Photograph courtesy of Bev Sykes at Wikimedia

I like to compare dorm life to ice cream sandwiches — great in theory, but in practice, just messy.

There’s only so many gossip sessions, late-night baking adventures, fights over keeping the room clean and accidentally walking in on one another with a date that one freshman can take. So it’s not at all surprising that many Drexel students are desperate to be freed of that two-year residency requirement and be able to rent a place off-campus by sophomore year.

There are a lot of benefits to living off campus. You get flexibility with where you live and with whom and with how many people. You’re not restricted to same-gender housing and there’s no guest policy to worry about. You can definitely save a lot of money, and you and your roommates can make your own decisions about how to split rent and bills. Plus, you don’t have to worry about elevators breaking down.

These are all great reasons, and if these are your priorities, then I’d encourage you to go for it and find off campus housing. But there are a few things you should keep in mind before you do.

In and around University City, landlords know that a lot of the people renting from them will be students with no experience of living anywhere other than their parents’ home or a dorm, and these landlords also know this means they’ll be more likely to get away with charging too much for rent or not disclosing all of the problems with a place. Of course, not all landlords are like this, which is why I support off-campus housing, but I also support doing a lot of research on your new home.

First off, try to go with someone when looking round a potential apartment. Whether it’s your future roommate or just a friend you bribed to come along, having a second person makes you twice as likely to notice any problems (or good things!) or think of questions to ask.

If it’s possible, you should try to talk to someone other than the person trying to convince you to sign the lease. Ask if you can get the contact information of someone who’s living there now (if a current resident is trying to sublet to you, ask to talk to one of their roommates, if they have them.) If what this second person says matches up with what you were told while looking at the place, then it looks like you’ve found a great apartment.

Don’t underestimate the small things. Every question is important. What’s the best convenience store nearby? Does the heating work well or do the windows have poor insulation? How loud are the neighbors? Are the buses in the area good and on time? Are there a lot of bugs in the house?

College is really stressful, and everyone deserves a bed they can come back to at the end of the day and collapse into — a place that really feels like home. Living in a place where you feel uncomfortable can have an impact on mental health and productivity (two areas which most of us already struggle with, let’s be real) which makes this an important decision.

Whatever’s the right place for you, you owe it to yourself to put some effort into finding it.

Photograph courtesy of Ivoanzola at Pixabay

One of the great parts about living in the city of Philadelphia is the wide variety of food options that are available to students.

Last week, I ventured out of Drexel University’s main campus and into the other parts of the city to do some exploring and found this great Thai restaurant, where I rediscovered my love for Thai food. Though Philly is a city with manifold food offerings, Drexel itself could benefit from a few key additions to diversify its food scene.

A major type of restaurant that is missing from Drexel’s list of options is vegan. It’s no secret that there have been requests for more vegan options to be implemented, and there have been a few times when friends of mine who are vegan have told me that finding places to get food can sometimes be a bit tedious.

From my conversations with them, I’ve come to learn that The Fresh Grocer is one of the most reliable options for vegan food. However, this is to be expected and not recommended because The Fresh Grocer is a grocery store, not a restaurant or fast food establishment. It is good that The Fresh Grocer takes Dragon Dollars, but that is only somewhat of an added bonus.

A lot of restaurants within a reasonable distance of the main campus offer only some vegan options on their menus and I think that a full-on vegan restaurant, like HipCityVeg for example, would be a great addition. And it would probably get a lot of regular customers from both vegans and non-vegans. Personally, I am by no means a vegetarian or a vegan, but I enjoy having a vegan meal on occasion.

Staying within the same lane as veganism, more healthy options in general would be nice to have. The Handschumacher Dining Center and the Urban Eatery have both made improvements in their healthy options to meet the requests of students who have been asking for some more healthy options. This change was a good move on Drexel’s part, as it showed that the university does recognize the request of students for healthier food options.

Something that could be a major success if it were added to Drexel’s dining options would be a Panera Bread. The nearest one is across the Schuylkill River, and being that it is a very popular choice among a lot of people, I’m sure that it would get a lot of good business if it were to be added to the main campus. Cafes are very popular on Drexel’s campus with examples like Starbucks and Saxbys. Places such as these offer good food and a good place to study, so Panera Bread would fit in almost perfectly in both aspects.

I feel as though there needs to be an ice cream parlor somewhere on campus as well, because I haven’t found any good places where I can get good ice cream with dining dollars, dragon dollars or meal swipes. The best ice cream I have found so far is from an ice cream truck that appears at random times during the night across the street from the Northside Dining Terrace, but that costs cash, so it doesn’t really count.

Along with that, I also think that there needs to be more options for good seafood, especially sushi. Aside from the sushi inside the Northside Dining Terrace which is just average, there aren’t any places to get quality sushi with the Drexel meal plan, so a sushi bar of some sort would be very nice to see.

Overall, in terms of options, Drexel is doing a good job of making sure that its students are offered a variety of choices. There are of course additions that can be made, but that’s usually the case regardless of where you are. So, it wouldn’t be entirely fair to say that Drexel is not diverse with its dining options.

Hopefully, in the future we will start to see new food options get implemented into the meal plan, but these kinds of things do take time, so as students, we’ll just have to have patience.

Photograph courtesy of Howl Arts Collective at Flickr

The Take Back the Night Walk was an event hosted by Alpha Phi Omega in an attempt to help raise awareness about sexual assault and rape culture on college campuses.

There were around 50 people in attendance, and the event was very well-run. It was broken up into two main parts. The first part was an informative talk given by the speakers at the event, and the second part was the actual march.

A lot of the information provided at the event was very informative, and it really helped me to better understand the issue of sexual assault on college campuses and how much of an issue it is.

One statistic that the speakers brought up, was that out of every 1,000 alleged rapes, 994 perpetrators will walk free, 300 are reported to police, 57 lead to arrest, 11 cases are referred to prosecutors, 7 cases lead to felony conviction, and 6 rapists are incarcerated. This statistic comes from the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) website.

Something else that the speakers talked about that caught my attention is that rapists don’t have any distinct identity, and that they can be anybody. This really struck home with me because even though I know all my friends well, sometimes there’s no telling what a person will do in a certain situation even if I’ve known said person for years.

I think this also ties in with something else the speakers brought up, which is how seven out of 10 sexual assaults are committed by someone who knows the victim. This statistic comes from the RAINN website as well, and even though it did surprise me, I can understand how the statistic is accurate.

Prior to learning this information, I had always believed that most sexual assaults were committed by strangers because that was less scary than the reality. The fact that the majority of the perpetrators of sexual assault know the victims is very disturbing to me and it’s rather hard to accept.

One more thing that stuck with me from the speech, was that many men act as bystanders when it comes to the issue of sexual assault.

Personally, this was something that made me really reevaluate my own thoughts on sexual assault and just how much I was doing to help in the fight against it. I realized that I had never really done a whole lot to help end the issue of sexual assault and I attribute this to the fact that the media has trained me to view sexual assault as more of a woman’s issue, when in reality it is a men’s issue as well.

Sexual assault is a major problem in our society today and if it is ever going to come to an end, it will have to be fully addressed by both men and women alike.

The actual march itself was quite an inspiring and entirely new experience for me, as I’ve never been part of a march before.

I was skeptical before the march because I had always seen marches being covered by the news when they take place, and they’ve always looked chaotic and out of control.

So, I was not entirely eager about being in one. However, I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the demanding and yet peaceful atmosphere of the march. From the enthusiastic chanting to the empowering music, the mood that the march created was contagious.

Of course, there were police stationed at certain parts along the path of the march to ensure the smoothness of the event by keeping the flow of traffic under control. We marched from 33rd Street all the way to 40th Street, where we stopped inside the Free Library.

Once inside, myself along with all of the other people who took part in the march were given refreshments and the opportunity to write our names on a beautiful mural.

The event itself was an eye-opening experience for me, and I am still amazed by how much I enjoyed myself. My interest in getting involved in the fight to raise awareness about sexual assault has increased tremendously as a result of this experience.

I will most definitely be looking to take part in future events that are focused on raising awareness for sexual assault. This is a major issue and I hope that even bigger marches are organized in the future because I will certainly be in attendance.

Photograph courtesy of Jackie at Flickr

In summertime, the living is supposed to be easy — but not for Drexel students.

As a freshman, summer break does not begin until the middle of June, while many other universities begin theirs in May.

It is so difficult to watch other students finally be set free from their studies for the year while I am in the final weeks of classes, cramming for final exams and packing up everything I own to be ready to get out of my dorm.

But students don’t only experience this pain during freshman year — it happens every year. All are deprived of a regular summer break. After freshman year, every summer until graduation is either dominated by co-op or classes.

However, the heartbreaking feeling of watching all my friends have fun while I am stuck studying and working is not new to me.

I have been working every summer since I was 14 at a boardwalk near my hometown. I never spent my summer breaks doing much, so I decided to get a job to pass the time and make money.

Of course, after I made myself unavailable for most of my summer breaks, I started making more friends who would ask me to enjoy the summer with them. I became familiar with the feeling of watching others have all the fun while I’m laboring away when this began happening to me.

Although I am still suffering while watching all of my friends in other colleges start their summer breaks already, there is no use — I won’t have much of a summer break this year, anyway, because I never have.

However, it is not a bad thing. I am currently working at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on campus, which, at times, can be stressful because I also have to focus on school — but over the summer, I do not have to worry about that.

Also, it is an opportunity to make more money. Every year, I contemplate quitting my job at the boardwalk so I can finally have a summer break all to myself, but I can never bring myself to do it because it is a secure job that gives me a steady paycheck.

This is my last summer break before Drexel hits me with endless classes and co-op, so although I will be working, I have to enjoy it.

Of course, the fact that I work with incredible people at the boardwalk who are also some of my closest friends makes enjoying my summers much easier. We make the best out of our days spent stuck at work — they have shown me what true friendship and teamwork is.

So, while everyone enjoys their summer breaks, Drexel students will be here for a few more weeks, laboring away at final assignments.

Also, I will be working and serving those who want to enjoy their summer breaks, while I suppress the same urge myself.

Hard work certainly does pay off in better ways than a summer break.

Photograph courtesy of the Office of Institutional Advancement

On May 24, Drexel University will hold its second Day of Giving, an online social campaign where students, faculty, alumni and other friends of the university are encouraged to donate money to be utilized throughout university endeavors.

The campaign, referred to as 24 Hours of Impact, brings the university together through a day of fundraising, associate director of digital marketing, Andi Bricklin, said.

“We want to build a culture of philanthropy,” she said. “And we’re doing it in a fun and easy way.”

Donors can choose from over 80 areas to donate to, including the various schools within Drexel, several student organizations, athletics and other special projects like EAT Cafe, study abroad or the Dornsife Center, she said.

They can choose which area to specifically allocate funds to when donating on the website, Drexel.edu/24.

“You are not giving to an open, endless hole that is Drexel,” Bricklin said. “You’ll know the impact your donation makes.”

Bricklin explained that the theme this year is a Drexel secret that has yet to be found. It fixates on a metaphorical time capsule buried by A.J. Drexel himself 125 years ago. Those who choose to donate become code-breakers and can unlock the code to view a video montage of Drexel’s vision for the university, explicitly showing the growth of the university and how donations and partnerships have changed the vision of Drexel.

Though students are already expending large sums towards their tuition, giving is still greatly encouraged, Elizabeth Miller, the associate director of Drexel Fund, said.

“Their experience here on campus is not solely based on tuition funds,” she said.

Miller added, “Tuition doesn’t cover the full gap of education at Drexel. Much of the gap is made up by support from individuals, alumni and friends of Drexel. … Many of the things that we experience at Drexel are the direct result of philanthropy.”

Any amount of money is appreciated, and Miller explained how every gift counts, no matter how small.

“A lot of people have a perception that a $5 gift or $10 gift doesn’t go anywhere, or have an impact, but the truth is very much the opposite. When lots of people come together, bringing gifts of all sizes, there is a collective impact,” she said.

Though it is an online campaign, there will be events throughout campus May 24.

“We want to bring the fun and the excitement of the day to campus for our students, faculty and staff, in a way that’s tangible and gives them the opportunity to really think of the impact,” Bricklin said.

There will be an event in the main building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at which there will be large banners where students can sign their name and explain what aspect of the Drexel experience had the greatest impact on them. Students and faculty can also make a gift in person at the event, though anyone is welcome to join, whether they make a donation or not.

“We still want all of our students thinking about the impact of philanthropy, whether they chose to donate or not,” Miller said.

There will also be bonus “money” hidden throughout campus locations, so when donors find it, that money will be added to their donation. Clues will be released through the Drexel Alumni Twitter handle.

Additionally, there are various challenges to compete in. Colleges and organizations that have the most donors can win additional money. The challenges are based on donor type and not dollar amount to encourage participation, Bricklin said.

Representatives from the student philanthropy organization will also be handing out boxes with codes on them all over campus. Students can then take their codes to the Main Building to see if they have won any prizes.

To bring the student perspective into the event, the campaign has partnered with the Campus Activities Board and utilized graphics designed by Drexel graphic design students. WKDU, Drexel’s student-run radio station, will also be broadcasting the event live.

Last year, the 24 Hours of Giving campaign raised $713,514 from 2,887 supporters. This year, their goal is to have 1,250 donors in a single day. However, beyond the number goal, Bricklin and Miller agreed that the overall goal is to raise awareness about the importance of giving.

Miller said, “It’s important to consider the experiences and opportunities that wouldn’t be made possible if not for giving.”

“It’s just a day of Drexel pride and fun,” Bricklin added.

Photograph courtesy of Bao Dandan at Xinhua/Sipa USA/TNS

Another day, another way to save face for President Donald Trump. That’s how you could summarize the firing of former FBI Director James Comey May 9.

Comey, best known for his role in the Hillary Clinton email scandal and helping secure a Republican win in November’s election, was terminated after confirming in his testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that the FBI was further investigating any ties between the Russians and the Trump campaign.

So, yes, the same guy who destroyed Hillary’s future credibility as a president and pretty much handed Trump a victory in the election got fired simply for doing his job.

And not only has he gotten fired, but the Trump administration has done everything in their power to discredit Comey and make him untrustworthy in the public eye.

“I think also having a letter like the one that he [Trump] received, and having that conversation [with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein] that outlines the basic atrocities in circumventing the chain of command in the Department of Justice,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said May 10.

Even Trump has gone out of his way to discredit Comey, not only threatening Comey via Twitter, but also claiming that Comey was going to be fired after election day.

However, it seems apparent that Trump’s timing might show a hidden agenda. Comey was putting time, money and resources looking into Russia’s involvement into the election. After Comey was fired, Trump was quoted as saying, “I might even lengthen out the investigation.”

Although, based on the evidence that has already been presented, there isn’t really much to investigate.

We have a president with a long-time friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and multiple cabinet members, both past and present who have been well-known affiliates of Putin and/or the Russian government, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

As a result of Comey’s firing, there has been tremendous outrage amongst the American people.

For example, actress Patricia Arquette tweeted, “The firing of Comey is a very dangerous development for this republic. Make no mistake we are now living under a fascist regime.”

James Comey has been unjustly fired for looking into something he was supposed to look into. What is the proper reaction?

While I’m beyond elated Comey is gone since he committed numerous acts that supported the Trump campaign, and, as such, is one of the main reasons why we are in this mess in the first place, I am, at the same time, considering another perspective that seems to be lacking when discussing the issue: we should not care that Comey was fired to hide a secret.

I don’t care about Comey getting fired to protect a secret because this happens all of the time in politics. Not just now, in the Trump administration, but in every government in every society since the dawn of time. If you didn’t want someone to pursue a secret, and that someone was a person who had tremendous amounts of power, you would remove that power, either by firing the person, or even worse, killing the person.

For example, during Watergate, as more and more information was being revealed, President Richard Nixon’s staff would either resign or be fired left and right to throw off the media. Of course, it didn’t work seeing as Nixon was still caught and eventually resigned, but the fact remains that it has been going on for a very long time.

Now that Comey is fired, it is time to take action, however, as history has shown, it is not enough to stand in the streets and just yell repeatedly calling for action. If action is to be taken, it should be against Donald Trump.

Trump has committed a crime by firing Comey. Since Comey was removed for not ceasing investigations into both Russia’s involvement and Michael Flynn’s meetings with the Russian government, Trump has committed obstruction of justice, a punishable crime with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. In fact, obstruction of justice is also enough reason for impeachment.

Therefore, I invite you to contact Mr. Bob Goodlatte, not only a Republican member of the House of Representatives, but also the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which is where the impeachment process begins. In order to bring Trump down, we, the people, need to use the system and work with it in order to deal with the problem directly and get creative.

Trump may have won a battle by firing Comey, and has extended his presidency by another day, but if we find a way to work with the system, he is going to lose the war against a nation tired of lies.

Photograph courtesy of Homero Nunez Chapa at PublicDomainPictures

You start to age the moment you are born.

Everything fresh, new and efficient about your body gets older with every passing year. It’s a slow process, one we might not notice until we’re too old to do anything about it.

What’s interesting, however, is that our way of life is also changing at an even greater rate. Technological advancement has created the greatest difference to humankind. It has fundamentally warped the way in which people live and it continues to change.

I think it’s interesting to think of a time when cell phones didn’t exist, or at least weren’t in the majority. I remember a time where video games were simple. I remember when VHS was being overthrown by DVD and when daytime television was quality entertainment. I remember when the Internet was something to get on when you were bored instead of needing it for every aspect of your life.

It’s amazing how many things have changed. There are generations that grew up not knowing what any of this was. There are generations that came before this and saw these things develop into what my generation is familiar with. There are generations today that wouldn’t understand how life worked without these “necessities.”

Flash back to the 2000s, when music was at an all-time high and global warming was just a small threat. There were many summers when kids would come outside and play all day. They would play games like tag, jump rope, football, manhunt or even made-up games.

I never had a cell phone in my pocket in those days. Now that I think about it, my pockets were empty except some change I often carried to go to the store and buy snacks. If I wanted to make a call, I had to use the house phone.

Parents always wanted their kids to be safe, but cell phones weren’t a thing yet. The only people I knew that did have cell phones were adults and some kids with cool parents. It was more like a novelty for children to have instead of a necessity.

The world was different back then.

Now everyone has a cell phone; it’s almost considered weird if you don’t. It’s the main way to communicate with people. Cell phones are also not just for calling and texting either. As many features are packed onto smartphones nowadays, it’s almost like calling and texting is a secondary feature.

Video gaming was also a completely different culture. PC gaming has always been a big thing, but console gaming was also getting so much better. Console gaming changed forever when they made an entire online world for people to use to connect and play games together.

Before then, if you wanted to play games with people you had to have a lot of controllers and a lot of friends. Sometimes you needed a weird adapter that, of course, was sold separately.

Even still, video games —  as great as they were —  were not the best thing in the world. I prefered going outside more often and other activities. I played video games frequently, but it was most fun with others involved.

Today, video gaming has expanded and is not just something that children play. Adults have never been so involved in serious gaming until now. Playing online means you can run into anything from middle aged dads or prepubescent boys. Girls have also entered the playing field more heavily.  

VHS was truly an interesting experience. Some of my family home videos are on VHS. The VCR player we had often malfunctioned, but just like all other technology of the time, all you had to do was bang on it a couple times and it worked like new. I had movies on VHS, one being “Pokemon: The First Movie.”

Soon, the DVD came and washed it all away. Movies on DVD looked so much better and clearer. DVD players were the best, and those little portable players were probably the bread and butter of the day. VHS stood in the shadow of DVD’s.

Then of course, blu-ray had to come and top DVD.

Anybody remember Hollywood Video and Blockbuster? They were great if you wanted to rent movies and games. Today though, VHS and DVD’s are almost nothing. Blu-ray is still a nice option if you want your own copy of a movie.

Both of those companies no longer exist. If you want to watch movies, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have completely changed the game.

There was a time when people watched television every day. People would be ready to sit back and watch the newest episode of their show come on or watch the news in the morning and at night or even scroll through the movie channels to see what was on.

The world changed forever when DVR and On-Demand came to television. God forbid you missed an episode of your show on television, there was almost no way to catch it. You would have to scroll through the guide to see when it aired again. But with the new technology, you could just record television shows and even movies. Even better, shows would go On-Demand available to watch any time.

I remember days when I would scroll through the guide and complain that out of hundreds of channels, there was nothing on. Today, I hardly even watch TV.

Most people don’t watch regular television. They catch up at their leisure through streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.

Even the Internet, something that wasn’t mainstream back then, is now held in the palms of people’s hands whether young and old today. There used to be a computer class in elementary school to teach kids how to use them. We used the fat monitors and desktop computers for everything. Kids now navigate the Internet like it’s second nature.

I bet you $20 the average child won’t know what a floppy disk is.

Technology has warped the world by turning us into a society that solicits the idea of convenience. Things just keep getting easier and easier.

We always think back to a time when we were younger and say, “things were so simple back then,” and yet we didn’t even understand the simplicity of our time.

It was more than simple, it was life. If we were fine living that way, what was the point of changing? At least not at the rapid rate that things did. How good is life really now?

People are more antisocial than ever, and some people lack normal social skills. People are plump and lazy and don’t have to go far for entertainment. Some can’t even last a day without the Internet.

What would be so bad about returning to a time where we didn’t have to rely on these things so heavily? Back when outside and having a good time wasn’t about getting a picture to show off, it was about genuine fun.

Modern advancement has indeed been a great thing for this country. It is a privilege to have come so far, and yet it curses us too.

Photograph courtesy of Jay8085 at Flickr

If Drexel University truly supports diversity, then why is it that they only offer specific dance troupes their own practice space?

Despite the fact that five major South Asian dance teams have competed at significant competitions and have incredible accomplishments to prove their talent, they are still not considered significant enough to reserve the legitimate dance studios on campus or stages such as the Main Building auditorium.

Rather they are subjected to practicing in a cramped building hallway.

Every culture depicts their traditions differently. Indian culture is a festival for the eyes and the soul, manifested through customs, language, art, religion, values, holidays, food and especially, dance.

Dance is an expression of the soul, mind and emotions — a sequence of particularly selected movements to accompany various rhythms of music. It captures the facets of an entire culture and its history within a series of perfectly coordinated motions. ance is woven through history, religion and entertainment in Indian culture. It is an aspect of the culture that cannot be escaped, rather it has become a highly praised art.

With that being said, it must come as no surprise that Drexel University, having a very prominent South Asian population, has five South Asian dance teams: Drexel Jhalak, Fanaa, Bhangra, Dandiya and Broad Street Baadshahz. From bhangra to dandiya to bollywood to classical and even hints of western dance, these dance groups keep the Indian spirit and passion for dance alive within the Drexel community.

These teams have been committed to their craft for years, building these teams from the ground up and taking them to incredible levels. All the achievements of each individual team stems from hours and hours of practice and unyielding commitment to placing high at national competitions.

While valued greatly within the South Asian population, these teams seem to have been ignored and disregarded by the university.

Large, available practice spaces exist on campus yet Drexel does not care enough about these teams to make them available as dance practice spaces. When it comes down to creating an audition video or practicing, a tiny hallway will not suffice. These are real dance teams that need real dance studios. They are not provided with the necessary space or with mirrors to use for practice.

Drexel seems to place a major emphasis on performing arts, continuously highlighting its importance and value. Drexel’s Dance Program firstly does not include these five teams listed above and only consists of the dance ensembles.

The ensembles within the Performing Arts Program have two main dance studios on campus — 418 Main Dance Studio and the Ellen Forman Dance Studio — and the Mandell Theater is utilized for their performances. While the entire dance program encompasses a great deal of talent and has an incredible dance ensemble that holds the privilege of having their own studios, it should be noted that the major South Asian dance teams have zero studios. It should also be noted that the two studios for Drexel’s Dance Program are also off limits for these teams.

The history of each individual team proves that they have worked tirelessly to reach the position they are in now and the fact of the matter is that they are all amazing performers who consistently place at competitions around the nation. Yet, they are still dismissed by Drexel.

Ananya Kashyap, public relations manager of Drexel University Bhangra, said that competing and placing at these competitions brings Drexel a good name and heightens their status within the country as the circuit for these dance competitions are huge.

“The lack of practice spaces have been a hindrance for our performances at competitions and has shown major effects on the team overall. Drexel always says they have a lot of extracurricular opportunities but do not help us out with this which I find ironic,” she said.

Drexel has been accommodating to these teams by giving them no place to practice and perfect their routine in an adequate space.

“We have been kicked out of different practice spaces such as Bossone despite being respectful of the space for years and we now use hallways within the Main Building to practice,” she said.

Former captain of Drexel Fanaa, Chris Bijumon, knows first hand how difficult it can be to even find an empty hallway or building to practice in when the responsibility of scheduling practice spaces fell onto his shoulders. He recounts how having multiple dance spaces, such as the Main Building foyer and stage, the Nesbitt stage and the first and third floor of Bossone, soon disintegrated as places like Bossone became off limits.

This left a very small amount of space to practice for five very large teams. Losing valuable spaces and receiving nothing in exchange, all while knowing that there are dance studios available for the ensemble but not them is incredibly hard for the team to deal with. The number of spaces diminished but the teams remained the same.

“It was very stressful communicating with the other team captains to figure out when we could use each space. To make matters worse, the university locked all buildings after 9 p.m. and thus we were kicked out from these spaces after that time. If a studio was made available by Drexel, these issues would not exist,” he said.

These five teams are a representation of Drexel University’s Indian dance community. At competitions, they are the face of this university and even of Philadelphia. Each team wants to represent Drexel and Philly to the best of their abilities but they are unable to do so if their team has been hindered and let down by the very school they compete for.

These teams bring the element of dance to a university bustling with South Asian pride. They have allowed so many individuals to not only cultivate their passion for dance but also to teach others and create their own community. This is such an empowering thing for Drexel and it should be celebrated, not disregarded. These organizations/teams have worked incredibly hard to get to where they stand today.

Drexel should not fail them any further. They are a dance team, just as any other, and deserve dance studios to continue growing as a team. Drexel should want to see all their teams succeed and in order for that to happen, each team deserves equal opportunity.

Photograph courtesy of LouisBauer at Pixabay

Philadelphia has one of the highest injury and fatality rates from car crashes. According to an article on Wieand Law Firm website, the city was at the top of the list when it came to these kinds of crashes in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Being a longboard rider, getting around campus doesn’t take very much time for me. I can generally reach the Main Building from the freshman dorms in under five minutes if I take the fastest route. Such a fast form of transportation allows me to leave my dorm at a later time for class and get more exercise than I do when I walk to class.

However, Philadelphia is the first city that I have ever ridden my longboard regularly in, and I must say that it is quite stressful sometimes.

Like most longboard riders, I prefer to avoid riding on the sidewalk to avoid pedestrians. A lot of the sidewalks on Drexel’s campus are also quite bad for certain longboard wheels to be used on. The bumps and cracks make for a bit of a rough ride, and it’s easy to be thrown off your board if you aren’t paying attention, which is something that has happened to me many times.

As much as I try to stay away from the sidewalks, sometimes traffic on the road is just too heavy, so I have to resort to the sidewalk at certain times of the day.

When traffic gets really bad, the bike lane becomes my best friend whenever I ride my longboard somewhere, and although it isn’t on every street, it’s available most of the time.

While the bike lane is very helpful, it is of course not always safe to ride in. Some of the biker lanes in the city need to be redone. The white lines that indicate where the regular car lanes end and the biker lanes begin are sometimes faded and not very clear, which can on occasion cause accidents.

There have been several times where people driving cars have not even seen me in the biker lane, and have nearly hit me. You would think that this would be enough to make me go back to just walking, but for some reason I’ve had no desire to stop using my longboard.

There is this odd sense of excitement that I get whenever I go for a ride, and I think that this is something that only other people who ride longboards can understand. Some people would probably call me crazy for riding a longboard in streets that are as busy as Philadelphia’s, and I do recognize how dangerous it can be.

Danger has never really been a deterrent for me though, despite having suffered my share of injuries in the past. The thrill of the ride is what has always kept me going.

Photo Courtesy: Drexel Hyperloop

The 11th Philly Makers Meetup was held May 9 in the Quorum meeting space at the Science Center, exhibiting products from Drexel students and uniting inventors in the Philadelphia area.

According to the Philly Makers website, the purpose of the event was to help “makers” communicate and collaborate on their work.

“I’m really excited to be here,” Elisabeth Wagner, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering student, said.

Though the event was originally planned for February, it was cancelled due to weather conditions. This turned out to be advantageous for Wagner and her group of four other mechanical engineering students since they were able to accomplish significantly more work in the past three months, she said.

Wagner and her group have worked hard for their senior project since September to create MANTA, the Multipurpose Aquatic Navigator & Trash Annihilator,, a patent-pending, autonomous watercraft that collects trash from the water’s surface.

Though the team does not think they’ll continue working on MANTA beyond the senior project requirements, Wagner says the product has extreme potential.

“There are tons of applications you could add,” she said to an audience of about 75 people, adding that ocean floor mapping features could be integrated as well as water testing abilities or vegetation trimming.

Another group of Drexel students took advantage of the Meetup to discuss their product called the Ballistic Curtain Cordon System, a potential solution for school shootings they also designed for their senior project. The team consists of three mechanical engineering students and one electrical engineering student.

The four seniors spent the past several months crafting a bullet-proof curtain that will be installable into any existing building and upon activation, can be unrolled from the ceiling in the presence of an active shooter.

James Ostman, a mechanical engineering student and former military member, says he owes the idea to his wife and a conversation they had about school shootings in the car one day.

However, the team hopes to implement the curtain in other settings as well, such as concert venues, marathons, clubs and other places that could use added protection.

“As it stands now, it works as it is,” Ostman said. “I would stand behind it as it is.”

While the team awaits patent approval, they are focusing on pinpointing potential stakeholders and using opportunities such as the Makers Meetup to spread word about their product.

Another product that was showcased was the Hyperloop, a mode of transportation promoted by Elon Musk that travels at high speed through depressurized tubes.

Musk organized the Hyperloop project to help make the idea practical, originally attracting 1,750 groups. Drexel’s version of the new transportation method made it to the top 31.

Frederick Wachter, team manager, explained how the system mimics the fast-moving tubes found at a bank drive-through.

“It has the efficiency of an airplane running like a train through a tube,” he said.

Wachter was one of the original members of the group, throughout the frequent member fluctuation of the experience. At one point, it was up to 90 students, though today membership is in the twenties.

Tern Water, represented by Mo Zerban, also made an appearance at the event, speaking about the improved Smart Faucet system that goes beyond providing users with water purification. Offering information about the user’s home water system, the attachment indicates how efficiently the household is using its water, the longevity of the filter, and how much water is consumed daily.

“It will be the smartest water product on the market,” Zerban said.

MANTA, BCCS, Hyperloop and Tern Water came to the front, each briefly presenting their products after manning tables in a science-fair fashion for an hour and a half.

Other startups including AnneLondon, Buckbear Knives, Human Augmentation, Arrow Electronics, NextFab and 215 also had tables set up.

Following the presentations, there was a panel with a representative from each of the four speaking groups, moderated by Chuck Sacco, director of the Baiada Institute.

Sacco discussed marketability and the high expectations associated with inventing products, before pointing out how incredible it was watching the groups to “go from nothing to something in a short amount of time.”

The next Philly Makers Meetup will be held June 13 at 5 p.m. in the same space and will focus on how “Star Trek” has profoundly changed our culture and led to progressive technological developments.