Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Signal's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
2 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/06/18 1:30am)
By Deanna Amarosa
“Is it just me, or is TCNJ under constant construction?” a girl asks her friend as she maneuvers around caution tape on the sidewalk. I happened to overhear this keen observation on my way to class last week, but almost every student at the College has either made a statement similar to this, or has heard one like it.
It seems that there has not been one day this school year without some sort of work being done somewhere on campus. Students witnessed workers laboring seemingly nonstop within the past two weeks during the construction of the area surronding the new Lion statue next to the Brower Student Center. While it seems that we are in a constant state of construction, this recent addition appears to have taken priority over other maintenance jobs around campus.
It would be more important for the College to focus more on existing structural issues on campus. These same problem areas are the buildings that the College’s student ambassadors, clad in their signature white and navy striped shirts, always strategically avoid when showing prospective students and their families around our campus.
For example, Forcina Hall, a building on the far end of campus in which students collectively groan at the prospect of having a class in, is known for having ridiculously poor air ventilation and an elevator that students are genuinely afraid to set foot in because the doors often open and close seemingly of its own volition.
Forcina Hall is located right next to Roscoe West Hall, a building with a lot of potential, considering that it used to be home to the College’s library. The main entrance to the building, however, has had a sign saying “please use other door.”
Students who walk past the building at night can peer into its basement windows and see abandoned book shelves, tables and chairs. This space has the potential to be transformed into something great on campus — maybe a new area for the tutoring center to take advantage of, as the room that it is currently housed in becomes exceedingly cramped and loud during its busiest hours.
The College’s construction efforts, however, are more readily put into installing a new lion statue rather than thinking more practically about its construction investments.
An additional place for efforts to be put into is the Student Center. The food stations there are so poorly laid out that cashier lines often cut through food lines. The place becomes a madhouse between the hours of 11 and 2, when students can take advantage of meal equivalency. Something needs to be done about the layout to give students more space to wait in line.
These are just a handful of current structural issues that exist on campus right now. It is time for efforts to be put into creating solutions for existing maintenance problems on campus, rather than prolonging their negative effects and letting them continue to deteriorate in the years to come.
Students share opinions around campus
"Where would you like to see construction on campus?"
“The Towers — especially the elevators and showers.”
“In Packer, I think that the locker rooms are very dated.”
(04/16/18 9:13pm)
By Deanna Amarosa
A week before my course enrollment time slot, I logged into PAWS to check on class selections for the fall semester and my heart immediately dropped — a core class for my public health major had no seats left in both sections. I began to make a plan B, contemplating other classes I could take, such as a liberal learning or a biology lab for my minor. After talking to others about this, I realized that course registration isn’t as easy as it should be for students at the College.
At this time of year, it is evident on social media that students are struggling with course registration. The College’s student-run snapchat, @tcnj-snap, shares frequent posts from students begging for someone to drop a specific class, some even offering to pay money for a coveted spot. If it costs roughly $30,000 each year to attend this institution, students should be able to get what they pay for — that is, they should at least be able to get into the classes required for their major each semester.
Biology and education are among the College’s most popular majors, according to U.S. News. While biology majors are required to take ecology in their second year of study, many students were unable to register. These students are also required to take two consecutive semesters of organic chemistry. Getting into each class is challenging, as seats fill up quickly and seats are reserved for chemistry majors, despite the fact that the classes are required for students on other tracks.
One freshman biology major, Maxx Cadmus, was unable to get into his required core biology class for the upcoming semester.
“Instead, I have to take a higher level options course that is not in the right sequence of classes,” he said.
This situation is discouraging to students, and makes them feel unvalued at the College. For a student like myself, who is interested in pursuing a minor that involves taking science labs, the fact that biology majors are unable to get into these required classes for their own major is very troubling. If biology majors can’t get into their required labs, how could I ever get into the same course that is technically an optional part of my studies?
Cadmus also mentioned that big classes like chemistry and biology frequently hold empty seats to maintain the small class sizes that the College advertises. This is unacceptable, and the College needs to make changes to better accommodate the student body.
If students are unable to get into the classes they are required to take, this can be seen as a driving force to transfer elsewhere if the College doesn’t make changes to properly accommodate all the students that attend classes here.
Students share opinions around campus
“How do you feel about course registration at the College?”
“I don't agree that athletes should get first preference because we all have commitments.”
"There should be more options that fulfill the liberal learning requirement."