Thursday, Nov. 2 saw the official launch of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design (KBISD), formerly known as the Living Building at
Georgia Tech.

In keeping with the spirit of what the building will be, instead of breaking ground, President G.P. “Bud” Peterson and a group of others associated with the launch planted seeds of black-eyed Susans and various other flowers and plants.

Additionally, all in attendance were given a packet of seeds and encouraged to spread them over the grassy area bordering the parking lot at the corner of Ferst Dr. and State St., where the KBISD will eventually be located.

“In lieu of traditional shovels and hard hats to celebrate beginning construction,” said Michael Bryan II, second-year ENVE and GT Office of Campus Sustainability Materials Management Intern, “we would like the entire community to take part in the launch of the living building, and so, we have packets of seeds that are going to be passed out and we will be planting them.”

President Peterson opened the ceremony, welcoming everyone to the event, which had been rescheduled to Nov. 2 due to Hurricane Irma.

“The weather is a little nicer today than it was on the date that we originally planned,” Peterson said. “I have to tell you, I’m a little overwhelmed with the response. I think it’s just one example of how important this type of project is to the people of the city of Atlanta, to the people here in the Southeast, and people across the country and, in fact, around the world.

The KBISD aims to be the first Living Building Challenge 3.1-certified facility of its size in the Southeast. The Living Building Challenge 1.0 was officially launched to the public in 2006. In its current state, the challenge has 20 imperatives ranging from limits to growth to inspiration and education.

From the Living Building Challenge 3.1 document, the difference between this new version and past are changes to ten of the imperatives. Among these changes are clarifications, inclusion of new resources and removal of certain requirements depending on the classification of the building.

Following President Peterson was Steve Swant, executive vice president for Administration and Finance.

“Georgia Tech is honored to partner with the Kendeda Fund to develop one of the most environmentally advanced buildings in this region,” he said. “This project supports our longstanding vision for the campus and provides a unique opportunity to physically demonstrate how Georgia Tech practices thoughtful stewardship of all of our resources and how innovative thinking can transform the way we think about and interact with the built environment.”

The Kendeda Fund is providing 100 percent of design and construction cost, amounting to $25 million. Additionally, they will provide $5 million to support activities and programming.

“As one of the world’s
preeminent engineering universities, Georgia Tech is the ideal partner to help The Kendeda Fund prove that regenerative design can and will work in the Southeast,” said Dena Kimball, executive director of The Kendeda Fund. “Together, we hope to transform how the region thinks, builds, lives, and learns. From day one, Tech has embraced the Living Building Challenge enthusiastically, and they are already using it as a springboard to examine other projects around campus.”

According to the timeline given by livingbuilding.gatech.edu, the construction on the building is scheduled to finish in Jan. 2019. However, certification for the Living Building Challenge 3.1 is not expected until the Summer of 2020.

For the third year, the Mental Health Student Coalition held their annual Mental Health Summit, this year themed “Daily Wellness.” The discussion at the conference-style event focused around the ways to improve the general well-being of Tech students and how to do so.

Emily Hale, third-year AE and executive director of the Mental Health Student Coalition (MHSC), spearheaded the organization of the event. She said that it has been in the works
since February.

“Last year our theme was suicide prevention,” Hale said. “That was a really great day and we got a lot of great conversations out of that. When we started looking at it in February, we wanted to make sure we were doing something different this year so that we can have some more conversations and get people thinking about different things.”

The Mental Health Summit, held on Saturday, Nov. 4, opened with remarks from Stacy Connell, the senior director of health initiatives. She spoke candidly about her own personal experiences and mental health struggles as well as why she finally decided to get help. This background is why she recently took up her job at Tech that deals with the wellbeing of each and every student.

“I love people,” Connell said. “I am a people person through and through, and I want to share with you all that we want everyone. Here at Georgia Tech, we don’t want people to fall through the cracks.”

In addition, she educated attendees about the various dimensions of wellness and how Tech’s existing services attempt to serve each need. She gave attendees a sneak preview of what is to come next from Stamps Health Initiatives, such as life skill development programs, expansion of online resources, peer health educator programs and increasing the utilization of pet therapy.

The next events of the morning were small breakout sessions, where participants formed groups and talked with different
on-campus experts on a variety of topics. Each 20-minute session prompted thoughtful discussion of concerns such as academics, sexual violence, diversity, housing communities and student
engagement.

Following these sessions was another presentation on “I Feel Safe When,” a campus-wide collaboration focused on issues surrounding feelings of
personal safety.

After receiving insight into the mental health challenges of those who occupy Tech’s campus, attendees were organized into teams and allowed time to come up with ideas for beneficial programs or initiatives in a session dubbed “brainswarming.” Afterwards, people were asked to share their thoughts with the room of around 100 people.

According to Hale, this portion of the summit has produced some actionable ideas in the past. A few years ago, plans for the KNIT mentorship program were discussed.

“Hopefully out of it will come some ideas that can be implemented on campus,” Hale said. “We’re lucky that we have a real variety of people who have come to be in this room today. We’re trying to take all those perspectives to create some new ideas.”

The summit drew to a close with remarks from Dr. Mack Bowers, the interim director of the Tech Counseling Center. Hale says that in future years, the MHSC hopes to accommodate even more individuals who want to learn how to better the mental health of themselves and their community.

We should always be in pursuit of knowledge, and from the age of five we embark on this journey through a formalized process known as education. Living in the United States, we have access to a really good public education system; however, it is certainly far from perfect.

While every child has an equal opportunity to attend school, not all schools are created equal. There is a disparity between the quality of education in wealthy and poor districts. Through this system, however, it can be guaranteed that all students attending the same school have access to the same materials, resources and opportunities — that is until the introduction of online courses.

Established in 2005, the Georgia Department of Education developed a program known as Georgia Virtual School (GaVS), which provides accredited middle and high school courses throughout the state. GaVS’s intention is to ensure students’ opportunities are not limited by the school district that they attend.

Georgia is taking a step in the right direction to make public education more accessible. Now, students who want to take classes not offered by their school can do so. As long as the course “is part of the student’s regular school day,” the school will incur the cost of tuition and fees. Instead of attending lecture for one period, students taking courses from GaVS typically get a period off to complete the online course. Once completed, the class will be added to the student’s transcript and the grade will be averaged into the student’s GPA.

What about students who want to take courses in addition to their normal course load? These students are also permitted to take GaVS courses. The only difference is that the student must bear the cost of the course as opposed to the school. This difference is where things become unfair within the school level and should be cause for concern.

Students at the same school no longer have access to the same materials, resources and opportunities because a student who cannot afford to take online courses can no longer compete with the students that can.

To put it plainly, students now have the opportunity to buy their GPAs. Yes, additional work is involved because grades must be earned. But the opportunity to earn these grades can only happen if money is involved.

Consider two students, A and B, who take the same classes and earn the same grades. If student A is also able to take an online course, they are able to have a higher GPA and rank higher than student B who could only take advantage of the resources provided by the school.

Why does this matter? Our education system relies heavily upon GPAs and class rank. These numbers play a large part in determining the colleges that students get into and scholarship eligibility.

For example, several colleges, including Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, offer valedictorians and salutatorians automatic admission. Other schools give preference to students who rank in the top X% of their school. There are an endless number of merit-based scholarships that are solely awarded based on these two statistics. This could determine if a student can afford to go to college or not.

Not only does this system screw over students from low-income homes, but it changes the overall culture of a school. Students must become ultra competitive in order to stay up in the ranks. This trivializes learning into a race for the numbers instead of the pursuit of knowledge, which is an insult
to education.

There is a solution to the problem. Rather than including  online courses into a student’s GPA, they should just appear on transcripts as pass/fail credits. These courses are not worthless just because there is no numeric grade. Instead, it shows colleges that a student went above and beyond to seek out classes of interest. Furthermore, if students take a course’s corresponding AP exam then they can still get college credit.

It is not a perfect solution, and yes, wealthier students still reap the benefits. But, it levels the playing field for admissions and scholarships while maintaining the integrity of education, which should be pursued not for the grades, but for the love of learning.

About a year ago, I wrote an editorial on the dire need for a return to civil discourse in this country. It was right around that time that Former Reality TV Star Donald J. Trump was elected to the office of president of the U.S.

Since then, the vitriolic rhetoric, the heat generation has only been ramped up. Instead of making any meaningful attempt to moderate the hatred of our fellow countrymen, we as Americans have chosen the steep, slippery path downward, one surely filled with darkness.

The chief issue at hand is no longer anything to do with the economy or corruption. The only concern now is whether Americans can be made to live peacefully in the same country as their ideological adversaries.

Many among us these days are willing to dispense with any type of meaningful conversation in order to express how strongly they feel on a certain issue.

Instead of debating ideas on merits, the individuals purporting them are attacked themselves by their opposition.

On the left, calls for restraint on Russian-investigation hysteria are met with the McCarthyist labels of “collaborator” and “Russian agent.” The right slams those who oppose the agenda of Trump or his administration with the slurs “cuckservative” and “libtard.”

The intolerance in our country is flagrant. For one reason or another, Americans seem to largely be more worried about their preconceptions being validated than anything else. No one wants to learn anything or be challenged by intrepid or foreign ideas.

The de-evolution of human communication is further seen in the meteoric rise of “meme” culture. While a fun distraction in small doses, the fact that some of my friends seem to communicate solely through tagging others in memes can get kind of depressing. Not only are we forgetting how to civilly converse — our society is losing its grasp on conversation altogether.

Perhaps some who exhibit such disdain for perspectives dissimilar to their own do not choose their behavior out of egotism. Many have probably been trained by the dull constant roar of our media today.

It is certainly worth pointing out that the financial carrots and sticks are definitely aligned in such a way to make intense, angry arguments on hot-button issues with red-faced and shouting panelists the preferable content for network shareholders. The casual viewer is drawn to this type of “news,” as it borders on entertainment. And of course other stations have to compete with that magnetic reach.

So maybe it is no wonder it seems that so many among us these days seem to only want to get angry and stay angry when introduced to any sort of disagreement. It is what is being fed to us.

If this has all been a plot on some level by the powers that be, I extend my congratulations. With the populace distracted at each other’s throats for a myriad of trivial reasons, the rich and powerful are more free than ever to enact and impose their will. Truly, if Trump’s election has surely meant anything, it is the opposite of returning the U.S. to the common people. Whether intentionally or no, the common people have been whipped into a frenzy unseen since the late 1960s and early 70s.

Regardless, it needs to end now. If ever there was a need for a greater level of human understanding to be achieved, it is certainly the present moment rather than any later.

No matter what the cause is, a solution to the conditions it brings about needs
identification.

If you recognize yourself or your behavior in any of the aforementioned descriptions, please make an effort to listen to those who might think differently than yourself.

Letting intense passion on a subject overwhelm rational thought and conversation might be tempting. But stop and make to effort to ask yourself: what does it achieve to scream your opinion at a dissenter? In a discussion between equals, has hostility from one ever won
the other?

GA Tech

Tech (4-3, 3-2 ACC) has dropped two of three. The good news? Both were against ranked opponents; Miami and Clemson find themselves in the top ten after the most recent week’s set of games. The bad news? The offense was basically dormant in both contests.

The Jackets’ calling card in recent years has been an explosive offense that got support from a bend-but-don’t-break defense. When the former does not do its job, the Jackets face an uphill battle.

Speaking of that defense, they have played well beyond any reasonable expectations. Since allowing 42 points in an overtime loss versus Tennessee to start the season, the Jackets have not allowed more than 24.

Yes, perhaps the Tigers let off the gas once they jumped up to a 21-point lead, but the numbers are impressive nonetheless. They get a relative break this week against a much less potent Cavalier offense. They cannot afford to be complacent.

University of Virginia 

Virginia (5-3, 2-2 ACC) is enjoying its best season since 2011, when the team lost in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. By strength of schedule, UVA scores a -0.95. They have one of the weaker slates in the country this season.

But not all of the team’s success can be chalked up to an easier schedule. Former Eastern Carolina passer Kurt Benkert is putting together a second solid season in Charlottesville; he has thrown 17 touchdowns against five interceptions, good for a passer rating of 127.7. Yet he has thrown for a combined 338 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions during a two-game losing streak. Benkert will have to play better against Tech.

Senior linebacker Micah Kiser leads the charge on defense. He was top of the ACC in tackles last season with 68. While his production has dipped a bit this season, he is still second on the team in stops. Although he has yet to force a fumble this year, a turnover would be key.

In one of the biggest tests for Josh Pastner’s fledgling basketball program, the Jackets will take on the UCLA Bruins Saturday, Nov. 10 in Shanghai, China as the Pac-12 China Game presented by the Alibaba Group. Tech, coming off a hot start to Pastner’s tenure, will open the regular season overseas against an opponent it has not faced since 2006.

Tech enters the game after losing star sophomore Josh Okogie during an exhibition match against Georgia State University last Saturday, when Okogie suffered an open dislocation of his index finger. Pastner indicated that Okogie could expect to be out for “a while”, courtesy of MyAJC.com. But no timeline for Okogie’s recovery has been announced or released. Pastner did indicate on Thursday that Okogie would miss Tech’s season opener.

Freshman Curtis Haywood is likely to take the floor in place of Okogie. Haywood played 32 minutes against GSU, putting up three points, four rebounds and one assist. He will look to improve those figures moving forward.

Instead of Okogie, Tech will have to rely heavily upon Ben Lammers, the senior center who won ACC Defensive Player of the Year last season. Lammers averaged almost a double-double last season with 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and finished third in the country in blocks per game (3.4). Lammers will be complimented by Tadric Jackson, who showed significant improvement in scoring last season and looks to continue the trend this year.

Tech will face off against UCLA, a perennial college basketball powerhouse. UCLA has notched eleven NCAA championships in its history, a record, and has produced some of the greatest NBA basketball players of all time, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Reggie Miller. Former Bruins coach John Wooden is widely considered to be the greatest college basketball coach of all time, leading UCLA to ten titles.

UCLA’s recent history has continued this trend of greatness, reaching the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA 2017 March Madness Tournament and sending point guard Lonzo Ball to the NBA as the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. Led by Coach Steve Alford, they rebounded from a disappointing 2015-2016 season in which they posted only their fourth losing season since 1948 to go 31-5 in 2016-2017, finishing the season ranked No. 8 overall in the country in the AP Top 25 poll.

UCLA enters the Pac-12 China Game ranked No. 21 in the country overall after graduating a considerable amount of talent, but the Bruins still look poised to compete after bringing in some top-tier freshmen talent, including point guard Jaylen Hands, ranked as the No. 3 PG in his recruiting class, and Lonzo Ball’s younger brother LiAngelo Ball, a forward guard. The Bruins’ involvement with the Ball family has drawn national attention recently, thanks to LaVar Ball’s outspoken nature. Ball received heavy media coverage for claims regarding his son Lonzo, saying that his son was a better basketball player than two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry (among other remarks). The elder Ball has been much more tempered with his remarks regarding current UCLA player LiAngelo, saying that he believes LiAngelo is the least likely of his three sons to make the NBA.

UCLA brought in another strong class of freshmen — their recruiting class was ranked No. 4 in the country by ESPN, including Ball, Hands and five-star-prospect Kris Wilkes. UCLA is expecting to rely on their freshmen for significant minutes in addition to returning players Aaron Holiday and Thomas Welsh, but the uncertainty in performance from unproven freshmen means that expectations for the Bruins are tempered entering 2017-2018, though the sheer talent alone might carry UCLA deep into the playoffs later this season.

Tech has played the Bruins only four times in their history. They most recently played in 2006, when the Bruins defeated the Jackets 88-73 in the championship game of the Maui Invitational Tournament. Tech has only defeated UCLA once before, beating the Bruins 72-67 in 2000.

The Jackets will take on the Bruins at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai at 11:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 10. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The game is an early-season contest, so while there may be significant temptation to react strongly to the outcome, it is important to keep expectations rational. The Jackets will play without arguably their best player. They must replace two very experienced players from their 2016-17 lineup with two unknowns. They face a Bruins squad loaded with top-notch talent and looking to establish itself as a contender in the NCAA Tournament.

No, the Jackets will probably not leave Shanghai with a win. But a competitive game will do wonders for the team’s confidence (not to mention recognition abroad). Should they manage to come out on top against Steve Alford’s team, it would be an impressive start indeed.

The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program here at Tech serves as an ideal representation of the Institute’s motto of “Progress and Service.”

If you are an undergraduate student looking to gain research experience while working with experienced, influential mentors, then VIP is for you. Through the program, faculty and undergraduate students work together to create impactful change.

The program allows for an integration of both research and academics by creating a group experience. For at least a semester, curious undergraduates are directed by a faculty mentor to study a particular subject of interest.

Each group consists of students from different backgrounds, many of whom come from disciplines such as  biomedical engineering, computer science, education, environmental engineering, biology and many more.

Teams have the opportunity to learn fundamental skills while experimenting with new technology in the form of engineered hand-held devices and large-scale lab equipment. Moreover, they are able to interact with study participants and sharpen their professional communication skills.

Meanwhile, faculty are able to tackle sizable projects with joint student effort. Clearly a win-win situation for both.

In addition, students participating in the program are able to earn credit for their work, which can count towards research electives or free electives, with certain specific exceptions.

Students meet once a week, on a pre-determined class schedule for the entirety of an academic semester. After applying to the program, all you need is a course registration permit and you are good to go from the registration side of things.

With respect to team topics, program participants can switch in between unique Vertically Integrated Projects after an initial commitment of one semester to their primary team of interest.

Many VIP undergraduate students participate in the program for more than one semester, and they are able to participate for up to three years. In this way, the undergraduates find adequate time to become adept in their subject material, as well as train newer program participants.

Collectively, working on a team while finding solutions to real world problems allows the students to gain exposure to professional teamwork, especially while joining forces to conquer a diverse design project of great magnitude.

What kinds of projects are available to students?

Any discipline, from health systems, industrial design, and digital media, to biology, aerospace engineering and marine sciences is available to apply to. For a full list, visit www.vip.gatech.edu/teams.

Because the research-based organization is considered an extensive program, students are continuously mentored not only by faculty, but also by those who are graduating, allowing for long term development.

Teams are able to take their expertise from their project to a whole new level by presenting at competitions to win awards, such as at the VIP Innovation Competition which is sponsored
by Cisco.

While participating in faculty research, students also have the opportunity to participate in published work and get more exposure in regards to technical writing and publishing.

Student’s VIP grades are based on documentation and records, teamwork and contribution.

For students who are considering pursuing a Research Option (RO) under their major, VIP is a great opportunity because it requires thesis work on a continuous project. Having access to a faculty mentor and other experienced students within the team can be a great resource throughout the process as well.

Whether you are interested in bees, security challenges, automotives, concussions, gravitational waves or improving something Tech already has to offer, Vertically Integrated Projects seems like the type of program in which nearly everyone can find their niche.

On Oct. 27, Weezer released “Pacific Daydream,” the band’s first album in a little over a year and a half. The album has its strengths and its weaknesses, but fans need not worry; ultimately, “Pacific Daydream” is as Weezer as Weezer gets.

The style of their music certainly is not what it was in 1994, but every artist should evolve over time. What is important is that all of the key elements that make music Weezer music are present: nerdy weirdness, musical variety and — most important of all — a defiant refusal to do what is considered cool.

Of course, the album needed a few radio-friendly singles to round things out, so frontman Rivers Cuomo penned “Mexican Fender” and “Feels Like Summer,” easily digestible pop songs with catchy choruses and intros.

Still, even these seemingly hollow offerings have veins of Weezer weirdness in them. In “Mexican Fender,” Cuomo recounts his nerdy romantic encounter with another band’s lead singer who also dabbles in physics and computer programming. While “Feels Like Summer” is a simple, fast-moving pop song, its structure is just unique enough to make it feel like a Weezer track.

Moving into the body of the album, more geekiness and peculiarity can be found. In “QB Blitz,” Cuomo compares his isolation to the icy planet Hoth from the “Star Wars” franchise.

Then there is “La Mancha Screwjob,” a song about Cuomo’s betrayal of and subsequent feelings of guilt towards a former songwriting partner.

While the content of the song is fairly straightforward, its title could be a reference to the novel “Don Quixote,” a famous professional wrestling incident or — and perhaps most likely — a Radiolab podcast of the same name that discusses the relationship between the two.

In “Weekend Woman,” Cuomo alludes to The Zombies’ 1960s hit “Time of the Season.” Additionally, the frontman includes “Beach Boys” on the album as a tribute to one of the band’s most significant musical influences.

None of these thoroughly uncool quirks may appeal to modern conventional pop fans, who commercially-minded artists are constantly looking to capture. A typical commercial pop band would never release this album, so even the existence of
“Pacific Daydream” fits the quintessentially Weezer divergence from the norm.

Throughout the album, Cuomo makes it obvious that he did not write his music to cater to an audience. He refused to be cool or predictable, as has always been
his trademark.

Still, Cuomo works so hard to write Weezer music for Weezer fans that he is essentially writing for an audience, if not a traditional or mainstream one. Granted, there is nothing wrong with Cuomo writing music that he knows his fans will want to hear. It just may be that the Weezer of old can never truly exist in a world that wants it.

In this paradoxical way in which an album can be a Weezer album, then, “Pacific Daydream” certainly is one. Moving beyond this standard, however, one still must decide if it is quality music.

The album is anchored by songs that balance simplicity with depth and subtlety, such as “Weekend Woman,” “Feels Like Summer” and “Happy Hour,” but ultimately it is weakened by awkward, clunky tracks such as “Beach Boys,” “QB Blitz” and “Get Right.”

“Pacific Daydream” is worth a listen, and it has memorable tracks that can compete with any of the rock that is out right now, but these songs are few and far between. For most listeners, the album will prove easier to forget than to remember.

From 6 until squeak 7:30 squeak p.m. last Fri-squeak-day, Oct. squeak 27 squeak a large lizard, squeak buffalo, and squeak rhinoceros squeak circled outside squeak the Robert Ferst squeak Center for the squeak Arts.

These innovative yet impractical monstrosities were not, in fact, Boris, Lizzie, and a new friend from the Rampage series but instead an art exhibit in need of oiling. “The Spirit of the Animals is in the Wheels” was created by Dave Eggers and Juan Martinez as a silvery sheet-metal and mesh approach to the standard tricycle and quadracycle.

For most passersby, this experience was merely a random encounter none too strange for a stroll through campus, but for others, it was an unexpected prelude to a night of entertainment within the nearby theater.

By 8 p.m., theatergoers were seated and ready for the show to begin. After being duly introduced, Siro-A took the stage in the form of four shiny-white-clad performers and another character who was wearing an outfit inspired by traditional Japanese clothing and had a box for a head.

The five wasted little time with introductions and immediately asked for fifty volunteers. The audience was a little confused, but eventually a suitable number of people lined up on stage right. Each was individually photographed in front of the white backdrop in various poses by one of the five while two others directed the traffic.

Meanwhile, the remaining group members aimlessly wandered the audience. Occasionally Toshiya Arai would ask “Have you ever seen our show?” or the box head character, who never was introduced or explained, would giggle.

At precisely 8:16 p.m., the original line of volunteers had all had their pictures taken, but Siro-A still could not begin their show and instead asked for five more people to be photographed.

This lengthy process was not a good opening for something labelled as entertainment. Siro-A could improve their ability to connect with the audience, or they could simply opt to take the necessary photos ahead of time.

All of this mostly uninterrupted free time did allow for audience members to read their programs, which revealed that the show consisted of thirteen acts. Upon later reflection, some realized that the photo taking was, in fact, a titled part of the scheduled performance.

At 8:18 p.m., “Avatar” ended, and the five performers left the stage with an emphatic “We will see you later!” A little while after this exit, a cameraman with a tripod came out and started filming the audience, displaying his view on the stage’s main screen.

This activity became slightly more entertaining when he selected and zoomed in on a single person in the crowd, and onscreen lettering asked him to raise his left hand. Que superimposed flying Superman image. The audience burst out laughing.

Most likely, this response was more of a testament to their boredom than a true endorsement of the actual humor offered by simple live video editing. Either way, these antics continued for a few more images until the friendly yellow letters signed off with “Enjoy our show.”

By this point, the audience was so sufficiently starved for entertainment that a sock puppet singalong would not have been received too poorly. Fortunately, such a travesty was avoided as Siro-A began their performance in earnest with blaring techno music and a three dimensionally projected light show.

Throughout the rest of the performance, four artists switched off who was dancing with the light while two others in the background attended to the technology running the show. Throughout the rest of the show, technology was used in innovative ways — not to simply enhance the show as has been done by many performers in recent years but rather as the show itself.

At one point, the dancers picked up blank white cards to catch the images of instruments, which they proceeded to pretend to play. “BOX” was among the first acts performed, and it was mostly a feat of synchronicity. The performers were not doing any particularly challenging physical feats, yet their nigh-robotic toying with several blank cubes looked particularly well coordinated as the lighting told a story on them.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the night, however, were the two sections named “LOGOS” and “Typographer.” In “LOGOS,” the performers contorted themselves along with several props into the outlines of brand logos, including a comparison between the Dove bird and the Twitter bird. “Typographer” played scenes from famous movies with word art scenery, allowing the audience to enjoy and utilize their knowledge of pop culture.

Towards the end of the performance, it was shown that the photos which were painstakingly taken at the beginning had been configured into a background for one of the less enticing dances. This act was still interesting to behold, and people do tend to enjoy knowing that they have, in some small way, helped to create a work of art.

The finale was the epitome of what Siro-A advertises themselves as; the audience was not left wanting as the lasers, lighting and dancing combined for one last hurrah before the contented audience filed out of the theater.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s newest film, “The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” is stressful. The film is
uncomfortable, horrifying and — at its best — profoundly difficult to watch.

The film stars Colin Farrell (“The Lobster”) as Steven, a lauded but stoic cardiac surgeon. Steven is the image of American success. He is wealthy, married to a beautiful wife, played by Nicole Kidman (“Eyes Wide Shut”), and has two clearly bright children.

Lanthimos employs his unique brand of atmospheric filmmaking to depict Steven’s perfect life as deeply unsettling. None of the characters seem natural.

Farrell delivers nearly all his lines in a stilted, robotic monotone, and his family responds in kind. Outbursts of emotion — anger, sadness, anything — are rare and significant in this landscape of grey emotional repression.

Lanthimos slowly immerses viewers in Steven’s clinical world. Over the first 30 minutes or so, viewers see glimpses of Steven’s home life. He proudly executes his role as family patriarch, managing his teenage daughter, Kim (Raffey Cassidy, “Tomorrowland”), and his grade-school son, Bob (Sunny Suljic, “The Unspoken”).

In the bedroom, his wife Anna mimics a patient under general anaesthetic per Steven’s request as they make love. Between these scenes, Steven furtively meets with seemingly dull, equally stilted teenager Martin (Barry Keoghan, “Dunkirk”), whose father Steven had accidentally killed on the operating table some years prior.

From these initial scenes, clearly Steven quietly relishes his authority and importance in society. As the movie opens, viewers are treated immediately to an image of a heart beating in an open chest cavity followed by a shot of Steven peeling off his surgeon’s gloves and disposing of them after the surgery. He wipes his hands clean of the surgery figuratively.

Sometimes purging oneself of one’s actions is not so easy. Before long, Kim and Bob fall ill with a mysterious, undetectable ailment. Martin privately reveals to Steven that Bob, Kim and ultimately Anna will all fall ill and die, unless Steven kills one of them.

In a perverted twist of logic, Martin claims this is justice for his father’s death, and Steven must decide. Lanthimos never establishes how Martin cast his curse or whether it is even real.

The uncertainty, mystery and fear that prey upon Steven, Anna and, consequently, the audience slowly builds the foundation for the psychological stress, which Lanthimos exerts on viewers as Steven struggles to decide what to do as his children are ever-so- slowly dying in front of him.

Technically, this film is masterfully made. Lanthimos leverages his vast skill set as a director to make this film as personally uncomfortable as possible, relinquishing traditional jump scares and gory imagery to exploit audience’s empathy for Steven.

Viewers are forced to simultaneously wrestle with Steven’s ethical dilemma and rationalize his often unethical judgments as he grows more and more desperate.

Lanthimos sets a droning, electronic soundtrack to his stark images. The music is ever present, ever restless, but it crescendos during emotionally climactic moments, blaring into viewers’ ears and crawling under their skin.

Lanthimos captures the hospital where Steven’s children lay with floating, sweeping shots that emphasize the emptiness of this clinical environment. Though many of his shots are long and often quite still, the camera itself is never still. Always zooming in ever so slightly, the camera is as restless as the soundtrack, suggesting that the stillness of the image does not equate to peace in the minds of Lanthimos’s characters. There is no reprieve from the tenseness of this world.

The cast also is suitably unsettling. Farrell’s stoicism makes his emotional outbreaks near the film’s end even more poignant. Nicole Kidman plays off his apparent inhumanity with a vigor and silent aggression that is truly intimidating.

The real standout is Barry Keoghan as Martin. Keoghan is psychotic. Initially playing dumb and seemingly slow in the head, Keoghan infuses Martin with a complete lack of empathy that makes his character truly terrifying. He truly believes in the justice of the punishment he has inflicted on Steven’s family. He intends and portrays no malice or emotion — simply conviction, the most unsettling quality of all.

Ultimately, Lanthimos attempts to criticize the notions of importance, power and responsibility in society by forcing Steven to take perverse responsibility for the authority he exercises over people’s lives — forcing him to keep his gloves on for once.

While his point is compelling, the extreme stress, tension and discomfort that Lanthimos exerts on his viewers does not seem justified by this theme. By the end of the film, the plot pushes Steven into truly terrifying territory.

Viewers are forced to ask themselves if they are watching the results of a relevant, meaningful moral dilemma or if the film has simply reduced itself to a sadistic exploration of an inane “Would you rather?” Either way, if viewers are seeking horror, horror they will get. Horror does not get better than this, but some movies do.