The Center for Hospitality and Sport Management opened a special topic course this fall called “Fundamentals of Beer,” which covers the cultural aspects of beer and the process of beer making.

During the 10 weeks, students get to explore the history of beer, the beer and beverage industry, beer critiques as well as the symbolic role of beer in the society through myriad topics.

The class also offers hands-on experience for students to learn to brew, bottle and taste their own beer in one of the University’s test kitchens. Students and faculty meet on the sixth floor of the Paul Peck Problem Solving and Research Building, utilizing the bar and lounge area of the Academic Bistro.

Besides the classroom setting, students can have the opportunity to participate in some beer tasting events and visit local breweries and pubs — such as Yards Brewing Co., Earth Bread + Brewery, Nodding Head Brewery, and City Tap House — to acquire real-world understanding of beer crafting systems.

Another feature of the course is the final project, in which students will present individual research. All research will then be compiled into a take-home book.

“Fundamentals of Beer” was initiated by Lynn Hoffman, an adjunct professor in the Center for Hospitality and Sport Management.

“This is a history course, an anthropology course, a culinary course and a hands-on brewing course. It’s a discourse in the humanities and it’s a tour of Philadelphia,” Hoffman wrote in an email. “Our purpose was to create a civilized conversation about refined pleasures among cultivated friends. That the conversation concerns a seemingly ordinary product that much of the world underappreciates only contributes to the deliciousness of the whole thing.”

According to him, Philadelphia is probably the best place in the world to explore the world of beer due to the city’s wide variety of available beer selection.

He is also the founder of the culinary arts major at Drexel plus an author of six books and several hundred articles on food and drink. One of his books, called “Short Course in Beer: An Introduction to Tasting and Talking about the World’s Most Civilized Beverage,” is used as the main textbook for the course.

Hoffman shared that years ago he wrote “Short Course in Beer” to inform hospitality students about the complicated world of making and selling beer. As he was doing so, he started to realize the cultural aspects of beer, how it contributes to the agriculture, how beer production was the first industrialized area in the Middle Ages, and how it influences our society. Thus, he started this course, aiming to educate students about vocational beer making and about looking at beer from a historical perspective.

According to Hoffman, this course is beneficial not only for students who study hospitality but also for students who are not specialized in the area. He said beer is the fastest growing beverage segment in the U.S. Knowing about it is important for hospitality students to broaden their understanding.

“Although we seem to have forgotten it, beer is worth our attention because it can be delightful, but it’s also worth a moment’s thought because it’s been important in the daily lives of many people and cultures for centuries,” Hoffman wrote.Hoffman continued, “Pleasure is a vitamin for the spirit. In spite of what some mean-spirited people say, pleasure is a good thing. We have majors at Drexel’s hospitality and culinary arts [programs] that are devoted to pleasure. Many pleasures are expensive: beer is not. A properly educated palate can enjoy some of the best beer in the world for a fraction of the cost of passable wine.

“So beer is a chance for everyone to experience a sublimely crafted food: how could you not be passionate about that?”

Classes take place every Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. A lab fee of $125 is required for Drexel students and $495 for non-students — both of which must be over 21. The fee covers beer tastings, brewing materials, and the costs of field trips. The course is also open for public enrollment.

Joshua Jacobs, an assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, will join a $22.5 million, four-year research project titled “Restoring Active Memory,” in which he will explore the use of brain stimulation to help recover memories and cognitive abilities of people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The research is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and is affiliated with President Barack Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative.

Jacobs explained, “We are trying to make brain stimulators that people can use when they have poor memories or poor navigation abilities. You can implant these devices and they can help fix the patients’ brains by applying brain stimulation to bring them back to a normal level again.”

The study focuses on improving memory and spatial navigation abilities. Researchers are targeting a wide range of patients, but mainly people who have concussions and repeated brain injuries.

This large-scale project is a coordination between seven hospital sites: Thomas Jefferson University, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth University, Emory University, the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Washington. Jacobs is involved in the Thomas Jefferson University hospital site.

“My basic research program is on understanding the human brain’s memories and navigation,” Jacobs said. “And what I’m excited about is that this is an opportunity to directly help people by taking my research out of laboratory and also potentially into people’s lives. People suffer all the time from memory deficits, and they get disoriented when they try to navigate. I think what’s really exciting is that I can help people directly.”

Restoring Active Memory consists of two main components: clinical research and device development.

The clinical research phase, in which Jacobs is mostly involved, uses standard clinical recording and stimulation devices to record brain signals in real time as the patients perform different memory and cognitive tasks. Stimulations will be applied to different parts of the brain with typical types of electrical current, frequencies, amplitudes and spatial characteristics of brain regions.

“We looked at the performances when the stimulation is turned on compared to when the stimulation is turned off,” Jacobs said.

The basic recordings are obtained from patients who experience epilepsy.

“If the patient suffers from heavy epilepsy, they’ll have electrodes implanted in their brains to map their seizures. Most people who have epilepsy don’t have this, but in a severe case, these electrodes are implanted in their brains directly,” Jacobs explained.

He continued, “Once we have that, we’ll then use that information to try developing different actual devices.”

The second component, of which Jacobs is also a part, will center on developing the tangible device. The process will take place in collaboration with Metronics, a medical device manufacturer.

“There are several different kinds of memory tasks that we’re trying to improve in these patients. The three areas are episodic memory, which is memory for ‘What I did this morning, where I left my key this morning’; associate memory, which is memory for linking things together; and the third one is spatial memory. My focus is on the spatial memory component,” Jacobs said.

Patients who have electrodes in their brains are asked to play a virtual navigation video game. During the navigation task, the researchers try to understand what kind of stimulation can improve spatial memory. Such information will be used to help design the implanted device.

The proposal for the project was submitted in January and while the DARPA grant officially starts the week of July 21, the team has been working for the last two months.

Since the cynosure of the project is the human brain, muchcautiousness has been taken into consideration.

“We are very focused on ensuring patients’ safety,” Jacobs said. “We have a very regular protocol to make sure that whatever brain stimulation procedures we follow in the hospital, as well as with the implanted device, are safe.”

“We have a medical adviser team, and we have the institutional review board approval,” he continued. “So we’re very careful about patients’ safety. That’s a challenge and we have a pretty good plan for it.”

“The other challenge is that the human brain is a very complicated system, and our understanding of the human brain is [restricted]. We have preliminary data, but there’s a reason that this kind of device hasn’t been developed yet, which is that the brain is a challenging thing to record from and to manipulate,” he explained.

According to Jacobs, a distinguishing characteristic of this project is that it is a translational research; “The reason why DARPA was very interested in funding us is that we not only understand the brain, but to make a device also.”

“For a long time I thought my research would help people, but help people in years from now, in decades from now, and now it’s a chance to help people in just four years. And that’s really exciting,” Jacobs said.

According to Jacobs, everything about this type of project is useful because it will open doors to further understanding of the human brain.

“The more fundamental understanding we have on how the brain operates, [the more it] will help everybody move forward on new treatment for disorders, drugs, all kinds of things like that,” he said.

The post Study explores brain injury recovery appeared first on The Triangle.

The Drexel community mourned the loss of Jean-Claude Bradley, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry, whose death was announced May 14. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.

Photo Credit: Drexel University

Bradley joined the University as an assistant professor in 1996 and has contributed to the University in various educational projects and in assisting students to succeed academically.

Ira Taffer, the interim head of the Department of Chemistry, said, “He was very good with students and with helping students. He’d given a lot of time to help students. He thought that everyone deserves a second chance. He gave a lot of time and effort to helping them to success.”

“Dr. Bradley was always available and never hesitated to join me at the lab bench to provide guidance and input. He cared deeply for advancing scientific knowledge in the world of chemistry in a manner that was meaningful and significant,” Matthew McBride, a senior chemistry major who had been his student since 2011, wrote in an email.

McBride continued, “I am grateful to my mentors for helping me to mature as a scientist. I am grateful to Dr. Bradley for providing me the opportunity to get started in research and to present at various conferences. He helped me gain a broader understanding of ways to disseminate findings to the scientific community.”

One of Bradley’s most well-known projects is the Open Notebook Science, a phrase which he coined for the practice of publishing the entire primary record of a research project publicly online in order to reduce financial and computational restraints, as well as to permit public access to that raw data. The research will be published on a wiki called UsefulChem, which Bradley established in 2005.

McBride had worked with Bradley on several projects, including utilizing Open Notebook Science and participating in the Champions of Change event at the White House to promote open science.

“Fall quarter of my first year at Drexel, Dr. Bradley taught my UNIV 101 class. After one of the lectures, I asked him about getting involved with research. I was interested in gaining lab experience and training on the use of instrumentation, particularly in the area of organic chemistry. A day or two later I came by his office to talk more about research with him, and I was conducting my first experiment 15 minutes later,” he wrote.

“He was very reflective. He believed in a kind of reporting of science that most people have not done; he believed in what’s called the open notebook science,” Taffer said.

McBride added, “He believed in teaching students through hands-on experience and felt strongly that scientific data was only useful if it survived past the bounds of a lab notebook and was available to the entire scientific community.”

According to Taffer, Bradley was very concerned with providing scientific researchers with precise information.

“He was very passionate that the literature should be correct. When we publish things, for example, he was very big on melting points of compounds. If you go into the literature and look, sometimes there are multiple numbers associating with the same compound, which shouldn’t be, and he was very passionate about figuring out what’s the right answer and the literature should be correct,” Taffer said.

In June 2013, the ONS had granted him an invitation to the White House for an open science poster session.

In 2004, Bradley served as the e-learning coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences. His role was to lead the University’s strategy to buy a virtual island in “Second Life” to assist students and faculty in exploring new teaching and learning methods.

“He had a great passion for using online tools to teach, and he thought it was a great value in that, and he worked very hard on how to do testing that could easily be done,” Taffer said. “He put a lot of thought and effort into online education and the value of it. He [was] very progressive in that way.”

“Dr. Bradley served as a mentor to me, and I will forever remember him as someone who has helped shape my thinking about scientific research,” McBride wrote.

An open memorial is being planned, tentatively, at the end of this spring quarter for anyone to come and pay respect to Bradley.

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World Press Photo, the largest and most prestigious annual international press photography contest, made its debut in the United States April 30 at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. The exhibition showcased 143 prize-winning press photos that capture the most critical issues around the world.

Despite the inclement weather, the debut ceremony still went on with the presence of the University’s faculty and students, World Press Photo representatives, and other attendees in the area.

The exhibition project manager, Anne Schaepman from the Netherlands, spoke at the ceremony. “World Press Photo is [a] foundation that assists to inspire understanding of the world through top-quality photojournalism,” she said.

Schaepman continued, “We are the biggest international contest for photojournalism, and this year we got about 100,000 pictures being sent in for the contest. I think it was almost about 6,000 photographers from over 120 countries.”

Categories in the contest included general news, sports action, sports feature, contemporary issues, daily life, observed portraits, staged portraits, and nature. Subcategories in each classification included singles and stories. Awards went to the top three entries in each subcategory. American photographer John Stanmeyer won the contest’s highest award, World Press Photo of the Year, for his photo of African migrants attempting to pick up a cell phone signal under a moonlit sky on the shore of Djibouti.

Gary Knight, a professional photographer who served as chair of the 2014 World Press Photo jury, said, “This show isn’t only the most international because you have a large number of photographers from over 120 countries entering; it’s truly international because of the make-up of the jury. And to understand the choices that we made, … I think you need to understand how the jury was made up and why.”

Knight said that the jury was fairly gender equal, as it was comprised of people who represent every continent and many genres of photography. One role of this diverse jury was to reflect what the press does in photojournalism besides the hard news. The jury’s responsibility is not to set hierarchy of issues around the world nor to editorialize what the most important message to send out is.

“What we wanted to do is to allow photographers to do that. We wanted to determine which photographers had represented the issues or the stories that they have tackled in the most intelligent, thoughtful, sometimes provocative and useful way,” Knight said.

He continued, “We really sought to reward photography that challenges these stereotypes and demanded from us, the audience, that we engage with the people who have photographed these issues.”

The exhibition idea was first initiated by Karen Curry, the executive director of the Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies.

Chang Qu, a senior finance major, said, “I think [the exhibition] is very impressive. I also think it’s shocking to me.”

Qu emphasized that the photographs help remind the audience of a lot of issues that they are not always aware of such as wars or domestic abuse. “That makes people haunted and want to know what is behind the pictures,” Ou said.

Curry said, “I know a lot of photojournalists who are very interested in photojournalism and in journalism. And I’ve known Gary Knight for many years. So when I discovered that he was the chairman of the jury this year, I thought ‘Well, that’s great.’”

One photograph that drew much attention throughout the debut was the second-prize singles winner in spot news, an image of the Boston Marathon bombing by American photographer John Tlumacki.

Photo Credit: Cathy White

The haunting photo captured the helpers and injured victims seconds after the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line. There was chaos, confusion, blood, people crawling, fences collapsing and glass breaking. At the moment, Tlumacki was only 35 feet away from where the bomb detonated.

“It’s an emotional moment for me in my life to look at that photograph and to realize that I wasn’t injured, but I think of the victims, I think of the survivors when I look at that photograph. This award is not for me; it’s for all the people who were affected by the bomb,” he said.

He continued, “The memory of what they went through will be realized when people look, years from now, at the photograph and they can think of the horror that they went through in Boston.”

The incident, however, symbolizes the strength of the Boston Marathon’s survivors, according to Tlumacki.

“Not one person who was injured in the marathon died at that scene. It’s just an amazing story that keeps continuing to be told, and hopefully the photographs that I took, people can look back and say what an incredible recovery these people have,” he said. “It was probably the darkest moment in Boston’s history, but it also held Boston together.”

Tatiana Millou, a sophomore photography major, expressed excitement after talking with Tlumacki, “[As students,] you’re trying to find your basis, and here we are with a bunch of people who have already found it, and they really know their identities and where they put themselves in photography.”

She continued, “And then we get to meet people like [Tlumacki]. This is like a huge deal.”

Tlumacki gave some pieces of advice to the following generation of photographers. Knowing the equipment and getting a camera that one can feel comfortable with are of utmost importance. He also encouraged students to look at the work of other photographers whom they admire, not to copy but mainly to pick up the style that represents them.

“Keep shooting, don’t be afraid, and have other people look at your photos too,” he said.

Having compassion is another quality. “Be human beings first before the photographers. They should be emotional. When you do something, you just be the friend to the person you want to photograph. Have them know you as well as you’re [going to] be able to know them,” he said.

“I love that it’s [in the United States], especially at Drexel, so that students get to be involved and see how amazing this worldwide work is It’s like an honor,” Molly O’Neill, a sophomore photography major, said.

Another sophomore photography major, Colleen Reasoner, shared similar sentiments.

“What I like about this event is the ability to see other photographers around the world at our school,” she said. “It’s also eye-opening to meet other photographers and teachers and professors. That’s what makes it personal and exciting.”

The 2014 World Press Photo Contest held its first exhibition in Amsterdam and will visit many countries until December of this year.

The event was part of the 2014 Great Works Symposium, co-hosted by the Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute and The Good Idea Fund. The 2014 World Press Photo exhibition at Drexel University will be on display from April 30 to May 21. The gallery is free and open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Drexel University has been ranked 57th in the 2014 National Top 100 list of the United States Environmental Protection Agency for being one of the largest organizations that uses green power within the Green Power Partnership.

According to the EPA website, Drexel has consumed 96,678,000 kilowatt hours of green power annually, using 100 percent wind and solar power resources.  Also in 2014, Drexel was ranked 9thon the EPA’s Top 30 College and University list of academic institutions that use renewable energy resources, and was recognized among 332 most environmentally responsible colleges in the U.S. and Canada by the Princeton Review, April 17. Moreover, the University also stood at 7th place in the 2012-13 College & University Green Power Challenge, which tracks the green power use of colleges and universities across the nation both individually and by athletic conference.

“It’s a combination of all of our sustainable programs so part of it is community outreach,” Vice President of University Facilities Robert Francis said in response to the achievements.

According to Francis, procurement policy, community engagement and academic curriculum are the three main legs upon which Drexel’s environmental programs stand.

PHoto Credit: Ajon Brodie

The most essential project that contributes to the rank, however, is that the University has been purchasing renewable energy certificates from Community Energy, a business that provides clean, renewable, emission-free energy that is eco-friendly and will never be depleted. Until recently, a majority of the electrical consumption of the University relied on wind power with a mix of solar power. Drexel was one of the first universities to purchase wind generated energy in 2002.

The idea of adopting renewable energy by entering into a contract with PECO Wind was first initiated by President Constantine Papadakis in 2006.

Senior Associate Vice President Joseph Campbell said, “It was during the orientation program where he announced that we were going to have some of our electricity from wind power. From that point on, we just have steadily increased our utilization of wind power.”

In 2006, wind power energy accounted for 30 percent of the total electricity consumption of Drexel University. At the end of 2010 and early 2011, 100 percent of energy was run by wind power offset. In 2013, the University took the opportunity to purchase solar power credits from the Keystone Solar Project in Lancaster, Pa., as an addition to its green power resources.

Drexel also focuses on the prospect of sustainability. Francis said, “We keep track of energy consumption [and] benchmark ourselves against similar campuses. For every 10 units of energy that other people consume, we consume six. So our energy consumption is only a little bit over half of the grades of our competitors.

“I would say that the most important thing that we do is that we’re conservative.”

The RECs are also dedicated to accomplishing the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment that deals with reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. According to Francis, the University was able to achieve the 40-year goal of the commitment immediately by buying the renewable credits. Eighty percent of the University’s carbon footprint has been reduced.

Most buildings on Drexel’s University City campus are equipped with particular sustainable systems, such as the biowall in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building; the green roof, solar shading and daylight sensors in Gerri C. LeBow Hall; and the glass facade, storm water management system and roof light scoops in the Drexel Recreation Center. Also, more than 65 percent of the construction waste from the renovation project in the URBN Center was recycled.

In order to maintain and improve the environmental projects in the future, Francis emphasized adhering to the sustainability principles, specifically by setting examples through teaching and research.

“What we can do in our project is always to be at the forefront and economic way for providing these features like green roofs and bio filter walls and storm water retention features. We’ll always do that sort of thing,” he said.

On the other hand, Campbell highlighted the role of community engagement.

“The whole idea of Drexel Green is to integrate green principles and values into the Drexel community. So there’s what I call the ‘systematic operational’ part of it, but there’s also individual engagement, and the way the two interplay is that we can do all we want with energy efficiency and systems. But if you don’t turn the light off when you leave, if you don’t put energy saving stuffs on your computer, if you’re not individually engaged, then it doesn’t help,” Campbell said.

Campbell continued, “I think the way we continue to improve is, number one is to continue to promote the individual engagement because we know we’re good when the individuals are engaged. Number two is that we continue to look at the energy efficiency projects.”

One way that Campbell suggested students become engaged is to create a position, namely an “eco-rep” in every residence hall to become a liaison and promoter of green projects.

Current sustainable programs include RecycleMania, the Drexel Green website, the Drexel Smart House, lecture series and symposium about environmental issues, and individual academic courses built around sustainability. These projects were initiated and implemented by the Drexel Green initiative.

“Drexel Green is an initiative that has an operation component and an academic component, and it is really University-wide. The sustainability council is sort of a loose committee. Faculty, staff and students who are interested in these issues get together on a monthly basis to talk about what’s going on with sustainability on campus,” Irene Tsikitas Lin, the director of communications in the office of the senior vice president, said.

Drexel Green’s areas of concentration include efficiency, recycling, reducing waste, re-using materials, and education. Specific projects encompass the hydration stations, farmers market, community garden, the biowall, bike share, car share and electric vehicles, to name a few.

“Drexel University President John A. Fry signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment…” January 12, 2011

http://www.drexel.edu/now/news-media/releases/archive/2011/January/Drexel-Joins-American-College-and-University-Climate-Commitment/#sthash.MZV6XBOv.dpuf

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Photo Credit: USGA

The Undergraduate Student Government Association has opened applications for elections for the 2014-15 academic year. All current full-time undergraduate students are eligible to apply and vote in the election.

Drexel USGA is comprised of a team of diverse students who connect the student body and Drexel’s faculty, professional staff and administrative departments. The organization serves as a representative that listens to students’ concerns, comes up with solutions, talks to authorities, and tries to make those initiatives come to fruition.

The USGA announced the 2014 election April 2 at 6 p.m. in the Drexel Recreation Center. On April 17, the application packet was released on the USGA Facebook page, including required forms and detailed guidelines.

Kyle Norman, an entertainment and arts management senior and the current media and marketing manager of USGA, encouraged students to apply.

“It is a great opportunity to lead, great opportunity to learn about your school, and great opportunity to make a difference that really matters to the students,” he said.

Taylor Collins, a health sciences junior and the vice president who has been with USGA for two years, wrote in an email, “The best part of being on USGA is the connections you are able to make with administration and faculty counterparts that really care about the students of the University and are 100 percent willing to help you accomplish your goals.”

Collins continued, “Being an integral part of USGA has not only taught me so much about the University itself but also about the students who go here. I love hearing students’ ideas and opinions and getting such a diverse perspective on Drexel.”

To be considered as a potential USGA officer, applicants need to fulfill up to nine requirements, including an application demographic form, an election speech, a nomination form, a digital photo, a recommendation form, information session attendance, confirmation of academic eligibility, and an interview. Treasurer candidates must also have six months of leadership experience. All applicants are responsible for raising awareness on campus for their own campaigns.

Collins explained, “A USGA officer must be a self-starter. Each representative is their own leader, and although we have an executive assembly to lead discussions and oversee progress, we are working on our own initiatives as well.”

Collins continued, “Most importantly, a USGA officer needs to be dedicated. We are a working team, and every single member needs to show the same dedication regardless of their position. Being part of student government is time-consuming, but the time definitely pays off with the rewards and changes you can see in return.”

Similarly, Norman said, “[We want] someone who is hardworking, self-motivated and really cares about Drexel and wants to see it be the best as it can be.”

The positions available on USGA are classified in four assemblies: Executive Assembly, which consists of the president and vice president; Engagement and Operation Assembly; Student Life Assembly; and Academic Affairs Assembly.

Elections will be divided into two phases from May 9 until June 5. The first election is for EA and EOA positions, allowing the second election for other positions, which are SLA and AAA. Interviews will take place weeks 8 and 9, and there will be an acceptance dinner week 10 of the spring term.

According to Collins, there have been slight adjustments in the election process this year so as to look specifically for students who are interested in running for a student government position. All other representatives besides the EA and EOA, with the exception of treasurer, are required not only to submit the application form entirely and attend one info session but also have an interview with the outgoing USGA board and/or the incoming EOA. The last remaining candidates will then go through the second round of elections, where the entire student body will select the best fits.

Norman mentioned that there had been low voter turnout in years past. Conventionally, students can only vote on DragonLink by logging into DrexelOne. This year, however, the USGA board is trying to make the process more accessible.

Throughout the years, the USGA has made significant improvements on campus.

Collins wrote, “My advice to every representative who is elected is to take advantage of that opportunity! Come up with ideas, speak to students about what they would like to see, and then take the initiative to meet with someone higher up who could actually help get the project moving.”

According to Collins, one of the most remarkable projects that remains relevant today is the creation of the Student Recreation Center, which began in 2006 and was opened in February 2010.

More recently, the USGA has managed to complete some other projects, including creating a second commuter lounge, adjusting the Drexel Shuttle route times and dropoff locations at The Fresh Grocer and Trader Joe’s, installing phone chargers in buildings around campus, allowing new student organizations to apply and receive recognition year-round, working with the College of Arts and Sciences to have the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building open 24/7 during finals week, and facilitating the new Academic Center for Engineers.

“One of the biggest initiatives our president, Mahmoud Shurbaji, put in full swing this year was a proposal for a new Student Union Center, which is an initiative that will have to be continued for the next executive assembly,” Collins continued.

Despite their achievements, however, the organization is facing some issues. Collins is concerned about the apparent disconnect between the student government and the student body.

“It’s been evident that students don’t feel the need to come to us with issues or concerns they have for the University, when in reality, that is what your student government is here for,” she wrote. “We always appreciate the students who do reach out to us with realistic changes or movements that they would like to see move forward because it gives us one more project to work on, and our job is to make administration aware that these particular issues are important to the students of Drexel.”

To learn more about the USGA and its elections, visit facebook.com/DrexelUSGA.

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The Campus Activities Board announced April 3 in person and via social media that Spring Jam 2014 will feature Krewella, Logic and Radical Something. The event will be part of Karmaloop and eMuze’s Verge Campus Tour 2014.

Photo credit: DJoyBeat.com

Krewella will headline the show and Logic and Radical Something will perform as openers. Spring Jam 2014 will take place in Lot F at 31st and Ludlow streets May 10. This is the same venue as last year’s, making it the fourth Spring Jam to be held outdoors. The concert will start at 6 p.m. and end at 10 p.m. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.

The announcement took place in front of the Mario statue at noon. Students learned about Spring Jam 2014, took a shot at spinning a prize wheel and won CAB-branded merchandise, which included draw-string bags, sunglasses, lanyards and pens. Students were also offered free cupcakes and the opportunity to purchase tickets in advance.

Snehal Yarlagadda, a sophomore marketing major present at the announcement, voiced her excitement. “I was really happy about Krewella,” she said. “They are like a [disc jockey] group, [and] I like [electronic dance music].”

Nevertheless, Yarlagadda expressed her concern: “I wish they had hard-copy selling tickets, as opposed to buying it online.”

According to Spring Jam’s main website, “Spring Jam 2014 has something for every taste of music, kicking the evening off with laid-back alternative and heart pumping rap from openers Radical Something and Logic finishing in a rave and light show from one of the country’s hottest growing EDM groups, Krewella.”

Not even half a day after the artists’ announcement, CAB received nearly 30 votes for the opinion poll on its website. The poll asks “Are you excited for Spring Jam 2014 ft. KREWELLA?” and 72 percent voted  “YES!!! CAB ROCKS!”

Krewella, mostly known for the hit “Live for the Night,” is an electronic dance music trio band from Chicago. Their musical style draws influence from electro house and dubstep. Krewella’s most recent album, “Get Wet,” released in 2013, topped the U.S. Billboard dance-electronic albums music chart.

One of the openers, Logic, is a 24-year-old American rapper who has released four official mixtapes. His video “All I Do” successfully hit over 1 million views on YouTube. In 2012, Billboard declared him the Next Big Sound, referring to him as the fastest accelerating artist to gain fans from the Internet.

Radical Something is a trio that dabbles in many genres, including alternative, hip-hop, reggae and pop. The band has been reviewed as “blend[ing] hip-hop and rock with a decidedly Californian vibe,” according to Billboard.com.

Spring Jam 2014 is a collaboration between CAB and the Verge Campus Tour 2014. Verge Campus is a national music tour that takes place annually across various college campuses in the United States. The Verge Campus Tour is a confluence of concerts featuring diverse music styles in multiple genres, aiming to create new and invigorating college experiences on campus. Krewella, Radical Something and Logic will journey across colleges throughout the East Coast states and end up at Drexel University.

Yarlagadda held expectations toward the concert this year. “It’s going to be pretty epic. I think it’s going to be crazy. I think a lot of people are going to be there for Krewella because it’s six dollars to see Krewella when their tickets are usually 46 to 50 dollars,” she said. About the inclement weather, she said, “[Last year, it] was raining. Hopefully it doesn’t rain this time.”

Previous Spring Jams have featured OK Go, Super Mash Bros., Cheers Elephant, The Wonder Years, Man Man, LA Riots in 2012, and B.o.B. and Major Lazer in 2011.

Tickets are now available online at dusj.ticketleap.com/2014 at $5.00 for Drexel students and $10.00 for guests. Students are permitted to purchase tickets for two guests per Drexel ID.

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Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences held its 14th annual Research Days Feb. 17 and 18 in Behrakis Grand Hall. This year, the event was extended to two days for oral presentations and poster exhibitions, with an interesting “Raft Debate” being held for the first time.

Photo credit: Ajon Brodie

CoAS Research Days welcomed about 125 students as participants who presented their research and about 70 faculty judges from different departments in the college. The research topics ranged from mathematics, chemistry and physics to psychology, communication, history, political science and more.

“Research Day in the College of Arts and Sciences has been a growing and important component of celebrating the success of our students,” Dean Donna Murasko of CoAS said.“The addition this year of the raft debate added the dimension of making everyone feel like they’re at a community event. So while we [are] celebrating research, we celebrate the college as a community.”

The first day of the event was dedicated to oral presentations. Eighteen out of 35 applicants had been chosen by a jury for a presentation slot, which allowed them 15 minutes to speak about their projects in front of the judges and the audience. On the second day, participants exhibited their research posters. Posters and presentations were each prized in four categories: natural sciences — undergraduate, natural sciences — graduate, humanities/social sciences — undergraduate, and humanities/social sciences — graduate.

Lloyd Ackert, an associate teaching professor of history and the chair of this year’s CoAS Research Days, said, “I’m always impressed and quite startled sometimes even by how in-depth some of the work is and how accomplished it is…I think it is really fascinating. And I think it is really fascinating.”

According to Ackert, CoAS Research Days is an opportunity for students to share their ongoing, preliminary or completed research and present it in a short and concise format.

“[Research Days are] a really good help for the future,” Alison Novak, a doctoral candidate in communication, culture and media, as well as the first-prize winner of the humanities/social sciences — graduate category, said. “It is a good chance to talk about your research before you have to talk to somebody who is outside the University, so you get a lot of feedback. I’m going to have to defend my dissertation coming up, so I get some ideas of where the questions might be coming from.”

Victoria Baccini, a biological sciences pre-junior and first-place winner in the presentation category for natural sciences — undergraduate, provided similar sentiments: “It’s just been a really incredible experience. I’ve learned so much about being able to communicate my research to a wide audience, not just the people in the sciences.”

Baccini continued, “I want to get my [doctorate] in genetics so my goal is to do this a lot. So this was like the first step and a big step because I’ve never done anything like this before. So this definitely gave me the confidence to continue to do what I do.”

“The CoAS Raft Debate: A Disciplinary Battle To Save Humanity” was held the second day. The idea was proposed by Associate Dean for Humanities and Social Science Research, Kelly Joyce, after she attended a similar event at Saint Mary’s College. The debate was intellectual, thought-provoking and humorous. Nine professors representing nine different disciplines are hypothetically stranded on an island. The challenge was for each professor to provide a three-minute persuasive speech arguing why his or her field was most deserving of escape on the single-person life raft, the occupant of which would ultimately return to the mainland and save humanity. Professors also had an opportunity to give a one-minute speech to reinforce their argument afterward. The winner was determined by audience applause.

Each professor had his or her distinctive way of arguing: by making counterarguments against other disciplines, using classic quotes, or emphasizing the highlights of their fields. In the end, the psychology and biology professors were the winners.

“If you leave biology on this island, none of you will ever get to explore human anatomy. Think about it for a second,” Daniel Marenda, a biology professor representing his department, said.

Karol Osipowicz, the professor representing psychology, argued, “Everything that we think can be changed by changing the way we think. And all of the stuff that has been said before, it all revolves around thinking. That’s the true human discipline. Figuring out what we think, how we think, why we think, that’s psychology and that’s the purest thing we can do. And yes, I know we have a philosopher in the room so he’s going to tell me that thinking is philosophy. Well, thinking of thinking is philosophy; studying thinking is psychology.”

After the debate, Osipowicz said, “I think what students could get out of this debate is that scientists aren’t as boring as they seem.”

Devon Powers, the professor representing culture and communication, who converted her argument into a song based on the melody of “I Will Survive,” said, “It was really fun. It was interesting to see how every discipline sees itself as the center of what we study, so I was really happy to be part of it.”

Powers continued, “I think it’s really good for the whole College of Arts and Sciences community to come together, because we don’t do that often, and really celebrate that kinds of things that we all do in a really fun way. … It’s good for people to see what disciplines like communication do and see the faculty and just sort of get a sense of our personalities.”

At the end of Research Days, there was a reception and awards ceremony for participants. Murasko said, “I am just so impressed and proud of all of you and just so happy to say that you are all students within the College of Arts and Sciences.”

CoAS Research Days not only served to benefit students, but also faculty who were involved. “The faculty who came learned about students outside their departments, and it’s so good to [be] judged by both someone in the discipline and someone way out of the discipline. And that’s to make students be able to explain their work to a wide range of people, but also to let our faculty know what’s going on across the college in terms of research. So it’s learning for the students in communication, presentation ideas, but it’s also giving faculty a larger view of everything that’s going on in the college,” Murasko said.

Murasko mentioned CoAS’ efforts to increase the importance of research continually. She also emphasized the spirit of community, which she finds difficult due to the wide range of disciplines within the college.

“The event was originally designed as a way to prepare students for University Research Day. That was the initial idea,” Ackert said.

The concept has evolved, developed and been refined throughout the years. From simply being a preparation for the University’s competition, CoAS Research Days has matured to become a celebratory event for the college to come together.

Looking to the future, Murasko highlighted holding community building events like the “Raft Debate,” and possibly expanding the oral presentation section.

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This winter term, Drexel University established the Application Development Laboratory with generous support from Bentley Systems Inc. The APP Lab will be a dedicated space for students across all majors to collaborate on creating mobile applications.

The APP Lab, located in the Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies Center at 3401 Market St., is a collaboration between the ExCITe Center, the Pennoni Honors College and Bentley Systems, who have mutual interest in enabling students to pursue a path in app development and witness the future of software development in regard to mobile apps.

Source: Danish Dhamani

Youngmoo Kim, director of the ExCITe Center and an associate professor in the College of Engineering, is in charge of administering the APP Lab.

According to the Jan. 7 DrexelNow press release, the APP Lab’s mission aligns with the Pennoni Honors College’s, which is to offer educational opportunities that go beyond the classroom and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among its students.

Kim emphasized that unlike providing a service that creates an app for a customer, this is for students who are interested in the discipline. The APP Lab provides tutorials, consulting, workshops and a community space for students who think alike to gather, collaborate and learn from each other.

Kyle Levin, an electrical engineering sophomore who has previous experience in application development, is spending his co-op working in the APP Lab. Levin’s tasks are to make educational resources and work as a peer tutor. He also encourages students to come and use him as a resource.

“Our goal is to take anybody who has an idea but not knowledge and give them that knowledge. So if you have an idea for an app, even if you have never programmed before in your life, you’re not an engineering student, you don’t know how any coding works, you can come and we can [point] you in the right directions, give you some one-on-one help if you need it,” Levin said.

According to Kim, the lab targets different levels of users with suitable assistance tools. For students who have no prior developing or programming experience, a series of screencasts and online tutorials have been made available to provide an introduction to app development. In addition, the APP Lab provides consulting hours with peer tutors for students to get hands-on experience and seek help.

“We’re not trying to teach you everything; we’re just trying to teach you some basics so you can get going with something early on,” Kim said.

Matthew Prockup, a doctoral candidate for electrical engineering and the APP Lab manager, shared some of his struggles in creating an application in his junior year of college.

“I learned mostly through painstakingly crawling the Web for simple tutorials or looking through [online] help documents,” Prockup said.

Prockup said doing this did not teach him thoroughly to understand the concepts as much. Thus, Prockup highlighted that the APP Lab assistance would make the process of learning a little bit easier.

“Here at the ExCITe Center, our expertise is prior experience in developing apps. We have done a lot of different apps [for] different purposes. So we have a lot of internal development, myself, my students know how to do it,” Kim said. “We have … not just the potential for collaboration with all these other activities, but we have the necessary space and infrastructures.”

The APP Lab is not restricted to engineering and computer science majors; it is open to students from all majors. Those who do not have prior programming experience but really want to learn are also encouraged to get involved.

“I think that no matter what your field is, the better informed you are about technology and certainly technological trends, the better it can only be to your benefit,” Kim said. “We encourage everybody to come check it out.” Kim and the APP Lab staff try to maintain a collection of campuswide resources in the field, which can include suggestions of courses that students can take or a list of ongoing projects with which they can get involved. Students are also encouraged to submit their own ideas and recruit team members from the lab.

In the long run, Kim views the potential growth of the APP Lab as a big student community and hopes to educate, motivate and invigorate more students to get involved. Kim explained that the goal is to take advantage of students’ interest in app development and show them how to execute their ideas.

He explained that there is more than one way to participate, including coding and other capabilities such as designing interfaces and graphics. “Do something interesting and rewarding for yourself,” he said.

Levin shared similar sentiments: “I think it’s a cool idea. I really like to see it go far. … I’m looking forward to helping people who didn’t think that they could program and get them there. I think it’s a good thing overall.”

Kim claimed that as of now, the APP Lab is just scratching the surface of what is possible. Giving credit to the generous gift of Bentley Systems and the work of the Pennoni Honors College, he said he believes that this is a prospective way for Drexel to be at the forefront of student innovation. “I think that the more we can explore different pathways for doing that, the more interesting [things] we’ll be able to do,” he said.

Bentley Systems Inc. is a software company producing solutions for sustaining infrastructure in the architecture, engineering, construction and operations areas. The APP Lab is open five days a week with flexible hours.

Thanks to the involvement of the Pennoni Honors College, the APP Lab will welcome four students in the Students Tackling Advanced Research program every summer. There are also opportunities for honors students to propose ideas and compete against one another.

In the future, the APP Lab will host a variety of events, including workshops led by external developers. According to Kim, the staff will put on a showcase to feature students’ products once per year.

What is cool? How has cool been defined through time? Drexel University professors Brent Luvaas and Alphonso McClendon joined the community conversation “The History of Cool” Nov. 13 at the First District Plaza to discuss stories surrounding the concept with local people.

The event was hosted by the Philadelphia Jazz Project with the participation of Homer Jackson, PJP director, as the moderator. Jackson initiated the discussion with the first question: “What is cool?”

“I think cool is in no sense definable, and as soon as you start to define it, you’ve crossed the boundary into not cool,” Luvaas said.

Luvaas shared a project he is doing based on street-style photographers who go out in New York City; Philadelphia; and Jakarta, Indonesia, to take pictures of fashions they think are cool. Luvaas commented that the idea of cool is a kind of media and physical response to a person.

“Cool is some kind of quality that is desirable, that we all wish that we could possess. We know we see it. And if we have to describe it and we have to define it, then probably it’s something other than cool,” he said. “When you know it, you see it but you can’t predict what form it’s going to take.”

McClendon defined cool as something different.

“I think cool is style, is attitude, is being natural,” McClendon said. “I think it’s authentic. Especially for the jazz artists, it’s the way to be defined, it’s a way to fight oppression, it’s improvisation, and it’s closely related to how someone is dressed.”

McClendon approached cool from research he had done about jazz around ragtime in the early 1900s.

“I think what’s interesting about jazz artists is that early on, they were imitated in positive and negative ways,” McClendon said.

According to McClendon, the negative way is through music; black styles are portrayed as provocative, sexual and dangerous. But jazz was also imitated in a good way through certain kinds of African dance.

“What is cool? I knew that as a young person, whatever that was, I [didn’t] have it,” Jackson joked at the beginning. “The idea of cool is not only indescribable, but it’s also almost unattainable at a time,” he added.

Jackson also posed the next question: “Who is cool?”

McClendon replied that from a jazz perspective, he thinks that performers and musicians like Louis Armstrong are cool when they are accepted among their colleagues, such as when Miles Davis got the first job with the band in which he was playing.

“In the beginning, they didn’t think they were cool until they were accepted among their peers,” he continued. “I think it’s about popularity; it’s about acceptance. Innate in that is the common understanding among others.”

“I think we have to distinguish between people who are cool in the sense that they are adhering to some kinds of trends that right now are evaluated as being cool versus those people who have some kinds of possessed innate qualities that remain cool regardless of those trends,” Luvaas said in response.

Luvaas said he believes that the latter are aware of and engaged in being cool but not actually embodied by it.

“Cool ends up defining those categories that in fact we like to label as being cool,” he said.

Joining the guests was Diane Turner, a historian from Temple University. In response to the question of who is cool, she said, “I would say jazz musicians, some public figures, entertainers, people that I know personally, people that I like.” On the topic of whether jazz in America is the defining language of cool, McClendon said, “Not until [jazz musicians] adopted masculine traits, particularly masculine dress.”

According to McClendon, in the past, the aristocracy used to prevent the lower classes from copying what was in fashion by creating sanctuary laws so that the people would not mimic them. However, things have changed.

“Having worked in the fashion industry — fashion is a $450 billion industry — my job is to look at what’s going on in the room and copy it, imitate it, look for what’s cool, what’s the next hot thing,” McClendon said. “I think you can’t confine the law of cool because if you do that, you’re restricting the creativity.”

Luvaas went on to say that the only way for the fashion industry to grow is to kill cool and reinvent the concept in other ways. Then the process repeats.

“[Marketing of cool] is a dialectical relationship with the fashion industry, the music industry,” he said.

McClendon is a writer and associate professor in the Department of Fashion Design, Product Design, and Design & Merchandising. At Drexel, he analyzes the visual and behavioral representation of jazz and African-American aesthetic that influences fashion and popular culture. McClendon has over 15 years of fashion industry experience and over a decade of experience in menswear design and management at VF Corp. Earlier this year, his work “Fashionable Addiction: The Path to Heroin Chic” was published in the book “Fashion in Popular Culture: Literature, Media and Contemporary Studies.”

Luvaas is an assistant professor of anthropology. He has written and published extensively. His work appears in the Journal of Cultural Anthropology, Visual Anthropology Review, Inside Indonesia, and International Journal of Cultural Studies. Luvaas is the author of the book “DIY Style: Fashion, Music and Global Digital Cultures.”

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