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(09/11/18 4:57pm)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
The “Sight Specific: Art of Community” exhibit opened on Wednesday, Sept. 5, in the Art and Interactive Multimedia Gallery, and showcases visual art that honors members of the Trenton community. The gallery features photography, murals, collage work, video art and more.
Half of the exhibit displays the work of students who took the Community Engaged Art class in the spring of 2018. The other half highlights the work of four local artists who visited the College to collaborate with students.
“This show is a great opportunity for members of our campus to learn more about the local art scene and generate a sense of connectedness between the campus and community,” said Carolina Blatt-Gross, assistant professor of art education at the College.
For their photo project, the class collaborated with artist JR, whose international project “Inside Out” won a TED prize at a 2011 TED Conference to fund small projects all over the world.
“Inside Out” serves as a “global platform for people to share their untold stories and transform messages of personal identity into works of public art,” according to the project’s website.
The “Fabric of Trenton” profoundly features massive portraits of Trenton residents who stood in front of a textile background.
“I was super happy because my proposal was chosen for this project,” said Estefany Rodriguez, a junior art education major, who chose the quilt work concept to represent how each person comes together to make up the community.
The portraits are installed in three different locations in Trenton, one just outside of The Hummingbird Restaurant, a Jamaican eatery downtown.
For their next project, the students partnered with East Trenton Collaborative, a group of residents and organizations who work together to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, to create a mural for a community garden in Trenton. The exhibit documents the mural project from start to completion.
Cara Giddens, a senior fine arts major, designed the mural that vibrantly illustrates community members, of various ages and backgrounds, working in a garden to represent the great diversity in the Trenton community.
Melanie Capalbo, a junior art education major, chose a rainbow honeycomb design for the back of the mural – visible from outside of the garden gate — to correlate the importance of bees to agriculture with the importance of the garden to the community.
“(East Trenton Collaborative) really wanted something colorful to uplift the street,” Rodriguez said.
Students created complementary signs that include facts about each vegetable growing in the garden. The signs are written in English on one side and Spanish on the other, so the Spanish speaking population of Trenton can also interact with the garden.
Poster sized portraits of four local artists fill the main wall of the gallery and flow into the second portion of the exhibit, which features each artist’s work.
“They’re all about their community,” Rodriguez said.
In the far corner of the gallery, a video piece that artist Bentrice Jusu worked on with local high school students is projected onto the wall.
Some of Jusu’s display features classic black and white photography that pays homage to Trenton’s Razor Sharp Barber Shop. In Trenton, like many other cities, the barbershop is recognized as more than just a spot to get a haircut — it’s a “community anchor,”according to Jusu.
Artist Tamara Torres’ collage work is a vibrant collective of colors and textures.
One element of the multilayer piece flashes words and phrases like “Revolution” and “The Final American” above the hand of a puppet master. Puppet strings control a police officer holding a gun. A television portraying a sad woman with the word “system” across her mouth is in the place of the officer’s head.
Torres’ work aims to speak to people who have been discriminated against because of their background or culture.
“She’s so deep,” Rodriguez said. “Her pieces are amazing.”
Artist Jon “Lank” Connor displayed extremely detailed stencil work that honors members of his family. Artist Andrew Wilkinson showcases his photographic talent with pixelated photos of some of the College’s art students.
“Hopefully visitors will recognize the richness of the Trenton community and find inspiration for potential future collaborations,” Blatt-Gross said.
The featured artists will return to the College on Sept. 19 for a reception and panel discussion from 5 to 7 p.m.
(04/03/18 6:57am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
The College invited alumnus Ethan Kisch (’14) to share his experience in the field of law and offer advice to prospective law school students in the Education Building Room 115 on Friday, March 30.
Kisch, who majored in political science at the College, went straight to Harvard Law School after graduating. He is in the process of completing a one-year clerkship for a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey.
Kisch interned for the state legislature during his undergraduate study, where he learned the value of internships and building professional connections with lawyers in different settings to gain perspective of what attorneys do on a daily basis.
“If all you’re doing is watching ‘Suits’ and ‘Scandal,’ you’ll have a much different view of what the vast majority of lawyers do,” Kisch said.
Kisch suggested that students connect with College alumni on LinkedIn to see what law schools they’ve gone to and where their careers have taken them.
One of Kisch’s key pieces of advice was to take a course in logic. He described the course as essential for law school and life in general.
“It kind of hardwires your brain in a way to help you realize argumentative structures, where there are holes in arguments and how to write more clearly,” Kisch said.
Kisch suggested that when applying to prospective schools, students do their research and consider the debt involved, the learning environment of the school and what internship opportunities and career prospects the school offers.
While in law school, Kisch interned at a federal prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn, New York where he worked on cases involving organized crime.
He also interned for the attorney general’s civil rights division in Massachusetts, where he worked on cases regarding marriage equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Kisch then completed Harvard’s prison legal assistance project in which students represent Massachusetts inmates, who are accused of violating prison regulations, at disciplinary hearings.
Kisch also advised taking a wide variety of undergraduate classes such as anthropology, finance or computer science in order to diversify students’ educational background.
Kisch recommended students spend one to two years working or volunteering with organizations such as Teach for America or the Peace Corps to gain practical life experience after they complete their undergraduate degree and before they enter law school.
“I went straight through (to Harvard Law School) and I felt very young there,” Kisch said. “Everyone next to me had vast work experience.”
He advised students to take many practice tests and consult online resources to prepare for the Law School Administration Test. Kisch, who dedicated an entire summer to studying for the LSAT and completed a course to prepare for the test, said to “stick it out until you feel like you’re ready to take the exam.”
Today, some law schools accept the Graduate Record Examination, so Kisch recommended taking a practice GRE in addition to the LSAT in order to see which type of exam students have a knack for.
Kisch revealed how law school classes are both similar to and different from classes at the College. He described law school as more rigorous, with heavier reading assignments and less feedback from professors throughout the semester.
Kisch shared his experience with the Socratic method of teaching used in law school, in which discussions are presented in the form of cooperative debates and students are “cold called” in order to guarantee that they’re prepared to participate in class. He assured students that the College adequately prepares students for more rigorous study.
Kisch emphasized the importance of remaining resilient throughout the education process.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken away from this whole process is if you want to go to law school, you’ve got to go all in,” Kisch said.
(02/27/18 7:28am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
The conversation panel “Making America White Again: Borders, Brown Bodies and the Politics of Hate,” invited guest speakers to address controversial social and political issues in the Education Building Room 115 on Thursday, Feb. 22.
Rebecca Martinez, a medical anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of Missouri, is currently working on a project about obstetric violence, which includes unnecessary Cesarean sections and the emotional abuse of women giving birth. Private hospitals in Argentina have an 80 percent C-section rate, according to Martinez, while the C-section rate is normally around 10 percent and is supposed to only be performed when medically necessary, according to the World Health Organization.
“In the United States, we think that our medical practices are more evolved, but, in fact, there are high rates of infant and maternal mortality among black and Latina populations in the U.S. that mimic other populations around the world that we tend to think of as third world,” Martinez said.
Romina Pacheco, a social justice educator at Fairfield University, spoke about how she incorporates students’ voices and realities into the curriculum.
Pacheco said that while students in the U.S. are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, statistics show that most public school teachers are Caucasian women.
“As most of my students are white women who are getting ready to be teachers, it became really important for me to read myself as a whole and hope that when those teachers go into the classroom and work with children that look like my kids, they are ready to do that,” Pacheco said.
Martinez touched on how students from diverse backgrounds are affected when teachers do not incorporate their distinct histories into their education.
Martinez asked the audience to raise their hands if they were taught about Japanese internment camps in school. Almost everyone in the audience raised their hands. Then she asked the audience to raise their hands if they were taught about the history of Mexican repatriation. Only a few audience members raised their hands.
Martinez explained that she didn’t learn about Mexican-American history until she was in college.
“What was going on that I didn’t have access to my own history in my schools, that I was made to feel embarrassed of who I was,” Martinez remembered asking herself.
On the topic of self-identity, Martinez shared how she felt like a fish out of water growing up in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood in southern California with a mother who only spoke Spanish. She recalled moments in her childhood when she wanted to dissociate from her culture.
“I was really embarrassed about my history,” Martinez said. “This is what we know of as internalized racism, where you kind of take in those messages about your people and your group and you internalize them.”
Martinez encouraged the audience to have conversations and think about what it means to be American as it relates to policies like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
According to Leigh-Ann Francis, historian and assistant professor of African American Studies and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at the College, U.S. citizenship and immigration services have decided to no longer accept requests from individuals who have not been granted deferred action under DACA before.
“There are intricacies to our immigration laws that are as old as this country,” Martinez said. “Our immigration laws are steeped in racist discourse and a lot of people don’t know that.”
She explained how some Americans think that there is a never-ending influx of people coming into this country for reasons other than to reunite with their families and friends, citing how the term “family reunification” became “chain migration.”
Martinez also referenced the usage of powerful images like the 1990 Time Magazine cover titled, “America’s Changing Colors: What will the U.S. be like when whites are no longer the majority?” This headline was accompanied by an image of the American flag where the white lines were being taken over by black, brown and yellow lines.
“Why is the fact that America is changing in shade such a big deal?” Martinez said.
Martinez ended her presentation by urging the audience to take a critical lens to the idea that to be American is to be white.
Sponsors of the event included the Union Latina Student Organization, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Division of Student Affairs, Women in Learning and Leadership, Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, the department of African American Studies and the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority.
(02/20/18 8:19am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Multimedia artist Joyce Yu-Jean Lee presented footage of her art installations, which exemplify how visual culture shapes notions of truth and the “other” on Friday, Feb. 16 in Kendall Hall as part of the College’s Brown Bag series.
Lee, who teaches at New Jersey City University and the Fashion Institute of Technology, had no plans to become an artist in her early life. She attended the University of Pennsylvania as a double major in communications and psychology with plans to work in fashion marketing. Two weeks after she returned to school from her summer internship in New York City, some of Penn’s Wharton School of Business alumni who worked at the World Trade Center were killed during the 9/11 attacks. This changed the way Lee saw the world.
“If I die tomorrow, with no warning whatsoever, what do I want to be in the middle of doing?” Lee recalled asking herself at the time.
Lee turned to art to process what was happening and make sense of the influx of information and images coming from the media following the 9/11 attacks.
Today, Lee is highly selective in the way she consumes news. She does not watch or own a television. Lee believes our relationship with the media has a profound impact on the way we understand society and view others.
“While contemporary media washes over us, we can sometimes get lulled to sleep and we don’t realize what’s happening,” Lee said.
She encouraged the audience to pause and consider how media influences their perspective of the world around them.
Lee’s recent project, FIREWALL, a pop-up interactive art installation, was displayed at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City and the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway. The project compared the disparities of America’s Google search engine to China’s Baidu in an effort to shed insight on how internet censorship produces different results in different countries, and to create discussion about internet rights and freedoms.
FIREWALL garnered the attention of Chinese authorities when Lu Miaoqing, the only lawyer to win two cases over China’s single child policy, prepared to participate on Lee’s feminist activists panel. The night before the panel, the Chinese government reached out to Miaoqing’s law firm and forbade her to work with Lee or to ever speak publicly again. Miaoqing is now on academic asylum in the U.S.
Lee’s latest exhibit, State of the DysUnion, is on display at NJCU’s Visual Arts Gallery until March 1. This project presents a snapshot of today’s journalism, advertising and the internet influenced by “alternative facts” and “fake news” discussed in the media.
The project is displayed as an eight-foot cylindrical screen.
The first chapter shows a variety of news clippings, that include both liberal and conservative articles.
The piece rotates front-page international news stories from the day Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
The next chapter of the installation shows drone footage of the first Women’s March in 2017, from every location around the world, overlaid with footage from this past summer’s California wildfire. The piece showcases the magnitude of the reaction to Trump’s election while the wildfire footage represents how the media builds energy of its own.
Lee uses her art to help figure out how to navigate personal agency in the midst of today’s confusing media landscape.
In her 2012 performative activist exhibition, Made in China, at (e)merge Art Fair, Lee dressed up as a Chinese factory worker with a peddler’s cart who created limited edition works of art. Behind her, a screen displayed other factory workers making the products she was selling. This project served as an effort to point at the hypocrisy surrounding the U.S.’ relationship with China and trade.
“Why is it that the pinnacle of American design, which we know of as Apple, is not affordable to the Chinese?” Lee said, challenging the damaging concept of elite design. “And why is it that even though most of the objects are manufactured in their country, they have to make fake stores in order to buy these black market, bootleg items?”
Lee feels that artists have a specific role in society — to function as a mouthpiece. They produce works based on the emotions and conditions of the present day, operating as a societal barometer.
Through her art, Lee hopes to continue to serve American culture by highlighting important issues that often go undiscussed, and by challenging our country’s standards for communication.
(01/30/18 6:11am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government announced approval from the state for a $1 million grant to renovate the Student Recreation Center at its meeting on Jan. 24. The College plans to create office spaces dedicated to health and wellness by building a second floor over the racquetball courts.
SG introduced three bills to be voted on at its meeting on Wednesday, Jan 31.
The first bill legitimizes the current process for student organizations that wish to update their constitutions. The organizations must get approval from staff members at the Office of Student Involvement to ensure that their updated constitutions follow the College’s code of conduct.
The second bill extends the timeframe for new clubs to contact the Office of Student Involvement after approval from SG. Organizations now have three weeks instead of two to register to be an officially recognized organization at the College.
The third bill, S-2018-03, was introduced and immediately voted into old business, which allows the bill to be voted on the same day it is proposed.
This bill, sponsored by Baldween Casseus, SG’s vice president of diversity and inclusion and a senior marketing major, proposed a new dress code that would change SG’s dress code from business professional to smart casual for general body meetings.
Ultimately, this bill did not receive the majority vote it needed to pass.
The bill was proposed to make SG more accessible to students of different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Members in support of the bill voiced their concern about creating an elitist bubble around SG, and consequently an opportunity barrier for students who are qualified to become SG members, but are intimidated by the dress code.
Some members agreed that SG could be missing out on opportunities to welcome potential members who have a lot to offer SG, but simply can’t join because they don’t have the proper wardrobe.
“This allows us to widen our net and let other people join Student Government that currently think that they’re not able to do so,” Casseus said.
While some members were concerned with the notion that a more casual attire may result in less professional behavior, they were repeatedly assured that the new bill proposed a mandatory neat and finished look, and members who prefer to continue to wear business professional attire are welcome to do so.
“Professionalism is not inherently connected to the clothes that you are wearing,” Casseus said. “Many of you in this room are, in fact, wearing smart casual attire.”
There were 145 new students accepted to the College this semester, according to the Office of Student Transitions. 100 are transfer students and 45 are first-year students. There has been a six percent increase in undergraduate applications at the College.
The College is applying for a grant to fund financial literacy classes for students of all majors. There is discussion about possibly offering the classes as 0.25 unit courses, according to Elizabeth Bapasola, vice president for student affairs and SG’s adviser.
(12/21/17 1:36am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed a new bill, approved two new clubs for recognition and elected a new speaker of the general assembly on Dec. 6 during its final general body meeting of the fall semester.
SG elected Brittany Cruz, a junior communication studies major, as its new speaker of the general assembly.
Cruz’s new responsibilities include assisting the executive vice president with monitoring SG member activity, fostering a strong sense of community within SG programs and supervising class council activities.
“You can count on me to be an advocate for all members of the organization and the constituents who we strive to serve,” Cruz said.
SG approved both the Enigma Club and the Society of Automotive Engineers Club for recognition.
Enigma Club’s more than 10 official members aim to relieve stress through the stimulation of the mind through puzzles such as rubix cubes, jigsaw puzzles, Sudoku and strategic games like “Tetris.” The club also develops their own original mind puzzles for students to try. Enigma Club runs on donations and will host puzzle-themed campus events like escape the room and murder mystery dinner theatre.
The Society of Automotive Engineers Club maintains an official member base of over 60 students, and aims to provide opportunities to learn more about professional engineering careers by bringing practicing engineers to the College. The club plans to arrange field trips to research engineering establishments and sponsor students with an interest in engineering.
SG also welcomed two guest speakers, Angela Lauer Chong, interim vice president of Student Affairs, and Sean Stallings, interim associate vice president of Student Affairs.
Chong shared some of the priorities for the agenda of the Division of Student Affairs for the next five years, which included diversity and inclusion and leadership development.
Chong thanked SG for its participation in supporting Here for Home, Always, the College’s hurricane relief fundraising campaign. Chong reported that approximately 170 students supported efforts to raise over $4,000, which was donated to relief efforts in Texas and Puerto Rico.
SG passed bill F-2017-16, allowing participation points, accrued by SG members from attending related events, to rollover from the fall to spring semester. If an elected member accumulates more than the necessary 10 points, or six for associate members, the points will rollover into the spring semester of the same academic year.
This bill was passed after an amendment was added to decrease the point cap from four to three points for elected members and three to two points for associate members.
(11/28/17 2:37am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
The College’s Committee on Academic Affairs sought testimony on two potential policy changes for dual majors and learning assistants at the Student Government meeting on Nov. 15.
The first policy change will allow students with dual majors to have two courses that count for their majors also count toward their minor. This policy change is expected to be in effect at the start of the next academic year and will not apply to students with a double major.
The second policy change addresses the roles and responsibilities of learning assistants at the College. The policy will include a statement that learning assistants are expected to enhance the learning experience at the College and do not have the authority to grade students.
SG came to a general consensus that the language in the policy distinguishing the distinction between teaching assistants and learning assistants at the College needs to be made clearer.
The Student Feedback on Teaching task force requested feedback from SG regarding the student feedback request forms sent out at the end of each semester, since the response rate has dropped by 50 percent, according to Cathy Liebars, the vice president of the Student Feedback on Teaching task force and an associate professor of mathematics.
Student request forms ask students for demographic information, feedback on professors and questions about course material at the end of each semester.
Cassandra Kriegel, SG’s vice president of student services and a junior English and secondary education dual major, said some students were uncomfortable with how feedback goes straight to the professors. Kriegel also said some students find some of the questions, such as questions that ask how interesting a mandatory class is, to be nonessential.
Baldween Casseus, SG’s vice president of diversity and inclusion, expressed concerns regarding how time-consuming the feedback forms are. She also raised the issue that because the feedback is requested at the end of the semester, the students are not able to benefit from the potential impacts of their feedback.
The task force took SG’s comments into account for improvements with their feedback forms.
SG also proposed two bills to be voted on at its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
The first bill is to enhance transparency between SG and the campus community by allowing for a public voting record indicating how each member of SG voted on a bill or resolution. The second bill is to correct rollover SG participation points from spring to fall semesters.
SG passed two bills that were introduced at last week’s meeting.
The first bill was introduced to modify qualifications of voting members of the governmental affairs committee. The second bill will ensure that individuals who experience extreme personal circumstances can remain active members of SG despite attendance issues.
SG approved the Strategic Communications club for official student organization recognition. SCC maintains a base of 11 members, and offers students opportunities for networking, mock interviews and LinkedIn workshops.
SG did not approve the Plan of Action club for recognition. POA maintains a member base of 21 official members, and aims to benefit the Ewing and Trenton communities.
The club’s founders refer to the organization as a leadership-focused service club.
POA plans to use small fundraising events throughout the year to support one large annual charity of the club’s choice.
SG agreed that while the club’s ideas are valuable for serving the community, the club is not yet ready for official recognition.
(11/13/17 10:44pm)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government denied the Love Your Melon Club for student organization recognition but approved the American Waterworks Association and the National Association of Black Accountants at its weekly meeting on Nov. 8.
AWWA was approved to become an officially recognized student organization. AWWA exposes students to fluid mechanics and hydraulic engineering. Members attend national conferences and network with professional engineers to get exposure to what is being accomplished nationally, and students will apply that knowledge to projects at the College.
The College’s AWWA chapter maintains a member base of 22 students and plans to keep up a relationship with the national organization.
SG also approved NABA for recognition. NABA was inactive at the College due to lack of recruiting, but now consists of about 12 members. NABA will conduct mock interviews and excel workshops, as well as bring in diverse speakers that relate to the profession.
NABA plans to diversify the College’s School of Business, as well as create a lesson plan to help teach younger students in Trenton, New Jersey about careers in accounting, business and related fields.
The Love Your Melon Club, an organization that seeks to promote sales for the apparel company of the same name, was not approved for recognition. Love Your Melon donates 50 percent of its profits to nonprofit organizations that fight pediatric cancer, and donates hats to children with cancer.
SG members agreed that the organization’s vision was not clear enough and it needed more time at the drawing board. There was also a concern with the exclusivity of a rotation that would allow only 30 members to participate in the organization’s activities at a time.
SG passed two bills that were introduced at last week’s meeting.
The first bill defined the quorum to make the bylaws consistent with the constitution.
Justin Brach, speaker of the general assembly and a junior finance and political science double major, suggested a friendly amendment that read, “In order to maintain quorum and conduct official business, three-fourths of all voting Student Government members must be present and able to vote.”
This bill was passed after the friendly amendment was added.
The second bill was reintroduced to add associate members to the attendance policy that currently applies to cabinet members.
Chris Blakeley, SG’s executive president and a junior civil engineering major, requested feedback for the Office of Student Involvement regarding the policy for flyers posted on bulletin boards for student clubs and organization activities. This policy currently requires all approved material to be hung on designated bulletin boards by the Office of Student Involvement.
The general consensus of SG members was to suggest that the policy be changed to allow clubs and organizations more autonomy to post on the approved bulletin boards after the material is approved to ensure that the flyers go up in time for events. SG agreed that maintaining the policy that the Office of Student Involvement staff take down expired posters will ensure that they are not left up for too long.
Representatives from the College’s Committee on Academic Programs will seek testimony at the SG meeting on Nov. 15, according to Dovid Wasserman-Plaza, SG’s vice president for academic affairs and a junior biology major.
SG introduced two bills to be voted on Nov. 15. The first bill, F-2017-14, was introduced to modify qualifications of voting members of the governmental affairs committee. This bill is intended to clarify the language so that only SG members can become voting members.
The second bill, F-2017-15, was introduced to enable the speaker of the general assembly — along with the alternate student trustee — to decrease the point threshold that SG members are required to meet, in case of emergency circumstances that result in absences. The bill will ensure that individuals who experience extreme personal circumstances can remain active members of SG.
Corrections: (11/15/2017 10:20 a.m.) Wasserman-Plaza is SG’s vice president "for academic affairs," not "of academic affairs." Also, the second bill enables the alternate student trustee, not the ultimate student trustee.
(11/17/2017 12:30 p.m.) The College's Committee on Academic Programs will seek testimony on Nov. 15, not the College's Counseling and Psychological Services.
(10/30/17 10:35pm)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed an initiative to retain the College’s current Title IX policy and a resolution to condemn the exclusion of transgender people from serving in the armed forces at its weekly meeting on Oct. 25.
SG’s first initiative of the semester presents a formal stance to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that the College wishes to keep its current implementation of Title IX in place to support victims and survivors of sexual assault. The initiative was proposed by Abigail Moor, vice executive chair of Women In Leadership and Learning and a junior special education and women’s, gender and sexuality studies double major.
“We, the students of The College of New Jersey, believe Secretary DeVos’ decision to dismiss the previous standard of proof in favor of a less stringent adjudication process strays away from the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of victims and survivors of sexual violence,” the initiative read.
The initiative won the majority vote and was passed.
Resolution F-2017-05, which condemns the president’s decision to exclude transgender people from the military, was reintroduced by Suchir Govindarajan, a freshman economics major.
“I think we should be able to weigh in when we can and I think this is a perfect opportunity to. I know transgender people who are in the military and serve in the army and I, 100 percent, am behind this resolution,” said Juan Carlos Belmonte, a sophomore accounting major and student in the College’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
After a friendly amendment was added to the title of this resolution, it was passed.
Alvin Tran, a sophomore psychology major and SG’s vice president of operations for the sophomore class council, reintroduced resolution F-2017-04 to bring back the mints from the previous academic year to dining locations on campus.
Carly Mauro, SG’s vice president and a junior mathematics and statistics major, urged SG members to take the initiative to meet with the College’s director of dining services, Karen Roth, to find out if she is receptive to changing the mints before implementing this resolution.
“The resolution should be more of a pushing force to help you but I think you really need to lay that foundation first,” Mauro said.
Ultimately, this resolution did not win the majority vote and did not pass.
Shrish Jawadiwar, a freshman political science major, won the election to become SG’s new parliamentarian. His new role includes maintaining rules and proper procedures for conduct at SG meetings.
Vineeth Amba, a sophomore biology major and senator for the School of Science, proposed bill F-2017-10 to offer program participation points to SG members for community involvement in the Trenton and Ewing areas.
This bill was proposed to foster community engagement with SG members representing the College. This bill will be voted on at SG’s meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The College’s Counseling and Psychological Services hired a new staff therapist with experience in working with minority populations and with a focus in diversity and inclusion. CAPS also hired peer educators to focus on health and wellness, according to the committee of strategic planning and priorities.
Tyler McGilligan, a junior physical education major, reported meeting with Campus Police regarding the shooting near campus last week.
Campus Police will continue to patrol the area and stated that if students need assistance getting around campus, they are more than willing to help — however, off campus housing is not within Campus Police’s jurisdiction.
Students can use the blue light system to contact Campus Police in case of emergency. Campus Police is currently looking into getting key fobs so they can respond to calls quicker, according to McGilligan.
(10/17/17 6:39am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed four bills and proposed two more at its weekly meeting on Oct. 4.
Chris Blakeley, SG’s executive president and a junior civil engineering major, proposed two new bills to be voted on Oct. 18.
The first adds responsibility to the position of the executive president, which already includes assisting SG in strategic planning. This bill will ensure that the president is following a strategic plan and action items that complement that process. According to Blakeley, this plan correlates with the College’s strategic plan.
The second bill reinforces a number of expectations for cabinet members, including to attend all cabinet meetings. Clarification that attendance at SG cabinet meetings and general body meetings by cabinet members is required will be added to the constitution to ensure that cabinet members adhere to the same expectations as general assembly members.
Brooke Chlebowski, SG’s vice president of governmental affairs and a special education and iSTEM double major, opened Bill F-2017-03 for debate. This bill adds the stipulation that the vice president of Governmental Affairs is allowed to correct errors in the SG constitution and bylaws. Changes would have to be approved by the SG bylaw review chair and adviser. All changes to the constitution will be announced at general body meetings. Bill F-2017-03 won the majority vote and was passed.
Justin Brach, speaker of the general assembly and a junior finance and political science double major, opened Bill F-2017-05, entitled, “Creation of a Deputy Speaker Position of the general assembly,” for debate. There was one change to the original bill proposed on Sept. 20.
Brach will initially nominate someone for the position to work under the guidance of the general body and general assembly. Members will be allowed to provide their feedback on the nominated person and either approve or deny them for the position.
The change addressed the original concerns SG members expressed on Sept. 20 about the possibility of bias with the person selected for that position. To address the concern, a stipulation was added to the bill that requires the deputy speaker to resign from any elected position that they hold in SG and the deputy speaker will be unable to vote in SG meetings. Bill F-2017-05 won the majority vote and was passed at the Oct. 4 meeting.
Brach and Dovid Wasserman-Plaza, SG’s vice president for academic affairs and a junior biology major, opened Bill F-2017-06 for debate. This bill officially transfers the responsibility of reviewing head senator applications to the vice president of academic affairs.
Under the speaker of general assembly’s responsibilities, “review head senator applications” was changed to “review constituent’s applications.” This bill won the majority vote and was passed.
Cassandra Kriegel, SG’s vice president of student services and a junior english and secondary education dual major, opened Bill F-2017-07 for debate. This bill was created to mandate the student advocate to sit on the SG committee. According to the SG constitution, the student advocate is responsible for providing peer-to-peer support and advice to students or student organizations who need assistance in navigating through the College’s various, policies, procedures, and offices. This bill also won the majority vote and was passed.
According to dining services governance report, dining services has plans to get rid of some hot foods, since they are not selling, and add more vegetables to their menu. Complaints about Traditions’ breakfast menu are also being addressed.
Elizabeth Bapasola, vice president for student affairs and SG’s adviser, announced that the College’s hurricane relief effort fundraising campaign, “Here for Home, Always” has reached 30 percent of its goal as of Wednesday, Oct. 4.
(10/03/17 3:27am)
By Erin Kamel
Staff Writer
Student Government passed two bills at its weekly meeting and announced plans for hurricane relief efforts on Sept. 27.
Resolution F-2017-03, in opposition of the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was opened for debate. Baldween Casseus, SG’s vice president of diversity and inclusion and a senior marketing major, announced that her committee polled 88 constituents on their thoughts on the DACA resolution, and 83 of the 88 students supported the resolution opposing the Trump Administration’s stance on DACA.
“TCNJ is striving to create a more diverse and inclusive environment. Even if it was only one student that was affected by DACA, that’s one member of our community that will be gone,” Casseus said.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein stated in a campus-wide email sent out on Sept. 5, that over a dozen students at the College are currently supported by DACA.
“If there are only 12 of them or if there are more, we still need to defend every single one of them,” said Desaree Vaughan, a freshman class council member and a math and secondary education dual major. “We are representatives for all students.”
Ultimately, Resolution F-2017-03 won the majority vote of the voting members and passed.
SG also passed Bill F-2017-02, entitled “Programming Point Systems for Resolutions,” to allow members to gain points for being the primary sponsorship of a resolution. A friendly amendment was added to cap the number of maximum points that a SG member can earn for writing resolutions to three points per semester.
Justin Brach, speaker of the General Assembly and a junior finance and political science double major, encouraged more members to write resolutions so they are not just initiated by cabinet members.
Brach indicated the importance of the General Assembly using its voice to, “take a stance on different issues that are important to the students that you represent.”
According to members of the Student Transitions Council, reviews from freshman students have been positive since the College went back to the on-campus model for orientation. This year, less freshmen and transfer students have experienced homesickness than in previous years. The council wants to shift some of their attention to seniors to ensure that they have enough information to transition out of the College into either the workforce or further education.
Chris Blakeley, SG’s executive president and a junior civil engineering major, discussed the College’s hurricane relief fundraising campaign, “Here for Home, Always.” Organizers of the hurricane relief effort plan to incorporate as many of the College’s student organizations as possible. As of Sept. 27 at 1:30 p.m., the campaign has raised $850. “Here for Home, Always” can be found on h4halways.com as well as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
SG also announced Homecoming king and queen applications are now open. Seniors can access applications via LionsGate.