to begin in 2017.

The Alpha Rho chapter of Phi Kappa Tau is currently under investigation after a leaked email that was sent by a fraternity member surfaced. The email sent to the entire fraternity explained in explicit language “how to mack and succeed at parties,” while constantly putting emphasis on taking advantage of drunk women who attend the fraternity’s parties.

With a subject line stating “[Pledges] Guide to a Successful Fraternity Party,” the email outlined how to go through a night of partying in order to accomplish “The 7 E’s of Hooking Up.” From top to bottom, “The 7 E’s” are “encounter,” “engage,” “escalate,” “erection,” “excavate,” “ejaculate” and “expunge.” The last-resort option, according to the email, is to “GO GET MORE ALCOHOL.”

The email which was signed as “In luring the rapebait,” has already been condemned by the individual chapter and the national fraternity as members of each have responded with the statements on their websites. According to these statements, the Alpha Rho chapter has placed itself on suspension and suspended the member in question, as the investigation remains ongoing.

“We don’t condone this type of behavior and we have suspended his membership pending further investigation,” said Austin Jackson, President of Phi Kappa Tau, in an email to the Technique. “The ideas expressed in this email do not in any way reflect our values or the actions of any of our members. Even though this email was intended to be satire in order to make fun of people that act this way, it is still inappropriate.”

Tech has also put out a statement with regards to the situation that acknowledged the incident and the fact that there is an ongoing investigation into the facts surrounding the email.

“Georgia Tech is aware of this incident, and its Office of Student Integrity is currently engaged in an investigation to determine the facts,” reported an email by Matt Nagel, Director of Media Relations in Institute Communications at Tech. “Phi Kappa Tau’s national office, as well as Tech’s student-led Interfraternity Council, are also reviewing the matter to determine whether to take any independent action. The Institute does not condone this type of behavior and continues to provide resources and education designed to create a supportive campus environment for all students, even those who exercise extremely poor judgment.”

According to Mason Elledge the President of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Tech, the investigation is multi-faceted. While both Tech and the National Fraternity are looking into this incident, IFC is also currently debating placing sanctions on the fraternity chapter for violating the Fraternal Code of Conduct.

“We want [the sanctions] to be focused more on the fraternity because when you join a fraternity it’s kind of that group mentality and the group is only as strong as it’s weakest member…we’re trying to make it less of a punishment and more of a reaction that helps them to grow and move on from this experience,” Elledge said in an interview.

According to Elledge discussions began when the email came to light earlier in the week, but IFC will be following their own bylaws and constitution as they work through the violations process. First, a violation letter based on the fraternal code of conduct will be delivered to the fraternity, then, following a judicial board hearing, sanctions may or may not be imposed. The process is expected to take two to three weeks.

Caroline Freeman, President the President of the Collegiate Panhellenic Council (CPC), stated how this incident is really being looking at as a moment for education for all members of both the Greek and campus community. She explained how she was initially both shocked and horrified when reading the original email but also stressed the fact that there are so many available resources available to help students that may find themselves in a situation they may not know how to handle or just need help.

“I know a lot of men in fraternities are saying we want to use this to educate our new members [on] what is a completely inappropriate way to look at or treat a woman,” Freeman said in an interview. “Sororities, on the flip side, I hope will be having those same kinds of discussions [on] how do we want to be treated and what are we going to do and really to start speaking up when these things do happen.”

Both Freeman and Elledge agree that the issue lies not in the fact that the email was sent but that this mindset, which does exist both inside and outside of the Greek community, has not been given the proper attention. IFC is focusing on educational programming to come from this incident that would help the chapter move on as well as get conversations started on this issue.

Other organizations on campus have also responded to this email, which has sparked a campus wide discussion on rape culture and sexual violence both on college campuses and beyond. In an open letter to campus representatives of VOICE, which is the Sexual Violence Prevention and Advocacy Initiative launched by Health Promotion, a unit of Stamps Health Services in conjunction with the Women’s Resource Center, spoke on how the email “directly encourages the use of alcohol as a coercive tool for non-consensual sexual activity,” and described both the email and behavior described within it as “reprehensible.”

Additional information:

• The original email can be viewed here.
• This letter from VOICE was sent to the campus community via GT’s Daily Digest email.
• Phi Kappa Tau Executive Office released this statement in response to the email.
• IFC and CPC released this response for Tech’s Greek community.
• The writer of the email has written an apology letter which can be read here.

Earlier this year, dining made several high-profile changes to the meal plans.

These changes were made in order to simplify and clarify the plans’ overall structure and make it clearer where the plans can be used.

The first change was to the meal plans that provide access to all Tech Dining locations including the food court, Subway and Starbucks.

The Ramblin’ meal plan, which started about three years ago, was replaced with Dining Dollars—usable at all Tech Dining locations. These funds will roll over from the fall to the spring semester, but because of structure, rules and regulations, will unfortunately not roll over to the next academic year.

Another change was to the freshman meal plans, which all on-campus first year students are required to have as part of the Freshman Experience.

The plans were simplified for better understanding, leaving fewer but more flexible options. These new plans include four options: Freshman Flex, Freshman 12, Greek Access 5 and Dining Dollars. These meal plans have been modified from last year’s five available options, the All Access 400, the All Access, the Limited Access 14, the Limited Access 10 and the Greek Access 5.

“Through focus groups and hearing feedback from students, parents and faculty over the last few years we had two big issues we were trying to solve,” said Rich Steele, Senior Director of Auxiliary Services.

“One was that our freshman meal plans were too complex… and also the name Ramblin’ created a lot of confusion because people didn’t realize that they were only for GT Dining locations around campus,” Steele explained.

The so-called voluntary meal plans available to upperclassmen were also modified.

There used to be seven different voluntary meal plan options including All Access 400, All Access, Limited Access 14, Limited Access 10, Social Access 75, Ramblin’ 450 and Ramblin’ 250. These have been winnowed to five different options including All Access, Access 14, Access 10, Social 75 and Dining Dollars.

The simplification was done in part to make it clear that the Access passes have access to all three dining halls as the name implies. The Access plans also include $150 in Buzz Funds.

The Dining Dollars option offer a variable amount from $100 to $750 declining balance funds which can be used at any Tech Dining location. Declining balance funds refers to accounts which keep track of the dollar amounts spent as apposed to visits to a dining hall. The stand-alone minimum purchase is $200 and the plan will also feature an eight percent tax savings and a ten percent dining bonus for amounts of $300 or more.

Major changes to meal plan options, such as these, have not been made in the last three years, since the institution of the Ramblin’ meal plan was introduced. However, GT Dining believes that these changes were necessary to help clarify any previous miscommunications and provide the best value.

Prices for these meal plans did increase across the board. For example, the All Access meal plan is now offered for $1,996 with $150 of Buzz Funds included. The comparable meal plan of the previous year, the All Access, was offered at $1,757 and the All Access 400 plan, which came with 400 Ramblin’ Dollars, was offered at $1,997, with $100 in Buzz Funds.

Steele attributed these increases to annual cost increases.

“We see significant [cost] increases every year in food costs, operating expenses including utilities, and maintenance as well as labor,” said Steele. “What we tend to look at is our peer schools and our goal is to be in the average of those schools…. There will always be some increases but we’re trying to keep it as modest as possible and keep everything as affordable as possible.”

Tech Athletics continued to solidify itself with expanding media partnerships and hirings within the radio team over the summer to cover major sports broadcasts in the future.

WYAY-FM “All News 106.7” will remain the Georgia Tech radio flagship heard throughout most of the state of Georgia. But through its multimedia right’s holder, IMG college, Athletics has also joined forces with Dickey Broadcasting Company for a promotional and entertainment partnership through its multimedia. This gives Tech fans another opportunity to hear programming that highlights a large span of Georgia Tech Athletics on 680 The Fan, which simulcasts on 93.7 FM, as well as The Fan’s sister stations 1230 The Fan 2 (1230 AM) and 1340 The Fan 3 (1340 AM).

“Our partnership with the Fan’s three stations, along with our current agreement with All News 106.7 FM, better positions Georgia Tech Athletics within the metro Atlanta Community,” said Athletic Director Mike Bobinski in a press release. “It aligns us with the dominant sports radio station in the region, and gives our fans more options to listen to our games, weekly radio shows and additional programming on multiple and powerful stations.”

This new affiliation with Dickey Broadcasting company will compliment IMG’s agreement with Cumulus Media’s WYAY-FM (106.7), as The Fan will air weekly Monday night shows of football coach Paul Johnson and men’s basketball coach Brian Gregory. Both also air on 106.7 FM on a tape-delayed basis each week on Mondays at 9 p.m. or live on Mondays at 7 p.m. when 680 The Fan is airing Atlanta Braves Programming. The radio stations will also broadcast a weekly interview show with Mike Bobinski, which will include exclusive content for Yellow Jacket fans.

“Our partnership with the Dickey Broadcasting Company and its family of radio stations gives us some flexibility and enhances our presence in one of the nation’s largest media markets,” Bobinski said.

The radio broadcast team is also welcoming a new addition as they prepare for a larger radio presence with Brandon Gaudin being named the “Voice of the Yellow Jackets” by Mike Bobinski. Coming from being the play-by-play announcer at Butler University, Gaudin is taking on the role of the play-by-play announcer on the Georgia Tech/IMG Sports Audio Network, as well as host of Tech Athletics weekly radio shows and television productions.

“I am very thankful and consider myself extremely fortunate to sit in Wes Durham’s old chair as the Voice of the Yellow Jackets,” Gaudin said. “You don’t fill Wes’ shoes. They’re too big. You have to buy your own pair and work diligently to maintain the level of professionalism and excellence he exuded on and off the mic.”

Gaudin will be joined in his gametime broadcasts by Rick Strom, who will be starting his sixth season as color analyst following three seasons as a sideline reporter.

Strom played for the Jackets from 1983-87, and was the starting quarterback for 16 games over the 1986-87 season.

Randy Waters will also be returning as the co-host of “Yellow Jacket Countdown,” the one hour show that airs prior to every Georgia Tech football game and will also this season be fulfilling the roles of sideline reporter and host of the locker room show during the Post-game broadcast.

Tech football games are also available on siriusxm.com, through an agreement between Sirius XM Satellite radio and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Earlier this week Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson returned from his fifth annual Georgia Tour.

The trip, which takes place every summer is an opportunity for Peterson and his wife Valerie Peterson, who travels with him, to meet with alumni, students, state leaders and other friends around the state to share updates on Tech while also listening to questions and concerns regarding how Tech can help with problems many Georgians face.

“It is a tradition that we started when I came to Georgia Tech a little more than four years ago making this the fifth ‘State Tour’. The pace of the trip is pretty demanding, but very rewarding for all of those who participate. We get to see so many loyal Tech supporters and others who want to learn more about Georgia Tech and the role we play in the state,” said Peterson.

The tour of the state includes traveling more than 800 miles with more than 11 stops including Sea Island/Brunswick, Savannah, Statesboro, Lake Oconee, Athens and Lake Lanier/Buford and others points in between.

The locations of the tour change yearly as Peterson tries to touch different cities around the state so that they can touch all of the various regions. Peterson has been able to visit 27 cities, some multiple times and traveled more than 3,800 miles in the past five years.

“The summer tour is a function of the Office of President, but the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, the Office of the Government and Community Relations as well as Institute Communications,” Peterson said.

As the tour involves the coordination of many units across campus, the largest costs come in time spent traveling around the state, but Peterson believes that all of the energy invested is well worth it.

“The tour reminds me of how Georgia Tech touches so many people and businesses throughout the state and how significant the impact we have is on the students, families and businesses of Georgia,” Peterson said. “The Hope Scholarship and the opportunity it provides continues to amaze me. I always come back with a renewed appreciation for all of the support we receive from so many different constituencies.”

Although discussions regarding how student loans and college debts are received and paid off are continually had on many levels across the country, any attempts at making changes to these practices are not being reflected into the lives of post-graduation students when collections and the subsequent struggles that accompany them arise.

The price of higher education has significantly risen in recent decades, but has the quality of education risen in parallel? The quality of learning which students receive at many institutions has not made as significant a change as the cost to attend it has. Where is the money going? To make these universities more aesthetically pleasing, sports teams and new buildings or to professors? Or for improving classrooms and technology used inside them?

Colleges have the continual opportunity to charge whatever price they please for their degree knowing that whatever it may be students will still come and they will still pay to have a chance to try to earn a degree from that institution.

If these prices are going to keep rising, then there need to be options which make it affordable to any and all people capable to try. The push and pull of the amount of money awarded to students versus the amount of money that colleges charge has to stop. While there are many options out there for students from many different backgrounds attending many different kinds of schools, the fact remains that as the federal and private granters attempt to dole out more money, campuses around the nation continue to raise tuition prices in order to capture more of this as well.

When it continues to look like these practices won’t change or will only be made worse in the future, efforts should at least be made to educate students and borrowers on exactly what they will be getting themselves into beforehand. The causes of problems and the consequences that come from not understanding them should be carefully outlined. There are too many people out there who do not understand what they do and do not qualify for.

“The price of higher education has significantly risen in recent decades…”

Even though I do see that the goal in making higher education affordable to all, it needs to change with the times. Many students get caught in a continual cycle of borrowing beyond their means to attain a college degree which they hope will lead to a job it; oftentimes, it does not and, in the end, they are left unable to pay off their college debts.

There are more than $1 trillion in student loans outstanding across the country and no way to remedy this problem in sight. The average debt per borrower is $23,300 and only increasing every year. The economic climate makes it even harder for those with jobs to get a salary to live off of well and pay the loans back. The federal government and colleges must work together to solve the student loan crisis rather than push against each other and make the problem worse.

This summer, multiple outdoor art installations were placed around campus as part of a traveling outdoor sculpture exhibit that is on loan to Tech. “Engineered Art: An International Sculptures Exhibit at Georgia Tech” is a 15 piece international exhibit by various artists . It is part of the Arts@Tech initiative to enhance the Tech community by fostering programs and events spanning a robust selection of artistic outlets.

“It coincided with an initiative of the arts that grew out of the arts of Georgia Tech concept that led to the Art Crawl and Arts Festival and the community wanted to begin this type of activity so it was perfect timing,” said Dr. Rafael L. Bras, Georgia Tech Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs.

According to Dr. Bras the suggestion came from alumni Kirk Landon for the exhibit which, managed by internationally acclaimed curator and sculptor John Henry, had traveled to other locations before Tech. This was supported by The Council of the Arts comprised of faculty and staff from a variety of schools and departments. Individual sculptures placement was determined by joint efforts between the Council working with the Office of Capital Planning and Space Management.

“The placement of the sculptures was based on the desire to have high visibility, with advice and input from senior leadership at Georgia Tech and the curator of the exhibit sculptor John Henry. Because of the strong desire to expose as many students, faculty and staff to the artwork, they were placed in main pedestrian corridors and pathways,” said Howard Wertheimer, Director of Capital Planning and Space Management.

With the sculptures being on loan, Tech does not own any of the sculptures, so there is not much cost involved besides transporting them to and setting them up on campus. The exhibition is free and open to the public and will be on display around campus for the next year, but administration hopes that an agreement will be reached to extend that time.

In response to there not being much student opinion being taken in the decisions to bring this exhibit to campus. “There was student input in the council of the arts, but the curator’s prerogative and the planning office had to decide what was feasible,” Bras explained.

Currently 12 of the 15 sculptures have been placed, with three remaining pieces arriving later this month or early July. Members of the Arts Council are in the process of developing interpretive plaques including the possibility of using augmented reality technologies to help engage campus in the artwork.

staAlthough construction across campus this summer will be lighter than it has in the more recent summer semesters, students, faculty and staff can still expect some closures and delays in certain areas around campus.

The goal for most of these projects during the summer months is to get as much work done as possible with the least amount of inconvenience for everyone on campus, which occurs during the fall semester from an increase of people moving around campus.

Bobby Dodd Steam Line Replacement

Phase 3 of continuing a steam line replacement project in Bobby Dodd that was part way done. This construction is being done to replace the steam line pipe in Bobby Dodd from Fowler to Williams Street while also improving the storm drainage in the street and completing streetscape work in this area.

The project was started in February and is set for completion by September 2013 before the first home football game. Techwood Drive will be open for the remainder of the summer, but Bobby Dodd Way, Fowler Street and Brittain Drive NW are all closed to through traffic. Peters Parking Deck will remain unaffected by construction and still be open.

 CRC Stamps Fields Renovation Project

On Monday, a large portion of the work on the Stamps Roe Field began with the removal of the turf, influx of construction equipment and the mount of construction fencing around the fields so that the original fencing could be removed and replaced. The fields will be closed for the summer through August 2013 for an extensive renovation project which will leave all parts of the fields drastically improved upon completion.

 Glenn and Towers Residence Halls Utility Relocation Work

Utility Relocation work has been in progress from January up until now in preparation for renovations in consecutive years of both Towers and Glenn Residence Halls. This work has included underground utility construction in the streets and sidewalks along 3rd Street, Williams Street and Techwood Drive between North Avenue and Bobby Dodd Way.

Towers will be the first to undergo renovation out of the two and will be closed throughout the 2013-2014 year with Glenn going under renovation after that.

Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) Construction

The construction of the EBB building at Peachtree Place will provide a new and massive amount of multidisciplinary research space in response to the expansion of Tech’s research enterprise and will be relocating and integrating faculty and students from the colleges of science and engineering.

This won’t cause many road closures or delays during the summer but may leave State Street only accessible to pedestrians very infrequently. The project started construction earlier this year and is set for completion around December 2014.