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(04/30/15 12:24am)
By Natalie Kouba
Former Editor-in-Chief
The beloved Rathskeller pub, better known as “The Rat,” will be closing its doors for good at the end of the semester after serving nearly 40 years as the College’s proverbial watering hole.
In place of the Rat, a rec hall used for movie screenings, meetings and lectures will be built, while a more updated restaurant will open in place of the College bookstore. In addition, the new restaurant will swap out the grease-stained blue carpet for a polished-stone floor; brick walls for reclaimed wood walls; and oversized, glass windows overlooking neighboring buildings, collectively turning fond moments at the Rat into mere memories.
“For me, the Rat was its own fraternity and sorority,” said Juan Torres, a member of the class of 1995 who worked as a server at the Rat. “Most students who worked there needed the money, but it was such a fun job. I miss the cast of characters I worked with.”
With renovations to the Brower Student Center beginning to take shape in phases, the demolition of the Rat and construction of another eatery will be among the first parts of the project undertaken. Dobco Inc. contractors and KSS architects are heading up the project, which will total about $26,740,000, according to assistant campus architect Mark Kirchner.
The project is also funded by Student Center reserves and capital contributions from Sodexo, according to assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Sean Stallings.
Although the Rat will always be remembered as the stage for budding artists and students’ musical idols, it wasn’t always the hang-out spot is has grown to be today. Before the Rat became the local bar of the campus bubble, students gathered at Phelps Hall, or what is currently Eickhoff Dining Hall. The Hall was split into two sections — the Club and the Pub — for alcohol-free and alcohol-inclusive events, respectively.
But the Rat quickly took over in popularity when it opened inside the Student Center in 1976. Phelps Dining Hall subsequently closed, resulting in Eickhoff’s construction.
“The Rat needed lots of updating, at best. I remember it being kind of ’70s era,” said Steph Furness, class of 2003. “I’m glad there will still be a place for people to meet up. But I definitely have some good memories of the Rat, just having a place on campus to meet up because, as you know, Ewing is not exactly a bustling college town.”
“For students with no college town, it was the closest thing to a neighborhood bar, albeit one that only sold beer and made awesome grilled cheese sandwiches,” said Jay Butkowski, class of 2004.
Upon the completion of the Campus Town project in several months, students at the College will have a collection of restaurants at which to gather, including a sports bar, according to Greg Lentine, director of University Campus Development for the PRC Group.
But the Rat has a history unlike any other spot on campus which cannot be hastily recreated. The black-and-white photos of students in athletics, residential life and student activities which hang on the walls were chosen by director of dining services Karen Roth from the library archives in an effort to bring school spirit to the pub. It still has not been determined whether the photos will also adorn the walls in the new restaurant.
“I think students will miss the warm feeling of a place to go, get good food and also feel like it’s your own,” said Angelle Richardson, class of 1996. “It’s not the big cafeteria. It’s a space where the people know you, everyone hangs out, and you can laugh and have fun. There’s no place else like it on campus.”
During its lifespan, the Rat set the stage for a myriad of performers, some of which went on to create names for themselves. Sitcom star George Lopez, 1969 Woodstock-opener Richie Havens, Celtic band Gaelic Storm (featured in “Titanic”) and rock group Moby Grape, which had Rolling Stone magazine cover its Rat debut, all took the stage at the Rat over the years.
“We played the Rat a few times, and it always felt like a homecoming,” Butkowski said. “My band Back Up Jackson was started at TCNJ, so playing the Rat had a sort of mythological importance, like we finally arrived.”
“Even though the Rat had ‘a clique’ of people that attended, I can safely say every student that has been to TCNJ has seen at least one performance on that stage,” said Brandon Schiff, class of 2014.
When the Rat shutters at the end of this semester, construction on the new College restaurant will begin, making a home for finger-food-loving students and hosting late-night performances.
The construction of the restaurant is set to be completed in January 2016 opening for the spring semester, but the completion of Student Center renovations is on schedule to be completed in July 2017.
Students will no longer have to squeeze through the winding close-set tables at the 2,240 square-foot Rat. Instead, the new restaurant will be nearly double in size, opening up 4,600 square feet in space and over 100 seats, according to Kirchner. It will feature beer, wine and a similar menu serviced by Sodexo, but many of the specific menu and design details are still being worked out by a committee of students, staff and Sodexo representatives.
A stage and student lounge in the restaurant will be separated from the dining area, possibly by furniture, to be used independently, but can also be easily opened up to the entire restaurant.
“The idea is to be as flexible as possible with utilizing the premium space that will be left behind when the bookstore vacates,” Kirchner said.
A patio decorated with planters will extend out toward the Art & Interactive Multimedia building, shortening the small roundabout driveway between the buildings but providing 80 additional seats outdoors.
Just like a swim in the fountain or “riding” the lion mascot outside Roscoe West, a visit to the Rat for a student solo night or a cheap beer is a staple on any student’s College bucket list. After almost 40 years of serving students, it is only a matter of weeks before the Rat finally has last call, dims the lights and locks the door for the final time.
“It was the epicenter of social life back when FaceTime involved being in the same room,” Torres said. “I don’t know whether today’s students will miss it or not. But they will learn, as I did, that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”
(02/16/15 10:56pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Former Editor-in-Chief
As the retail spaces continue to fill and students await the much anticipated opening of Campus Town, both developers and the College have made recent changes to the project’s blueprints, accommodating for the students who signed up in hopes to be the first to live in the apartments in the heart of Campus Town.
All 446 available spots have been taken, leaving just over 100 students on the waiting list. But the new construction will open up 74,000 sq. ft. of residential space for an additional 166 students to live in Campus Town in summer 2016, just one year after the rest of the project will open in August of this year. According to the website, the cost of the extended development, funded by the PRC Group, is estimated at $30 million, bumping up the total cost of the Campus Town project to $120 million.
With slightly steeper rates for Campus Town living that housing through the College, the cost of a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Campus Town is $6,544 per semester, $6,003 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom and $5,462 for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom. Omitting the cost of a required meal plan, the cost for a room for a semester on campus in any of the residential houses at the College — from the Towers to the Apartments — is $4,205.46. Despite the higher cost of living in the brand-new apartments, living in the center of Campus Town with the convenience of being physically on campus can override the costly price tag.
“Not only will we be living right above or near Panera, Starbucks, a gym and other retail stores, but we will also be closer to Bliss and the Business building than the Townhouses or Apartments, which is where most of our classes are located,” said sophomore marketing major Brittany Mashel, who will be living with three other students in Campus Town.
“Additionally, we are allowed to remain on campus during the fall, Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, and so (we) do not have to clear off campus with the rest of the dorms.”
Rising senior elementary education and iStem double major Emma Saporito will be living with her friends in a four-bedroom apartment.
“I’m from Massachusetts, so it is cheaper than living on campus and I like it because it is new,” she said.
The new housing will take up a section of what was previously reserved for student parking along the north side of the project along Metzger Drive — although, fewer students have signed up for reserved parking than expected, according to Greg Lentine, Campus Town’s director of campus development. But to keep the same amount of parking available as in the original housing plans, the developers have always planned to expand parking north. Plans to set up a “car share” program are also in the works, said Lentine, but details have not yet been released.
“We are not getting as many students getting cars as they have in the past,” Lentine said. “We are working right now on getting the car share program to support the environment as well as the parking.”
According to Niki deQuintal, one of Saporito’s roommates, she paid for a parking spot in Campus Town in two installments of $150 for the year, whereas a full year residential parking decal purchased through the College is $280.
“I enjoy living on campus and being able to access my friends and activities with a 10 minute walk at most,” said sophomore English and secondary education double major Jenna Burke, who will be living in a four-bedroom apartment in Campus Town. “I also do not have a car, so living off campus is currently not an option.”
The original housing construction will be completed with students ready to unpack their bags at the beginning of the fall semester, although it is not yet certain if all of the retail space will be leased out. Once a retail space is leased out, it is up to the owners to decide when they will be ready to open up shop.
To date, retail spaces that have signed are Yummy Sushi, Red Berry Frozen Yogurt, Mexican Mariachi Grill, Starbucks, Spenser Savings Bank, a nail salon Panera Bread and Piccolo Trattoria Italian restaurant. Leases are currently being negotiated with a wireless phone company, sports bar and tanning salon, according to Lentine.
“Cost was a big disadvantage because it could have been cheaper to appeal to many parents who are paying. It is basically still on campus and having to follow campus rules,” deQuintal said. “It is kind of scary to sign a lease without the finished product being done and able to view.”
(02/04/15 3:21pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Former Editor-in-Chief
In the short span in two years, Valerie Tomaszewski, 45, found her life completely changed from a being a stay-at-home mother of three to becoming practically a single mom — juggling classes at the College during the day, caring for her children before and after school and the whole family visiting her husband together in a nursing home throughout the week.
Her husband, Jon, suffered from brain injuries after a news-breaking doubledecker bus accident on Sept. 11, 2010, in which he attempted to drive the bus under a bridge with a low clearance hidden around a bend in the road. Four people died, a two-year long court case followed. Just when he was acquitted and things began looking up for the family, tragedy came again when he had a stroke in 2012, leaving him permanently brain damaged and with dementia. He continues to deteriorate everyday into an infant-like state, Tomaszewski said, and is living in a nursing home because his level of care is too great for her to manage.
“My husband was the primary breadwinner, and now I had to do something,” Tomaszewski said. “He has suffered a lot, too, and I just pray for him to have peace. Tomorrow will be 13 years I have been married, and it will probably be the last anniversary. It’s sad. I miss him.”
Anticipating her husband will not recover from his diminishing state of health, Tomaszewski knew she needed to be able to support her family financially, and so, she returned to college when she was 43 years old. Pursuing a degree in English and secondary education, she hopes to continue on to study for a master’s, possibly right here at the College.
College campuses bustle with excited high school grads thrilled with living on their own for the first time, cramped up in an old dorm room, finding new friends and developing themselves into productive young adults. But there is a group of students not typically thought of as an average “college student,” those not pictured in the college pamphlets scattered across campus — those students enrolling in college as adults, not immediately following their high school graduations.
“When you first walk in to the first day, they all kind of look at you like, ‘Is this the professor?’” said English major Deborah Fade, 49, who just completed her last semester.
Adults with not roommates, but spouses; not dorm rooms, but houses; and not meal plans and mini fridges, but kitchens and a sink full of dishes, are either heading back to college or starting a bit later than most people do.
At the College, a small margin of students are of 25 years or older and pursuing higher education.
“There are 238 undergraduate students that are age 25 or older attending TCNJ (fall 2014). That’s approximately 3.5 percent of our undergraduate student population,” said David Muha, associate vice president of Communications, Marketing and Brand Management. “Breaking that out a little further, 116 are full-time and 122 are part-time, 149 are matriculating (pursuing degrees) and 89 are non-matriculating (taking classes for interest).”
Some of these students already have degrees from other colleges or universities, while for others, this is their first pursuit of higher education.
“After high school, I didn’t want to go to college. I just wanted to get a job right away,” Fade said. “During that time, I had a job at a newspaper, a couple of ad agencies, small time ones in New Jersey. Not big New York stuff, but always working with the copywriters or secretaries or the president of the company. But it was always secretarial positions.”
Because she lacked a degree higher than her high school education, Fade could not advance into any higher positions at her entry level jobs, and she had a family to look after while her husband went to work each day. Following a typical family plan, she married and now has two teenage daughters: Molly, 16, and Rebecca, 11.
It wasn’t until seven years ago when a friend suggested she begin taking classes since her children were of school age. With a “Why not?” attitude, she started at Middlesex Community College with two classes and earned her associates degree four years later. Afterward, she found out about a transfer scholarship at the College, which she received, and enrolled as a full-time student.
Attending college while raising her children has also brought on struggles, time constraints and self-doubt on herself to an extent.
“I get home from here, scramble to get dinner together, or sometimes stop to do grocery shopping before I go home.” Fade said. “By the time everybody is settled, it’s like 10 p.m., time for homework, and I’m falling asleep reading, basically.”
Not only does Fade manage her own schooling and her family’s schedules, but both her daughters have struggled with serious health conditions. Molly struggled with mental health — self-harm and depression — in her earlier teen years and, as a result, was checked into the hospital two times in the past four years.
“She went through cutting. The first time this came up, she had suicidal thoughts,” Fade said. “They evaluated her and put her in the hospital. That was right before I graduated Middlesex, within a few weeks actually. Somehow I made it through that.”
Rebecca, on the other hand, struggles with a physical health condition since beginning puberty, one which Fade herself battles with as well — although hers is currently in remission. Described as an autoimmune disorder, similar to Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis is only treatable, not curable.
“She is currently on a cancer medication, actually,” Fade said. “It suppresses your immune system, so the poor kid can actually catch anything very easily.””
Ailments aside, Fade said her children are doing better, and she even hopes they can one day attend the College. In the meantime, Fade is hunting for jobs for post-graduation, passing along her résumé through right here at the College’s English department.
After high school, Tomaszewski graduated with a double associates degree in Patternmaking and Accessories Design from the prestiged fashion school in the hub of New York City, the Fashion Institute of Technology. But once she had children, she realized she wanted to be home, and a career in teaching seemed to be the perfect fit.
Even before her needs changed in the wake of her husband’s accident, Tomaszewski knew she wanted to go back to school. This semester was her first one at the College, as she previously studied at Kean University. Knowing of the College’s excellent education program, she applied three times before getting accepted. Now, she juggles homework after bedtime and attends class between Girl Scout meetings and cooking dinner for her three children: John, 12, Matt, 8, and Julianna, 6.
Her days begin at 6 a.m., sometimes a few hours earlier depending on the assignments she has to do. After waking up her children, eating breakfast and rounding everybody up in the car, she drops them off at school. Once home, she packs her lunch for the day, maybe squeezes in a load of laundry and heads to campus from her home in Bordentown for a day of classes.
“I have to stop studying by 4 p.m. because then I have to make dinner, pick up my kids from school, bring my son to Kumon two nights a week, Girl Scouts, read with the kids every night, check homework and get them ready for the next day,” Tomaszewski said.
And while her children have their own extracurricular activities, Tomaszewski finds little time to pursue any of her own.
“Going to school is really good because it gives my mind something to focus on,” she said. “And the other thing is that having that goal and seeing that vision is what gets you through the hard times. And I can’t quit. Sometimes this school is so hard, that I think, ‘Oh, forget it. I can’t do this.’ But I can’t quit, because then I think about, well what else am I going to do?”
Sandra Leith just turned 30 in October and is a full-time commuter at the College, pursuing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary deaf education with a minor in women’s and gender studies.
“TCNJ just fell into place,” Leith said. “It’s funny, actually. I’ve been involved in this college for more years than I have been a student here.”
As a part of Circus Place, a circus arts education, training and party host, Leith made connections with the College when Circus Place teamed up with the Circus Club on campus. She spoke with many students and asked questions about the school before applying and enrolling.
“There have been times where I have felt out of place, when listening to other students’ stories,” Leith said. “I guess I just try to keep in mind that we’re all on the path to complete our degrees, so I can interact with them in terms of studying and asking for their input on projects.”
Tomaszewski noticed the lack of respect she felt from younger students at the College, almost like they devalued her opinion because of her age instead of respecting it because of her experience. At Kean, the higher diversity and number for adult students made them feel not so out of place. But students pursuing higher education at the College over the age of 25 can often be left feeling out of place as the minority.
While they don’t return to a dorm room with a group of like-aged roommates, adult students search for balance in their schedules. For many, it isn’t always easy squeezing in time for homework after a day caring for a family, but it is necessary.
“I need to do this for myself,” Fade said, “I’m doing it for my family, but hey, now I can get a good-paying job and start moving up.”
(10/28/14 6:28pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Editor-in-Chief
For the first half of the semester, food stations in Eickhoff Hall were plastered with nutritional information charts to promote the Mindfulness campaign by Dining Services. The nutritional charts listed the calorie, fat, carbohydrate, protein and other nutritional contents of food items, from a cheeseburger to an ounce of broccoli. Since then, the charts have been removed, but small tips for making meals “mindful” remain, suggesting students take it easy on the cheese, pick high-protein lean meats and load up on veggies — insisting they be mindful of what they put on their plates.
This campaign, however, is anything but mindful.
Instead, it is obsessive. It is calorie-counting to an extreme. It assumes students should be on a low-fat, low-carb, high-protein diet and is soliciting unwarranted advice. The Dining Services campaign claims to practice mindfulness during meals, but mindful eating, in fact, has nothing to do with numbers.
According to the Center for Mindful Eating, the actual concept reflects little of what the College’s campaign promotes: “Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your own inner wisdom; using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both satisfying to you and nourishing to your body; acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes or neutral) without judgment; becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating,” are just a few main principles behind this type of awareness.
If you look on the Dining Services Mindful Eating web page, you won’t find any of this. Instead, you will find the same information plastered in the eateries around campus, causing doubt in grabbing a cookie for dessert, ordering cheese for your sandwich or using regular eggs instead of egg whites in an omelette.
With October being National Mental Health Awareness Month, this campaign does little to help students suffering from serious mental health disorders which continue to grow in severity on college campuses. The onset age of eating disorders, for example, primarily settles between one’s college years of 18-21, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. With an ever-increasing rate of both young men and women developing these disorders, the obnoxious plastering of calorie-counting signs around campus and tips on how to cut calories in dining halls is absolutely unnecessary and can trigger an even more stressful eating experience for these students.
At Eickhoff Hall’s sandwich station, for example, the signs advise students to try skipping fatty dressings and instead add mustard as a topping, since “it has virtually no calories.”
Venture out and you will find that mindful eating has absolutely nothing to do with finding the lowest calorie/carb/fat/saturated fat/restrictive option, but it is about eating what you enjoy, what tastes good to you.
We need to stop assuming everybody is on the same get-fit-quick, anti-Freshman 15, low-calorie diet; stop assuming unsolicited health advice is actually healthy; and stop assuming everyone is trying to cut down on fat and carbs and amp up the protein. Instead, learn what real mindfulness is, if it so suits you, and keep your eyes on your own plate.
(10/22/14 10:06pm)
By Natalie Kouba and Jonathan Edmondson
Editor-in-Chief and Arts & Entertainment Editor
Beautiful blends of passionate vocals reverberated throughout Mayo Concert Hall on Saturday Oct. 18 during the third annual “Acappellooza.” The event, which was hosted by The Trentones, featured short sets from all four a cappella groups on campus — each with their own distinctive style and sound.
The event, as Vice President of the Trentones Aly Hogan stated in the beginning of the evening, was created to help strengthen the a cappella community on campus and raise money for a cause. All of the donations collected at the free event, Hogan said, will go to the VH1` “Save The Music Foundation,” an organization that strives to bring music education to schools that can not afford to keep funding the arts.
“We are passionate about this foundation because they distribute money to rebuild music education programs in public schools,” Hogan said.
The group raised $388.40 for the foundation, according to Ali Falcone, the Trentones president.
“Pretty much everyone in our group benefited from the musical programs in our respective high schools, so it’s great to be able to help raise funds so other students can have such a wonderful experience as well,” said Treblemakers member Courtney Johnson.
To kick off the event, the College’s all-female group the Treblemakers performed a three-song set, including “Island in the Sun,” “Rumor Has It” and “Happy.” The group belted sweet and sassy harmonies, enticing the audience with bubbling energy.
Next up was Voice of Hope, a Christian-rock group who performed “Waiting on the World to Change,” “When I’m Afraid” and “I See Fire.” The group, which includes a balanced blend of men and women, performed with persistent passion.
iTunes, a group that draws from a global influence, performed next. Their set included a song from Zambia, “Gold” from the musical “Once” and a mashup of “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay, “Airplanes” by BOB and “We Found Love” by Rihanna. iTunes was the largest of the groups, and each member brought their distinct vocals to the numbers.
To close the evening, the Trentones performed a riveting three-song set that included “Please Don’t Go,” “Vibrato” by Lorde and “Rather Be.”
“As a group we wanted to build an a cappella community and all the a cappella groups in campus are always doing their own things,” said Falcone. “So we wanted to have one event every year where we could all come together and share our love for a cappella with the rest of the community.”
It was evident that the packed audience received the event well. In addition to generous donations, those who attended the concert provided robust applause after every number.
“We love our a capella community that we have created, and we hope to keep building community for years to come,” Hogan said. “We hope to keep continuing this event for years to come, and hope that as time continues, we continue to raise more money and awareness.”
(10/22/14 7:07pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Editor-in-Chief
A parking lot littered with beer cans and red Solo cups has become a familiar image at the College’s Homecoming, and the number of transports and citations reflects the out-of-control reputation that the administration will attempt to reign in this year. In sticking to the united tailgate structure, the College is also hoping to work with students to reverse this seemingly increasing trend of alcohol abuse at Homecoming.
“Drinking is the primary concern, but we are optimistic that the advance buy-in from these groups, along with the new limits on the amount of alcohol allowed into the area, will be effective,” said David Muha, vice president of Communications, Marketing and Brand Management at the College.
In the past two years, there has been a jump in the number of alcohol related incidents — from five medical transports in 2012 to eight in 2013, and from 11 underage drinking citations in 2012 to 24 last year. This year, in lieu of having one combined tailgate instead of the original separated tailgates, extra funding had been provided to support the increase in security. According Muha, there will be 55-60 professionals assisting with security, consisting of members from Campus Police, New Jersey State Police and contracted security officers from Summit Security.
“Summit’s officers will primarily be checking ID’s, monitoring checkpoints, checking bags and providing building security,”Muha said. “Our officers and those from the State Police will be handling enforcement.”
In reuniting the tailgates, campus organizations and Greek Life agreed on pulling their efforts to make a conscious effort to curb underage drinking.
“We basically just had fines in place and agreed to not have pre or post parties,” Inter-Greek Council President Robbie Nunes said.
“This year, there will also be additional sanctions for Greek organizations, including fines, if one of their members is cited for underage drinking,” Muha said. “Other student organizations will also be held accountable to Student Government.“
In addition to the increase in security, the Fraternal Information and Programming Group Guidelines will limit the amount of alcohol allowed to be brought into the tailgate. Unlike previous years where garbage bins full of beer cans were stationed across the lot, each attendee of legal drinking age will be permitted to bring in only a six pack of 12-ounce beers or a four pack of six-ounce wine drinks.
“Limiting the amount of alcohol this year according to nationally recognized guidelines should help in this respect as well,” Muha said.
Through different campaigns, higher security and added events, the College is making strides in hopes of providing a safer Homecoming tailgate this year and bring overall awareness to the issue.
Some student-led campaigns are helping to raise awareness about alcohol-related issues and guide attendees to a safer Homecoming experience. Delta Zeta sorority, for example, has championed the “I Have a Choice” campaign, voicing the dangers of drinking and driving in the week leading up to Homecoming in order to support the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week.
Drew Grapstul, a senior criminology major and Campus Police intern, is heading the HERO campaign, an effort aimed to raise awareness of the dangers of intoxicated driving and urging students to designate sober drivers.
A few weeks ago, students had the opportunity to see the potential dangers of drunk driving when Rutgers alum Gabe Hurley came to speak on behalf of the HERO campaign. Hurley recounted to the College how his life changed after being struck by a drunk driver and the hazards therein.
“That changed his life dramatically, so we are trying to make everyone proactive about drinking and driving,” Grapstul said. “We just want to make people aware going into the football game and coming out of the football game sure there is going to be people drinking, tailgating the football game, but make them aware of the HERO campaign and when you leave the stadium, have a designated driver, or don’t drink and drive.”
(10/07/14 4:47pm)
By Natalie Kouba & Tom Kozlowski
Editor-in-Chief & Managing Editor
In a campus-wide email sent out on Friday, Oct. 3, the College announced the return of a united Homecoming tailgate, rousing renewed excitement from the general student body and alumni alike, thanks to a proposal brought to the Homecoming Committee by Student Government President Matt Wells and Inter-Greek Council President Robbie Nunes.
The two student leaders developed a proposal over the past few weeks and presented it before the committee on Thursday, Oct. 2, ultimately resulting in a successful compromise.
“We (the Homecoming Committee) were very impressed with their proposal,” said John Donohue, vice president for College Advancement. “Their proposal was comprehensive in nature, demonstrated unanimous support from their constituent groups, assumed responsibility and accountability for compliance with the adopted rules and provided a viable thoughtful alternative to the tailgating plan that had been adopted.”
Last year was the first Homecoming tailgate to see significant changes. The College implemented the use of colored wristbands to better control and recognize underage drinking at the tailgate in the hopes of providing a safer environment for all attendees. This year’s tailgate will see much of the same, as well: wristbands, increased security and one united Homecoming tailgate.
“The plan that will be implemented includes both increasing security and improving the process for wristbanding everyone entering the tailgating area,” Donohue said. “The additional security will enable us to manage the tailgating entry points more efficiently as well as ensure the safety and well-being of our guests.”
The Homecoming tailgate was allocated an estimated $2,000 in funding from the Student Finance Board in order to finance the increase in security, according to Donohue. The funds will also keep the FIPG alcohol regulations in place as originally planned.
While underage drinking remains a key concern at the tailgate, the Homecoming Committee made these changes with the understanding that more student groups would be taking responsibility to be safe.
“These student leaders presented the full Homecoming Committee with a formal proposal that had buy-in from the Greek and Club Sport communities, which include more than 50 organizations, 2,000 undergraduates and countless alumni,” the email announced.
That said, the administration is watching the responsibilities of student groups with a careful eye.
“As agreed to in the proposal, we expect Student Government, the fraternities and sororities and the members of the club sports to be partners in helping to control underage drinking,” said David Muha, vice president of Communications, Marketing and Brand Management.
Student leaders and organizations responded with overwhelming positivity to the compromise. Nunes, one of the key players advocating a revised Homecoming proposal, represented the Inter-Greek Council’s interest in reconciling the tailgate lots.
“(Homecoming) is extremely important for the Inter-Greek Council,” Nunes said. “The administration did an excellent job compromising with the students, and they worked with us in establishing self-governance. We are very excited for the new tailgating rules — we feel it is the safest alternative and the one that will provide the greatest experience for both undergraduates and alumni.”
He also sees benefits to a united tailgate beyond building a community — namely, in networking opportunities for students.
“Homecoming is the largest networking event of the year, and it would be a shame to prohibit TCNJ’s many student organizations from engaging with the alumni (from) those organizations,” Nunes said. “As a business major who is always being told how important networking is, I am really excited that we were able to find a compromise and have one tailgate.”
Students, however, will be the ultimate consensus judging the newest Homecoming changes. Some remain skeptical while others rejoice, but safety and responsibility, above all, haven’t been lost on the student body.
“I wouldn’t say the new rules are a full compromise,” senior English and secondary education double major Gabe Belthoff said. “Although it is a step in the right direction to benefit the students, it seems as though students are still being limited compared to the tailgates we enjoyed in the past.”
Still, Belthoff believes that Homecoming 2014 “will be a great event for all those who are attending,” and that the tailgate compromise will give the College a chance “(to) prove that we can have fun and be responsible at the same time.”
(10/01/14 5:39pm)
With new and controversial Homecoming changes taking place this semester, students and alumni alike have begun to voice their opposition to the Steering Committee’s new policies through an online petition.
Similar to reactionary movements last year, a petition by ’13 alumnus Mike Griffith has spread across social media, opposing the new changes to the tailgate at Homecoming poised to take place. The petition was created earlier this month, garnering 1,336 supporting signatures as of Monday, Sept. 29. The page is flooded with outrage and concern over the new rules. Moreover, last year’s petition creator, Tim Lee, a ’12 alumnus and Signal photo emeritus, and Griffith, this year’s organizer, both envisioned the same goals for their petitions – to “save Homecoming.”
Hosted on change.org, an online petition platform, the “Petition to Repeal Changes to the Homecoming Tailgate” for this year has a letter addressed to several groups in the Homecoming Steering Committee. It requests the committee to “please remove these restrictions and allow one of the most memorable days at TCNJ return to its roots.” More specifically, the petition targets the separation of the tailgate into two lots – Lot 4 being designated an alcohol-inclusive zone and Lot 6 an alcohol-free one. The letter in the petition calls the setup “unnecessary” and “oppressive,” as well as “arbitrary” and “patronizing” for the imposed alcohol limit allowed in the over 21-year-old area. “The College has seen the petition, but it is not persuasive, and that is not a function of the number of signatures,” said David Muha, vice president for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management. “The petition labels the changes for this year ‘arbitrary’ and ‘unnecessary.’ They were nothing of the sort. The plans for this year were developed with broad input to address very real problems with last year’s event.”
Last year, there were six reported alcohol-related transports, according to Campus Police Chief John Collins. These changes have been made with the intention of reducing the number of underage alcohol-related incidents.
“They overreach, overact and overcompensate,” Griffith said. “There is no need for such draconian measures.”
Although Griffith, along with many of the other petition supporters, has enjoyed all past Homecomings which he has attended — even with last year’s changes — he believes this year, the changes have gone too far.
“It is more than a day of drinking in the parking lot,” said Kate Aebischer, ’13 alumna who is planning on flying back to New Jersey for Homecoming. “Regrettably, these separationist policies will put restrictions and boundaries between the flow of students and alumni, barring the connection between the two.”
Concerns have been raised on the petition page about the so-called segregation of the tailgate: it prevents parents from consuming alcoholic beverages without leaving their children behind, and for students over 21, it makes it difficult to hang out with younger friends while also being able to drink, Griffith said.
Others believe these changes tarnish the original purpose of Homecoming, as well.
“I feel like the spirit that I have seen the last two years just won’t be there anymore,” said Jennifer Sheridan, a junior early childhood and psychology double major. “I can’t imagine what it is going to be like this year. I feel like there must be a better way to ensure the students’ safety.”
Last year’s petition received 1,154 student signatures and 371 alumni signatures, according to Lee, accounting for nearly a fifth of the student body. Lee further explained his strategy on how to execute a successful petition.
“I was engaged with student leaders who were knowledgeable in the situation; printed and hand-delivered the petition to President Gitenstein’s office; and made myself available to the administration for follow-up,” Lee said.
As far as this year’s petition goes, Lee is unsure about the effect it will have.
“It was created very quickly after the changes were announced, so I don’t know if it’s been researched or made in collaboration with student leaders,” he said.
“The College is always interested in hearing from students on issues of concern, but dialogue is always going to be the most productive form of communication,” Muha said. “In the case of Homecoming, that dialogue needs to be centered on ways in which we can curb underage and excessive drinking.”
The end goal remains the same for both petitions. At most, Lee hopes to see the separation of the tailgating lots removed. However, the lack in dialogue between the actual petitioners and the committee has left these opposing sides on different pages.
“Petitioning for alterations to be made without acknowledging the problems and proposing alternate solutions will not result in change,” Muha said.
(09/24/14 2:38pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Editor-in-Chief
As a beloved all-day celebration at the College and representation of school spirit, Homecoming has served to bring together students, alumni, faculty, staff and family with an institutional pride that is rooted deep.
“Homecoming is an opportunity for our campus community to come together, to grow, to learn about history and traditions and to develop the spirit of the institution,” said John Castaldo, executive director of Alumni Affairs.
Each year, Homecoming attracts people to the field and the parking lots for one of two activities — the football game or the tailgate. This year, the Homecoming Steering Committee has other activities in the works to prove that Homecoming is more than the tailgate, including a Rathskeller Beer Garden, Homecoming Festival and pancake breakfast, according to the Homecoming website. These added events are meant to provide more options for entertainment, as well as make Homecoming truly an all-day affair.
This year, Homecoming will begin earlier than usual with a breakfast in the Brower Student Center at 9 a.m. The morning meal will feature 1,000 free pancakes along with omelets, breakfast meats, juices and coffee for sale, as well. This leads into the tailgate’s inception at 10 a.m., which will run all day before concluding at the start of the fourth quarter of the game. The festival featuring a Cappella groups, dance performances, dollar hot-dogs, a rock-climbing wall and inflatables — is modeled after the popular spring event “Funival,” according to Amy Hecht, vice president for Student Affairs.
“It will be a nice alternative if you don’t want to go to tailgating, or if you just want to bounce back and forth,” Student Government Student Trustee Ryan Boyne said. “It will give people a nice little option to have.”
The Beer Garden will be open from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and is structured to provide an environment for those who wish to continue hanging out or drinking. Although it is a 21-and-over only event, each person will be limited to three drinks for the price of $15.
Homecoming is traditionally funded by the Office of Alumni Affairs and the College Alumni Association, which will contribute about $40,000 and $10,000, respectively. The cost of two of the newest events — the festival and free pancakes — is approximately $16,000, according to David Muha, associate vice president for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management.
But, perhaps the change which has mustered the biggest uproar among the College community — including current students as well as alumni — is the recent regulatory overhaul of the tailgate, the event students most look forward to in the fall semester.
Last year, the first changes to the tailgate took place in an attempt to bring the traditional, heavily-geared day-drink event under control, the College gave all attendees different colored wristbands to distinguish the underage from the of-age attendees. Campus Police Chief John Collins said one of the problems they discovered in this idea was that underage attendees were getting wristbands from those who were over 21; confusion quickly erupted, and it became increasingly difficult to distinguish who was in fact underage. Last year, Campus Police banded over 4,000 individuals under 21 and 5,500 over 21, according to Collins.
This year, however, the College will be pushing the wristband idea aside and rolling out the plastic fencing for a 21-and-over only area in Lot 4 — an alcohol-inclusive zone. Each partaker will be allowed to bring in no more than a six-pack of beer, 12 oz. each, or a four-pack of wine, 6 oz. each. Hard alcohol will not be permitted. Upon entering the lot and showing the proper I.D., hands will be stamped indicating the allowed limit of alcohol per person has been brought into the tailgate.
In spite of efforts made by the Homecoming Steering Committee to implement changes to the tailgate, it is clear that many attendees are critical, if not openly outraged.
A petition, similar to the one created for last year’s Homecoming, is already taking shape, garnering over 1,260 signatures as of Monday, Sept. 22. Hosted on change.org, the petition, “Repeal Changes to the Homecoming Tailgate,” calls the new regulations “unnecessary and oppressive,” referring to the separated areas for alcohol-permitted and alcohol-free tailgating zones. Comments on the site yield a wide breadth of criticism. Some parents say they would like to enjoy a drink with their friends while having their children closeby in the same lot, while others claim counting drinks for adults is “patronizing.” Many also contest that fewer students will attend and compare the College’s policies to other universities, which have much more lenient regulations.
Backlash against the groups that organized Homecoming was vocalized last year when it was revealed no student input was considered when planning the activities. But the implementation of the Homecoming Steering Committee in fact heard student voices every step of the way. Headed by Student Government, student leaders, Alumni Affairs, College Advancement, Student Affairs, Student Activities, athletics, Campus Police, Residential Education and Housing, and Alumni Association, the Committee began planning for Homecoming in the spring, meeting twice a month through the summer and up to the first few weeks of school, according to Boyne.
“I personally have been a student here for 3 years (and) have been to three Homecomings,” Boyne said. “(When) you are here on campus everyday, you know what students are saying. So when there is something that will not work, we have our expertise to address those concerns and say, ‘You know, that’s not going to work with students. There will be an uproar about that.’”
Coming from many different perspectives, the goal of the Committee is not to “dampen the spirit of Homecoming,” according to Collins. Last year, six students were transported to the hospital due to alcohol-related illnesses, he said. Ultimately, the balancing act of safety and fun has been a challenge for both the College and participants alike, but the Homecoming Steering Committee saw the most potential for compromise in the outline of this year’s Homecoming plan.
(09/16/14 4:59pm)
By Natalie Kouba
Editor-in-Chief
While the rest of the world has been raising awareness and donations for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis through the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on social media platforms, the sisters of the College’s Kappa Delta chapter supported the cause in their own way, keeping with the frosty theme and holding an ice cream fundraiser at Uncle Ed’s Creamery in Pennington. KD isn’t donating the funds to the ALS Association, though – instead, they are working to support a family close to the sisterhood.
“We chose to raise money for ALS because one of our sister’s family members recently passed away from ALS,” said senior marketing major and KD President Jillian McCarthy. “With all of the talk about it, we figured we’d jump onboard and try to help someone who is close to one of our sisters.”
The ice cream fundraiser, which took place from Monday, Sept. 8, to Friday, Sept. 12, raised $416 for the family of David Huey, who passed away on Thursday, Aug. 21 after suffering with ALS for about a year. Huey was Kappa Delta member Sarah Kolonia’s uncle’s brother, who, she said, was just like an uncle to her.
“He helped so many people and dedicated his life to making others happy,” Kolonia said. “He had an unforgettable sense of humor and such a positive outlook on life. He loved to make people laugh and did so until the day he passed.”
The money raised will go toward helping to pay for medical expenses. Additionally, the funds will contribute to changes made to the family’s home to create a more comfortable place for Huey to live while suffering from the neurodegenerative disease.
And the Huey family is in for a generous surprise from Kappa Delta as a result of the fundraiser.
“The Huey family actually doesn’t know the fundraiser is happening yet,” McCarthy said. “Our sister Sarah (Kolonia) is going to surprise them.”
The College’s chapter of KD’s philanthropy is raising awareness for child abuse, typically focusing its efforts on Prevent Child Abuse America and Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey. This year, the sorority will be adding the B+ Foundation, which helps fight childhood cancer, to its philanthropic causes. Raising money for ALS was not a part of Kappa Delta’s original philanthropy, but an important cause for the sisters nevertheless.
“Anyone who has been affected by this horrible disease is in awe of the awareness and money raised recently,” Kolonia said. “My sisters of the Zeta Theta chapter of Kappa Delta sorority wanted to help me support David Huey’s family in their time of need.”
(09/09/14 4:21am)
By Natalie Kouba
Editor-in-Chief
A sudden quake in the sidewalk and startling boom of a large, hollow falling tree left several students quickly scurrying off the pathway lining a small patch of trees as they made their way to and from class. The dead tree collapsed onto the Music Building, injuring no one in the area, but scraping off a few bricks and fracturing the sidewalk below with ease. Catching their breath and clutching their hands to their racing hearts, all the students in the area safely lingered by the fallen sickly tree in awe, without missing a beat to take pictures on their phones and inform the College community at large.
Alyssa Scull, a junior sociology student, dodged the massive tree by a narrow margin as it fell perpendicular to the pathway.
“I was walking down the path toward the Social Sciences Building, and I heard a loud cracking sound,” she recalled. “I didn’t even see the tree falling since it was right next to me, but the next thing I knew, there were branches and leaves all around me.”
No one was injured when the tree fell on Tuesday, Sept. 2, around 3:20 p.m.. However, the inability of an arborist to accurately asses the potential danger of some of the trees could cause concern for an unpredictable environment on campus.
“As any arborist knows, one cannot visually see or know when a tree is hollow unless one performs some type of mechanical drilling or utilizes a tool to measure density,” said David Muha, vice president of communications, marketing and brand management at the College. “Even so, some degree of hollowness in the trunk does not necessarily make the tree a threat.”
This tree in particular was, however, on the College’s radar, as it was next on the list to be removed. Several years ago, Nelson Tree, the College’s arborist, reportedly discovered a significant crack going up the tree when it was alive and suggested the upper third of the tree be cut down. According to Muha, the tree died sometime this past year, but the
still alive when the arborist came to assess it. The College scheduled to remove the tree in the coming year, as indicated by the red band hugging the base of the trunk, but the tree fell before the College had a chance to have the tree safely removed.
Within the next hour, the College removed the dead tree, leaving a jagged perimeter of bark around the decaying stump, which had been so hollowed out with age and rot among the shrubbery. Several bricks, knocked from their places on the academic building, lay on the grass and the area was cordoned off.
Repairs as a result of the damage caused by the dead tree are expected to amount to $30,000, and the College hopes to have the building and sidewalk repaired as soon as possible, according to Muha. The College has already begun to repair the exterior of the Music Building, but how the College can further prevent such incidents in the future is somewhat unclear.
“The College has a proactive tree management program where trees are inspected each year by our arborist, and those that are dead or unsafe are removed,” Muha said. “There are no measures that can ensure that every tree is healthy and safe, unfortunately.”
Recent thunderstorms in the Ewing area last week might have initially been suspected to cause the already weak tree to collapse. After evaluation, however, Muha said that there was no evidence that weather conditions fell the tree.
“The tree was dead and hollow at the base although this could not be seen from the outside,” he said. “It is only visible now that the tree has fallen and one can see inside. There is no evidence of physical damage associated with adverse weather conditions.”
Fortunately, no one was injured as a result of the falling tree, and it was only the Music Building and sidewalk which took a hit. But the incident caused a stir on campus and unpredictable scare for many students going about their typical college routine.
“I didn’t get hurt, but it was way too close and so scary,” Scull said. “Someone could have been seriously injured.”
* Tom Kozlowski, Managing Editor, and Courtney Wirths, Features Editor, contributed to reporting.
(08/26/14 6:20pm)
By Natalie Kouba & Tom Kozlowski
Editor-in-Chief & Managing Editor
It has been four months since most students last saw developments in the construction of Campus Town. Rows of green fences still line Metzger Drive. Sounds of heavy industry clamor in the daytime air. To some, construction appears to be more of the same. And yet, the yellow-wrapped tops of new apartment buildings can be seen rising just over the fence, barren but progressing fast. There may not be much to see from outside the barriers, but within the construction site, Campus Town is beginning to bloom.
The steel structures of soon-to-be student apartments, retail space and restaurants are standing, but it is apparent that Campus Town still has a long way to go before it is ready to open. PRC Group, the developer for the project, has undertaken the now $86 million endeavor alongside Turner Construction, an international construction company hired to assist in the production. Together, they have implemented a comprehensive strategy for ensuring Campus Town’s continued developments and its eventual opening on schedule.
“Turner is here (because) they are probably the best in the industry for doing this,” said Greg Lentine, director of University Campus Development at PRC Group. “When we found out they were flying drones above (Campus Town), we thought that was pretty cool. But it’s not just for the pictures. They are tracking progress, making sure things are getting done the right way.”
On any given day, there are 90-120 workers on site. Through construction alone, the Campus Town project has created 6,000 to 10,000 jobs through employment pool expansion, according to Lentine. Expanding beyond the fence, part of the Campus Town project includes widening Pennington Road outside and thereby moving sewer systems, telephone poles, fire hydrants and curbs to allow for heavier traffic and a traffic light at the main entrance of Campus Town. All steel frames, fire retardant dorms, cinder block stairwells and concrete floors are all steps being taken to ensure fire safety throughout.
“My goal is to educate the students — I don’t want everybody asking, ‘What’s behind the green fence? Lets go see it’,” Lentine said. “I am happy to show it to people. What I don’t want is for them to come in here on their own.”
The next big change students can begin looking forward to is bricking. According to Lentine, they are running ahead of schedule and are confident they can achieve their goals on their currently scheduled dates.
Recently, PRC Group has been touring the site with retailers in the hopes of signing leases for promising businesses to flourish. Of the 83,000 sq. ft. of retail space, approximately 50 percent of it has been leased out, according to Lentine. So far, Piccolo’s Trattoria Italian restaurant, Red Berry frozen yogurt, Yummy sushi, Mexican Mariachi Grill and a Starbucks Coffee within the Barnes & Noble bookstore have all been signed.
“The retail can’t survive with just the college students ... we need the public so that their business comes here, and it is not only good for here, but benefits the community as a whole," Lentine said. “We are looking to have a company that will be successful.”
The 11,400 sq. ft. fitness center will be run and operated by the College and only open to the College community.
A Campus Police substation and IT room next to the fitness center will also be renting space on the Campus Town ground floor.
There is expected to be plenty of parking available for students and visitors as well. The PRC Group has calculated that there is .65 of a parking spot allotted to each student living in Campus Town, but since many students will not have cars, they are hoping to have enough. Additionally, there will be 300 retail spots available throughout the site.
While PRC Group is working on leasing out the 83,000 sq. ft. of retail space, the group’s first priority is having the student apartments ready and furnished for move-in.
“We have to be ready to get students in here next year, Aug. 15,” Lentine said. “Our application process started two weeks ago. We have 274 applications for apartments (as of Friday, Aug. 22).”
Priority housing based on academic year will determine who is selected for the student-only apartments, but it is expected that the 446 beds on Campus Town will fill up fast. Students who apply for the apartments have three days to complete and return the leasing packets — waves of which will begin to be released on Tuesday, Aug. 26 — before losing their places in the line for housing.
“Originally, there was supposed to be 327 beds,” Lentine said. “All of our market research here showed that the shortage of housing here needed about 600-700 beds.”
After negotiating with the College, however, PRC Group settled on 446 beds.
The College is not explicitly looking to increase enrollment with the appeal of Campus Town. Rather, it is a possibility to be considered in the future.
“Because the quality of facilities and amenities is very important to prospective students, however, it is quite possible that Campus Town, in addition to the excellent reputation of the school, will help us in our effort to recruit top students,” said David Muha, vice president of communications, marketing and brand management.
Housing in Campus Town is specially situated. While the apartments are more expensive than traditional off-campus housing — costing a student $6,544 per semester in a one-bedroom apartment, $6,003 in a two-bedroom and $5,462 in a four-bedroom — some could argue the benefits are worth the price. The apartments are technically off-campus housing while hosting the convenience of being physically on campus. Students have their own rooms with a double bed, and each apartment complex has a full kitchen, washer and dryer. Students will not even be required to purchase a meal plan since the housing is not operated through the College.
Capstone on Campus Management will manage housing, and with tight security according to Lentine. Students will need to use their keys to enter the lobby, elevator, apartment complex and individual rooms.
Originally scheduled in the hopes of opening around the 2014 Olympics, according to Lentine, discussions between the College and PRC Group, as well as surprises in the Campus Town lot, ultimately pushed the projected date back. The site conditions were not what was expected, as buried oil tanks and a swimming pool were discovered in the early stages of construction. Lentine explained how the fitness center, for example, was originally planned to be open to the public. However, after discussions between the College and PRC Group, it was decided that the fitness center should remain exclusive to the College community.
Collaborating in a public-private partnership, the College and PRC Group mutually benefit from the project. PRC Group takes on the full financial burden and risk involved in the Campus Town investment. Robert Kaye, CEO of PRC Group, has personally invested millions of dollars in private equity into the project. In turn, PRC Group will be positioned to collect future rent from retailers. It has been projected overall that over the next 20 years, Campus Town will produce $200 million in salaries, $37 million in tax revenue and $47 million to the College itself, making this a lucrative investment all around.
Although enthusiasm for the project springs from students, staff and developers alike, the Ewing community is equally anxious for its unveiling. According to Lentine, neighbors to the College and residents in Ewing voiced their excitement about Campus Town developments during town hall meetings.
“There is a coalition that wants the TCNJ students out of their neighborhood,” he said. “They say they disrespect the elders, (and) there’s partying and drinking. They want (students) out of their neighborhood, so the neighbors want this project and they want it now.”
Ewing residents will not only benefit by having fewer students roaming their sidewalks on weekend nights, but also from the economic advantages of a revenue-intensive community space.
“Campus Town is a win-win for TCNJ and Ewing,” Muha said. “It will create a vibrant center that will benefit both the campus community and area residents. PRC has done a great job in attracting tenants that will appeal to both audiences.”
Most of all, Campus Town will foster an urban and cultural focal point at the College that has long eluded students.
“We think this is going to become the center of life for the College,” Lentine said.
The wait for Campus Town continues to stretch on. But with PRC Group’s confidence in its schedules and the meticulous construction process underway, students can rest assured that what lies behind the green fences is already taking shape into a fundamental hub of life at the College.
(04/28/14 4:30pm)
UPDATE: As of approximately 1:30 p.m., PSE&G gave the all clear and all buildings and parking lots were re-opened. All classes resumed at 2 p.m.
A gas leak reported at the Campus Town construction site has caused the evacuation of several buildings across campus. According to David Muha, vice president of Communications, Marketing and Brand Management, the evacuation area includes all properties and buildings adjacent to the Campus Town site.
A TCNJ text alert sent at 11:30 a.m. informed the campus community of the gas leak and called for the immediate evacuation of the Hausdoerffer and Phelps dorms, Loser Hall, the Business and Bliss Buildings, off-campus housing along Pennington Road, the Art and Interactive Multimedia Building, the Music Building and Armstrong Hall.
Additionally, all classes in the above mentioned buildings have been canceled until further notice.
“We were in the middle of a presentation in Loser when the fire alarms went off,” junior nursing major Aila Salazar said. Students were instructed to evacuate the building.
“Five minutes later we got the text saying to move to the Stud,” junior nursing major Janine Isaga said.
According to Muha, more updates and information regarding the gas leak will follow.
(01/28/14 11:06pm)
In the past few years, the College administration has been sweeping through campus, making renovations to dining locations, study areas and residence halls. During the 2014-2015 academic year, Norsworthy Hall will be renovated, costing approximately $10.25 million, according to David Muha, associate vice president for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management. The funds for the project will be drawn from the College’s Asset Renewal Plan reserve.
“The major concerns are that the systems outlined are beyond their useful life or nonexistent,” Muha said.
Among these concerns, Muha explained, are hazardous materials remediation, repairs to the walls, roof and foundation, waterproofing the foundation and replacing the underground stormwater system.
At the College, it is generally acknowledged that Norsworthy Hall is one of the least desirable buildings in which to live. Former residents of Norsworthy experienced the faults of the building, while others say it does not deserve the poor reputation it has widely received.
“Other than having a really small room — I was one of the smallest because I was next to the trash room — I didn’t have many problems with the building itself,” said sophomore mathematics major and ’12-’13 Norsworthy resident Ben Castor.
Some students found its location to be endearing as well.
“We had a corner room so we had two huge windows overlooking the lake, which was really nice,” said Kristin Dell’Armo, a senior special education and psychology double major who lived in Norsworthy during the ’11-’12 academic year.
While Norsworthy, which was built in the early 1930s, is “structurally sound,” “it is time to address some major needs in the building,” Muha said.
The College will additionally be replacing mechanical, electrical and plumbing fixtures, equipment and infrastructure, as well as adding emergency phones, security cameras and making necessary Americans with Disability Act (ADA) code upgrades. The College has made improvements to the building since its original construction, such as ADA improvements, roof and window replacements and adding a fire suppressions system, according to Muha.
Some former residents agree that it is time for updates, from temperature regulation to wheelchair accessibility inside. One of the hopeful changes to Norsworthy was removing the smell in the hallways from the carpets.
“Think crayon wax and a dirty musk mixed together,” sophomore biology major and ’12-’13 Norsworthy resident Patrick Gallagher said.
Castor added, “I think the carpets should be completely changed in the hallways because a lot, and I mean a lot, has happened to them just this past year. I can only imagine what they went through in all the years they were there.”
Norsworthy was once used for sophomore housing, but the construction and closing of Cromwell Hall in the 2012-2013 school year forced freshman honors students into Norsworthy. There are 155 students currently living in Norsworthy, and according to Muha, this number will not change after the renovations are completed. The project is expected to take 15 months to complete and the dorm will be reopened for the fall 2015 semester, according to Muha.
Although upperclassmen are not guaranteed an initial times lot like freshmen and sophomores, the College is confident that all applicants will receive on-campus housing. It is not yet clear how the temporary closing of Norsworthy will affect housing placements.
“It is yet too soon to determine the lottery cutoff,” Sean Stallings, executive director of Residential Education and Housing said. “However, I remain confident that we will be able to offer all wait-list applicants on-campus housing through our wait list management process, should there be a lottery cutoff.”
As one of the older buildings, the College’s long-term asset renewal plan deemed Norsworthy in need of renovations next. The plan outlines the necessity of replacement and renovation of different campus buildings as funding allows, according to Muha.
Although it is not the most coveted spot to live on-campus, former residents were able to find the silver lining in some of Norsworthy’s least charming assets.
“Although the carpets were not that clean, (they) provided a place for students to sit in the wide hall and bond with each other,” sophomore political science and history double major and ’12-’13 resident Michael Tobass said.
Even the aging architecture can be a boon.
“It was smaller, so I didn’t have to go up many flights of stairs to go anywhere,” Gallagher said. “You didn’t have to deal with Towers’ kids throwing up in the elevator. You didn’t even need to deal with elevators.”
Overall, the building’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Though renovations are universally acknowledged as necessary, students remember Norsworthy as an endearing part of their college experiences.
“We complained a lot about living in Nors, but it really wasn’t as bad as everyone made it out to be,” Dell’Armo said.
(11/06/13 8:21pm)
The College has minimal financial obligations to Campus Town, and is expected to financially benefit from the $70 million project, since it will be funded largely by the PRC Group through a public-private partnership.
Additionally, the College is leasing the site to the developer, which will be paying the College about $50 million over the next 50 years in exchange.
According to David Muha, associate vice president for Communications, Marketing & Brand Management, not only is the College expecting to accrue financial benefits, but Campus Town will also create hundreds of jobs.
Last month at the Campus Town groundbreaking ceremony, Gov. Chris Christie said that 325 jobs at retail stores and student housing sites are expected to be created once the project is completed. Through on-site construction, 150 additional jobs are expected to be created.
“Between 6,000 and 10,000 jobs will be created, enhanced and/or supported in the construction chain,” Muha said. “Some examples include suppliers, equipment manufacturers and service providers.”
According to the Campus Town website, the PRC Group will be responsible for the overall maintenance of the area, though.
The PRC Group bears most of the responsibilities, although some of the College’s financial obligations include the cost of relocating occupants from the Campus Town site to on-campus locations and the new fitness center, which will be rented.
“The annual rent for the fitness space is $195,500 and common area maintenance charges are $92,000 per year,” Muha said, whereas the operated cost of the new fitness center is expected to be approximately $590,000 annually.
“(These costs) include rent, CAM, staff, utilities, insurance, equipment and facility replacement costs,” Muha added.
The College does not have data on the cost of the current Physical Enhancement Center, according to Muha.
New housing maintenance on the Campus Town site will be provided through Capstone On-Campus Management, but financed by the developer, leaving the College free of housing costs.
There will also be no effect on tuition, according to the Campus Town website, since the project is financed largely independent of the College.
Some other long-term financial benefits the College expects to see are “the construction of new housing for upper-class students that the College could not afford to build itself, the freeing up of institutional capital funds for other purposes, environmental remediation work, providing tax revenue to our Ewing community which strengthens the township in which we live and work and there is the potential of revenue sharing from sales if the sales from Campus Town exceed expectations,” Muha said.
The Higher-Education Public-Private Partnership Program was put forth in 2009 and included in the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act. Through the program, public institutions and private companies are permitted to team up, provided that the private company assumes full financial responsibility for on-campus construction and improvement, according to the Act’s program guidelines.
The College decided to partner with the PRC Group, a construction and management company based out of Monmouth County.
“Selection criteria included experience, program and design of Campus Town, financial return to the College, schedule and other factors,” said Muha on the decision to partner with the PRC Group. “Of the three finalists, PRC Group was determined to have met the criteria the best.”
(10/15/13 3:11pm)
Campus Police responded to five counts of underage drinking on Saturday, Oct. 12.
At 4:55 a.m., a female student returned to her dorm to find an unknown male student sleeping on her bed. Upon waking up, the student said he had “more than a couple beers” and thought he went into his own room. Lions EMS evaluated the student, but no further actions were deemed necessary.
A female student who consumed “two orange drinks” was reportedly “slightly intoxicated” in Decker Hall at 7:53 p.m., according to Campus Police.
Campus Police responded to the Brower Student Center at 7:58 p.m. to a student who had been drinking Bacardi in Wolfe Hall.
At 8:30 p.m. a female student at the Brower Student Center who drank an unknown amount of alcohol was transported to Capital Health Systems-Hopewell Campus for treatment.
On Sundial Lawn, Campus Police reported an intoxicated student who “had trouble balancing” and had “one shot of Fireball whiskey” and several shots of vodka. According to reports, she smelled strongly of alcohol and had difficulty remembering where in Wolfe Hall she lived and gave several different birthdates when asked. She was transported to Capital Health Systems-Hopewell Campus for treatment.
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Campus Police responded to a report of shoplifting at the C-Store on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 10 p.m. A security officer called in that two male students who were running from the C-Store after nabbing a cookie, according to reports, as indicated by C-Store personnel. When Campus Police arrived to the scene, the security officer was with the guilty party at the benches outside Decker Hall. One of the students was placed under arrest, according to Campus Police, for shoplifting and was brought to Campus Police for processing. The stolen cookie was valued at $1.05.
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A male student wearing khaki pants and a green shirt with “shaggy” hair who was “obviously intoxicated” was called in to Campus Police when he was seen walking around the flagpoles outside the Brower Student Center on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 2:10 a.m. Campus Police arrived and searched the area for the student, finally finding him unconscious on the grass outside Lions Stadium. When he was questioned, the student said he drank three beers and jungle juice at an off-campus location. He was issued a summons for underage drinking.
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Four bicycles were reported missing this week from different on-campus locations.
On Friday, Oct. 11, a black Huffy BMX-style bicycle, valued at $100, was stolen from outside Hausdoerffer Hall.
A brown DBX bicycle, valued at $200, was stolen after being locked to a trash can in Lot 11.
A black mountain bicycle valued at $100 was stolen from outside Wolfe Hall sometime between Friday, Oct. 11 at 12 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 12 at 9:30 a.m.
A red, blue and silver Schwinn mountain bicycle valued at $75 was stolen from outside Phelps Hall on Thursday, Oct. 10 between 12:01 a.m. and 12:05 p.m.
(10/08/13 5:37pm)
Student Government President Tyler Liberty opened the general body meeting last week reflecting on Gov. Chris Christie’s visit.
“Everyone was really polite and he was really, really impressed with the way you guys conducted yourselves and the amount of support we had showing up,” Liberty said. He also commented on how the turnout at the College was greater than what Christie had experienced when he visited Rutgers and Rowan Universities.
Toward the end of the meeting, new updates and possible changes to the athletic scene on campus were discussed. One of the changes is that indoor and outdoor club sports now have safety officers for home games and practices.
The fitness center in Campus Town will receive the equipment from the Packer Hall Physical Enhancement Center on campus. While some of the equipment has had a fair share of wear and tear, only suitable equipment will be moved from the current gym into the new one, said Hajar Lakhouili, bylaw review chair.
For major competitions, the College is looking into the “missed class policy” for student athletes who have to miss class because of major competitions.
“They want athletes to have something that says they are going to miss class. Then you — the professors — have to give them the opportunity to make up the work regardless of whether or not they missed class. But it’s only for major competitions,” Lakhouili said.
The possibility of granting early registration to athletic teams and ROTC to accommodate practicing schedules was also discussed.
“Imagine getting 100 football players’ schedules to match up so that they can have practice. That would be like 4 o’clock in the morning or like 6 o’clock in the morning, and that’s when they practice,” Lakhouili said.
Concerns on the Schedule Relief for Athletes proposal arose because it was not so clear where to draw the line on which organizations would receive early registration, should it extend outside the College’s athletic teams.
“I think this is a great idea,” Magda Manetas, SG advisor, said. “One concern is if everybody appears to be piling on with, ‘Well our group needs it,’ ‘Our group needs it,’ ‘Student Government needs it,’ I don’t think it will succeed and I really think it should be specific, pretty much, to varsity athletes.”
The Schedule Relief for Athletes would only apply while the sport was in season. Sports that overlap in seasons, such as swimming and wresting, would receive early registration for both the fall and spring semesters.
Next week, the Association of Students for Africa and To Write Love on Her Arms organizations will present to the SG general body for their vote to uphold Governmental Affairs decision to pass the clubs.
This month the committee on Equity and Diversity is co-sponsoring Queer Awareness Week with PRISM.
(10/08/13 5:00pm)
During meal equiv hours, the Library Café is swarmed with students. Some are willing to wait up to a half-hour in line to order their caffeinated concoctions and then another 10 minutes or so for them to be made, just to get their $7 worth. Even still, students withstand the discouraging lines in the Café every day.
The College took note of this issue and recently renovated the Library Café in the hopes of alleviating the lengthy lines. Over the summer, the College began a project that was just completed, and the Café reopened on Monday, Sept. 23. Some students were disappointed that the Café was still under construction for the first few weeks of school, but the College tried to move the project along quickly.
“The original schedule was very aggressive, and while we realized it was unlikely to be completed by the start of the school year, it was decided that it was better to open a few weeks into the semester than to postpone renovations for a year,” said Stacy Schuster, associate VP for College Relations.
Funded by Sodexo, the renovations cost $498,571. New changes included two queue lines and two registers as well as a turbo oven that will also allow for a wider variety of products such as breakfast sandwiches.
“Long lines form at the Library Cafe and with the old design, the speed of service could not be increased,” Schuster said. “The new design allows for double queuing and double production of the most popular items.”
Since its grand opening in fall 2005, the Library Café had not been updated until this year.
While the Library Café was surely missed by students during the first weeks of school, it is open for business and students have expressed their opinions about the changes.
Some freshmen who were not here previous years to experience the Library Café pre-renovations seem to agree that it is a nice addition to the College.
“It’s a Starbucks and I love Starbucks,” freshman nursing major Gretchen Heller said.
“It’s awesome. Everything gets crowded, especially during meal equiv, and you can’t really change that,” freshman interactive multimedia major Chris Lundy said.
A few students who were here last year were disappointed with the changes and had been expecting a bit more.
“It doesn’t look like they spent $500,000,” said sophomore elementary education and English double major Megan Bordonaro. “It’s nice, but not that much different.”
“I would have done it differently,” sophomore health and exercise science major Kaitlyn Ogg said.
Both students agreed that they would have liked to see more variety in the products and have both registers open as well. Only one register was open when Bordonaro and Ogg were at the Library Café during meal equiv on Sunday, Oct. 6, despite the long queue line.
On Monday, typically a busier day for meal equiv, students were pleased to see both registers open.
“I definitely like the open two cash registers,” said sophomore international studies and economics double major Jimmy Jasamuzchett. “But at the same time the workers might get overwhelmed.”
Cara Bramander, sophomore sociology major, agreed that the two line system seems to help alleviate the traffic, but noted that there also seems to be more workers behind the counter.
Although the Café has not been open long, the College said it is pleased with the renovations so far.
“We will continue to evaluate the success of the renovation over time to see if it has achieved the project goals,” Schuster said.
(10/01/13 4:19pm)
After a competitive campaign period, the new members were welcomed and sworn into Student Government on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the general body meeting.
Assistant Provost of Academic Affairs Nancy Freudenthal was also recognized for her hard work and congratulated on her retirement, after having worked at the College since 1985. SG President Tyler Liberty presented Freudenthal with a commendation.
“I love this place. It is a wonderful place,” Freudenthal said, accepting her recognition. “I appreciate being thanked.”
Michell Lin, vice president of Student Services, announced events for Blindness Awareness Month in October. “Walk in My Shoes,” “Freedom Scientific Presentation,” “Rocco at the Rat” and the “Going Blind” movie presentation are among some activities the committee has helped organize.
The committee on Equity and Diversity will be pushing back the “Liberty in North Korea” event to next semester, but the first issue of the Diversity University newsletter is expected to run the second week of October.
During a governance report, it was announced that the College is considering switching to an online course feedback form at the end of each semester instead of the paper forms.
The legality of recording class lectures was also discussed, as well as appeals process for students who are displeased with the grades they received at the end of the semester.
Senior Annie Montero was named the new student advocate. In this role, she will help students with Student Conduct Code issues.
“The process can be kind of hard to navigate on your own,” Montero said. “You can come to me and I would help you understand every part of the process.”
(09/24/13 4:55pm)
Representatives from the office of Alumni Affairs, Lisa McCarthy and John Castaldo, presented Homecoming updates to the Student Government general body at the meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Students attending the upcoming Homecoming event, which is funded by the Alumni Association and the College, will be sure to note changes from previous years, as more regulations are being set into place to dissipate the “rave type of atmosphere,” according to McCarthy.
Some of the more noticeable changes, McCarthy and Castaldo announced, are geared toward the tailgate aspect of Spirit Week.
This year, the tailgate will take place in Lots 4 and 6, which will be fenced off, and cars will be prohibited from parking in the area. All attendees of the tailgate will be required to bring proper IDs to obtain a wristband upon entering, with two different colors for those over and under 21, according to McCarthy.
Jennifer Toth, vice president for Advancement, asked the representatives if the College is concerned that these restrictions will result in students drinking too excessively in their dorms before coming to the tailgate.
“It is hard for us to control it, whether we have these changes in place or not,” Castaldo said.
Security will also be tightened.All bags will be checked upon entrance of the tailgate area, the representatives announced.
The music atmosphere of the event is also being regulated. Individual tables at the tailgate will not be permitted to have DJs.
“With the music, the actions and behaviors got a little out of control,” McCarthy said. Instead, the College is bringing the cover band Drop Dead Sexy to perform in Lot 4 before the football game from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. During the football game music will not be played at the tailgate area, but will commence around 2:30 p.m. with a student DJ.
“We don’t compete with the football game,” McCarthy said. “The main reason people come back for homecoming is to come back to campus, but also to go to the football game.”
The tailgating hours have also been shortened this year, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. as in previous years.
Alex Brown, vice president of Governmental Affairs, asked if student input was used in the decision-making process of the Homecoming changes.
“There hasn’t been,” McCarthy said. “Just never thought to, quite honestly, because there’s never changes like this happening. It just kept growing and changing.”
The committee plans to include student input next year and receive student feedback after Homecoming.
“The message behind these changes are really simply to create a safer environment,” Castaldo said. “The bottom line is just safety and welfare of everyone here.”
After the Homecoming presentation, SG passed a resolution to de-recognize student organizations that failed to register with the Office of Student Activities and have been deemed inactive.