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(04/30/15 12:38am)
By Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
Sharp voices echoed off the College’s residential and academic buildings as students marched and chanted across campus to protest sexual assault during the College’s 22nd annual Take Back the Night on Tuesday, April 21.
Kicking off the event at the AIMM Building Amphitheater, sophomore early childhood education and women and gender studies double major Brianna Dioses read a slam poem called “One Color” alongside junior history and secondary education major Dane West. According to Dioses, sexual assault can happen to anyone at any time — as the poem suggests.
“It doesn’t have to be an alleyway with a stranger that tried to kidnap you,” Dioses said. “It doesn’t always have to be like that.”
Take Back The Night started in 1973 in Los Angeles as a protest for pornography and serial killings of African-American women in California, according to Erin Shannon, a junior English and women’s and gender studies double major. Another protest was organized in 1975, in which Philadelphia protesters rallied in response to the murder of microbiologist Susan Alexander, who was stabbed to death while walking home alone.
Forty years later, Take Back The Night still stands and is adapted by organizations all over the country, according to Shannon. The event, traditionally hosted by AVI, was run by WILL this year.
“Thousands of colleges, domestic violence shelters, race crisis centers have held events all over the country,” said Shannon, WILL’s executive chair and organizer of this year’s march. “So this (event) is one part of a much larger legacy of Take Back The Night.”
For 22 years, the College has taken part in the national initiative to spread awareness for sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Students from all corners of the campus watched this year’s march, as the protesters chanted, “2, 4, 6, 8 ... No more date rape,” and “Take back the night, the time is near ... We will not be controlled by fear.”
When the student protesters returned to the AIMM Building Amphitheater, alumna of the College and former WILL e-board member Natalie Serra took the platform and expressed her gratitude for the College continuing the annual march.
“I’m very grateful that you invited me to speak tonight, and I’m grateful that a space like this exists for us,” Serra said to the students.
Dusk quickly filled the sky and the night turned to be an emotional one, as Serra explained shortly afterward that she was sexually assaulted once while in law school.
“I lost some of the trust I had in people who weren’t there for me like I needed them to be,” she said. “But I actually came back that year to (the College’s) Take Back The Night. I knew that even though I didn’t know the students here anymore since I had graduated, I knew that this space was available as a support network. And ultimately, that was part of my healing process.”
Students followed Serra’s lead by taking the platform of the amphitheater and sharing their emotional stories. Tommi-
Estefan Granados, a junior self-designed indigenous studies and women’s and gender studies double major, said he was really young when a babysitter violated and took advantage of him.
“I don’t understand it,” Granados said. “But I keep talking every single year at these events because I just grew up being silent. I was told that my opinion didn’t matter ... that I didn’t matter ... that I would never be enough for my parents or enough for her. But now I realize I do have a voice and I do matter.”
Sophomore English secondary education major Jenna Burke said she learned a very important lesson about her experience.
“On any level from an interaction with a stranger to someone you know, you should never have to be afraid of being in a situation with them — whether it’s the night time or the day time,” Burke said. “It’s about not having to be afraid of anyone and letting them know that you’re not afraid because you know what consent means to you.”
According to Shannon, Take Back The Night is a way for students to regain ownership of their dignity and to support each other in every step of the way.
“It is a safe space for people to reclaim their right to feel safe, and it’s really important to me because some of the most important people in my life have actually survived sexual assault,” Shannon said. “So this is probably my favorite WILL event because of that.”
(02/11/15 7:36pm)
By Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
Inequality is not going away in America, according to Dorian Warren, associate political science professor from Columbia University. In fact, it continues to grow.
“We’ve been growing unequal for the last 40 years when it comes to income and wealth in this country,” Warren said.
The professor and host of MSNBC’s online news program “Nerding Out” visited the College and spoke to students on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Library Auditorium. Co-sponsored by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Black Student Union (BSU), Warren’s interactive discussion, entitled “Inequality and the Future of U.S. Democracy,” attempted to discover reasons for the many aspects of inequality in the country today, particularly with income distribution and wealth.
Warren started the discussion by looking back at four anniversaries of events that sought to end inequality. Although there were milestones like 1963’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and 1964’s Economic Opportunity Act — which was President Lyndon B. Johnson’s call for a war on poverty — one would think that those events in history actually never took place, looking at the country’s current state.
“Just last week, an article in The Washington Post was published that shows for the first time in history, the majority of students in American public schools are in poverty,” Warren said. “So we have a long way to go, even as we mark these milestones.”
Child poverty is a prevalent issue in the U.S., according to Warren, in which roughly 25 percent of children in America are suffering from poverty. Breaking it down racially for children under age 6, 14 percent of white children, 42 percent of black children and one in three Hispanic children live in poverty today.
“I want to point out that we are world leaders in lots of things, those of us here in the U.S.,” Warren said. “One of them is child poverty.”
On the other hand, wealth is becoming more concentrated, according to Warren. A study from Oxfam that was published several weeks ago shows that the richest 80 people in the world now have as much wealth as the bottom 50 percent of all people in the world—3.5 billion people. In 2010, it took 388 billionaires to have as much wealth as the bottom 50 percent, but now it only takes 80.
Furthermore, the size of the middle class is slowly decreasing, Warren said. In 1967, the middle class made up 53 percent of the entire U.S. population, and as of 2013, it made up only 43 percent.
“Our vast middle class that made us a growing and strong democracy especially in the post-World War II years has been shrinking, especially over the last 40 years,” Warren said.
Some say that outsourcing of jobs is a key factor to the middle class decreasing in size, he explained.
“This argument is that as we’ve increased our trade (especially with more developing companies), and we’ve exported lots of good-paying, middle class jobs,” he said. “But we haven’t replaced them with the same kind of jobs over the last 40 years.”
Looking at the bigger picture, inequality in the U.S. is caused by issues in addition to outsourcing, like wage theft, the weakening of labor unions and the rise of involuntary part-time work. Instead of meeting the hour requirement to be declared as full-time workers, people are instead forced to work just below the requirement, according to Warren. This is so that employers can avoid providing benefits to their employees, which is costly.
Students who attended the lecture were able to get a preview of what to look out for in the working environment.
“I was surprised to learn just how much inequality there is in the U.S. workplace,” senior communications major Jaqueline Ilkowitz said. “I thought that Warren did an excellent job of explaining a complex economic situation in a way that made it easy to comprehend, and I left the lecture having a better understanding of what the workplace will be like after fellow students and I graduate.”
Senior finance major and Black Student Union Treasurer Ashley Hutchinson, who stated that her opinion does not reflect that of the organization’s, said she learned that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain a job with a college degree than it is to do so without one.
“I learned that having a bachelor’s and in some cases a master’s degree is not guaranteed to save Americans from suffering from economic inequality,” Hutchinson said. “The job growth for people with bachelor’s and master’s degrees is much slower than the job growth for those who do not hold degrees from higher education.”
Warren ended the lecture with two questions for everyone who attended to think about, based on the future of the country’s democracy.
“There’s the question as to whether the American Dream is still alive,” he said. “One should also think about a kind of world they’d want to see in 15 years and what they would need to do to realize that world.”
(02/11/15 7:35pm)
By Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
After almost six years of working for the College as a Russian professor and more visibly as the dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Benjamin Rifkin will be leaving permanently in May for a position at Ithaca College in New York.
Rifkin will be Ithaca’s provost and vice president for Educational Affairs.
“That’s a very unusual title,” Rifkin said. “On most campuses, the title is ‘Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.’”
According to Rifkin, Ithaca decided to integrate Academic Affairs and Students Affairs in order to provide a learning experience for students wherever they go on the campus — not just in the classroom or on the athletic field.
“Ithaca made a strategic decision that it wanted one person to be the leader of these two divisions to integrate them,” Rifkin said. This would aim to revise the learning experience for students in a holistic experience that unfolds across campus, according to Rifkin.
And with a careful search process, Ithaca selected Rifkin to be the leader. According to Rifkin, most institutions hire a search firm to create a job ad announcement, which would usually be placed in the Chronicle for Higher Education — higher education’s leading journal. The search firm would then send a consultant to institutions to find suitable candidates.
Rifkin’s consultant, Julie Tea, reached out to him and notified him that he was nominated multiple times for Ithaca’s position.
“She sent me the description of the job and I found it very interesting,” he said. “So I said, ‘Oh … OK, I’ll apply,’ and I did. And one thing led to another, and now I’m selling my house!”
Rifkin had never been on Ithaca’s campus before applying to the job. But he was drawn in by the city’s progressive environment that is caring and focused on environmental issues.
“So I had a positive sense of that, and geographically, I’m just not willing in this stage of my life to relocate to a place where I would have to fly back to see my family,” Rifkin said. “So this is within driving range of my family and my wife’s family, and so that was still within a zone that we can consider.”
Rifkin has done more than what many students realize here at the College as dean for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Many tasks he has performed fall under leading both faculty and students of the school, which consists of 10 departments, 14 programs and one graduate program.
“One (task) is to ensure that the terms of employment for all of our faculty and staff are equitable,” he said. “Now I’m not the one negotiating a contract, but I could be the one saying, ‘Your workload far exceeds his or her workload. We have to redistribute here.’”
Although he doesn’t negotiate the contracts, Rifkin does play a large role in hiring tenure-stream faculty and reappointing them. The review process for reappointment starts with him before it reaches to the provost, followed by President R. Barbara Gitenstein and the Board of Trustees.
Rifkin has also worked closely with faculty to make sure their curricula reflect students’ best interests.
“For instance, students are going to have a public speaking requirement that’s going to be embedded in their classes in their major,” Rifkin said. “So these are things that I help with leading the discussion to move it forward by saying, ‘Should we be doing this?’ And the answer was yes.”
At the end of the day, Rifkin’s job as dean is always about the students’ best interests. This is seen at the start of every week, when students receive an email addressed from Rifkin that informs them about future opportunities like study abroad sessions, in addition to congratulating students for their various accomplishments.
Along with the weekly emails, Rifkin has also sent many emails inviting students to sit down and have coffee, lunch or dinner with him.
“I just feel that in a lot of the things I need to do, I need to prioritize the needs and experiences of our students.” he said. “I wasn’t having enough contact with them,” he said. “And so, I was trying to figure out how to make myself available, and I decided, ‘Well … I’m going to have lunch in the dining hall.’”
Many students have asked Rifkin whether he will continue his beloved traditions at Ithaca.
“I’m not sure,” Rifkin said. “Those things are things that are appropriate for my role at (the College), and I’m going to have a different role at Ithaca.”
Senior English and women’s and gender studies double major Amy Chen said that although she has never attended one of his lunch or coffee sessions, she plans on doing so in the near future.
“One thing I’ll miss is his Puppypalooza and him bringing Webster to campus, because that’s always really fun,” Chen said. “And he just seems like a really fun and entertaining guy.” Webster was Rifkin’s beloved golden retriever who passed away last year.
There are many things that Rifkin will miss about the College, he said, a key one being its academic priority.
“I think one of the things that I really cherish about this place is that the number one priority at (the College) is student education,” Rifkin said. “In every meeting I’m in, every decision being made is based on the question, ‘What is the impact on our student education?’ And trust me … that’s not the case everywhere else in higher education.”
(02/04/15 3:25pm)
By Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
Any student who has experienced being a freshman at the College can say they have impacted a community outside the campus through Community Engaged Learning (CEL) programs. Not only has this shown the College’s dedication to student-led service, but it has also won the school a Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
The award is highly competitive, and only 8 percent of colleges and universities across the nation have received the award, according to Patrick Donohue, assistant provost for Community Engaged Learning and executive director of the Bonner Institute.
“To be honest, it is still sinking in,” Donohue said. “Since it is February now, I will say it is similar to winning the Super Bowl, with one exception — we get to keep the trophy on our mantle till 2016, when the designation expires and we have to reapply.”
Students are given many opportunities by the College to immerse themselves in CEL. Whether it’s through the graduation requirement in which they have to participate in an eight-hour “CEL Day” during freshman year, or whether it’s through Advanced CEL programs that are specific to some majors, students are constantly being provided ways to give to the communities in Trenton and make sure no one who is in need is left behind.
According to Donohue, the College’s initiative for the CEL program blossomed in 2006.
“At that time, there were approximately 24 Bonner Scholars, a handful of FSP sections engaged in CEL or Advanced CEL courses and two staff members,” Donohue said. “There are now 100 Bonners, 42 participating FSP sections, approximately 26 engaged Advanced CEL professors and 22 full and part-time staff — almost all of which are grant-funded.”
There were a number of factors that contributed to the CEL program evolving into an integral part in every student’s college experience, Donohue mentioned. One of them was the expansion of the Bonner Community Scholars program, a four-year scholarship program that allows students to perform extensive community service while enrolling full-time at the College.
Because of the increase in the size of the program, members were able to create a graduation requirement for all students, which is a first-year curriculum requirement for freshmen. This allows students to work with professors during their first-year seminar programs and partner with community organizations in Trenton.
The collaboration among students, staff and organizations, in turn, earned the College a $500,000 endowment gift by the Bonner Foundation a few years ago — a milestone rarely achieved by institutions in the nation.
“We are the only endowed school in New Jersey and one of only a few in the country,” Donohue said.
It takes more than a student paying attention in class for him or her to become successful, which is why Donohue and the Bonner Center implemented community engaged learning. According to the American Association of Colleges and Universities, community engaged learning has the largest positive “boost” effect on student learning and development than any other high-impact practice.
“In other words, it really enhances the impact of a traditional course,” Donohue said. “You can’t always learn everything you need to learn to be a good and effective citizen or a professional in your future field from a comfortable campus or home.”
Upperclassmen still look back to their CEL Day from their freshman year and think of how it shaped them. Senior sociology major Jason Hammer visited the Arc Mercer, a center in Trenton that prides on creating opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“I greatly appreciated the experience as it allowed me to be introduced to a part of the new community that I would be living in for the next four years,” Hammer said. “I think it is especially important for freshmen to leave the ‘College bubble’ and get more involved in the incredibly diverse community that surrounds campus.”
Many programs and organizations at the College allow students to travel to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), which provides more than 3,000 meals a week to the hungry in Trenton. For junior deaf and hard of hearing education major Samantha Falvey, this was her CEL Day.
“I think the event added a new aspect to the idea of a soup kitchen,” Falvey said. “Because the organization was not only giving out food but also introduced free shows and activities for kids (sports games, face painting, balloon making and crafts stations), it was able to emphasize on the idea of a united community willing to help one another.”
For some students, however, the Trenton community came to them at the College. Senior self-designed religious studies major Britta Nippert taught mini lessons to students that visited the college from an elementary school in Trenton.
“I would say even if the children didn’t learn much from our lessons, engagement on a college campus can be inspiring for young students who may not know what options are open to them and what it feels like to participate in a college atmosphere,” Nippert said.
According to Donohue, the College’s CEL program is looking to expand even more within the next few years. For instance, he and the Bonner Center are looking to integrate Advanced CEL courses into every single major at the College, as well as provide separate major and minor programs dedicated to community-engaged learning. Those are to only list a few.
“We’d like to create a Faculty Fellow position that would help us develop a more deliberate undergraduate research program that focuses on community problems or challenges,” Donohue said. “We’d also like to create more pilots like the one we are involved in with the IMM department — that creates opportunities for students to work on CEL projects for credit for an entire year.”
Until those plans are put to action, Donohue, the Bonner Center and the campus community can celebrate how far the College’s program has come with Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification.
“It means a great deal — it is extremely satisfying and humbling at the same time,” Donohue said.
(01/28/15 7:45pm)
Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
After months of careful research on “political extremists,” psychology professor Jarret Crawford found his study in the highly selective journal, Psychological Science.
Published in mid-December, Crawford’s research focuses on how individuals form political beliefs that fall under extreme left-wing and right-wing categories. He did not conduct the study alone, however, as he collaborated with two professors from Tilburg University — Dr. Anthony Evans and Dr. Mark Brandt.
“I had been a regular collaborator with (Brandt), the lead author of the paper, for some time prior to conducting the studies reported in Psychological Science,” Crawford said. “He and I realized a few years ago that we had been conducting some similar work independently, and decided to join forces.”
Dr. Evans was then brought on board as “an expert in judgment and decision-making,” according to Crawford.
In the study, Crawford and his collaborators concluded that when asked questions, extreme conservatives and liberals seldom rely on information presented in the questions to formulate an answer corresponding to their beliefs.
“What we found is that political extremists are more confident in their judgments, and thus are less likely to let the information provided in the question, or the anchor, influence their ultimate judgments,” he said. “As for where their confidence comes from, this is an interesting question.”
According to Crawford, although many previous studies have explored political extremists’ confidence-based beliefs, or cognitive rigidity, most of the studies are based on “self-report” measures, which leave an opening for bias in the research. Therefore, he and his collaborators used behavioral measures instead, to produce results that are objective from their perspective.
For instance, they found that when they asked a sample of people to guess the distance between two cities, those people generated responses that are influenced by the estimate provided in the question.
“People will give higher estimates for the distance between New York City and San Francisco when told that the distance between them is more than 2,000 miles, and will give lower estimates when told that the distance between them is more than 500 miles,” Crawford said.
For political extremists, however, they provided estimates that were farther away from the numbers given in the question, suggesting a resistance to anchoring bias.
“What’s important to remember, though, is that the judgments they were making were non-political — thus, their confidence in one domain (politics) appears to spill over into unrelated domains,” he said.
An alumnus of the College, Crawford earned his doctorate degree in social psychology at Rutgers University and became an assistant professor for the College in 2008. Since then, he has worked on many collaborative studies in social and political psychology and has over 30 publications in various psychology journals.
“I’ve had the good fortune to have my work recently appear in several other journals that are widely read across psychology, and to have some of this work featured recently in The New Yorker,” he said. “I am proud to show that impactful scholarship can be produced at smaller liberal arts colleges like (the College).”
Crawford’s success doesn’t stop here, though. Although he is on sabbatical for the spring semester, he will be traveling to Tilburg University to continue his collaboration with Brandt and Evans.
“I am in a constant state of working on studies and have many in progress,” he said.
(01/28/15 7:42pm)
By Mylin Batipps
Social Media Editor
After a nearly eight-month shutdown due to repairs, T-Dubs is back and better than ever.
The newly renovated dining facility has an updated serving area, as well as a polished dining area with freshly painted walls and a cleansed glass solarium.
“The new T-Dubs will offer a welcoming décor and will continue to offer the grill, pizza, Mexican food, salad bar and other selections,” said David Muha, the College’s vice president for communications, marketing and brand management.
This is the dining facility’s first major update since 1983, according to Muha.
The renovation of T-Dubs was supposed to only take place last summer before opening to students upon their return to the College for the fall. However, with the rise of plumbing and mechanical issues, repairs slowed down the renovation process, causing T-Dubs to remain closed for the rest of the fall semester and winter break.
And according to Muha, it wasn’t necessarily easy for Campus Planning and Construction to troubleshoot the issues while renovating the space.
“Construction projects have many simultaneously occurring activities, with many tasks overlapping,” he said. “This makes it difficult to attribute cause and effect between any single construction item and the extended duration of the project.”
Furthermore, Muha noted last August that the project would’ve been months ahead of schedule had it been completed before the start of the fall semester. The College and Sodexo originally planned on completing the construction by this month, which means the renovation has actually finished in a timely manner.
Students of the College have waited over the previous semester and winter break to set foot back into T-Dubs and indulge in its classic selections. According to sophomore history and economics double major Conor Reid, the College was not the same without T-Dubs last semester.
“T-Dubs is the very essence of (the College), its lifeblood,” Reid said. “Friendships beyond measure were forged and cemented in a booth at T-Dubs late into the night.”
Reid added that although the Lions Den in the Brower Student Center extended its hours late into the night to compensate for the closing of T-Dubs, it still failed to fill the void.
“(The Lions Den) was missing the partial claustrophobia, the mildly disgusting smells and stark colors, and the buzz of TVs tuned to a myriad of channels all playing movies which looked wildly familiar but you weren’t quite exactly sure what movie it was ... that made T-Dubs the mad and wonderful experience that it was,” he said.
On the other hand, some students, such as senior English major Michael Baumann, were barely affected by the closing of T-Dubs.
“It hasn’t really fazed me,” Baumann said. “While I went pretty frequently my freshman year, I have gone maybe three times in the two years before it closed this past semester.”
This year’s freshmen, however, have never even experienced T-Dubs, unlike most sophomores and upperclassmen of the College. Junior communication studies and interactive multimedia double major Folake Ayiloge said she is interested in how freshmen will receive the dining facility.
“A lot of upperclassmen have been saying the freshmen have been missing out on a key part of the freshmen experience without T-Dubs,” Ayiloge said.
Muha is excited about the completion of the renovation paving the way for future projects, stating that it “has created the swing space necessary to launch the renovation of the Brower Student Center this spring.” Reid, however, has not looked that far and only has his mind on two things.
“My orange juice and chicken fingers, oh how I’ve missed thee,” he said.
(12/08/14 7:15pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
On Thursday, Dec. 4, Governor Chris Christie granted $245,000 to the College in support of students battling alcoholism, substance abuse and mental health issues, according to Jennifer Velez, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services.
"We often times don’t have a good opportunity to come and announce funding for many things, and this is something so critically important,” Velez said.
Velez, as well as representatives from the School of Nursing, School of Education and Student Affairs, assembled in Loser Hall to discuss the opportunities the grant will provide to the College’s student body.
The grant, better known as the Recovery Support and Environmental Management Strategies to Prevent and Reduce Substance Abuse on College Campuses, will assist in establishing housing for students in recovery stages from alcoholism and substance abuse. The funds will also assist in implementing more late-night programs as part of its Environmental Strategies program, serving as an alternative for students.
This is a competitive grant, according to Ellen Lovejoy from the Department of Human Services. Both the College and Rutgers University, in their applications, demonstrated the most valuable programs for students suffering from substance abuse and mental health problems, resulting in the grant being awarded to further enhance their programs. The effectiveness of the College’s Alcohol and Drug Education Program in particular, as wells as its Counseling and Psychological Services, were factors taken into consideration for the grant.
“(The College) had to have a pretty substantial existing program and a willingness to buy in by the leadership and administration,” Lovejoy said.
The National Institution of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reported in 2014 that over 1,800 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related injuries, according to Velez. Addressing the problem of alcohol and substance abuse is something that all colleges and universities should regularly examine as closely as possible, including the College, she said.
The TCNJ Clinic is just one of the departments on campus fully supporting the College’s move to achieve an even greater sense of awareness of substance abuse and mental health. Alexa Carvalho, a graduate student in the counselor education program and intern of the Clinic, is excited to assist in the up and coming programs.
“Coming right into this graduate program, I understand a lot of the drinking behaviors, the drug use and how that has a negative impact on not only the individuals, but their families as well,” Carvalho said. “Being able to address those needs within the community will be a great pleasure.”
Carvalho and the TCNJ Clinic will bring their Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART) Recovery programs to the students who will be living in the designated recovery housing. The programs take place three days a week and serve as alternatives for students uncomfortable participating in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, Carvalho said.
According to Director Nancy Scott, the TCNJ Clinic is well on its way to figuring out the logistics of the housing.
“We will be starting small, so we’re hoping to have six to seven students in a house,” Scott said. “We actually met with Campus Police to figure out where the best place to have it would be. We’re going to use one of our off-campus homes, but it will be very close to campus — within walking distance.”
In regard to the late-night events, the College hopes to work with the Office of Recreation to coordinate athletic events like volleyball, in addition to organizing movie nights and other various activities.
“The 10-12 p.m. time period … that’s a critical time period for students,” Scott said, explaining that most instances of alcohol abuse occur during the late hours. “That’s when they’re just getting ready to go out and do something. So we want to make sure they have good alternatives.”
According to Velez, the N.J. Department of Human Resources and the College is trying to put students’ well-being first through the launch of the new recovery programs.
“The safety of our students is one of the highest priorities, if not the highest priority,” Velez said.
(12/04/14 10:40pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
Students at the College received a small sample of cultures from around the world during this year’s International Education Week, taking place from Monday, Nov. 17, through Friday, Nov .21.
Hosted by the Center for Global Engagement and the Department of Residential Education and Housing, International Education Week provided multiple opportunities for students to gain perspectives on things happening not just in front of their eyes, but also globally. Through study abroad fairs, sit-down opportunities with international students and an exotic-themed lunch in Eickhoff Dining Hall, students were able to learn about world cultures, traditions and lifestyles and compare those to their own.
In previous years, the College only recognized International Education Week through Trip Around the World — a student-run cultural festival in which students enjoyed food samples and performances from international clubs like the Asian American Association, Italian Club and Hellenic Society. However, this year, Trip Around the World was a small component of the week-long celebration at the College.
“This year, the office wanted to highlight more events that were happening around the campus to celebrate internationalization,” International Student Advisor Joanne Bateup said. “Every week for our office is International Education Week, but elevating the visibility of these events and registering them with the Department of State as official International Education Week events allows us to gain more recognition for what TCNJ students, faculty and staff are doing to ‘go global.’”
Students were able to gain some of those perspectives through Education Around the World, a student panel ran by Hannah Pawlak, senior special education and English major and president of the Student New Jersey Education Association. The panel exposed students to various similarities and differences of international education systems. Although it was targeted toward education majors, anyone interested in comparative education were welcomed to the panel discussion.
“The key points that were discussed were classroom norms and expectations, assessments and homework, instructor norms and expectations, sequencing, and amount of time spent on studies,” Bateup said.
The Center for Global Engagement also emphasized the importance of studying abroad during International Education Week. In addition to a student panel dedicated to the discussion of studying abroad, an information table was set up in the Brower Student Center on Wednesday, Nov. 19 and Friday, Nov. 21.
Senior business major Neel Desai exposed students to eight different faculty-led programs for the approaching winter, spring and summer semesters. The programs include a trip to Madrid, Cornwall, Greece, Turkey and Harlaxton. According to Desai, opportunities snowball from studying abroad.
“Just going abroad I got an internship opportunity,” Desai said. “I never thought about that happening.”
Desai added that by going abroad, students change their perception of themselves and people around them for the better.
“You just learn so much about yourself, about other people and about other cultures, and it’s an experience that you’ll never understand until you go abroad,” he said. “And when you come back, you see the world in a whole different way.”
Students realize there is so much diversity in the College to appreciate from celebrating International Education Week, according to Bateup.
“Internationalization is not only outside of the College, but also within our campus,” she said. “International Education Week allows the global nomads and internationals in our community the opportunity to showcase what they have to offer and allows everyone to learn from the diverse perspectives that create our campus.”
(11/18/14 8:38pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
Students from almost a hundred high schools in New Jersey accepted scholarships and were admitted on-site to institutions during the Iota Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity’s 10th annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair.
Representatives from 40 different historically black institutions attended the fair, which was held on Sunday, Nov. 16, in the Brower Student Center. The College’s Iota Gamma Chapter partnered with several organizations to plan the fair, including the New Jersey Department of Education, Wells Fargo and PNC.
“Over 500 students benefitted from the fair,” said Edward Bannister-Holmes, communications studies major and president of the Iota Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Admissions were determined by the students’ transcripts and test scores they brought to the fair.
For 10 years, the College’s chapter incorporated two of its four cardinal principles to the planning and implementation of the HBCU Fair: “Scholarship” and “Uplift.” The Iota Gamma Chapter has aimed to spread advocacy for education, in addition to helping students achieve education by presenting opportunities for aid and admission.
Virginia State University awarded $112,000, $40,000 and $20,000 scholarships to high school students during the fair, according to Angela Diggs, senior counselor of recruiting for the university. Representatives of the university also admitted some students on-site.
“We really just wanted to spread the word about what we have to offer from each individual institution,” Diggs said.
Jaré Amolé, a representative from Tuskegee University in Alabama, said that the College is just one of many colleges and universities that he and representatives of different institutions attend.
“We travel between New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania,” Amolé said. We recruit about a little over 15,000 students to attend historically black colleges and universities from all over the country. It’s a great opportunity for kids to get a look at schools that they may never have the opportunity to go to or may have no interest or even knowing about.”
Parents accompanied the students to the fair and benefitted almost equally from the experience, according to Bannister-Holmes.
“It was such an honor to hear pleased parents talk about how much they’ve learned about the college entry process, hear students discuss which colleges and universities that are their top choices, and hear recruiters happily educating so many people about their schools,” he said.
After around a million dollars being awarded to students, one could say the 10th annual HBCU fair was a success. The Omega Psi Phi looks to continue the tradition for as long as it can.
“At the end of the day, we just want to give students and parents valuable learning tools that are crucial for scholars seeking post-secondary education,” Bannister-Holmes said. “We are greatly looking forward to next year.”
(10/22/14 7:09pm)
The women’s club soccer and club ice hockey team joined together in a benefit soccer game that raised $658, with all proceeds going to Defending the Blue Line — a nonprofit organization that looks to provide children of military members an opportunity to stay in ice hockey programs.
Junior Signal Sports Editor and Vice President of club soccer Julie Kayzerman planned the benefit game alongside junior physics major and ice hockey forward Tyler Viducic.
Although the two teams tied 1-1 in regulation time, the ice hockey team snuck out a 2-1 win in penalty kicks at the first-ever Women’s Club Soccer and Ice Hockey Benefit Game held on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. on the Lions Stadium.
“A lot of times their parents are on deployment and can’t play,” Viducic said. “So (Defending the Blue Line) gives kids the opportunity to get involved in sports while the parents are overseas. I’ve helped with the cause in past hockey tournaments, and so I thought this game would be a great idea.”
Established in 2009, Defending the Blue Line has given children free hockey equipment and free access to hockey camps nationwide.
In 2012, the ice hockey team faced club field hockey in a field hockey game with proceeds going toward Hurricane Sandy relief.
“We pulled out a win there, so now we’re 2-1 against the ladies,” Viducic said.
According to Alex D’Alessio, senior graphic design major and co-captain for the ice hockey team, the club soccer team pushed the men to the limit.
“I have to honestly say that we came out hard, but they came out a lot harder,” D’Alessio said. “They played phenomenally. All in all, it was a great time, we got both teams together and it was just good team morale.”
Tara Porfido, senior health and exercise science major and captain of women’s club soccer, said it was her first time participating in any type of benefit game with the team and she was pleased with the results.
“We realized that a lot of other organizations on campus participate in fundraisers, and since we’re a club team, it’s not typically our area of expertise,” Porfido said. “But we gave it a try, and we made a lot of money. It was really successful.”
Junior physics major Kyle Vermeal watched the game from the stands and was entertained all the way through. He gave both teams kudos for organizing such a successful event.
“I think it says a lot that two clubs are able to come together and work toward a common goal and really help other people out,” Vermeal said. “It shows that they really care and are trying to make a difference, and I think it brings a lot of community to (the College).”
(10/22/14 7:05pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
Campus Town construction is ahead of schedule and will be completed by fall of next year, according to Greg Lentine, vice president of Planned Residential Communities (PRC) and director of the Campus Town project.
Lentine and the executives of the project provided updates of Campus Town to students of the College on Wednesday, Oct. 8 and 15 in the Education Building. According to Lentine, Campus Town will span over 12 acres and have a total of nine buildings — seven of them being student apartments, one being Panera Bread and the other being a fitness center.
“There has been a lot going on behind the fence,” Lentine said. “We had to demolish 18 buildings, a lot of infrastructure had to be put in, and there was even something in the ground that no one knew was there.”
Campus Town would not be possible without the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009, which allowed for a private company like PRC to work with the College to build on state land. According to Lentine, over 150 attorneys have worked to develop a ground lease that both the College and PRC Group would utilize as a guideline for the construction and management of Campus Town.
Although the project has been ongoing for a few years, it has really gained momentum this past spring. Between 6,000 and 10,000 jobs were created throughout the state to help work on putting up the structures for each building, Lentine said.
“For example, some panels were built in South Brunswick,” he said. “So you take the entire crew of people that are out there building them and putting them on flat-back panel trucks — and you bring them over to the site. This is one of the reasons why the project is going so fast.”
Lentine described Campus Town as “off-campus housing located on campus.” In other words, although Campus Town will be a part of the College, it will be managed and operated by a private company. The PRC Group will manage the retail stores in the complex, while Capstone — a national student housing management company — will take over housing operations.
According to Lentine, it’s important to make the distinction that Campus Town is off-campus housing.
“The reason why that’s a big distinction is because if any student or parent calls the College about Campus Town, the College could say, ‘They’re off campus — give them a call directly,’ just like any other house that would be in town,” he said.
If, however, residents of Campus Town have an emergency, they will be able to call Campus Police who will be dispatched to their location — according to Lentine.
Since the availability of leases for students in August, 376 of the 434 total beds in the student apartments have been leased. In addition, 165 out of 300 parking spots for student residents have been taken. According to Melinda Davis, general manager of the Campus Town project, students are responsible for the leases for the full academic year — unless they decide to move out early for any reason.
“If students want to go abroad … if students are graduating early … any reason they want leave before the academic year, we have a waiting list and we can replace them with the person on the waiting list,” Davis said. “If not, they can find someone to take over their lease and they will not be financially responsible.”
According to Lentine, students will have to pay $6,544 per semester for a one-bedroom apartment, $6,003 each for a two-bedroom and $5,462 each for a four-bedroom. Equipped with security, each apartment will be fully furnished and will include a washer, dryer, common area and kitchen.
Retail stores on the ground floor of each apartment building will include Panera Bread, Yummy Sushi, Red Berry Yogurt, Mexican Mariachi, Piccolo Trattoria, Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. Students will be able to use their Get-It points on their IDs for Barnes & Noble only. According to Lentine, negotiations are currently being made with Hair Cuttery and an electronics store. They are in talks with both Verizon and AT&T to see which store should be included.
The fitness center, Lentine added, will be 11,400 square feet and will include a Campus Police substation, along with a few IT offices. While the retail stores will be open to both the College and the public, the fitness center will only be open and free to students.
Sophomore marketing major Derek Carper is impressed with the speedy progress of Campus Town.
“The venue choices are well thought out, and the housing options are much nicer than anything else offered on campus,” Carper said. “I’m really excited to see the new places students will be able to hang out outside of the Student Center and other places (on campus), and of course the new gym is a much needed addition to our campus.”
Until Campus Town unveils its grand opening to the College community and the public next fall, Lentine advises that everyone resists his or her urge to venture behind the big green fence while construction is still taking place.
“It can be a very dangerous site, so we don’t anyone back there,” he said.
(10/07/14 4:40pm)
On Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 3 p.m., a student walked into Campus Police headquarters to report that $50 was taken from his wallet while he was exercising at the Packer Physical Enhancement Center. According to Campus Police, the student said he placed his bag containing his wallet and car keys in a cubby box in the PEC to temporarily store his belongings. When he returned to the cubby box, he discovered that the bag was missing. According to Campus Police, the victim said he saw his bag in the hallway outside of the gym and discovered that everything was in there except the $50 previously in his wallet. Campus Police advised the student to contact them if he received any details about a suspect.
...
On Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 8:30 p.m., Campus Police were dispatched on report of a theft occurring at the front of New Education Building near a bench. The victim said at 6:30 p.m., she parked her unlocked bike by the bench and returned there from class at 8:30 p.m. to discover the bike missing. Campus Police completed a search of the area and found no results. No suspects were reported at the time.
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On Friday, Oct. 3 at 5 a.m., Campus Police were dispatched to the Wolfe Hall first floor restroom in response to a report of an intoxicated female. According to Campus Police, a C.A. said she located a female in the women’s restroom lying in her vomit and losing consciousness. After observing the victim on the floor lying in vomit and moaning, Campus Police tried talking to her and observed that she was unresponsive and incoherent. After Lions EMS and Ewing Township EMS arrived on the scene, the victim was transported to Capital Health with professional staff of Residential Education and Housing. She was issued a summons for underage drinking.
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On Monday, Oct. 6 at 10 a.m., a Sodexo production manager approached Campus Police with a wallet and reported that it was turned into an Eickhoff Hall night manager the previous night, who placed the wallet in a safe at the end of the shift. According to Campus Police, the production manager couldn’t provide information about the location of the wallet when it was found nor who was on duty during the evening of the discovery. Campus Police spoke to the victim via telephone, who said she discovered her wallet missing on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. According to Campus Police, every item the victim mentioned was in the wallet, with the exception of $150. Campus Police asked the victim to report any info obtained regarding the theft.
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At 5 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, Campus Police were dispatched to Phelps Hall in response of a fire alarm. Upon arrival, Campus Police observed no visible signs of smoke or fire. After further investigating, Campus Police discovered that someone used a fire extinguisher on the first floor. No suspects were found at the time.
(10/07/14 4:01pm)
Former NCAA Director of Athletics Wayne Burrow has joined the College’s Athletics Department as the new senior associate director of Athletics for External Affairs.
Burrow will superintend many of the functions and programs in the department as a member of the senior leadership team, according to Sharon Beverly, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and executive director of Athletics and Recreation.
“Mr. Burrow will oversee all game and event management … and will actively participate in revenue generating and external functions of the department,” Beverly said.
According to Beverly, Burrow will also serve as the liaison to both Sports Information and Alumni Affairs, as well as oversee the department golf outing and play a major role in superintending camps, clinics and facility rentals.
Burrow is looking forward to working both inside and outside the Athletics Department here at the College.
“I am so fortunate to be here,” Burrow said. “The position is going to be exciting and one that will provide me the opportunity to interact with our athletics staff, students, all areas of campus administration and alumni.”
An athlete in his high school years, Burrow always had a love for sports. He received his master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University and has been employed in sports administration ever since.
In addition to working with over a dozen national championships at the NCAA, Burrow has also worked at the Horizon League, a nine-team Division I conference based in Indianapolis. As the associate commissioner for championships and scheduling, he oversaw the creation of different scheduling guidelines and parameters for each sport participating in the conference.
According to Burrow, learning more about the College and its senior associate director of athletics position was the next best step for his career.
“I have always been impressed by (the College’s) strong commitment to academic and competitive excellence,” Burrow said. “This commitment is known nationwide and makes (the College) a great place for students to prosper and succeed.”
Beverly is confident that Burrow’s assets will translate well into the new position and will benefit the College’s Athletics Department as a whole.
“We are very excited about the experiences Mr. Burrow will add to our capabilities,” she said.
In addition to positively impacting the Athletics Department, Burrow is looking forward to building relationships with students, faculty and administration at the College.
“Everyone that I have met so far has been so hospitable in welcoming me,” Burrow said. “I look forward to meeting many more new friends and helping them learn more about TCNJ Athletics.”
(10/01/14 5:39pm)
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 12:55 a.m., Campus Police arrived at Travers Hall in response to a resident stumbling into the men’s bathroom and vomiting. Campus Police noticed the resident spitting multiple times with difficulty speaking and holding balance. The resident stated that he consumed approximately nine drinks of rum and beer at a location he did not want to reveal, according to Campus Police. Lions EMS and professional staff of Residential Education and Housing were on the scene. The resident received a summons for underage alcohol consumption.
On Friday, Sept. 27, at 2 a.m., Campus Police arrived at Cromwell Hall on a report of a resident vomiting. While Lions EMS was evaluating and providing care to the victim, Campus Police spoke with the victim’s roommate, who said he received a call from a friend to pick up the victim from a party. The roommate said when he arrived, he saw that the victim appeared intoxicated and was not able to stand on his own, according to Campus Police. The victim was transported to Capital Health and received a summons for underage drinking.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 5:15 a.m., Campus Police observed on cameras what appeared to be a damaged screen on the ground outside the rear entrance of Phelps Hall. Campus Police detailed and observed that the screen in the back of Phelps from the staircase had been kicked out, and a criminal mischief report was filed.
(09/09/14 5:25am)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
Students, staff and faculty of the College will have their own separate platform for campus news, thanks to the newly launched TCNJ Today website.
The homepage will provide access to campus resources for students and update the campus community with events that have passed and will take place. The College’s original homepage will still be intact, but will only be intended for an outside audience — including parents and prospective students.
The original homepage presented a problem because it tried to appeal to both internal and external audiences, according to David Muha, vice president of communications, marketing and brand management.
“Communication is most effective when you know and are speaking directly to your audience,” Muha said. “The more audiences, the more challenging it becomes.”
Muha explained, for example, that last year the College conducted a campus climate survey, in which students and staff were provided an opportunity to give feedback on their experiences with working on campus. The survey was a feature on the College’s homepage, but since most visitors of the page are parents and people outside the campus community, the survey reached the wrong audience.
“The climate survey wasn’t relevant to them, and because that promo was there, we missed an opportunity to greet them from the moment they landed on the page with content that highlighted the college and the excellence of our faculty, staff and students,” Muha said.
Another issue, according to Muha, is that there is no prominent site for news for the campus community. Students and staff are being kept in the loop with “TCNJ Official Email” messages, but those messages only highlight select pieces of news. A campus newsletter initiative was launched last year but quickly fell.
Muha added that while he would like TCNJ Today to “fill that void” by becoming the campus’s main source of news, he would also like for the site to provide a platform for celebration.
“I think we can have some fun with it. The ‘Take A Bow’ column, for instance, can be used to share achievements that might not warrant a full news story but are important to celebrate nonetheless,” Muha said.
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, students will no longer be able to access resources like PAWS, Canvas and Gmail through the main webpage and will have to go on TCNJ Today’s webpage to access them. Senior business management major David Plishka approves of the new page.
“I think it’s a benefit,” Plishka said. “It’s nice to have the links on the top of the page that are readily accessible.”
Junior nursing major Jordan Stefanski said he will gladly use the new website as long as students will be guided on how to use it.
“As long as they (the administration) can provide an adequate tutorial on its operation, unlike what they did for Canvas, I don’t mind,” Stefanski said.
Muha is hoping that the launch of TCNJ Today will not only inform people, but also bring them together.
“By giving faculty, staff and students a home page of their own, we’re hoping that we can help foster a greater awareness of all the great things happening on our campus, provide a venue for the timely sharing of campus announcements and, ultimately, contribute to a greater sense of community,” Muha said. “It is this last aspect that I’m most excited about.”
(09/01/14 11:34pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
European Union leaders said that Russia’s increase in number of troops on Ukrainian soil is threatening the entire continent and may eventually lead to war, according to CNN.
In a summit in Brussels last week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the Union will impose new sanctions on Russia as a consequence for the country’s presence of over 15,000 troops on Ukraine’s land. Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, however, said Ukraine is looking for the support of the EU to unleash full-out war against Russia.
“I think we are very close to the point of no return,” Poroshenko said, according to CNN. “The point of no return is full-scale war, which already happened in the territory controlled by separatists and where — instead of separatists — there are regular Russian troops.”
This month, pro-Russian separatists have been surrounding government forces in Eastern Ukraine as part of a counteroffensive, The Moscow Times reported. Russian paratroopers claimed to have wandered near the Eastern border unintentionally before being captured by Ukrainian forces.
Not only are thousands of Russian troops in Ukrainian territory, but hundreds of tanks are accompanying those troops, according to Newsweek. Ukrainian troops said Russian tanks in Ukraine have “flattened” an eastern Ukrainian town, causing the destruction of homes in the area.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, claimed the country has not been deploying troops into Ukraine and that they are not trying to cause any problems. It is only trying to better train its forces, he said.
“We are strengthening our nuclear deterrence forces and our armed forces … I want to remind you that Russia is one of the most powerful nuclear nations. This is a reality, not just words.”
Previous sanctions imposed on Russia include denying the country access to both the oil sector and the EU’s capital markets for Russian banks. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said at the summit that Russia has performed acts of “direct aggression” that would result in much more than additional sanctions.
“It is the fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine,” Grybauskaite said, according to Newsweek. “That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU. Practically, Russia is in a state of war against Europe.”
(08/26/14 5:16pm)
By Mylin Batipps
News Assistant
This week marks the start of another fall semester at the College. Streets were filled with bins and boxes, new keys and many new roommates. Unfortunately, despite cars being filled to the very brim, it’s easy to forget some of the most useful items:
Iron
It’s a press-ing issue when you don’t have one of these bad boys and you’re trying to keep it classy in the classroom. So get a nice iron off the rack at your local Target, pack it in your bag and take it with you to your dorm. The days of running from door to door at the last minute asking your floor mates to borrow one will be behind you. And with access to your own, you’ll be blowing off steam in no time.
Umbrella
Has the weather rained on your parade at school? Have you been storm-ing to class in the downpour to prevent yourself from getting wet, only to get even more soaked? For these reasons, it wouldn’t hurt to take an umbrella with you on your journey back to campus. Not a single drop will fall on you when you’re walking to class, and no longer will you have to worry about the weather stealing your thunder.
Stamps
It’s always fun to push the envelope when it comes to sending unique birthday cards to your loved ones from campus — until you realize you don’t have any trace of stamps on you. Save the money and frustration by packing plenty in your bag. Instead of running around frantically and asking your friends for one, you’ll stay calm and stationary with your stationery.
Board/card games
Boggle your friends’ minds by bringing tons of games to school this year. Whether they’re children’s classics, like Mouse Trap and Candy Land, or games that more adult-friendly, like Cards Against Humanity, you’ll be spending your downtime in the best way possible. Perhaps you could even play a game of checkers to get some things off your chess.
First-Aid kit
If this didn’t make the cut on your list of things to bring last year, you probably paid the price for it. It’s always good to have one of these nearby just in case you get a paper cut from dealing with your files or your head starts aching from hours of work. With proper care, you can continue the semester like the injury never happened and give yourself a pad on the back.
Now that you have these items noted, check your closet sorters and duffle bags and make sure you have these items with you before heading back home for Labor Day weekend.
(04/29/14 8:26pm)
People often find it awkward to talk about sexual pleasure openly with their peers and partners. But on Thursday, April 24, Megan Andelloux, founder of the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, informed students at the College that the more they talk about it freely, the safer their sex will be.
Voices for Planned Parenthood at the College invited Andelloux to speak to students. Her presentation, “Orchestrating Orgasms,” informed students of the different types of orgasms performed during sex and the ways and reasons they are performed.
Andelloux presented fun facts about orgasms during the presentation, but they often led to deeper, more serious messages. For example, she stated that during a Princeton study in a research lab, it was discovered that one woman had 134 orgasms within one hour of sex — the highest number ever recorded. According to Andelloux, the woman guessed 32 before the results were shown. Students’ guesses in the audience ranged from 23 to 100. Andelloux said the guesses prove how people don’t recognize how many orgasms they experience during sex.
“The way that we talk about orgasms is messed up in this country,” Andelloux said. “There are so many different types of orgasms … and we miss the moments where orgasms happen that are smaller.”
According to Andelloux, there are many misconceptions about orgasms and what they actually are. During an orgasm, she said, involuntary muscles contract, specifically in the pelvic region of people of all genders. Sexual energy builds up, the heart rate increases and endorphins release, causing a feel-good sensation. It is important to note, however, that an orgasm is not an ejaculation.
“You can ejaculate and not have an orgasm, and you can have an orgasm and not ejaculate,” Andelloux said.
In addition to the feel-good sensation, orgasms do many other wonders for the human body, according to Andelloux. For example, because orgasms increase blood flow and clear out toxins in the body, they are able to heal wounds relatively fast. They also decrease sensitivity to pain, reduce stress, help people remember things better and increase quality of sleep.
While there are many benefits to having an orgasm, they can also be dangerous. According to Andelloux, when one has an orgasm, that person is losing complete control of his or herself.
“You are losing safety on some level,” she said. “And that can be really scary, which is one of the things that can prevent people from having orgasms.”
There is also a condition called persistent general arousal disorder, in which one of the clitoral nerves is irritated and causes people to have spontaneous orgasms. Andelloux described the condition as “debilitating.”
“These individuals usually end up attempting suicide because they can’t function in society,” she said. “And most people laugh at them for this condition and say, ‘I want this.’ And they say, ‘You don’t want this,’ but no one believes them.”
Next, Andelloux explained the different types of orgasms that people of all genders experience. Different parts of the body stimulate different nerves, causing different types of orgasms. For example, the clitoris, urethra, penis and anus stimulate the pudendal nerve, which causes short and fast orgasms. Breasts, nipples and the mouth send stimulation straight to the brain, which can cause people to experience orgasms. According to Andelloux, people can even experience orgasms just from thinking about something.
Junior business management major Sumaiya Rahim said that Andelloux’s presentation was “very informative and educational.”
“I learned that not talking about sexual health and well-being causes more harm than good,” Rahim said.
Sophomore indigenous studies and women’s and gender studies double major Tommi-Estefan Granados was grateful for Andelloux identifying people not as male or female, but as “clitoral owner” or “penis owner.”
“She acknowledged different bodies and different gender genitals,” Granados said. “It gave a chance for someone like to me to talk about sexuality.”
Despite writing a book and visiting colleges and universities all over the nation, Andelloux said she would like to partner with other organizations to further her studies on sexual pleasure. However, she is facing some challenges. While the Center for Disease Control expressed interest in working with her, the organization informed her that government organizations are not allowed to affiliate with anything related to sexual pleasure. Nonetheless, Andelloux stays hopeful.
“We have a long way to go, but at least this is out there,” she said.
(04/23/14 11:15pm)
By Mylin Batipps
Nation & World Editor
According to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, hundreds of South Sudanese people were killed by their own neighbors because of their ethnic traits, the Los Angeles Times reported.
On Monday, April 21, the U.N. condemned the Sudan People Liberation Movement in Opposition for sexually assaulting and killing people of the Bentiu community in South Sudan because of their ethnicity According to U.N. spokesperson Joe Contrearas, children were also victims of the killings because of their refusal to join the opposition group.
“...Women and children were killed for hiding and declining to join other Nuers who had gone out to cheer the (SPLM) in Opposition forces as they entered the town,” Contrearas said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Individuals from other South Sudanese communities, as well as Darfuris, were specifically targeted and killed at the hospital.”
Men, women and children have hidden in mosques to ensure that they would not be seen by the opposition group. However, the rebels entered these mosques, killed some of the civilians and escorted others home. Civilians also hid at a Roman Catholic church, only to be found and killed by the gunmen. A total of 200 people were killed, and 400 people were injured.
These killings are the latest of a series of disputes that have been taking place in Bentui, according to the Los Angeles Times. On Thursday, April 17, a U.N. compound was destroyed by rockets, targeting 22,000 people who fled to the base because of their fear of getting killed.
A total of 70,000 South Sudanese citizens are now sheltered in these bases. The disputes have left about 7 million people without food, and 770,000 people have escaped their homes.
Raisedon Zenenga, leading officer of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, has declared that the U.N. look further into the disputes in Bentiu.
“These atrocities must be fully investigated and the perpetrators and their commanders shall be held accountable,” Zenenga said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
(04/15/14 5:00am)
Investigators in France have been using DNA testing to discover who sexually assaulted a teenage girl in a high school, according to the Associated Press.
On Monday, April 14, the testing of 500 male students and staff in Fenelon-Notre Dame High School commenced in two large lecture halls with DNA swabs. The testing is expected to end on Wednesday, April 16, and students as young as age 14 will be tested, according to the Huffington Post.
The investigation is an unprecedented effort to find the person responsible for sexually assaulting a teenage girl inside a dark bathroom in Fenelon-Notre Dame High School last September. The victim was unable to identify the assailant at the time of the assault, but police were able to retrieve a DNA sample from her clothing. Seven months later, police are now investigating to discover a DNA imprint from one of the male high school students and faculty that matches the imprint discovered last Fall. No matches were found so far, according to AP.
This method of investigation could raise questions of ethical concern. According to AP, children’s “civil liberties” are respected in the country. But the issuing of the DNA tests in a school setting could say otherwise.
According to the Chantal Devaux, the school’s director, there is not a method more logical to discover the person responsible, especially since police already have a DNA imprint.
“This happened during the school day in a confined space,” Devaux told French media, according to AP. “The decision to take such a large sample was made because it was the only way to advance the investigation.”
Prosecutor Isabelle Pagenelle said the search for the DNA match should be as quick as possible, even if it means testing hundreds of students at a private school.
“The choice is simple for me,” she said, according to AP. “Either I file it away and wait for a match in what could be several years, or I go looking for the match itself.”
France’s privacy policy is strict, AP reported. The French government’s DNA database includes over two million profiles and has expanded greatly since its first launch in 1998. The high school DNA testing also reflects that. Police have promised, however, to discard the genetic material once they have discovered that it does not match the original imprint.