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(02/11/04 12:00pm)
No matter what college you attend, be it an Ivy League university, a large public university or a smaller public school like the College, it is incredibly difficult as an undergraduate to get hands-on experience in careers in your field.
In the College's computer science department, however, associate professor Ursula Wolz has changed the face of undergraduate research opportunities.
Wolz has initiated a cooperative program between the Hopewell Valley School District and the College's computer science department.
As a parent in the Hopewell Valley School District, Wolz began the program by volunteering to assist Hopewell Valley schools in creating user-friendly curriculum maps that would allow teachers, administrators and, on some level, parents, to have access to the goals of the curriculum and how well each course met those goals.
The basic idea behind the mapping program was to develop a database that would allow the staff of the Hopewell Valley Schools to look at analyses of their curricula, their effectiveness and their progression.
For example, as Wolz said in a report submitted to the National Educational Computing Conference, "a principal could study the progression of math skills from the first to fifth grades, or see where, in the overall curriculum, Native American culture is studied. A second grade teacher can make notes on how a hands-on science lab fared ... and share that information with her colleague at another elementary school in the district."
The problem with this system is that any Hopewell Valley staff member wishing to get a specific analysis of a portion of the curriculum must know how to pose his or her question in database query - a skill which most elementary school teachers and staff do not possess.
This is where the College's computer science students come in.
Hopewell Valley staff members pose their questions, in plain English, to undergraduate student researchers at the College. The student then translates the question into database query and retrieves the necessary information for the staff member.
Although the turnover time for this process can be as long as two days, it does not seem to be a problem, as immediate results are not necessary for a long-term curriculum analysis.
Wolz started working on this program three years ago, but did not have enough free time to assume the extra responsibility of implementing the entire program into the school district. However, now that Wolz is on sabbatical, she has been able to spend more time working with the staff of the Hopewell Valley District.
As a whole, the collaboration between Hopewell Valley and the College has provided tremendous opportunities for undergraduates to get practical experience in their field, as well as for the staff of Hopewell Valley to make significant improvements in their curriculum.
"The very exciting part of this project from (the College's) perspective is that students in computer science, and next year in the new interactive multimedia program, are able to do community based research and apply the skills learned in (their) courses ... to a real problem, with a real clientele," Wolz said.
(02/04/04 12:00pm)
How many times have you given blood since you turned 17, the legal age for blood donation? Never? Once, because a friend suggested it? Angie Velez, freshman psychology major, has given blood six times since she turned 17.
Velez was just one of 98 donors that attended the American Red Cross Blood Drive last Wednesday, an event sponsored by Circle K, the College's chief service organization.
Although this blood drive was the first Circle K has sponsored, they had no trouble filling all the appointments for the day. Circle K set up the blood drive with 88 appointments, and there were 10 donors who came as walk-ins to fill open spots.
"I found that recruiting donors was quite easy," Kim Greene, president of Circle K, said. "Members of the TCNJ community have been exceptionally generous in the giving of their time and of themselves."
Circle K has previously worked with the Princeton chapter of the American Red Cross and was contacted to sponsor Wednesday's blood drive, according to Greene.
Despite the fact that some of the attending students had to wait a long time - at times hours - to give blood, many did not mind.
"It's a nice thing to do for people," Stacey Reed, sophomore mathematics secondary education major, said. Reed has given blood twice since turning 17, and plans to continue doing so.
From the 98 donors, the Red Cross said it collected 61 pints of productive blood, which can potentially help as many as 183 patients. According to the Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood, but only five percent of those who can donate actually do.
Besides giving blood simply because she can, Velez said another reason is to receive "a clean bill of health." The Red Cross screens each blood donation it receives to ensure healthy blood for patients, and a relative of Velez became aware of a medical condition through this screening process.
The Red Cross would like to have a blood drive every month at the College, in order to accommodate all students who are eligible to give blood. According to the Red Cross, a person is eligible to donate every 56 days.
Circle K plans to collect the most donations possible from the College community by sponsoring frequent blood drives in conjunction with the Red Cross and other on-campus organizations, such as Residence Life and the Nursing program.
Students are encouraged to keep an eye out for upcoming blood drives on campus so that they can save lives by donating blood to those in need.
(10/28/03 12:00pm)
On several sections of campus, there are new construction projects underway.
According to Brian Murray, director of Construction at the College, although there are many projects currently underway, the College is trying to get as much construction done as it can before the Sesquicentennial in 2005.
According to Murray, the largest project on campus at this time is the new library, which is being built where the old chapel used to stand, next to the West Library.
Many students are opposed the construction of a new chapel and new library. Daniel McGovern, junior physics education major, said, "There is no need for a new library and the consequent destruction of the only building with character on this campus - the chapel."
Murray, however, believes a new library is necessary because, "library sciences have changed and the physical constraints of the West Library inhibit library staff."
The construction of the library has just begun, but is on schedule to be finished in the fall of 2005. After the new library is completed, Murray said, the College will begin to renovate the West Library to accommodate another department on campus.
According to Murray, the new chapel will hold 200 people and be 4,000 square feet.
The chapel, currently under construction, is located in the field across from Norsworthy Hall. According to Murray, the chapel's construction is on schedule and should be finished this spring.
Murray added that the Science Complex, also under construction, will be finished by a new contractor. Murray said this was an eight-phase project that was stalled several times due to problems with the previous contractor.
However, the final phase of the Science Complex, the link between the Physics and Chemistry sections, should be finished in approximately three weeks.
The landscaping in the middle of the complex and on its lakeside should be completed by this winter.
Also, Murray said, the Metzger Drive parking garage is also under construction, and should be completed in the spring of next year, at which point Lots 6, 6A and 6B will become softball and soccer fields.
The time span of this project is an inconvenience to many commuter students, as it can be difficult to find a parking spot. Patrick Shea, senior communications major, said, "I missed an entire class looking for parking. I showed up at 12:15 for a 12:30 class, and was still looking for parking at 1:05."
According to Murray, Campus Police make rounds of the parking lots every few hours to examine spot availability and have found that some times are problematic.
The College is dealing with this issue by opening up other parking lots for students when necessary.
The final construction project is the Metzger Drive student apartments, which are modular buildings that will be delivered to campus in December. These apartments should be ready for students by next August, according to Murray.
He added, however, that students will not see an end to construction on campus before they graduate. Two of the many projects on which construction has not yet begun are a new event center and more student housing.
Shea said he feels "highly perturbed at the College's 'spin job' regarding all these construction issues. The fact remains that there has been no construction that has or will benefit me in any way by the time of my graduation, three years later."
Murray said with all of these projects, the College is trying "to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the students."
Lauren Svec, freshman political science major, believes that the construction is an inconvenience at times.
"But, overall, it's going to improve the campus and we just need to realize that," Svec said.
- Information from tcnj.edu
(09/23/03 12:00pm)
Is it possible that the FBI has a record of every book you have checked out of the Roscoe L. West Library? Doubtful, but indeed possible, under the USA Patriot Act. This act was the topic of the Politics Forum held last Tuesday by Daryl Fair, constitutional law specialist and political science professor at the College.
According to Fair, "USA Patriot" is actually an acronym that stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism."
The act was created for the purpose of protecting the county against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks.
The act, in its entirety, is over 300 pages long. Fair chose to summarize and discuss its ten most controversial provisions.
The first provision of the act that Fair discussed was third party records searches.
This provision states that the FBI is allowed to obtain personal records through a third party without your knowledge, whether or not the individual is a terrorist suspect.
Although the Department of Justice says that this type of search is limited to business records, the term is very ambiguous.
Fair questioned its meaning, and asked, "What are business records? What you checked out of the library are business records."
The "sneak and peek" privilege granted to the FBI is another controversial provision of the USA Patriot Act.
This allows the FBI to execute a search warrant without notifying the person to be searched.
Of this provision, Fair asked, "Is the FBI searching your premises right now? The answer is - you don't know."
Although the person being searched is supposed to be informed within a "reasonable period," the act does not specify a time limit.
Yet another provision of the USA Patriot Act allows access to an individual's phone log, which identifies who a person has called and from whom he or she has received calls.
Further provisions include roving wiretaps and national security letters, which are similar to subpoenas but can be issued without court approval.
Fair reviewed the provisions and possible ramifications of the USA Patriot Act, beginning with an overview.
He then allowed faculty and students to ask questions and voice their opinions about the act.
After describing these sections of the act, Fair continued by explicating the government's response to it.
Attorney General John Ashcroft has been touring the United States to voice his support for the Act.
According to Fair, the main purpose of this tour is to convince members of Congress to continue supporting it.
Recently, some Congressmen have been suggested that they may have made the wrong decision in supporting the Act.
Fair said, "(The Bush) administration's response seems to be that the best defense is a good offense," because the president actually proposed an expansion of the USA Patriot Act after its merit was questioned.
One facet of this expansion is the use of the death penalty in certain terror related offenses.
According to Fair, this act gives too much power to the executive branch of the government, and removes the check of the judicial branch by allowing the FBI to take action against terrorism without the approval of the courts.
For this reason, and because of the fact that this act may violate Fourth Amendment rights, Fair says that certain aspects are constitutionally questionable.
Although the Department of Justice says that the act has played a leading role in protecting U.S. citizens from deadly terrorists, they have not released data proving this claim.
This lack of information gives the public good reason to be wary of the act and its ability to invade the private lives of any citizen.
When asked if the act really has been effective thus far, Fair responded, "We are left twisting in the wind, really, because we are left with no data to answer the question."