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(04/18/07 12:00pm)
Students walking past Kendall Hall last Tuesday afternoon heard a man from Louisiana yelling a question to a crowd that had gathered to listen to him.
"Why should God not throw you into the lake of fire?" the open air preacher asked.
The preacher, Jeremy Sonnier, held a tall, narrow banner over his head that said God would judge Roman Catholics, Mormons, unsubmissive wives, unloving husbands, adulterers, baby killing women and homosexuals.
Some students offered answers to his question: "Lakes have water, not fire," one student said. "Because I'm better than God," another said. Sonnier blew a whistle and told the students they were wrong. And then he asked the question again.
"If they're upset by it, then I know we're getting through to them," Sonnier said in a brief interview during the demonstration. "The Gospel is very offensive. . Man is a sinner. His only hope is a savior."
Some students said the demonstration was intolerant. Others said they skipped their 2 p.m. classes to watch the demonstration. Approximately 30 students watched at a time, with the crowd changing with the transition of classes between 1:30 and 4 p.m.
"I was walking to class and I was mystified," Michael Wargo, junior communication studies major, said. "It was exposure to something you don't see every day."
He skipped his class to see what would happen at the demonstration, which occasionally got heated. At some points, a group of three or four Campus Police officers stood off to the side to see that the demonstration stayed under control.
In a tense moment, a young woman told the other of the two preachers, Robert Breaud, "You live in an imaginary world."
"Your God is imaginary. That's what's imaginary," Breaud said.
Breaud wore a black hooded sweatshirt and had a bushy gray beard. He played some songs on his acoustic guitar.
"This is for the porno freaks," he said, before breaking into song: "Just say no to porno . just tear up that magazine, just turn off that computer screen."
He also sang songs about Catholics and one called "It's Not OK to Be Gay."
Several students moshed during a punk rock number called "You're All Gonna Die."
Sonnier said he and Breaud have been living in a fifth wheel trailer and traveling the country preaching full time, usually visiting five schools a week, for the past 13 months. They have preached in 42 states so far, with the College being their first school in New Jersey. The crowd at the College seemed tamer than at other schools, Sonnier said.
"It gives them a forum to spread their hatred," Julie Bergman, PRISM advocacy chair, said. She said she wishes fewer students had engaged the preachers. "If they don't have an audience, they're not meeting their mission."
Some Christian students who saw the demonstration said, at base, they agree with the message and it was biblically accurate, but the tactics were inappropriate.
"It's almost like they're taking the Bible and slamming it over people's heads," Matthew Warren, a student involved in New Jersey Christian Fellowship and Protestant Bible Fellowship, said.
Sonnier said he and Breaud were "provoking people to think about God and the Bible." He said their demonstration usually creates a buzz on campus that could give other Christians an opportunity to preach to students.
"You can see from the comments from the students that he's not creating substantive conversation," Warren said. "After he generates this conversation we're going to have to do damage control."
"I think it's a positive thing for the campus," Wargo said. "I don't agree with what they said, but it was interesting nonetheless."
Shari Blumenthal, assistant director of Auxiliary Services, said the College has between five and 10 demonstrations of this sort each year. Demonstrators are asked to fill out a Demonstration Request so school officials know who is on campus and what is being said to the community, she said.
"Sometimes it is a preacher, sometimes a group to save the environment or stop cruelty to animals," she said. "It varies."
(03/21/07 12:00pm)
Since the disappearance of freshman John Fiocco Jr. one year ago, the College has implemented 24-hour swipe access for all residence halls. In October, at least 1,000 students signed a petition protesting "excessive vigilance" by Campus Police officers, including aggressive searches by campus security officers.
Although some students believe these changes to the College's security policies this year are connected to the loss of Fiocco, other students and school administrators disagree.
"Alcohol and security policies were not changed because of (Fiocco's) tragic death," Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said via e-mail. "Institutional policies impact everyone in this campus community, so it would be irresponsible to base them on isolated incidents, especially ones where all the facts are not known."
He said the heavy media presence on campus last spring was partly responsible for the new swipe access policy.
"After (Fiocco) disappeared, reporters were trying to sneak into Wolfe and were harassing students who lived there," Golden said. "Those students asked us to implement 24-hour swipe access in order to keep the press away. We did so and, in the process, learned that our technology had improved and could allow for 24-hour swipe access without greatly impeding student travel between buildings."
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said she was resistant to implement 24-hour swipe access even immediately following Fiocco's disappearance, but enough students and parents were in favor of it to change her mind.
"People convinced me that there were enough people that wanted this for the sense of comfort," she said.
Gitenstein noted that the policy is still a "pilot project" that will be evaluated at a later time. But as far as Gitenstein is concerned, she still has her reservations.
"I think we should be an open campus," she said. "I think in general this is a safe campus."
The swipe access policy is not entirely popular for students either. Max Marshall, sophomore international studies major, who helped organize the student petition and protest of Campus Police in October, said in a recent e-mail that "the card swipes on the doors do not prevent intruders from entering buildings, they only make it inconvenient for students with their hands full to get to their rooms."
Golden said swipe access improves security "to a degree" and that he understands the inconvenience. "Whenever you tighten security, it will create some inconvenience. For the College, the goal is to strike the right balance," he said.
James Gant, executive vice president for the Student Government Association (SGA) and Campus Police liaison, said in a March 7 interview that policing this school year was as aggressive as it had been in previous years. He said that it only seemed more aggressive after last spring, when Campus Police officers were involved in the Fiocco investigation and focused less energy on issuing tickets and searching students suspected of transporting alcohol underage.
Gant said a Campus Police employee told this to the ad-hoc Committee on Campus Police in one of the committee meetings, which Gant co-chaired.
Emily Weiss, communications officer for Public Affairs, said "the on-duty shift of officers was still responsible for its normal day-to-day patrolling and tasks" during the investigation.
"Campus Police led the initial investigation," she said via e-mail. "As the scope of the investigation grew, the New Jersey State Police and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office became the leading investigative agencies for the case. Campus Police continued . assisting these agencies with the investigation."
"Many students perceived the vigilance (this fall) to be in part because of the (Fiocco) situation. This was a perfectly logical assumption by students," Michael Levy, former SGA vice president of Administration and Finance, said, noting that he also thought it played a part.
"It's impossible to know how the events of last spring impacted individual Campus Police officers, in terms of their level of concern for students," Golden said. "What I do know is that there was no policy change leading to more aggressive enforcement."
Steve Viola, who sat on the ad-hoc committee with Gant, three faculty senate members and three staff senate members, said there was "zero correlation" between Campus Police aggressiveness and Fiocco. The committee examined Campus Police operations and its relationship with the campus community.
"The problems were always there," Viola said. "There is a large disconnect between Campus Police and the College community."
The committee, which held its last meeting on March 5, has drafted a 40-page report for Gitenstein detailing problems with Campus Police and suggesting changes. The report was written after months of researching and hearing testimony from Campus Police leadership and school officials.
Marshall said he would like to see more comforting security measures taken by the administration, such as installing cameras at residence hall entrances.
"We do use video surveillance in some buildings," Golden said, "but we do not disclose where. Doing so would only weaken security. . The College consults regularly with an array of law enforcement agencies, so we can stay abreast of what's happening in the field. That allows us to make sure our security procedures are up to date and as effective as possible."
(02/21/07 12:00pm)
An open hatch caused a section of piping to freeze and break on Feb. 6, flooding the low side of New Residence Hall. Since then, residents in affected areas have had to deal with dry air, uncomfortable heat and the constant humming of dehumidifiers and fans.
Four residents have permanently relocated, one has temporarily relocated and others are sleeping with friends until the living conditions improve.
A dehumidifier and two fans have been running in some of the affected rooms, leaving the air uncomfortably dry and causing dust to blow around the rooms. The fans and dehumidifiers hum loudly and the dehumidifiers give off heat because of the energy used to power them. Eleven fans were running in third-floor hallways on Feb. 15, not counting those in rooms.
Thermostats said the temperature was 82 degrees Fahrenheit in some of the rooms and Caitlin Walsh, sophomore accounting major, said that on Feb. 11 the temperature was hotter than the thermostat could read - more than 90 degrees.
At least two students had breathing problems upon returning to their rooms when officials said it was safe.
One resident returned after a week and spent the first night back coughing and experiencing breathing difficulties.
The resident woke up with a bloody nose and difficulty speaking. Both residents have moved out for now.
Melissa Mijares, sophomore secondary education/English major, said she brought her two beta fish home after she noticed the water level was going down faster than usual with the dehumidifier in the room - about a centimeter over two days.
Walsh, her roommate, had been sleeping on the floor since Feb. 12 because the dehumidifier set up next to her bed was giving off too much heat.
"We're dealing with it," they said.
Chris Stewart, sophomore biology major, said he has been sleeping on an air mattress in a friend's room because his room is uncomfortably hot.
"I just want my room back," he said.
The drying phase should not take more than three weeks, Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said, noting that the building materials involved - concrete and plaster - take longer to dry than some other materials like gypsum.
"Unlimited Restoration Inc. has been hired to dry the building and make repairs," he said. "Progress has been seen in the majority of areas and three rooms have dried entirely."
The College's plumbing shop replaced the broken section of pipe and Guy M. Cooper Inc. Mechanical Contractors inspected and tested the sprinkler system, Golden said.
"We maintain temperatures appropriate to avoid the freezing of pipes, but an exterior hatch was left open in this instance and the pipe was exposed to extreme cold," he said.
He said that the College's property insurance is expected to cover the costs of the repairs after paying a deductible. Estimates for the repairs have not yet been determined, Golden said.
"Claims for personal damages should be brought to the attention of the office of Residential and Community Development staff," he said. "If a resident has property insurance coverage, he or she should file a claim with the insurance company. Recovery of deductibles for losses incurred for residents without insurance coverage may be submitted as a Notice of Tort Claims through the State of New Jersey's Bureau of Risk Management. The College's manager of risk will assist residents with the tort claims process after the office of Residential and Community Development has completed its documentation."
(02/07/07 12:00pm)
The College's yearbook is not projected to meet its production costs this year by thousands of dollars, and staff members have recently considered calling off the 2007 yearbook as one way of dealing with the shortfall.
Audrey Levine, the Seal's editor-in-chief, called that "a horrid, horrid thought." The staff is still working as if the yearbook were to be printed as planned, though another option is reducing the number of the pages, she said. The staff has been working on the yearbook since August, and 14 pages for the different schools at the College are already complete.
"We're still producing pages, we're still taking pictures," she said. "We're going full-speed ahead."
The staff knew it was facing major financial difficulties this year and was counting, in part, on having a successful advertising campaign to increase yearbook and advertising sales to cover the difference.
However, the staff recently realized they did not have an advisor to approve mass e-mails or to sign for an outside vendor to send mailings to students' parents.
Tony Marchetti, creative services coordinator for the Office of Public Affairs, had advised the staff since Spring 2002, but stepped down as advisor at the end of last school year. The staff knew this, but thought the office of Campus Activities also knew this and would appoint a new advisor. Neither the staff nor Marchetti told Campus Activities that the Seal did not have an advisor until after winter break.
Timothy Asher, associate director of Campus Activities and advisor to the Student Finance Board (SFB), said he found out in a meeting on Jan. 22.
"Student organizations are currently responsible for selecting their own advisor," Asher said in an e-mail. "There is not any particular process for selecting an advisor. Students generally seek out a faculty or staff member who shares their organization's interest and can help to develop the student members as leaders, assisting them in achieving organization goals."
As of Feb. 2, Levine said the staff had not yet started looking for an advisor because she wanted to talk further with Asher.
Complicating matters further, the Seal is in the middle of a five-year contract with Jostens, its publisher. In January 2004, the Seal entered the contract to lock in production costs.
"At this point, we are not sure what we would owe Jostens if we pull out of our contract," Levine said. "Our representative is in the process of checking on it."
Jon Borst, current SFB executive director, said that signing the contract was against SFB policy, which prohibits organizations from entering into contracts without SFB approval.
SFB had given the Seal $30,000 for production costs for the 2003-2004 school year. By the end of the year, though, it was told by SFB that the yearbook would have to fund all production costs from its own revenue, according to Borst.
"SFB expects the Seal to pay for all expenses associated with the production of the yearbook," Borst said in an e-mail. "That expectation has been expressed to the Seal for over three years now. If the Seal fails to meet costs, it is because of their inability to meet their projected book sales."
SFB did give the Seal $4,363.50 for advertising this year, Borst added. "The SFB has and will continue to assist the Seal through paying for publicity campaigns such as postcard mailings, postage, and other miscellaneous postings," he said.
Levine said she hopes more students order yearbooks.
"If people don't buy it, we can't afford it or justify producing it," she said, noting that the book is designed to appeal to all classes.
Borst said the Seal continues to fall short of meeting projected sales numbers.
Levine said the yearbooks cost $60 each this year, with the cost increasing to $75 after April 1. The staff hopes to sell 750 copies this year. According to SFB, the staff projected sales of 700 books last year, but they only sold 500 at a cost of $70, and $85 later in the year.
The Seal has been published each year since 1911.
(01/31/07 12:00pm)
On the night of Nov. 30, unbeknownst to College authorities, more than 60 students gathered in the Travers Hall fourth-floor lounge for recreational boxing. Ten of the students had agreed to box and the rest were there to watch.
Only three of the five scheduled matches were held, though, before three Campus Police officers, three senior security officers and two Community Advisors (CAs) broke up the gathering.
Residence Life documented all participants and observers and each student should have a judicial hearing scheduled within a month to determine on an individual basis what, if any, College policy violations they are guilty of, according to Michael Robbins, First Year Experience area director.
Campus Police Sgt. Michael Bell said the residents involved did not appear to have broken any laws.
It was the second time residents held boxing matches in the Travers 4 lounge. Two weeks earlier, on Nov. 16, approximately 35 students had gathered for at least three other boxing matches. The boxing that night was not documented or reported. The students who boxed then were different from those who boxed on Nov. 30, a freshman student involved in the matches said.
Both times a CA went into the lounge and asked the residents what they were doing. Those in attendance said they were having a dance party. Rap music was playing from an iPod on both nights. Most in attendance were residents from the fourth and 10th floors of Travers Hall, the freshman student said.
The freshman, who would only speak anonymously because he did not want to incriminate himself, said the matches were regulated and no one got hurt, though one boxer lost a contact lens and some had puffy eyes and lips. No one hit the ground and he did not remember any blood, he said.
There was only one boxing match at a time, no alcohol or drugs and no gambling. There was no tournament structure and no declared winners.
"There was absolutely no money changing hands," the freshman said.
All boxers agreed to the matches, wore boxing gloves and were friendly with their opponents before and after the matches, he said, noting that at least two of the students involved had participated in formal boxing leagues before.
"Further investigation revealed six students were boxing in the room and there were three separate boxing matches," the Nov. 30 police report said. "The six individuals involved in the boxing match did not appear to be injured at this time."
Bell said he had not heard of students organizing underground boxing in his 15 years at the College prior to this incident.
"Someone could get seriously injured," Bell said.
"It's not hard to imagine it going too far," Robbins said.
Participants and observers seem to have understood this.
About one minute into the first fight on Nov. 30, which started around 10 p.m., some residents present stopped a fight when they realized that one boxer was overmatched and would likely get hurt, the freshman said.
The second match went the full designated time - three two-minute rounds - and a third match ended quickly because those in attendance knew they might get in trouble after the CA checked in.
A Residence Life employee called a CA after seeing the boxing match through the window of the lounge from Parking Lot 8, according to the police report. The windows to the lounge look straight into the nearby lot.
Police, arriving around 10:30 p.m., requested the music be lowered and "observed 65 to 70 individuals standing in a circular formation," the report said. An officer asked about the boxing, which students stopped before police came. No one in the room replied.
A security officer and two patrolmen interviewed the individuals one by one and a CA recorded the names of the occupants as they exited, according to the report.
Security officers found boxing equipment in the kitchenette unit in the lounge. The equipment was taken to Campus Police headquarters and placed in Property Storage.
The next day, a male student completed an Informal Statement and signed for his boxing equipment. He said he did not participate in the boxing match and his boxing gloves were not used in the fights.
Everyone in the lounge was patient and cooperative when authorities arrived, Bell said.
Robbins said in situations like this, possible College policy violations include abuse, which is "physical and/or verbal assault or conduct that threatens or endangers the health, safety or well being of any person or group," or disorderly conduct, which is "behavior that disrupts or interferes with the orderly functions of the College, disturbs the peace and/or comfort of others or interferes with the performance of duties by College personnel," according to the Guide to Residence Living.
"It's not what our common areas are for," Robbins said.
The idea for organized boxing matches originated when friends hanging out on the 10th floor in Travers started throwing punches in the floor's elevator lobby on Nov. 9, the freshman said. Some were interested in boxing and had practiced steps and techniques in their rooms. Eventually a resident on the fourth floor heard they were interested in boxing and they planned matches, the freshman said.
"It was all in sport and it was all regulated," the freshman said, noting that "in retrospect, it probably wasn't the greatest idea."
Those involved are talking about holding future boxing matches off campus, the freshman said.
"It's fun beating up on your friends a little bit," he said. The freshman said he thinks there would be enough interest for an official school boxing club.
Deborah Simpson, program director of intramurals and sport clubs, said the College had a boxing club for two years when she started working at the school 20 years ago, but that it was eliminated for liability reasons.
(01/24/07 12:00pm)
Over winter break, College employees moved the food cart from the downstairs lobby of Holman Hall to the lobby of Armstrong Hall. The relocation of the cart - now called KinetiCart - was prompted by a decrease in customers, which some suspect was due to the opening of the New Library and the Library Caf?.
The Office of Auxiliary Services made the decision after working with Sodexho Dining Services, talking with the Student Government Association's (SGA) Student Services committee and seeing ideas presented in a Lion's Apprentice competition.
Priscilla Zepeda, a Sodexho employee at KinetiCart who worked at the cart in Holman for the last nine years, said on her first day in Armstrong that she liked the change.
"It was really dead over there (in Holman)," Zepeda said.
The College has ordered tables and chairs for an open area near the cart in Armstrong, and will eventually set up a microwave for microwaveable meals, she said.
Some art and computer science students who frequent Holman Hall said they will miss the easy access to coffee, bagels and other snacks that the cart provided. Also, 82 students have joined a facebook.com group called "KinetiCart . how 'bout KinetiNO."
Chris Rindosh, SGA vice president of Student Services, said that, as he understands it, the cart was originally set up in Holman because it was near the Roscoe L. West Library and students using the old library would stop at the cart. That changed with the opening of the New Library.
Rindosh said he thinks the cart in its new location could also be used by students in the nearby Science Complex, Kendall Hall, Business Building and Bliss Hall.
Some question the move to Armstrong Hall, which is in a corner of the campus.
"I think it's a really random place to have food," Alana Richards, junior elementary education/art major, said. "I feel like a lot of people are not over there."
Rindosh, an engineering major, said the Office of Auxiliary Services asked him in Spring 2006 about moving the cart to the Business Building basement and he and his committee said it was a good idea. However, faculty in the Business Building asked to leave the basement open for class presentations.
Rindosh said his fellow engineering majors are excited to have coffee and food for sale in their building.
"They'd love to have food there considering they're in there a lot," he said, noting that the decision was not his.
For now, the space in Holman where the cart used to be is empty. There are vending machines, but Alfonso Callejas, junior interactive multimedia major, said he hopes the College puts in something more.
"I'm definitely going to miss it," Callejas, who used to purchase food at the cart four to five times a week, said.
The Office of Auxiliary Services sent a campus-wide e-mail on Dec. 13, alerting students to the change.
"We encourage past patrons of the Holman Cart to visit KinetiCart, the Library Caf? and other campus dining venues," the e-mail said. "We are confident that this change will better serve the community and enhance the convenience of on-campus dining."
In addition to moving the Holman food cart, Sodexho also made other changes during the break, including adding a milkshake machine to the C-store and changing the name of Edith's Place in Brower Student Center to Fair Grounds.
Fair Grounds, which serves fair trade Green Mountain coffee, came as a result of feedback from students, according to John Higgins, general manager of Dining Services.
Before the switch was complete, the fair trade coffee was taste-tested and reviewed in a Dining Services committee meeting in which students participated.
The food court in the student center was also changed. La Vincita, formerly the pasta station in the food court, has been renamed Garden State. It now features five different salads every day.
The pasta station, Higgins said, "just didn't generate interest." Interest, he said, is now more focused on healthy options, like salads.
"We took what was the healthiest," Higgins said, and moved it to an area with more room.
An additional reason for the change, Higgins said, was the congestion common to the food court. He said that moving salads could help ease congestion around the deli station.
Congestion also motivated Sodexho to move the Tierra del Sol station in Eickhoff Hall. The station serves tacos, burritos and nachos and generates lines that can stretch into the tray stations.
To relieve this, Sodexho swapped this station with the omelet and international stations.
The moved omelet station will feature both vegetable oil, which is what Sodexho usually uses to cook with, and regular oils. According to Higgins, students have been requesting regular oils, which cook faster but contain more fat than vegetable oils.
- Additional reporting by Michelle McGuinness, News Editor
(12/06/06 12:00pm)
Senior Week, a three-day program traditionally held at the end of the Spring semester as a last hurrah for seniors, might be called off this year because of a new administrative policy that bans alcohol from Travers and Wolfe halls during the program, and an increase in ticket price due to budget cuts.
In previous years, the College has allowed "alcohol use throughout the Travers/Wolfe complex," Matthew Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said. The College "has transported intoxicated Senior Week participants to the hospital, and there has been vandalism to the residence halls each year as a result of alcohol misuse during this program," he said.
This spring, if enough students are interested in attending to make Senior Week worth organizing, alcohol will not be allowed in the towers.
"We have been fighting this change and trying to come up with alternatives since May," the Senior Class Council said in a statement for The Signal. The council members said that if they had "continued to persist that alcohol be allowed in the towers, there would not have been a Senior Week."
The Senior Class Council is: Mollie Seiferas, president; Blair Gumnic, vice president; Gabe Alonso, treasurer; and Christie Pirro, secretary.
"We have not removed alcohol from Senior Week, only from the towers," the council said.
"Among the many activities (the Senior Class Council has) planned are events where no alcohol will be served as well as events at which students of legal age may choose to drink responsibly," Golden said.
The class council e-mailed the senior class on Nov. 27, directing them to an online survey that asked students if they would attend the program in light of the changes. As of Dec. 1, the council did not know when the decision to hold or cancel Senior Week would be made.
Golden said the change was prompted by concerns that allowing alcohol throughout the residential buildings might send "mixed messages" about the College's policy toward alcohol consumption.
Jim Norfleet, vice president of Student Life, decided that the College will no longer set aside its alcohol policy during Senior Week, Golden said. Norfleet made the decision in light of concerns about mixed messages on alcohol use at the College that had been raised in discussions initiated last January, Golden said.
The Senior Class Council also said that faculty and staff would not agree to supervise Senior Week if alcohol was allowed in the towers.
The new alcohol policy is more disappointing to most students than the increase in ticket price, the council members said.
"Because we have seen the effects of budget cuts in all areas on campus, it was not surprising to most students to see an increase in the ticket cost," the council said. Tickets are expected to cost between $200 and $230, as opposed to prices between $150 and $180 in previous years, the council members said.
"The Senior Week budget usually receives money from the College; however, that money, approximately $11,000, was cut," they said, noting that they also had less money than usual approved for them by the Student Finance Board.
Approximately 600 to 700 students have attended each previous Senior Week, the council said.
"We are absolutely disappointed by the changes, and the thought that the event might be canceled," the council members said. "We have been working incredibly hard since the end of the 2006 Senior Week to resist these changes, but they were inevitable."
At least one senior, who may supervise the event as a Residence Life employee, has welcomed the alcohol ban in the residence halls.
"I think it would make the towers safer if there was no drinking," the senior, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "I respect that most are 21 or over, but in life shit happens."
Many see the changes as an end to a fun College tradition.
"It shouldn't be as expensive as it is and I just hope it's going to happen," Ryan Potosky, senior biology major, said.
(10/18/06 12:00pm)
Three sophomore students gathered outside New Residence Hall with a collapsible drying rack and a full-length mirror around 8:25 p.m. last Tuesday. They laid the mirror face down across the rack and arranged six red Solo cups in triangular formation on each end. They filled the cups with ginger ale and tried tossing a ping pong ball into the cups.
The game, a variation on the popular drinking game beer pong, was part of a student protest expressing disapproval with the actions of Campus Police this semester.
Megan Geerdtz, sophomore psychology major, was invited to the event on facebook.com and saw it as a chance to "do something fun that actually means something."
By 9 p.m., the scheduled start time for the rally, approximately 35 students had gathered, including four freshman fine arts majors dressed in full costume as a bumblebee, a gorilla, a skeleton and a rabbit - to add to the spectacle, they said. Another student smoked from a churchwarden, a long pipe.
Some students signed the accompanying petition if they hadn't already.
The petition demands that "the sudden increase in excessive vigilance by the administration and Campus Police be reduced" and that the rights of students be acknowledged and respected. It also says, "We fully understand and respect the need for protection of the community against violent, destructive, and criminal behavior."
By Friday evening, Oct. 13, students had collected 1,000 signatures for the petition.
Originally, the petition was to be submitted to administrators on Oct. 13, but Student Government Association (SGA) members asked to have the petition approved at an association meeting and then to collect more signatures before submitting it to Campus Police. The creator of the petition, sophomore international studies major Max Marshall, agreed.
"A petition provided to Campus Police would certainly be taken seriously and reviewed," Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said via e-mail.
That night, SGA members in attendance appealed to Marshall to have the petition changed so that it would be an appeal to Kathryn Leverton, who is in charge of Campus Police as the associate vice president of Administrative and Environmental Services, instead of to College President R. Barbara Gitenstein. Marshall agreed to make the change and SGA members signed the petition.
At the protest, Eric Berg, junior history major, distributed handouts he had printed from the American Civil Liberties Union Web site that listed what students should do when stopped by police.
Christine Cullen, SGA executive president, told Berg that SGA was looking to create its own list of what students should do when stopped by police.
Marshall said Campus Police has "completely increased (its) efforts to crack down on everything." The efforts have "turned (the College) into a police state instead of a college liberal arts campus."
Marshall, who said he doesn't support underage drinking, had an unpleasant experience when police on rove knocked on the door to the room where he was watching television with some friends before quiet hours. He kept hearing stories about students feeling harassed by police and realized it was part of a "much bigger phenomenon," he said.
Twenty unpleasant experiences with Campus Police - 14 of them shared anonymously - are posted at the end of the petition. One incident described a situation when a student was asked by Campus Police to turn out her pockets without a reason. Another detailed a time when a student's bag was searched by Campus Police with no apparent or stated probable cause or warrant. The student said he did not consent to a search.
In other accounts, Campus Police was alleged to be unnecessarily aggressive, condescending or using profanity.
"I have very strong feelings about freedom and liberty," Marshall said. "It's not about drinking; it's not about partying. It's about students having rights they don't know they have."
He created a private event for his friends on Facebook. Many students were interested, so he decided to make the event public, he said.
"After I opened it up it just grew and grew," Marshall said.
More than 1,200 students, including some from other schools, were invited to the event.
Michael Levy, SGA vice president of Administration and Finance, came to the rally. He noted that SGA does not support underage drinking.
"We do support the Fourth Amendment. We do support the Fifth Amendment," he said.
"A lot of students, frankly, don't know their rights on campus," Steve Viola, junior class treasurer, said. Viola sits on the administration and finance committee, which deals with Campus Police. Executive Vice President James Gant, who attended the rally, also serves as the Campus Police liaison for SGA.
SGA members said they had been discussing student complaints about police behavior before talks of the protest started.
Administrators said they would take student concerns into account.
"Students' rights are very important and must be respected," Golden said. "All our officers receive extensive training in search and seizure methods, and violating proper protocol would jeopardize the collection of evidence and legal merit of any case. If any student were to feel that his or her rights were infringed upon, that should absolutely be reported so the situation can be investigated and dealt with appropriately."
Around 9:45 p.m., some juniors who live off campus pulled up in front of New Residence Hall. One yelled, "Party," and set up a pong table on three milk crates. They filled cups with O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer and began playing.
"Police are disrespectful to students. Tonight I'm going to be disrespectful to them," Purvik Patel, junior technology education major, said.
Patel wore a driving violation ticket around his neck. He had been given it the night before after stopping on Metzger Drive to pick up a friend at the New Library, he said.
Part of the petition expresses disapproval of Campus Police's ticketing this semester. "In addition to the condescension and disrespect displayed by the authorities, we view the increased distribution of tickets, especially for automobile violations, as highly uncalled for and excessive," it says.
The petition also says that "the relationship between students and police officers in this community should and must be one of utmost mutual respect and trust. With the recently excessive vigilance and harassment of college students by campus officers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to enjoy and maintain a positive relationship between the two groups."
Another group set up apple juice pong on a folding table, so three different games were being played.
Campus Police officers periodically rode by in cars and on bicycles and some watched for a bit from a distance, but none approached the gathered students.
"Campus Police (was) aware that a protest was happening and did not approach any students, because there was no illegal activity taking place," Golden said after consulting with Campus Police. Campus Police officers "would not disclose how they were informed of the protest, because they must protect the source of information provided to them in confidence," Golden said.
Not everyone supports the campaign. Although more than 300 students accepted the Facebook invitation to the event, "a lot of people didn't come," Kate Krueger, sophomore deaf education and elementary education/ history major, said.
"A lot of people were even afraid of signing the petition," Steve Morris, sophomore political science major, said.
Marshall said he has been pleased with the support. "I have (been) approached by many groups, including SGA, Res Life, faculty, student body and even Campus Police, all showing mild to complete support for the cause."
"We collected at least 100 signatures at the rally, and ended the night with nearly one 1,000," Marshall said via e-mail the day after the rally. "If the only thing that comes from this is raised awareness of our rights, I think we will have been successful."
Some students at the protest said they have thought about transferring because police actions have damaged the quality of social life on campus.
"If it was my freshman year, I would transfer. Definitely," Jim Garbe, sophomore statistics major, said. "The only reason I'm still here is because I saw what it could be like last year."
There were other reports of students feeling harassed by Campus Police on the night of the protest.
"After the protest last night, there were complaints by numerous freshmen saying that the police were standing outside the towers, stopping all students for random sobriety tests," Marshall said.
If true, it would have been against police policy, Golden said.
"There may have been occasions when an officer had reason to believe a student violated the law and then approached that individual, but no random sobriety tests are administered to students entering the residential facilities," Golden said.
"Our police officers have always enforced the state's laws concerning alcohol consumption but, unfortunately, the number of alcohol-related incidents has climbed consistently over time," Golden added.
"Underage drinking is illegal and has become a significant national issue. It often leads to a variety of related problems and can present serious safety concerns. As a college, we offer many support services for those who have a problem with alcohol abuse, but we also have a responsibility to enforce the laws of the state. Turning a blind eye does not serve anyone's best interests," Golden added.
The text of the petition is available online at d2direct.com/max/TCNJ/petition.html.
(10/11/06 12:00pm)
The "Eye on SGA" column in The Signal last week upset some Sodexho employees and Student Government Association (SGA) members, leaving them wondering why the article ran before ambiguous statements in it were clarified.
The column, in a statement attributed to executive vice president James Gant, left some readers under the impression that Sodexho has a program to hire newly released convicts to work at the College.
A Sodexho manager said there is no such program at the College, and Gant said he never meant to suggest that there was.
"No such program exists on this campus," John Higgins, general manager of Dining Services, said. "Nothing like it."
"It doesn't sound familiar to me," Jaya Bohlmann, vice president of public relations for Sodexho, said.
However, a September 2004 article in the Arizona Business Gazette said Sodexho was participating in a similar program, but nowhere near the College.
According to the article, Sodexho was working with a division of the Arizona Department of Corrections that places inmates in full-time jobs so they have employable skills when released. Sodexho hired inmates from an Arizona state prison to work at a state hospital, where Sodexho was providing services at the time, the article said.
Gant, who was employed by Sodexho for two years at an Ocean County assisted living facility, said a manager told him during his time there about programs designed to offer jobs to people who have served time.
He mentioned the practice at the Sept. 27 SGA meeting after Steve Viola, junior class treasurer, suggested that SGA look into Sodexho's hiring practices. The suggestion was prompted by a report that on Sept. 18, police investigating an altercation between two Sodexho employees found one of the employees had warrants for his arrest.
At that point in the meeting, Gant said he had worked for Sodexho before and heard that Sodexho participates in a program to offer employment for people who have had trouble with the law as part of their rehabilitation.
Some students at the meeting were under the impression that Gant meant he had worked for Sodexho on campus before and heard about the program being implemented at the College.
"I wasn't speaking factually," Gant, who has never worked for Sodexho at the College, said. "I didn't have facts."
Rather, he meant to suggest that whether such a program existed could be looked into. He based the suggestion on what he was told by his former Sodexho manager at a different location about a year ago, he said.
Bertha Van Putten, a Sodexho employee who serves food in Eickhoff Hall and has worked at the College since 1972, said she does not know anything about such a program.
"That's the biggest lie I ever heard," Larry Stevens, a Sodexho employee who works the cash registers in Eickhoff, said. "I am very upset and angry about that."
Stevens, who has worked at the College for 15 years, said the story should not have been printed and that Sodexho employees deserve an apology. The Signal should not have printed the claim without knowing about the subject in question, he said. The employees are trying to make money to feed their families, and to help the students, he said.
Higgins, upon reading the column Wednesday, called Magda Manetas, SGA advisor, to find out how the statement originated.
"I appreciated (Higgins) having gotten in touch with me (on Oct. 4) as I hadn't had a chance to read the article that misrepresented what Gant said at the last SGA meeting and therefore was unaware of the problem," Manetas said via e-mail.
"I understood (Gant) to be communicating at the meeting that Sodexho has (such) a program . at some sites, not that we have such a program here at (the College). Unfortunately this was not made clear in the article. (Gant) and (Higgins) were able to talk and clear up this misunderstanding (on Oct. 4)."
The article did not specifically say that Gant said such a program exists on this campus, only that Gant said Sodexho has such a program.
Sodexho performs background checks on all employees, Higgins said. An employee could have warrants issued for his arrest after he has cleared a background check and been hired, Higgins said. For example, if an employee does not pay a parking ticket, and then fails to appear in court, a warrant could be issued for his arrest in some cases, Higgins said.
Some ways Sodexho does recruit employees for the College is by posting job opportunities at local churches and at nearby community colleges with culinary programs, Higgins said.
SGA has been working closely with Sodexho for the past year and has established "a strong relationship with Sodexho that shouldn't be tainted by something like this," Gant said.
Gant clarified his statements and said he was misquoted in The Signal at the Oct. 4 SGA meeting
(09/27/06 12:00pm)
On Sept. 4, the residents of the College-owned Country Club Apartments woke to find a detailed description of Dexter Moses posted on their apartment doors.
Moses, a patient from Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, had been reported missing. The fliers were posted before 8 a.m., residents of the apartments said. A chain link fence separates the hospital campus from the apartments.
The fliers gave the patient's name, age, height, weight, hairstyle and the outfit he was last seen wearing. In bold letters it said, "This individual may become violent to himself and others as he is in need of his medication."
The fliers asked students to call Campus Police if they saw anyone fitting the description, and reminded students to lock their doors, not let in strangers and call 911 if they saw anything suspicious.
At 9:46 a.m., Campus Police sent a campus-wide e-mail with similar information and additional details: Moses was last seen at 7:30 a.m. that morning and was reported to have a scar on his face.
Human Services Police - the Department of Human Services is in charge of the hospital - said it never indicated Dexter Moses was dangerous. Rather, it just notified neighboring police forces to be on the lookout.
Sgt. Greg Smith of the Ewing Police Department said that because the patient was not considered a threat the police just acted as "an extra set of eyes" for Human Services.
If the patient had been considered dangerous, Ewing Police would have notified nearby residents with a recorded telephone message. Smith, who has been with the department for 21 years, said it's very rare for a dangerous patient to escape.
The missing patient had been living at the hospital for more than two years, had permission to walk the grounds unattended and had been waiting for placement in community housing, a spokeswoman for the hospital said, according to an article in The Times of Trenton.
"We notify the campus community whenever there is a potential threat to safety, and this takes just a few minutes from the time we are informed of a walk-away," Matt Golden, director of the College's Office of Communications and Media Relations, said. "As to the Sept. 4 notification, we shared all the information that we received."
"We didn't used to notify the community so often," Gregory Roberts, assistant director of Mental Health Services, a division of Human Services, and a former chief executive officer of the hospital, said.
The hospital's notification systems have definitely improved, Golden said via e-mail. Last year there were two incidents involving patients with violent tendencies who walked away from the hospital "without any timely notification from the hospital to the neighboring police agencies," Golden said.
Kathryn Leverton, who is in charge of Campus Police as the associate vice president of Administrative and Environmental Services, represented the College in meetings with Human Services employees to talk about the hospital's need to improve its notification system, Golden said.
On Sept. 29, 2005, the College and Ewing Township mutually expressed that communications and internal processes at the hospital needed to change so that members of the College and township could be adequately notified, Golden said.
"Deputy Commissioner Theresa Wilson was receptive to these concerns and indicated that procedures should have been handled differently," Golden said. "She also agreed to work together on a notification process that would keep all agencies informed."
"If we are not aware of an incident involving a violent walk-away, then we are not able to issue a timely warning to our campus community. Due to the agreement between Human Services, Trenton Police, Ewing Police and (Campus) Police, we receive both verbal and faxed copy information regarding walk-aways who may pose a threat to themselves or others," Golden said.
The College would gladly participate with Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, Ewing Township and the state in further discussions related to security, Golden said.
The Effects of Overcrowding
The hospital's 100-acre campus is about three miles from the College. It is set up like a small town complete with houses, basketball courts, administrative offices and kitchens. Small groups of patients walk accompanied by staff members to a convenience store called the Trading Post to purchase cigarettes.
Five hundred adult men and women, most of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, receive treatment there. Seventy percent of those diagnosed with schizophrenia also have a problem with substance abuse. Half of them would be discharged if they had a place to go for the next step in their recovery, but many were homeless when they came in for treatment and don't have families to return to. Many patients have been "waiting for months to get housing," Teresa McQuaide, the chief executive officer of the hospital since August, said.
A lack of community housing has led to overcrowding. Some patients sleep seven to a room in rooms designed for four. The Governor's Task Force on Mental Health documented the overcrowding in its March 2005 Final Report, calling the situation "unacceptable."
"State hospitals (especially Trenton and Ancora) are severely overcrowded due to population growth, increased forensic population and inability to discharge due to lack of appropriate housing," the report said, adding that "overcrowding at the state hospitals impacts on all aspects of patient well-being, care and treatment."
Today, it is "still a problem," Roberts said.
"Overcrowding is the root of all evil," Roberts said. Patients can lose their personal locker, possibly diminishing their sense of privacy and dignity, he said.
Some get frustrated with waiting and leave, McQuaide said.
"Truthfully, if a patient wanted to walk out that entrance, they could do that," Roberts said.
There were 85 patient escapes in 2005 and about 32 so far in 2006, Roberts said.
The hospital entrance on Sullivan Way - one of four entrances to the campus - is three-tenths of a mile down the road from the entrance to the Country Club Apartments. About 60 upperclassmen live in the apartments, which were acquired by the College from Human Services to meet student housing needs in 1997, Golden said.
A black chain-link fence, about seven-feet tall, separates the apartments' backyard from the hospital campus. A supervised, fenced-in recreation yard for patients is a few hundred feet away, though not visible because it's on the other side of a building.
"I could climb that if I really wanted to get away," Monica DeFalco, junior chemistry major and a resident of the apartments, said of the fence in her backyard.
The vast majority of escaped patients should not be considered dangerous, Roberts said, and those that could be considered dangerous are often primarily a danger to themselves.
Sometimes, though, patients with violent pasts do escape, including Edgar Rene del Cid-Perez, who is accused of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint last year. He escaped from the hospital on Aug. 7.
Del Cid-Perez was apprehended in Irvington the next day.
Now, hospital officials are trying to notify neighboring Trenton, Ewing and College police departments about missing patients without reinforcing what Roberts calls a media-perpetuated stereotype that escaped, mentally ill patients are going to try to kill people.
"It's not true," Roberts said. "It's extremely not true."
The mentally ill are more likely to be victims than to commit a crime, he said. McQuaide said that most mentally ill patients have symptoms that cause withdrawal, so they won't get out of bed or take care of themselves. When the hospital sends out an alert that a patient escaped, officials are usually more worried the patient is going to hurt himself, she said.
"We have a responsibility to be secure, but within a clinical setting," Roberts said. They don't want the hospital to feel like a prison, but at the same time they want to be good neighbors and have the local community feeling safe, he said.
Inside the Hospital
The Signal was given a tour of the facilities on Sept. 21. Roberts pointed out the ongoing measures to increase security and explained aspects of the mental health system. The Signal was also able to meet at nearby Ancora Psychiatric Hospital with the new acting commissioner of Human Services, Clarke Bruno, who stepped in on Sept. 18.
Oak trees line the Ancora campus and there is a sprawling spruce planted by Dorothea Dix, the humanitarian who founded the hospital in 1848 as the New Jersey Lunatic Asylum.
In the Travers Cottages cluster of patient homes, four men played cards in a gazebo and another patient relaxed on a bench, apparently asleep. Another walked alone and smoked a cigarette on the sunny Thursday afternoon.
In these homes the patients learn to cook, to manage money and to understand and treat their physical and mental medical needs, Roberts said.
All of them are on level three or level four supervision, meaning they can walk the grounds unsupervised at certain times, and, in level four cases, leave the grounds by themselves at designated times. Some take the bus to Quaker Bridge Mall, for example, he said.
"Everything is based on individual situations," Roberts said.
Patients with violent histories are mixed in. Currently there are 35 Krol patients and 29 sex offenders that must be publicly listed under Megan's Law. "Krol" is the term used in New Jersey for patients found not guilty by reason of insanity. There are seven patients currently incompetent to stand trial, but who will stand trial when they stabilize.
"These patients are subject to additional procedures," Roberts said. If a criminally violent patient's treatment team suggests a change in the level of supervision, the change has to be approved by the Special Status Patient Review Committee at the hospital, formerly known as the Dangerous Patient Review Committee, and then an additional committee based in Trenton, Roberts said.
"That assessment process goes on at all times," McQuaide said.
For some patients, like Howard B. Unruh, there is a hearing each year to see if doctors and a judge agree to decrease the level of supervision. Unruh, 85, is considered one of the first modern American mass murderers. The World War II veteran killed 13 of his Camden neighbors in a 20-minute shooting spree in 1949.
If a Krol or Megan's Law patient escapes, "I would encourage you to be careful," Roberts said. "Know how to interpret that information."
Roberts is interested in explaining patient classifications to members of the College community, perhaps in psychology classes, he said.
In the case of Janicki, the 22-year-old was at level three supervision for a time, able to walk around unsupervised, but his treatment team decided he should be changed to level two, an increased level of supervision.
"He lost those privileges, but it wasn't communicated well," Roberts said. Staff did not realize his supervision had been changed, so they mistakenly gave him a pass to walk the campus, allowing him to slip away.
Half of the 500 patients are classified as CEPP, meaning their stay has been conditionally extended pending placement. They're ready to be discharged to a community home, but there isn't one available, Roberts said.
These CEPP patients make up the "overwhelming majority" of escapes, McQuaide said.
There were 29 patients that escaped in 2006 up until Aug. 15, Roberts said. Of those, 21 were level three CEPP patients, meaning they were allowed to walk the grounds alone and were ready to move out. Fifteen of the 29 were back in 90 minutes or less, he said. Seventy-one percent of patients are located the same day and another eight percent are found within 24 hours.
Three of the 29 patients that left the grounds unauthorized were under level one supervision. Only one - del Cid-Perez - had been there because of a criminal case, Roberts said.
When patients do escape, it's not unusual for them to be found enjoying soda or cups of coffee from the QuikChek at the Sunoco down the street, Roberts said. That is popular because caffeine is not allowed at the hospital, he said.
Sometimes patients go to a train station in Trenton to score drugs, Roberts said. Ten percent of escaped patients are found at their homes, McQuaide said, citing a hospital press release from October 2005.
"Very, very often the patient is found on grounds," he said.
Robert noted that with only about three months left in 2006 there is an apparent decrease in the rate of escapes, but that the hospital is not satisfied. "If we can get it down to 10, we want to do that," he said.
At Drake, housing for patients with level one or two supervision, there is a recreation yard with basketball hoops, tables and benches. Patients go to the yard for exercise and smoke breaks, Roberts said.
Recent Security Changes
The recreation area is supervised and fenced in, but a couple of patients get over the fence each year, Roberts said. In light of the recent escapes and efforts to bolster security, the hospital plans to augment the fence up to about 15 feet, Roberts said.
Other changes have also been implemented since last year.
Before, when staff realized a patient was missing, they would check the recreation yard again first, and then call Human Services Police. Now, the policy is to call police immediately, he said.
Del Cid-Perez knocked out tamper-proof screws and broke a part designed to keep his window closed when he escaped. Now, additional strips of metal have been screwed along the point where the windows swing out. "Those metal bars were put in place to prevent that from re-occurring," Roberts said.
Another idea is to close two of the four entrances and staff security guards at the other two entrances around the clock, Roberts said.
The hospital has also implemented a callback system, so staff members know if a level three or four patient has arrived on time after they've walked across the campus on their own, he said.
Alarms and extra locks were installed on doors in Drake after some escapes from there, he said.
"Some doors didn't lock," he said. If a staff member loses his keys, he changes the locks right away, a process made easier by the ongoing switch to electronic locks and key cards, he said.
Another new policy is to update patient photos with a digital camera every six months, in part to identify patients when distributing medication.
The hospital is in the process of fencing in some recreation areas from the roof down. The extra fencing acts as a cage, but it looks like an awning. Patients used to hop right over, Roberts said. One recreation yard is complete, and materials are on the way for the other recreation yards of the same design.
None of the County Club residents expressed serious concerns about escaped patients, although they said they were a bit shaken up the first day when they saw the fliers.
Their parents, however, are a different story.
Caitlain Adriance, junior finance major, said her mom told her, "Call me as soon as you find out that they catch them."
Monica DeFalco, junior chemistry major, said her father asked if she wanted pepper spray.
"I'm not concerned," Adriance said, noting that police "were good about letting us know."
Bianca Williams, junior psychology major, said she doesn't feel threatened by the patients and thinks most of them wouldn't be violent.
"I'm not really worried," Leah Axelrod, junior graphic design major, said. "I'm more annoyed by the lack of air conditioning than the fact that there's a psych hospital next door."
(09/13/06 12:00pm)
The College spent $2,260,570 more on energy in fiscal year 2006 than budgeted because of a spike in energy prices after hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast in August and September 2005.
The hurricanes damaged natural gas processing facilities and oil refineries, more than doubling the price of natural gas, Lori Winyard, director of Energy and Central Utilities, said.
In the first five months of fiscal year 2006, July 2005 through November 2005, the College spent over $3 million more on energy than spent in those months in 2004, Winyard said.
In the last seven months, however, the College spent over $514,000 less than it did for those months in 2004 thanks to an energy conservation initiative launched at the College in early December, Winyard said.
The College paid the additional cost from operating reserves and the balances left in some department budgets at the end of the year, College Treasurer Barbara Wineberg said. The remaining balances came from departments that conserved spending in light of the cuts in state funding to higher education proposed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine in March, she said.
According to Winyard, the energy expense for fiscal year 2006 was $8.28 million, $2.54 million more than the $5.74 million spent in fiscal year 2005.
Once the conservation initiative began, though, the College began to save money.
The ongoing initiative calls for setting building thermostats to 68 degrees in the winter, four to eight degrees colder than before the initiative began. In the spring and summer it calls for setting thermostats to 78 degrees, instead of between 72 and 74 degrees, Winyard said.
Another part of the initiative asks students, staff and faculty to turn off lights, computers and appliances when not in use, and to keep windows and doors shut. When the initiative began, staff members for the office of Residential and Community Development contributed to the initiative by telling residents ways to conserve.
"We have been encouraged to remind residents about ways to conserve energy, like turning off lights when you're not in the room, or keeping the thermostat at a reasonable temperature," Kim Ahrens, community advisor in New Residence Hall, said.
Ahrens e-mailed her residents about ways to conserve energy in the winter, she said.
"I think that people being aware of the energy conservation initiative helped conserve energy," she said. "People became a little more conscious about how many lights they had on in their room, and if it was really necessary to have them on when no one was in there."
Additionally, for the first time there was a concerted effort this summer to consolidate functions into as few buildings as possible, allowing the College to shut down air conditioning and lighting in some residential buildings, Winyard said.
"A significant portion of the savings was realized by reducing the heating and raising the air conditioning set-points," Winyard said. "These savings manifested in reduced steam, chilled water and electricity consumption. Certainly, everyone on campus who was diligent by conserving energy at every opportunity, such as shutting off lights, played a part in the success of the effort."
From December 2005 through March 2006, the College spent $330,400 less, and from April through July, the College spent $184,000 less than it did for those months the year before, Winyard said.
Initially there were some complaints about thermostat settings not keeping a comfortable temperature, but the office of Facilities Operations "did a great job at rapidly responding to these complaints," Winyard said. "Typically, the complaints were resolved by calibrating or repairing thermostats to read and control accurately."
"Natural gas prices have fallen somewhat, but hurricane season is upon us and a large hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could cause prices to rise," Winyard said. "Fuel oil continues to hover at or above $70 per barrel, so there has been no relief in that market. Although hurricanes affect the price of oil, so does the instability of the oil-rich Middle East."
Ahrens said she has not been updated on the conservation initiative yet this school year, but expects she will be. "I know that campus residents will respond, because honestly, who wants to pay more in tuition?" she said.
The increased energy prices affected budgets across the country. Rutgers University, for example, spent $55.3 million on energy in fiscal year 2006, $13.5 million more than the year before, Sandra Lanman, director of Media Relations at Rutgers University, said.
The estimated cost of energy for the College for fiscal year 2007 is $8,010,756, Winyard said.
(08/30/06 12:00pm)
The College lost more than $8 million in state support for this fiscal year. The budget cuts have caused the College to increase tuition and enrollment and to hold off on filling 13 full-time faculty positions, resulting in more adjunct professors, larger class sizes and less faculty time for student mentoring.
Some of the other cost-saving measures taken include the elimination of funding for cheerleading and varsity men's golf, an $800,000 cut to the graduate student stipend program and more than $900,000 in cuts to the Maintenance and Information Technology departments, according to a press release from the office of Public Relations Web site.
Legislators cut $3 million from the College's base appropriation. The cut left the College to pay for salary program increases, costing $3.5 million. The cut also includes four years of Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program merit scholarships, awarded to this year's freshman class before the cuts, costing the College an additional $1.5 million.
The cuts were among $150 million cut from higher education across the state and came after College Administrators had trimmed the College's budget each year since 2002, when state support began decreasing.
This year's cut was by far the largest in that time, College Treasurer Barbara Wineberg said.
"This was a very stressful undertaking from the very beginning," Wineberg said in response to this year's cuts, which were first proposed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine in March. "To face this on a very lean budget was doubly difficult. More than doubly difficult."
Students, administrators and faculty launched a petition and letter-writing campaign to restore funding to higher education. Legislators ultimately did restore $4 million of the initially proposed cut, enabling the school to avert a potential shutdown and temporarily lay off of College employees for a week in January to save $1.3 million.
"We were relieved that the restoration was enough to enable us to not take drastic measures," like the shutdown, Wineberg said.
Students across the state rallied for the restoration of funds in Trenton on April 27. Michael Strom, vice president of legal and governmental affairs for the Student Government Association, e-mailed arguments for increasing funding to the College to every senator and assemblyman on the budget committee and his other local officials, Strom said.
"I have gotten replies from seven of them, saying that they are pleased I contacted them, that my views factored into their decision, and then listing how much money they restored," Strom said in an e-mail. "Most of the responses were very basic, but some seemed sincere."
Strom said the lobbying chair of legal and governmental affairs, Daniel Beckelman, met with Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and a state senator from Wayne to plead for more funding on June 6. The senator was very agreeable but the assemblyman was less fazed, Strom added.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein met with scores of state senators and assemblymen, Strom said.
"I was continually humbled and gratified by the support, advice, and advocacy that came from so many members of our community," Gitenstein said at the July 11 Board of Trustees meeting, according to the office of Public Relations. "Without these advocates and supporters, the negative impact of the state's dismal financial circumstance would have been substantially worse on the operations of (the College)."
Tuition for in-state residents at the College increased by 8 percent, the maximum increase allowed by the state, to $3,807.50 per semester. The total cost, including computer access and student insurance, increased by 12.65 percent for in-state and out-of-state residents. Tuition for full-time out-of-state residents increased by 15 percent.
The cost per credit for part-time students increased by 8 percent to $368.40 for in-state residents, and increased to $600.07 for out-of-state students. The cost per credit for graduate students increased by 8 percent to $618.10 for in-state residents and increased by 15 percent to $875.25 for out-of-state residents.
The office of Public Relations called the cuts a "monumental loss of state funding" in a July 17 campus-wide e-mail.
Because of the cuts, The College of New Jersey Foundation, which solicits private gifts for the College, will increase the school's revenue by increasing its donation to the College by 50 percent, from $1 million to $1.5 million.
Legislators approved the budget on July 8 after missing the July 1 deadline, causing the state government to shut down for the first time in New Jersey's history.
(04/12/06 12:00pm)
According to a recent analysis of the state budget that Gov. Jon S. Corzine proposed for next year, the College would have to pay $3 million in increases for employee fringe benefits from its base budget, instead of receiving the state's aid.
This cost to the College, combined with a proposed $4 million cut from the College's base appropriation and the governor's proposal to not fund $4 million in salary program increases for state-negotiated contracts, would leave the College with an $11 million financial hole to fill.
On top of that, the College would be funding 100 percent of Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program merit scholarships for incoming freshmen, instead of the usual 30 percent, because the proposed budget phases out the program.
College officials, including College President R. Barbara Gitenstein and College Treasurer Barbara Wineberg, along with Corzine himself, have said that they hope state legislators find a way to restore funding to higher education. Corzine has said that if legislators find savings in other areas of the budget, he wants to put the money toward higher education first.
The legislature has a July 1 deadline to approve a budget for the state,
College administrators are already looking for ways to deal with the proposed loss of funding. "The College is presently discussing options that will include a combination of cost reductions, revenue enhancements and increases in tuition and fees," Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations said.
Budget analysis was done by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities for each state college and the results were shared with the College on Thursday, Golden said.
The fringe benefits for employees, which include health benefits, pension, insurance for unemployment and disability, would not be affected, Golden said. However, the College as a whole "would be impacted because the proposal is to shift the cost from the state to the colleges, not to eliminate the payments," he said.
Golden said that to advocate for increased funding, Gitenstein and the office of Public Affairs "have set up meetings with legislators and editorial boards to discuss the impact of these drastic cuts."
"The volunteer boards of the College have been fully informed of the nature of these cuts and the president expects that each will develop its own specific advocacy plan," he added.
Golden said that the Student Government Association (SGA), in addition to its letter- and postcard-writing campaigns and petition drive, is planning to participate in a statewide student rally in Trenton. The faculty senate has begun its own letter-writing campaign, he said.
Annelise Catanzaro, SGA executive president, said that on April 27 every institution in higher education will participate in a student rally in Trenton. She said she hopes that Student Finance Board and other student organizations will fund the buses to take students from the College to the rally.
The day of the rally will also be the last day of SGA's postcard-writing campaign, Catanzaro said. She said that she and the office of Public Relations are working to set up a meeting with legislators for that afternoon to submit the postcards in person. Catanzaro said that the meeting will distinguish the College from other schools, noting that some of the student protesters could get out of hand.
She said that campuswide e-mails from SGA will ask students to participate in the advocacy efforts and to sign a petition to restore funding to New Jersey higher education on a Rutgers University Web site. A similar message will be posted on the Web site to vote for SGA elections, she said.
(04/05/06 12:00pm)
If the state government does not fund the Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program (OSRP) for students entering in the fall, as Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed in his budget for next year, the College will fund those merit scholarships on its own, College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said in a letter sent to the parents of eligible students.
The College would then fund the incoming students' scholarships for the next four years.
Legislators, who have a July 1 deadline to approve a state budget, could still restore funding to OSRP. "OSRP has faced similar threats in the past and received full restoration due to the lobbying efforts of our institution and families like your own," Gitenstein said in the letter, which was sent late last week by the office of Admissions. She also encouraged parents to contact their local legislators to communicate support for the program.
"We're still hoping that the state will fund (OSRP) and honor its commitment," College Treasurer Barbara Wineberg said, "but we will honor this if the state does not."
The College is obligated to fund OSRP for the incoming students because the students were told in previous offer letters that they would receive the scholarships, Wineberg said. "We had no indication that the state would take this position," she said.
Wineberg said that this will not cause tuition to go up. The scholarships would be funded as a one-time "administrative project," she said, and would not be funded with tuition increases or fees. Other proposed administrative projects would be pushed back, she said.
"It's just a matter of priorities," she said. "You do one thing or you do another."
Gitenstein's message on the office of Public Affairs' budget Web page was modified to say "We hope that the state will meet its obligation to the incoming freshman class, but (the College) will fund four years of the awards for those students if it does not."
According to the office of Admissions Web site, merit scholarship awards range from $2,500 per year to four years of tuition, room and board, in addition to a laptop. Gitenstein said that over one-third of each of the current classes receives OSRP scholarships.
The recruitment program is structured so that 70 percent is state-funded and 30 percent is funded by the College. If the proposed phase-out of OSRP is approved, the College would fund the scholarship 100 percent for the incoming freshmen.
Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said that "any cut to this program would be . negative for our state."
"The best thing people can do is let their legislators know about their concerns relating to OSRP and higher education funding," Golden said.
"In terms of lobbying, that goes on because it must, but the president and Patrice Coleman-Boatwright (associate vice president for Public Affairs) have been very focused on the present needs of our campus community," Golden said. "Once we get some answers about the disappearance of John Fiocco and the campus begins to recover from this traumatic time, budgetary issues will get more attention."
(04/05/06 12:00pm)
Annelise Catanzaro, Student Government Association (SGA) executive president, met on Thursday with Gov. Jon S. Corzine and members of his staff to share student concerns about Corzine's proposed $169 million cuts to higher education.
Catanzaro said that Corzine seemed responsive to student concerns and that he told the representatives in attendance that if legislators find savings in other areas of the budget, he wants to put the money toward higher education first, a statement he has expressed on several occasions.
On March 21, Corzine proposed a state budget that would cut the College's base appropriation by $4 million, or more than 10 percent. The proposed budget would not fund salary program increases and would phase out state funding for the Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein has said that the "drastic cuts" could have a "devastating impact" on the College.
Members of the governor's staff in attendance included Jane Oates, executive director of the Commission on Higher Education, and Heather Howard, general public policy advisor, Catanzaro said.
Student representatives from public and private institutions and county colleges attended the meeting at the governor's mansion, Drumthwacket, in Princeton.
"The meeting was a great chance to voice our concerns about the budget and also network with other student leaders," Catanzaro said.
"The governor said that he would like to have another meeting before the end of the academic year to follow up with concerns raised by students, and discuss in further detail the idea of a committee of students on higher education," she said.
SGA has also begun a postcard-writing advocacy campaign.
Catanzaro said that SGA members collected student signatures at April Fest, "Mystique" and Accepted Students Day to send to the state legislature to lobby for increased funding to higher education, she said. SGA members plan to solicit further student support in the coming days, she said.
SGA will send an e-mail to the campus at large requesting its support in an additional letter and e-mail-writing campaign to lobby the state legislature for the restoration of funding to higher education, Catanzaro said.
Other organizations, including the Music Educator's National Conference and All College Theatre, have contacted Catanzaro about helping with the advocacy efforts, she said, noting that the budget cuts particularly affect those student in the School of Art, Media and Music. The proposal opts to phase out the Governor's School of the Arts, a summer program for students talented in music, art and drama to learn and perform at conferences held on campuses around the state, including at the College.
Catanzaro said that student organizations and individuals that want to help lobby for more funding should contact SGA at sga@tcnj.edu so that the organization can keep track of and best support advocacy efforts.
(03/29/06 12:00pm)
Gov. Jon S. Corzine proposed a state budget last Tuesday that would cut funding to higher education by $169 million. The "drastic cuts" could have a "devastating impact" on the College, College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said in a campuswide e-mail sent last Wednesday afternoon.
"We are working out scenarios; none of them good. They will include increases in tuition and cuts to expenditure. I have grave concerns about the impact to the parents and students in increased costs and in loss of services and programs," Gitenstein said in an e-mail interview for The Signal.
The College's base appropriation would be cut by $4 million, more than 10 percent. In addition, the proposed $30.9 billion budget would not fund $4 million in salary program increases for the College and it would phase out the Outstanding Scholar Recruitment Program (OSRP), eliminating state-funded merit scholarships for incoming freshmen.
"I want to point out that higher education has received significant cuts in each of the last four years. I have never used words like 'drastic' and 'devastating' until this year," Gitenstein said. "This is the most extreme cut in higher education that I have ever experienced in my professional life and my colleagues have made similar comments."
Schools across the state are bracing for the consequences of the proposal.
The president of Rutgers University, Richard L. McCormick, "forecast not only higher tuition but layoffs, the cancellation of hundreds of classes and reductions in essential student services," according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The proposed budget is subject to change. State legislators have a July 1 deadline to approve a budget, which is when the budget is scheduled to take effect.
"Governor Corzine's proposal will now be debated and modified by legislators in the State Assembly and Senate who will work to gain support for the programs and issues that concern their constituents," Gitenstein said in the campuswide e-mail.
Gitenstein said in the interview that she hopes students join her in advocating for the restoration of OSRP funding.
More than one-third of each class at the College currently receives OSRP scholarships, she said.
While current students will not lose their OSRP scholarship under the proposed budget, Gitenstein said she is concerned that the loss of future OSRP scholarships might discourage incoming students from attending the College.
"I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening through an active advocacy program to restore OSRP," she said. "I will be engaging a wide range of constituencies in this advocacy, including other presidents. I would hope that the student body would take part in this advocacy. Whether the proposal affects a student's scholarship or not, the loss of the program affects the College as a whole."
Nadine Stern, chief information officer for the divisions of Information Technology and Student Services, said that OSRP, which started in 1998, increased the enrollment and retention of high-achieving New Jersey high school graduates in New Jersey colleges.
"Without the program we may see more of our highly achieving high school students attend out-of-state colleges," Stern said. "This is a disadvantage to the state as we strive to build our economic base into the future."
Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said the proposed phase-out of the merit scholarship program would reduce access to educational opportunities and exacerbate the state's "brain drain" problem - losing students to colleges in other states.
"Keeping New Jersey's best and brightest students in-state for their education and, ultimately, their professional careers has benefits across a multitude of economic sectors," he said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on March 22 that "New Jersey already leads the country in losing students to out-of-state colleges."
"The loss of the OSRP program would be very bad for the College and it would be disastrous for the state," Gitenstein said. "The Higher Education Student Assistance Authority conducted a study last year that evaluated OSRP and concluded that it was a program that successfully met its goals of stemming the tide of the brain drain to other states of some of the most academically talented (New Jersey) students. The study recommended continuing the program and placing it in statute."
College officials and the Student Government Association (SGA) plan to lobby for more funding and are suggesting ways students can contribute to the effort.
"Without a doubt, the SGA and students of (the College) will be active," SGA President Annelise Catanzaro said. On Friday afternoon, Catanzaro met with Gitenstein, Patrice Coleman-Boatwright, associate vice president for the office of Public Affairs, and Barbara Wineberg, treasurer, "to talk specifically about how students can help lobby for more funding," Catanzaro said.
SGA plans to set up a table in Brower Student Center today to begin a postcard-writing campaign to the state legislature, Catanzaro said. The table will also be set up on Accepted Students Day, when the incoming freshmen and their parents visit, she said, so they can also contribute.
Catanzaro said that she is scheduled to meet with Corzine, along with about 15 other college student leaders, on Thursday to discuss higher education funding.
From an official standpoint, Gitenstein said, "We will inform parents of incoming OSRP-eligible students of the governor's proposal and indicate that the College will meet its obligation for the portion of the scholarship that is institutionally funded and urge these parents to advocate for full restoration of the program."
Golden said the letter to incoming freshmen about the possible loss of state-funded merit scholarships "explains the potential state cuts and provides some historical background on the state budget process."
Gitenstein has also met with Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the two students running for SGA president next year, and she will meet with the Staff Senate as soon as it can be scheduled "to discuss what their advocacy should be," Gitenstein said.
On the positive side, the Tuition Aid Grant program, the state's need-based program, would actually receive a small increase in funding. Still, increased tuition could make college unaffordable for students from low-income families. An editorial in The Times of Trenton on March 23 said that Corzine is "cutting higher-education aid, which will mean higher tuitions that may force some lower-income New Jerseyans to drop their dreams of college."
Golden said there is no easy way to reduce the cost of running the College. "We enacted a very lean budget this year so that our tuition increase would be below those of most other state colleges and universities," he said. "As a result, there simply aren't many areas where we can derive further savings."
Gitenstein would not speculate on what the tuition increase would be at this time. The College's Board of Trustees will set tuition some time in July.
Corzine has said that if legislators find ways to cut spending in other areas, savings should go toward restoring higher education funds first, not reducing taxes.
He told The Bergen Record's editorial board the day after he introduced his budget: "The harshest cut is in higher education. If we can find savings, I would put it there first."
Corzine has said that the state is "pretty much broke" and that "reductions and constraints on growth have to fall in areas where the state controls spending - areas as sensitive and important as K-12 and higher education, health care and municipal aid."
Although Gitenstein does not agree with his drastic cuts in higher education funding, she said, "I admire the forthrightness and honesty of his approach to the budget problems of the state."
The office of Public Affairs' budget Web site contains information about proposed budget cuts, links to related news stories and ways to contact local legislators and the governor's office to advocate for the restoration of higher education funding. The page can be found at tcnj.edu/~ccr/news/2006/budget/index.html.
(02/22/06 12:00pm)
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein received a salary increase of seven percent in December, bringing her annual compensation to $251,450. The Board of Trustees gave her the raise for achieving the objectives it had set for her, such as fundraising, and to show its appreciation for her leadership.
The Board of Trustees is required to set specific expectations and goals for the president "directly related to the success of the institution," Gitenstein said. "The board members then evaluate my performance against these goals each year and make a determination regarding any salary increase."
"When the Board of Trustees conducted its annual review of President Gitenstein's performance, it was agreed that she had not only achieved the objectives (the board) set forth, but had surpassed them," Christopher R. Gibson, Board of Trustees member, said. "Therefore, we recommended an increase that was moderate but demonstrated our appreciation of the leadership she has provided."
The board asked Gitenstein to focus on approximately seven things over the course of the year, such as increasing fundraising and hiring someone to oversee construction, Gibson said. The board viewed the hiring of Curt Heuring in November 2004 as vice president of Facilities Management, Construction and Campus Safety as "very positive," he said.
At the Oct. 18 board meeting, Gitenstein noted the success in alumni contributions. Alumni have donated 28 percent more than last year, and total dollar contributions are up 335 percent.
The board was also impressed with the College's categorization as one of the 75 "Most Competitive" colleges in the 2005 edition of Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, Gibson said.
The Board of Trustees is comprised of lay members who have been residents of the state or are out-of-state alumni. Previous boards suggest board members to the New Jersey governor, who then appoints them with the advice and consent of the State Senate. The College president serves as a non-voting member of the board, along with two student trustees, one of whom has voting rights.
"(The College) has accomplished a great deal under the guidance of Dr. Gitenstein," Gibson said. "When compared with those increases offered presidents at similarly regarded institutions, her compensation package is certainly modest."
When the board determined that Gitenstein would receive a raise, she requested that the increases be moderate, Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said. In terms of percentage growth, Gitenstein's salary has grown at a slower pace than the salaries of many faculty members, he said.
Gitenstein's salary was $160,000 when she was hired as president of the College in 1999, Golden added.
Presidents of state colleges tend to earn less than those of private institutions, but their compensation is rising because of market pressure and competition, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Nov. 18.
"The role of president at many public universities has become more difficult over the years, with intensified fund-raising demands, clashes with state lawmakers over appropriations and increasingly attentive and involved governing boards," The Chronicle reported.
Serving as chief executive of a large public institution is a full-time job, Gibson said. "You kind of live and breathe it all the time."
The median pay for a public university president is $360,000, according to The Chronicle. The median for presidents of master's colleges and liberal arts schools is between $200,000 and $250,000, Golden said.
"All salaries for regular employees of the College come from the general fund, which includes state appropriation, state allocation for the salary program increases, tuition and fee income and any other resources not specifically designated for a purpose," Gitenstein said. "Unlike other institutions, there are no foundation dollars used to supplement any salary on the campus."
According to a survey by The Chronicle, there are 23 public university presidents earning more than $500,000. Last year there were 17. Fifty-three presidents will receive at least $400,000, up from 43 last year.
The president of Rutgers University, Richard L. McCormick, receives an annual salary of $525,000, the campus newspaper, The Daily Targum, reported.
Some are disturbed by the trend toward higher salaries. The American Association of University Professors said that the increases are "a further indication that a more corporate organizational hierarchy is emerging in colleges and universities, in potential conflict with the mission of institutions of higher education to operate for the benefit of society as a whole," The Chronicle reported.
The Chronicle quoted Roger W. Bowen, general secretary of the association, as saying, "Should the president of any university be paid more than the president of the United States?" The U.S. president's annual salary is $400,000.
Five private college presidents earn over $1 million a year. The president of Boston University, for example, makes $1,253,352 in salary and benefits. In many cases, the larger presidential salaries are paid in part by private donations.
"I feel strongly that at this particular point in the College's history, we should be raising money for student scholarships, student financial aid, support for faculty scholarship/research, enhancement of academic programs and capital projects tied directly to the mission," Gitenstein wrote in an e-mail. "I would hope that in the near future we would be raising private dollars for endowing professorships and lectureships, but NOT for enhancements of salaries for either the president or any vice president."
"I am comfortable saying that I am very proud of the progress of (the College) over the last seven years and am pleased that I have been an important part of accomplishing that progress," Gitenstein added.
Gitenstein came to the College in 1999 from Drake University, a private institution in Des Moines, Iowa, where she served as provost and executive vice president. She has more than 25 years of experience as a college professor and administrator in the public and private sectors.
(02/08/06 12:00pm)
The College used almost 12 percent less energy this January than it did in January 2005, according to Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations.
The "Knowledge is Power" energy conservation initiative, coupled with mild January temperatures, contributed to reduced energy consumption, Golden said.
It is not yet clear how this will affect the budget. "We can't calculate January expenditures yet, since the month just ended and the billing cycle isn't complete," he said.
The ongoing conservation initiative, which was launched in early December in response to rising energy costs, includes setting building thermostats to 68 degrees, as well as asking students, staff and faculty to turn off lights, computers and appliances when not in use and to keep windows and doors shut.
According to AccuWeather.com, the average temperature for Trenton last month was 38.5 degrees Fahrenheit, six-and-two-tenths degrees warmer than normal.
Campus building temperatures had been set between 72 and 76 degrees before the initiative launched, Golden said. The temperature reduction could save $200,000, according to an official e-mail explaining the initiative.
Older buildings like Green Hall and Holman Hall have historically experienced temperature control problems, Golden said, but the heating systems are being repaired.
"We have actually heard that certain buildings are more comfortable than in previous years, even at the lower set-point temperatures, because the repaired heating systems are functioning better," Golden said. "A few (heating) issues are more complex, however, and would require major capital investment to rectify."
The official e-mail announcing the initiative, sent on Dec. 6, stated that because of increased costs, the College "anticipates an increase of $2.5 million for energy-related operating costs during this fiscal year alone."
Members of the campus community who have embraced the initiative "are making a significant difference" in reducing energy consumption, Golden said.
Some staff members in the office of Residence Life and Community Development are among those supporting the initiative. Katie Messina, sophomore "ResLife staff members are doing their best to promote the energy conservation program and turning off lights every chance we get."
Ryan Moriarty, sophomore business administration-management major and community advisor, said he asks his residents to turn off their computers when they go to bed instead of leaving up away messages. "Nobody cares if you're sleeping," he said.
The Residence Life staff has been told to keep windows shut and lights off in common areas, like laundry rooms, lounges and trash rooms, Messina said.
Golden said the campus community is asked to reduce energy consumption "because utility costs have a tremendous impact on the College's budget."
"(The College) operates with a limited pool of resources," he said. "We want to devote as many of those resources as possible to initiatives and programs that improve the educational experiences of our students."
In January 2005, the College used 2,555,324 kilowatt-hours, as compared to 2,261,941 kilowatt-hours in January 2006.
Energy conservation suggestions can be sent to Lori Winyard, director of the Office of Energy and Central Utilities, at winyard@tcnj.edu.
More information about the initiative can be found at tcnj.edu/energy/index.html.
(11/30/05 12:00pm)
On Nov. 2, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted 34-5 in favor of a bill that took away the general student body's right to vote at committee meetings.
The Committee Voting Bill added the clause "Only Student Government members, including associate members, will be allowed to vote in committees."
"It's pretty straightforward," Annelise Catanzaro, SGA executive president, said.
Less straightforward, perhaps, is the drama that unfolded at one committee meeting last year, prompting the change, and what this change now means for the campus community.
Dan Beckelman, former senator at-Large, said he proposed the bill "because (he) thought that it was dysfunctional to have people not associated with SGA voting in SGA meetings."
"I feel it is better for SGA to be cohesive and not burdened by people flittering in and out," Beckelman said.
Catanzaro, however, said that the flittering of students in and out of committee meetings has not, historically, been a problem.
"Internal SGA committees are not well attended by the student body at-large," she said. "Occasionally, students will attend Legal (and) Governmental Affairs to present their constitution for a new club or organization, but that's about it."
In fact, those SGA members interviewed said they only remembered one instance where non-SGA members went to exercise their right to vote at a committee meeting. That instance was last spring's Legal and Governmental Affairs meeting to vote on the bill to create the position of vice president of Equity and Diversity.
Beckelman said the meeting became "a pile-on" of non-SGA members.
At the time, Beckelman was actually one of the non-SGA members who attended the meeting.
Beckelman said he was among three non-SGA members present, all College Republicans. Now, he is a College Democrat.
"While three non-SGA members were all indeed College Republicans at the time, there was not a club-wide movement to block the position of vice president of Equity and Diversity from being created," Tony DeCarlo, vice-chair of the College Republicans, said. "The issue was controversial at the time and some of our members felt very passionately about it."
At the meeting, Ravi Kaneriya, senator at-Large, said, "the College Republicans pretty much brought several of their members to the committee to vote against the bill."
"The people they brought were pretty much people who had never paid any interest to SGA and didn't even really understand the bill," he said. "They just showed up because their friends told them to come and vote against the VP of Equity and Diversity."
"I thought it was simply disgusting and an abuse of power that certain prominent SGA members were exploiting their friends and using them as tools to block the bill, even though they knew next to nothing about it," Kaneriya said.
"I especially remember that meeting because I pretty much admonished those SGA members and told them that their conduct was wrong and unacceptable. The whole irony is that Dan Beckelman (who proposed the bill that would prohibit student votes at committee meetings) was one of the then non-SGA people who was brought in to vote down the bill."
Beckelman said he remembers Kaneriya's admonishments, but said the accusations of the non-SGA members being uninformed about the bill are "not true at all."
The then non-SGA members "understood it perfectly," he said.
Beckelman said that the committee meeting made him realize there were potential problems with having non-SGA members vote.
Teo Paoletti, senator of Science, who was serving on the Legal and Governmental Affairs committee at the time, said that that particular meeting was the first time most members of SGA had seen such a tactic, so the committee postponed the vote on the position to give more people a chance to speak out.
With the exception of those present at that meeting, it seems most students did not know they even had the right to vote at committee meetings.
Kaneriya said the fact that most of non-SGA members did not know they had the right is probably why so few ever exercised the right when it existed.
Nikki Berzinskis, sophomore accounting major, agreed, and said that when it comes to SGA, students at the College "are not aware of the issues" and "they're not aware of what their rights are."
However, their ignorance is not due to lack of publicity, Catanzaro said.
"(Internal committee) meetings are publicized on our Web site, in flyers and (have been printed) once in The Signal," she said.
Paoletti said he did not feel a need to revoke a right that was barely used.
He described some possible effects of the disenfranchisement, "Without this right, a student's voice could be easily lost, or if a group of students, uninvolved in SGA strongly wanted to see something passed, they would have to persuade senators to see things their way. This is highly political and unnecessary," he said.
Still, Paoletti said he does not think the change will discourage students from getting involved.
"Whether they had the right to vote in committee or not, the students who are concerned will get involved one way or the other," he said.
Kaneriya, who voted for the bill, said he sees the bill as a double edged sword.
"On the one hand, it would keep mobs of non-SGA students that are unrepresentative of the campus community at large from blocking legislation, but at the same time, if only SGA members can vote, then the SGA could block legislation in committee that might actually be very popular with the student body."
In part to address these concerns, SGA recently gave students another way to have their voices heard.
On Nov. 16, SGA unanimously passed the Initiative Bill proposed by Kaneriya, which allows any student to bring forward a bill or resolution to the SGA Senate without the need for a Senate sponsor.
Instead, students would need 100 signatures from other students at the College.
Kaneriya said the bill can be a powerful tool for the general student body.
"Although this would weaken the power of the Senate, I believe it will reform and enhance the democratic process by putting power back in the hands of the people," he said.
(10/19/05 12:00pm)
Rising energy costs have the College striving to conserve energy in the coming winter months, Lori Winyard, director of the office of Energy and Central Utilities, said.
"The College's annual energy budget was submitted earlier this year, while energy prices were much lower," Winyard said. "The recent run-up in worldwide energy prices will negatively impact the College's energy budget."
As a result, Winyard said, "the entire College community must work together to conserve all forms of energy."
On average, the College is paying - and is projected to continue paying - 20 cents more per therm (a unit of heat energy) of natural gas than was anticipated in the energy budget.
The price per therm fluctuates throughout the year, as does the number of therms the College uses each month, Winyard said.
As a result, the College budgeted 76 cents per therm of natural gas, Winyard said, while the actual and projected price is now 96 cents.
In previous years, she said, the College has typically used several hundred thousand therms per month, although it varies based on energy expenditures.
"In the summer months, when there's a high air-conditioning load, and in the winter when there's a high demand on heating, consumption of gas has been historically more than in the milder seasons of fall and spring," Winyard said.
She noted that the energy market has been exceptionally volatile in recent months.
"The energy markets, like any commodities or stock market, are always fluctuating," she said. "The price for a barrel of oil or a therm of natural gas is near an all-time high. At some point, energy analysts expect that a peak price will be reached and a softening in the markets will occur."
Winyard said the price of natural gas per therm has more than doubled since last year, even though the United States now has more natural gas in storage.
New Jersey departments also have noted the percent increase in energy costs. The Associated Press reported on Oct. 12, "The national per gallon cost for heating oil has increased about 87 percent, and natural gas rose 176 percent since last September, according the state Division of the Ratepayer Advocate."
This year's energy budget for the College is approximately 9.5 percent more than last year. The budget for this fiscal year, including electricity, is $6,019,430, Winyard said. Last year, she said, the budget was about $5.5 million.
Winyard said the extraordinary escalation of energy prices is mainly due to world events, including "the huge increase in energy consumption in Asia, and the recent hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, which damaged oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as well as land-based oil refineries."
The increased prices, she said, are "impacting not only the College, but all Americans, from individuals to large corporations, including federal and state government."
"The rate of increase is alarming enough that both the public and private sector are devising ways to cut energy consumption," Winyard said.
The College's conservation program, Winyard said, is expected to be implemented before January.
To encourage students to help in the effort, she is working with a team that includes the office of Residential and Community Development and its assistant director, Sean Stallings, to develop an effective conservation plan.
Their hope is that students will pay more attention to shutting off lights, computers and appliances when not in use, turning down the heat and keeping windows and doors to the outside closed, she said.
Students are not the only ones being targeted, though. "I'm not just talking about students," Winyard said. "I'm talking about everybody."
"Since energy costs began to spike, we have been working on an energy conservation program that we expect to introduce shortly," she said. "This will call for a campus-wide effort on the part of students, faculty and staff members."
Stallings said the office of Residential and Community Development, in conjunction with the office of Facilities Operations, will be preparing its energy conservation efforts throughout the semester.
"We have not established the full plan of our efforts at this point," he said, adding that students can expect more details toward the end of the semester.
Winyard could not say how this increase in energy cost might affect tuition.
"Tuition is calculated based on all of the College's revenues and expenditures," she said. "To speculate accurately on how one increased expenditure will impact tuition, without considering all the other factors, would be impossible."
"We're in a good position because we're working on the plan and getting ready to roll out the plan before the heating season begins," she added.
Some members of the team devising the energy conservation program have been meeting every single day, she said, adding that the team is working with a sense of urgency.
Winyard noted that the College's facilities have always been designed to conserve energy and money.
The College uses dual fuel equipment, which can run on oil or gas, so the College can switch to oil if it's more cost effective. "We're always looking to get the most for our money," she said.
This practice saves the College millions of dollars, Winyard said. "Our Central Utilities Plant utilizes cogeneration, a technology that generates electricity and captures and recovers waste heat to produce steam," Winyard said. "This technology alone reduces (the College's) energy budget by $2.5 to $3 million per year."
Some students said they would be willing to join in the conservation efforts, but they think others might be too apathetic or lazy.
Sunjay Patel, sophomore international business major, said he probably will not encourage his fellow Cromwell residents to conserve energy because he thinks most students will brush it off. "I think people will be too lazy to shut off their computers," he said.
Kenneth Morrison, sophomore elementary education major, said his computer stays on all night, but he is willing to conserve if it means saving money in the future. "If turning off my computer at night is going to save me a whole lot of money on tuition, then I'm all for it," he said.
Ghengis Tan, sophomore English major, said, "I always turn my computer off at night ... my roommate turns everything off, too."
Tan tried to come up with ways to address the problem. "I think the school should start turning the lights off at night - like after three in the morning," he said.
He also joked about another, less serious, idea. "You know how the College has PrintSense for paper?" Tan said. "I think they should start doing that for power."
Jessi Kane, freshman biology major, said she keeps her computer on all the time. "I don't think to turn it off," she said.
Kane, however, noted that a campuswide energy conservation effort could help. "I don't think one person turning off their computer would make a difference," she said. "But maybe if everyone did, it would."