61 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/05/19 5:52am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
On Feb. 22, CNN reported that thousands of Syrian civilians were still living under ISIS control in its last enclave in the country. A commander with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said that many civilians are fleeing the ISIS-held territory through tunnels and buildings.
Most of the people fleeing ISIS custody were women and children, who were separated from the men, who were taken for interrogation, according to NBC News.
An SDF commander said that civilians have been informing him that numerous ISIS fighters want to surrender, while many as 200 or 300 were planning to “‘fight to the end,’” according to CNN.
ISIS’s reigning control has dwindled over time. At its peak, ISIS had control of a population of 10 million people. That number has now been reduced to just thousands. According to CNN, it formerly controlled “an area the size of Great Britain,” but it now only has control over about a half of a square kilometer.
According to Commander Chia Kobani, the head of SDF operations, SDF fighters have slowed their advance on the remaining ISIS territory to avoid harming any civilians since ISIS often uses civilians as human shields, CNN reported.
In Syria, there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops, who are primarily there to aid the SDF in the fight against the Islamic State. Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesman, reported on March 2 that “the SDF were advancing on two fronts using medium and heavy weaponry.” He also stated that three SDF soldiers were wounded so far, according to the NBC News.
CNN reported that Nadim Houry, the director of terrorism and counter-terrorism at the Human Rights Watch, was worried about the well-being of the civilians. The civilians in custody include relatives of ISIS members or sympathizers.
HRW interviewed civilians escaping ISIS custody, who reported that the town had been destroyed by shells and air strikes. Conditions grew difficult and food supplies were short, but those who attempted to escape areas controlled by ISIS found it difficult because the group was punishing them and smugglers “‘were charging up to $400 per person,’” according to CNN.
Some of the people who had been bussed away from the territory, including a woman named Um Bassam, said that they still believed in and were loyal to ISIS, said CNN. She claimed that they wanted peace and to be ruled by the “‘law of the Almighty.’”
On Thursday, Feb. 28, President Donald Trump said that U.S.-backed forces “‘just took over’” the territory and defeated ISIS in the country, CNN reported.
“‘That means the area, the land, we have 100 percent, so that’s good,’” Trump said.
However, members of SDF said they were surprised to hear this. SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin said no final decision had been made. Others in Syria contradicted the president’s statement, saying the fight was not over. Even once ISIS loses its territorial holds, it is still likely to be a threat, which is why a few hundred U.S. troops will remain in Syria, according to The Washington Post.
‘“ISIS is not simply laying down arms and surrendering. Instead they’re preparing to make a last stand,”’ Zana Amedi tweeted, according to The Washington Post.
(02/26/19 7:06am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
On Feb. 4, an 11-year-old student in Florida was arrested for allegedly disrupting his classroom after refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance, according to USA Today.
The boy, who attends the sixth grade at the Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Florida, told his substitute teacher, Ana Alvarez, that he would not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because the American flag is “racist” and told her that the national anthem is offensive to black people, according to USA Today.
In response, she asked him why he did not go live somewhere else since it was “‘so bad’” here. The boy countered by saying, “they brought me here,” according to a handwritten statement from Alvarez that The Washington Post credited.
Alvarez, an immigrant from Cuba, told the boy that he could go back if he wanted and that she would do so if she ever felt unwelcome in the U.S. Alvarez called the office because she did not want to keep “‘dealing with him,’” according to USA Today.
An officer and school administrator tried to calm the boy down and asked him to leave the classroom more than 20 times. He refused and allegedly made threats as he was escorted to the office, according to USA Today.
The student reportedly yelled at the administrative dean and the school resource officer from the Lakeland Police Department, accused them of being racist and refused to leave the room.
The affidavit stated that as he walked out of the classroom the sixth grader said, “‘Suspend me! I don’t care. This school is racist,’” The Washington Post reported.
He was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center and charged with “disrupting a school function and resisting an officer without violence,” according to USA Today.
The Washington Post reported that the student is facing misdemeanor charges.
“‘This arrest was based on the student’s choice to disrupt the classroom, make threats and resisting the officer’s efforts to leave the classroom,’” police said.
The boy’s mother denied the accusation of him of threatening to beat the teacher and asked for the charges to be dropped, USA Today reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida reprimanded the school amidst the ensuing controversy, saying that students’ First Amendment rights do not go away when they go to school.
The boy’s mother said that the school overstepped its authority and that any disciplinary action should have been handled by the school, without arresting the student, according to The Washington Post.
On Feb. 19, Roderick O. Ford, a lawyer for the student’s family, said the family had refused a deal that involved him participating in a diversion program, which could include a fine and community service because he did not accept the version of facts laid out by the school and police department.
The lawyer also said he planned to file a civil rights complaint with the federal Department of Education because the boy was punished for exercising his First Amendment rights. Later that day the state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit in Florida stated that the student would not be prosecuted and the case was closed, as reported by the The New York Times.
(02/12/19 9:10pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Students attended the Student Involvement Fair on Feb. 4 in the Brower Student Center from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. to check out the different clubs and student organizations available on campus.
The fair featured a variety of student organizations, including Student Government, the NAACP, TCNJ Emergency Medical Services, the Outdoors Club, the Italian Club and the Leadership Development Program. Various fraternities, sororities and club sports also represented themselves at the event.
Also in attendance was the Order of the Nose Biting Teacups, the College’s official Harry Potter Club. Sara Davidson, a junior communication studies major and president of the club, promoted her organization to all students at the fair.
“(The club is) a place for people who come from all different walks of life and come together for their love of J.K. Rowling’s magical series,” Davidson said.
The club also includes activities such as crafting, competitions and fundraising. Its meetings take place on Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. in the Social Sciences Building Room 225.
“It’s basically a big family, at least that’s what we try to do,” Davidson said. “It’s a fun time.”
Another club present at the fair was Student United Way, an organization dedicated to participating in community service throughout the Trenton-Mercer area. Its volunteer activities include dog walking and the PB&J Race, an annual event where several teams compete to make as many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as possible to donate to the community, according to Chris Masusock, a junior business management major and president of the organization.
At another booth, students represented the Planned Parenthood Generation Action, a project of Planned Parenthood Action Plan with a branch at the College.
“Our mission is to engage and educate the TCNJ community about sexual health, reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood through meetings, events, service and political activism,” said Alyssa Esposito, a senior English and secondary education dual major and president of PPGA at the College.
Students could also visit a martial arts club at the fair, Aikido.
“(Aikido) focused more on redirecting your opponents and defeating them before they can hurt you,” said Nicole Stuebben, a second-year graduate student at the College and an Aikido club member. “One of our senseis is 6 foot 2 and our shortest members are 4 foot 11 and they can flip him.”
Also at the fair was the Black Student Union, which promoted both awareness and education of black culture on campus. Stahlhelm Damus, a sophomore chemistry major and secretary of the organization, stated the importance of creating a positive and productive and safe space that allows everyone to de-stress and experience multicultural programming and events.
Many fraternities, sororities and other Greek Life groups were also at the fair.
“Greek Life has become a very big part of the TCNJ community,” said Sabrina Mazahreh, a junior biology major and vice president of the Inter-Greek Council. “It’s a really important part for some people ... if they feel like they’re missing something in the TCNJ experience.”
In the past, the involvement fair has generally been held on Wednesday afternoons rather than on Monday nights.
“We were unable to reserve a space large enough for us during the day, so we picked Monday night,” Assistant Director of Student Affairs Jessica Claar said. “(We) thought it was a great way to kick off the week. The Spring Involvement Fair is really a good way to get a good idea of life on campus.”
Dave Conner, the director of Student Involvement, was pleased with the student turnout at the event.
“The number of students who came out after their class got out is really awesome, even more than we had expected,” he said.
One of the students who went to the fair was Cassie Oleniacz, a freshman math major. She enjoyed learning about the different ways to get involved on campus.
“I thought that the variety of clubs gives TCNJ an inclusive environment,” she said.
Nick Cernera, a junior philosophy and math double major, felt positive after attending the fair.
“(It was) fun and engaging and I found a number of clubs I’m interested in joining,” he said.
(02/05/19 2:17pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
On Jan. 25, President Donald Trump reached a funding deal with Congress to end the longest government shutdown in United States history, according to The Washington Post.
The partial shutdown began shortly before Christmas, when the House and Senate both passed a funding bill. Trump declined to sign it because it did not contain any money for his proposed wall along the Southern border. The shutdown dragged on into the new year with the Republican-controlled Senate backing the president, and eventually reached a length of 35 days, making it the longest in history, according to The Washington Post.
Trump previously said that he would be proud to shut down the government for border security, and threatened to keep it partially closed for “‘months or even years’” if he did not get the more than $5 billion that he had requested for his border wall, according to The New York Times.
During the shutdown, nine of the 15 federal departments and dozens of federal agencies were closed. Seventy-five percent of government services were unaffected by the shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers went without pay during the shutdown, and another several hundred thousand were furloughed and not working at all. Among affected departments was the Food and Drug Administration, which was not inspecting domestic food-processing facilities. Many national parks were closed, and many more remained open with limited staff. Visitors caused significant damage to the parks, with trash piling up. Immigration courts were also closed, according to CBS News.
Although Trump had said he would keep the government closed, he faced increasing political pressure even from his own party, as well as security concerns. His agreement to reopen the government was criticized by some on the right as being a sign of weakness. In a tweet, conservative commentator Ann Coulter called Trump “‘the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States.’” The shutdown also hurt the president’s approval ratings significantly. Public disapproval is now at 58 percent, according to The Washington Post.
After the government officially reopened on Jan. 28, federal workers received their first paychecks since the shutdown began on Dec. 22. They had missed multiple paychecks, which caused financial strain, according to NPR. Some federal workers were even going so far as to return Christmas presents to the store, according to CBS News. Even after the end of the shutdown, many are still facing a significant loss of morale, with some workers saying it is no longer as rewarding as it once was to work for the federal government. An EPA attorney said it could hurt recruiting, according to NPR.
The bill Trump signed only reopens the government until Feb. 15, and he said that the government could shut down again if the border wall is not funded by then, according to The Washington Post. In response to this statement, several lawmakers said they are working to create a bill that would automatically create a continuing resolution if a budget is not passed to fund the government, which would stop presidents from using them as a negotiating tactic, according to ABC News.
(12/05/18 3:44am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
A slow melody filled the room as a performer sang her solo and the lines of performers behind her bumped to the beat. Shortly after, the whole group began to play the drums and sing, “it takes a whole village to raise our children.” This was the opening performance of the College Choir’s Winter Concert, which was held on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. in Mayo Concert Hall.
The first section of the event was performed by the College Choir, which sang four songs, “It Takes a Village,” by Joan Szymko, “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” by Eric Whitacre, “MLK” by U2 and a gospel blues song, “John, the Revelator,” by Blind Willie Johnson.
The song “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” adapted by Whitacre from poems his wife wrote when they were dating, had a soft and sweet tone. Piano and violin accompanied the singers. Behind the singers, the words to the songs and the English translations were revealed on screen.
The performance of “MLK” was dedicated to Jason Zujkowski, a music education major who recently passed away. Before the song, a moment of silence was held in his memory. The performers in the concert all wore red ribbons in memory of Zujkowski and to raise awareness of heart disease.
After the College Choir performed, the Collegium Musicum, a vocal chamber ensemble of both music and non-music majors, took the stage for its performance of the evening. The group performed two songs, “Lasciatemi morire!” an Italian song from the Baroque era by Claudio Monteverdi and “Chili con Carne,” an upbeat song about cooking Mexican food by Anders Edenroth.
The Chorale was next to perform. The group sang five songs, “Jubilate Deo,” by Ko Matsushita, “Three Madrigals,” by Emma Lou Diemer, “A Boy and a Girl,” by Eric Whitacre, “Pal-so-seong,” (“Eight Laughing Voices”) by Hyo-won Woo and “I Can Tell the World,” by Moses Hogan.
“Three Madrigals” uses three short songs about love and heartbreak and ends with the revelation that “all men are jerks,” according to the introduction of the song. Woo is known for contemporary works that incorporate themes from both Korean and Western culture. She also weaves humor into her music, and “Eight Laughing Voices” included the sounds of several people laughing, which gave the song a lighthearted tone.
After the Chorale performed, the College Choir and Collegium Musicum rejoined the stage for the show’s combined finale. They performed three more songs: “O Fortuna!” by Carl Orff, “Va, pensiero,” by Giuseppe Verdi and the final song, “I Sing Because I’m Happy,” by Charles H. Gabriel. The audience was invited to join the performers in singing the final piece, which was very upbeat.
Most of the songs in the show were contemporary pieces, as the intention of the concert was to exemplify this music style. John P. Leonard, the director of choral activities at the College, explained that the group picked out mostly 20th century works for the repertoire.
Leonard also said that he appreciated both spiritual and collaborative works, that allowed students to sing and learn more interactively.
According Sydney McGowan, a sophomore psychology and early childhood education major and a member of the choir, the College Choir’s preparation consists of rehearsal on Mondays and Thursdays as well as ample individual practice.
“It’s so much fun. It’s a lot of hard work, but it all pays off,” she said.
The concert hall was packed with members of the campus community, who were eager to see the show.
“I thought it was a fantastic performance and I love coming out to hear the Chorale and College Choir and Collegium Musicum,” said Katie Cole, a sophomore elementary education major.
(11/27/18 6:01pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Three people wearing gis stood by a mat on the floor. One of them stepped on to the mat, and another charged at them. The person on the mat promptly grabbed the person charging, flipped them, and slammed them onto the mat.
On Nov. 14, in the Brower Student Center Room 101, students studying Japanese and members of various clubs came together to host Bunkasai, a Japanese Cultural Festival that was open to students and faculty.
According to Holly Didi-Ogren, the Japanese program director at the College, students from various Japanese classes helped prepare for the event. They were in charge of the food, decorations and other details that helped spread the word of the event and make it a success.
In addition, as a project, small groups each presented on a topic throughout the night. Clubs on campus, such as Aikido and The Society for Creative Endeavors (an anime club), were invited to give presentations as well.
Some of the presentations throughout the night included a quiz on the Okinawa region of Japan, a tongue-twister tournament, a martial arts demonstration by Aikido and a presentation on Kabuki, a type of Japanese theater, that gave guests at the event the opportunity to have their faces painted. Students attending the event also had room to get creative. They could visit a station at the event where they could decorate little birds called kotori.
In addition to the interactive aspects of the event, there were also presentations and performances for people to view.
One of the presentations was a kami-shibai, a traditional form of picture storytelling mostly used for children’s entertainment. The particular story presented at the event was based on Star Wars.
Nick Waszkiewicz, a senior computer science major was one of the people behind the project. He worked hard to help bring the story to life.
“I wanted to create a bridge between the Western and Eastern cultures,” he said. “I felt that Star Wars would be a very good way to do that.”
Didi-Ogren said that Bunkasai, which began in 2011, was created when the College had a house where students who were studying Japanese all lived together. Though the house no longer exists, the program has remained.
“It’s a chance to bring all the students studying Japanese together,” she said. “It’s a chance to...bring more awareness of Japanese language and culture into the community.”
Meaghanne McBride, a junior music and Japanese double major who is taking Japanese 202, presented on Taiko, a type of Japanese drumming. She said that she developed an interest in Japanese culture from watching anime as a child.
The event coordinators served traditional Japanese foods at the event. There were chestnuts, rice crackers and a type of sushi called Inarizushi, made with dried tofu and seasonings. There were also candies, mainly Hi-Chew and Pocky, brands that Didi-Ogren said were more well-known in the U.S. There were rice bowls called Onigiri, which were wrapped in seaweed at the bottom. Some of them had pickled plums inside, while others had seasonings around the edges.
Even some alumni came back for the event. James Hebditch (’18), studied interactive multimedia. He explained that he had been part of a Japanese class last year and that he was eager to visit and be around the sense of community and camaraderie among the students involved.
“I thought it would be cool to come back, visit people, see how things have changed,” he said.
Tom Daley, a junior criminology major, was there as part of The Society for Creative Endeavors to do a presentation on origami anime characters.
“I’m hoping to learn a lot about Japanese culture,” he said, “it’s a very beautiful culture, and I hope to have a better understanding of the art.”
(11/06/18 12:33am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
A gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 27, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
The suspect, Robert Bowers, allegedly walked into the synagogue with an AR-15 rifle and three handguns during a weekly Shabbat service shouting, “All Jews must die.” The incident is being investigated as a hate crime by the FBI, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
Bowers received a 44-charge indictment, including several hate crime charges, which could lead to the death penalty if he is convicted. Bowers pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance, according to USA Today.
The shooting killed 11 people and injured six others, four of which were police officers, according to USA Today. Bowers was also wounded in the massacre.
The victims of the shooting included two brothers who had regularly attended services since their childhoods, a doctor who led Torah studies, and a research assistant who was also a front-door greeter, according to The Washington Post.
The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97, and included a husband and wife, according to USA Today.
Some of the burials took place as soon as Tuesday, Oct. 30, while others were delayed due to the investigation. Jewish customs require burials to happen as soon as possible, and do not generally allow for disfigurement of the body, though exceptions can be made for autopsies in an investigation, according to USA Today.
Respecting burial rules is particularly important for the victims’ families since they were killed specifically for being Jewish and are thus considered holy martyrs, according to USA Today.
Many people stepped forward to help in the aftermath of the shooting, according to ABC News.
Just one day after the tragedy, two Muslim groups started raising money for the victims, and by Oct. 28 had raised nearly $80,000 from more than 1,800 donors, according to CBS.
Bowers was known for being anti-Semitic, and had published posts on the social network site Gab about HIAS, a Jewish organization that helps both Jewish and non-Jewish refugees escaping persecution. Bowers believed that Jews were funding mass immigration into the U.S. and was particularly concerned with the caravan of Honduran immigrants that President Donald Trump has used to stoke immigration fears, according to New York Magazine.
Trump visited Pittsburgh on Oct. 31 to see the synagogue and meet with the rabbi who survived the attack along with families of victims. This visit was against the wishes of many residents of Pittsburgh, as tens of thousands of people signed an online petition telling Trump he was not welcome in Pittsburgh until he “‘fully denounced white nationalism,’” according to The Washington Post.
(10/28/18 9:17pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Felicia Steele, an assistant professor in the English department, noticed a pungent smell coming from the area near the elevator and stairs in Bliss Hall on Sept. 15.
Two days later, the smell grew worse. Steele and the English department’s program assistant Michelle Ordini suspected that the stench was coming from a decomposing animal, likely a rodent.
“Our program assistant tried to get someone to come out and figure out what was going on, because there was some kind of dead animal trapped somewhere,” Steele said. “They weren’t able to find it. The smell persisted for another five days and then it disappeared.”
Ordini said that the mice came into the building after there was a change in weather.
After the rodents’ discovery, Steele explained that exterminators put mouse traps in different areas of the basement and the first floor of the building, which houses the philosophy department. Despite efforts to reduce the smell, Steele and other faculty members still could not work on the first floor until the issue was resolved.
“I think the reason that I was so frustrated about it was because it made the whole first floor and the kitchen completely unusable,” Steele said. “There was no way to step into the space because it just smelled so horrible.”
Steele said that all of the faculty members, staff and students who spend time in the Bliss Hall Lounge are affected by the smell.
“It’s a really painful place to be,” she said.
Steele explained that she has a very acute sense of smell, and that this incident agitated her. She is concerned by the College’s lack of response to handle the situation.
“Part of what’s so frustrating is that people don’t seem to necessarily be as responsive, or there don’t seem to be as many staff members, like custodial and facility staff, available to the department staff as there once were,” Steele said.
Silas Jones, a junior English and secondary education major, said that students should not have worry about the presence of rodents in academic buildings.
“I was sitting in Bliss for three hours today,” Silas said. “I would rather not have to be around mice.”
(10/02/18 1:11am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
In the first installment of the colloquium series, “Plague, Progress, and Prevention: 100 Years after the ‘Spanish Flu’ Changed the World,” the School of Science held a presentation titled “The Great Epidemic, 100 Years Later,” on Sept. 25 in the Education Building Room 212.
Gina Kolata, a reporter for The New York Times and author of “Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It,” explained the story of how the specific strain of flu responsible for the 1918 outbreak was uncovered and recreated nearly a century after the deadly pandemic devastated the world.
The driving force behind organizing the event was Rita King, an adjunct faculty member in the biology department.
According to King, the lecture was timed to be presented around the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu pandemic. King studies emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and personal ties to the flu ––– her grandfather succumbed to the disease after being ill for just one week.
Kolata described the flu strain as a masked murderer who, around 100 years ago, was never brought to justice. The flu pandemic of 1918, known as the Spanish flu, killed more people than both World Wars, the Korean war and the Vietnam war combined, according to Kolata.
Kolata further explained that unlike most flu viruses, which commonly infect children, the weak and the elderly, the Spanish flu instead attacked young, healthy people. After the virus wreaked havoc on the world and brought the life expectancy in the U.S. down from 51 to 39, the virus mysteriously disappeared. Nobody was able to find a living sample or determine its makeup, according to Kolata.
The story of the discovery of the Spanish flu virus involves three of its victims: a 21-year-old private named Roscoe Vaughan, a 30-year-old soldier named James Down and an obese woman from a remote Alaskan village.
Vaughan was the first of the three to die. He died at a training camp on Sept. 26, 1918, with his chest cavity full of fluid. The doctor who autopsied him sent a sample of his lung, sealed in candle wax, to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, a medical repository for military deaths started by Abraham Lincoln.
Downs died later the same day in Camp Upton, New York, and his doctor also sent a lung sample to the Institute.
When the flu reached the remote Alaskan village where the third victim lived, it killed 72 of roughly 80 adults in the village and orphaned many children. The victims were buried in a frozen mass grave.
The flu epidemic then ended, with millions dead. For decades, it was rarely discussed.
In 1950, the story resumed when a Swedish medical student in Iowa named Johan Hultin heard that a famous biologist his department give advice on how to find the Spanish flu virus –– people should go north and find the bodies buried in the Alaskan permafrost.
Hultin, having recently been to Alaska, knew somebody who knew the locations of such graves. He found the village where the obese woman lived and convinced the local elders to let him dig up bodies. He found samples of the virus, and tried to insert them into chicken eggs and then animals, but failed, assuming that the virus was dead.
The flu again went unnoticed for decades.
In 1995, Jeff Taubenberger, a member of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, decided that he was going to try to rediscover the 1918 flu strain. Despite the odds against him, he managed to find Vaughn’s DNA sequence that had been sent to the repository in the midst of World War I.
He then published a paper, and got another strain of evidence from Downs’ body, but he still did not have enough information to make a claim about the virus’ whereabouts.
Hultin, after reading Taubenberger’s paper, told the researcher about the Alaskan village. Hultin went to the village’s mass grave and found the body of the obese woman.
According to Kolata, the woman was the only victim whose body had not fully decomposed. He put samples of her lungs in the mail and Taubenberger received them, confirming that the virus he had seen in the soldiers was indeed the 1918 Spanish flu.
Since this discovery, Taubenberger has been working on a vaccine to cure every strain of the flu. Many questions about the flu remain unanswered –– why did it target the young and healthy? Why were many children left untouched?
Regardless of remaining loose ends, Kolata acknowledges how far researchers have come.
“This was an amazing accomplishment,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that scientists could find the 1918 flu when it had been gone from the Earth for over 50 years.”
Lexy O’Neill, a senior nursing major, attended the event to learn about King’s work.
“I got a lot of good information that I didn’t know,” O’Neill said. “I had no idea that they had reconstructed the flu virus, that it was a completely ignored topic.”
Fortunately, the risk of the virus claiming lives in modern times remains low — Kolata explained that the flu’s effects would not be as devastating if it returned, because the population today is generally healthier than 100 years ago.
(09/26/18 12:29am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
From Matt Groening, the creator of “The Simpsons” and “Futurama,” comes Netflix’s “Disenchantment,” a new animated series with a satirical take on classic medieval princess fantasies.
In a world where princesses married their betrothed and they all lived happily ever after, “Disenchantment” barrels in with its feminist attitudes and dark humor. The rebellious Princess Bean and her two best friends, an elf named Elfo and Luci, her personal demon, partake in all sorts of adventures after the princess refuses to marry her prince and runs away from her own wedding.
There’s a lot to like about this series. Bean, (Abbi Jacobson), is a female protagonist centuries ahead of her time. She is searching for her own identity and ready to get to the nitty gritty ends of the world to find it.
Whether she’s throwing a wild party while the king is out of town, trying to find a job, or going on a wild adventure to save her demon friend from an exorcist, Bean handles her exploits with all the grace of a drunk 19-year-old.
From likeable to loveable, Elfo (Nat Faxon) is the fun, optimistic sidekick needed to lighten up any adventure his friends embark on. Coming from a world of candy-making elves who are always happy, his bubbly attitude often provides a contrast to the darker humor of Bean and Luci (who is delightful in his own sick, raised-in-hell sort of way). Elfo is not a stereotype, though — he has an emotional side, which comes to light particularly in the last few episodes of the series.
A significantly less likeable character is King Zog, Bean’s father and the king of Dreamland, the fictional kingdom in which the show is set. Zog is overbearing, manipulative and greedy — but like the other characters on the show, he is not one-dimensional. His growth throughout the series adds even more charm to the show, as he realizes that he has been a bad father with motives that differ from the audience’s perception.
There are certain aspects of the series I could have done without, particularly Elfo’s backstory in the middle of the season, but overall, the show is very entertaining and makes good use of humor that mocks classic fantasy tropes — such as making Bean’s stepmother a literal tentacled creature.
The show takes relatable scenarios about being a young adult and places them in the context of the medieval world including palaces, diplomacy and even the plague. It makes humor out of real-world issues, like when Bean says, “I didn’t know elves were racist,” but it also includes outlandish situations, such as poison that turns people to stone or a drink that turns people into pigs.
The show takes a lot of interesting twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, and subverts a lot of classic tropes. I would definitely recommend the show for anyone who’s a fan of strong female characters, dark humor and satirical medieval fantasy.
(09/18/18 12:27am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
The CEO of CBS, Leslie Moonves, was let go from the network on Sept. 10 after he was accused of multiple instances of sexual assault by six female CBS employees, according to ABC News.
In a statement, Moonves denied the allegations, saying that he had consensual relations with three of the women who accused him and that the other stories were fabricated, according to ABC News.
In light of the allegations, CBS and Moonves will donate $20 million to organizations supporting the Me Too movement and workplace equality, according to ABC News.
Moonves’ release from CBS comes as part of the larger Me Too movement, which has contributed to several men in prominent fields, such as entertainment and politics, stepping down due to allegations of sexual harassment.
The term “Me Too” in reference to sexual violence was coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke, a civil rights activist. The current movement was ignited after a New York Times article published in October of 2017 accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually abusing women over the span of multiple decades.
After this, the message “Me Too” began surfacing again as several more men were accused, including actor Kevin Spacey and former Minnesota senator Al Franken, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Joseph Iannello, CBS’s chief operating officer, will serve as acting chief executive officer until a replacement for Moonves is found, according to ABC News.
Despite the circumstances of his departure from CBS, Moonves could still receive up to $120 million in severance pay, depending on the results of an internal investigation conducted by CBS. However, the Time’s Up movement, a movement against sexual harassment and in support of workplace equality, urged CBS to instead donate that money to organizations that support workplace safety and combat sexual harassment, according to Rolling Stone.
Time’s Up advocates wrote a letter to CBS, in which they also implored the company to make changes to its corporate structure and workplace culture. The letter called for investigations into any sexual harassment allegations, oversight of the workplace and a safe working environment, according to the Rolling Stone.
The movement also encouraged CBS to make its workplace more diverse, and to make sure that there were no pay gaps due to gender or race. The movement accused the company of not hiring enough underrepresented groups to their board to reflect the network’s viewership, and assert that a lack of diversity and inclusion allows for more sexual harassment, according to Rolling Stone.
(09/10/18 11:09pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Giving students the opportunity to explore different options the school provides for studying in other countries, the College held its study abroad fair on Sept. 5, in the Education Building Room 212.
The fair represented a variety of destinations. Students could study anywhere from Dublin to the Galapagos Islands, Peru or Paris. The trips included semester-long programs, summer programs, winter programs and trips during the “Maymester,” which are the weeks immediately following the end of the academic year.
Some of the faculty-led trips offer courses that are taught in short periods of time. Other programs offer multiple classes in areas such as foreign language or international studies.
One program available to students is the Spring Hill College Italy Center. Spring Hill College is located in Mobile, Alabama and has a campus in Bologna, Italy, according to Mary Hutti and Jordan Byrne, representatives from Spring Hill College, which began its partnership with the College in 2012.
The School for Field Studies, which allows students to do field-based, environmentally focused work while living in a research center. It was founded by ecologists in 1980 and has worked with the College for 15 years. They offer semester courses and summer courses.
The College has also been partnering with the Foundation for International Education for over 10 years to run the TCNJ London Study Center, according to Erika Richards, the vice president of institutional relations at the foundation. The program combines study with an internship and allows students at the College to earn transfer credits.
TCNJ Spain offers both a five-week summer option and a semester-long option to study in Madrid.
Isabel Kentengian, the College’s faculty director of the spring semester program for TCNJ Spain, said that students should seek to maximize their study abroad experience.
“Students who are studying abroad should ask themselves, ‘what is it that you want to get out of study abroad?’” Kentengian said. “The reasons people give often include getting to know another culture and language, wanting to travel, wanting to have fun and wanting to discover who they are.”
Students can also enroll in the College’s exchange programs, which give them the ability to attend another school for a semester or a year and allows students from other colleges to attend the College in their place.
Kiersten Newkirk, a senior communication studies major and the college enhancement intern for the Center for Global Engagement, was at the fair representing various faculty-led programs. Newkirk said that she studied abroad in New Zealand during her sophomore year. She explained that it was an extraordinary experience for her, and the Center for Global Engagement was a huge asset throughout the process.
When she returned to the College, she felt motivated to work for the Center for Global Engagement and have “the opportunity to help (her) peers go abroad and have similarly wonderful adventures,” she said.
Newkirk was happy to see that there were a lot of programs tailored for different majors, because it gave more students the chance to study abroad.
Julie Bang, a freshman elementary education major, had been interested in studying abroad but didn’t know she could have the opportunity to travel with her major.
“There are a lot of places you can go,” Bang said. “Students of every nature can go anywhere that interests them.”
(09/04/18 5:31am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed bill S-865 into law, which expanded on the New Jersey Economic Stimulus Law passed in 2009, when he visited campus on Aug. 14.
The 2009 law permitted colleges to enter public-private partnerships that allow for building projects and highway infrastructure, meaning that private organizations can construct and run business on public land owned by a college, as long as the college still owns the land. The law requires local public input and finance controls.
The law eventually led the College to lease out its land for the construction of Campus Town, which now contains a myriad of privately-owned businesses.
According to Campus Town’s website, the College reached out to private developers to design, operate and maintain new student apartments and retail stores after the passage of the 2009 law.
Campus Town is now home to several restaurants and retailers that serve both the student body and the public, in addition to four-bedroom, two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments for students. All of the business are owned by private organizations that lease the land from the College.
The law stipulated that the private entities would have financial and administrative responsibility for the development, construction, improvement and maintenance of the projects and that the private organizations would have to do all of the financing for the buildings, despite government ownership of the land.
The intention of extending the 2009 law is to further economic growth in New Jersey by allowing for more of these public-private partnerships, known as P3 agreements. “The New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act was initiated in 2009 and then extended in 2013 and again in 2015. The bill Gov. Murphy signed last week made the public-private partnership permanent with oversight by the NJ Economic Development Authority,” said Luke Sacks, the College’s head media relations officer.
The new bill was implemented immediately after Murphy signed it, meaning that the P3 agreements are now permanently protected and more can be made across the state.
College President Kathryn Foster commented on how the new bill was going to change the campus community, and the services that retailers provide.
“Campus Town is an enormously successful public-private partnership between TCNJ and The PRC Group,” Foster said. “This is a 350,000 square foot development that provides attractive housing, retail outlets and amenities for our students that would not have been possible without a P3 agreement.”
Governor Murphy applauded the bipartisan support of the bill and the economic benefits of public-private partnerships, according to a press release from the College.
He noted that both Democrats and Republicans recognize that tremendous benefits can be received when public officials and private sector partners work together.
“By doing so, we give state, county and local officials the much-needed flexibility they need to improve their communities while creating good-paying new jobs –– in most cases good, union jobs –– while leveraging private capital to invest in public infrastructure,” Murphy said, according to the press release.
(05/02/18 5:13am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
The seniors of the art and interactive multimedia department presented their senior capstone projects at a showcase in the Art and Interactive Multimedia building on Friday, April 27.
Between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., 37 projects were presented by senior interactive multimedia majors on the first and second floors of the building. Among the projects were a live-taped podcast, a virtual reality presentation, several animations and various interactive projects.
Ross Brody, a sophomore interactive multimedia major, was most interested in seeing the pinball machine that was built from scratch.
“I wanted to see what other people made so when I make my senior project I can get a scope of the ideas,” Brody said.
The pinball machine, created by Michael Martin and Dustin Guillemin, was called “Turbo Pinball Ultra” and was inspired by a pinball museum in Asbury Park. The project features images of space and the player’s score displayed. The projections were made using Unity, a 3-D game development program.
Another project on display was “15 Faces in the Forest,” by Chelsea Cariota, an interactive story in the style of a choose-your-own-adventure book played on a computer, though there was also a physical book made for display.
The cover art and story were designed by Cariota, an interactive multimedia and English double major, with her combination of multimedia and literary skills. The story involved the main character wandering in a forest, and was programmed using a free software called Twine that designs interactive stories.
Other displays included a board game modeled off of Dungeons and Dragons called “Monsters and Mayhem” by Jonathan Sayre and Anthony Defilippo.
“D&D is really fun, but it’s really complicated and hard to get into,” Sayre said. “We wanted to simplify that.”
The game has a fantasy setting and a hero and anti-hero players who attempt to eliminate each other.
Three of the projects on display were crowned winners by the panel of judges present, and the victorious creators were given prizes.
There were three judges at the panel. One was Will Richardson, a former teacher who is now a blogger. Another was Alice Cahn, a former vice president at Cartoon Network. The third judge was Sorraya Brashear-Evans (’16), an alumna who graduated with a double major in interactive multimedia and journalism and professional writing, and now works for CBS.
Haley Witko’s animation project, “R.A.D.I.S.H.,” a stop motion creation that includes 300 photos about a boy who does not know he is a robot, was selected as a winner by the judges.
The project began with concept art, and then the set was built from scratch.
“I really like sci-fi,” Witko said. “I also really like the idea of an underdog.”
The other projects that were selected by the judges were “Inner Speaker” by Jillian Festa and “Monkey See, Monkey Doom” by Austin Merritt.
All of the judges expressed that virtual reality and augmented reality are the most prevalent aspects of technology. Brashear-Evans mentioned that CBS is beginning to implement AR in the company.
“The world is becoming more visual,” Richardson said. “If you’re not using technology to solve real-world problems, you’re kind of wasting the opportunity.”
(04/24/18 6:25am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Daniel Bowen, associate professor of political science at the College, gave a lecture on April 17 titled, “Losing Your Soul To Gain The Presidency? Evangelicals, Identity, and Support for Donald Trump.”
During the hour-long talk, Bowen discussed the history of the Evangelical movement in the U.S. and the group’s voting patterns throughout American history, specifically in the 2016 presidential election.
“American politics is 90 percent social identity,” Bowen said. “We have different identities — we have conflicting identities. We tend to vote the way our parents voted. We tend not to switch parties in our lifetime.”
Bowen said at the beginning of the lecture that he studies elections and public opinion, and he was raised Evangelical and attended an Evangelical college.
“I think Evangelicals are one of the most important segments of the Republican party, so I wanted to understand it better,” he said.
The lecture began with a brief history of the Evangelical movement. Bowen explained how it has roots in the Second Great Awakening, which took place at the turn of the 19th century.
Nearly every Protestant denomination in the U.S. has an Evangelical sector, according to Bowen. Evangelicals believe in the accuracy of the Bible, and many of them believe strongly in sharing their views with others.
In the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, there were many changes in American life, and Protestants had largely split between Liberals and Evangelicals. The Evangelicals then further split into mainstream Evangelicals and Fundamentalists. Liberals wanted to accommodate change, while Fundamentalists believed in purity and separation from society. Mainstream Evangelicals believed in personal salvation and became a conservative political force.
By the mid-20th century, Evangelicals were losing influence, but there was a resurgence of the movement in the 1970s and 1980s with reactions to Supreme Court cases such as Roe v. Wade.
Evangelical television shows began talking about politics during this time with the election of former President Jimmy Carter, who was an Evangelical. Evangelicals began to vote on what they considered moral issues, such as abortion, gay marriage and prayer in schools. Evangelicals rose to be core members of the Grand Old Party.
According to Bowen, it was expected that Evangelical support for the GOP would decrease in 2016 due to the candidacy of President Donald Trump, who seemed to go against the values the Evangelicals stood for — he has been married multiple times, had extramarital affairs and has misquoted the Bible.
Despite this, 80 percent of Evangelicals voted for Trump, contributing to his victory.
“What I would like to ask is, ‘Why?’” Bowen said.
Bowen cited several possible factors in the large Evangelical turnout for Trump — a compositional factor, or how Evangelicals differ from other populations, causal factors or ways that Evangelicalism has theologically or socially been led to support Trump and coalitional factors, which are the ways that the GOP and religious leaders stress cultural identities to keep Evangelicals voting in their favor.
When discussing the coalitional effect, Bowen showed a clip of Tony Perkins, president of the family research council, explaining how Trump has made it OK to say “Merry Christmas” again, and claiming that liberals have attacked religious freedom.
Compared to other religious groups, Evangelicals are often poorer, less educated and attend church more often. They are more likely to be from the South, they are more likely to be against abortion and gay marriage, and they are the most likely religious group to harbor racial resentment, according to Bowen.
It is also important to note that it is white Evangelicals who primarily support Trump — Bowen explained that black Evangelicalism is a separate movement.
When controlling for demographics, church attendance, party identification and attitudes, there was no statistically significant difference in voting patterns between Evangelicals and other white Christians, but party identification and attitudes are affected by religion, Bowen explained.
There is a shared identity between Evangelical and GOP leaders –– James Dobson, founder of the conservative group Focus on the Family, claimed that Trump had had a conversion experience. Evangelical leaders often give the GOP support in exchange for political favors and they are open about this strategy, according to Bowen.
Evangelicalism was shown to have a significant effect on Republicans who did not like Trump, but were driven to vote for him as a matter of principle, Bowen explained.
“It’s important to remember that this coalition we call Evangelicals is still diverse theologically, diverse regionally,” Bowen said.
(04/02/18 9:06pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of nine Iranian nationals for a major hacking scheme that involved stealing data from 320 universities worldwide, 144 of which were American, on March 23, according to Forbes.
Overall, the hackers managed to steal 31.5 terabytes of data, according to Forbes. The highly successful phishing campaign took data from the email accounts of more than 8,000 professors from colleges such as Princeton University. Other targets included as well as federal organizations, U.S.-based companies and the U.N.
One of the companies hacked was Los Alamos National Lab, one of the world’s largest science and technology labs originally created to design atomic bombs, according to The Washington Post.
A private American company that had been tracking the campaign released data showing that the hackers primarily targeted institutions with strong technology or medical programs, including students and faculty at the universities. The information was collected from their university library accounts, according to The Washington Post.
The phishing campaign has been going on since at least 2013, according to CNN. The hackers could be sentenced to more than four decades in prison for a list of charges including conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, wire fraud, unauthorized access of a computer and aggravated identity theft.
The DOJ claims that the hackers were tied to multiple clients within the Iranian government, most notably the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Hackers were employed by the Mabna Institute, according to CNN.
The hacking scheme was one of the largest state-sponsored attacks the DOJ has ever dealt with. It comes during a time when tensions with Iran are high, owing to President Donald Trump’s potential plans to pull out of the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, according to CNN.
Leaked conversations indicate that the Iranian hackers were frustrated by their lack of substantial progress, according to the The New York Times. They also joked about their low wages and slow internet connection.
“Through their carelessness, we were able to get a real picture of who these individuals are and what their goals are,” said Collin Anderson, an independent cybersecurity researcher, according to The New York Times. “They are chasing demographics that the government has an interest in targeting.”
The revelation over the progress of the hackers comes at a time of unrest in Iran, after the government blocked access to various social media tools to prevent the spread of “violence and fear,” according to The New York Times.
(03/06/18 7:17am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
The School of Science and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics presented a lecture by Moon Duchin, a mathematics professor at Tufts University, on the mathematics of gerrymandering, as part of the School of Science colloquium series on Feb. 27.
Duchin studies geometric group theory, geometric topology and the history and culture of science. She was recently hired by the state of Pennsylvania to help redraw its district lines.
Judit Kardus, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the College brought in Duchin for the lecture, and said the College was fortunate to discover Duchin in an article about her in the Journal of Higher Education and invited her to speak before she was hired by Pennsylvania.
The term “gerrymandering” comes from Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts governor in the early 19th century, who manipulated district lines so that his party, the Democratic-Republicans, would win elections against the Federalists. The shape of one of his districts resembled salamander, which led to the name “gerrymander.”
Throughout U.S. history, just about every major political party has used this practice. Currently, Republicans, who control most of the state legislatures, have districts gerrymandered in their favor.
Duchin’s lecture stressed the power of the pen. Neutral boundaries — those which could be drawn by a computer — are not the same as fair boundaries, which take social justice issues into account.
“The ability to draw the boundaries has an enormous impact on the type of election outcomes that will occur,” Duchin said.
Duchin described the various factors that go into how districts are drawn, such as population equality and shape, as well as the various issues such as several lawsuits against districts that specifically gerrymander certain areas to disenfranchise minorities.
Duchin referenced Tuskegee, Alabama, as an example when in the mid-20th century, it became a district that went from 80 percent African-American to 100 percent white.
Duchin then explained how math could be used to help discover districts that are unfairly drawn. The Isoperimetric Theorem involves the relationship between area and perimeter. A circle is the way to maximize area in relation to perimeter, according to the theorem.
Districts that have a very small area-to-perimeter ratio are likely those that have been drawn unfairly in order to serve a political purpose.
Maps for districts are still drawn by hand despite the technology available because, according to Duchin, it would be impossible for a computer to fairly represent socio-geographic boundaries –– only humans have the capability to be socially just. What computers can do, though, is sample maps and determine likely election outcomes, and these statistics can help determine fairness and accuracy.
In response to a question from an audience member about why computers could not be used to draw district lines, Duchin replied that a computer could not be used to measure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
Duchin explained that gerrymandering is a crime against democracy, and that a more objective algorithm for distinguishing between districts could and very well should be created.
“All the small choices you make shouldn’t be carefully chosen to advantage your side,” Duchin said.
Duchin became interested in the concept of gerrymandering “by teaching it,” and also through her “mathematical curiosity.” She came to lecture at the College to inspire others to become informed of the process of gerrymandering, and stressed the importance of mathematical outreach.
When asked why she chose to look at gerrymandering from both a mathematical and social lens, she said there was “no choice” — the topic simply required both.
Many students were excited about the lecture. Rebecca Conn, a junior math major, said that when she heard about the event she looked up Duchin, and was “super excited about the lecture.”
“I really liked the talk. She spoke about the math side of her work but explained everything that made it easy to understand,” she said after the event. “It was the first talk I’ve been to where I feel like I understood it.”
(02/27/18 7:31am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
The Student Recreation Center was filled with representatives from different companies and industries on Feb. 21., providing students with a chance to explore potential future employment opportunities at the semiannual career fair.
The career fair served as a networking opportunity for students and employers, as well as a chance for students to learn about internships and job opportunities. According to Debra Klokis, associate director of the College’s Career Center, the College has been hosting career fairs for more than 15 years. This year, there were 20 to 25 new employers who did not attend last year.
“We have a lot of the same employers, which is nice to have some consistency, but this year we have a lot of new employers … it’s nice to see how the name recognition of the College is spreading,” Klokis said.
Several returning employers spoke highly of students from the College who were hired as interns.
“We’ve really loved our interns from TCNJ,” said Tyler Stamberger, the guest experience supervisor at Six Flags Great Adventure. “We want to make sure that we come back to who does us good.”
Wendy Soos, the director of Jewish Community Center of Princeton Mercer Bucks and Abrams Camps, also praised students from the College that the community center has hired.
“We have several staff members that are currently going to TCNJ,” Soos said. “They have such a high caliber teaching program and we’re always looking for teachers.”
Johnson & Johnson had the most representation out of all the employers, and had an entire row of tables with representatives available to talk to students.
“We’re definitely one of the bigger organizations that recruit out of TCNJ,” said Kristina Parag, a customer strategy analyst for Johnson & Johnson. “People like to work for companies that they relate to … we have a great reputation.”
Various booths featured many types of occupational environments, from financial servicing companies to amusement parks, as well as many other options for students to explore and build professional connections.
Sumaya Sippy, a sophomore public health major, was focused on making good first impressions on potential employers at the fair.
“I’m definitely looking to network and build some relationships with companies I might want to work for in the future,” Sippy said.
As students began to file out of the once-crowded Recreation Center at the end of the fair, employers packed up their belongings and prepared to return to their workplaces — both happy to have made new connections and lasting impressions.
(02/19/18 10:41pm)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
Mass shootings in the U.S. have produced a staggering number of victims in the last decade. No place seems exempt, from the 20 Newtown, Connecticut first grade students and faculty members in 2012 to the 58 concertgoers in Las Vegas last October, and now the 17 people at a Florida high school on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
It is disturbingly common to turn on the news and hear about yet another tragic mass shooting with innocent victims. After each incident, politicians and gun lobbyists say that it’s too soon to talk about gun control.
It’s not too soon — it’s too late. Every time a shooting occurs, it is because we have waited too long to take the necessary measures to stop it.
These tragic stories are far from the only gun violence happening in this country. Large-scale gun violence has escalated in recent years — of the 30 deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history, 19 have happened in the last decade, according to CNN.
While there is no official definition for what exactly constitutes a mass shooting, a general definition is a shooting where at least four people are shot or killed. By this standard, there have already been 30 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2018, according to ABC.
Mass shootings are not the only issue — most gun-related deaths in the country are suicides, and there are many accidental gun deaths each year, according to BBC.
All forms of gun violence need to be stopped.
Opponents of gun control often cite the Second Amendment of the Constitution and its infamous statement about the right to bear arms. Those in support of guns often ignore the full text of the amendment, which states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The first clause is a precursor to the second — since a “well regulated militia” is no longer a part of our country, the right to bear arms is no longer necessary. The founding fathers were envisioning the primitive pistols and rifles of the time, and legislators need to take the modern advancement of firearm technology into account when addressing gun control.
Banning fully-automatic assault rifles seems like the most basic and necessary step towards solving the mass shooting epidemic in the U.S. Those who use guns for hunting would still be able to do so with a semi-automatic gun, and those who want to use a gun for self defense certainly don’t need a military-grade rifle to defend themselves.
Gun licenses, background checks and safety courses should also be required, and people with severe mental illnesses should not be allowed to purchase guns.
There are those who claim that such regulations would be ineffective, as they believe people kill people, not guns. Yes, people kill people, but they most often do it with guns.
This country has a serious gun obsession. Nearly half of all civilian-owned guns in the world are in the U.S., according to CNN.
In the U.S., there have been 1,843 shooting deaths in 2018 alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Almost as many people die from gun violence as car crashes, with an average of 27 people dying from firearm homicides in the U.S. every day. Other wealthy Western countries come nowhere near as close to this number of deaths — the second-highest country, Canada, has five gun-related deaths per day, according to The New York Times.
We as a nation need to do something about this problem — there is no telling who the next victim of gun violence will be.
Students share opinions around campus
“How should the U.S. prevent future mass shootings?”
“We need to have proper background checks and at least highly regulate the most deadly weapons.”
(02/06/18 9:20am)
By Ariel Steinsaltz
Staff Writer
This past summer, the College had the offices of Student Health Services and Counseling and Psychological Services renovated for the first time since they moved into Eickhoff Hall in 1992.
“It was kind of dark and things were worn,” said Director of Student Health Services Janice Vermeychuk. “It really needed to be updated.”
Costs for health services have not changed. There is no cost for office visits and treatment, and minimal cost for lab tests, vaccines and physicals.
Talks of renovations began as early as the fall of 2014, but it was a long process before renovations could begin. At the end of the spring 2017 semester, both offices left their original location in Eickhoff 107 and moved into the basement of Decker Hall for the summer. Both moved back into Eickhoff at the beginning of the current academic year.
The renovations were supervised by the Office of Campus Construction and by Angela Lauer Chong, the Interim Vice President of Student Affairs. However, Vermeychuk and Mark Forest, the director of CAPS and interim assistant vice president for Student Affairs, oversaw most of the details and worked closely with the architects and designers.
Several physical changes were made to the offices. The waiting room used to have two separate doors, one for each office, which meant that people could see who had come for medical services and who had come for psychological services. Now, there is only one door, which Forest said will “enhance privacy and confidentiality.”
Vermeychuk described the waiting room as “brighter and more modern,” and said that now it looks more like a real doctor’s office. The reception area was also updated.
Computers were also installed for future use, according to Vermeychuk. She hopes that they will serve as possible check-in stations or ways to fill out questionnaires or brief surveys needed for SHS and CAPS.
Several new rooms were added as well, including two new counseling offices, a group counseling room and a new examination room.
Since students schedule appointments during lunch time, staff members eat in a lounge in Eickhoff and do not go out for lunch. This lounge was updated, and a new emergency exit door was added on the CAPS side of the office so that in case of an emergency, students would not have to be taken to the other side of the office. Forest explained that this provides a more efficient flow of patients.
SHS provides many services, including treatment for illnesses and minor injuries, certain laboratory tests, vaccinations, physical examinations and tuberculosis testing. CAPS provides various services including individual counseling, group counseling, crisis intervention and online mental health screenings. These services were not affected by the renovations.
One added service in SHS includes women’s reproductive services to replace the College’s Planned Parenthood, which closed over winter break. Vermeychuk said that since Planned Parenthood could not provide the three days of service per week required of them, its services were incorporated into SHS instead.
Many students including Molly Knapp, a junior public health and women’s, gender and sexuality studies double major, was pleased with this change.
“I know there’s been some rumblings on campus about the dismantling of the Planned Parenthood,” Knapp said, “but it’s actually an improvement.”
Both offices increased their staff in order to accommodate the growing need for their services. CAPS has increased its staffing by more than 50 percent since 2014, and SHS hired a new practitioner.
SHS employs five nurse practitioners and one physician. SHS sees patients every 15 to 30 minutes,which add up to about 8,000 visits a year, according to Vermeychuk. Use of the service is expected to increase due to the addition of the women’s reproductive services. Vermeychuk said women’s reproductive services has been booked every day since opening.
CAPS’ appointments are longer than SHS visits, and range from 45 to 50 minutes. Clinicians see about nine to 12 people seen per hour, according to Forest. CAPS gets close to 4,500 appointments booked yearly, and sees about 12 percent of the student body, which is higher than the national average of students receiving counseling –– 10 percent –– according to Forest.
CAPS has nine licensed mental health professionals and four trainees. Appointments for SHS and requests for CAPS can be made online through the College’s Online Wellness Link.
Reactions from students to the renovations were generally positive.
“I think it’s really great that they’re trying to be more accommodating,” said Kelly Ganning, a junior graphic design major.
Vermeychuk said that the office is like a “home away from home” for her and Forest, and it is important to them that the office is run efficiently and remains a safe place for students.
For more information on CAPS call 609-771-2247 or email CAPS@tcnj.edu