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(02/08/06 12:00pm)
Hand-crafted mailboxes stuffed with conversation hearts and cut-out Valentines in classrooms this year will probably contain no mention of the holiday's possible origin in a pagan fertility festival that included adolescent boys slapping women with goat skins.
Similar to the identity of that shy Valentine behind the student council-sponsored red carnation you got in eighth grade, the story behind the second-most-popular card-sending holiday, and the saint himself, remain uncertain and steeped in legend.
In modern culture, Valentine's Day has its origins in a saint's day celebrated by the Catholic Church from about 496 B.C. to 1969, when it was dropped in a movement to rid the church of saints with primarily legendary status.
The man behind the holiday may have been one of three saints, all named Valentine, martyred on Feb. 14.
Many scholars believe Valentine inspired dislike from Roman emperor Claudius II. Believing unmarried men were more suited to fight in his army, Claudius outlawed marriages. Valentine, in response, secretly performed marriages until reprimanded by the Romans and put to death.
Another legend suggests that Valentine was imprisoned for his Christian beliefs and sent a love letter signed "your Valentine" to the jailer's daughter before he was executed.
His supposed remains are now available for viewing every Feb. 14 in Dublin, Ireland, where they were brought after Pope Gregory XVI awarded them to Irish priest Father John Spratt for particularly good preaching in Rome in 1835.
A mid-February feast, however, had been held in pagan Roman culture for many years prior to the Catholic holiday.
The feast of Lupercalia honored Faunus, protector of herds and crops. Priests sacrificed a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They gave two young boys, impersonating goats, goat skins dipped in the sacrificial blood. The boys then took off through the streets, slapping fields and women with the strips to bring fertility to the town.
Valentine's Day may have been adopted in England to celebrate the beginning of Spring. Feb. 14 was believed to be the day birds paired off for mating.
Despite its possible origins dealing with fertility, the changing of seasons or love and sacrifice, current rumors hold that Valentine's Day was created by greeting card and candy companies.
About 192 million people (85 percent of them women) send Valentines, making it the second-most popular greeting-card day, according to Hallmark research. This does not include the cards children exchange in classrooms, which bring the total to 1 billion.
The first known Valentine was hand-written. Charles, Duke of Orleans, sent it to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.
Sending hand-made cards became popular in England in the eighteenth century and spread to the United States, especially when Mount Holyoke College graduate Esther A. Howland began mass-producing them.
The holiday is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
Marketing schemes also have brought it to Japan, Korea and Taiwan. In these countries, only women give presents to men. In Japan, a marshmallow company in the 1960s created a reciprocal day, White Day, on March 14, in which men are supposed to give women gifts of white chocolate or marshmallows.
In the U.S., NECCO produces 100,000 pounds of its Sweetheart Conversation Hearts every day of the year to meet the six-week demand for 8 billion hearts. The ancestors of the sweethearts, "conversation candies," were invented in the 1860s. They were passed around at parties and weddings and contained sayings tucked into the wrappers such as, "Please send a lock of your hair by return mail," and "Married in pink, He will take to drink."
When the first hearts were factory-made with imprinted words on the candy in the early 1900s, only eight to 12 letters could fit on them.
This year's candy hearts will include the conjunctions "and" and "to." The rest will have a home and family theme, with sayings such as "home soon," "home run," and "go home."
Information from - historychannel.com, infoplease.com, japan-guide.com and necco.com/OurBrands/Default.asp?BrandID=8
(11/16/05 12:00pm)
Clubs may know Julia Pratt, executive director of the Student Finance Board (SFB), for her power to fund a Gavin DeGraw concert or deny them bowling tournament funding.
Outside the SFB office, however, the red-haired, fifth-year senior, sporting a shirt that reads, "Iowa: we so corny," describes herself as a fun-loving, hard-working, tomboyish nursing major who is addicted to reality shows and appropriates portions of her personal budget to world travel and funny T-shirts from Delia's.
The daughter of two "hippyish" parents (she said her mom tried to go to Woodstock but the car didn't make it), Pratt enjoys watching "The Amazing Race," "The Apprentice" and football, especially when her team, the Philadelphia Eagles, are playing her boyfriend's team, the New York Giants.
"Guys are impressed that I know the players' names," she said. "I should've done that before I had a boyfriend - it's a great way to meet guys."
Earning every penny of the costs in jobs since the age of 14, she has traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and Australia.
"If I had all that money back, I could've had a down payment on a house," Pratt said.
Her understanding of different cultures will help her in nursing, she said, by giving her an appreciation of her patients' different viewpoints.
"I've had patients with cancer who are convinced that Western medicine is not the way to go," she said. "I have to understand where they're coming from so I can incorporate that into my plan of care for them."
Being part of SFB, likewise, is preparing her for life as a nurse. "The hardest thing about being on SFB is that people don't always like you," she said. "People focus on what they didn't get rather than the positives of what we do."
Sometimes, when her cell phone rings at all hours of the night, Pratt wonders why she keeps doing this. It's knowing she's the best person for the job, she said, and "knowing I'll leave a legacy."
"I'm not a quitter, I couldn't quit, they'll never get me down so far that I'll quit," she said.
She has learned to not mind being the outsider.
"I'm fun-loving, hippyish, liberal minded, and into being open to everything," she said. "I've been stressing that so much to my board - you don't have to agree with everyone's lives, but you do have to accept it."
Pratt was not always the person friends see today, though. She originally had some trouble adjusting to college life. Anyone who is familiar with Pratt's bubbly personality would be surprised to hear that once in her college career, she sought professional help.
"I went through a time that was not the happiest time," she said. "I was very depressed my first couple of years. I was thrown into an entirely new situation and didn't know how to deal with it."
In high school, she contributed to the newspaper and yearbook and was interested in photography. Her whole life she had been a competitive swimmer. She spent her first two years at the College, however, as a history education major and rugby player, with few other outside activities.
"I was burned out - I was one of those kids in high school who did everything," she said. Problems with her knees and a concussion prompted her to drop rugby altogether.
Realizing that doing nothing was not much fun, she considered joining SFB. There were no available positions, so she joined the Student Government Association (SGA). When the student who was the SGA liaison to SFB studied abroad, Pratt stepped into the position.
At the end of her sophomore year, Pratt switched into nursing and took a semester's worth of summer classes. She kept her history minor.
"I always wanted to be a nurse," she said. "I was scared (at first) because people's lives are in my hands. It doesn't matter that it's scary, though. You help people every day . I love being a nurse. It's so cool."
Pratt enjoyed having two senior years, although she only got to participate in senior week once.
"I highly recommend going for the fifth year," she said.
Pratt hopes to go to Europe before getting a full-time job and entering the real world. Her dream is to attend the University of Pennsylvania's nursing program after a year in the work world.
"In all honesty, I didn't want to come here," Pratt said. "It was a money thing. Now, five years later, I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I didn't come here. I'm going to miss it a lot - I'm sad that I'm leaving."
(11/09/05 12:00pm)
Four female scientists from Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research fielded students' questions in panel-style at "An Evening for Women in Science" on Nov. 2.
"Based on the questions, there's a lot of doubt about what to do after graduation," Deborah Knox, interim dean for the School of Science said after the session. As a result, she said "(the discussion was) good for women to hear as transitions present themselves."
Many juniors and seniors considering the job market confirmed that.
"I'm not sure what to do after graduation," Elizabeth Janeczko, senior biology major, said. "It was good (to hear the speakers), because I'm deciding whether or not to go to grad school or work."
The scientists presented their daily lives, struggles and rewards of their work as women in science, highlighting the effects of a scientific or medical career on family, the challenge of earning their degrees and the equity of women and men in the field of science.
Touching on issues such as whether or not to continue education and balancing other values, such as family, with work, the scientists portrayed what they viewed as success.
"Success is getting what you want and being satisfied with it," Danielle Coppola, physician and director of benefit-risk management, said. "For my mother, it was making sure your children are successful in their lives. For me, it was using your talents to the best of your ability to influence in a positive way."
The division between men and women in graduate school is about equal, the women said, and most could not name instances of women being looked down upon in their workplaces.
Coppola, however, said that although times had changed, certain areas such as orthopedics were considered only for males.
She added that coming from an Italian-American family with two older brothers, her father had not expected her to be a career woman.
"He said being a woman is a good thing because you can experiment with your education - you don't have to worry about supporting a family," Coppola said. "That drove me even more."
Because science is an ever-changing field, the cost of taking time off from the field to support a family could be difficult for a woman who later wants to return. This was another concern among the students present.
"I don't see many coming in that have been out," Sharon Burke, associate scientist of neurological disorders, said. "It could be that they got out and enjoyed what they were doing."
"Women expect to come back at the same or higher level, but that doesn't happen as easily as for men," Coppola, who has two children, said. "I've thought about it and I don't want to lose my status."
Most of the women felt they could feasibly balance work and family.
"In my function, looking at your output - if you meet timelines and provide required output, the supervisor will be willing to give you more time for family and kids," Pilar Lim, director of clinical biostatics, said.
As for their past and present directions, the scientists said they have endured both rough and smooth paths.
Burke said she is nowhere near where she thought she'd be. Although she once thought she would get her Ph.D, an engagement to a man in the Air Force brought her to New Jersey from Boston. She had six subsequent jobs in succession and is now an associate scientist studying Neurological Disorders.
Lim said she thought she would be a teacher.
"There's still time. I will be a teacher," she said, drawing laughs from the audience.
Students were also curious about whether work as a scientist seems monotonous or not.
"Doing experiments can be monotonous, but analyzing the data makes it worthwhile," Patricia Pelton, principal biologist researching new drug compounds through chemical phase I trials, said.
"Thinking about who is this going to help down the road erases the monotony," Lim said.
The scientists had to overcome obstacles from their personal and career lives, and challenges in school.
"My husband used to complain about me working too much," Pelton said. She also said it was financially difficult - she didn't have the support she needed and required grants and scholarships.
Coppola said she was an English major, and medicine did not come naturally to her.
"I couldn't write my way out of anything," as was sometimes possible as an English major, she said. She said she tried to read textbooks all the way through, like she had read novels to get her undergraduate degree. She failed her first anatomy exam.
"If you're ambitious, it's very painful," Coppola said. "Work as hard as you can possibly work."
(10/19/05 12:00pm)
Despite the fact that the Country Club Apartments are part of College housing, Ewing Police and the Trenton State College Corporation (TSC), not Campus Police, are assigned to handling problems there.
While Country Club residents have been told this, confusion often arises in times of problems or emergencies.
Ewing Township police chiefly patrols the area, and residents and staff are instructed to call 911 instead of Campus Police for emergencies.
"Should something happen at Country Club apartments, Ewing Township would provide us with a courtesy notification; and, depending on the situation, we would respond and provide assistance or follow-up with the students and Ewing as necessary and appropriate," Kathy Leverton, associate vice president of Administrative and Environmental Services, said.
Although Campus Police officers, have statewide authority, they are only responsible for the College campus and the physically adjacent student housing, Leverton said.
Campus Police does not deal with parties at the Country Club Apartments and non-adjacent off-campus housing, and also does not offer them police escorts, a service provided to on-campus students who ask for additional safety walking across campus.
"If we get tied up with stuff outside, who's to watch out for people here?" Lt. Don Rizzo said. With 15 officers, he said the department has to focus on one area instead of spreading itself too thin.
For example, Campus Police was unable to respond when a resident of the Country Club Apartments was locked out at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 and Residential and Community Development staff called as a last resort.
They had attempted to open the door to the hall office, which contained a locked box of spare keys to all the apartments, the key got stuck.
Unable to open the office or remove the key and a bit worried about security, Housing Assistant (HA) Bridgette McGuire, junior elementary education and sociology major, called the names on the Trenton State College Corporation (TSC) emergency list. After a TSC contact said a locksmith would be sent in the morning, McGuire called Campus Police, the last number on the list - and soon learned that Campus Police could not be of much help.
"They just asked if I had called the people at TSC and if I had left a message with them if they weren't answering, and that they couldn't really do anything to get the key out and that TSC is who deals with problems at CCA," McGuire wrote in an e-mail.
A door with a combination, an alarm code and the locked box, however, all still stood in the way of anyone gaining access to the keys, and TSC sent a locksmith in the morning. McGuire believes the resident was able to obtain a key from the New Residence Hall office, which has keys for off-campus housing facilities.
Not all residents feel the fact that Campus Police cannot help them is fair. "I feel that since we pay room and board to the campus, just like everyone living on campus, then we should get the same protection by Campus Police," Christina Rossi, senior secondary education/mathematics major and Country Club resident, said.
Most residents, however, said they feel safe under the jurisdiction of Ewing police, noting that when psychiatric patients escaped, there were four to six patrol cars parked outside for hours.
According to Scott Coar, junior criminology and justice studies major, the Ewing police pass by about two times per day, including once at night. "I don't think the looney bin next door is that big a threat, so I feel perfectly safe," Coar said.
"The doors all have deadbolts and chains, so no one can get in if we don't want them to," Joe Gunderson, junior finance major, said.
Meghan Condran, senior communication studies major, said she prefers being under the jurisdiction of Ewing police.
"Campus Police have this little campus to patrol, so you almost get the feeling they are out looking for insignificant violations," she said.
"I've actually gotten pulled over on campus for going 30 miles per hour instead of 25 miles per hour. At Country Club, the cops keep a presence but you don't feel as though they are 'out to get you.'"
For some, it was actually this independence of living off-campus that attracted them to the apartments in the first place.
One of Coar's friends had the first number in the housing lottery last year.
"We all pooled with him because we all wanted to be far away from campus, and since two of us have free rides, it would be stupid for us to pay for an apartment," he said.
Both Ewing police and Campus Police are hired through the state of New Jersey, and their salaries are paid through the general treasury at the state of New Jersey, rather than through student fees, according to Leverton.
"The bottom line is that all of our students are supported and protected by fully commissioned police officers, whether it be Ewing or (the College), and that this cooperative partnership between the two agencies truly serves our student population," Leverton said.
(10/12/05 12:00pm)
Cloudy skies threatened rain outside the window behind a bouquet of sunflowers as family, friends and acquaintances of Ryan Fesko, a student who died in a car accident in May 2003, came together to dedicate the meditation chapel, located in the Spiritual Center, to him Oct. 7.
The College named the chapel "The Ryan Fesko Meditation Chapel" for a $20,000 gift provided in his name by the family of James Brazell. Brazell, Fesko's stepfather, is a former English department faculty member who retired in June 2003.
The money was put toward ecumenical programs in the Spiritual Center and the new meditation center that houses stained glass from the old Alumni Chapel, which was torn down in 2003. The Brazell family thought Fesko would be happy students and faculty from many religious groups could worship under one roof, Brazell said.
"I hope (the chapel) will provide a space for students to go," Brazell said at a reception in Loser Hall after the ceremony. "(I hope it will be) a place for people to come if they're grieving or to recharge their spiritual batteries."
Fesko had just completed his junior year at the College at age 22 when he died with three childhood friends in an automobile that spun out of control on a rain-slicked highway. Only one of his friends survived the accident.
The College was always a part of Fesko's life. Not only did he have Brazell as a stepfather, but he grew up in Ewing across from Lakes Ceva and Sylva. His parents, godmother and at least three of his cousins attended the College.
According to his mother, Kathleen Brazell, Fesko had a special affection for the Alumni Chapel from a young age. "He loved the old chapel; maybe he was the only one," Kathleen Brazell said.
He would drag his mother, father and a yellow wagon full of stuffed animals to the chapel and play priest, giving his congregation candy as communion, Kathleen Brazell said.
Fesko later developed an interest in world religions. While studying at the Pennington School in Ewing, he did a study on all religious groups. As a health and physical education major at the College, he wrote essays questioning intolerance between religious groups, wondering why religion divided people.
The ceremony focused on Fesko's life, with biographical remarks from College President R. Barbara Gitenstein in her welcome and dedication of the Chapel. It included musical performances from the Gospel Choir, the Catholic Campus Ministries Choir, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, students and alumni. There were prayers from Presbyterian ministries and the Jewish Student Union, and James Brazell read a poem in Fesko's honor.
"We pray this chapel works to foster thought and bring about the harmony he sought," James Brazell read.
Peter Manetas, director of development in the office of Developmental and Alumni Affairs, presented the chapel plaque for Ryan Fesko, noting that he was in the class of 2004. "We consider him very much a part of that graduating class," he said.
The plaque reads "The Ryan M. Fesko Meditation Chapel/Named in Honor of Ryan Michael Fesko/May 31, 1980-May 17, 2003/ student, athlete, teacher, friend."
"Because of our strong faith in God and tremendous support from family and friends, we are entering a new season of our lives (and) becoming receptive to the glory of laughter and dance," Kathleen Brazell said.
"I can hear Ryan applauding and saying, 'This is good! This is natural; this is good.'"
Looking out over the chapel, with every seat filled and people filling up the entrance, Kathleen Brazell thanked Ryan's family, friends, teachers, neighbors, coaches and teammates for their part in her son's life.
"Sitting before me are the people important in Ryan's life - you are that village, that rich circle of life that surrounded him, helped him," she said.
In a PowerPoint presentation that concluded the ceremony, images of Fesko as a baby, a blond, curly haired toddler, sitting by the fireplace in a Superman costume with his arms spread wide, and in a bike helmet faded into one another. They were followed by pictures of Fesko in high school playing basketball, holding a trophy, on a boat behind a life preserver that read "Nordic Prince," visiting Athens, and graduating high school.
Outside, rain began to pour and audience members wiped tears from their eyes.
"It looks like the sky's just opened up, but that could be Ryan's joke as well," Ann DeGennero, director of Campus Wellness, said.
The audience responded with laughter, and Fesko's mother agreed, "It is Ryan's joke."
(10/05/05 12:00pm)
A few neighbors were left off the invitation list for the Country Club Apartments' community-style barbeque Sept. 29.
Although the fence for the 400-bed Trenton Psychiatric Hospital is in the apartments' backyard, patients, including the five who escaped this year, do not swing by very often.
"If they get out, they leave," Jackie Schmidt, junior special education and English major said. "They don't stay around here."
Despite noises, the notices on their doors about escapees and some window views of psychiatric patients that remind residents of movie characters, the hospital's presence and the apartments' seclusion from the rest of campus do not prevent most residents from enjoying their lives on their own.
"Sure, we may have schizos on the loose, but Country Club apartments is still THE place to be," according to an announcement on the 21-member "Country Club rocks my world '05 - 06" facebook.com group page.
At the barbeque, 15 residents milled about a picnic table stocked with buns, ketchup, chips, water and cookies while burgers and hot dogs sizzled on a grill.
Plastic toys lay in a pile in the grass near the parking lot, where a football spun through the air and one resident swung at a ball with a plastic bat. Around the corner of the apartment building, four students played badminton.
"It's just a group of us (in the apartments) by ourselves, so we have to be all friendly,"Alison Ford, junior elementary education major said.
Country Club residents hang out and watch movies together, go shopping and played a football game the night before the barbeque. According to the facebook.com group description, residents know they're from the community if "Multiple cop cars outside don't even phase you anymore," "You've been to Crystal Diner," and "You have a separate section on your buddy list just for neighbors."
Being placed off-campus has had its ups and downs for different residents. Located about three miles from the College's entrance, the apartments each have a living room, dining room, kitchen and single and double bedrooms for four to six people.
Ford did not make the housing lottery, but got on the waiting list. Although she wanted to be in a townhouse with her roommate from the past two years, she said she enjoys the neighborhood.
Joe Gulotta, junior general business major, said he also wanted to live in the townhouses, but likes having more room to stretch out.
Caitlin Day, senior English and women's and gender studies major, however, said she would rather be on campus.
"Tonight (will) be my seventh night sleeping here," Day said. "I'm never here."
She said the apartments would be better if her friends were close by. Still, she enjoys only having to pay for $200 of Sodexho food (the minimum meal plan required) and having her own full kitchen and George Foreman grill.
For security, the apartments are equipped with alarms, and police cars patrol the area at night. Ford said at least three people came to her door to show her how to use the security system after the patients escaped.
Some residents are cautious, closing their windows and traveling together at night.
"We only go in groups in the backyard," Ford said. When bushes rustle as maintenance workers are trimming them or when the two resident groundhogs walk around, she said students may initially mistake them for patients.
Sometimes they hear the hospital announcements, conversations and arguments between patients and nurses.
According to Gulotta, he heard one patient say she was queen of the universe.
"I have nightmares that they're staring at me," Amanda Thompson, junior early childhood education major, said.
"You see them out back staring up into the skies with their hands raised," Damein Beaton, associate residence director for Country Club Apartments, said. "Although that occurs, it is still a peaceful, harmonious environment."
Others are not bothered by the hospital.
"I didn't really mind (when I learned the hospital was nearby)," Gulotta said. "My roommates are kind of crazy anyway, so it made it feel like home."
(08/31/05 12:00pm)
"Where are you from?"
It's one of the first questions asked when students meet at the College, and the answer may determine whether one thinks the other eats jimmies and "woodur ice" while sitting on a tractor or sprinkles and Italian ice in a 2005 Acura.
In response to the dialogue and ongoing jokes about statewide disparities, three students conducted a Piper online study of regional stereotypes at the College. Senior psychology major Mark Davis, junior psychology major Emily Bisen-Hersh and junior elementary education and psychology major Lisa Giovannello presented their findings at last semester's Celebration for Student Achievement.
The students hypothesized that New Jersey residents would have more negative perceptions of the opposite regions and more positive perceptions of their own regions. For example, North Jerseyans may view South Jerseyans as hicks, while North Jerseyans may be labeled arrogant and materialistic.
The two regions were divided geographically for the study. North Jersey contained the top half of Middlesex County and everything above that line. South Jersey consisted of Burlington, Ocean, Camden, Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland and Cape May counties. Any area in-between was considered Central Jersey.
"(Central Jerseyans) were not included in this study, as it is likely that they feel less of a connection to one specific region," Bisen-Hersh wrote in an e-mail message.
Just completing the surveys and creating the poster was an experience in regional diversity. Each group member came from one of the three regions - Gionvannello from North Jersey, Davis from South Jersey, and Bisen-Hersh from Central Jersey.
"There were actually a few times when Lisa and I would be working on questions for the survey and find ourselves adhering to the same South Jersey stereotypes that we were trying to measure," Bisen-Hersh wrote.
"During the experiment, they kept asking me stereotypical questions (such as) 'What do you do on the weekends - do you go cow tipping, four wheeling, mudding?'" Davis said.
Actual results in the survey, however, were difficult to measure, Bisen-Hersh said.
"Unfortunately, no significant results were found to support the above hypothesis," Bisen-Hersh wrote. She suggested that people did not want to admit they may hold socially inappropriate stereotypes.
However, she said that the study did support the "contact hypothesis," which states interaction between the two groups is associated with more favorable attitudes.
"Since a college campus fosters many friendships, students have been exposed to countless exceptions of common misconceptions," Bisen-Hersh wrote.
At a New Jersey school, friendly (or not-so-friendly) North/South/Central competition is evidenced by the large variety of facebook.com clubs that boast regional pride or poke fun at the other side.
Particularly popular are "You know you're from South Jersey if you think we should sell North 'Joisey' to NY for $24," with 126 members, and "North Jerseyans Who Think South Jersey Sucks and Smells Funny," with 265 members.
Some members identify strongly with their own region, or just play along for the fun of it.
"What makes me different from a South Jerseyan is that my life is fast-paced," Corey Sherwood, freshman marketing major, wrote in a Facebook message.
"I like my region of the state because the people down here are down to earth and laid back," Angela Crawford, sophomore early childhood education and psychology major, wrote in a Facebook message.
Meanwhile, those in the middle of the state proclaim their legitimacy with the 994 member club, "Central Jersey - we DO exist!"
Some Facebook clubs, such as "South Jersey Secession movement" and "Support South Jersey Partition, State Seperation (sic) or Death!!" have some truth behind them.
Regional differences in the 150- mile-long state go back to before the Europeans arrived. When the Lenni Lenape inhabited New Jersey, there were two different dialects in the North and South.
Before the American Revolution, New Jersey was split into "East" and "West" Jersey, with the Eastern, Quaker-dominated part mostly in the southeast and the Western, Dutch merchant-dominated part mostly in the Northwest.
Then in 1980, 51 percent of South Jerseyans in six counties voted in a non-binding poll to secede and form their own state. The poll carried no weight, but brought to light the economic and cultural differences between the regions.
At the College, however, answers to surveys did not point to definite North/South stereotypes or animosity.
"Many participants (of our study) felt that the prospect of regional differences in such a small state was absurd," Bisen-Hersh said.
One acknowledgeable difference, however, is the slight variance in speech.
"The accents are a big thing," Davis said. "When they say whoodur or whaddur you know that person didn't grow up where you were from."
(08/31/05 12:00pm)
The New Library, which had been in planning and construction stages for seven years, opened Monday. Its first guests looked around in awe, as light poured in through the large windows of the Georgian-style architecture onto plush seats by cherry wood-stained tables, shining onto spacious book stacks and a multitude of Ethernet connections.
"Unilaterally, every person who walks through that door goes 'wow,'" Taras Pavlovsky, dean of the library, said during a press tour before the library's opening last week. He has been working on the project since December 1997.
"There is no other school in New Jersey that has a library like this, except Princeton," he said.
With one and a half times the amount of floor space in Roscoe L. West Library, the building can house up to 750,000 volumes and other extras not found in the old library.
"The space devoted to people is the difference," Pavlovsky said. "We didn't build a barn - we built a library to be used by people."
The entire building is wheelchair-accessible, with two elevators traveling to all five levels.
Features include a drinking fountain, copy machine and restrooms in the same central location on every floor. Private study rooms, with lights that turn on automatically upon entrance, are scattered throughout the floors. Usage will be first-come, first-served in the beginning, but Pavlovsky expects sign-ups will be necessary next year.
Another extra is the two-level 24-hour section, where security grates lower at night and raise into the ceiling during the day. The name is deceiving, though, as the section, rather than being open at all times, is only open between 7:30 a.m. and 2 a.m.
If popular demand requires later opening, the hours will be revised, Pavlovsky said. Twenty-four hours of heat and air conditioning would be impractical if only two or three students want to stay up all night, he said.
The misnomer has produced mixed opinions among many students who were looking forward to a section they thought would actually be open 24 hours a day, though.
"Maybe it's not necessary to have it open 24 hours all the time," Jasmine Charl?n, executive vice-president of the Student Government Association (SGA), said. "But if there are student concerns and they wanted it open 24 hours, SGA will take a role. I think it's odd - I understand, but don't call it the 24-hour section."
Despite the fact that it officially opened Monday, some parts of the New Library still remain under construction. For example, a Sodexho-run caf? is not expected to open until Oct. 1, due to delays with its kitchen equipment. When open, it will feature 78 seats and every Starbucks beverage except frappucinos, all made in Starbucks machines. It will be open Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
"It's a great area for people to meet, get together and study," Kerri Sue Davis, director of retail and catering, said.
A 105-seat auditorium, also still under construction, already has six bookings for the semester and will host one of the Walt Whitman symposium sessions.
Dozens of Ethernet connection ports in floors, walls, tables and carrels are ready to use. However, the wireless network that will service the entire library is not yet ready. And, while data outlets are in the ceilings throughout the entire building for wireless service, metal book stacks and the metal-framed building may make transferring the signal difficult.
"Once the library is inhabited by books and people, a surveyor will come in," Pavlovsky said.
Each of two computer labs contains 28 personal computers on adjustable-height tables. Bound periodicals are now organized by Library of Congress classification, rather than by title. Compact storage shelves slide back and forth for easy access, and have safety features that prevent people from closing shelves on unsuspecting book browsers.
The hum around campus before the library's opening was one of excitement for many.
"For someone who rarely studies in the library, the New Library makes me want to study in the library," Charlon said, explaining that her room is her usual study spot.
Still, due to recent construction delays around campus, there was also a lot of skepticism as to whether the library would actually be ready for the Fall 2005 semester.
"I was a little cynical because of the apartments," Jessica Paciorek, junior biology major, said. "I wasn't expecting it to be open for the fall."
Formal planning for the library began in 1998 and proceeded over five years, with campus input and various planning committees.
"Usually when you dream of buildings you give up something along the way, but I don't think we did," Don Lovett, member of the 1999 Building Planning Committee, said.
A committee is still deciding the future use of Roscoe L. West Library. The College is committed to renovating the section built in 1930, one of the original three academic buildings at the Ewing campus of the College.
"I can't think about anything I'd miss (unless) you want to talk about musty books and old lighting," Lovett, associate professor of biology, said.
"It was such a horrible place to visit. I can't imagine being a librarian and having to work there."
"We outgrew it a long time ago," Pavlovsky said, recalling the inadequate heating and air conditioning, and the roof leaking in different sections every time it rained, while librarians covered the books with plastic sheets.
The only thing he will miss, he said, is the lion out front.
In planning the New Library, Pavlovsky said the architects wandered around the College buildings for inspiration. As a result, some pieces from other parts of campus can be found in the New Library.
On the lower level, for example, there is an open frame by the stairs where some of the stained glass from the Alumni Chapel, which stood in the New Library's place just four years ago, will be placed.
Another piece of this stained glass can also be found in the Spiritual Center, which opened December 2004.
Also, the sidewalk at the base of the library is covered by an arched roof with hanging lights similar to those in the corridor of Green Hall.
Perhaps the most meaningful piece of the College for its current students and staff, the Sesquicentennial Time Capsule will be inserted into a hole on the lower-level floor Homecoming Weekend.
(08/24/05 12:00pm)
Power. Rewind. Stop. PLAY.
Day one, freshman year. I had made it to college. Scenes from movies, memories of past experiences and pieces of friendly advice reeled through my mind. Energized, nervous, happy and totally organized and prepared, I hoped college would be a little like "Mona Lisa Smile," "The Prince and Me," and the college years on "Boy Meets World" - and not too much like "Animal House" and "Orange County."
In "Orange County," high school overachiever Shaun Brumder discovers after the pain of a Stanford University rejection letter that his guidance counselor switched his transcript with another student. In trying to right the wrong, he causes a Stanford building to be burned down and learns that Stanford students can be just as dimwitted as he feels his classmates in Orange County are.
Like Shaun, I had wanted to go where people were smart, where I could broaden my horizons and maybe write. So I threw away brochures from small colleges and went for the ones with the highest reputations, applying to Duke and Columbia Universities while also dreaming of Yale University. The College looked nice and had a great reputation, but "New Jersey" was part of the name. The "NJ" after "TC" made it seem too familiar and close-by - I had been writing "NJ" before my zip code on letters for my whole life.
Small envelopes came back from my two top schools though, with apologies for the size of the large applicant pools and the word "waitlisted" in the letters. My guidance counselor had a master's degree and an award or two from the county on the wall, and I knew it wasn't her fault. I was not going to burn down any buildings.
So here I was, a College of New Jersey freshman with dozens of Bed, Bath and Beyond shopping bags surrounding me in Wolfe Hall 203, my new room, and 50 students my age, just on my floor, to meet.
When Toula in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" starts taking classes, at first she has to eat lunch alone. With a makeover and some added confidence, though, she makes friends and finally talks to her non-Greek future husband.
College was great for starting anew - new haircut, new shoes, maybe a new smile and more confidence. As for meals, everyone needed someone to eat with. Wolfe 2 freshmen left their doors open and went around asking each other to the dining hall for almost every meal.
Although it was an old movie and I'd heard college was nothing like it anymore, I wondered how much college would be like "Animal House." I did see some togas during Homecoming week, but I can't imagine a horse in the dean's office.
Not a crazy partier, I hoped there would be other fun things to do. There were. My floor was great, and found creative things to do at night and on the weekends. My favorite freshman pastimes were sitting out in the Wolfe 2 hallway knitting, playing board games and mafia, and watching the presidential debates with my floormates. Also, during Welcome Week I signed up for tons of clubs and soon found my inbox flooded with e-mails and things to do.
Laundry in the Travers and Wolfe Halls was not too bad. With sheets, towels and blue jeans spilling from the basket in my arms, the elevators carried me to every odd floor, where I checked for princes (like in "The Prince and Me") who needed help with their laundry. Actually, the trips were to find the few and far between open machines, although some people did need help with their laundry. None were princes, though, as far as I know.
Welcome Week, fun and slightly awkward at the same time, passed, and classes began. I thought of "Mona Lisa Smile" and hoped my professors would be smart and inspiring like the art history professor and entertaining like the history professor (but honest, unlike him). They were - the classes were interesting and the students interested.
I wished my favorite teacher had followed me to college, like Mr. Feeny in "Boy Meets World," but I had left him behind and was starting on a clean slate. On TV, perhaps there are too few actors to find ones perfect for the part of teacher. In the real world, however, there are 6,547,063,260 (as of 11:55 p.m. August 22) people who could be your new favorite professor or your closest friend. Some of the people I'd left behind in high school faded a little and I became a part of this new place, with new favorites and a new perspective.
Fast Forward. May 2005, the end of freshman year. In "Orange County," Shaun found in his visit to Stanford that there were unintelligent people all over the world, even at Stanford. Looking back, at the College I found so many different people. My classmates, among them the top four in my high school class, were smart, funny, dramatic, creative, competitive and friendly.
(04/27/05 12:00pm)
From kindergarten through 12th grade, a high school graduate has attended school about 2,340 days. If he is 18-years-old, he has only had 6,574 days on earth so far.
While a student now in college may be anxious to get out in the world after sitting in class 36.6 percent of his total days, some have seen the other side and come back.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38 percent of all college students are 25-years-old or older - grown-ups back in the world of teachers, books and possible dirty looks.
Getting Informed
Other than the news, Frank Nardozza does not watch television shows. After his four year-old son and almost six year-old daughter are in bed, he pulls out his homework.
"Sometimes it's easy to say I don't need this, because I have a good job, a good career - what am I going to gain besides a piece of paper?" Nardozza said.
The student, father, and associate director of Access Technology had a job and a degree when he decided to replace a 75 mile commute with classes.
Working in New York City at age 24, Nardozza had applied to New York University (NYU) when his father fell sick with lung cancer.
Pushing thoughts of college to the back of his mind, he left the city. After his father passed on, Nardozza helped care for his 16 year-old brother and maintain the family home in northern New Jersey.
"At that point, the opportunity to go back (to school) was not an option," he said.
Before that, he had received his associate's degree from the Metropolitan Technical Institute (MTI) in New Jersey. Anxious to enter the workforce, he decided not to pursue his bachelor's degree, which required completion of his general education requirements.
In his 30s, he had a successful career at Panasonic in Secaucus. Since his wife worked in Philadelphia, they bought a house in central New Jersey, the midpoint between their two offices.
"After we had my son, I knew I needed a job that was closer," he said. "I needed to rethink life."
Now, like many college students, he laughs when asked when he will graduate. He takes about one course a semester, managing his time carefully by scheduling three hours per night to study.
"You have a different appreciation for taking classes when you're older," he said. "I learn a lot ... it's more than just passing and getting credits. It's about learning something new that I can apply to life, to my job."
Communicating, Accomplishing
Barbara Basedow, mother of three college graduates and one high school student, completed the communication studies major in one year. She will don her cap and gown this May.
The energetic woman, back in college full time after 30 years, wears "mom," "student" and "friend" hats, often all in the same day.
As a 19-year-old City University of New York (CUNY) student, the New York City native left college to marry. For two commuter public college students, the only way they could afford to be together was for one to withdraw from school. Basedow planned to work toward her degree after her husband finished his.
Three years later, their first son was born. While raising a family, Basedow took classes sporadically, juggling them with a full-time job at AT&T and then, for eight years, her own party store business.
After raising four sons, she transferred credits from 30 years ago to the College's interactive multimedia program.
While she formerly never stayed up past midnight, Basedow said she now regularly pulls all-nighters.
"While I thought skimming through a chapter would be sufficient, I learned it wasn't good enough to ensure a good test grade," she wrote in an essay. "Procrastination with two assignments due the same day was not a good thing either, and no matter how I tried, statistics would require the help of a tutor."
After doing the math, the statistics class helped her to decide interactive multimedia was not the best major for her.
"I used process of elimination," she said. "When I eliminated everything else I had done in my life, it was all tied together with the communication theory."
The College awarded her credit for two previous communication courses. Still, for two semesters, she took 20 credits of communication courses to fill the 10 remaining core courses.
"I came in not really knowing what I wanted my degree in," she said. "It was just a personal triumph thing for me."
Seeking Knowledge, Creativity
On the same day as her University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) 25 year reunion and same year as her son's high school graduation, 47-year-old Terri Epstein is graduating from the College with a second bachelor's degree.
Epstein, who has a published book and a BA in literature from UPenn, took classes in small doses for seven and a half years to juggle them with running a household.
"I began the journey with the understanding that my children would come first ... so it would take time," Epstein wrote in an e-mail message.
Her children were 10-years-old and 8-years-old when she went back to school. Her daughter, Hannah, is now a high school freshman. Her 17-year-old son Harrison, who will attend Babson College in Massachusetts in the fall, helps run errands.
In class, being close in age as professors gave her confidence to fill silences with questions and challenge professors' critiques, but not at the expense of camaraderie with the other students.
"Sometimes I'm the 'mother hen' who watches out for their best interests, speaks up on their behalf, listens to problems, or provides the Dunkin' Donuts," she wrote. "Just as often they're the ones helping me with a problem on a project, bringing me a cup of coffee or providing a pat on the back and boost of encouragement ..."
In between schooling, Epstein worked as an editor at Philadelphia magazine, a special events coordinator for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and a freelance writer. She and sister-in-law Judith Epstein Gage started their own small business in the licensing industry.
In 1994, she and Gage wrote "The Cat Hall of Fame: Imaginary Portraits and Profiles of the World's Most Famous Felines," a 96 page book with artistic depictions of famous historical personalities as cats.
With an introduction about the founding of the New York City Cat Hall of Fame and biographies of the characters, the book was featured on "Life with Regis & Kathie Lee" and in People magazine. After designing promotional material to market the work, Epstein decided to go back to school for graphic design.
"I'm not in school because it's what you do after high school, or because my parents have sent me off to college," she wrote. "I'm not searching or trying to figure things out. At 47, I've done all that already ... that's what landed me at (the College) in the art program."
(04/20/05 12:00pm)
Caitlin Gaughan, junior communication studies major and College Union Board (CUB) Rathskellar Event Coordinator, was heading away from the Lions Fest and Campus Colors day celebration when CUB director Regina Mahone, senior English major, and Steve DeLaura, director of finance and senior accounting major, grabbed her.
MTV-U veejay Gardner Loulan, filming for the show "The Dean's List," wanted to interview a student involved in the planning of the event. Loulan is a 21-year-old Fordham University graduate who works for MTV-U, the station that plays in the Travers-Wolfe Hall dining area.
Donning major events coordinator Janis Blayne-Paul's "TCNJ" jacket over her green CUB T-shirt for the spot, Gaughan told Loulan and viewers on over 700 campuses why the campus was clad in blue and gold that day.
The Lions' Fest and Campus Colors Day was sponsored by the Residence Hall Association (RHA), CUB, the Inter-Greek Council (IGC) and the Student Government Association (SGA) in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial committee. The events aimed to bring out students' school spirit and celebrate the College's 150th anniversary.
Smoke from sizzling hamburgers and hotdogs, an air-filled obstacle course race and promises of peanut chews and prizes kept students and professors out of their books and beds on the sunny Wednesday afternoon of April 13.
"That 10 percent of the campus that doesn't normally come out to anything - those are the type of people that we're attracting for this event," Mahone said.
Outside the Brower Student Center, the Verdict, a Philadelphia reggae band that has been visiting the campus for two years, drew students and professors out onto the student center patio.
As an MTV-U camera swept the sea of blue and yellow outfits, students showed off their appetites and Frisbee-throwing skills.
Matt Orndorff, senior information systems major who attended the barbecue on Sundial Lawn, said he would probably be sleeping at that moment, but the food caught his attention when he was on his way to eat in the student center.
As the slow-moving line of students waited for IGC's burgers and dogs, CUB leaders served free Nerds, other candies and colorful plastic toys to students who filled out surveys on the organization's events.
The Asian American Association (AAA) taught students gathered around its table how to write "Love," "Learn from Wisdom" and other phrases in calligraphy with paintbrushes and black ink.
"It's a good way to be active on campus," Thoa Nguyen, junior early childhood education major and AAA vice president of internal affairs, said. "Also, we always want to show TCNJ school spirit."
Meanwhile, a large teal, yellow and purple object behind Cromwell Hall distracted students passing by, perhaps on the way to their dorm rooms to finish those last papers or study sessions.
Kristin Udicious, freshman special education and psychology major, said she was walking back from eating when the blow-up obstacle course race caught her eye. She won one of her races against a friend who stood nearby, out of breath from a fast excursion through the course.
"I'd rather be doing this than doing work," Udicious said. "I have papers to write, tests to study for ..."
In front of the dorms, campus organizations entertained pedestrians and fed them pi?a coladas and strawberries in fondue. Student campaigners tempted students with Smarties and "Vote for me!" giveaways.
Delta Phi Epsilon and Zeta Phi Beta cosponsored a table that featured "Pin the face on the lion," with sweet-tasting prizes even for those who missed the mark.
Blindfolded participants, after being spun around, attempted to place a paper plate Roscoe face in the vacancy within a hand-painted mane.
"We thought it'd be a fun, unique thing to do," Christie Fletcher, junior nursing major, said. She was manning the table with her other sorority sisters. "It's a good way to meet people."
Even though Sundial Lawn was full of students and groups milling around the inflatables and tables, Blayne-Paul wondered why the whole campus population had not emerged from their rooms and offices to enjoy the spring weather.
"I would like to know what would make all the students come out in mass," she said. "(While planning) I thought, we have 6,000 students - we're going to need 6,000 prizes."
(04/13/05 12:00pm)
Dressed in a server's black apron and white shirt, Monglan Thi Nguyen piled extra lunch meat on top of American cheese and offered a tomato and a smile to a waiting student.
The student may never have guessed that the Eickhoff food server is a vegetarian, or that she was a doctor when she lived in Vietnam 12 years ago.
"She loves all the children here, so she tries to do her best so they can enjoy their sandwich and go to class," Eickhoff food server Kim Nguyen, her husband, said.
Together, the Nguyens have 437 fans in two thefacebook.com groups, "I Love the Asian Lady who makes the Sandwiches in Eickhoff :)" and "I ALSO Love the Asian Man (Kim) In Eichoff Who Makes Sandwiches." (sic) The groups' pages are laced with tales of friendly encounters and tidbits of the couple's life story.
The medical profession requires extensive use of the hands, so some skills transferred over to her sandwich-making job in America, Monglan Thi Nguyen said in an interview translated by freshman chemistry major Thanh Le. The Vietnam native understands English, but is more comfortable speaking Vietnamese.
The double-licensed doctor is especially careful not to use moldy bread for her sandwiches, because she wants to ensure the sandwich is sanitary, she said. In addition to her friendliness, it is one of the reasons students form long lines in front of her sandwich station.
"She ... does little things (like not giving you the bad tomatoes or the wilted lettuce) and it makes people feel good," Meghan Bermudez, freshman psychology and education for the deaf and hard of hearing major, wrote in a thefacebook.com message. Bermudez is president and founder of Nguyen's thefacebook.com group.
In Vietnam, however, the licenses to administer medical care and make special remedies were put to their intended use. After growing up in a well-off family that took people in to care for them, she volunteered with other doctors to care for neighbors.
Then, imprisoned by communists for four-and-a-half years, she administered medical care and said she was treated well during her sentence.
After her husband served 10 years in prison for helping the United States resist the communists as a pilot in the Vietnam War, the family took advantage of a deal from the American government to immigrate to the United States.
"We came here for freedom and a better life," Kim Nguyen said.
While the two were in prison, Monglan Nguyen's mother cared for their first daughter, who is now 34 years old. Their second daughter was young, born after Kim Nguyen was released. When the couple was preparing to move to the United States, Monglan Nguyen hesitated.
There was a bad omen, she said. They were to travel over the water, and she had thoughts of her family drowning. She held back a little while, but eventually decided to come to the United States, entering her second child into the second grade at an American elementary school.
Once a shy, intelligent student in a northern Vietnamese high school, Monglan Nguyen earned a scholarship to study in the United States after graduation, she said. Her grandmother fell ill, though, and she was unable to leave her. Instead, she pursued her doctor's licenses at a southern Vietnamese school in Saigon.
After finally arriving with her husband and two children in the United States in 1993, Monglan Nguyen earned a degree in communication from Mercer County Community College.
Her 19-year-old daughter is now a freshman at the same school, but will transfer her credits to the College in two years, the Nguyens said.
Now, Monglan Nguyen said she is waiting for a good omen to visit Vietnam. She said she carries the good parts of her country with her, but she likes the freedom here that Vietnam does not yet have as a communist state.
Meanwhile, she sends her earnings back to the country to help the elderly and for building tunnels. She said her commitment to this service is a result of a deep religion, her own combination of Buddhism and Christianity.
When she was little, Monglan Nguyen said she saw a vision of the Virgin Mary, who told her that animals are living, just like people, and it would be cruel to murder them.
Although she is scared of meat, her love for students enables her to handle the cold cuts of turkey, ham and bologna to construct sandwiches such as what one student in thefacebook.com group called a "STRONGMAN SANDWICH."
She said she does not mind making sandwiches after being a doctor, because every time she sees someone's smile, all the work feels worthwhile and her life seems meaningful.
(04/06/05 12:00pm)
A lone Canada goose preened its feathers and plopped down comfortably as Pinnacle 1 golf balls landed nearby on the Green Lane playing fields.
"I don't think that one goose did all this," Kerri Matthes, rugby captain and junior biology major, said, pointing out a dried piece of excrement.
It was one of a scattering of old droppings and a few new ones still green and dark with moisture, on the field where the rugby players sit down to stretch, tackle each other to the ground and carefully place their hands to do pushups.
"People think girl rugby players are all manly and don't get grossed out, but when we walked up here we were like 'this is disgusting,'" she said. "Within 20 minutes, you're sitting in it."
To combat the overpopulation of geese and abundance of droppings on campus, the College hired Karen Cox, her six Australian cattle dogs, her border collie and her yellow battery-powered mini speed boat to harass the geese into finding new homes.
According to Don Blauth, project specialist of Grounds and Landscaping Services; the College hosts anywhere from 500 to1,000 of the birds at any time. Each Canada goose drops about two pounds of cigar-shaped turds each day.
"They're a nuisance," Blauth said. "Just the droppings alone are not only unsightly, but could also be a health issue."
Stamps on the side of the grey mini van and on the owner's yellow hat read "Who ya gonna call? Goose Busters."
"My Australian Cattle Dog is smarter than your honor student," a bumper sticker on the back claimed.
"You're gonna have to go all the way down," the six-year experienced goose patroller, who prefers to be called "Karen Cattledog" rather than her last name, instructed 12-year-old Dingo, her oldest dog.
He looked back at her, as if for reassurance, and then bounded at geese grazing in the distance on Lake Sylva's bank.
"This whole section used to be non-walkable, with goose poop from one end to the other," she said.
At the sound of Dingo's bark and a goose's warning honk, the large black-necked birds flapped their wings and skimmed into the lake as fishermen and College students strolled by sprouting daffodils in the warm early spring air.
"They're very sticky this time of year," the cattle dogs' owner said.
Late March and early April are mating season months for Canada geese, so they lay claim to certain spots on the edge of the lake. Also, the females are so laden with eggs that they can only waddle.
Although one of the dogs likes to swim after them, the remote-control boat did the same job in frightening the birds away from their new landing spot on the other side of the lake.
When they saw the boat swerving threateningly at them, the geese took flight.
Sometimes the boat will scare the geese from one end of the lake to the opposite side where another group resides, Cox said. The two groups will fight, scaring off the birds in the middle.
Any combination of prize-winning Australian Cattle dogs Rainer, Kadi, Dingo, Sally, Tonka, Bux, Rainer and border collie Specs visit the campus at random times at least twice a day, 365 days per year.
"I can't convince the geese to take weekends and holidays off," Cox said.
Australian cattle dogs, an energetic breed that is a mix of dalmatian, collie and dingo, instinctively try to round up and bring the geese to their owner. Instead the geese fly away, so the dogs are trained to return to the owner.
The geese are attracted by the grass, lakes and, to an extent, by people feeding them. Cox hands out "Caution: Feeding Waterfowl may be harmful!" pamphlets issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to discourage goose feeders.
Not all College students are annoyed by the birds.
"I think they're pretty," Manisha Narang, junior sociology major, said. "Geese are on the campus because humans have displaced their habitat."
The 1916 Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the killing of Canada geese unless the zone is authorized by the Secretary of the Interior.
As the country's geese population soared to about 3.5 million, some area governments began allowing hunters to kill the birds.
Dog use, grass treating, landscape reform and other scare tactics were developed as alternative ways to deter the birds from unwanted areas.
"I believe the current method of goose control at TCNJ is more humane than methods of euthanasia," Andrew Morganate, Animal Rights New Jersey co-president, said. "It may be more effective in the long run to change the landscape along the lakes on campus."
The goose busting crew also regularly visits the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf, Springdale Golf Course, New Jersey Manufacturers, Lawrence Shopping Center, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
However, the College gets the best service, Cox said, because it is only two blocks from her home.
As for the rugby field, Cox said she scared about 100 geese from the fields about a month ago and was not sure why there is a problem.
She said lately there have not been a lot of geese on the Green Lane fields, although any geese are chased away. The geese could be spending the night, but geese usually prefer to settle down for the night at the lakes.
She urged anybody with goose slime problems to contact Blauth or 'Karen and the goose busters.'
(04/06/05 12:00pm)
The College is seeking $900,000 in a trial that began Monday against Selective Insurance group. Selective insured the original Science Complex contractor, a company that was terminated for a lack of timeliness and quality.
"No building is ever built exactly the same again," Provost Stephen Briggs said about the Science Complex construction. "These people are professionals, but they never built this building before. It very often takes several years to get everything working the way it is supposed to."
The College is involved in litigation with three separate companies over problems in the Science Complex.
The College terminated the contract of the original general contractor, Paphian, on Feb. 5, 2001. In addition to Paphian, there were four other contractors involved in the project, working on steel, plumbing, electricity and heat and air conditioning.
When one fell behind on interior partitioning, three others who relied on the placement of the metal studs fell behind schedule also. Delays occurred when the College had to ask the contractor to redo block work.
In litigation that began in Jan. 2003, the College asserted claims that Paphian made mistakes that caused a leaky roof. Selective's and Paphian's lawyers are expected to allege that the problems were the fault of someone other than their insured.
The College had an insurance bond with Travelers Insurance, which looked into Paphian's termination and hired a new contractor, Daniel J. Keating, to complete the project.
In accordance with the bond that the College bought, Travelers would hire someone to finish the job if the contractor made mistakes. Bonds are typically priced at about 2 percent of the construction cost.
"It's a guarantee to the owner that the surety will finish the job, provided we were right in terminating," Brian Murray, director of Campus Planning and Construction said.
Litigation with Travelers heated up in Aug. 2004. The College made a list of problems with the Science Complex after its completion and paid outsiders to repair them.
"Travelers did not complete the punch list, so the College brought in other people to fix things last summer," Murray said.
CUH2A, an engineering firm with headquarters in Princeton, found that fume hoods in science labs exhausted the lowest necessary amount of fumes, but not enough to prevent odors. Over the summer, the fume hoods were improved to reduce odors.
Also, the interior walls were spotted. Apparently, Daniel J. Keating initially used a different brand of the color canary yellow to touch up the walls.
The College has also been in litigation since Oct. 2003 with original engineers Syska & Hennessy over vibrations in the observatories and possible heat and air conditioning problems.
The College hired D'Huy Engineering, Inc, based in Bethlehem, Pa., to discover the cause of the vibrations. The report will be available in a few weeks.
Two observatories that house an 11-inch Celestron and a 16-inch Meade telescope vibrate, causing blurry images.
A third open-air observatory was built above a mechanical room. There is no occupancy permit yet, so the observatory's six telescope stands are empty. The physics department said it is useless for astronomical observations.
The College plans to deal with possible heat and air conditioning issues in the complex after commencement, when workers will not get in the way of professors.
"With public institutions, this is becoming a way of life," Murray said. He said he reads law books before he goes to sleep at night.
According to New Jersey state law, public institutions are required to publicly advertise and award a contract to the "lowest responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to the invitation for bids, will be the most advantageous to the state college."
"The key element is to pre-qualify," Murray said. "Contractors must have done similar projects successfully."
Now, the College has a list of qualifications and requires references for when contractors bid. Murray said he shared the College's policy with other Colleges, such as Stockton and Rowan, which housed its students in hotels because of construction problems.
"Today that contractor would not be allowed to bid," Murray said. "I've been told we have the most stringent qualifications now."
Thus, the library construction under Hunt Construction Group is well underway, and the College is satisfied with the contractor's progress.
However, the College is now waiting for a response from surety Liberty Mutual over the termination of the contract for the apartment complex construction, a joint venture for AST Development and Cambridge Construction Management.
The surety has to investigate if the College was right in terminating the contract before it will hire a new contractor to finish the buildings.
(03/30/05 12:00pm)
Ken Reisch, freshman mathematics major, lifted up a handful of skirts and bras for a hesitant Wal-Mart fitting room attendant as a line of shoppers waited behind him. After the clerk, a foreigner, called over another foreign clerk for her opinion, the two finally agreed to let Reisch try on the size 40B black bra, black button-up sweater and black knee-high socks that would transform him into Britney Spears.
"I will never understand how more experienced drag queens deal with this sort of embarrassment," the soon-to-be drag queen said after the shopping trip with Community Advisor and senior graphic design major Laureen Biruk.
Reisch, in a size four red plaid skirt and with his bra stuffed with socks on March 22, was not overdressed when he arrived at the Award Show Drag Show sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU), the office of Residence Life and the Gay Union of Trenton State at The College of New Jersey (GUTS). With women sporting baggy pants and men donning mini skirts and lipstick, the drag show brought laughter to a full audience in Forcina 134 and raised $304.16 for the Dooley House, a home for children with HIV/AIDS.
"The costume took only five to 10 minutes to put on, but when shaving your legs, which took a half an hour for me anyway, and putting on makeup, which is a long and tedious process, taking an hour to complete - I am now amazed by ladies that have the time to do this on a regular basis, it took me a total of almost two hours to get ready," Reisch said.
Reisch mimicked Britney Spears' dance moves and made up some of his own, including falling on top of Jenn Harris, who would later be named drag king, to the music of "Toxic." He got the idea from Britney's song, in which he remembered that she was a seductive agent who killed a man by simultaneously kissing and poisoning him.
"I dress in drag all the time," the host read, before Harris, wearing a tie and Hot Topic hat, stepped on the stage for her act: a dance with a tiny green, blow-up electric guitar from a dollar store. "For those who know me, have you ever seen me dress like a girl?"
Nichole Bramletta and Kamaria Byrd played Usher and Lil Jon, or "Jack and Jill" who went up the hill.
"Jack pushed Jill down the hill," host and GUTS president Noel Ramirez, sophomore communication studies and women and gender studies major, said when announcing the pair. "Now she wants Jack to hit the road."
"Jack," however, resisted and reached out for an angry "Jill," dressed as a grandmother and threatening him with a rolled up newspaper, until Jill exited the stage dragging Jack behind her.
Other acts included dancing, lip syncing and suggestions of chemistry between the men and the women, after which the audience laughed and dropped cash into pastel-colored plastic pails with bunnies on them to support their favorite acts.
"Remember, we accept Benjamins, and if you guys have VISA cards ... " Ramirez said.
"If it were not for all of you, we would just be dancing on the stage and not hugging the babies," Angel Hern?ndez, freshman psychology major, said in his thanks to the audience at the end of the show. He was wearing a pleated size five grey mini skirt from Wet Seal, which he purchased at Goodwill, and a black top cut just short enough to cover his tissue-stuffed bra.
Hern?ndez, GUTS AIDS Awareness Week chairperson and a contestant, had been in a drag show at Rider University, so he knew what worked and did not work to coordinate a successful event. Biruk said she was looking for something different, "something that the campus hasn't been exposed to," when she found out that GUTS was starting to put together the show. BSU was holding AIDS Awareness Week and GUTS agreed to help fundraise.
Freshman English major Kamarya Byrd, the BSU secretary who co-hosted the event, and Biruk both helped with the show's coordination. Byrd, Biruk and Hern?ndez all expressed interest in holding the event again next year.
"It's a good way to bring diversity to the community and help those in need," Byrd said.
Freshman statistics major and one of Reisch's floormates, Cait Sidrane, came to the show with a group of friends.
"I'm excited; it should be really funny," she said before the show. "I don't even think I could fit in some of those clothes."
(03/23/05 12:00pm)
A mother may whisper songs to her child at tuck-in time about diamonds above the world so high or rhymes about small dogs laughing at cows hurdling moons. After she leaves, he may softly pad over to the window to wish with all his may and might for the wish - a pony, a telescope, a College education - that he wishes tonight.
Man, since the ancients named the constellations, has been fascinated with the nighttime firmament.
"Looking at the starry sky is similar to looking at a beautiful sunset or painting," Raymond Pfeiffer, astronomy professor, said. "Studying the night sky also gives some people a broader view of the world of physical reality in which they are constrained to live for their entire existence."
College students, in the absence of mothers to tuck them in, can stay up as late as they wish. Thus, while children are nestled snug in their beds, grown-up children can view the heavens and find more than just wishes and diamonds.
Astronomy and physics students use two of the College's three observatory towers and the planetarium, but few students outside of these classes have taken advantage of the facilities.
"Normally only people in the astronomy classes go," Chris Voinier, senior physics major, said.
While a trained faculty member has to be present to operate the planetarium, an observatory is open 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday until daylight-savings time, when it will be open from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Under encouragement from resident astrophysicists, professors Pfeiffer and Thulsi Wickramasinghe, Voiner and junior physics major Richard Ottens started an astronomy club.
The club will bring students to the observatories and planetarium shows, hold its first star party April 19th - or 20th if bad weather interferes - and take a trip to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, which houses a journey through the evolution of the universe according to the Big Bang theory and the largest, most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world to show pictures of the night sky.
Club members will use the Science Complex's equipment, some of which has been left unused because of structural problems.
Two domed observatories house a 16-inch Meade telescope with a camera attached, used mainly by physics students figuring out the radio velocities of stars or the orbital velocity of the earth, and an 11-inch Celestron, a robotic telescope astronomy students use.
The College is in litigation about the improperly built Science Complex. The observatories should have been built isolated from the rest of the building, because vibrations from nearby pipes distort the telescopic images.
One unusable open-air observatory that would hold six telescopes was built above a mechanical room. It does not have an occupancy permit yet, but even if students were allowed in, it is useless for astronomical observations.
A structural consultant visited the College to review what can be done to fix the vibrations. His report should be available this week, according to director of Facilities Operations Joseph Sullivan.
Light pollution further aggravates the vibration problem.
"It's a waste of energy to broadcast all that light up into the sky," Pfeiffer said about lights on campus.
Campus lights reflect off the metal interior of the dome, interfering with images.
"We need to come up with a means to minimize and eliminate light pollution," Sullivan said. "It's a lot more than throwing plates on top of the lights."
Sullivan said a lighting consultant will work on the problem this spring.
While in good working condition, the 48-seat, handicapped accessible, 30-foot diameter planetarium, is usually inaccessible to students because of its delicacy. The planetarium's German designer taught professors how to align the 24 slide projectors and to simulate the Big Bang, the night sky, clouds, a setting and rising sun, visuals of constellations and the earth's rotation.
"Anyone who doesn't take astronomy is just a useless person," Paul Hiack, Professor Emeritus, said, drawing laughs from the other astronomy professors.
Hiack has been in the physics program at the College for over 40 years, and the planetarium is going to be named after him.
He slipped in an Eddie Howard CD that resonated in the simulated night sky. The planetarium, though the professors stress that it is not a toy, can play music, and the projector can display any planetarium show, slide show or DVD.
In the observatory tower, viewers can check out the mountains and craters of the moon or try to make out the nearest galaxy, Andromeda. Star gazers should look out for Saturn's rings, Jupiter, Venus and Mars. In June, Saturn and Venus can be seen together just after sunset. On Aug. 12, the Perseid meteor shower will peak at 60 meteors per hour.
To find out what is going on in this week's sky, dates for upcoming meteor showers and sky charts, visit skyandtelescope.com.
Visit the astronomy club's Web site at tcnj.edu/~altair for directions to the observatory, astronomy links, meeting times and events.
Also, for those not too grown up to wish on a "shooting star" from a dorm-room window, every night an hourly average of six meteors paint bright, quick lines across the sky.
(03/23/05 12:00pm)
Brazilian hacking group "Simiens Crew" requested the legalization of marijuana and left Portuguese "kisses" in place of the usual blue and gold College homepage on Feb. 27.
"Our objective is to defend the population and to face the same government that let us need to take off pages international to obtain this," "Matheus Silva" wrote in broken English in an email message from simienscrew@yahoo.com.br, the address in the tag of many of Simiens defacements. "Then if not to advance, at least we made our part and we are not seated seeing TV waiting something of better happening."
The intruder accessed the homepage through a student's personal College Web site (www.tcnj.edu/~student's last name). The student was letting outsiders upload files to the Web site using the programming language called PHP, which was coded incorrectly on the site.
The hacking group uploaded files onto the student's Web page, took over the student's account and broke into the main Web server.
"That's why good secure passwords are important," Craig Blaha, associate director for Information Policy, Security and Web Development, said. He said that in addition to breaking PHP scripts, hackers may get in by figuring out passwords. Passwords should be long, a mixture of letters and characters, changed every three months and unshared with friends, he said.
System administrator Shawn Sivy restored the original page and recorded the intruder's steps as it attempted to access the main Web site again. He then updated the software to block out the hacker.
The whole process, which began at 10:12 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, took a half hour. Sivy restarted the homepage Monday morning.
Information Technology locked out the student's account and shut down the student's Web site, Sivy said.
The hackers looked around on the network and uploaded html pages, which Information Technology simply deleted, but were unable to access other individual students' accounts.
The main site denies access to other students' accounts from the homepage.
The group takes advantage of vulnerable PHP and Advanced Web Statistics (AWStats) codes on College, personal, commercial, activist, and other Web sites in the United States, Korea, Brazil and around the world. Despite the problem, the College is still offering PHP to students.
"It's a good learning tool," Blaha said. "We all talked about it and decided it's still worth offering."
To be prosecuted, hackers have to rack up losses in Web server's budgets to gain Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attention. For the College, however, the repair only cost Sivy's time, which the College pays for anyway.
Simiens is apparently not making any money out of the hacking.
"People who get paid - you usually don't know they're there," Blaha said. Paid hackers are advertisers or blackmailers, he said, and would not have left their tag on the site.
"We do not receive money from nobody, we are making this for the Brazilian population that is our source of inspiration today and always," Silva wrote.
Simiens' message on the College homepage was "Simiens -Legalize Ja -beijos pras minas de New Jersy." Translated using world.altavista.com and assuming the hacker meant to spell "New Jersey" and "paras," the phrase means "Simiens -Legalize Ja -kisses you stop mines of New Jersey."
"The "Legalize j?" here in Brazil means the legalization of marijuana," Silva wrote. "It is as to write, 'IT LEGALIZES NOW.'"
Rated zone-h.org's seventh "Top attacker," 283 newly defaced Web sites with Simiens' signature appeared in the Web site's digital attacks archive in just two hours Sunday morning, midnight to 2 a.m.
A Google search of "Simiens" yields 30,300 results. A few advertise vacations to Ethiopia's volcano-formed Simiens mountain chain and the French book "Perpetual Decline of the Simiens" by Gilbert Bow?, but most of the results are illustrations from over 33,000 Web site defacements signed by Simiens.
"Because simiens means 'homosapiens,' then we are giving an idea of that if Brazil to continue thus, we go to come back to the planet of the monkeys," Silva wrote.
The hackers leave messages about legalizing marijuana and a cease to war and hunger.
A common Simiens message is "Simiens Crew 2005, Enquanto Houver Fome Morte Guerra Simiens Existera," which translates to, "As long as there is hunger death and war Simiens exists."
In Rio de Janeiro and other places in Brazil, illegal drug traffickers clash with police in a drug war that has erupted in violence and movements to decriminalize drug users.
"The war of drugs of Rio De Janeiro is horrible ... all day more than dies 5 people in Rio De Janeiro because of the drugs," Silva wrote, apologizing for his poor English. "The people do not leave house more than when hours of the night for the reason pass of the 9:00 that can be deceased for dealers."
(03/16/05 12:00pm)
Snow still sprinkled the ground from the night before, but a long line of college students crowded the cold steps of Kendall Hall where comedians Charlie Murphy, Bill Burr and Donnell Rawlings were expected to arrive.
Sophomore engineering major Christopher Allen was the first to arrive. He had seen comedians live before, he said, including Dave Chappelle, Stephen Lynch and Charlie's brother Eddie Murphy, but, still, in anticipation of this tour, "I'm Rich, Biatch!" he leaned against a Kendall Hall column an hour before the doors were scheduled to open.
Junior music education major Lauren Gagliardi used a different tactic than Allen to earn a front-row seat. A few minutes before the doors opened, she and her friends raced to Kendall and slipped to the front of the crowd.
"This is going to be the funniest show I've ever seen live," Gagliardi said.
A crowd of about 600 was not disappointed as the three explosive personalities from "Chappelle's Show" indiscriminately poked fun at anyone and anything. Their uncensored humor drew roars of sometimes tearful laughter and caused DJ Nix-in-the-mix to double over with hilarity.
"When I booked this gig, it's in my contract that I can't say anything positive," Rawlings said.
Burr discussed marriage ("If somebody told you when you went parachuting that half the parachutes weren't going to open, would you still go?"), the Olsen twins' eating habits, racism in chat rooms and his sex life with a woman who lived on 125th street in New York City.
He also debated feminists' pleas for equal wages. For some reason, he noted, women and children get to go in the lifeboats first if the Titanic is sinking. Also, if there is a rabid dog or a bump in the night, it is the man's job to take care of it.
"Where are all the feminists in those situations?" he asked. "Can't find 'em!"
Murphy, like the other two comedians, talked about race and his genitals. He took a different twist, however, and also chatted about his relationships offstage. Rawlings, he said, is sick of hearing "Charlie Murphy" all the time, but Murphy is not.
"My name was Eddie Murphy's brother for 16 years," Murphy said. "That 'Eddie Murphy's brother' stuff was deep. My own son called me Eddie Murphy's brother once ... (rumble of laughter from audience) ... once."
Murphy remembered his former friendship with deceased musician Rick James and a basketball game he lost to Prince after Murphy underestimated the singer's athletic ability.
"All black men cannot play basketball," Murphy said. "That's a myth that was born in the '70s."
No one was spared these comics' humor - not Chinese people (Rawlings: "Did I offend everyone here? Not yet!? OK, Chinese people..."), Michael Jackson, George Bush (Murphy: "I like him ... he's doing global gangster stuff"), a mentally challenged hippopotamus that died in the tsunami last year or this Signal reporter. Rawlings demanded and then snatched the reporter's notebook, laid down on the stage and read a version of a lewd quote out of it.
A fan backstage may sense the same love among the three comedians.
"Nobody is friends on this tour," Rawlings said after the show. "Charlie Murphy's head is getting big."
They said they had a great time at the College and were glad they did not perform in Loser Hall. Burr said the name "bugged us out."
"I like the fact that I can inspire and help students reach their dreams with my inspirational and positive act," Rawlings said.
The troupe has drawn gales of laughter from Alabama to California since the tour began in July. They will keep going "as long as all the members are popular and famous," according to agent Nick Bayne from Relevant Entertainment.
"We could laugh at every one's differences, which usually divide us," Je-Hanne Forsythe, Afrikan-American Cultural Awareness Association (AACAA) president, said. "The togetherness that came out of the show was terrific."
AACAA co-sponsored the tour, called "I'm Rich Biatch!," with the College Union Board (CUB).
"I felt that everyone at the show was laughing and having fun," CUB event coordinator and senior marketing major Lauren Conroy said. "CUB's main goal is to bring enjoyable entertainment to the campus, so it was a successful event."
In an interview after the show, Rawlings claimed he served jail time because of "something to do with a reporter." He said he would have to kill anybody he told the reason for his incarceration.
Without victimization in a murder, it seemed there had been enough attention focused on the media for one night. This reporter did not inquire further.
"If you quote me on that, add LOLOL at the end," Rawlings added.
Readers should rest assured; most of these comics' comments come complete with an "LOLOL."
(03/16/05 12:00pm)
The Student Government Association (SGA) passed the Vice President of Equity and Diversity bill 33-7-2 in front of approximately 20 campus club leaders and members at its March 2 meeting.
The bill, which is intended to create a vice president position that will encourage diversity and communication between differing campus groups, requires a two-thirds vote to pass in the referendum on April 18 and 19.
SGA rejected senator of education Thea Shoenberg's formal amendment to change the position to an internally elected director who could hold committee meetings and report to SGA's community relations committee.
"I'm concerned with the way this is designed," Shoenberg said. "It's not really going to affect everybody on campus."
"If it is a vice president position, organizations that have a lot of pull on this campus will put forth a candidate," Heather McCollum, senator of culture and society, said. The amendment, which needed a majority vote, failed 14-26-1. "The point is not that the groups that are the most well-represented on this campus should be voted into office."
If the name of the position was changed, students would not vote on the bill in a referendum. SGA would appoint the director. Shoenberg said this would eliminate bias, and some members spoke up in favor of the compromise. Others said the job was too time-consuming to only be a director position.
"Even if they are focusing on certain groups, other groups on the committee will hold that person accountable," Joanna Holgu?n, senator-at-large, communications director and one of the bill's sponsors, said. Those in the non-voting audience who opposed the bill said that an SGA vice president would be unable to compel integration and acceptance among all groups on campus.
"I just don't see there's a need for this now," Dan Beckelman, associate SGA member, said. He said SGA should be concerned with security and the budget and urged SGA members to "take a step back and see where our most important concerns are."
Disappointed at the lack of student representation at the first meeting in which SGA debated and then tabled the bill, German exchange student and UL member Andrea Leonhardt sent an e-mail about the next meeting with an excerpt from the bill to friends and classmates. She asked them to spread the word by forwarding the message. Still, she was disappointed by how many people showed up to the meeting.
"People really should be aware that if they don't express their interest in such a position, the 'doubters' of its necessity are right, because then there is obviously no interest and why should they care," she said.
As the clock neared the 5 p.m. adjournment,senator-at-large Kevin Kelly called the bill to question.
It passed by four votes more than the necessary two-thirds majority, which would have been 29. Kelly, who at an earlier meeting said he would vote for the bill if "vice president" were changed to "director," and Shoenberg, who suggested the amendment, both abstained.
"I feel that we still need more conversation as we move from presenting the bill from the SGA to the entire student body," SGA president Pedro Khoury said after the meeting. He said it was good SGA believed in the job position's values, but was disappointed the decision was not unanimous.
At the meeting, acting assistant director of Residence Assignments, Gretchen Reyes Cseplo, also fielded housing and meal plan questions.
She said students who were unable to pick meal plans via TESS or want to change their meal plans will be able choose in April when they sign their housing contracts. The Electronic Student Service (T.E.S.S.) meal plan selection is only a preliminary one, she said.
She said the "Apply for Housing" link on the T.E.S.S. Web site was not working from 8:31 a.m. Feb. 28 until 5:15 p.m. March 1 because of technological glitches, although the housing department's previous test run had been successful.
If students have more questions, they may visit the residence assignments Web site or ask the office assistant on AOL Instant Messenger, using the screen name TCNJResAssign.
The remainder of the SGA meeting was tabled until today due to time constraints.
(03/16/05 12:00pm)
It may sound a little suspicious that the workers here carry ropes, metal contraptions, rocks and gallons of acid.
The ropes and clips, however, are for protection, and the acid is used to clean off the chalk, necessary for good friction when climbing the rocks that can reach up to 32-feet high at an indoor gym called Rockville in Hamilton, New Jersey, which is frequented by College students.
"Climbing offers something that's physically, intellectually and spiritually challenging-not a lot of sports do," Rockville private owner Michael Fortunado said.
Fortunado, a former restaurant owner, discovered climbing when an electrician-friend was doing some work on the restaurant and suggested climbing as a good sport. He climbed once at a local gym that had just opened up, and then he bought equipment the next day.
Likewise, College graduate student Travis Trumbly was hooked to Rockville on his first visit. He found the gym in an online search, checked it out and bought a semester-long membership that day. Ever since, he has had consistent membership. He went with a residence life staff group and took his floor as a community advisor (CA).
"The staff there are all great, and have always been very friendly and supportive of TCNJ groups," he said.
The staff, which was all Rockville climbers at one point, chat with Fortunado and the climbers. The atmosphere is friendly and lively, as children and adults try bouldering (climbing without rope) and attach themselves to ropes to climb rocks attached to walls.
Trumbly climbs two to three times a week with a couple of his pole vaulting friends and runs a club on thefaceook.com, "TCNJ rock climbers."
"I was looking around one day and saw there were like 15 people who listed climbing as an activity," he said. "I figured this would be a great way to be able to invite them to go climbing sometime."
One cannot talk about climbing up without telling the survival stories of falling down (Rockville does have a waiver participants must sign). Trumbly said he has read "Touching the Void" and "Into Thin Air," two books about mountaineers in peril.
"I've taken 20-foot falls routinely," Fortunado said. "As long as you don't swing into the wall you're OK. (If you do) you need to hit the wall with all four (limbs)."
Trumbly once climbed 10 feet above the clip that attached him to the wall and fell 22 feet on a 32 feet high wall.
"It was a big fall, but I didn't get hurt at all, just rattled me," he said.
Fortunado broke his ankle last year when he swung into the wall after taking a calculated risk in climbing above his clip.
"The sport is about taking a risk and assessing whether it's worth it," Fortunado said.
In outdoor climbing, climbers call "Rock out" when one knocks down a loose rock. In El Potrero, Mexico, a piece of rock shaken by a previous climber fell 10 feet away from the side of Fortunado.
"You just close your eyes and hope that it misses you," Fortunado said. Or, he adds, climbers may find shelter in overhangs. The helmets climbers wear are only enough to protect them from pebbles. Bigger rocks threaten neck injuries.
The price of gear is enough to encourage a prospective outdoor climber to stay indoors a while. While Rockville costs $15 for five climbs, outdoor gear costs anywhere from $103, for the most basic gear, to $1,000, according to Fortunado.
Climbing is a sport open to all ages. Fortunado began climbing eight years ago at the age of 34, and he says he would like to try The Nose or El Capitan in Yosemite within the next 10-15 years.
"You can do the sport in your 60s, no problem," he said.
Although his one-year-old daughter has not yet begun, his three-year old daughter climbs all the way to the top of the highest wall.
The walls contain routes color-coded with tape for the difficulty level of the rock sequence, which changes daily.
"It's the course that you follow that determines how difficult it is," Fortunado said.
Whether middle aged or college aged, the sport is good exercise. Fortunado is in shape soley from climbing.
"I climb because it is great exercise, stress relief and fun," Trumbly said. "It gives me a lot of motivation to still work out on campus and try to stay in shape."
Although climbing is an individual competition, both Trumbly and Fortunado note the camaraderie of the activity.
"The climbing community seems to be a very friendly community with everyone always being talkative and outgoing," Trumbly said. "I guess because it's such a select community of people, we all share a very common interest."
For more information on Rockville, visit Rockvilleclimbing.com.