Michael Stearns, a fourth-year CS major, works hard to balance both his academic and musical aspirations. Despite his Tech workload, he and his band, We Few, released an album in November 2013 and he is a leading member in Tech’s Musicians Network.

Technique: What do you hope to do with your major?

Stearns: To be totally honest, I have no idea! I’d really like to find some way of incorporating music or audio into my job, but I really love computer science as a whole, and will probably be happy, regardless of my job.

Technique: You and your band, We Few, recently released an album. What is it called, and what kind of music is on there?

Stearns: Our album is called “Alligator Pears and Dumb Double Dares.” The album is a blend of folk tunes, punk and some odd soundscapes straight out of something from WREK radio.

Technique: How long has We Few been a band and how did you come together?

Stearns: We’ve been a band for about a year, although we’ve gone from a two piece to a solo project and back to a full band within that year.

The band originally started as an outlet for silly covers between my then-roommate and me. We eventually wrote a few original songs, and then the band’s been around ever since.

Technique:  What made you decide to release an album?

Stearns: I’m always in the middle of recording, and eventually, it just felt like the album had to be released or we would never finish it. We’ve been working on it for a year, and it just felt like it was time for the album to see the light of day.

Technique: What was your favorite part of the album making process?

Stearns: I love working with new people, bringing in friends to play little parts and watching it turn from an empty sounding series of songs into a massive wall of interesting parts.

I always have fun when a friend mentions that they play an odd instrument, and we get to bring them into the studio for a  quick couple of takes.

Technique: What was the most frustrating part of the process?

Stearns: The mixing. Spending hours and hours listening to the same tracks in an attempt to find ways to tweak a bunch of controls and get the sound that you want? It’s exhausting, infuriating, and also one of the most important parts of recording. That said, it’s a lot easier for me now than it was a year ago.

Technique: What is your biggest dream for We Few?

Stearns: I would love the chance to go on a proper tour of the U.S. We’ve done a few jaunts out of state, but getting a vehicle large enough for the full band, plus gas money, plus finding the time off?

Sometimes I question if it’ll ever happen, although I don’t think it’s too far off.

Technique: If you could play with one musician, or band, either dead or alive, who or which would it be?

Stearns: From the dead folks in world, I would probably pick Hound Dog Taylor. From the living, I’d pick Pete Seeger.

Both are absolutely amazing, and you should check them out. Pete Seeger helped make American music what it is today, and Hound Dog Taylor is a blues legend who really had some strong music going. Most of the new “punk-blues” bands (such as the Black Keys and the White Stripes) call on Hound Dog Taylor’s sound.

Technique: What are your hobbies apart from We Few?

Stearns: I spend a lot of time on school, a lot of time biking and a lot of time running Musician’s Network, which is a school club dedicated to bringing musicians together and running the on-campus music venue Under the Couch.

Technique: How do you balance being in a band and being at Tech?

Stearns: Lots of caffeine and almost no sleep. Also, time management skills are a must, although I must profess that I’m kinda bad at such things.

She answers her first college question and the entire class twists in their chairs, craning their necks to find the source of a such a young yet unafraid voice. All the class found was 12-year-old Tesca Fitzgerald, embarking on her college career.

Now 16 years old, Fitzgerald is a graduate student at Tech. She is working towards a PhD in Cognitive Science and Human Robot Interaction and hopes to graduate by the time she is 22.

Fitzgerald started out being home-schooled at her home in Portland, Ore. Her parents taught her year round and at a quick pace, which made advancing easier. At 10, she and her older sister began taking online high-school classes.

Her father noticed their classes were equivalent to first- and second-year college courses and so Fitzgerald began the process of transferring to community college.

After community college, she entered Portland State University and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science. When it came to graduate school, Fitzgerald chose to capitalize not on her age, but on her merits. According to her, she didn’t even mention her age in essays or questions.

“I didn’t write a thing [about my age] in the application. I just put my birthdate. I don’t view just being a younger student as interesting in itself,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald, instead, wanted to show that her fascination in cognitive sciences and her years of experience with robots proved she was a deserving applicant.

“I think it’s more important to value  challenging experiences rather than age. I think that anyone could overcome challenges, even enjoy the experience, if doing work that they are passionate about. For me, that passion is research, hence why I challenged myself to become a graduate student,” said Fitzgerald.

Now that she is at Tech, Fitzgerald’s life is similar to any Tech students’. “I always joke I don’t have an average day,” said Fitzgerald. But still, she can almost always be found in class, in the lab or at meetings.

When she’s not working hard as a grad student, Fitzgerald heads over to the CRC where she plays racquetball, and she usually finds time to lie down and do “absolutely nothing.”

Fitzgerald does not think of graduate school as “work,” though.

“[Graduate school] takes up all your time, but I enjoy that. To me, its not doing work all day and then getting time off,” Fitzgerald said.

While Tech undergraduate students work on a semester basis, Fitzgerald explains that graduate school work is more year round, much like how her home-school curriculum was structured.

Fitzgerald’s reason for entering graduate school at such a young age is simple—she wanted to do what she loved as soon as she could.

“I was lucky to realize what I am passionate about at such an early age,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald also plans to start a career in academia after graduating from Tech, hopefully as a research professor.

She also maintains that her parents did not ever push her towards graduating early.

“We have an amazing relationship. They did so much to get to this point where I am in a grad program on the other side of the country…. They’re not [overbearing] parents or anything,” Fitzgerald said.

Despite her quick success in academia, Fitzgerald does not feel she has missed out on any adolescent experiences.

“That’s the question people ask the most. I really don’t know that I did [miss out.] And I did go to prom, three times, and I had a fantastic time,” Fitzgerald said.

According to her, making friends is not a struggle either. While Fitzgerald “does not usually” make friends with people her age, she does find friends in classes, through research and “just randomly.”

Fitzgerald also says that many people react to her age by saying things like “Now I feel bad!” but she says that reaction makes her feel equally bad. Making other feel unaccomplished is the opposite of what she is trying to do. Fitzgerald hopes to inspire people to study what they are passionate about instead of studying what they think they should be studying.

“Once you find what it is you are passionate about, it’s not work. I am just really excited I was able to find that,” said Fitzgerald.

Christopher Jones is Tech’s new Associate Vice President for Research and has been a professor at Tech for more than a decade.  When he is not researching for Fortune 500 companies, directing students in his own “vigorous research program” or lecturing on chemistry, Jones can be found cheering on his favorite hockey teams or racing his Audi TT-RS.

Technique: What is your current position at Tech?

Jones: I am the New-Vision Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE) and the Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR).

Technique:  When did you come to Tech and why?

Jones: When I interviewed for faculty jobs in 1999, I was looking for a great engineering school that was also strong in the sciences, was in an urban location and if I was lucky, was in a great city with diverse people and great weather.

When I was offered a position at Tech, it was if I had won the lottery!

Technique: You’ve graduated from the University of Michigan and Caltech. How do those college atmospheres compare with Georgia Tech’s?

Jones: Michigan is similar in many ways to Tech.  It’s a world-class public university with a great athletics program—a true sister school of Tech, but with a slightly broader academic base (more professional schools like medicine, law).

On the other hand, other than the fact that it is a science and technology focused school, Caltech could not be more different.  It is a private institution and very small, with about 1000 undergraduate and 1000 graduate students.  It has a stronger emphasis on graduate education, whereas I feel Tech strikes a nice balance between emphasizing undergraduate and graduate education.

Technique: As both a Chemical Engineering professor and as the new Associate Vice President for Research, what is your favorite part of working here?

Jones: I like the people.  I enjoy coming to work every day.  The faculty, staff and students in ChBE are great.  I expect I will find the same is true of other units on campus as I get to know the institution more broadly in my new role as AVPR.

Technique: Was becoming a Chemical Engineering professor always a goal of yours?

Jones: I was (am?) a nerd, and I knew I wanted to be a chemist or chemical engineer after I took my first chemistry course in high school.  I loved it.  In the sophomore year of my undergraduate studies at Michigan, I had an inkling that I would like an academic life, and my experiences doing an industrial internship and undergraduate research convinced me that a career in research and teaching would be fulfilling. I was career-focused to the extent that I choose my graduate school with the idea that it would prepare me to be a professor.

Technique: As a child, what did you hope to grow up to be?

Jones: When I was four, I wanted to be a garbage man, of all things. I was fascinated by the massive machine that would drive down the street and crush all our garbage. I would stand in my yard and watch it go down the street every week. By the time I was in high school, my initial infatuation with mechanical equipment had matured to a love of chemistry, experimentation and a desire to be an engineer.

Technique: What is your overarching goal for research at Tech?

Jones: There are only a few places in the world with a collection of world-class scholars and innovators representing all facets of science, engineering, technology and business.  Tech is one of them.

What will make Tech stand out among this select group is that while we have the scholars, visionaries and innovators, we also have a culture and infrastructure that makes us easy to work with among academic organizations.

Whether you represent a small business, a branch of the government, a foundation or a multi-national corporation, I believe we have the ability to adapt to work with that organization as a research partner.

We need to continue to emphasize our outstanding scholarship and innovation while also being administratively nimble, adapting to find ways to work with the full variety of organizations that seek academic research partners.

Thus, I hope to play a role in expanding and strengthening our portfolio of research partners.

Technique: How do you see startups playing a part in research’s progress at Tech?

Jones: One of the key roles for a technological institution is to innovate, develop new ideas, and with them, new technologies or services.

Facilitating student, faculty and staff entrepreneurial ambitions is a key way to drive innovation and impact society.

Technique: You’ve done research for a number of Fortune 500 companies. What was the most interesting research project you ever worked on?

Jones: They’re all interesting in my view, otherwise I would not have agreed to work on them!  I’ll say that the most unusual project I am working on is working with a startup company, Global Thermostat, developing a technology to remove CO₂ directly from the ambient atmosphere.

Such a technology can allow for on-the-spot CO₂ concentration for industries that use CO₂ as a feedstock, and hopefully in the long run, a way to combat climate change by capturing CO₂ directly from the air for underground sequestration.

Technique: I’ve heard you are a pretty big hockey fan. What is your favorite team?

Jones: I am a huge hockey fan.  I had season tickets to the Atlanta Thrashers for a decade before they left.  I had four tickets, and would routinely use two and give two to students for every home game.

I most closely follow the Detroit Red Wings, but I love watching almost any hockey.  A goal of mine is to see a game in every NHL arena, and I am well on my way.  I plan to see games in Miami, Phoenix and Ottawa in the next 12 months.

Technique: I’ve also heard you enjoy auto racing. How did you get involved with that sport?

Jones: I grew up in metro Detroit, where car culture runs strong.  I love cars as examples of outstanding engineering and as excellent examples of art and design.  I like driving on road courses (Road Atlanta, Barber Motorsports Park, Atlanta Motorsports Park) with my cars when I can.

I like unusual cars. I have a 550 HP station wagon with a manual transmission (Cadillac CTS-V Wagon), and I recently sold my Lotus Elise track car to buy a more practical but similarly fun Audi TT-RS.

Technique: If you could buy any car ever, what would it be?

Jones: Realistically speaking, I will own a (used) Ferrari one day.  After a very large windfall, the McLaren P1.

Technique: Any advice for aspiring researchers at Tech?

Jones: I advise all Tech undergraduates to try their hand at research.  R&D drives innovation and the country needs more inventors and scholars.

The best way to know if you enjoy something is to try it. Tech is the perfect environment for your first research experience. The infrastructure and programs to facilitate and support undergraduate research are here for you.

Walmart on Campus, which opened Aug. 14, is located in Tech Square. At 2,500 square feet, it will be stocked with basic items intended to meet the needs of college students.

“A pharmacy will be the anchor for the store with a wide range of convenience, drug store and grocery items,” said Rich Steele, Senior Director of Auxiliary Services. “The grocery section will be slanted to meet the needs of apartment dwellers with some frozen foods, refrigerated foods, paper products and quick preparation meals.”

Not only is Tech’s Walmart the smallest in the nation, but it is also only the second university to test this new Walmart format after the University of Arkansas.

Tech was chosen, in part, because of Walmart’s connection with Tech, as the CEO of Walmart, Mike Duke, is a Tech alumni.

“In this case, the city of Atlanta and Georgia Tech have close ties to executive leadership at Walmart which may have generated interest in making our store one of the first to open,” Steele said.

Tech was also chosen as one of the first locations due to the success of other businesses in Tech Square.

“Technology Square is a highly successful retail destination which is attractive to any brand focused on our demographic,” Steele said.

Pricing at the new Walmart will be the same as a Walmart supercenter.

“Walmart on Campus has Walmart Supercenter pricing in a Convenience store setting. This is rare of course, normally one expects to pay a higher price for the convenience of a smaller store. It will be interesting to see if Walmart maintains this pricing model as the format grows,” said Jason Long of Shift Marketing Group.

Students are also enthusiastic about the opening of Tech’s Walmart.

“I’m so excited. I think it will definitely replace stores like Eastside Market because it has a lot more to offer and lower prices,” said Andrew Arencibia, a second-year BMED major and one of the first Walmart customers.

“[Walmart has] pretty much everything I will need for college, so that is exciting. I don’t have to go off campus to get stuff anymore either,” said Anthony Brown, third-year Business major and also one of the first customers.

Some students do have ideas for improvements, however.

“They could improve on inventory management maybe; we kind of bought half of the supplies we needed [but couldn’t buy] paper towels,” said Brown.

Some students are also disappointed that the Walmart will not accept BuzzCards.

It’s expected that Walmart will build more campus stores across the nation, provided that the Tech location does well.

“The performance of the Tech store will be watched closely by Walmart Executives to determine if the format has legs… I expect to see Walmart expand this concept further onto college campuses, in urban areas, etc. Walmart Campus stores seem to make a lot of sense on the surface,” Long said.

Tech’s Walmart is open Monday through Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tech Athletics has a new official pizza. For the next four years, Georgia Tech IMG Sports marketing will be partnering with Cowabunga Inc., a local Domino’s Pizza franchise which includes 63 Domino’s locations around metro Atlanta.

The Domino’s partnership is unique at Tech because it includes stadium concessions, sports marketing and campus dining.

“In addition to exclusive Pizza concession rights at all Georgia Tech athletics venues, the sponsorship includes a year-round sports marketing program to promote Domino’s to 1.4 million Tech fans and alumni living throughout metro Atlanta,” said the Domino’s Pizza press release.

Domino’s will also be the only pizza delivery service to accept Buzzcards for on-campus deliveries.

“This program through GT Dining will create a mechanism for students to use BuzzFunds and Dining Dollars for on-campus delivery of Domino’s products,” said Riche Steele, Senior Director of Auxiliary Services. “There has been ongoing interest from students to offer more food options on the Buzzcard and this is one of the programs we have been considering in response.”

“We believe that students will appreciate the opportunity to use BuzzFunds and Dining Dollars to have food delivered, wherever them may be on campus, whenever they may be hungry,” Steele said.

“Domino’s delivers a wide range of top quality products and is a well-respected brand very near campus,” Steele added.

In 2012, Tech partnered with IMG college, the nations leading collegiate marketing firm, creating Georgia Tech IMG Sports. Since then it has helped facilitate deals like the one with Domino’s.

Undergraduate tuition at Tech will increase by $270 for both in-state and out-of-state students starting in fall of 2014, which is about a seven percent increase in instate tuition and 1.75 percent jump for out-of-state students, based on an announcement by the Board of Regents this Tuesday.

“While we are working diligently to control costs, that alone is not enough. Students are being asked to increase their cost sharing to preserve the quality of their educational investment,” said Institute President G.P. “Bud” Peterson in a press release.

Out of all of the University System of Georgia schools, Tech’s tuition will be increased the most. Next year, for full time undergraduates, in-state tuition will be $3,859 per semester and out-of-state tuition will be $13,511 per semester.

“Although Georgia Tech students and their families are sharing more of the costs of their education, a Georgia Tech degree remains a solid investment in numerous ways,” said Lisa Ray Grovenstein, Tech’s Media Relations Director. “The demand for Georgia Tech graduates in the workplace continues to be strong, despite a weak economy. With promising job prospects and starting salaries, most graduates begin to get a return on their tuition investment almost immediately. A Georgia Tech degree has the highest return on investment in the country over a 30 year period.”

Graduate tuition will also increase for the 2014 fiscal year. Full-time in-state tuition will increase from $5,290 to $5,662 and full-time out-of-state tuition will increase from $13,430 to $13,665.

The Board of Regents decided on increasing the tuition the greatest amount in other research universities as well, including UGA, Georgia State and Georgia Regents University. This is to ensure these universities are able to afford the resources required to be highly competitive on a national level.

“The Board is extremely concerned about the cost of college and ensuring Georgians have access to our institutions…We must do everything possible to ensure that the cost to attend college is not a barrier. This small increase helps students and parents financially while ensuring we can continue to provide a quality college education,” said Chancellor of the Board of Regents Hank Huckaby.

Georgia is one of five states to have two public universities which are ranked in the top 25 of US News and World Report’s Public School rankings. Georgia Tech is currently ranked #7.

For the 2014 fiscal year, Tech’s funding from the Board of Regents will be increased by $6.3 million. At the same time, the $9.9 million was made in budget cuts from 2013 will continue into the 2014 fiscal year.

“As a world-class research university, Georgia Tech offers faculty expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and exceptional programs that are highly sought after. Seventy-five percent of Georgia Tech’s students are enrolled in technology-related programs that are simply more expensive to operate, and we are committed to maintaining excellence,” Peterson said.

Tech’s undergraduate out-of-state tuition will still pale to MIT’s, which is a peer institution, tuition, which was $42,050 for the 2013 fiscal year.

Tech’s fees will also increase by $6, from $1,190 to $1,196, due to an increase in the Health Fee. As SGA recommended, there was no increase in the Student Activity Fee which will be $123. UGA’s student fees will increase by $19, from $1,098 to $1,117. Georgia State’s fees will stay the same at $1,064.

Also included in the approved budget were the conversion of Atlantic Drive to a pedestrian way and widening of State Street, ground lease to Alpha Phi Sorority to house 30 students, rental of space in the Centergy Building and renewal of rental agreement in the Centergy Building for Enterprise Innovation Institute

The Board of Regents oversees the 31 colleges and universities that comprise the University System of Georgia.

Two weeks ago during spring break, Housing began working on capturing the many feral cats living around Towers Residence Hall in order to avoid the problems these cats could cause when renovations on Towers begins in May.

“It’s a safety hazard for both the students and workers who will be coming on sight, which is why we are trying to be proactive and reducing that effect. We have major construction starting on East campus which will be going on for a number of years, so it will be an ongoing problem,” said Francis Gillis, Senior Director of Housing Facilities Management.

Tech is using a subcontractor who sets up cages and bait and then sends the cats off to a humane society.

“We had four captured [over Spring Break] but then we had people who stole the traps or let the cats out of the traps,” Gillis said.

Many Towers residents disagree with Housing’s plan to capture the cats.

“I like the cats. Living here and having them here is pretty nice. I don’t really think of them as feral or savage. But, I would like to see them stay,” said Svyatoslav Kucheryavykh, a first-year CS major and Towers resident.

“I really like the cats. They were kittens in the winter. We watched them chase each other and we’ve seen them grow up. I wish they wouldn’t catch them,” said Tyler McGee, a first-year ENVE major and Towers resident.

The cats are more than just a construction problem though, as they could also carry infections or diseases which can be dangerous for students.

“It really depends on the health status and the type of animal itself. With any cat, they could carry toxoplasmosis. Other feral animals could carry rabies- which is a big concern for us,” said Lisa Broadhurst, Biosafety Officer and Environmental Health Manager at Tech.

Housing is also worried about the fleas the cats can bring into residence halls.

“The cats carry fleas—we’ve been having issues with that. The cats don’t get a proper bath which aggravates this issue,” Gillis said.

Some students have taken on the responsibility of feeding and bathing the cats, which may actually have further aggravated the problem.

“The other side of this is [the students] have been feeding the cats too much, and [the cats] are getting lazy and fat,” Gillis said.

The cats were originally allowed to stay on campus because of their help with rodent control.

“Lately, because there seems to be a more aggressive feeding program, [the cats] don’t pay attention to [rodents] because it’s too easy for them to find food and water. The cats don’t feel obliged to do their job,” Gillis said.

“Students really shouldn’t be feeding any feral animals. Handling in any way shape or form should be done only by someone who is experienced,” Broadhurst said.

Because of this, Housing now sees the feral cats living on campus as a long term problem.

“After [construction on Towers] comes Glenn and then after Glenn comes Smith and on and on. The only place [Tech] doesn’t have feral cats right now is North Avenue. They’re even outside of the student center- you can see them racing side to side in the mornings,” Gillis said.

“It’s not that the problem has grown recently—I think we are more aware of it because people now know to come to EHS. We call our contractor who humanely attracts the animals and then sends them off campus,” said Broadhurst.

Many students, however, do not believe the cats to be a problem.

“It depends on if they’re fed because then I think it’s fine if they’re not captured. I’ve never thought they were a hazard or anything,” said Garrett Bradley, a Towers resident.

“We know the students aren’t happy with it. But they’re not looking at the real cause and effect as to why we are doing this,” said Gillis.

Cats are not the only feral animals on Tech’s campus. There have been reports of hawks, foxes, coyotes, poisonous snakes and a family of possums.

The much awaited Highland Bakery opened this Spring Break, including a soft opening on Monday, March 25. Highland Bakery, located near Tech Tower, offers an extensive breakfast, lunch and dessert menu.

“[The opening has been] fantastic. We started out opening during Spring Break and even then got a great response,” said Stacey Eames, owner and founder of Highland Bakery.

Campus Services is also not surprised at Highland Bakery’s success thus far.

“We have ‘quietly opened’ right now, but business has been very steady and we always expected that. We get folks coming in at 7:30 for coffee and a very strong lunch crowd…we know that will continue to build as well,” said Riche Steele, Senior Director of Auxiliary Services at Tech.

Highland Bakery offers the full menu seen in other Highland Bakery locations around Atlanta. Also, smaller servings and half options are available to lower pricing for students.

“We have adjusted the menu a little bit with the price points. There really is something for everyone, hopefully. We understand how college budgets go and we definitely want to be sensitive to that,” Eames said.

“We worked on lowering the prices as much as possible. We are always concerned for value,” Steele said.

Students have also been impressed with Highland Bakery’s menu and pricing.

“The Highland Bakery strikes me as a great concept. In a nutshell, each location consists of substantial food for under $10 in under 10 minutes. What more could a college student want?” said Greg Collins, a third-year BUS major.

“I really liked the atmosphere. The staff was super friendly, the service was quick, the food was delicious and the seating was really comfortable,” said Julia Falvey, a first-year BA major. “It seemed like a good place to grab a quick bite to eat or to sit for a while and work on homework.”

Tech is also uniquely home to other multiple Highland Bakery kiosks, which are smaller, satellite locations with condensed menus.
“One of the reasons [Highland Bakery] was chosen was for it to act as an ‘anchor’ for the two kiosk operations around campus. Now, the kiosk will have better support and fresher product provided. We hope to roll out more kiosks. Highland Bakery can only strengthen them,” Steele said.

Highland Bakery is also working on an online ordering system to make ordering food easy for students in a hurry. They are hoping to have it ready for use in the next few weeks.

“You could be sitting in class or wherever and go into the online system and place your order. We will get a ticket in the kitchen and it will be in our system. You just come, simply show up and hopefully we will have your order for you. You can grab it and go or come and get a seat,” Eames said.

Highland Bakery is located in the Old Bradley Building near Tech Tower, the same location Junior’s Grill used to occupy.

“Junior’s era was totally different. Its focal point was burgers and fries. Highland Bakery is a great place to go for a snack or just to treat yourself between classes. We hope it will become a strong Tech tradition,” Steele said.

“We are thrilled to be here. We love this campus and we hope it can be a great addition and bring an element of the food service here that is something people really want. It’s a fantastic space,” Eames said.

Each year, every Tech student pays $123 per semester for the Student Activity Fee (SAF), but most may not realize exactly where their money goes. The SAF goes directly to SGA’s budget for them to distribute to campus organizations.

The SAF is allotted into four categories – the CRC, the Student Center, Student Organizations and Student Publications. This year, 45 percent of the fee went to the CRC, 29 percent to the Student Center, 20 percent to Student Organizations and five percent to Student Publications.

This year, SGA’s budget was $1,211,090. So far, $435,883.48 has been allocated to campus organizations.

“Ultimately, the goal for [SGA] is to ensure that we make effective use of the Student Activity Fee that you and I and every other student on this campus pays every semester,” said Sai Krishna Surapaneni, SGA Undergraduate Treasurer.

The SAF is one of Tech’s mandatory student fees, meaning all students currently enrolled at Tech’s Atlanta campus must pay it. In the fall, 19,761 students paid the SAF, which brought in a total revenue of $4,820,488.

This year, SGA’s budget was $1,211,090. So far, $435,883.48 has been allocated to campus organizations.

SGA’s budget is made up of the Prior Year account and the Capital Outlay account. The Prior Year account used to fund student organization’s “general initiatives.” The Capital Outlay, though, funds “capital expenditures”. This year, the $269,055 went to the Prior Year account and $942,035 to the Capital Outlay account. According to reports made by Surapaneni in the UHR meetings, SGA has spent money at a faster rate historically, and continues to run the risk of running out of their PY account for this fiscal year.
“We can move funds from one to the other…we are probably going to have to this time around. It’s kind of like taking money out of your retirement fund to pay for a sports car. It’s ultimately what we’re going to have to do,” said Representative Gregory Jones, in response to the possibility of running out of the PY account.

“Every club, organization, and society is competing with each other in order to acquire those funds.”

So far this year, 107 bills have been submitted to SGA. The average funding approved per bill was $4136.75 and 12 of the bills passed were for over $10,000.

“There is a lot of competition in order to get funds from the SGA. Every club, organization, and society is competing with each other in order to acquire those funds. Those funds are limited, and the SGA must decide who they should give those funds to,” said Luis Ernesto Hasbun Zamora, the Executive Treasurer for Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

The greatest portion of bills, passed through SGA this year went to student athletic clubs. In 2012, student athletic clubs were moved from being categorized under the CRC to Student Organizations for accounting reasons.

After that, the organizations with the largest number of bills were organizations with a focus on technology, such as Robojackets and HyTech Racing, and arts and entertainment organizations, such as DramaTech. Conversely, service and Greek organizations had the smallest number of bills submitted.

“A lot of times, there are some line items or bills that get voted down even though they are for a ‘good cause’. But what it comes down to is, ‘Will the money funded by SGA be put to use in order to benefit the overall student body?’ We as student reps strongly feel that the SAF can be used for one thing and one thing only – to better the overall experience of the student body as a whole,” Surapaneni said.

The SAF, unlike the Health Fee or Athletic Association Fee, will not change for students for the next fiscal year, as SGA recommended no increase in SAF for the third year in a row.

Unlike Georgia Tech, other colleges have increased their Student Activity Fees in recent years.

Georgia State University’s Student Activity Fee is $660. Instead of directly funding SGA and student organizations, unlike Tech’s Student Activity Fee, a majority of GSU’s fee goes to individual university colleges, such as their College of Public Health and College of Arts and Science.

At MIT, the Student Activity Fee is $140 per term. Also, MIT’s Student Activity Fee increased this year by $6. The largest portion of MIT’s Student Activity Fee funds large campus events and club sports. On the other hand, UGA’s Student Activity Fee is $78, $45 less than Tech’s, but UGA’s overall mandatory student fees are $2 more than Tech.

Last Thursday, the Department of Housing announced new housing procedures for 1157 potential rising fifth- and sixth-year students on campus due to housing shortages. Instead of their usual priority housing, fifth- and sixth-years are being placed on a waiting list based on their credit hour count.

“If students wait long enough, it is very probable that students will move off of the waitlist and get on campus housing.”

“We are asking that rising fifth- and sixth-years wait until we go through the first part of room selection to determine where our numbers stand and if we will be able to get fifth- and sixth-years on campus,” said Dan Morrison, Director for Residence Life. “We are not telling [them] to go off campus—just to wait. If there is enough room for fifth- and sixth-years, then they will go back to their top priority position.”

The larger incoming freshman class is just one of the causes of this change.

“We have the largest freshman class ever living on campus, 2961 freshman which is a little over 350 more than we anticipated. Those students are guaranteed housing for their second year and normally we average about 74 percent of freshman live on campus their sophomore year. We have to protect for that number,” Morrison said.

Renovations on current housing options, a barrier not faced this year by housing, also affected this decision.

“Also, we are closing Towers Hall in May after graduation and it will be closed for a year. That takes 250 male freshman beds out of the system,” Morrison said. “That means we have to hold more beds in Woodruff, which takes them out of sophomore housing. So we have our biggest sophomore group ever and we’re going to have to actually take sophomore beds away to hold for freshman. It’s easy to understand how we are short about 300 beds.”

However, being on the waitlist may not be as large of a cause for concern.

“Almost instantly [after housing applications close], we will start to see cancellations. Right now, we are asking for a decision five months in advance—a lot can happen between now and then. At the end of the semester, students will find out about grades, co-ops and study abroad. We expect about 700-1000 cancellations. If students wait long enough, it is very probable that students will move off of the waitlist and get on campus housing,” Morrison said.

Although it could have been any group that could have been waitlisted to permit additional bed openings, Morrison listed to factors as to why fifth- and sixth-years were chosen.

“We feel these students have the maturity and years of experience to be successful living off campus.”

“One, we feel these students have the maturity and years of experience to be successful living off campus. They are more likely to have a car, friends who already live off of campus, or are more comfortable living in Atlanta,” Morrison said.

According to Housing standards, any student who matriculated to Tech before Summer 2010 is considered a rising fifth- or sixth-year. In Spring 2012, there were 1248 rising fifth- and sixth-years, but only 308 of those students applied for housing. The Department of Housing expects similar statistics for Fall 2013.

“We expect these numbers to hold true and for the ratio of fifth- and sixth-year students who stay with us for housing to be about the same, Morrison said. “We have no way of predicting except looking at past behavior.”

“When the statistics were laid out, Housing’s solution seemed to be the most appropriate, especially since it’s not kicking anyone off of campus. The old solution, a complete lottery system, seemed too extreme,” said Joey Slater, Residence Hall Association President.

Prior to 2007, when Tech bought the North Avenue apartments from Georgia State University, a housing lottery system was in effect.

“In a lottery, you either get a room or you don’t. If you were past spot 600-700 on the waitlist, you had to live off campus. The new system, however, is a sorting or waiting period,” Morrison said.