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(02/04/09 12:00pm)
ResLife will be launching a new feature in online housing registration this spring.
Using this feature, rising sophomores, juniors and seniors will be able to select their housing assignments, roommates and meal plans for the 2009-2010 academic year.
"This system will be known as 'My Housing Management' to students," Sean Stallings, director of Residential Education and Housing (ResEd), said.
My Housing Management will be used by both students and ResEd staff in housing plans. According to Stallings, a "student portal" will be used during the housing selection process.
The ResEd staff will also be able to use the program to deliver reports and communicate with the students through the communications tool.
Stallings said that compared to the old management system, this new online software offers sophisticated management tools for the professional staff. The system is set to replace the old management system - Student Information Systems (SIS).
"It will allow the housing office to manage campus beds using a Windows interface, which means we are advancing the technology available to the staff," Stallings said.
In the past, each student wishing to live on campus was put into a "housing lottery" and was assigned a number based on sex and graduating class.
Students whose numbers were included in the pre-determined "cut-off" then selected their room, roommate and meal plan on paper. The students also completed and signed housing contracts. Students with the lowest numbers were first to make their selections.
The College is scheduled to discontinue use of SIS and begin use of PeopleSoft, a student administration system, in March. Since PeopleSoft does not offer its own housing module, Stallings said it was important to adopt a separate system for ResEd.
"To continue the business function of housing, it became necessary for us to upgrade to a compatible system," Stallings said.
Stallings said the ResEd staff is currently working to get the system to "go live."
Students had mixed reactions to the new process.
"It will be easier, but there probably wouldn't be as much help if you had a problem," Alex Rass, junior biology major, said.
Ashley Toms, junior Spanish and secondary education major, said, "This will be a great way to modernize (the College)."
(11/12/08 12:00pm)
The Commission on the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse (CPAA) recently published a report containing four recommendations for the College.
The recommendations all relate to the College's alcohol policy.
According to the report, the first recommendation given by the Commission was to form a "Healthy Campus Task Force," which will assess alcohol abuse on campus. It will also be charged with the implementation of programs and policies to prevent alcohol and drug abuse.
The Commission also suggested that the College play a greater role in managing the student environment. This includes changing student attitudes, protecting students from drug and alcohol abuse and acting quickly to treat students who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction.
The Commission also recommended making revisions to the College's alcohol policy.
Finally, the CPAA advised the College to involve "students and parents, faculty and staff, and alumni in prevention planning."
"I can already see movement in terms of the administrative response, specifically in President Gitenstein's Healthy Campus Initiative, as well as the revisions of the alcohol and other drug policy that are taking place this semester," Mark Woodford, commission chair and professor of counseling education, said.
CPAA, which was established February 2007 by Beth Paul, vice provost, and James Norfleet, vice president of Student Affairs, was charged with recommending to the College how to address alcohol issues on campus and how to reduce dangerous drinking.
The Commission's members include students, faculty, staff, alumni and parents.
"I believe that this policy will be effective because it pays attention to the student and the culture in which we live," Nora Wentworth, student member of CPAA, said.
"If the students are provided with information to make healthy decisions and (have) the support and guidance of the school to make healthy and smart decisions, then we will," she said.
According to Norfleet, the office of Student Affairs has already begun to update the College's alcohol and drug policies based on the commission's findings.
"The proposed policy is winding its way through governance and will be presented to the Board of Trustees for action at its December meeting," Norfleet said.
According to Woodward, to increase student voices in the recommendations, CPAA student members conducted informal surveys in Brower Student Center, Travers/Wolfe halls and Eickhoff Hall.
The Commission also conducted a review of their recommendations to affirm the reflected the "best practices" from research done on minimizing alcohol abuse.
Sub-committees were formed to investigate how to increase alcohol-free events at the College.
"The Commission's recommendations clearly help us to continue to enhance our healthy community," Paul said.
Wentworth said she finds it comforting that the faculty and staff at the College are placing students' health first. She said, "Hopefully over time, the College can become completely acculturated in an atmosphere that promotes such mutual responsibility, and the punitive reactions to excessive drinking and other drug use will be very minimal."
(10/29/08 12:00pm)
Goals for this year's staff of The Seal, the College's yearbook, include cutting costs while increasing yearbook sales.
Co-editor-in-chiefs Katie Galella, senior English major, and Gabrielle Peterson, sophomore art education major, said this year is a new start for the publication.
The book will be printed in black and white to save $7,000 in production costs, with the exception of senior portraits and campus life sections.
"We are really excited and we have a lot of great ideas," Galella said, adding the traditional sections will still be present.
The staff is fundraising to pay production costs that may arise by selling T-shirts.
"It is really not about money for us. We just want to create a book for students," Galella said.
The yearbook follows a classic motif and features a cover photo of a black-and-white snapshot of the Roscoe West Library Lion sculpture.
In the past, The Seal staff faced an outstanding balance as a result of low yearbook sales. Since it lost funding from the Student Finance Board, the book is in the process of becoming more self-sufficient. This year, there are no pending payments, Galella said.
The Seal staff consists of 15 members, including a marketing position to promote the book and increase ad revenue. There are three editors-in-chief, including sophomore special education English major Jenna Mallozzi, to oversee promotion and yearbook production.
According to Gallela, they are working on this yearbook for the love of tradition and encapsulating memories. She said during the electronic age, a book can stand the test of time.
The yearbook is currently on sale for $70.
(10/22/08 12:00pm)
Since Sept. 30 of this year, avid New York sports team fans are receiving less coverage of their teams due to the loss of New York broadcast stations on campus.
According to Comcast, the campus cable provider, ABC, CBS and FOX stations will now be broadcast from the Philadelphia area.
"I was really upset when I found out because all my teams are N.Y. teams," Molly Chase, junior English major, said. "So now without (New York) CBS and FOX, I can't see any more Giants games. All I get are the Eagles and I don't really want to watch that."
Andrew Amadeo, junior finance major, said that while he can still find the New York teams on TV sometimes, "it seems as though Philadelphia teams have first priority in South Jersey."
Fred J. DeAndrea, public relations director of the Eastern division of Comcast Cable, wrote in an e-mail, "Comcast worked to notify its customers of these changes repeatedly and through numerous mechanisms, starting at least 30 days in advance of the changes. We used local newspaper ads, analog crawls on both channels, messages to set-top boxes, customer letters and a dedicated Web site."
DeAndrea said the New York broadcast TV stations have not been dropped. Instead, they are part of the Mercer County/Trenton digital lineup. He said Comcast took New York CBS and FOX stations from analog to digital. According to DeAndrea, the digital service allows for interactive features and more channels, providing customers with more choices and flexibility.
"These changes are made in an effort to continue giving our customers the best programming available with more options, flexibility and convenience," he said.
According to the College's Networking Technical Service (NTS) Web page, which oversees campus television services, the College's system is an analog system. The analog system works from the frequency signals sent from broadcast stations.
As of Feb. 20, 2009, the FCC is requiring broadcast stations to convert to digital. According to the NTS Web site, "The College is reviewing with Comcast the possibility of providing digital format content in the future."
DeAndrea said Comcast does not determine the television market an area receives. It is the Federal Communications Commission and Nielsen, a marketing information provider, that regulate this.
(10/08/08 12:00pm)
The Center for Assistive Technology and Inclusive Education Studies (CATIES) was awarded a $1.3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education.
CATIES will be partnering with the New Jersey Consortium on Deafblindness (NJCDB) in training educators to fully satisfy the educational needs of the deafblind.
CATIES received the grant for its mission to train those who teach the deafblind.
Jerry Petroff, project director, said, "The main people of the project are deafblind. It specializes in this disability. Everyone thinks of Helen Keller. She is an exception. Most of our kids, they have complex educational needs."
In the next five years, the grant will allow CATIES to host training sessions, which Petroff summarized as "bringing training to the schools" for educators and all those affiliated with the deafblind community.
The project is a collaboration of five experts in the field of deafblindness in New Jersey. They specialize in aspects of deafblindness such as childhood education, deafblind infants, families and community of the deafblind and deaf culture.
According to Petroff, the project is finite in details but outcome-based.
"This project is to build a community of practice that will have influence on the faculty in the state of New Jersey," he said.
Lynda Coetz, a deaf culture specialist on the project, said, "We have to make an effort to understand deafblind kids. We go in to bring teachers to understand their needs."
She pointed out that though schools may say a deafblind student can see or hear, the question should be whether they can understand what they see and hear.
To directly serve the deafblind community, a workshop is being designed to assist those with cochlear implants, a device that provides an alternative to hearing. This workshop will help implant recipients make sense of sound.
Petroff said, "I have faith that in the next five years we are going to shine. I can't say how thrilled I am. We are planning the future of deafblindness."
(10/01/08 12:00pm)
Nick Smith-Sebasto, class of '86, urged his audience to "stop the insanity" in a lecture titled, "Land Grab and Garbage Barge: Lessons for Sustainability and Ideas for the 21st Century."
The seminar was held by the College's biology department on Sept. 23.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Smith-Sebasto said the insanity he refers to is the world's apparent disregard for the environment.
Smith-Sebasto's main concern was increasing vegetation area. He said it takes 500 years for topsoil to be created, but it is often quickly paved over. According to Smith-Sebasto, paving trucks are the weapons of mass destruction commonly searched for, which prompted laughter from the audience.
He showed a picture of mountains and compared it to a photo of a city.
"We are going to achieve build-out," he said, which means not having enough available land to make changes to the landscape and architecture. "We have to do things to not harm the Earth," he said.
Smith-Sebasto explained how the College could use compost to minimize negative effects on the Earth. By mixing food scraps in a bio-mixer with wood chips, which provide carbon for the food to break down, the resulting compost can be used as fertilizer after three days.
According to Smith-Sebasto, this will decrease the use of landfills and increase vegetation areas.
He said Montclair State University has integrated this bio-mixer into the campus as a way to promote green initiatives.
Smith-Sebasto said he is hoping for a new paradigm for the 21st century to help nature recover. He read a series of quotes from scientists on the state of the world today.
"'Humans have changed ecosystems rapidly,'" he read. "'The degradation of ecosystems could grow significantly worse in this century.'" He said this destruction will occur in students' lifetimes.
Alexandra Pastino, junior biology major, said she came to the lecture to gain perspective for research she is doing this semester.
"My research is ecological in its basis dealing with living organisms," Pastino said. She is researching the sex pheromones of crayfish. According to her, the seminar was relevant to her research because she was able to see how habitat can impact an entire species.
Smith-Sebasto is an associate professor in the department of Earth and Environmental Studies at Montclair State University. He holds a doctorate in environmental communication, education and interpretation from Ohio State University.
(11/01/06 12:00pm)
Old folks get horny, mothers say "prevert" but actually mean "pervert" and 19-year-old boys get chased with plungers.
Welcome to the "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" glimpse into an elite black middle-class family in the 1970s.
This comedic play is one of the many by the legendary Don Evans.
The chair to the College's African-American studies department from 1971-1983, he was also a noted playwright and director.
He had 18 of his plays produced and six published. One of his many awards includes "Outstanding Playwright," awarded by the Arena Theatre. Though he died three years ago, the College is bringing back Evans' legacy.
While here, he founded the Langston Hughes Players. According to production assistant Pamela Chambers, Evans wanted to open more theatrical roles for African-American and Latino students with his creation of the Players.
This was 20 years ago. And now the newly revived Langston Hughes Players are a mixture of current students and the original Players.
The production was co-sponsored by the African-American studies department and the School of Culture and Society.
In the first scene, we are introduced to Myra, played by sophomore communication studies major Mercedes Sharee McCurdy, and her priest husband Avery Harrison, played by alumnus Joseph Jackson.
They consider themselves part of an elite class and cling to their status, which their 19-year-old son Felix, played by Troy Torres, freshman political science major, tries to break away from.
However, they find their common ground - with sex. Felix discovers sex with his "ghetto" girlfriend while his father tries to revive his sex life with his reluctant wife.
Then add the unpredictable relationship between Beverly, played by senior psychology major Tasia Chamber-Hickman, and Caleb Johnson's character, played by guest actor Pierre Downing. It appeared there was going to be romance between Avery's niece and her new guardian, but it was the unexpected twist of Beverly and Caleb's romance that was a real surprise.
Freshman English major Adam Engel described it as a comedic-tragedy, "but a satisfying one," he said.
The play appropriately took place in the Don Evans Black Box Theater. After a three-day run, there was a benefit show that included a reception.
Audience members had the chance to donate to the Don Evans endowment fund.
Sunday's reception included speeches from Susan B. Albertine, dean of Culture and Society, and Dr. Paula Seniors, the producer.
According to Albertine, it had always been Evans' dream to have a Langston Hughes revival when she first met him here at the College.
Todd Evans, Don Evans' son, said at the reception, "My youngest son, who never saw any of my grandfather's plays, had a chance to see the play today and I thank you for that."
(04/26/06 12:00pm)
He loves her and she loves him.
But there is one problem: he is black and she is Latina.
This is the main premise of "Platanos and Collard Greens," a play performed Thursday night in the Don Evans Black Box Theater as part of Latino Awareness Month.
"Platanos and Collard Greens" features five actors. All were college graduates from New York and they performed the play with no elaborate costumes or sets.
The play is an adaptation of the David Lamb book "Do Collard Greens Go Wit' Platanos?" The action is set in New York City's Hunter College, Lamb's alma mater.
The play has been performed for over 35,000 people at venues across the country. It is currently enjoying a run at the New York Historical Society Theater.
With humor, poetry, hip-hop culture references and even dancing, the play challenged not only the stereotypical images of blacks and Latinos, but also racial issues and prejudices associated with an interracial relationship.
The female protagonist, Angelita, gives a monologue in which she refuses to accept the image of "hot mulatta."
"Jennifer Lopez with her biggest asset," she said. "Dare touch mine and get your ass kicked."
Many characters in the play oppose the relationship. Malady, a friend of Freeman, bluntly tells Freeman that the only reason he is attracted to Angelita is because she is the closest he can get to dating a white woman. Angelita's mother is also against the relationship.
Freeman's dad, who serves as the wise man of the play, points out Angelita's mom's denial to accept her African descent. He also addresses the stigma associated with dark complexions. He quotes a line out of Biggie Smalls' song, "One More Chance," when he says "I am black and ugly as ever."
OK, an aspiring rapper and Freeman's friend, and Nilsa, Angelita's best friend, constantly fight during the play, bringing comic relief to the stage.
"Platanos and collard greens go together like macaroni and chicken wings," Freeman said, explaining the name's derivation in his introductory poetic monologue.
Freeman represents the collard greens, a vegetable historically enjoyed by blacks. Angelita is symbolized by the platanos, the Spanish word for bananas.
"It was a commentary on how historical stereotypes are here today," Arun Gurunathan, freshman biology major, said. "And it deconstructs a lot of the stereotypes, like the concept of the hot mulatto, with its showing of people's individuality instead of categorizing them by race."
The play was sponsored by College Union Board, Lambda Sigma Upsilon and Uni?n Latina.
(04/12/06 12:00pm)
Imagine a scantily dressed woman alone in a dark alley. She is at the wrong place at the wrong time. There she is beaten, raped and left to die.
The above is a stereotypical presentation of sexual assault.
And the discussion that scenario generated during the commercials of a "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (SVU) episode screened Monday night in New Residence Hall asked how exactly the media adheres to such a stereotype of a rape crime.
The "SVU" episode and discussion event was part of the campaign to promote Sexual Assault Awareness Month at the College. With the event. the offices of Anti-Violence Initiatives and Community Engaged Learning sought to challenge common assumptions about sexual assault.
In most rape portrayals, the victim is a white, middle class female. But in the "SVU" episode, the victim was a black immigrant. The episode also showed different women with different backgrounds who had been raped.
Most importantly, the episode showed students the traumatic effect of rape. By the end of the episode, the rapist turned out to be a random male suspect.
In reality, like on college campuses, most victims know their rapists.
The episode took an unexpected turn when the brother of one rape victim attacked the District Attorney defending his sister. He was outraged that his sister was open about the attack and that the world now knew she was not a virgin. For the family's Bosnian background, it was a disgrace.
Sophomore English major Trista Altstadt raised a point about rape affecting a woman's purity in some cultures. "The idea of honor is inscribed on a woman's body," she said. "And if he kills (her) then (the family) gets the honor back."
The comment brought about a new discussion on the view of a woman who has been raped. Organizers pointed out that women are sometimes blamed for the rape. Because of this social climate, Jackie Deitch-Stackhouse, coordinator of the office of Anti-Violence Initiatives, said the sad truth is that many victims have their credibility questioned.
"If a woman were to report rape, she needs at least three or four male witnesses that saw the penetration for her to be believed," Deitch-Stackhouse said.
Questionnaire sheets were passed out at the end of the event to see if the event changed attendees' presumptions about sexual assault, Jason Anari, event organizer and sophomore biology major, said.
According to Anari, some students were shocked when they got certain questions wrong - they were sure they knew the facts about sexual assault.
"Making more people aware of the seriousness and the prominence of the issue will lower figures," Kari Osmond, freshman women's and gender studies major, said.
(04/05/06 12:00pm)
Her parents did not understand why she was living with strippers or why she decided to pursue film.
But as Mira Nair stood on the stage of the Music Building last Wednesday, she explained: "Filmmaking is a disease."
At her screening and lecture, last Wednesday, Nair openly talked about her "disease," as part of the Women's History Month celebration.
At the event, Nair screened a relatively unknown film that the French government commissioned her to make after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The film had to be 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame. The whole film, "11.09.01," was a collaboration of different filmmakers around the world.
"The fact that the date was placed before the month showed the international view on 9/11," Honor Friberg, senior women's and gender studies major, said.
Nair's film was based on a newspaper article she read about a Muslim woman whose missing son was wrongly accused of playing a part in the attacks on the Twin Towers. The authorities later found that the missing son died trying to save someone.
Nair approached the family about her idea to make a film from their story, and, with their permission, began work.
Nair said that the film was deemed un-American. "This film was made to tell the story of the other side," she said.
"I think it is wrong and unfortunate that the truth and reality portrayed was misconstrued as 'anti-American,' and thus it did not qualify for screening in public theaters," Iffat Hussain, adjunct professor of biology, said. "This brings up another example which speaks for our stand on 'freedom of expression.'"
Nair was born and raised in India and attended Harvard University on a full scholarship. Before she became an acclaimed director or even had the chance to make films, she had many rejections because of her Harvard degree - it overqualified her.
She fell into documentary films. "Documentaries portray the truth of life," Nair said. "Truths that I believe are more powerful than fiction. You can not just invent it."
This truth inspired her to make the Oscar-nominated film "Salaam Bombay." She befriended children from the streets of Bombay to portray their refusal to pity themselves.
At her second home in Eastern Africa, Nair opened a school to train screenwriters. A majority of the students from this school are from places like Kenya and Uganda. Nair said that she created the opportunity for African children because Africa is always in the background in film, and if the children didn't tell their stories, no one would.
Nair chose to shoot her upcoming film, "Namesake," turning down opportunities to direct the next "Harry Potter" film and an adaptation of the book "The Devil Wears Prada."
"You got to believe you have a story to tell," she said.
Nair said she abandoned acting because her years performing in musicals did nothing to change the world - and she intends to change the world with her films.
"I was first an actor, but it wasn't for me," Nair said. "You were at the mercy of someone else's vision."
Luckily, Nair now has a vision all her own.
(03/08/06 12:00pm)
Professors and local artists gathered in the Black Box Theater Thursday to share their works in "Women's Words," a reading sponsored by the department of women's and gender studies as part of Women's History Month.
The event featured performances by Paula Seniors, assistant professor of African-American studies, poet Robyn Art, local writer Lois Harrod and Amy Benson, assistant professor of English.
Although it is an annual event, Michael Roberston, professor of English, said it was "the first time we got to hear voices from the past. Paula Seniors' presentation on African-American performers from the turn of the last century introduced fascinating women I never heard of before."
In the first performance, Seniors gave a synopsis of the lives of two African-American performers - Ada Overton Walker and Abbie Mitchell - who both used their stage fame to pursue rights for African-American women.
Mercedes McCurdy, freshman communication studies major, and Jessica Espino, freshman deaf education major, recited quotes by Walker and Mitchell intermittently throughout Seniors' narration.
At other times, a vocalist accompanied by a pianist sang the songs Walker and Mitchell once performed. "This is the history of black women," she said. "We were denied women's rights because of skin color."
According to host Cassandra Jackson, associate professor of English, the women's and gender studies department contacted her last fall to organize the event.
"I thought it was interesting to have creative writers and Ms. Seniors' theater background all together," Jackson said.
Art, a visiting writer at the College, expressed her enthusiasm to read her collection of poems, because she thought the event would be cancelled due to predicted snow.
Setting the stage for her reading, Art addressed the direction of her first poem, "Scenes From My Last Surviving B-Film."
"This was going to be neurotic poem," she said. "But it turned out to be disturbing."
"Picture the line that is your mouth duct taped shut," she began. "Now imagine eating."
Yasmin Obie, freshman English major, found the poems engaging. "The writing had life that came through," she said. "I was intrigued by that."
Acknowledging the greater significance of Women's History Month, Art explained the inherent feminism in her work.
"I think that some of my work definitely arises out of a gender consciousness," she said. "It takes as its subjects the distinctly female experiences of love, birth, loss, etc."
Harrod read poems about teaching, motherhood and family from her book, "Put Your Sorry Side Out." Both she and Art participated in the reading last year.
Benson has an upcoming book based on her research of the U.S occupation of Germany during World War II. Her inspiration came from her uncle, who, after being engaged to a German woman, died in the Berlin airlift.
Her reading focused on her interviews with German women who lived during World War II, including her uncle's fianc?e. It was titled "Unbeautiful."
The excerpt focused on these women's feelings of becoming foreigners and feeling powerless in their own country.
"I thought it might be appropriate to read a chapter that focused directly on an issue that has been both a source of power and a symbol of powerlessness for women historically," Benson said.
In her introduction, Jackson retold the moment she first heard MC Lyte, one of the first female rap artists. She has been called an Emily Dickinson for women in rap music.
"In celebration of Women's History Month, in the words of MC Lyte, 'kick this one, now kick this one for me and my DJ,'" Jackson said.
(03/01/06 12:00pm)
Last Friday, as part of the Visiting Writers Series sponsored by ink, Pushcart Prize-winning poet Sarah Manguso came to the College to read some of her poetry and share some insight about the writing process.
During the event, Manguso read poems out of her first book, "The Captain Lands in Paradise," and her upcoming 2006 book, "Siste Viator."
She has been reading her own poems since 1999.
"During the first reading I ever gave, which was at the Mill Restaurant in Iowa City, I was extremely intoxicated," she said. "These days, however, I find it deeply relaxing to give a reading though I have trouble going on the date without having an anxiety attack."
"The Captain Lands in Paradise" in hand, Will Lewis, junior secondary education/English major, felt that Manguso's "Nine Hundred Pound Bear" stood out to him. "It was random. I can sit down and be with it," Lewis said.
According to Manguso, the poems she performs change at reading.
"I read the ones I can bear to read that day," she said. "Sometimes you think you look presentable in the green dress; other days you think you think you should wear a foundation garment or just move to Canada. Perspectives change."
Maggie Murphy, senior English major, explained that ink works with the Writing Communities class, an option in the Creative Writing minor offered at the College, to promote the Visiting Writers Series readings.
"ink is an organization for (the College's) student writers whose mission is not only to promote a social atmosphere but also to support writers interested in exploring their craft," Murphy said.
But some people at the reading were not writers, just students interested in supporting the creative community.
"The only writing I do is in reports," Mark Walzer, a senior psychology major at the reading, said.
For Chuck Murphy, alumnus of the College, Manguso's advice stood out for him. "It is what she said about writing needing to be authentic," he said.
"Sarah is the perfect writer to bring to (the College) as part of the Visiting Writers Series," Sarah Maloney, ink president, said. "It is a privilege to have such a talented poet here."
- Signal staff members contributed to this report
(02/08/06 12:00pm)
It is only fitting that the school dubbed the "HOT college" by The New York Times would have one of New Jersey's hottest campus radio stations to match.
mtvU recognized campus radio station WTSR, 91. 3 FM, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, as a top college radio station in the Garden State.
mtvU is an on-air, online campus network television station created for and by the college audience. It diverges from the MTV headquarters and focuses on the life of college students.
According to Meghan Condran, senior communications major and station manager for WTSR, this is the first time mtvU made this selection in New Jersey. "This worldwide scale of recognition based on our quality of performance says, 'we know that you exist,'" Condran said.
"It [WTSR] is an amazing radio station," Ross Martin, mtvU head of programming, said. "We support the vibe of the station and the students who ran it."
The main reason for this recognition is for mtvU to discover the new, emerging music. "Before Fall Out Boy and Akon became popular," Martin said, "college students were listening to it first. Their stations really reflect that spirit of discovering."
According to Condran, the now Grammy-nominated Franz Ferdinand was first played on the WTSR station.
With this recognition comes a WTSR promotion on mtvU's Web site, which streams its songs, links to its Web site and includes radio features. With mtvU's more than 100, 000 online subscribers, a new audience will surely be introduced to WTSR.
"I would compare this to your child getting an honor," Jon Cataldi, senior Spanish major and the station's program director, said. "I hope the station can keep this up and go further."
The recognition only required WTSR to submit in a play list and signature logos. The play list was generated from the songs with the most air time on the station, and includes Wilco's "Heavy Metal Drummer" and My Morning's Jacket's "Anytime."
Also, to give WTSR a unique identity, a profile on a student employee was requested. Stephanie Berzinski, sophomore communications major and station's news director, was chosen for this honor. Her picture was taken and posted on the mtvU Web site, along with a list of her favorite albums.
"They asked me to come down for a picture," she said. "Then I was informed about being chosen as the best to represent WTSR right now."
"She spiced up the station," Condran said.
Clearly WTSR does not fit the image of a college radio station preoccupied with shuffling paper and dead-air silence.
WTSR's moment in the spotlight has arrived. And this time, more than just the College is listening.
(02/01/06 12:00pm)
Chasing Monroe is famous.
In 2004, they released a demo. They have played over a hundred shows in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. They are increasingly getting hits on their Web site and have an avid, growing fan base.
They have yet to make a TV appearance or own the cover of Spin. But they do have an article about them in a college newspaper.
OK, so maybe we should reword something. Chasing Monroe is "almost famous."
And some people are hoping that day of fame comes soon.
"I will definitely be that girl who walks around bragging that she knows the band," Laura Guarraci, sophomore accounting major, said. "'Cause why not."
So here is a little background on Chasing Monroe, so you too can one day claim you knew them "before they got big."
Chasing Monroe is made up of four guys: Tony Vangi of Rutgers University, Justin Similo of Richard Stockton College, Adam Frese of nearby Rider University and the College's own Corey Flynn.
Vangi belts out the lyrics, Similo pulls at the guitar strings, Frese beats the drums and Flynn, sophomore business major, works the bass.
They are all Jersey boys with a passion for rock music.
"As a band, I think we all listen to classic rock all the way to whatever rock entails today," Vangi said. "Emo, punk, whatever you want to call it."
The name Chasing Monroe, according to Flynn, is a reference to Monroe Street in Asbury Park, where the band played their first show in March 2003.
"I wanted us to remember the first show," Flynn said. "The verb 'chasing' sounded better than any other verb. It is us moving towards playing more shows."
To play at many shows in the area, Chasing Monroe spends considerable time on Web sites like jerseyshows.com and purevolume.com. And they will, when given the opportunity, play against other bands.
"I go to every show I can go to," Kyle Schimpf, freshman political science major, said. "I would say that they are unique because their sound is not totally 'out there' but the vocals and lyrics are above and beyond. They are catchy."
And that was just the music from their last demo.
According to their Web site, chasingmonroe.com, "The lack of recent shows (is) because we are right down in the dirty work of writing the new album."
The site claims the album is "sounding amazing," but the guys are more tight-lipped when it comes to inquiries about the disc's content.
"You'll have to wait to hear," Flynn said.
(01/25/06 12:00pm)
The man who kept Oprah Winfrey "awake at night" is now the man who scammed us all.
On her Oct. 26 show, Winfrey added James Frey's memoir "A Million Little Pieces" to her book club list, proclaiming it is "like nothing you ever read before."
But a recent investigation by theSmokingGun.com indicates that Frey's book, an account of the then-23-year-old's battle with drugs, alcohol and lawbreaking, should be more appropriately titled "A Million Little Lies."
Police reports, law enforcement interviews and court records clearly point to one conclusion: the jail sentences, the warrants in three states and the criminal standing were all fabrications and interwoven lies.
During the show, members of Winfrey's production company, Harpo, termed the book as revelatory while they tried to hold back tears. "Everybody at Harpo is reading it," Winfrey said. "When we were staying up at night reading it, we'd come in the next morning saying, 'What page are you on?'"
Winfrey even became teary-eyed. "This is my Harpo family and we all loved the book so much," she said.
Thanks to these praises, the book hit the best seller list, selling 1.7 million copies in the U.S. last year alone, while holding the top position on The New York Times nonfiction list for the past 15 weeks. It was in second place to the latest Harry Potter title.
In an interview with a Cleveland newspaper in May 2003, Frey said, "All events depicted in the book checked out as factually accurate. The only things I changed were aspects of people that might reveal their identity," he said. "Otherwise, it is all true."
But the book does not carry a disclaimer indicating that the names used are fictional. In response, Frey told the Smoking Gun that his publisher "felt comfortable running it" without a disclaimer, and he was not concerned with their decision.
In a recent interview with CNN's "Larry King Live," Frey defended himself, saying that memoirs should not be judged in the same category as nonfiction books.
"Everyone's memory is subjective," he said.
"I've acknowledged that I have changed some things," Frey told Larry King, with his mother by his side.
Frey said that the changes impacted less than five percent of the book's content, which is "within the realm of what is appropriate for a memoir."
Winfrey, who had been silent about the allegations, made a surprise call to "Larry King Live" on Jan. 11.
She encouraged readers inspired by the book to "keep holding on" and called the scandal surrounding the book "much ado about nothing."
"Although some of the facts have been questioned, the underlying message of the redemption in James Frey's memoir still resonates with me," she said. "And I know it resonates with millions of other people who have read this book and who will continue to read this book."
A million little lies or a million big lies, Winfrey isn't angry.
(12/07/05 12:00pm)
There was a mistaken identity. There was even an air of doubt. One spectator asked, "I know I am looking at a man, but is it really a man?"
And then there was utter confusion as one witnessed a clearly dressed woman walking into the man's bathroom. It was almost too much to comprehend.
But it was true when PRISM held the 2nd Annual Drag Show @ TCNJ, giving members and nonmembers the opportunity to venture into cross-gender dressing. Men dressed as women; women dressed as men. No restrictions.
And they also came dressed with drag names.
One was Ginger Vitis, who strutted around in lingerie. During her stage performance, she embodied the "incognito" of drag as she suggestively danced in front of a male audience member.
On any other day, she is sophomore communications major Ken Reisch.
"I was thinking of names not to name my kid," he said in reference to the origin of his drag name.
Freshman psychology major Vaughn Brown, with his drag name "Vanessa," had to borrow his denim skirt and blue tank top outfit from all his "girlfriends." "The one thing I bought is the wig," he said.
"Steve Startus," sophomore journalism major who also goes by the name of Melanie Jodelka, in her cowboy outfit said, "A girl asked if I was really a girl."
In correspondence with PRISM's AIDS Awareness Week, the Drag Show was put on to raise money for the Rainbow House in Trenton, which offers a home to females between the ages of 12 and 21 who are HIV positive or have AIDS and to educate on the reality of AIDS.
According to Chris Rivera, associate professor of women's and gender studies and host of the event, "50 percent of those infected with AIDS/HIV today are young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old."
Rivera explained that AIDS cannot be summed up in one word, but in two, "blind pandemic."
"No one is safe," he said. "The virus is an equal-opportunity infector globally."
Buckets were passed around to collect money after each performance. All told, PRISM collected over $247 in donations by the end of the night.
Jillian Alvarado, freshman criminology and justice studies major who went by the name "Phil Atio," said she had a homosexual uncle who died of AIDS.
"It is more common than people think," she said.
Another fact Rivera provided stressed that, "AIDS is not a gay issue only. Worldwide, women constitute about half of all the people living with HIV, almost 18 million in total."
"Angie" or Angel Hernandez, PRISM's AIDS awareness week chair, got onstage and, in a dramatic performance and dance to Madonna's "Hung Up," made out with "Bubba," junior civil engineering major Shannon Murray.
The crowd went wild for it and cameras began snapping away.
Jonelle Beckford, freshman communication major, was the only performer not in drag and sang Christina Aguilera's ballad, "Walk Away."
Alexis Becker, junior history secondary education major, said, "Her singing was powerful. I don't know much about singing, but she matched perfectly with Christina Aguilera, which is a difficult thing to do."
"This program also exposed its audience to transgender issues such as cross-dressers, drag queens and even transsexuals," Hernandez said. "I think that by watching people they've seen on campus having so much fun in drag, they become comfortable being around it themselves."
(11/30/05 12:00pm)
Numerous rows of shelves are exceptionally stocked, aisles are neat and free of customers except for the solitary, consequently attractive, grinning shopper and the employers are friendly and jovial. At the same time, the animated yellow smiley face is shown bouncing ecstatically up and down, lowering prices.
It is truly a glorious world - in a Wal-Mart commercial.
But is there another side to Wal-Mart's catchy jingle?
"My family makes trips to Wal-Mart to get things they would not get anywhere else, like lavender-scented moth balls, and they think it is left-winged propaganda when I tell them Wal-Mart is evil," JoLeen Ong, sophomore international studies major, said.
On Nov. 16, the Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) joined other college campuses across the nation in showing the documentary, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price," which, according to PSA President Matt Richman, was a historical event.
The documentary is an attack on the nation's largest retailer.
"All a lot of people know about Wal-Mart is that it is great," Christopher Perez, junior psychology major, said. "But they came here and got educated, knowing that it is all bullshit."
According to the film, the other side of the commercial is ugly. Wal-Mart is a corporation that mistreats and sexually harasses employers, is racist, violates the environment, utilizes sweatshops overseas and is irresponsible and inconsiderate. Many facts were included in the documentary to support these allegations.
One example about the Waltons, Wal-Mart family owners, had the crowd roaring with laughter. According to the documentary, the family had an underground house built for them in case another 9/11 event takes place in the near future.
"(The fact that) people in China are sacrificing their energy and do not have anything to eat, while the owners have billions of dollars more than they will ever need, is downright outlandish," Tom Stone, freshman political science major, said.
Edward Conjura, professor of mathematics, said people need to be aware of this situation. "In a middle of a proof, I stop to make jokes and I mentioned about the Wal-Mart movie, which I saw online, and encouraged (the students) to come see it," he said.
Robert Doherty, sophomore computer science major, said he came to see the film because his friend mentioned it numerous times. "I thought if I came, then Wal-Mart better be evil, and Wal-Mart is Satan," he said.
Richman said that he received frowning yellow smiley faces when he bought the DVD and other anti-Wal-Mart items.
When introducing the movie, he mentioned the need to fight this corporate giant. "We are trying to rally against Wal-Mart moving here to Lawrence Township," he said.
(11/09/05 12:00pm)
Pong.
This is the echoing sound of a popped acoustic guitar string.
"Does any one out there have a G-string? No pun intended," Steve Swanson, senior philosophy major, asked as he peered through the audience with his, acoustic guitar in hand.
The crowd offered condolences. One guy pointed to a girl next to him and shouted, "This girl's got a G-string on."
John Dutton, sophomore math education major, went onstage and gave his guitar to Swanson. "(This) brings a conflict of interest, this being a competition," he said.
The competition in question involved finding a student to be the opening act for the Derek Trucks Band at the Special Olympics Benefit Concert on Nov. 18. Four soloists competed.
Swanson continued playing, causing stirs in the audience with his original song, "Winner of the Wet T-shirt Contest."
According to him, it is the parody of the misadventures of him and his friends during spring break this past year in Mexico.
Matt Brinn, freshman history education major, got onstage and started his segment with what Meghan Condran, a judge and senior communications studies major, described as "quirky humor." He played the Super Mario Brothers theme song electric guitar style and said, "I prepared for the show for about 30 minutes ago so bear with me."
Stephen Swanson, freshman music major, played the electric guitar; during his time on stage, Stephen played his guitar with it on his head, using different hand placements, kicking up his feet and then playing it against his face.
Kristin Auci, junior communications studies major, and Gabe Alonso, junior marketing major, coordinated the competition at the Rathskellar with an entry fee of $3 which will be donated to the Red Cross.
"I was going to originally have a coffee house but then I heard of what (Auci) was doing and I decided to collaborate with her," Alonso said.
According to Auci, she publicized through facebook.com, by posting a message on the guitar players group.
Auci is an intern at Princeton Partners, a local marketing company, which, according to her, was looking to reach to the college community by sponsoring the Special Olympics Benefit Concert. "From the beginning of my time at Princeton Partners, it had been planned to find artists from local colleges, depending on where their interns were from," she said. "Thus, the soloists will come from the College and Rutgers, where the other intern for Princeton Partners attends school."
"We specifically selected the College not only for its proximity to Special Olympics New Jersey (SONJ) and the concert venue in New Brunswick, but because of the quality of students they have," Chris Sullivan, account executive for Princeton Partners, said. "We know this fact from firsthand experience - our CEO and three other employees of ours are Lion alumni."
Between the four soloists, there was an array of guitar styles. "We were looking for someone who will play a reflection of Derek Truck's music," Sullivan said.
The judging criteria included stage presence, originality of music, quality of music and overall performance. All were on a scale of one to five.
After a tough competition, Dutton, with his acoustic songs, was declared the winner.
After verbally accepting the invitation to be the opening act, Dutton looked out at the audience and said, "I didn't know I had to talk."
After verbally accepting the invitation to be the opening act, Dutton looked out at the audience and said, "I didn't know I had to talk."
(10/19/05 12:00pm)
As students crowded into the Rathskellar, there was a loud chatter, followed by the rhythmic sounds of the congas, timbales and guiro.
This was the atmosphere on Thursday, Oct. 13 when the Latino band Grupo Caribe played an array of instruments to the salsa and merengue beats in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, hosted by Uni?n Latina (UL), Lambda Sigma Upsilon and the College Union Board (CUB).
Julian Gomez, senior business administration and finance major and president of Lambda Sigma Upsilon, said he first heard Grupo Caribe in Edison's Club Ritz. There, according to Gomez, they performed traditional Hispanic music classics.
Gomez said he was impressed by the energy in the room and it was at that moment he knew he had to get them to perform at the College.
After hearing them perform, Gomez said he approached members of CUB with the idea.
"One of CUB's main objectives is to bring diverse music into the Rat, and what better way to do that than with a salsa band?" Kajal Vora, senior business administration major and CUB finance director, said.
Grupo Caribe is a four-person ensemble from New Jersey. According to band member Alex Volez, they like to call themselves the "experencia" because of all the talents they each bring to the group.
This is the band's third time playing at the College. "We look forward to it every time," Volez said. "The crowd is so energetic that it makes us play louder to match the energy in the room."
Kerry Hutchinson, junior general business major, said he stopped by the Rat after class because of the catchy sound he heard across campus.
"I am not of Hispanic background and do not listen to this kind of music, but since I have been here, I enjoy it now," he said.
The night began with a salsa performance by visitors from Rider University.
"Salsa is passionate and sexy," Eliana Reyes, sophomore communication studies major and president of UL, said.
Before long, the floor was full of couples, all dancing to the merengue.
"I would describe the merengue as just feeling it in the hips" Gabriel Alonso, junior general business major, said.
In addition to the music, the organizations provided a bit of history for the audience about certain Latino countries.
"My idea was to read poetry originally, but then the suggestion came up to talk about the five countries that were liberated during this month," Reyes said.
UL discussed Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
Gomez said he is glad that more Hispanic events are being featured on campus.
"I think Hispanic awareness is limited in a college community, but I think it makes up for that by allowing such events to take place," Gomez said.
"Today, for me, was all about having a good time and I did," Roger Rojas Jr., junior accounting major, said. "It is good to be Hispanic."