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(04/23/15 4:25am)
By Tom Kozlowski
Editor-in-Chief
Adjunct professor of philosophy Jeanine Thweatt-Bates juggles motherhood and teaching seven days a week. Driving back and forth from her home in Newark to the College, Thweatt-Bates must care for her two young children while catering to the needs of her students, all while shouldering the burdens of life as an adjunct.
In her position, Thweatt-Bates barely receives a living wage. During spring semesters, she shoulders additional coursework from other schools in order to support a family. She scarcely has time to research and has even less time to spend with students. Adding children into the mix, these commitments are bound to conflict.
“More than once I’ve brought my 8-year-old daughter, Clare, to class with me because her spring break doesn’t coincide with TCNJ’s, and there was simply no alternative,” Thweatt-Bates said. “This semester I brought my youngest 3-year-old with me for the same reason. I’ve had very few office hours available to students, typically, because of the need to commute back up to Newark in time to pick them up for school. That’s one of the things that does immediately impact students.”
While this balancing act befalls plenty of educators, it lands the hardest and most consistently on adjunct faculty, academia’s so-called “casual” labor force that’s increasingly become the backbone of college education. The College, compared to the cutthroat national attitude, has treated its adjunct faculty better than most, according to professors and union leaders at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 2364. And yet there is still much to be done to improve the working conditions of adjuncts on campus, both for their benefit and ultimately for the students they teach.
The Adjuncts of America
Around the country, adjuncts are being asked to teach more with less, and observers worry that higher education has suffered for it.
Colleges and universities, in an attempt to compete with trimmed budgets, have reaped the benefits of cheap labor. Nationally speaking, a 2010 survey by the Coalition on the Academic Workforce found that more than 1.3 million faculty members (or 75.5 percent) were “employed in contingent positions off the tenure track, either as part-time or adjunct faculty
members, full-time non-tenure-track faculty members or graduate student teaching assistants.” These positions require far less pay than tenured faculty and often go without benefits, voting power within departments, job security or proper office accommodations.
“In many cases, adjunct faculty is being exploited,” said Ralph Edelbach, soon-to-be retired president of AFT Local. “There is no doubt that adjunct faculty over the years have been brought in because of some specific, unique expertise, and they bring that into the classroom as a benefit to the students. But unfortunately, that’s not the motivating factor on most campuses.”
Adjuncts are a different animal than other positions, though. Not only are the vast majority of adjuncts around the country non-unionized — leading to more vulnerable careers — but their pay scales for doing proportional work to that of full-time or even part-time faculty are skewed.
“People who aren’t knowledgeable about how the system works often get part-time employees confused with adjuncts,” Edelbach said. “Part-time employees and faculty are paid a percentage of salary. So half-time receives half-pay, as opposed to adjunct faculty members who receive smaller, fixed amounts per number of classes taught.”
This means that, as of January 2015, new adjuncts at the College receive $1,300 per course. In addition, adjuncts are capped at teaching just two courses per semester and four a year, adding up to objectively dismal compensation.
What’s striking, or perhaps alarming, is that the College pays its adjuncts better than most, according to Michael Nordquist, adjunct professor of political science. This is, in large part, a consequence of being a public institution; being covered by the union contract, which is “much better than those of private institutions;” and the fact that the “contract augments adjuncts’ salary pay due to the enhanced nature of the courses at TCNJ.”
Adjuncts also come from a wide breadth of backgrounds. A minority consist of retired professors or individuals who specialize in other professions — such as Reed Gusciora, an adjunct professor of political science at the College who primarily serves as a New Jersey General Assemblyman. Gusciora teaches a class issue-specific to his work in the Assembly each semester, but his other career remains the priority. Adjuncts who teach for their love of academia, on the other hand, tend to get a raw deal.
Many spend as much as a decade grinding in strenuous Masters and Doctorate programs, accruing massive student debt along the way. Adjunct faculty positions are often all that’s available to graduates, particularly in an ever-shrinking and volatile market for full-time professors. And unlike the assumptions made by students, these positions have little breathing room.
The reality is that adjuncts “do not live the the idealized version of full-time professors, who have more freedoms to research, write and publish the work they build their careers on,” according to Nordquist. Instead, they spend a substantial portion of time teaching multiple courses at various schools, traveling, finishing PhD programs and grading in order to cobble together a living wage.
In other words, teaching may temporarily pay the bills, but the stresses that come with it present a dangerous trade off.
“Anxiety was a conversation topic all throughout grad school,” Nordquist said. “Even when you enter the market, and even if you manage to land your academic position after the interview process, there’s huge pressures to publish, be a great teacher, be around on campus, be both an academic and personal adviser, make sure your students are happy and, on the side, fulfill your personal obligations. For many adjuncts, especially at low-paying institutions, it’s difficult to see the situation as anything but bleak.”
TCNJ: A Temporary Oasis for Adjuncts
No institution of higher education is exempt from the problems that plague adjunct faculty — these appear to be too ingrained in the nature of the industry. Nonetheless, the College has striven to deviate from the norm, working to strengthen the relationships between the union, faculty senate and administration; keep adjunct turnover low; and treat adjuncts with a sense of respect.
Whereas competing schools have pushed for higher ratios of adjuncts to full-time staff, the College has maintained a relative balance between the two in the past several years. According to statistics provided by David Muha, vice president for Marketing, Communications and Brand Management, the percentage of seats taught by full-time faculty “has been relatively consistent at 55 percent” since 2009. Seats taught by adjuncts rose from 29.2 percent in fall 2009 to 34.91 percent in spring 2014, though some of the difference can be accounted for in the reduction of total seats from 31,366 in 2009 to 27,221 in 2014. In short, the numbers don’t lie: Full-time faculty and adjuncts are sharing the workload.
Edelbach believes President R. Barbara Gitenstein has been a stalwart defender of the ratio in spite of “what her counterparts on other campuses have done.” But he also sees concerns across all faculty members, too.
“I think faculty are very concerned about the ratio, if only because they feel having stable, full-time contingent teaching means the workload in the department is shared more equitably,” Edelbach said. “Adjunct faculty are not involved, don’t have to have office hours and don’t have to advise students. More adjuncts in a department means fewer and fewer full-time people to do those things. The other thing is that it’s difficult with adjuncts dashing in and out of work for them to work substantively with students because of their other obligations.”
Faculty satisfaction is equally essential to maintaining good relations, and at the College, adjuncts are generally pleased with their accommodations compared to the horror stories of other institutions.
“TCNJ compensates adjunct faculty better than the typical institution, and I know that some credit for that goes to the work (Edelbach) and AFT have done,” Thweatt-Bates said. “In addition, I’ve found the Philosophy Department a very welcoming and collegial place.”
What adjuncts like Thweatt-Bates cannot control, however, is the instability of their contracts. When these expire in June, there’s the imminent possibility that Thweatt-Bates and others might be jobless at the College.
“As of now I’ve filed applications with other adjunct positions at local colleges/universities, a summer ESL program, various nonprofits, government work, private tutoring (as an individual as well as putting in apps with tutoring companies), administrative assistant positions, Panera, Trader Joe’s, Staples and the local diner,” Thweatt-Bates said. “Not kidding, even about that last (my only other lengthy work experience other than teaching is waiting tables)!”
With this June’s contract negotiations on the horizon, AFT Local is beefing up for another round of debate with the state. The concerns of the union remain much of the same, however, as the state and the union engage in a seemingly everlasting gridlock over teachers’ rights.
“Over the years, when every contract comes up for negotiations with the state, (AFT) pushes for pay equity with full-time faculty, benefits, office space, a computer,” Edelbach said. “But every year the state says no, and it’s something that we have not been able to make gains on.”
Two lingering obstacles exist for AFT. On the one hand, it’s difficult to incorporate adjunct faculty into critical union matters. Adjuncts, by nature, rush from school to school and often cannot be persuaded, let alone contacted, to join the fight. And because “things so often go okay” on the College’s campus, catalysts for increased union participation are few and far between. Faculty members devote their attention elsewhere and “don’t pay attention to the activities of the union, at least until there’s a threat,” according to Edelbach.
On the other hand, AFT negotiates its contract alongside other unions across the state, all of which have personal and divergent agendas. What would ideally be a unified rally for teachers splinters into disarray.
“I’ve attended state meetings with hostile unions and heated debate, and while we try to say we’re all in this together, the reality is we’re not, and the state uses a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy to their benefit,” Edelbach said.
Because pushing for financial issues like pension reform would be a quixotic task, Edelbach suggests AFT will focus this June on more casual campus concerns, such as information sharing, increased faculty participation in campus operations and a more equitable process for reporting faculty grievances. None of these require increasing the budget or threatening to strike, the nuclear option for AFT that’s lost its value in today’s labor environment. Instead, AFT will push for more internal organization that may help streamline the work of daily adjunct ife.
Adjuncts and the Future of Higher Ed
In the increasingly competitive and corporatized industry of higher education, adjuncts have and will continue to play dominant roles in students’ lives. This is not all for the worse. As chair of the Department of Music at Columbia University Susan Boynton writes on Talking Points Memo, “adjuncts are among the finest, longest-serving instructors in many universities, and it’s well known that their lasting contributions can transform the lives of their students.”
Even at the College, where — according to Nordquist — over a quarter of all classes are taught by adjuncts, students rarely differentiate between full-time and adjunct faculty because the quality of work remains generally equal.
That said, a heavy reliance on adjunct labor is a double-edged sword. For adjuncts themselves, the orthodox academic life they desire often remains off in the distance. In its place, the demands and constraints of their positions maintain a stranglehold on their lives in the present. For administrations, adjunct labor yields both money saved and diminished quality when faculty are spread thin. And for students, not to be forgotten, their education hinges on the decisions of their schools and the limits of what their professors can do.
For the College, enrollments rates are predicted to increase in the near future. AFT remains hopeful that the College will continue to balance its full-time and adjunct labor, but as with the future of higher education altogether, no one is certain what will happen.
“I’ve been told the College is bringing in new freshmen next year,” Edelbach said. “Was the question asked how those extra students are going to be taught? You have more students coming in — are you putting more students in every class? Or are you hiring new faculty? Are they full-time, part-time or are they adjunct? These questions weren’t asked, but they need to be. We need to be concerned not just where we’ll house these students, but more importantly, how we’ll teach them.”
(11/21/14 8:32pm)
By Tom Kozlowski
Managing Editor
When the 2008 financial crisis threatened the survival of the American economy, the ideology of many Americans conflicted with their pragmatism. Those who maintained a Reagan-era commitment to limited government and free-market reign began asking the government to intervene, a political about-face that traded principles for action.
Americans got what they wanted: The Obama administration, fresh in office, delivered a series of policies to fight unemployment and bail out a capsizing banking industry. But according to famed economist and Princeton University professor Alan Blinder, what Americans initially asked for became what they ultimately railed against, a paradox that has loomed over the Obama administration ever since.
“There’s a lot to say about the backlash against what were generally well-executed policies by the government,” Blinder said. “They were bold, comprehensive and effective policies that were highly interventionist, but Americans, despite asking for them, largely didn’t like them.”
Taking a retrospective look at the 2008 financial crisis and the interaction between government policy and public response, Blinder spoke to the College on Wednesday, Nov. 12, approving of the government’s actions but criticizing how effectively it persuaded the public those actions worked.
Blinder, one of the most prolific economists of his generation, served on President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and as vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1994 to 1996. His most recent work has focused heavily on monetary policy and central banking, with contributions appearing regularly in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other major publications.
Now, with his latest book “When the Music Stopped,” Blinder has turned his attention to the recession and its sluggish recovery, bringing his own distinct analysis to the College. To guide his analysis of the crisis, Blinder offered a three-pronged approach to understanding the responses of both government and polity: first, the policy paradox that followed the crisis; second, the multifaceted backlash to the policies the Obama administration helped spearhead; and third, some lessons to be learned from the government’s Keynesian experiment.
In the economic boom of the middle Bush years, Blinder, along with many of his colleagues, believes the free market ran amok. The financial industry thrived off toxic derivative sales and faulty loans while the housing bubble inflated. There was a fundamental “abdication of regulatory authority,” according to Blinder. But when the bubble burst and the proverbial roof fell in, the financial industry, a traditional advocate of laissez-faire economics, turned to the government for help.
This presented an even larger rift among the public, which wanted the government to fight rising unemployment and economic instability while simultaneously staying out of the free-market. Blinder recounted how one citizen embodied the paradox perfectly, standing before a town hall meeting and proclaiming, “Keep your government hands off my Medicare.” The example represented a broader American consensus, though, one committed to a conservative, if not neoliberal ideology but desirous of government support.
“Ideologically, they were an anti-government populous. But pragmatically, they were pro-government,” Blinder said.
As a result, Americans transferred their economic frustrations to a backlash against the Federal Reserve, Congress, the Democratic Party and Obama himself. Former President George W. Bush, whose administration presided over the crisis’s origins, “got out just in time,” according to Blinder. But no matter which party was in charge at the time of the collapse, Blinder predicted that the government would inevitably receive the brunt of public anger.
In response, the government employed a number of highly experimental Keynesian policies in order to stimulate the economy, but Americans correlated these measures to big government and big spending. House Majority Leader John Boehner (OH-R) went so far as to repeatedly call them “job-killing government spending.” But Blinder found these accusations absurd.
“The government can either buy things from businesses, which they did in massive quantities that I believe were effective, or they can spend money to stimulate the economy,” Blinder said. “These do not kill jobs.”
Americans remained unpersuaded. Rising budget deficits and unorthodox monetary policy by the Federal Reserve fed into the lasting backlash, one that the Obama administration failed to control when it was implementing its post-crisis policies. Moreover, Blinder believes Obama took on too many social issues too soon, such as healthcare and education reform, amidst the “mandatory need for action” in the tanking economy. Because of both ill explanation and a stretched agenda, the government faced what Blinder called “massive confusion in the body politic and lots of inchoate anger.”
Looking forward, Blinder offered several steps to combat the next, perhaps inevitable financial crisis — but from a public relations standpoint. He suggested the government stick to a concise agenda, explain their actions and persuade the electorate, use down-to-earth language, set expectations low, be mindful of the public’s perception of fairness and, to be safe, repeat these steps as many times as possible. These communicative measures may not prevent a financial collapse, but they can ease the government’s task of picking up the pieces.
(10/22/14 10:12pm)
When former Director of Intramural and Club Sports Deb Simpson retired on Monday, Sept. 1, she knew her position had yet to be filled and that a professional void would persist in the program. What she didn’t realize was just how quickly the program would collapse into chaos.
“When I read the article (a report by The Signal on the problems within Intramural and Club Sports without an acting director), I was really upset,” Simpson said. “I obviously love the College, love the students, and love the program th
at I built for 27 years … but when I was getting calls from club presidents and team members about the problems they were having, I could only say, ‘I don’t know what to tell you.’”
Simpson’s retirement was far from the unexpected absence that many seemed to believe. Despite planning two years in advance of her actual departure in September and notifying the College in June of 2014, Simpson’s position went long unoccupied, going nearly a month without a director of Intramurals and Club Sports and wreaking havoc on the day-to-day games, schedules, organization and advertising of student sports groups.
In spite of disorganization on the ground, however, the College was “not aware of any concerns or turmoil surrounding the retirement and subsequent hire” of Simpson’s position,” according to Gregory Pogue, vice president of Human Resources.
Simpson, an alumna of the College in her undergrad and graduate years, served nearly three decades at the College, working to construct a streamlined intramurals program. With intensifying back problems becoming a burden several years ago, Simpson saw her retirement on the horizon. But what could’ve been a simple farewell took over two years.
For her initial preparations, Simpson began training Ed Dean, part time assistant coordinator, for her position. Dean was an “enthusiastic” contributor to the program who was well-loved by students and faculty alike, according to Simpson. In the fall of 2013, however, the College denied Dean’s rehiring. Due to the arrival of new football coach Wayne Dickens, the College gave Simpson former football coach Eric Hamilton to train instead, a hard-working assistant who nonetheless had “no experience” in club sports, Simpson said. Hamilton left for good a few months later in January, and Simpson requested to rehire Dean once again. But the College, yet again, had another agenda.
Dean was denied a second time in February. Instead, the College afforded Simpson twice-a-week help in Kevin Tylus, assistant athletic facilities coordinator. Simpson agreed to once again teach a new assistant, but she remained cognizant of the fact that her position, soon to be empty, needed a proper replacement with sufficient time to train.
“It definitely hurt the Intramural Sports Program losing Ed Dean,” Simpson said. “I was hoping someone would step in like an Ed Dean — someone young and energetic to take over the program and make it better and better for the future. But they obviously weren’t going to let Ed come back. My back issues weren’t getting any better, and now I’ve stayed two years longer than I should have. So I said, ‘I think it’s time for me to go.’”
Simpson gave her official notice to the College in June: she was leaving on July 1. But after 26 years and 10 months at the College, she decided to complete the last leg of her time here and stay the extra two months, rounding out a full 27 years of service.
During her remaining time, Simpson pressed the College repeatedly as to when her position would be posted and a new director vetted. But the College seemed to balk.
“They still knew in June I was leaving, and I asked at least once a week when the position would be posted and kept being told, ‘we’re not sure yet, we’re not sure yet,’” Simpson said. “But I told them, ‘I really think you need to get someone in here in August so I can help them before I go.’”
The result was yet again no word. She “wasn’t told anything” and “wasn’t told they’d be posting the position,” according to Simpson. Whoever would ultimately take her place as director would require extensive training in the Intramurals and Club Sports Program that couldn’t be provided at the drop of a hat.
“Our Intramural sports programs are run very differently than from other colleges,” Simpson said. “Other colleges have separate budgets among their sports clubs. We use the state budget along with the Student Finance Board’s student activities fees, and a lot of people don’t understand that.”
Fearing for the program’s stability in her wake, Simpson began instructing students and club supervisors, preparing them to pick up the slack where professional help would lack.
“Before I left, throughout the summertime, I basically made sure that all the students and supervisors for Intramurals were all rehired, all ready to go before the school year started,” she said. “I taught students everything about sports clubs and with intramurals, how to advertise, schedule the teams, train the officials, so that when Sept. 1 comes around and no one’s there to help, the students could handle it.”
Still, her efforts wouldn’t be enough to stanch the wounds left in the program. Simpson’s position was finally posted on Aug. 12, 2014, but upon her official departure date of Sept. 1, an organizational rift was opened that would not be filled anytime soon, and the ramifications were severe.
As reported by The Signal on Sept. 17, students involved in club sports were faced with turmoil beyond their control. Unable to properly schedule practices, reserve fields or even get the equipment they needed for games, students called Simpson for help, but at this point, the program was without an official head, and Simpson was at a loss.
“While Deb trained us very well to carry out our duties as student workers, I believe that everyone was under the assumption that someone would have been hired as a director before school started again,” said senior Gloria Han, supervisor of Intramurals and Club Sports. “There were times we struggled with balancing the demands of our academic schedules as students with the demands of managing responsibilities typically handled by the director. (And) as students, we did not have the authority to make certain decisions regarding club and intramural sports.”
The Athletics Department admitted to being equally challenged by the lack of an intramurals and club sports director, according to The Signal’s previous report.
“The timing of (Simpson’s) retirement posed challenges for us, and we are trying to work through them as best we can,” said Sharon Beverly, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and executive director of Athletics and Recreation.
But it appears these challenges weren’t triggered on behalf of Simpson’s long-lingering retirement. Rather, the vague, administrative delay to post her position without warning provided little time or effort to prepare for the month-long lack of a director.
“Dr. Beverly is really good for athletics, and she has a great athletic background, but I’m not sure how much of a background in recreation she has,” Simpson said. “So I think the department came in thinking ‘Oh, everything’s okay with recreation and sports clubs, so everything will continue to be okay.’”
The College has maintained that nothing unusual occurred during the review process and subsequent posting of Simpson’s position. Pogue expanded upon Simpson’s case in particular.
“This search (for a new Intramurals and Club Sports director) was completed well under a typical time-frame,” Pogue said. “We received notification of retirement during the second week of June, effective the first day of September. It is my understanding that Student Affairs and Athletics immediately began their strategic discussions and planning to determine a holistic review of NCAA Sports and Recreation on our campus, that also included the Campus Town Project.”
David Muha, vice president of Communications, Marketing and Brand Management, additionally said the review process takes specific steps to assess relevant “needs and budget.”
“This can take time but is ultimately important in ensuring that we continue to meet students’ needs and deliver the highest quality service,” Muha said. “We are committed to recreation and have made great strides in improving the student experience.”
But most committed to the Intramurals and Club Sports program has been and still is Simpson, so much so that she offered to continue assisting the program throughout its directorial lapse. She lives “right around the corner” and has returned to campus many times to support the College. In response, however, Simpson said the College repeatedly told her, “enjoy your retirement.”
With fresh director Rob Simels finally in place, Intramurals and Club Sports has begun to mend the fissures made during the interim. Simpson was confident that Simels would “take the program over and do very well with it,” and since then, Han believes he’s been “a tremendous help.” But only when forgoing a program director — and carrying on without Deb Simpson — did the Athletics Department realize just how much they’d miss the organizational hand of an acting director.
(08/26/14 4:06pm)
By Tom Kozlowski
Managing Editor
It’s no secret the College has undergone many a physical evolution, from building renovations to the long-prophesied construction of Campus Town. But these changes make up an outside view of the school’s transformation. To understand the subtle yet significant advancements inside the College’s academic and economic core, look no further than its positioning on this summer’s various lists of college rankings.
College rankings come out frequently and with varying credibility attached to their publications. In the case of this summer, the College placed highly on a number of “best” lists from major outlets — Money Magazine, Newsweek and Forbes, to name a few — while also earning a seat among the country’s most expensive public colleges. No one list can tell the whole story, though. Seeing where the College truly ranks means comparing the rankings and gauging the initiatives put in place to improve the College’s results over time.
In the case of Money Magazine, the forecast is positive. The College placed 53rd overall on its list of 665 applicable schools and 17th among public institutions. Figuring the net price of a degree at the College at $127,531 and an average annual salary within five years at $48,400, the numbers suggest a school a burgeoning value.
The authenticity of Money’s list lies in its methodology. The publication consulted national researchers in order to build a statistical framework for ranking colleges. Its factors: Quality of education, affordability and career outcomes, all of which break down into weighted tiers for grading. The result makes for the “most accurate” measure available, according to Money.
“I think the Money ranking is a good one to consider … (it) illustrates that the college is delivering a high-quality education while keeping the education attainable,” said David Muha, vice president for communications, marketing and brand management at the College. “This is reflected in the college’s priorities when it develops its annual spending plan. The top priority continues to be institutional commitment to academic and student affairs (as opposed to administrative overhead) and support for student success, including financial aid.”
Other lists were equally flattering. Forbes ranked the College 168th in the nation in its list of top colleges, focusing primarily on “output” — how much graduates earn after college — and “return on investment,” according to the magazine. Only Princeton University scored higher than the College among state schools.
If net value weren’t sufficient, the College’s freshmen received a bump, too. Statistics offered by the Department of Education ranked the College’s freshman retention rate at 17th in the nation, estimated at a comparatively high 93.4 percent, according to CBS.
Still, not every list offered such praiseworthy accolades. At the Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center, the College was listed as the 9th most expensive public college in the nation, with an annual tuition of $14,378. The ranking looked at in-state tuition and fees during the 2012-2013 school year but rejected including figures for room, board and other driving costs.
The ranking remains controversial among education officials. While U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan believes such lists “help families (to) make informed decisions on the single most important investment students can make in their own futures,” others find its methodology too narrow for single consideration.
“The ranking doesn’t tell the whole story because the true cost to students isn’t what you’re paying year-to-year — it’s what you pay to earn your degree,” Muha said. “TCNJ has the fifth highest four-year completion rate among all public institutions. We do very well at helping students graduate in four years, which helps them save money in the long run and gets them started in their careers more quickly.”
If there’s one list to ultimately put the College’s ducks in a row, however, it’s that of U.S. News and World Report. For another consecutive year, the College has been ranked the number one public and number five overall school in their Best Regional Universities category for the northern region for the country. Maintaining this position since 1993, President R. Barbara Gitenstein lauded “the exceptional students and … world-class faculty consistently (setting) high standards and (fostering) innovation.”
The widespread publicity awarded to the College this summer reflects the institution’s push for higher recognition in its academic and economic value. Regardless of how the school attempts to position itself in the coming years, its current status as a leading contender in national education has made itself clear and well-known.
(04/19/14 12:10pm)
On Thursday, April 10, at 1:35 p.m., the window of an off-campus house was broken and several hundred feet of copper pipes were stolen. According to Campus Police, a routine property check found the basement window broken, copper piping on the floor and a small amount of water. After notifying TCS Corporation, officials observed that 60 feet of 3/4” piping, 80 feet of 12” piping and 100 feet of 2” piping were removed, valuing a total of $1,685.
...
A female student was observed to be intoxicated at Townhouses South on Friday, April 11, at 2:08 a.m. Campus Police said the suspect was being assisted by someone, as the suspect could not walk by herself. The odor of alcohol was present on her breath, and she visibly swayed as she stood. According to Campus Police, the student said she had been drinking at a friend’s house off campus, and a Horizontal Nystagmus Test confirmed the student had indeed been drinking. Lions EMS was called to further assist in treating her.
...
On Sunday, April 13, at 7 p.m., a student reported property stolen after an overnight guest slept in her room. The student housed the guest from Saturday into Sunday in New Residence Hall, driving her home the following morning, Campus Police said. However, upon returning at 6 p.m., the student found cigarettes missing from her cigarette box, which she showed to the guest, and $140 in cash missing from a pouch in the same drawer.
(04/11/14 8:36pm)
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="1024"] Emergency vehicles and Hazmat teams arrive at the Library and Eickhoff Hall. (Photo courtesy of Summer Nest)[/caption]
A female College student was exposed to dangerous chemicals on Friday, April 11, at about 1:10 p.m. while working in a Science Complex research lab. As a result of the accompanying chemical spill, the buildings were evacuated while emergency services responded.
According to the College’s Emergency Alert system, the student had come into contact with benzyl bromide, a colorless liquid that can cause irritation of the eyes, skin and mucus membranes. It has also been used militantly in weapons such as tear gas.
The student immediately rushed from the Science Complex to the Library and then into Eickhoff Hall where Health Services is located. Consequently, all three areas were quarantined by Campus Police and the environmental health and safety department, according to the media alert.
On arrival, the student told health officials of a strong odor and a “strong tingling feeling in her arm,” according to David Muha, vice president of Communication, Marketing and Brand Management.
A small brigade of police units, ambulances, helicopters and fire engines — courtesy of the Ewing Fire Department — were quick to the scene. All students inside the Science Complex evacuated the building at approximately the same time as the spill was reported and were told to remain around the fountain until further cleanup procedures had taken place.
According to sophomore biology major Lauren McKay, firemen alerted students that they might be quarantined outside from anywhere between 30 minutes and two to four hours.
Several students also reported to have received pictures from the female student of her condition, confirming their suspicions.
At 1:29 p.m., Hazmat teams successfully cleared the Library and Eickhoff Hall of any contamination, according to the media alert. Twenty minutes later, the Science Complex was declared safe as well, with students permitted to re-enter not long after.
Though her current condition remains unclear, the female student was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, Muha said.
(04/08/14 10:17pm)
On Saturday, March 29, at 1:49 a.m., a student was arrested by Campus Police for punching and breaking a window on the second story stairwell to Lot 11. According to Campus Police, a student approached an officer on patrol and pointed out two passing students, saying of the first, “He broke that window.” The officer then approached the suspects, observing blood on both the first student’s hand and clothes. The odor of alcohol was present on both students as well, Campus Police said. When the officer asked the first student about the blood, he responded, “My friend threw up in my car. I got upset. I hit the wall. I hit the window.” As the second student was indeed observed to have consumed alochol that evening, Campus Police arrested the two students and escorted them to headquarters.
Several items were stolen from the Social Sciences Building on Monday, March 31, at 8:30 a.m. A faculty member observed a missing Keurig B31 Mini Plus coffee machine, worth $120, a Clorox liquid dish soap, worth $4 and a ring of four to five keys taken from a drawer behind her desk in room 317. According to Campus Police, all items were present the previous day at 3 p.m. when the faculty member left the buildling.
A trespasser was reported in the Administrative Services Building on Thursday, April 3, at 10:35 p.m. A building services employee noticed a suspicious man in the basement of the building, according to Campus Police. When asked what he was doing, the man said that he was merely “looking for the bathroom.” The employee pointed him in the proper direction before notifying Campus Police of his intrusion. Further investigation uncovered that the man had been arrested on Feb. 29, 2012, for similar charges of trespassing on campus and was consequently banned from the College. Campus Police said the man was then arrested and released with a court date scheduled.
On Friday, April 4, at 3:55 p.m., a member of the Students for Life club reported that a public demonstration by the club had been taken down without permission. According to Campus Police, the demonstration, which represented a cemetary of unborn children, was intact when the student left for class at 12:30 p.m. When she returned several hours later, the demonstration was gone — the 235 flags were removed and the sign was missing. After searching the area, the student found several flags in the trash to the north of Kendall Hall. Campus Police said that the club ultimately found 172 of their flags and their broken sign, but no suspects were listed in the act.
On Saturday, April 6, at 12:37 a.m., a CA on the fifth floor of Wolfe Hall reported an intoxicated student to Campus Police. The male, who was sleeping in the hallway, appeared to be breathing and uninjured, but was unresponsive to verbal commands. According to Campus Police, Lions EMS was called to treat the student. When he awoke, he declined to tell emergency respondents how much or where he drank that evening, but he remained unable to walk or stand without assistance. Campus Police said the student was transported to Hopewell Medical Center for further treatment.
(04/01/14 9:50pm)
David Muha’s name is infectious. It’s been stitched to T-shirts and chanted through Twitter. The sound of Muha alone soothes students with their eyes on the weather, hopeful for yet another snow day salvo from the man behind the emails, the name that cancels class.
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, Muha stepped into the role as the College’s new vice president for Communication, Marketing and Brand Management. It’s a position that requires more communicative clout than having a catchy name, and yet Muha has accomplished so much with even just that.
“It’s surprising that my name has caught on in the way it has,” Muha said. “My feeling was, we’re a small college talking about personal relationships and attention, and yet when we send messages, they come out from an office. Offices don’t send messages, people do. So pretty much since the first messages I was sending, I signed them.”
Then he grinned.
“I signed quite a few snow messages this year.”
Muha isn’t just channeling his own name through those messages — he’s putting a face to the identity of the College en masse. And for a transition period so evolutionary in the campus’s physical, academic and stylistic appeal, Muha has become the transparent, administrative vanguard to champion a new era, the man not only behind the emails, but at the forefront of change.
Though coming in fresh, Muha is no stranger to the state. He’s a Jersey boy raised in Piscataway. From 1983 to 1986, he attended Georgetown University, earning a bachelor’s degree in history and graduating magma cum laude. Living in the hub of national politics, Muha went on to work as a communications representative for Republican Congressman Jim Courter, spending six years on Capitol Hill and returning to New Jersey to follow Courter’s campaign for governor in 1989. Courter may not have won, but ever-transitioning, Muha decided to make a new leap: representing institutions from the N.J. Chamber of Commerce to Rutgers Business School. To some, the move was unexpected.
“I would say my career has been a very liberal arts career,” Muha said. “I remember people asking me if I was going to be a history teacher in college, and I said that if you can think critically and write well, you can take your career in any number of directions.”
And so it went. Muha mastered his communications posts, leaving indelible marks wherever he went. For Drew University, where he served prior to the College, this meant a personal advocacy for “Full Impact Learning,” a program designed to highlight the school’s distinctive features and “make (the) case to parents and prospective students.” Occasionally, he even played drums for a faculty band, an instrumental passion on the sidelines of his career. But when Muha felt his impact was complete at Drew, a place at the College loomed on the horizon.
“I thought TCNJ looked like a great opportunity, and yet, as an outsider before I started here, you didn’t hear enough about the College,” Muha said. “There was an opportunity for communications to play a role to help with people unassociated with the College, to really get a sense of why this is a great institution, why third parties think so highly of us … I felt like it was a good match for what I had done professionally.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, Muha and his staff hit the ground running. Behind the scenes, Muha was involved in the testing and recent implementation of the new College seal, a bold redesign meshing elements of the past and visions of the future. He has a litany of goals on his personal whiteboard: website redesigns and enhanced fundraising efforts. But his most important mission was unwritten. According to Muha, his job is “to establish the visual identity of the College.”
Fortunate for Muha, his backstage work was complemented by the timely volatility of Mother Nature.
“The biggest surprise of my tenure here has been the reaction to the snow messages,” Muha said.
They’ve worked effortlessly in his favor. By pinning his name to the weather closings that have given students such quasi-religious enthusiasm, Muha has successfully built a bridge between the administration and the students. Naturally, he remains modest.
“Really, the Provost and the VP of Administration are the ones doing all the hard work here,” Muha said regarding the process of declaring school closings. “They’re the ones getting up at four in the morning and consulting the weather forecasts, what’s happening with state government ... checking in with folks on campus and clearing the sidewalks. All that work is happening well before I get any call from Curt Heuring saying, ‘Here’s what we decided.’”
Yet, Muha’s humility will do little to quell the student-sparked cult of personality in his name. His impact echoes across campus on parody social media, of which he’s been made keenly aware.
“I have a good sense of humor — I grew up in a family with a good sense of humor,” Muha said. “So I’m aware of the Twitter account. I can laugh alongside everyone else.”
As for the Freshman Class Council’s recent fundraising efforts, which have created T-shirts declaring “I snowflake Muha,” they have a new base of support: Muha’s entire family, all of whom want to purchase Muha merchandise.
“But more importantly, I’m happy to lend my name to a fundraising effort by the freshman class,” Muha said. “The junior class has asked me to help judge the ‘TCNJ’s Got Talent’ competition too, and wherever I can help, I’m happy to do it.”
Muha has immersed himself in the evolving narrative of the College and its students. There’s a mingling, back-and-forth dialogue between himself and his new campus that’s approachably down-to-earth, easily distorting his six-month transition as years of association. Muha’s popularity has indeed become a tall tale unto itself. Not coincidentally, his favorite component of a job in communications is its interpersonal magnitude to tell great stories.
“I love the role of storytelling in my job,” Muha said. “I think that what the students do in particular is always amazing to me. The talent that’s present here on this campus is staggering, so being there to help celebrate that is really rewarding to me … and for me to do my job, the closer the connection with students and faculty, the better.”
Now Muha, unconsciously or not, is a fundamental actor in the story of the College. Pushing for a more vibrant identity, lending his personality to student projects and laughing when the snow comes down. For all the bitterness in weather, Muha’s made this the warmest winter in quite some time.
(03/25/14 10:27pm)
On Thursday, March 13, at 9:50 a.m., Campus Police were dispatched on a criminal mischief call from the third floor men’s bathroom of the Library. According to Campus Police, upon entering, officers discovered biased writing and imagery on the wall above the urinal. It read: “Join the Gay Niggers Association of America,” with subsequent messages “(GNA)” and “WWW.GNA” underneath. Additional writings included the phrase “Jews did WTC,” followed by two more images, a Star of David and a Swastika. Campus Police said they received the claim over Spring Break when student activity was minimal on campus, but the writing itself had not been seen the previous night. Facilities were then called to remove the writing, according to Campus Police.
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Two items were reported stolen from an Athletic and Recreation Center office on Thursday, March 20. According to Campus Police, a $300 softball bat was stolen sometime back in November 2013, while more recently, a $40 black Rawlings fleece was taken between Friday, March 7, and Thursday, March 20, 2014. Both items were property of the College.
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On Friday, March 21, at 2 a.m., a student reported that her Apple iPhone was stolen from the Library, according to Campus Police. The student was there between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m., only realizing later that her phone was missing. The property was valued at $600 with an additional $30 case.
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On Saturday, March 22, at 12:05 a.m., a student was reported to be heavily intoxicated while in T-Dubbs. Campus Police said that although the student denied consuming any beverages before the incident, he was visibly swaying side-to-side, slurring his speech and having difficulty standing. The officer performed a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test and concluded that the student was, in fact, intoxicated. Before being trasnported to Helene Fuld Hospital, the student admitted to having three beers — possibly Guinness — and possibly having “fallen down,” according to Campus Police.
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While on patrol, Campus Police were approached by a student who reported seeing a visibly intoxicated female near the lake by the Facilities building on Saturday, March 22, at 1 a.m. The student led Campus Police to the location, where, according to Campus Police, the female in question was sitting on a bench, unresponsive and struggling to hold her head up. Soon after, she was transported to Hopewell Medical Center, Campus Police said. It was also uncovered from several other students that the female had traveled with them to an off-campus sports house where she drank approximately three vodka drinks and several beers.
(03/18/14 10:25pm)
On Wednesday, March 5, at 4:30 a.m., a suspect engaged and activated the Bradley Shower between rooms 256 and 257 in the Biology Building, flooding its first two floors. According to Campus Police, the flooding raised two inches of water on both floors, seeping through and damaging carpets, ceiling tiles and other infrastructure. Total property damage was estimated at $80,000, Campus Police said. During the subsequent investigation, Campus Police ultimately arrested a 20-year-old male student charged with Criminal Mischief and Trespass for pulling the shower head. Several other individuals were also arrested for trespassing after assisting the student in breaking into the Bio Building, Campus Police said.
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An intruder was reported in Travers Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 12:40 p.m. According to Campus Police, the intruder was sighted wearing all-black, a knit cap and “nurse’s shoes,” suspiciously loitering on the first floor of the building. When Campus Police arrived on the scene, the suspect was missing — soon after, he was spotted again in the first floor lounge of Cromwell Hall. He was arrested there and charged with Criminal Trespass, Campus Police said. After some investigation, the suspect was found to have previously been roaming the Brower Student Center, asking students questions and causing alarm. The suspect was also found to have a $100 warrant from Camden, N.J., Campus Police said.
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On Saturday, March 8, at 11:30 a.m., several items were stolen from the Lions Stadium Press Box, said Campus Police. A $50 pair of Eddie Bauer handheld binoculars and a $2 box of 20 pencils were stolen from an unsecured black cabinet inside the Press Box. The student who called in the claim said that he had last seen the stolen property on Thursday, March 5, placing the top of a cardboard box and a lacrosse rule book on top to conceal the items. When he returned three days later, Campus Police said the box and book had not moved but the items were missing.
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Appearing on the Brower Student Center’s first floor bathroom, a Swastika was drawn on the wall within the stall and reported on Saturday, March 8, at 6:10 p.m. According to Campus Police, the symbol was drawn with black magic marker and consequently taped over with paper until maintenance could arrive. The student who found it said he had been to the bathroom several times that day but had not noticed the Swastika earlier.
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On Thursday, March 6, at 4 p.m., a student was arrested for trespassing in Hausdoerffer Hall, according to Campus Police. The student had signed out the key to room 100B at the hall office before being reported, at which point Campus Police arrived on the scene. The officers then noticed a passing student matching the profile — according to his answers, he was confirmed as the suspect. Campus Police said the student was aware he had received a letter banning him from campus, but that he had returned to move out of his room. The student was then arrested and charged with Criminal Trespass.
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Students were charged with underage drinking on Friday, March 7, at 12:35 a.m. in the Decker Hall basement. Campus Police arrived to the sounds of loud music from down the hall — upon opening the door, officers observed a visible wine bottle atop the dresser. Campus Police also said the odor of alcohol was pungent and all inhabitants of the room had glossy, bloodshot eyes. Officers performed Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Tests on each student, and each matched the characteristics of intoxicated individuals, according to Campus Police. Summons were issued to all.
(02/26/14 1:09am)
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 2:50 a.m., Campus Police were dispatched on the report of a student experiencing chest pains after inhaling marijuana. According to Campus Police, the student attested that he, in his own words, “went to 7-11, got rolling papers, and smoked a J,” before walking back to campus. 15-20 minutes after smoking, the student began to experience chest pains that continued for about an hour and a half. The student was treated by Lions EMS and stated that he was not in possession of any more marijuana, Campus Police said.
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A student was reported to be unconscious in the Wolfe 9 men’s room on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 3 a.m., according to Campus Police. When the officer arrived, he spoke with the student, who was now awake and alert. After being treated by Lions EMS, the student admitted to having consumed four Bud Lights earlier in his dorm before passing out. Campus Police said the student was allowed to remain on campus.
(02/25/14 8:36pm)
On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was a watershed piece of legislation, ending de jure segregation and discriminatory policies from the workplace to the voting booth. It also began to mend America’s social inequality that had persisted — and in many ways continues to do so — for so long.
On this year marking the bill’s 50th anniversary, the struggle against that inequality has not been diminished. But it’s no longer solely defined by images of the Black Freedom Movement marching on Birmingham and Washington. To Cornel West, professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary and professor emeritus at Princeton University, the movement is universal.
“The black freedom movement has never been a movement solely about black people,” West said. “It’s about raising these questions about what it means to be human — questions of truth and questions of love, knowing, of course, that justice is what love looks like in public.”
West knows this best. As one of the premier public intellectuals of this era, his work has closely dissected race relations in American democracy as they’ve evolved over the course of half a century. Through lenses of race, gender, culture and what he defines as the politics of “non-Marxist socialism,” West is a breathing textbook, all at once espousing economic theories and allusions to the Wu-Tang Clan. Speaking to the College on Thursday, Feb. 20, he discussed the lessons of civil rights activism with much of the same panache, equal parts preacher and profound cultural scholar.
Those lessons learned from the Black Freedom Movement are better described as values. According to West, no intellectual stated them better than historical black activist W.E.B. DuBois.
“DuBois put it best when he wrote, ‘How shall integrity face oppression? What shall honesty do in the face of deception, decency in the face of insult,’ and ‘what shall virtue do to meet brute force?’” West said.
These questions of value have racked the minds of leaders and thinkers alike, phrased as seemingly answerless appeals with contradictions aplenty. But their significance cannot be understated.
“When I started with that quote from DuBois — integrity, honesty, decency and virtue — they must never be reduced to market value,” West said in an interview with The Signal. “Once they’ve been reduced, civilization becomes a spiritually vacuous culture. Everything becomes empty.”
The Black Freedom movement carried these values not as burdens, but as torches. The greatest members of their community, from Martin Luther King Jr. to Nelson Mandela, cannot be called great men on the basis that they were willing to forgive “while sitting in that jail,” according to West. To claim all activism is forgiveness would be a mischaracterization. Rather, it was the magnitude of their love that “spilt over” and raised them up to a calling, a cause, with voices that were distinct among many.
“(The Black National Anthem) doesn’t say lift every echo, but lift every voice,” West said. “You’ll never be able to lift your voice if you don’t straighten up your back and ask questions about yourself and society.”
To think critically is just as necessary as love. Blacks didn’t respond to white oppression by forming a “black Al Qaeda,” West said, but answered instead with a unifying hand. Members of the movement did not “gangsterize” a country that had extorted them first. Nor did they squabble to become celebrities of their cause. The movement was grounded in a profound discourse, and the suffering of others was the suffering of the movement.
“We must not believe in blind faith,” West said. “God gave us a mind and we have to think, challenge ourselves, challenge institutions. Once it’s locked into ultimate authority ... then civilization is blacked out.”
In a time of economic and cultural unsettlement, the values adopted during the Black Freedom Movement are likewise the armaments for battling the future — of sacrificing, analyzing and downright loving. America grinds on the heels of troubling times. From Trayvon Martin’s shooting to the Supreme Court’s blow to equal voting rights, the struggle is clear and present. But West has seen it all. He asks that we interact with the world in ways that “touch somebody” to think critically, precisely what he does for every brother he meets, black, white and everything in between.
(02/18/14 4:23pm)
With a relentless torrent of snowstorms and ice battering the College, the campus has become nothing short of a tundra. Snow piles heap higher and higher as each week’s shower piles up, while ice patches, nasty and nearly invisible, stretch outside residence halls and high-traffic areas. Their presence, moreover, shows no signs of disappearing soon.
In the event of storms on the horizon, the College has a routine set of policies preparing for bad weather, from pitter-patters of snow to blizzards.
“Before any predicted storm, the Department of Facilities and Administrative Services ensures that salt supplies are well stocked (and that) trucks and other snow clearing equipment (loaders, Gators, snow blowers and power brooms) are in working order and fueled,” said David Muha, associate vice president for Communications, Marketing & Brand Management.
Once a storm hits, depending on the severity, the administration determines what needs to be plowed by the Office of Grounds and Landscape Maintenance Services. Safely cleared roads are essential for allowing passage for Campus Police or medical services, but areas around buildings can be just as hazardous to go uncleared.
In spite of the College’s efforts, many students have had difficulty traversing campus over the lasting residue of the storm season.
“Behind Cromwell, they don’t put salt on the sidewalk — it’s like TCNJ on ice,” sophomore economics major Nirali Vyas said.
Others have been injured directly on the unforgiving ice.
“I’ve slipped a couple of times,” senior civil engineering major Nancy Argueta said. “I feel like there’s not much they can actually do.”
These conditions seem almost permanent. Any improvements made on the grounds are reversed immediately upon the arrival of another storm. Even the administration has acknowledged the College’s gridlock to fight the snow.
“Although DFAS does its best to (clear the campus), the weather does not always cooperate,” Muha said. “Windy conditions can re-cover already cleared roadways and sidewalks, and daytime melting can refreeze at night causing icy conditions throughout the campus.”
Especially dangerous to walkers are the many uncleaned construction areas across campus, many of which remain haphazardly icy. In order to complete plumbing repair to New Residence Hall, a metal ramp stretches across the sidewalk leading to Decker Hall — as ice accumulates on top of the metal, students have unwittingly slipped on the platform.
“It’s the bridge of death,” sophomore psychology and education double major Laura Stiefbold said. “I fall every day.”
Onslaught of storms aside, the process of clearing the snow and ice appears slow.
“The storms this year have been a bit out of the ordinary,” Muha said. “Heavily traveled areas, both vehicular and pedestrian, tend to get snow packed, making it much harder to plow down to the pavement. In addition, salt does not work well on packed areas. Extremely cold temperatures have left DFAS with a relentless daily battle with ice.”
As February continues, more snowstorms hover on the radar. Each one adds a new successive layer to the already cemented sheets of ice across campus, and if the College doesn’t step up its fight against the inclement weather, campus conditions will falter on an ever more slippery slope.
(02/11/14 6:39pm)
Nick Offerman is the articulate American man. The character he most famously portrays — department head Ron Swanson of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” — is a representation of that American man, an outdoorsy, red-meat, red-blooded champion of individual liberty. Where Ron Swanson’s qualities are written to produce a comedic effect, the real-life Offerman, no less passionate in any of these traits, can use them as tools of eloquence. He isn’t just a concept of hypermasculinity or patriotism, he’s the thinking man as well.
“I wrote this show called ‘American Ham’ in which I detail 10 tips for prosperity, which are the chunks of broccoli in the meal — then I try to build a delicious pizza around it, so that the audience would stay for the pizza and unwittingly consume a bunch of broccoli,” Offerman said in an interview with The Signal. “And as you know, cruciferous vegetables are good for your circulatory system.”
Offerman, deciding he had “something to say to the young people in America,” left his established niche of theater and character acting in order to deliver a message — an American message, nonetheless, that dismantled our convictions and rebuilt them with a handsome mustache on top. So stopping at the College, Offerman headlined CUB’s spring Comedy Show on Friday, Feb. 7, with opener Andy Haynes giving a blistering opening act before passing the mic.
Students familiar with Ron Swanson recognized Offerman’s talents immediately. The character and the actor behind him appeared to be so seamlessly blurred that the two were at times indistinguishable. Rule number four requested we eat red meat, Ron’s culinary trademark. Nearly every point made an impassioned appeal to woodworking, a discipline of Offerman’s on-and-off the show, and an appreciation for hard work. Sometimes deadpan and always direct, Offerman’s performance meshed the dynamic of a theater actor with Swanson’s comedic qualities, combining to create a stage presence as funny as it was thespian.
What many didn’t expect was how unrestrained Offerman could be — and not just swaggering on stage without a shirt.
“Rule number eight,” Offerman said, “is to maintain a relationship with Jesus … if it is getting you sex.”
Dominating his tips to prosperity was a discussion of sex and religion, an edgy cocktail to serve. During rule number eight, Offerman dove into his teenage ploy to feign a born-again Christian attitude, all to sleep with a high-school crush.
“The two key ingredients are Christian guilt and sinful anticipation,” Offerman said.
Offerman’s follow-up rule: “Use intoxicants (responsibility),” in which he strung up his guitar to perform Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” only this time christened as “Jesus Take the Weed.”
Yet, all at once, Offerman was feeding a broccoli-laden lecture to an audience eating from the palm of his hand. Beyond the chuckles and hilarious vulgarity, Offerman stressed the socially-conscious values he personally believes in, from a respect for marriage equality to the fundamental need to develop a personal hobby or discipline.
“When you can make something with your hands, it’s not nerdy, it’s actually super-sexy,” Offerman said in rule number five. “Who would you rather be attracted to? Someone who can text fast, or someone who knit the dress that she’s wearing?”
Offerman is keenly aware of the cultural environment circulating around America. Times are changing. Some traditions hang proudly, while others resist modernity. As much as Offerman and Ron Swanson seem to be one in the same, it was not Swanson’s ideology that delivered the message on stage — that was entirely Offerman and his system of values, sorting through the principles we should keep and the ones to be discarded.
His individuality also came as a surprise to those who see so much mystique behind Offerman’s on-screen demeanor. Offerman admitted to sharing certain characteristics of Swanson’s lovable all-American zeal, but there’s again a difference between the character and the man behind him.
“I got the job when I was 38, and at the time, I had about three values — now I have seven,” Offerman joked in an interview. “So, from playing Ron, I share a lot of (his) sensibilities, but I certainly don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m not a fan of big government either, but Ron’s a masterfully written comedy character. He’s a little more clear-cut in his ideology than I am.”
Yet, as times change, so does Offerman’s career path. He “never dreamed he’d get a job as good as ‘Parks and Recreation,’” but after nearly six seminal years as Ron Swanson, there are new roles to fill.
“I’m a versatile actor,” Offerman said. “I do actually like to play all kinds of people, but the role that brought me into the public eye, Ron Swanson, he’s a rather manly customer. And people want to see me play manly guys. When ‘Parks and Rec’ is over, I’ll be looking to do things as unlike (Ron) as possible. I feel like I’ve had a wonderful smörgåsbord of manliness, and now maybe it’s time to play a ballet dancer.”
Whatever he puts his talents to, Offerman has always been more than the masculine paragon that heads the Pawnee Parks Department. It’s hard to imagine him in a white, powdered wig and Victorian accent, but that was his training, versatility being the key to his life’s work. It’s even harder to break the Swanson stereotype. But being the archetypical American man has always meant more to Offerman than the comedy — it’s about eloquence, diligence and passion, all with a dirty joke thrown in at the end for good measure.
(02/11/14 6:39pm)
On Tuesday, Feb. 4, police were dispatched to New Residence hall at 8:45 a.m. on reports of graffiti on the first and third floors, according to Campus Police. Scrawled in black magic marker, a hallway wall on the first floor read “BOMB SQUAD MOTHER FUCKERS” in all capital letters. Upon reaching the third floor, police found “BEST FRIEND” written in blue magic marker with an arrow drawn around the corner and pointing to the room of a resident. Campus Police said there was an additional uncapitalized “Best friend” on the door in question. When the residents were asked about the writing, both stated they had been home for the weekend and only discovered the writing on Sunday night. Additionally, their original black marker hanging on the door was replaced with a blue one, according to Campus Police. The scribbling suspects remain at large.
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A Travers resident was treated by Lions EMS after becoming ill on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 2 a.m. According to Campus Police, the female reportedly vomited in both the first floor women’s room and subsequently the third, being assisted back to her room by a friend. Police observed the student as she lay in bed, said Campus Police, and she admitted to consuming about five or six shots of vodka earlier that evening.
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On Sunday, Feb. 9, at 12:10 a.m., Campus Police responded to a noise and potential drug complaint from students on Wolfe 9. Students irritated by excessive noise knocked on the room in question, believing they also smelt a strong odor of marijuana, according to Campus Police. After approximately 10 minutes, Campus Police were called — according to Campus Police, no drug-related smell was observable, but upon entering the room, police noticed several shot glasses and peach Schnapps. All occupants denied involvement with marijuana. When the room’s owner eventually returned from the restroom, he claimed ownership for the alcohol and received the proper summons, Campus Police said.
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A victim reported a stolen bicycle on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 12 p.m, according to Campus Police. The student said she left her Great Mountain bike locked to the bicycle rack outside Phelps hall before she left for winter break — over a month ago on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Upon her return, it was missing. The bike is valued at approximately $500, Campus Police said.
(02/05/14 12:45am)
Taking a sabbatical at the College is considered a chance to improve one’s scholarship, a period for research, development and implementation. In the past, such an opportunity has been funded by a reduced sabbatical salary. This often puts the squeeze on professors juggling finances and projects, but that cut is about to be vastly offset.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, President R. Barbara Gitenstein and her husband, Donald Hart, announced the “Gitenstein-Hart Sabbatical Prize,” a $100,000 award given annually to one professor. The endowment is designed to expand the College’s scholarship and facilitate individual research, a big boost in faculty support from the administration.
“With this gift, we can expand the opportunity for generations of faculty in early or mid-career to engage in the kind of sustained deep scholarship that will profoundly shape not only their careers but the College,” provost and vice president for Academic Affairs Jacqueline Taylor said.
According to her speech, Gitenstein noted how strenuous it can be to balance academics, family and finance all at once, particularly for a professor early in his or her career. She and Hart experienced these struggles firsthand, but their endowment aims to ease the burdens that complicate a professor’s research.
This year’s recipient is associate professor of physics Nate Magee. His research, scheduled to begin in the next academic year, will explore experimental cloud physics, a medium for delving deeper into studies of climate change.
“My main focus is on the behavior of the ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds — the high altitude, thin and wispy clouds,” Magee said. “We’re applying new nanotechnology tools to answer fundamental questions about the way these ice crystals behave in the atmosphere, and in turn how they impact climate, questions that weren’t accessible before recent technological innovations.”
Such high-intensity research requires a sizeable budget. This has often stifled a professor’s studies, but thanks to the Gitenstein-Hart endowment, Magee’s future work will be made more feasible.
“I’m planning to dedicate intensive time toward data collection in the lab, submit several projects for publication, aggressively pursue federal funding for my lab and make week-long visits to four other research institutions in an effort to spur to new collaborations for my research and my TCNJ student collaborators,” Magee said. “The award will definitely help make (these) easier to accomplish and will certainly make the entire sabbatical year easier to manage for our family.”
This year’s prize was specially intended to select a recipient as soon as possible, according to the College’s website. But as the endowment grows, its capacity to fund multiple faculty members on sabbaticals will grow.
(02/05/14 12:42am)
A student, now removed from campus, was found to possess an assortment of 10 swords and knives, according to Campus Police. Campus Police were alerted to the items by the student’s roommate on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 8:04 a.m. The roommate had seen the collection previously in and around the student’s dresser drawer. The assortment itself included several 26-inch-long swords, footlong knives with sheaths and six- to nine-inch daggers, all professionally made. The items were recovered by Campus Police and kept as evidence.
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A victim reported a stolen wallet worth $25 on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m., according to Campus Police. The student discovered her wallet missing during an event in the Travers/Wolfe main lounge, where she had left her backpack and contents unattended while using the restroom. Campus Police said the wallet included a student ID, a Korean ID, a Bank of America debit card and a Metro card.
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On Thursday, Jan. 30, at 11:37 p.m., Campus Police responded to a reported odor of marijuana in Decker Hall. According to Campus Police, officers approached the room and were answered by a student who refused to allow them to enter. She also denied that anyone had been smoking. The officers observed a visible trail of smoke hanging in the room and a potent, burnt smell, despite the student’s continued objections, and the officers were ultimately unable to confirm the claim. According to Campus Police, all students signed into the room were issued summons.
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Campus Police were dispatched to Cromwell Hall on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 11:37 p.m. on claims of marijuana, according to Campus Police. The female student in question answered the door and allowed Campus Police to enter, after being reported by the floor’s CA. Upon being asked about marijuana, the student denied its presence, but then readily admitted to having alcohol in the room. Campus Police say the student opened her fridge to reveal a bottle of Jack Daniels, Smirnoff vodka and an assortment of beer. The CA helped dispose of the liquor before the student received a summons, according to Campus Police.
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A student was found vomiting in a bathroom on the first floor of Travers Hall on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 12:05 a.m. According to Campus Police, the suspect admitted to drinking one shot of vodka prior to becoming ill, and was seen by another student wobbling unsteadily down the hallway.
(01/28/14 10:56pm)
On Saturday, Jan. 18, at 7:30 p.m., four vehicles were broken into on the first floor of the Decker Parking Garage, according to Campus Police.
The first victim to file a report discovered the passenger window to his or her blue Nissan Sentra broken and the detachable face stereo removed but not lifted from the vehicle.
The second victim’s 2007 silver Saab 9-3 also had a broken passenger window, but the victim’s Garmin stereo CD/navigation system was stolen — a value of approximately $1,200, according to Campus Police.
The third victim’s driver’s side window was smashed, while the stereo to his 2006 Nissan Altima was unsuccessfully removed. Finally, the fourth victim’s passenger side window was shattered, and according to Campus Police, the non-functioning factory-installed stereo within the vehicle was stolen, valuing up to $50. Students were notified to make sure their vehicles were secure and that all valuables were hidden from view, Campus Police said.
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A Toshiba 10-inch tablet was reported stolen on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 1 p.m., according to Campus Police. A female student had left the tablet alone atop a table on Kendall Hall’s second floor, the student absent for a duration between 12:45 p.m. to 1 p.m. Upon her return, it was missing. According to Campus Police, the tablet was worth about $425.
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Campus Police were dispatched to Travers Hall on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 12:30 a.m. on reports of an intoxicated female student. The report was filed by the student’s roommate, who was concerned for her well-being.
According to Campus Police, the two students had been consuming alcoholic beverages such as Razz (raspberry vodka) earlier in the evening, concealed in Poland Spring bottles.
When the suspect’s roommate returned from a trip to the bathroom, she noticed that the suspect had consumed more and become ill, yet neglected to immediately get help for fear of getting in trouble. Campus Police say that the suspect had difficulty sitting up without support, and her speech was both slurred and unintelligible. Ultimately, Lions EMS transported the suspect to Hopewell Medical Center, according to Campus Police.
(01/21/14 5:40pm)
As much of campus awaits proper wireless connections and improved access to the existing “DOT1X” network, the College is entering year three of its multi-year wireless plan, with new buildings scheduled for updates between 2014 and 2015. Among these locations are certain residence halls, the townhouses and classrooms, but the process is trickier than a cursory glance might suggest.
The multi-year plan organizes its wireless agenda along a hierarchy of importance. Jointly headed by the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs offices, the plan prioritizes on housing and academic buildings first before moving onto areas such as administrative and operation centers, according to David Muha, associate vice president for Communications, Marketing and Brand Management.
“Among the factors considered in the (plan’s) phasing were the timing of renovation projects in buildings to receive Wi-Fi, housing amenities available to different cohorts of students and which installations would be most impactful,” Muha said.
Some updates will be completed as soon as the spring and summer, according to the College’s website.
Armstrong Hall, Bliss Hall, the Music Building and the Social Science Building are on deck for wireless installations, while Norsworthy Hall will gain access over the summer during its renovations.
2015 will bring other buildings to the forefront of the plan. Travers and Wolfe Halls are slated for wireless work, but their “size and construction” complicate a quick installation process, according to Muha
The Townhouses will also receive wireless connection in 2015. All the same, they tend to be equally as problematic.
“(They) are a unique problem because of how they are constructed,” Muha said. “The College is in the process of installing emergency phones in these units and plans to use the same conduit for wireless once this work is complete.”
Resident students have criticized the Townhouses in particular for their lack of proper wireless access where it should be seen as a necessity.
“Living in Townhouses East is difficult enough as it is … perhaps the biggest price one pays for living there is the dearth of wireless Internet,” said junior English and health and exercise science double major Craig Ismaili. “We only get one Ethernet port in the room, which means if we want to switch the Internet access from our computer to our gaming console, we have to manually change them. Devices such as Kindles have also been rendered useless.”
For those buildings already granted wireless access, the DOT1X system in place has also yielded mixed results. The network, which replaced the older Wireless-at-TCNJ network as of spring 2013, has left students befuddled — for many, the network’s performance has been shoddy and its reliability even poorer.
“The number of times I’ve tried to submit essays or do some last-minute research or even read my emails, only to face mind-numbing Internet slowness or total loss of connection, is infuriating,” sophomore political science major and resident of Decker Hall Sam Waxenbaum said. “The Internet connection here causes so many problems that logging onto PAWS sometimes makes me feel like I’m in purgatory.”
As far as the IT department is concerned, the occurrence of these setbacks is minimal, if not undocumented.
“A review of system’s operational data show many connections and many megabytes of data transferred into (buildings such as) Decker Hall, so Information Technology would need more information to focus in on a singular problem,” Muha said.
That said, no system is infallible. According to Muha, it’s likely that sitting at certain angles or locations can cause connection snags, but that Information Technology lacks the analysis needed to act on the matter.
“Students are encouraged to contact IT with specific locations, times and dates so that the support specialists can respond,” Muha said.
While the College is considering the feasibility of speeding up the installation process, according to Muha, many students will simply have to wait a little longer for the DOT1X network to reach their doorsteps.
(01/21/14 5:29pm)
On Wednesday, Dec. 4, a student reported his Jansport backpack missing from the basement of the Music Building, according to Campus Police. The student left his backpack in a swipe-in only locker room across from the primary rehearsal room, but after a group of students held the door open for others, the backpack disappeared. Police said the property, which included an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Stellar cellphone and wallet, was valued at $236.
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Two males were reported to be “visibly intoxicated” and eminating the odor of booze as they entered Wolfe Hall, according to Campus Police. The two were spotted by security on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1 a.m. Upon inspection, the suspects had trouble both standing and walking, and they denied requests for medical assistance.
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On Saturday, Dec. 7, police were dispatched to the 6th floor of Wolfe Hall on reports of an intoxicated student, according to Campus Police. The student was originally seen vomiting outside the 6th floor lobby elevator, then continued to be violenty ill inside the men’s bathroom. Police discovered a “pool of vomit” on the floor outside, and the suspect readily admitted to consuming some quantity of wine in the time prior to the event. Police say he proceeded to vomit into a plastic bag while sitting in a chair awaiting a ride to police headquarters.
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Criminal mischief occurred outside the Sodexo Office Room 43 in Decker Hall when five window screens were physically removed. Police arrived at the scene on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 8:25 p.m. only to find the screens frozen to the snow on the ground, unable to be secured. The office appeared to have no stolen property or physical intrusion, says campus police, but the damage to the windows will cost aproximately $400.
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A female student reported a stolen Macbook Air 13” Pro valued at $1,782 on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:15 a.m. According to campus police, the student entered Eickhoff Hall for breakfast at 7:15 a.m. and went to get food with a potentially unzipped backpack. She proceeded to Physic Room 230 at 7:50 and only discovered the computer to be missing upon returning to her dorm in Travers Hall later that afternoon. Campus Police noted that the girl contacted workers in both locations about the computer but to no avail.