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(09/21/05 12:00pm)
The Metzger Drive loop was alight with the kindness of over 100 people this past Saturday evening. Carrying red and white balloons, complete with flashing lights, they joined together to raise money for the Southern New Jersey Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by participating in the seventh annual Light the Night Walk.
This is the first year the College hosted the walk. Wanting a strong turnout for this year's walk, Rose Carrano, senior campaign manager, contacted the College immediately.
"My goal was to bring it back to Mercer County," Carrano said. "The College is really supportive. I knew the community of kids would get involved."
"Involved" appeared to be an understatement on Saturday. Many College students volunteered to set up, work and clean up after the walk, while others raised money and walked the two-mile course.
Katie Makovec and Kristina Mihalik, both junior math and secondary education majors, and senior art education major Christa Turek volunteered through Kappa Delta Pi, the education honor society. The girls painted butterflies, hearts and stars on the faces and arms of some of the youngest walkers.
"It's nice to see them smile," Makovec said.
Other student volunteers doubled their support by walking after their volunteer shift was over.
Jessica Barile, senior art education major, began the evening by overseeing the decoration of a large canvas that would be signed by walkers. After the four walks of 2005, it will be auctioned off.
"I have family that (have) died of cancer, not necessarily leukemia, but I thought it was a great opportunity to help out," Barile said.
At 7 p.m., she took a red balloon, which represents supporters (the white symbolize survivors), and walked with the rest of the participants. Between friends and family, she was able to raise $50.
"I knew everyone was more than willing to donate for a good cause," she said.
Keri Damaschi, senior elementary education and history major, was also pleasantly surprised at the support she received from fellow College students. As a peer advisor on Wolfe 1, she collected spare change from all of her residents, coming to a total of $61.50.
"I didn't raise a lot, but I got a lot of people to contribute," she said.
The benefits of the walk were brought even closer to home when Carrano presented a gift basket to Pippi Simpson, a two-and-a-half year-old New Jersey native diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.
"She's the reason we're here tonight," Carrano said as the participants began their walk around the College's campus.
However, some walkers had their own personal inspiration for being there that night, like Lauren Fitzpatrick, senior English secondary education major. Her cousin, Renee Smith, passed away at the end of August from leukemia at the age of 34, and Fitzpatrick walked in her memory. In three weeks, she was able to raise $275 from friends and family.
"This is something I'd want to do every year," she said.
Another group of seven students, including Annelise Catanzaro, Student Government Association executive president and Mollie Seiferas, vice president of student services, walked in honor of junior psychology major Laurie Mandara. Individually and through SGA meetings, the group was able to raise $560 for the walk.
Of course, not all participants in the walk were College students.
One team with a very large presence called themselves Kyle's Kousins. Mike Shevlin of Hopewell and uncle of 4-year-old Kyle is no stranger to mobilizing supporters. Since his nephew was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia at 16 months old, he has run in two marathons and raised $25,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
"We have a lot of support from friends and family," Shevlin said. "I try to stay as involved as possible."
By the end of the walk, some of the younger supporters needed to be carried, but the lights in the balloons still burned brightly.
As the participants returned to their cars and more student volunteers packed up the tables, the buzz of accomplishment filled the lawn outside of Brower Student Center.
"We're really glad the College allowed us to come," Cathy Traz, executive director of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, said. "It's proven to be a great location, and a beautiful campus. We're very lucky."
(09/14/05 12:00pm)
In the wake of a tragedy such as Hurricane Katrina, those not directly affected often feel helpless. They may wonder how they can possibly make a difference 1,100 miles away from the devastation.
Steve Hofstetter, however, a writer and stand-up comedian who increased his visibility among the college-aged demographic by joining facebook.com, recently asked all 182,595 of his Facebook friends to donate two cents for each friend they have to hurricane relief.
The 26-year-old comedian is not collecting the money, but instead asks that students choose their own charity and write back to him with how much they gave.
"I don't want to mandate who they donate to," Hofstetter said. "People are writing back saying they donated two bucks, or they donated 200. Two dollars at a time really does make a difference."
Indeed, two cents per friend does not sound like a lot of money. While students may be skeptical of how that can possibly help, Hofstetter explains on his Web site how such a small donation can add up to a substantial amount of relief.
"If you have 300 friends, you'll be donating $6," he wrote. "But if all of my Facebook friends do it, that's over a $1,000,000 in aid." To be exact, his 182,598 friends have the potential to raise $1,095,588.
Hofstetter said he personally recommends the Red Cross American Hurricane Relief Fund, but believes this is not the time to argue over which organizations do the best work.
"All I ask is that students don't send cases of water because the Red Cross could buy it much cheaper," he said.
Cassie Tilley, junior chemistry major and one of Hofstetter's 563 facebook.com friends from the College, received his message. "I thought it was really touching," Tilley said.
"It was great that he used what little power he has through Facebook for such a good cause. I had already donated five dollars at the Ewing Shop Rite before receiving it, which is much more than two cents per friend. Hopefully every one of his friends did something similar. Every little bit helps."
Hofstetter also ends his comedy routine with a plea for his fans to donate, and College students were some of the first to hear it when he performed in Kendall Hall Sept. 1.
"It's absolutely devastating and we need to help," Hofstetter said. "There are relief shows everywhere, and I shouldn't get any special recognition. My question to those who have a stage and aren't doing anything is, 'Why not?'"
Donations can be made to the American Red Cross at redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp.
(04/06/05 12:00pm)
Before you light up your next cigarette in your room, think again. The College and the state of New Jersey are both looking to ban smoking in all residence halls. The change - proposed in a state bill that passed in the Senate March 14 - could go into effect as early as Fall 2005 if legislated by the state government, according to Mary-Elaine Perry, vice president for Student Life.
While the bill will next be considered by the Assembly, Perry said the College is taking its own steps to ban smoking in residence halls even if the bill does not pass.
If the bill does not pass, Perry said it would take longer for such a policy to go into effect at the College, due to the time College governance policies take to pass. "I would think the very earliest would be next January, but most likely the fall," she said.
An e-mail sent out by the Committee for Student and Campus Community (CSCC) in mid-March was just one step the College took toward creating and passing the new policy. Glenn Steinberg, chair of CSCC, said the Steering Committee approached her committee during Fall 2004 to review the current smoking policy.
As of now, the policy bans smoking in all academic buildings and Townhouses East and West, because they have recirculated air.
"We initially looked at it and consulted with RHA (Residence Hall Association) and SGA (Student Government Association) and various other organizations and had decided to not take any action," Steinberg said.
With more input from the College's legal counsel and the Alcohol and Drug Education Program, the committee decided to seek widespread student input.
An online inquiry sent out by CSCC on March 17 asked residents if they would choose to live in a smoke-free residence hall. It was a success, according to Steinberg, with nearly 1,000 students responding. Around 80 percent expressed a preference to live in a smoke-free residence hall.
Steinberg said that while CSCC feels this policy is sufficiently supported by the student body and would be a positive change, it will wait to recommend the change.
"We felt at this point in the end of the semester it would be hard to set up public forums and gather feedback about changing the policy," Steinberg said. "We thought we'd wait until next fall, which has the added advantage that if the state does pass the proposed law, then it's out of our hands anyway."
"I think it's messed up," Matt Steager, freshman nursing major, said. "We're paying housing, too. You should be able to do it if it's your habit. I know there might be secondhand smoke, but you can keep your door shut."
Sarah Braun, freshman interactive multimedia major, disagrees. "The smoke comes up through the sink," she said, as sinks in each room in Travers and Wolfe Halls have connected plumbing. "I hate the smell, and that would drive me nuts."
Freshman music education major Mike Cowen agreed. His great uncle lost his larynx, commonly referred to as the voice box, to cancer caused by smoking, so he is very aware of the health risks associated with cigarette smoke. "You should just take it outside," he said.
Even some smokers who are not in favor of the policy said they understand the need for it.
"It's no big deal. It's a bummer for people who want to do it in their rooms, but it's a health thing I guess," Joe Moore, sophomore economics major, said.
Steinberg said he understands the frustration that some students will feel if the policy goes into effect. "I do understand the argument that the dorm room is one's private residence," he said.
"I sympathize with those who argue that this will be an inconvenience to tell them that they can't smoke in their rooms," Steinberg said. "But when you live in a dorm, you give up certain rights because of the general safety of everyone in the building."
(03/30/05 12:00pm)
Headlining speaker Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, failed to arrive at last Wednesday's student forum on business ethics, sponsored by the School of Business.
"Ten (minutes) after 3 (p.m.), I was told he wasn't coming," Aimee Rogers, program assistant and interim dean for the School of Business, said. She said Christie's secretary called and said he was "hung up at a previous event." Rogers was not told what the previous event was when she asked.
Despite this, the forum continued with Wall Street Journal news editor and senior writer Ron Alsop. Several reporters for The Star-Ledger and other local papers left after the announcement of Christie's cancellation, but the students stayed.
"(Alsop) was very prepared," Rogers said. "He was only supposed to speak for 20 minutes." He spoke for twice as long, discussing how a business' reputation can "enhance during good times and act as a life preserver during a crisis."
Alsop gave a speech and fielded questions from the audience before signing copies of his latest book, "18 Immutable Laws of Corporate Reputation: Creating, Protecting and Repairing Your Most Valuable Asset."
Alsop said it is up to institutions of higher education to instill ethics in their students. "It's unfortunate, but most business schools pay relatively little attention to reputation," he said.
He suggested that master's of business administration programs especially need full-fledged ethics programs and should make ethical decisions part of the culture. "They need to go beyond the case studies," he said.
According to Alsop, the benefits of having good ethics outweigh the instant rewards of behaving unethically. "Companies will have happier, more motivated employees," Alsop said.
"If they can come out of a crisis with values intact and without destroying their careers, you have a happier, more motivated workplace. That leads to long term financial results."
Alsop finished his lecture with strong words for the future businesspeople. "Public opinion is loud and clear," he said. "Honesty is the only policy they will accept. They want integrity right now."
While the forum was geared toward business students, there were students of other majors present. Priscilla Jenkins, junior electrical engineering management major, was one of them.
"I have an internship now and had ethics training with them," she said. "I wanted to see how other corporations work." Jenkins interns with Merrill Lynch, one of the businesses Alsop noted as having suffered from reputation damage due to scandals involving Martha Stewart and Enron.
(04/07/04 12:00pm)
The inbound security gates for several parking lots, including the upper level of Lot 12, adjacent to Forcina Hall, have been out of order for over three weeks. Though the gates are raised, tickets will continue to be distributed to unauthorized vehicles parked in the lots.
"Just because the gates are up doesn't mean we won't ticket," Lieutenant Don Rizzo of Campus Police said. It is campus policy that drivers may only park in those lots to which they are assigned permits.
The gate has been raised due to a broken part. When Campus Police noticed the gate was not working properly, Access Control was contacted. After the problem was diagnosed, the gate was raised three weeks ago, and will remain so until the part can be replaced.
An outside contractor has been contacted for the new part. Chris Chamberlain, assistant director of Access Control, could not be reached to comment on when the part would be in and the gate fixed, but a source in Access Control said, "We are at the mercy of the contractor."
The fine for the first offense of parking in a faculty/staff lot, like Lot 12, is a $50 ticket and a boot on the car, which would block the spot or illegal area containing the vehicle until the issue was resolved. However, due to the parking spot shortage on campus, it is rare that the boot be put on for a first offense.
"With a boot, the vehicle is immobilized," Ray Nesci, professional service specialist for Campus Police, said. "If there were more than enough parking spots, we would put the boot on. But it's just not always practical."
"The number of tickets probably goes up when the gates are broken," Nesci said. Campus Police, however, denies that it has been patrolling the lot more frequently. "They'll start in the lots where they know gates are broken," Rizzo said. "We don't want them to park where they're not supposed to park." The frequency with which they return, though, hinges on what is going on on campus on a particular day.
The strict parking policies are supposed to be in effect at all times, though it is common knowledge that ticketing in faculty lots, especially Lot 12, is suspended on weekends. Rizzo attributes this to different scholastic tests, meetings and seminars that occur in Forcina Hall over the weekend.
If the number of tickets has increased though there are no more police patrolling the area, it is likely that more students than usual are parking in Lot 12. The lot is reserved only for faculty and staff, and graduate students every night after 4 p.m. However, Parking Services has been fielding more complaints from staff about students using the lot.
"We do get complaints about the broken gates and more students than usual in the lots," Katie Caperna of client services in the office of Student Accounts said. "A lot of faculty just aren't happy. Can you blame them?"
Caperna said the staff does everything it can to calm those who are upset. Campus Police will continue to ticket students and visitors in Lot 12, but the issue will only be resolved when students park where they are permitted.
"The bottom line is you can only park where you're given a permit," Caperna said. "Saying that the gate was up is not a valid excuse."