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(04/08/09 12:00pm)
The College received a court order March 30 for the release of the home addresses of students living in Wolfe Hall during the 2005-2006 academic year, according to an e-mail sent to those residents by Thomas Mahoney, general counsel at the College.
The order is in connection with the 2006 death of John Fiocco, Jr.
Fiocco was a freshman at the College when he was reported missing on March 26, 2006. His body was found in a Tullytown, Pa., landfill on April 25, 2006.
The circumstances around Fiocco's death have yet to be determined.
The order, signed by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Thomas Sumners, Jr., was requested by Glen A. Zeitz and Christine O'Hearn, attorneys for John Fiocco, Sr. and Susan Fiocco, parents of Fiocco.
According to the order, the addresses must be provided to the Fioccos' attorneys by April 14 unless objections are made by the former Wolfe Hall residents.
O'Hearn said she and Zeitz have been working since April 2008 to gain access to the residents' addresses, but the College refused, despite two court orders to allow discovery, the gathering of evidence and information regarding the case.
"The College refused to provide any discovery and was stonewalling everything," O'Hearn said. "When they finally gave us what we asked for, everything was redacted. That's why this is coming up again now."
Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Relations and Communications for the College, said he does not personally have any knowledge of previous court orders.
He said the College was unable to provide student addresses due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the disclosure of information outside of "directory information," such as names, e-mail
addresses and phone numbers.
The College does not consider home addresses to be directory information.
"(The information) was requested," Golden said, in an e-mail interview.
"We explained the FERPA issue. Now that a court order has been provided, we have complied," he said.
"We always seek to preserve the privacy of our students, faculty and staff, but since we have received a subpoena for the information, we have no choice but to provide it," Gitenstein said.
O'Hearn said the Fioccos and their attorneys are seeking the addresses in order to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard anything in connection to Fiocco's death.
She said the exact manner in which the information will be used has not yet been determined.
"It's the most basic information anyone investigating the case would want," O'Hearn said. "Who lived in the dorm? Who swiped into the building? It's obvious why we want it."
According to the e-mail sent by Mahoney, any 2005-2006 Wolfe Hall resident wishing to object to the release of the addresses should attend a hearing on April 9 at 3 p.m. at the Mercer County Courthouse.
Gitenstein said, "In everything that has to do with tragedy surrounding John Fiocco, I can only reiterate what I always say: I feel deep sorrow for John's parents, family and friends."
Kelly Duncan can be reached at duncan5@tcnj.edu.
(04/01/09 12:00pm)
The College received a court order yesterday for the release of the home addresses of students living in Wolfe Hall during the 2005-2006 academic year, according to an e-mail sent to those residents by Thomas Mahoney, general counsel at the College. The order is in connection with the 2006 death of John Fiocco, Jr.
The order, signed by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Thomas Sumners, Jr., was requested by Glen A. Zeitz and Christine O'Hearn, attorneys for John Fiocco, Sr. and Susan Fiocco, parents of Fiocco.
According to the order, the addresses must be provided to the Fioccos' attorneys by April 14 unless objections are made by the former Wolfe Hall residents.
O'Hearn said she and Zeitz have been working since April 2008 to gain access to the residents' addresses, but the College refused, despite two court orders to allow discovery, the gathering of evidence and information regarding the case.
"The College refused to provide any discovery and was stonewalling everything," O'Hearn said. "When they finally gave us what we asked for, everything was redacted. That's why this is coming up again now."
Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Relations and Communications, said he does not personally have any knowledge of previous court orders. He said the College was unable to provide student addresses due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the disclosure of information outside of "directory information," such as names, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. The College does not consider home addresses to be directory information.
"(The information) was requested. We explained the FERPA issue. Now that a court order has been provided, we have complied," Golden said, in an e-mail interview.
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein agreed that while students' privacy is a College priority, the Superior Court order ensures that the information must be provided.
"We always seek to preserve the privacy of our students, faculty and staff, but since we have received a subpoena for the information, we have no choice but to provide it," Gitenstein said.
O'Hearn said the Fioccos and their attorneys are seeking the addresses in order to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard anything in connection to Fiocco's death. She said the exact manner in which the information will be used has not been determined.
"It's the most basic information anyone investigating the case would want," O'Hearn said. "Who lived in the dorm? Who swiped into the building? It's obvious why we want it."
According to the e-mail sent by Mahoney, any 2005-2006 Wolfe Hall resident wishing to object to the release of the addresses should attend a hearing on April 9 at 3 p.m. at the Mercer County Courthouse.
Fiocco was a freshman at the College when he was reported missing on March 26, 2006. His body was found in a Tullytown, Pa., landfill on April 25, 2006. The circumstances around Fiocco's death have yet to be determined.
Gitenstein said, "In everything that has to do with tragedy surrounding John Fiocco, I can only reiterate what I always say: I feel deep sorrow for John's parents, family and friends."
(11/19/08 12:00pm)
Think twice before you carelessly throw away an old love letter. That is, unless you want to see it in print.
While most people would never collect pieces of paper found in the street, Davy Rothbart, who visited the College on Nov. 13, has built a business out of doing just that.
The Ann Arbor, Mich., native is the creator of FOUND Magazine, a collection of letters, cards, photos, drawings and other items that give the reader a "glimpse into someone else's life," according to the magazine's Web site.
"Say you're walking down the street and you find a love note or a to-do list," Rothbart said. "People send me those things from around the country, from around the world, really."
During the hour-long presentation co-sponsored by the Class of 2011 and Ed@TCNJ, Rothbart shared many of his favorite finds.
Rothbart's first selection set the tone for much of the rest of the night.
The letter, sent to a man named Ron in North Carolina, began as any other love note might. However, the writer went on to explain that their relationship hadn't felt the same "since we found out we're related."
"It's so hard to find love in this world," Rothbart said, as the audience laughed. "It's so hard to find that special someone. How much would that suck?"
Another crowd favorite was a letter written by an unhappy traveler to an airline company. The letter was written over the course of the flight and expressed the passenger's anger at being assigned seat 29E, directly across from the bathroom.
"All of my senses are being tortured simultaneously," the man wrote. Later, he threatened, "The next ass that touches my shoulder will be the last."
Rothbart also read a short piece titled "Nibble, lick, suck and feast," which details his eight-month, 50-state tour following the publication of the first FOUND book in 2004.
The event that sparked the piece's title occurred while Rothbart was waiting to be interviewed for a small-town news program. While waiting, Rothbart and a security guard came across a racy note written by one of the anchormen to a younger camerawoman. On a dare, Rothbart decided to share the note as one of his found items.
"What an expression that fellow had on his face," Rothbart said.
"I thought he was awesome," Meaghan Lenahan, sophomore psychology major, said. "Just the way he delivered everything he found, it was so much funnier than just reading it."
Not all of the items Rothbart read were humorous.
As one of his 10 favorite found items, Rothbart shared a letter written from a boy to his mother, who had passed away. The letter described the pain the boy had suffered since his mother's death, but said he had met a girl who was helping him through it. The woman who sent the letter to the magazine said it was found tied to a balloon and tangled in a tree in a cemetery.
"I hope the rest of you will be inspired if you see something laying on the ground to pick it up and see if it's interesting," Rothbart said.
Started in June 2001, FOUND Magazine has grown to include five issues, a handful of FOUND books and several issues of Dirty FOUND, a magazine containing content too explicit for regular issues of FOUND.
For more information about FOUND Magazine, visit the magazine's Web site at foundmagazine.com.
Kelly Duncan can be reached at duncan5@tcnj.edu
(09/17/08 12:00pm)
Charles Jackson, a biology professor from Ashland, Ky., presented a lecture titled, "Does Molecular Biology Support Evolutionary Theory?" to the College's Secular Student Alliance on Sept. 11.
Jackson, who said he has no training in theology, argued molecular biology does not provide adequate validation for the theory of evolution.
"You can believe in evolution if you choose to, but you can't do it because you believe molecular biology is evidence for the theory," Jackson said.
Jackson used the classic example of evolutionists' belief humans and apes share a common ancestor, the missing link, to argue his point.
According to Jackson, people who support the evolutionary theory compare the genes of apes to the genes of humans and say, "all these genomes are due to mutations." He said this is the underlying assumption in evolution.
Creationists believe, however, the genes of apes are so similar to the genes of humans because they are physically similar, Jackson said.
"Chimps and humans have similar DNA, creationists would say, since they have similar physiological structures," Jackson said.
The missing-link concept was further complicated when a study published recently said Homo erectus "can't be in our direct line of descent, which forced the rejection of Homo erectus as a human missing link," according to Jackson.
Jackson also argued fossils cannot be definitively used as proof to support evolution, because creationists feel fossils support their theory.
"Evidence is not proof," Jackson said. "We're all looking at the same fossils, but coming up with two separate theories."
Following Jackson's lecture, Dan Cardinale, vice president of the Secular Student Alliance, presented an argument in support of evolutionary theory.
According to Cardinale, establishing the structure of DNA was a test for the theory of evolution, and showed "changes had to be heritable in order to support natural selection."
This proves there is a lineage between humans and apes because there are certain changes that occurred, he said. Cardinale used the example of human chromosome 2 and the corresponding chromosomes 12 and 13 in apes, suggesting that human chromosome 2 resulted from the fusion of the ape chromosomes.
Cardinale also said the word "theory" in science has a much stronger connotation than when it is used in colloquial speech. In science, a theory has been tested, is supported by data and "accurately predicts results of further investigations," he said.
"In science, you never necessarily prove something," Cardinale added. "Every conclusion in science is tentative."
"I felt that (the lecture) was extremely informative and well-organized," Matt Pihokker, senior English major, said. "Both sides made their points and argued well, but the scientific, non-theistic side was able to back up any assertions with real facts."
Kelly Duncan can be reached at duncan5@tcnj.edu.
(08/27/08 12:00pm)
Almost 200 student parking spaces in Lot 3 are permanently lost due to the construction of the Art and Interactive Multimedia (IMM) Building.
Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Relations and Communications, said the parking spaces, which were lost despite a reconfiguration of the lot during the summer, were in the footprint of the new building.
According to Golden, Metzger Drive Parking Garage, Lot 6, will supplement the remaining parking spaces in Lot 3.
"Metzger Garage was designed to accommodate the student parking that was eliminated by the construction of the athletic complex and the new Art and IMM Building," Golden said. "Metzger Garage will be able to handle the bulk of student spots no longer available in Lot 3."
Construction of the Art and IMM Building began the week after the 2008 commencement, following a groundbreaking ceremony on April 25.
According to Golden, construction on the building is occurring daily. Workers are currently pouring the concrete walls of the basement.
"We have a goal of structural steel being complete by mid-February," Golden said. "We would like the basement complete during this semester."
The 70,000 square-foot building will comprise three stories of lecture halls, classrooms, offices, computer labs and other facilities.
It is also being constructed according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification requirements, supporting the College's commitment to sustainability.
Golden said the College has no plans to increase student parking. He said additional parking would be unnecessary as the College has no intention of increasing student enrollment.
He said the need for student parking spaces will lessen if there is an increase in public transportation usage among students.
The College is trying to decrease dependence on cars and reach climate neutrality as part of the American College & University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), signed by College President R. Barbara Gitenstein in 2007.
"An important step towards reducing our climate-damaging emissions is to reduce our reliance on automobiles and increase the use of public transportation," Golden said.
Following the signing of the ACUPCC, the President's Climate Commitment Committee was established to determine steps that should be taken to achieve climate neutrality at the College.
According to the College's Web site, "climate neutrality is defined as having no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to be achieved by minimizing GHG emissions as much as possible, and using carbon offsets or other measures to mitigate the remaining emissions."
Golden said the building should be completed in December 2009.
He said, "The project is currently on schedule and we anticipate that it will be completed on time."
(08/27/08 12:00pm)
Fiocco records sealed
Police records concerning the death of John Fiocco Jr. in 2006 have been sealed by the New Jersey Superior Court. The decision came after the investigative records were requested by the Fiocco family. Linda R. Feinberg, New Jersey Superior Court Judge, wrote in her public opinion that although evidence has not been discovered to suggest that Fiocco's death was a homicide,"(the Division of State Police) has not ruled out homicide, and a criminal investigation is ongoing."
Turf replaced in Lions' Stadium
New turf was installed in Lions' Stadium over the summer, after the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services determined there was an unhealthy level of lead in the turf. The stadium was one of two fields closed following a voluntary state-wide sampling of fields.
Black bear visits the College
An e-mail sent to the College community on June 9 warned that a young black bear had wandered onto campus. According to the e-mail, the bear was driven off campus and contained in an area three blocks from the College, where officials from the Division of Fish and Game tranquilized the animal. The bear was later moved north to a forested area.
College top public school in area
U.S. News and World Report recently named the College as the top public college in the northern United States. Earlier in the summer, Princeton Review's The Best 368 Colleges: 2009 Edition ranked the College fourth for "Best College Library" and ninth for "Happiest Students."
(04/30/08 12:00pm)
The police investigative records concerning the death of John Fiocco Jr. have been sealed, following an attempt by his parents to gain access to the records.
According to the public opinion published by Linda R. Feinberg, New Jersey Superior Court judge, the New Jersey State Police, who were being sued by the Fioccos for access to the records, adequately established that "the requested records meet the definition of criminal investigatory records and are thus deemed confidential."
Feinberg wrote that although there has not yet been evidence discovered that suggests homicide as the cause of Fiocco's death, "(the Division of State Police) has not ruled out homicide, and a criminal investigation is ongoing."
However, according to an article published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 21, Glenn A. Zeitz, a lawyer for the Fiocco family, said he is confident evidence will prove the police are no longer carrying out a criminal investigation.
John Fiocco Jr. was a freshman at the College when he was reported missing by friends on March 26, 2006, the day after he was last seen in Wolfe Hall. His body was found in a Tullytown, Pa., landfill on April 25, 2006.
On March 3 of this year, the Fioccos filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the College, claiming that the trash compactor in Wolfe Hall was not properly secured.
According to the Inquirer article, the family wished to use the police investigative records in their lawsuit against the College.
Feinberg described the Fioccos' request of police records as "premature" and suggested that the family pursue evidence in its case against the College as part of its lawsuit. She added that if the family should find a need for evidence discovered at the time of Fiocco's disappearance, they "may have a common law right to those materials" at a later date.
Feinberg also requested that the New Jersey State Police provide her with details of any criminal investigations occurring in connection with Fiocco's death and an approximate timeline for how long these investigations will last.
Matt Golden, executive director of Public Affairs at the College, said he understands the Fioccos' need to learn about their son's death.
"The sad truth, however, is that we do not know how John died," Golden said. "The College will continue to cooperate, in every possible manner, with the law enforcement agencies investigating the case, and we hope to one day have greater clarity regarding what led to this tragic loss."
(04/23/08 12:00pm)
As an undergraduate at Hastings College in Nebraska, Lee Harrod, professor of English, first majored in physics and then in music.
"I played tuba in the concert band and I played sousaphone in the marching band," Harrod said.
He said it was not until he had an "enthusiastic teacher" during his sophomore year in college and he read the novels of Thomas Wolfe that he discovered his love for English.
Now the College is saying goodbye to a professor who has sparked an interest in literature in hundreds of students and is retiring at the end of this semester.
"Dr. Harrod was definitely a fun, lively and inspiring member of the English department who touched the lives of countless students not only with his love of literature, but with his love of life as well," Nicole Pfeiffer, senior English and international studies major, said.
According to Jo Carney, chair of the department of English, Harrod is a natural in the classroom and a wonderful coworker.
"(Harrod) was the chair of the English department when I came here
in the early '90s," she said. "He was warm and welcoming and supportive then, as he has
been ever since."
Harrod said that if he had not become an English professor, he would have become a park ranger. In fact, after retiring, he plans to spend as much time outdoors as possible.
"When I'm not doing English-teacher stuff, I spend a lot of time hiking," Harrod said. "One of my ambitions when I retire is to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. It probably won't happen all at once. It will probably be in pieces, but I plan to do it."
Harrod first came to the College on Sept. 1, 1968. He had previously taught as a graduate assistant at Penn State from 1964 until coming to the College.
According to Harrod, the reason he enjoys teaching at the College is "the intellectual stimulation that comes from (his) students and colleagues" and the greatest joy in teaching in general is "seeing a light bulb go on in a student's eyes."
To get his students' attention, Harrod was known to resort to unconventional methods of teaching, something students say they will not forget.
"He really brought literature to life, especially when he brought in his ukulele and made us sing along to the music of Robbie Burns, celebrated Scottish poet and author of 'Auld Lang Syne,'" Pfeiffer said. "However, I'm not sure the classes next door were as appreciative of this approach."
When it comes to literature, the College's students know that few authors compete with James Joyce for Harrod's attention.
According to Harrod, he first picked up a Joyce novel as a sophomore in college.
"We read 'The Dead' and our frustrated professor threw an eraser across the room and cried, 'It's impossible to talk about serious literature with a bunch of 18-year-old virgins!'"
According to Carney, Harrod's love of James Joyce was the reason a marathon reading of "Ulysses" was chosen to celebrate Harrod's retirement.
"He has done so much for the entire college community, so we wanted to do something special to honor his service here," Carney said. "He's a James Joyce expert and enthusiast, so a marathon reading of James Joyce seemed like just the thing to do. It's an ambitious undertaking, as it takes at least 24 hours to read it aloud."
Prior to the reading, Carney spoke briefly about Harrod's time at the College and his upcoming retirement.
"We're very sad because we'll miss him, but it's also cause for celebration," she said, adding that the marathon reading was a particularly appropriate celebration because "there's something about the word 'marathon' that describes (Harrod's) time here at the College."
The reading began at 2 p.m. on April 17, with Harrod beginning the first chapter and students continuing the reading throughout the day.
According to Carney, the reading even ended up at the Parkside Diner around 5 a.m. The reading then returned to the Bliss Lounge, where Harrod greeted the readers with donuts at 8 a.m. The massive undertaking, which finished at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, took 29-and-a-half hours to complete.
Harrod said when he found out about the plans for celebrating his retirement, he was "very touched."
"Actually, I cried a little," he said. "This has been a wonderful way to spend 40 years."
He offered some advice to the students he would be leaving at the College.
"To paraphrase one of my favorite critics, George Steiner: ?Learn to care as much about the cry in the street as you do about the cry in the book," Harrod said. "Educate your heart as well as your head. Have fun out there."
(04/16/08 12:00pm)
The steps of Green Hall were illuminated by candles and glow-stick necklaces as students gathered last Wednesday for Take Back the Night, an evening of marching and rallying against sexual assault.
The College's 15th annual Take Back the Night rally was organized as part of April's Sexual Assault Awareness Month and sponsored by the Women's Center, Women in Learning and Leadership, Voices for Planned Parenthood, PRISM and other student organizations.
According to Susan Adams, coordinator of volunteers and community outreach for Womanspace, part of the Mercer County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), Take Back the Night is designed as a supportive event for students affected by sexual assault.
"We are standing here now, making our voices heard and saying that this is not acceptable, not even one assault," Adams said.
As a division of SART, Womanspace annually assists more than 2,000 women and families affected by violence and sexual assault, Adams said.
Adams also said that according to recently released reports from the New Jersey State Police, there were 1,308 rapes in the state, 63 of those in Mercer County. These numbers do not include unreported assaults. One of the goals of Take Back the Night is to encourage women and men to report any assaults.
Anne Smolen, freshman deaf education and English major and treasurer of the Women's Center, said many incidents of sexual assault occur among college-aged people in the United States.
"It's something that is extremely prevalent in the 16 to 19 age group, so it applies to the campus," Smolen said. "We're doing this because when you bring awareness, you bring change."
To help raise awareness at the College, Ellen Friedman, professor of English and faculty adviser to the Women's Center, read a list of myths and facts about sexual assault. Myths include: "You cannot be assaulted against your will," "It is impossible to sexually assault a man," and "Sexual assault is an impulsive act."
Friedman said that contrary to beliefs about sexual assault and rape, approximately 75 percent of incidents are planned and as many as 80 percent involve acquaintances.
Members of the crowd were also encouraged to participate in the event. The sponsoring organizations provided interested students with facts and statistics about sexual assault that they could read at the podium before the march began.
Many students attend the event annually, but those present for the first time said they felt a need to participate and were glad they came out.
"I had never been before and I'm a junior, so I wanted to experience it," Julie Ann Howlett, junior biology major, said. "I'm taking a class on power, oppression and privilege, so I wanted to go to an event against oppression."
According to Kristen Daskilewicz, senior women's and gender studies major and president of the Women's Center, the history of Take Back the Night is unclear. However, the first known rally in the United States was in San Francisco, Calif., in 1978. She said the event was founded on "the right to be free from violence, the right to be heard and the right to take back those rights if they are violated."
(04/02/08 12:00pm)
The Board of Trustees approved the College's Conceptual Master Plan on Monday, March 24, which includes all proposed demolitions, additions and renovations to the College through 2021.
According to R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College, the approved plan is a revision of the conceptual plan for facilities passed by the Board of Trustees in 2001.
"As always happens with a plan, there are changes and modifications that come as a consequence of changes in funding, changes in speed to completion of projects and changes in priorities," Gitenstein said. "The 2001 plan was the first real facilities master plan that the College adopted."
The approval came after more than two years of development of the plan and discussion with two committees of the Board of Trustees, Gitenstein said.
The presentation given to the board on Feb. 26 divided the Master Plan into two parts, the Housing Plan and the Academic/Administrative Plan.
The Housing Plan includes projects scheduled to be completed between 2009 and 2017.
Overall, 257 beds are to be added into the College's housing lottery.
According to the plan, the Metzger apartments will be completed in August 2009 and will house 400 students. The College will also construct a new dormitory to house 310 sophomore students. The dormitory should be completed in 2012.
Renovations are being planned on Decker, Travers, Wolfe, Allen, Brewster, Ely and Cromwell.
The last of the renovations is scheduled to be finished in 2017.
The last portion of the Housing Plan includes the demolition of Norsworthy in 2014 and Centennial in 2017.
Demolitions are also scheduled under the Academic/Administrative Plan. In addition to the demolition of the Forcina wing in 2009, Holman Hall is scheduled to be demolished in 2013 and the '68 wing of the Roscoe L. West Library in 2015.
Several renovations are scheduled for the Forcina Tower between 2013 and 2021. Renovations to the 1934 wing of the old library are scheduled for completion in 2012, to the science labs in 2016 and to Loser Hall in 2020.
In addition to the new Education Building, the Art/Interactive Multimedia Building is scheduled to be finished in 2009 and plans for a new academic building and a new nursing building schedule construction to be completed in 2015 and 2019, respectively.
The most significant changes made in the current Conceptual Master Plan were made to the Academic/Administrative Plan.
Following a March 2007 presentation of the Master Plan, members of the College community expressed concern that Forcina Hall was scheduled to be demolished before lecture halls were to be constructed in other buildings.
In the approved plan, the August 2009 renovation of the '68 wing of the library will add one 148-seat lecture hall and a 192-seat hall.
The Forcina wing, containing two 140-seat halls and one 348-seat hall, will be demolished later that year.
The new Education Building, scheduled to be completed in 2011, is also planned to have two lecture halls.
Changes have been made to the building plan since it was first announced last year.
"The changes included in the plan were informed by input gathered by two steering committees, one that focused on residential development and one that focused on academic and administrative buildings," Gitenstein said.
However, the Conceptual Master Plan does not include projects to improve or add to athletic or recreational areas at the College, another concern raised last March.
According to the presentation, the office of Student Affairs is developing plans for these areas and for Brower Student Center.
"We know that we will have to add plans for improvements to the student center and other recreational and athletic facilities," Gitenstein said.
Stacy Holland, chair of the Board of Trustees, said the board felt the Master Plan addresses the priorities of the College and it acted unanimously to approve the plan.
"The board will continue to be involved in conversations on each project and will be required to act in order to approve funding for the project components," she said.
According to Gitenstein, it is important to remember that the Conceptual Master Plan is open to change in the coming years.
"A good plan should help clarify priorities for an institution, but it should also be flexible enough to allow the institution to respond to vagaries of state funding and possible additional private funding," Gitenstein said. "In other words, a plan is just that - a plan."
(03/26/08 12:00pm)
Simone Realty, Inc., a developer in Lawrenceville, is interested in building a privately owned dormitory to house College students.
The building, which will be located approximately two miles from the College, will be able to house up to 600 students.
According to John Simone, president of Simone Realty, Inc., the purpose of the project is to provide a solution to students who do not make the housing lottery cut.
"Through the lottery system, the kids don't get on-campus housing," Simone said. "We understood that there was a huge need for this type of housing."
Simone said the idea for the dormitory originally came from conversations he had with members of the Ewing community. He said many of them complained about the noise and other problems that arise from students moving off campus and renting houses.
"The bad news that you hear is about the partying and the late-night drinking and the noise," Simone said. "We decided that the property, not surrounded by any houses, would be the perfect area for this type of housing."
The property will be protected by 24-hour security and the development will be complete with a gym, pool, outdoor recreation areas, social rooms, dining areas and a shuttle to the College. In addition, housing is to be limited to students.
"Any resident there will have to be a registered student at a local college or university and we will not rent to others even if we don't fill the building with students," Simone said, adding that "everything indicates that (the project) will be successful."
However, according to Curt Heuring, vice president for Facilities Management, Construction and Campus Safety at the College, the College does not plan to support the project.
"After careful consideration, we determined that the housing (Simone Realty, Inc.) was intending to build did not further or support the mission of (the College)," Heuring said. "As a result, we not only declined to participate, but also were very clear about not endorsing the Simone development . The College is not a partner, participant or supporter of this proposed housing development."
College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said the College intends to focus its efforts on the construction of the Metzger apartments and "significant other improvements for student living on the campus," which she said are included in a conceptual plan for the residential program.
According to Matthew Golden, executive director of Public Affairs and Communications, the apartments will house 400 students. Following renovations and demolitions to other residence halls outlined in the College's master plan, the College will gain a total of 257 beds.
Golden said the College is currently able to offer on-campus housing to roughly 3,600 of more than 5,800 full-time undergraduate students enrolled. The housing lottery has been used to determine which students receive room assignments since the early '90s.
According to Stephanie Polak, associate director of Residence Life at Rider University, Rider will be implementing a similar housing lottery beginning in fall 2009. The university considered denying housing to rising juniors and seniors for the academic year beginning in fall 2008, but many students were under the impression that they were guaranteed housing for four years.
"We had changed the policy, but we didn't know if there was a document somewhere that still said housing was guaranteed," Polak said. "What will happen for some rising juniors and seniors is they may be tripled up in double rooms, but we will do that only in the effort to get everyone who is eligible."
Polak said the feedback she received from students suggested that they would rather live in a triple than be denied housing. She also said some form of discount will be given to students in that situation.
While Rider University is not currently affiliated with any privately owned dormitories, Polak said she would be open to the possibility.
"We would very much like to investigate (Simone Realty, Inc.)," Polak said. "For that idea in general, absolutely we would recommend our students to go look that way."
Joan Carbone, executive director of Residence Life at Rutgers University, said Rutgers also uses a housing lottery to offer 13,000 beds to approximately 25,000 undergraduate students. While Rutgers only guarantees housing to first-year students, Carbone said students with numbers at the low end of the housing lottery tend to opt out, enabling the university to accommodate most of the students who request university-owned housing.
Carbone also said Rutgers provides Residence Life staff to a privately owned apartment building that houses students.
"That building is quite popular," she said. "There are obviously advantages to living in a dormitory that is owned by the school, but (the apartment) certainly is a good second choice."
Simone's project will be considered by the Ewing zoning board on April 17. The developer is requesting a zoning variance because the property is not approved for multi-family or student housing. If approved, engineers will have to finalize the site planning and architectural elements before construction can begin.
(02/27/08 12:00pm)
The office of the President announced on Friday, Feb. 22, that Carol Bresnahan had been chosen to fill the position of provost/executive vice president at the College.
Bresnahan is currently the vice provost for Academic Programs and Policies and professor of history at the University of Toledo. Her appointment is effective July 2, 2008.
According to College President R. Barbara Gitenstein, Bresnahan was chosen because of her extensive experience in leadership positions. Gitenstein said via e-mail that Bresnahan's previous accomplishments include serving as an American Council on Education fellow.
Gitenstein also wrote about Bresnahan's responsibilities at her former places of employment.
Bresnahan has over the years been responsible for such tasks as implementing a department of History program in service learning, leading an active faculty senate, and evaluating faculty portfolios for promotion and tenure, Gitenstein said.
Gitenstein said she knows the College must challenge itself to meet its goals and accomplish its mission. She said she feels Bresnahan will help to move the College forward.
"(Bresnahan) brings a genuine appreciation of our mission and our success as well as new eyes to help make sure we are never just taking the 'easy' way to success, but rather the most effective way," Gitenstein said.
Bresnahan said she feels her experience at the University of Toledo has helped to prepare her for the challenges she will face at the College.
"Though New Jersey is hundreds of miles away from Ohio, we have a surprising number of common challenges, including accessibility to higher education, assessing our work, attracting and retaining a diverse and talented student body, staff and faculty, and financing the cost of an education," Bresnahan said. "I feel ready to use the skills I have and to develop the new ones I will need in helping (Gitenstein's) leadership team to address these issues."
According to Bresnahan, one of her specific goals is to create a center for teaching and learning, something she said many members of the College community expressed an interest in. She said the center could improve teaching, methods of assessment and advisement, as well as help to develop interdisciplinary classes and majors.
"I would like to engage the campus in a conversation about how to establish such a center," Bresnahan said. "I also believe that creative and striking combinations of disciplines can lead to amazing interdisciplinary collaboration that enriches faculty research and student learning."
Bresnahan was one of three finalist candidates who visited the College between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5. Concetta Stewart, dean of the School of Communications and Theater and associate professor of communications at Temple University, and Elizabeth Paul, interim provost and vice president and professor of psychology at the College, were also considered for the position.
According to Matt Golden, executive director of Public Affairs and Communications, Bresnahan's responsibilities will be broader than those of the position of interim provost and vice president and will include overseeing the living-learning community at the College, enabling collaboration between disciplinary and interdisciplinary aspects of the institution and upholding the College's goals and mission.
(02/27/08 12:00pm)
Angela Davis, social activist and self-identified communist, visited the College on Wednesday, Feb. 20 to lecture on "Race, Gender and Social Justice in the American Penal System."
The talk was held in the Kendall Hall Auditorium as part of the celebration of Black History Month and was followed by a Q-and-A session.
"We chose to bring Angela Davis to campus because she is literally a living historical figure who is also a distinguished scholar," Christine Cullen, Student Government Association (SGA) president, said. "We thought that it would be exciting to bring her on to raise issues around social justice and open discussion between students."
In her lecture, Davis said the American prison system is responsible for upholding many of the racial- and gender-based injustices present during slavery.
"We treat slavery like we treat the genocidal colonization of North America, like it never really happened," Davis said. "We treat it more like a nightmare than a social and historical reality. The institution of the prison tells us that this nightmare continues to haunt us."
According to Davis, 2.2 million people are in prison on any given day in the United States, while approximately 13 million people spend time in prison every year. In fact, Davis said 13 percent of black people in the country are subject to felony disenfranchisement, meaning they are deprived of their right to vote due to a criminal record. Their arrests, she said, are due to disproportionate surveillance and profiling of black people.
"What is this democracy that uses prison as a central defense of democracy?" Davis asked. "It deprives you of your rights."
Davis said the abolition of the prison institution in the United States would solve the problem of felony disenfranchisement. She said racial and gender-based justice cannot be achieved in the penal system without eliminating the "prison industrial complex" as a form of punishment.
Instead of being imprisoned, Davis said, the country should implement "restorative and reparative justice." According to her, felons should have the opportunity to receive educations and become respected members of society. She said more value should be placed on education at a young age to prevent crime.
"We begin to wonder what might have happened if (felons) were exposed to the joys of learning as children," Davis said. "They may have not begun to go down that trajectory (to prison)."
Davis also compared the mentality behind American prisons to that behind the institution of slavery. She said people who are not in prison enjoy their freedom at the expense of those who are deprived of their rights in prison.
"The prison serves as negative evidence that those of us in the free world can tell we are free, just like white people could tell they were free by looking at slaves," Davis said.
"I think that the most exciting thing about having Angela Davis on our campus had to be the discussion it started between students," Cullen said. "I heard conversations on topics I never heard students address outside of the campus before. Students sometimes compare (the College) to a bubble. I think it is by bringing different people with diverse views to campus that we burst, or at least expand, that bubble and give students the opportunity to look at things from a new perspective."
Davis' lecture was sponsored by SGA, the Black Student Union, the School of Culture and Society, the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Minority Executive Council, the Women's and Gender Studies Program, the USA Studies Program, the desparts of African-American Studies, History, Sociology and Anthropology, English, Philosophy and Religion, Chi Upsilon Sigma, and the Center for the Study of Social Justice.
(02/13/08 12:00pm)
Brandon Bentzley and Mike Hvasta, senior physics majors, Justin Nieusma, junior physics major, and Rachel Sherman, junior physics/secondary education major, will be spending a week of their summer vacations at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The group, called Team DPX, was recently selected as one of 40 teams from across the nation that will have the opportunity to perform an experiment in NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Program. Other schools such as Brown University, Cornell University and Yale University are also sending teams to the program. The College's team will be the only one from New Jersey.
According to Hvasta and NASA's Web site, the teams will be split up over four weeks and will ride the "Weightless Wonder," a plane that flies over the Gulf of Mexico and performs "parabolic maneuvers." This allows for about 25 seconds of reduced gravity as the plane descends from the top of the parabola to the bottom. The maneuvers will be repeated approximately 30 times.
The College's team will be flying during the program's second week, from June 5 to June 14. They will be performing an experiment on dusty plasmas, which make up the majority of the visible universe, including comet tails and the rings of Saturn.
"If you apply heat or energy to a solid, it will melt," Hvasta said. "So, ice into water. If you keep adding energy, water to steam. But if you keep adding heat, the atoms themselves start to fall apart. They start to lose electrons and that's a plasma. That's a fourth state of matter, if you keep dumping energy into it."
Bentzley said their team is specifically focusing on techniques of imaging plasmas, something little scientific literature has been written about.
"To study this in the past . what they did was they scan a laser through (the plasma)," Bentzley said. "So what they're doing is taking a two-dimensional cross section and looking at the structure of the plasma. So that's all fine and good, but the thing is, it's a three-dimensional structure, so you want to look at it head-on and see all three dimensions of it."
In order to get a three-dimensional image of the plasma, the team uses a fluorescent dust that glows under ultraviolet light. This allows for a better picture than laser techniques provide.
Hvasta and Bentzley became interested in studying plasmas while working at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL), where Hvasta has worked for nine months and Bentzley has worked for three years. When Hvasta's supervisor mentioned NASA's program, Hvasta sent an e-mail to several physics majors and Sherman and Nieusma responded.
"The smallest team allowed is four members, so we are the smallest legal team, I guess," Hvasta said. "So there's a lot of work to go around, but if this works out as well as we hope it does, it's going to be a lot easier for (the College) to do this program in the future."
The team members have several outreach programs planned for when their experiment is completed. They will be conducting a series of workshops titled "Energy in the 21st Century" at West Windsor High School South and Burlington City High School. They will meet with the two school's science clubs over a period of four weeks and will end the program with a tour of PPPL.
According to Sherman, they will also be doing a program with Women In Learning and Leadership to help target women, who she said are underrepresented in the sciences.
Sherman also said their final outreach program will be talking about their experiences at the Liberty Science Center.
"They're actually going to be taping us inside the plane," Sherman said. "We'll get the tape about six weeks after we get back, so hopefully we're going to have that for the Liberty Science Center program."
According to Hvasta, the team will be looking for opportunities for publicity and sponsors before they leave for Houston.
"We have a lot of space on our experiment to put stickers and we'll be doing hopefully a lot more publicity, so we can wear hats and everything like that," he said.
For more information on the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Program, visit NASA'S Microgravity University Web site at microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov or the team's site at tcnj.edu/~hvasta3.
(02/13/08 12:00pm)
Carol Bresnahan, vice provost for Academic Programs and Policies and professor of history at the University of Toledo, visited the College on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Bresnahan is the third candidate for the position of provost/executive vice president for the College.
The Provost / Executive Vice President Search Committee held a Q-and-A session for Bresnahan in the Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall.
During the session, Bresnahan said she was attracted to the College because she admires the successful transformation of the curriculum. She also said she liked that it is a public institution, like the University of Toledo.
"The profile of the student body here is a very impressive one," she said.
Despite her admiration for the curriculum and the student body, Bresnahan said there were several things she would change as provost to advance the position of the College and enhance the experience of the students.
"The retention rate is wonderful here, but if you stand in place, you will lose ground," she said.
Bresnahan said she would consider implementing a teaching and learning center, which the faculty could use to assess its own teaching capabilities.
She said this center could use student evaluators, who would sit in on lectures and provide feedback to the professors afterward.
She said the students' feedback would be invaluable because it would be from a perspective that professors rarely experience.
"A student evaluator in the room can provide tremendous help when it comes to assessing your own teaching," she said.
Bresnahan also said the teaching and learning center would instruct the faculty on how to integrate technology into its lectures. She said technology can help professors cater to the different learning styles of the students.
The teaching and learning center would also provide support and training for advisers, something that all three candidates felt was necessary.
"I asked students 'What's one thing would you want a provost to have on the front burner?" Bresnahan said. "They said, as if rehearsed, 'advising.'"
According to Bresnahan, however, it is not the provost's place to tell faculty members how to advise their students.
"To me, what the provost should not be doing is telling faculty how to advise, because they may do things differently for very good reasons depending on their departments."
Instead, she said, the provost should work with the deans to study the advising process and come up with a plan to address and fix the problems each dean finds.
The other two candidates for the position are Concetta Stewart, dean of the School of Communications and Theater and associate professor of communications at Temple University, and Elizabeth Paul, interim provost and vice president and professor of psychology at the College. They held their Q-and-A sessions on Jan. 29 and Feb. 1 respectively.
To view the résumés of the candidates, visit the search committee Web site, provostsearch.intrasun.tcnj.edu.
(02/06/08 12:00pm)
Kristen Daskilewicz, senior women's and gender studies major, described the Women's Center as "empowering." Last semester, however, the organization lacked the power and ambition it generated in previous years.
"When (Fall 2007) came, most of our active members had graduated, were student teaching and I myself was abroad for the semester," Daskilewicz, who now serves as president of the Women's Center, said. "The people left behind to run the organization didn't have the time or the experience to keep it active on their own. Unfortunately, the (Women's Center) ceased to exist by the end of the semester, unbeknownst to myself."
Since returning this semester, Daskilewicz has been taking steps to revitalize the College's oldest feminist group. The Women's Center was created in the 1970s, which sparked the inspiration for a '70s themed party the organization held on Monday, Jan. 28.
The organization is a non-affiliated group, a fact which, according to Daskilewicz, is important in helping it reach its numerous goals for the semester. Other groups, like Women in Learning and Leadership, already have a nationally-established set of rules and goals. Because it is an independent organization, the Women's Center can create its own objectives and plan its own events.
"This is important because it means that the members of our organization can make our own vision and essentially do whatever we want," Daskilewicz said.
Daskilewicz and the rest of the organization's executive board have already begun planning events for this semester. Take Back the Night, an annual event, is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 9. During the event, several speakers talk to the campus about sexual assault and an open mic is provided for survivors to tell their stories.
"I consider this to be one of the most important events all year, not just for the Women's Center, but for (the College) as a whole," Daskilewicz said. "Take Back the Night is an evening that allows sexual assault survivors, their friends, their families and all of their supporters to take back the night, to say that we as a campus are saying 'no' to sexual assault, that women and men should be and feel safe on our campus, even after darkness falls."
The Women's Center is also planning to do an event in March for Women's History month. In the past, the group has hosted "Esteem: An Alternative Beauty Pageant" and "Tampaction," a celebration of menstruation.
According to Daskilewicz, one of the main goals of the organization for the semester is to reach out to men and women who are not currently involved in the group. She said she wants to bring greater diversity and a greater range of issues to the group's weekly meetings.
"I want different viewpoints at our table," she said. "That's how we grow - together. We're not afraid of the difficult issues. If you have something you want to talk about or need to get off your chest, come to a meeting and share it with us. Chances are, you'll find a lot of people on your side."
Natalie Serra, sophomore women's and gender studies major and one of the publicists for the group, agreed with Daskilewicz's goal.
"We want to spread word of the club to people who wouldn't normally join this kind of group," Serra said. "People automatically judge anything that is associated with feminism. It would be helpful to have a space where everyone could talk about the things that concern them."
A final change planned for the semester is the implementation of discussion groups during weekly meetings. During every other meeting, those in attendance will have the opportunity to discuss an article concerning the group or a particular topic of interest. The discussions will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 6 with the topic "The 'F' Word: Why am I here?"
"I'm hoping that this will open up a discussion on what feminism means to each of us, how we define feminism and ambivalence towards using the word," Daskilewicz said. "We encourage women who don't identify as feminist to come and share their views as well."
The Women's Center meets every Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the basement of Brower Student Center.
(02/06/08 12:00pm)
Two of the candidates chosen as possibilities for the position of provost/executive vice president visited the College last week.
Concetta Stewart, dean of the School of Communications and Theater and associate professor of communications at Temple University, and Elizabeth Paul, interim provost and vice president and professor of psychology at the College, were chosen by the Provost/Executive Vice President Search Committee after interviews.
Carol Bresnahan, vice provost for academic programs and policies and professor of history at the University of Toledo, is the third candidate.
During a Q-and-A session held in the Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall on Feb. 1, Paul said the College, as a public institution, needs to stay connected with what the country needs.
"Are we preparing our future leaders to be complete people?" she asked.
Paul said the challenge the College needs to face is to make the "complete student" the goal of its work. She also said a fresh approach to teaching is needed, one which focuses on interdisciplinary programs.
According to Paul, the first step to reaching these goals is to work on the quality of guidance and advising available to students.
"We still have this idea of liberal learning as checking a bunch of boxes," she said.
Instead, advisers should help students think about the future and make suggestions about classes that will help them meet their objectives.
She said that coaches of team sports should also serve as advisers and mentors to the students. She mentioned that athletics is an area where a student can learn about leadership and how to work as a team through challenges.
Paul also said part of making a "complete student" is making citizens who have open minds and open eyes about their community and what they can do to have a positive impact on it.
"In our society, we've done a lot to keep our eyes closed, to not see the ills," Paul said. "We should open our students' eyes so that they can't close them again."
In her session on Jan. 29, Stewart stressed the importance of higher education and liberal learning.
According to Stewart, higher education has been facing problems in New Jersey lately, because "our constituencies don't like us very much." She said that as provost, she would have conversations with legislators and parents to determine what they want and need from higher education institutions.
Stewart said she was attracted to the College because of its position as a successful institution. When asked about how she would use the College's Master Building Plan to further the success of the school, she said it should reflect the needs of the "academic enterprise" and the College's responsibility to society as an institution of higher education.
"Facilities are central to how we feel about the institution, how the institution feels about us and how the institution serves its purpose," Stewart said.
Stewart also said she would strive for a greater balance between academics and student activities at the College. She said while she is a supporter of sports at Temple, she also works to identify athletes who need extra help with their academics early, a skill she would bring to the College.
"When we talk about undergraduate students, it's important to talk about the whole range (of academics and activities)," she said.
Tim Asher, director of Student Activities and Leadership Development, said he is not convinced the College is doing all it can to develop students into leaders and asked Stewart what she would do to change that.
She responded by saying leadership is of interest to her and that teaching leadership to the students of an institution begins with the faculty and staff of that institution exhibiting leadership. According to her, this will set an example for the students to follow.
"We always say to students, 'We're not preparing you for your first job, we're preparing you for your best job,'" Stewart said.
For the résumés of the three candidates, visit provostsearch.intrasun.tcnj.edu.
(01/30/08 12:00pm)
Construction on two new student apartments is scheduled to begin this semester and should be completed by August 2009, the College recently announced via mass e-mail.
In addition to the two new student apartments, the College announced four other projects for Spring 2008, including construction of the new Art and Interactive Multimedia building, several renovations to Brower Student Center and the replacement of Packer Hall's roof.
These projects, listed in an e-mail sent to the College's community on Jan. 21, are part of the 15-year Master Building Plan, according to William Rudeau, director of Construction.
According to Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, and Curt Heuring, vice president of Facilities Management, Construction and Campus Safety, the cost of the six projects will be approximately $75 million.
Rudeau said the contract for the new apartments was awarded to Thomas P. Carney, Inc., of Langhorne, Pa. According to the College's e-mail, the apartments are being constructed across from Lot 3 to Lot 6 and should be completed in August 2009.
Despite a previous attempt to construct student apartments that was abandoned in November 2004, Golden said concerns are now at a minimum.
"We have the same concerns as we would for any major construction project," he said. "We have mitigated many of the major risks and have a talented team managing the project as well as an experienced architect and a well-regarded and capable contractor. We anticipate a very successful project."
Once completed, Golden said the apartments may temporarily be used as a "housing swing space" to allow for the renovation of other residence halls. The apartments will then be used to house upperclassmen.
Construction on the new Art and Interactive Multimedia building is scheduled to begin in April and be completed by December 2009. It will be located between Brower Student Center and Loser Hall.
According to Golden, the building is one of the last projects from the 1999 Campus Conceptual Facilities Master Plan Framework. It is designed to replace Holman Hall as the location of the art department.
"Holman Hall no longer satisfies the needs of the art program," Golden said. "In addition, Holman Hall is reaching the end of its useful life. Over the next several years, major building systems would need to be repaired or replaced to keep the building functional. Instead, the College has decided it makes much more sense to build a new, modern facility to meet the needs of Art and Interactive Multimedia."
In order to accommodate the 70,000 square foot building, Rudeau said changes to Lot 2A and the sidewalks will have to be made.
"Until the final sidewalks are in place, temporary walks will be installed to maintain the normal paths of travel as best as possible," he said.
Two projects are scheduled to begin in the student center. Revolving doors will replace the two sets of sliding doors in March and should be completely installed by April.
"The revolving doors will save energy costs by minimizing the heat loss from both sliding doors being open at the same time, as is the case now," Rudeau said. "Students will be encouraged to use the revolving doors more than the double set of doors to the side of the revolving doors once the installation is completed."
The terrace surrounding the student center will also undergo renovation in March and is expected to be finished in May. Golden said funding for the replacement of the building's roof is included within the College's asset renewal plan as well.
During the course of the semester, the roof of Packer Hall will be replaced. Golden said the project has presented challenges, as the building will continue to be occupied during that time. He also said there will be some degree of impact on the College's environment, particularly "added noise, construction workers and demolition debris that facility users will encounter."
In addition to the major projects scheduled for the semester, the College will be rebuilding the manholes and replacing the manhole covers where steam stacks currently stand.
According to Rudeau, once the project is completed, the steam stacks will be removed and steam will no longer escape from the manholes.
(12/05/07 12:00pm)
While the rest of the College's students study for finals and start packing to go home for Winter Break, Genevieve Faust, senior interactive multimedia and communication studies major, is preparing for a trip she called "a once in a lifetime opportunity."
On Dec. 20, Faust will be boarding a plane to Liberia, where she will work on shooting video for a documentary about The MacDella Cooper Foundation (MCF). According to Faust, the foundation raises money to help support and educate children in Liberia.
Faust will be traveling with Tammy Tibbetts, who graduated from the College last year.
"In Liberia, (Tibbetts) will be volunteering as well as helping me direct the documentary," Faust said. "It'll be great to have a friend there to keep me on track and give me some new ideas that I might not have thought of on my own."
They first became involved with Cooper last year while working on a digital storytelling project titled, "Liberia's Angel: The Story of MacDella Cooper," which inspired the documentary.
"At one point while we were working on the project, MacDella took a few weeks to visit Liberia," Faust said. "I wished that we could go with her to get some video for our site. We couldn't travel with her then, but we didn't let go of the idea of a documentary. Then she gave us the opportunity to volunteer with her in Liberia and I knew making a documentary would be a great experience for me and would be beneficial for her foundation, as well."
According to Faust, each year, MCF holds a Christmas party for more than 600 orphans. She will be volunteering at the event, which will be held in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, while filming for the documentary.
Faust said her family is worried about the trip, but they understand the importance of what she will be doing and the passion she has for the project.
Since Faust's travel experience is limited to a semester abroad in France, she said she is excited about having the opportunity to get experience with making documentaries and the chance to volunteer with an organization close to her heart. However, she does have a few worries of her own.
"Getting all the vaccinations we needed was a reality check about where we are going," Faust said. "I'm also kind of nervous because I only get one chance to go over there and get the story for the documentary. It's a lot of pressure. If I mess something up, there's not going to be another opportunity to fix it."
Her love of editing videos began in high school, when she would shoot music videos starring her sisters. Now, with the help of her professors at the College, Faust feels ready to take her filmmaking to a higher level.
"I think by making my own documentary, I'm getting more knowledge about video production and post-production," Faust said. "(My professors) have given me suggestions about equipment. They've told me which type of shots I need to make sure I get with the video camera when I'm in Liberia. . I'm also making a complementary Web site to go with the documentary, so I think that this project is allowing me to combine all of the skills that I've learned here at (the College) into one cohesive project."
Through the documentary, Faust hopes to show how Cooper's foundation is making a difference. With the help of Tibbetts' connections at Hearst Magazine, Faust wants the documentary to bring media attention to the work of MCF.
"I want to use the documentary to build a portrait of (Cooper) and show the importance of her foundation and its work," Faust said. "I want to stress the impact that she has made in her war-torn nation while also showing her hardships as a child and her growth as an individual. I think that if people hear her story and see her work, they'll support her foundation and be inspired to do other things to make a difference."
For more information about Faust's project and MCF, visit liberiasangel.info.
(11/28/07 12:00pm)
As part of International Education Week, Holly Didi-Ogren, assistant professor of modern languages, prepared a presentation on ethnicity and "invisible minorities" in Japan.
The presentation, which included a screening of the Japanese film "Go," directed by Isao Yukisada, was held on Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Library auditorium.
Based on a novel by the Japanese writer Kazuki Kaneshiro, "Go" follows the story of Sugihara, a high school student in Japan, as he learns about and accepts his North Korean ethnicity. Like many Japanese-born Koreans, Sugihara looks and speaks exactly like his Japanese neighbors, making him an "invisible minority," someone who appears to be no different than anyone else.
The film begins with Sugihara in an ethnic Korean school, one of many in Japan designed to promote Korean culture and offer a certain amount of protection from discrimination. After cursing at his teacher in Japanese - one of the highest offenses at his school - Sugihara is required to receive his education elsewhere.
He makes the brave decision to enroll in a Japanese school. However, his new classmates know of his ethnicity, forcing Sugihara to resort to violence to protect himself from their cruelty.
Sugihara's problems only increase when he meets Sakurai, a friendly and talkative Japanese student whom he quickly falls in love with. Although the two have everything in common, from a hatred for Japanese rap music to a love of Bruce Lee, Sugihara hides his ethnicity from her, fearing that she will not love him if she knows he is not Japanese.
"Go" highlights the prejudice present in Japan and its long history. Although the tension between ethnic groups has existed for generations, Didi-Ogren said it was heightened in 1910, when Japan annexed Korea and Koreans became subjects of the Japanese empire.
Now, Koreans are the largest minority in Japan, numbering just over 900,000 individuals. Many of them come from families who have lived in Japan for a long period of time, yet they are still not considered Japanese citizens. Even Japanese-born Koreans, like Sugihara, must carry alien registration cards with them at all times.
According to Didi-Ogren, "Go" was the first commercial film to address the presence and experiences of Koreans in Japan. It was also the first movie produced by a partnership of South Korean and Japanese filmmakers.
In 2006, "Go" was screened during the Midwest Japanese Film Festival. The festival is run by the Japan Foundation, a program which aims to promote an understanding of Japanese culture, language and history.